Skip to main content
Workspace settings control how the workspace behaves and what defaults apply to every member. Open settings by clicking the gear icon in the workspace header.

​
General settings

Deleting a workspace is permanent and cannot be undone.

​
Configuration hierarchy

Settings follow a three-level hierarchy, where each level can override the one below: This hierarchy applies to: AI model, permission mode, environment variables, MCP servers, instructions, initialization scripts, and shell configuration.
Members can save workspace overrides as new user defaults using the Save to user defaults button.

​
Configuration sections

The workspace defaults tab includes:

​
Default AI provider and model

Admins set a default AI provider and model for all tasks. Members can override in their personal settings. Permission mode options:

​
Agent instructions

Add custom instructions injected into every agent session. These augment (don’t replace) each member’s personal instructions and do not create files in the repository.

​
Auto-sleep

Configure idle timeout before Whim suspends a task (disabled, or 1 minute to 1 hour). Suspended tasks resume instantly.

​
Members

The Members tab controls workspace access. Admins can add team members, change roles, and remove members. You cannot remove yourself.

​
Environment variables

Environment variables inject API keys, database URLs, and other configuration into every task container.

​
Scopes and precedence

When the same key exists at multiple levels, the highest-priority level wins.

​
Adding variables

  • Workspace-level — Workspace Settings > Workspace Defaults > Environment Variables
  • User-level — Settings > User Defaults > Environment Variables
  • Per-workspace overrides — Settings > My Workspace Overrides > Environment Variables

​
Multi-file support

Variables are organized into .env files. You can create multiple files following .env / .env.<suffix> naming (e.g., .env.local, .env.production). Files are processed in order: .env first, then additional files alphabetically. Later files override matching keys.

​
Secret masking

Whim auto-detects likely secrets based on key names (containing secret, password, token, or matching patterns like API_KEY, PRIVATE_KEY) and masks their values in the UI. Toggle the secret status of any variable with the lock icon.
Secrets are masked for display. They’re stored encrypted at rest and injected securely into containers.

​
Disabling workspace variables

Members can disable specific workspace-level variables without removing them. Disabled variables are filtered out before merging and won’t appear in your task containers.

​
How variables are injected

When a task starts, Whim resolves variables from all three levels and injects them:
  1. As environment variables — merged into the container’s environment (process.env)
  2. As .env files — written to /app inside the container for framework auto-discovery

​
System variables

Whim also injects system variables that cannot be overridden: