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Avante.nvim provides a comprehensive configuration system that allows you to customize every aspect of the plugin’s behavior. This page covers the basics of configuring Avante.nvim.

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Setup Function

Avante.nvim is configured through the setup() function, which should be called in your Neovim configuration: 
require('avante').setup({
  -- your configuration options here
})

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When to Call Setup

When loading the plugin synchronously, we recommend calling require('avante').setup() sometime after your colorscheme to ensure proper highlight groups are applied.

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Configuration Structure

The configuration is organized into several main sections:
  • Provider Settings - Configure AI providers (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, etc.)
  • Behavior Settings - Control plugin behavior (auto-suggestions, keymaps, diff handling)
  • Window Settings - Customize window appearance and layout
  • Mappings - Define keybindings for all plugin actions
  • Advanced Features - RAG service, web search, custom tools, etc.

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Minimal Configuration

Here’s a minimal configuration to get started with Claude: 
require('avante').setup({
  provider = "claude",
  providers = {
    claude = {
      endpoint = "https://api.anthropic.com",
      model = "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929",
      extra_request_body = {
        temperature = 0.75,
        max_tokens = 64000,
      },
    },
  },
})

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Full Configuration Example

Here’s a more complete configuration showing commonly used options: 
require('avante').setup({
  -- Core settings
  debug = false,
  mode = "agentic", -- "agentic" or "legacy"
  provider = "claude",
  auto_suggestions_provider = nil,
  
  -- Provider configuration
  providers = {
    claude = {
      endpoint = "https://api.anthropic.com",
      auth_type = "api",
      model = "claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929",
      timeout = 30000,
      context_window = 200000,
      extra_request_body = {
        temperature = 0.75,
        max_tokens = 64000,
      },
    },
  },
  
  -- Behavior settings
  behaviour = {
    auto_focus_sidebar = true,
    auto_suggestions = false,
    auto_set_highlight_group = true,
    auto_set_keymaps = true,
    auto_apply_diff_after_generation = false,
    minimize_diff = true,
    enable_token_counting = true,
    auto_add_current_file = true,
  },
  
  -- Window configuration
  windows = {
    position = "right",
    width = 30,
    sidebar_header = {
      enabled = true,
      align = "center",
      rounded = true,
    },
  },
  
  -- Keybindings (using defaults)
  mappings = {},
})

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Configuration Modes

Avante.nvim supports two interaction modes:
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mode
'agentic' | 'legacy'
default:"agentic"
The interaction mode:
  • agentic - AI uses tools to automatically generate and apply code changes
  • legacy - Traditional planning method without automatic tool execution

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Environment Variables

Avante supports scoped API keys that are isolated specifically for Avante: 
export AVANTE_ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-claude-api-key
export AVANTE_OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-api-key
export AVANTE_AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY=your-azure-api-key
export AVANTE_GEMINI_API_KEY=your-gemini-api-key

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Global API Keys (Legacy)

You can still use traditional global API keys: 
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your-api-key
export OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key
export AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key
If API keys are not set in environment variables, Avante will prompt you at startup to input the API key for your selected provider.

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Overriding Configuration

You can dynamically override configuration at runtime using the override() function: 
require("avante.config").override({
  provider = "openai",
  system_prompt = "You are a helpful coding assistant."
})

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Configuration Files Location

Avante stores some configuration data in:
  • Config file: ~/.config/avante.nvim/config.json (last used model/provider)
  • History storage: vim.fn.stdpath("state") .. "/avante" (chat history)
  • Prompt logs: vim.fn.stdpath("cache") (prompt logger)

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Next Steps

Provider Configuration

Learn how to configure different AI providers

Keybindings

Customize keyboard shortcuts

Window Settings

Configure window appearance and layout

Behavior Settings

Control plugin behavior and features

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