Configuration

This page describes the configuration of the DARE Method anchored in the real schema: the project file dare.config.json (validated by Zod), the graph backend file dare-graph.yml, and the MCP server environment variables.

Everything is opt-in

The verification and hooks blocks are disabled by default. The absence of the block in dare.config.json is equivalent to the defaults with enabled:false / trusted:false. You only enable what you want, in a versioned diff.

dare.config.json

The file at the project root brings together four groups:

1. Project identity (name, structure, backend, frontend, ide, graphrag, rustWorkspaceLayout, cratePrefix) — see ProjectConfig.
2. verification — Ralph Loop quality gates (Zod strict).
3. hooks — deterministic per-event automations (Zod strict).
4. steering — does not live in the JSON; it is resolved from files on disk (see Agents › Steering files).

{
  // ── Identidade do projeto (ProjectConfig) ───────────────────────────
  "name": "meu-projeto",
  "structure": "monorepo",          // 'monorepo' | 'backend' | 'frontend'
  "backend": "rust-axum",           // opcional; ver tabela abaixo
  "frontend": "react",              // opcional; ver tabela abaixo
  "ide": "cursor",                  // 'cursor' | 'antigravity' | 'hybrid'
  "graphrag": "sqlite",             // 'sqlite' | 'json' | 'neo4j'
  "rustWorkspaceLayout": "multi",   // opcional: 'single' | 'multi'
  "cratePrefix": "ars",             // opcional: prefixo p/ multi-crate

  // ── verification (DEFAULTS de verification/config.ts) ───────────────
  "verification": {
    "enabled": false,
    "mutation": {
      "enabled": true,
      "minScore": 0.7,
      "incremental": true,
      "maxMutants": 200,
      "timeoutSeconds": 900
    },
    "failToPass": { "required": true },
    "antiTamper": { "enabled": true },
    "typeCheck": { "enabled": false },
    "loop": {
      "policy": "decay",            // 'decay' | 'fixed'
      "maxAttempts": 5,
      "saturationWindow": 3,
      "onSaturation": "fresh-start" // 'fresh-start' | 'replan' | 'escalate'
    },
    "bestOfN": {
      "default": 1,
      "max": 5,
      "budgetTokens": null
    },
    "prerank": { "enabled": false },
    "formal": {
      "enabled": false,
      "backend": "dafny",           // 'dafny' | 'verus' | 'lean'
      "modules": [],
      "maxRepairIterations": 5,
      "proofTimeoutSeconds": 120,
      "antiBypass": true
    }
  },

  // ── hooks (HOOK_DEFAULTS de hooks/config.ts) ────────────────────────
  "hooks": {
    "on": {},                       // evento → lista de ações da allowlist
    "trusted": false
  }
}

Project identity

Fields of ProjectConfig (packages/cli/src/core/types/project.ts).

Field	Type	Default	Description
name	string	— (required)	Project name.
structure	'monorepo' \| 'backend' \| 'frontend'	— (required)	Repository shape.
backend	'rust-axum' \| 'node-nestjs' \| 'python-fastapi' \| 'php-laravel'	— (optional)	Backend stack.
frontend	'react' \| 'vue' \| 'rust-leptos' \| 'rust-leptos-csr'	— (optional)	Frontend stack.
ide	'cursor' \| 'antigravity' \| 'hybrid'	— (required)	Target IDE/assistant.
graphrag	'sqlite' \| 'json' \| 'neo4j'	— (required)	Knowledge graph backend (see dare-graph.yml).
rustWorkspaceLayout	'single' \| 'multi'	— (optional)	single: crates/server + crates/web. multi: {prefix}-core/-server/-web/-cli.
cratePrefix	string	— (optional)	Short prefix for multi-crate names (e.g., ars → ars-core, ars-server…).

verification

The entire block is validated in verification/config.ts (Zod .strict() — unknown fields are rejected). The absence of the block is equivalent to enabled:false.

Field	Type	Default	Description
enabled	boolean	false	Turns on the verification pipeline as a whole.

verification.mutation

Mutation testing gate — blocks DONE if the score falls below the minimum.

Field	Type	Default	Description
enabled	boolean	true	Turns on the mutation gate.
minScore	number (0–1)	0.7	Minimum killed-mutant score; below it, DONE is blocked.
incremental	boolean	true	Only mutates files from the task's git diff.
maxMutants	number (int > 0)	200	Cap of mutants per run.
timeoutSeconds	number (int > 0)	900	Total gate timeout, in seconds.

verification.failToPass / antiTamper / typeCheck

Field	Type	Default	Description
failToPass.required	boolean	true	Requires the fail→pass cycle (test must fail before passing).
antiTamper.enabled	boolean	true	Anti-cheat sub-gate (detects weakening of tests/asserts).
typeCheck.enabled	boolean	false	Turns on the type-checking gate.

verification.loop

Ralph Loop policy with decay awareness.

Field	Type	Default	Description
policy	'decay' \| 'fixed'	'decay'	Iteration strategy.
maxAttempts	number (int ≥ 1)	5	Hard cap of attempts; on reaching it, ESCALATE verdict.
saturationWindow	number (int ≥ 1)	3	Number of attempts with the same failure signature → saturated.
onSaturation	'fresh-start' \| 'replan' \| 'escalate'	'fresh-start'	Action on saturating before the cap.

verification.bestOfN

Generation of N candidates in isolated worktrees.

Field	Type	Default	Description
default	number (int ≥ 1)	1	Number of candidates per task. Must be ≤ max.
max	number (int ≥ 1)	5	Cap of candidates.
budgetTokens	number \| null	null	Token budget (null = no cap in the CLI; the agent respects it).

Validated invariant

bestOfN.default must be <= bestOfN.max, otherwise Zod validation fails with bestOfN.default must be <= bestOfN.max.

verification.prerank

Field	Type	Default	Description
prerank.enabled	boolean	false	Pre-ranks candidates before full verification.

verification.formal

Formal verification gate (FORMAL_DEFAULTS). Absence of the block ⇒ enabled:false. When turned on, antiBypass is mandatory.

Field	Type	Default	Description
enabled	boolean	false	Turns on the formal gate (a second gate beyond the marking).
backend	'dafny' \| 'verus' \| 'lean'	'dafny'	Proof backend.
modules	string[]	[]	Critical modules/functions marked. Empty and without the @dare-formal tag ⇒ the aspect never runs.
maxRepairIterations	number (int > 0)	5	Cap of repair-loop iterations.
proofTimeoutSeconds	number (int > 0)	120	Timeout per proof, in seconds.
antiBypass	boolean	true	Anti-cheat sub-gate, mandatory when enabled.

hooks

Block validated in hooks/config.ts (Zod .strict()). Defaults: { on: {}, trusted: false }. Details on events, actions, and security in Agents › Hooks.

Field	Type	Default	Description
on	Record<HookEvent, HookAction[]>	{}	Map of event → list of actions. Events: on-save, on-file-create, on-task-complete, pre-commit.
trusted	boolean	false	Explicit trust. While false, hooks do not auto-execute (dare hooks run fails with TRUST_REQUIRED until --trust or trusted:true).

Each item of on[event] is a HookAction:

Field	Type	Default	Description
action	allowlist	— (required)	One of the keys: dare-validate, dare-review, graph-register, lint, test.
args	string[]	— (optional)	Extra args concatenated as argv (never interpolated into a shell). Path-looking args go through assertRelativeSafe.

dare-graph.yml

Knowledge graph backend, resolved by graphrag/factory.ts. If the file does not exist, the fallback is sqlite at .dare/graph.db.

# backend: 'sqlite' | 'json' | 'neo4j'
backend: sqlite

sqlite:
  path: .dare/graph.db   # default quando backend=sqlite

# json:
#   path: .dare/graph.json   # default quando backend=json

# neo4j (experimental — exige experimental:true):
# neo4j:
#   url: http://localhost:7474
#   database: neo4j
#   username: neo4j
#   password: ...
#   experimental: true

Backend	Block	Path default	Notes
sqlite	sqlite.path	.dare/graph.db	Recommended backend (sql.js).
json	json.path	.dare/graph.json	Single file, no native dependencies.
neo4j	neo4j.*	—	Requires neo4j.experimental: true and neo4j.url; otherwise createGraph() throws an error with guidance.

Fields of the neo4j block (defaults applied in loadGraphConfig):

Field	Type	Default	Description
url	string	http://localhost:7474	Neo4j endpoint.
database	string	neo4j	Database name.
username	string	—	User (optional).
password	string	—	Password (optional).
auth	string	—	Alternative credential (optional).
experimental	boolean	false	Must be true for the backend to start.

Neo4j is experimental

The neo4j backend only initializes with experimental: true in dare-graph.yml. Without it, createGraph() throws: "Neo4j backend requires neo4j.experimental: true … Use sqlite or json (recommended)." For most projects, use sqlite or json.

MCP environment variables

Read in mcp-server/boot-config.ts by the dare-mcp-server binary (mcp-server/bin/server.ts). Server details in Agents › MCP server.

Variable	Default	Description
DARE_MCP_BIND	127.0.0.1	Bind host. 0.0.0.0 exposes it to the LAN and emits a warning.
DARE_MCP_PORT	3000	TCP port.
DARE_MCP_TOKEN	randomUUID()	Bearer token. If unset, it is randomly generated on each boot.
DARE_PROJECT_PATH	process.cwd()	Root of the served project.
DARE_MCP_BODY_LIMIT	1mb	JSON body limit (express.json).

Do not expose the MCP outside loopback unnecessarily

With DARE_MCP_BIND=0.0.0.0 the server accepts connections from the local network. In that case the Bearer token becomes your only protection — set a strong DARE_MCP_TOKEN and use it only on trusted networks.