dendros config

dendros config opens a full-screen interactive TUI for managing global defaults.

dendros config

Settings are written to ~/.config/dendROS/defaults.yaml and apply across all packages as a baseline. Per-package dendROS.yaml defaults: sections override them.

Settings are grouped into tabs — Output, CLI, Unmatched, System, Diagnostics, Param Alerts, Init — matching the section headers below.

Interface

Note

Screenshot below predates the tabbed layout — pending a refresh.

dendros config

Keyboard reference

Key	Action
`Tab` / `L`	Next tab
`Shift`+`Tab` / `H`	Previous tab (Shift+Tab isn't sent by every terminal — use `h` if it doesn't respond)
`1` – `9`	Jump directly to tab N
`Up` / `K`	Move to previous field (within the current tab)
`Down` / `J`	Move to next field (within the current tab)
`Right` / `Space` / `Enter`	Cycle option forward
`Left`	Cycle option backward
`E`	Open inline text editor for the current field
`S`	Save to `~/.config/dendROS/defaults.yaml`
`Q` / `Esc`	Quit (prompts if there are unsaved changes)

Settings reference

Output (launch / run)

Setting	Values	Description
Color mode	`tag_only` / `full_line`	`tag_only` colors prefix + badge, preserving severity colors. `full_line` colors the entire line.
Show tag (launch/run)	`on` / `off`	Show `[TAG]` badges in `ros2 launch` and `ros2 run` output. Overridable per-group with `show_tag: false`.
Tag position	`after` / `before`	Badge position: `after` → `[node-N] [TAG] …` · `before` → `[TAG] [node-N] …`.
Tag style	`normal` / `inverted`	`normal` = colored text on default background. `inverted` = colored background with empty letters (like crash alert banners). Overridable per-group with `tag_style:`.
Colorize launch msgs	`on` / `off`	When off, `[INFO] [node-N]: process started …` lines pass through unchanged.
Show timestamp	`on` / `off`	Show the `[timestamp]` bracket in node log lines (`[node-N] [INFO] [timestamp] [logger]: msg`). Off strips it.
Show logger name	`on` / `off`	Show the `[logger_name]` bracket — the ROS graph name registered via `get_logger()`, which can differ from the `[node-N]` launch process name. Off strips it.

CLI commands

Setting	Values	Description
Show tag (CLI)	`on` / `off`	Show `[TAG]` badges in `ros2 node list`, `ros2 node info`, `ros2 service list`, `ros2 action list`, and `ros2 topic list`.
Show default services	`on` / `off`	When off, standard ROS 2 system services (`set_parameters`, `get_parameters`, `get_loggers`, …) are hidden from `ros2 service list` output entirely. When on, they appear dimmed.
Topic list sort	`default` / `group`	`default` preserves ros2's alphabetical order. `group` places system topics first, then groups topics by their publisher's color group (groups in first-occurrence order, alphabetical within each group), with unmatched topics last. See ros2 topic list.

Unmatched nodes

Setting	Values	Description
Unmatched color	color / `null`	Color for nodes not in any group. `null` = pass through.
Unmatched tag	string / `null`	Badge for unmatched nodes (e.g. `?` → `[?]`). Requires `unmatched_color`.
Dim unmatched	`on` / `off`	Dim unmatched nodes. Only when `unmatched_color` is `null`.

System

Setting	Values	Description
Debug mode	`on` / `off`	Print config summary to stderr on startup. Equivalent to `DENDROS_DEBUG=1`.
Config merge	`on` / `off`	Parse launch files for referenced packages and merge their configs.

Diagnostics

Crash alert and traceback highlighting — how node failures surface in the terminal.

Setting	Values	Description
Crash alert	`on` / `off`	Print an inline banner when a node dies unexpectedly. See Crash Alert.
Crash alert color	`node` / `red`	`node` uses the group color; `red` always uses bold red.
Crash alert interval	integer (seconds)	Seconds between periodic banner reprints. `0` = only on new crash events.
Traceback color	`fancy` / `red` / `off`	`fancy` = bold red header + dim red frames; `red` = all bold red; `off` = passthrough. See Traceback Highlighting.

Parameter change alert

Setting	Values	Description
Param change alert	`on` / `off`	Print an inline notification whenever a node's parameter changes at runtime. See Parameter Change Alert.
Param alert scope	`tracked` / `all`	`tracked` = only nodes with a config group; `all` = entire ROS graph.
Param alert style	`inline` / `inverted`	`inline` = compact colored line; `inverted` = full white-background strip, harder to miss in busy logs.

Init defaults

Setting	Values	Description
Init: modify build	`on` / `off`	Auto-patch build files when running `dendros init`.
Init: on existing	`abort` / `merge` / `overwrite`	What to do when a config already exists.
Init: color	`palette` / `null`	Assign cycling palette colors or leave as `null`.
Init: bold colors	`on` / `off`	Prefix every palette color with `bold`.
Init: auto label	`on` / `off`	Auto-generate labels (same as `--labels` flag).

Config file

# ~/.config/dendROS/defaults.yaml
color_mode: tag_only
show_tag_launch: true
show_tag_cli: true
tag_position: after
tag_style: normal
unmatched_color: null
unmatched_tag: null
dim_unmatched: false
show_default_services: true
topic_sort: default
debug: false
config_merge: true
colorize_launch_msgs: true
show_timestamp: true
show_logger_name: true
crash_alert: true
crash_alert_color: node
crash_alert_interval: 30
traceback_color: fancy
param_change_alert: true
param_change_alert_scope: tracked
param_change_alert_style: inline
init_modify_build: true
init_on_existing: abort
init_color: palette
init_color_bold: false
init_label: false