How to Customize Configuration

Use this guide to adjust CAT’s behavior through configuration variables, templates, and project context.

Prerequisites

CAT installed in your project (see Getting Started)
Access to the _cat/ folder in your repository

Configuration Variables

See the Configuration Reference for the full variable list and where each variable is used.

Module Configuration

CAT is modular. Check which modules are installed:

cat-help

The help output shows installed modules and their capabilities.

Module Structure

_cat/
├── cat-core/    # Core utilities (help, party mode, elicitation, reviews)
├── core/        # Foundation module (project docs, context generation)
└── aidlc/       # AI-DLC lifecycle (intent, architecture, construction, validation)

Customizing Templates

Artifact templates live in _cat/templates/. You can customize them:

Intent Brief template — _cat/templates/intent-brief-template.md
Lightweight Intent Brief — _cat/templates/intent-brief-lightweight-template.md
ARC template — Referenced by cat-arc-builder

⚠️ Caution: Modifying templates may affect compliance checks. The cat-compliance-report workflow expects certain sections to exist.

Customizing Agent Behavior

Agent personas are defined in _cat/_config/agent-manifest.csv. While you can view these to understand agent behavior, modifying them is not recommended — agent prompts are tuned for the DLC workflow.

Project Context

Generate a project context file that helps all CAT workflows understand your project:

cat-generate-project-context

This creates project-context.md with AI rules, patterns, and conventions specific to your codebase. All CAT workflows reference this file for project-specific guidance.

Document Existing Projects

For brownfield projects, generate comprehensive documentation:

cat-document-project

This scans your codebase and produces structured documentation that CAT workflows can reference.