---
title: "Settings and configuration"
description: "The settings UI, local config files and where data lives."
lang: en
---

Settings live in the UI. Changes take effect immediately; no restart is needed.

## Where settings are stored

Settings and data live in the `.bi` directory next to the application:

- Preferences
- Model keys
- Sessions and the local database
- Runtime logs

On macOS, `Bi.app` keeps `.bi` and the workspace next to the app itself. When installed in a read-only location such as Applications, it falls back to `~/Library/Application Support/Bi`.

## Privacy

Bi has no server of its own. Configuration and model keys stay on your machine; keys and conversation content only travel between you and the model provider you configured. With a local model, content need not leave the machine at all.

## UI and config files

What you change in the UI is the local configuration — the two never diverge. Day to day, use the UI. For bulk edits or your own backups, you can also edit the config file directly; changes apply on save.

## Port

The workbench opens in your browser on a local port. You rarely need to change it; if the port is taken, set another one in Settings.

## Related

- [Add a model](/docs/configuration/providers)
- [Operations that need approval](/docs/configuration/permissions)
- [Local service and access](/docs/reference/http-api)