User Preferences
Open with Tools → Preferences… on the main menu bar. A modal window with five tabs. Some tabs configure per-user settings (theme, Git defaults); others configure workspace-scoped settings that happen to be edited from this dialog (MCP workspace defaults, metadata tables, auto-connect).
Bottom buttons
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cancel | Close without saving. |
| Apply | Save and close (default action). |
Tab 1: Appearance
Visual settings that apply to the whole application for your Windows user.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Theme | Dropdown: visual theme for the whole application. |
| Font Size | Dropdown: base font-size preset. |
| Density | Dropdown: spacing preset (compact vs. comfortable). |
System Tray
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Minimise to tray (hide from taskbar) | Checkbox. When ticked, minimising the window sends DataStar to the system tray rather than leaving an entry on the taskbar. |
| Close to tray (X button hides instead of exiting) | Checkbox. When ticked, pressing the window close button hides the app to the tray instead of exiting. Use File → Exit or the tray icon to fully quit. |
Tab 2: Git
Applies when the workspace uses Git for version control. Settings are per-user.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Use system-installed Git | Checkbox. When ticked, DataStar calls the git executable on your PATH rather than using its embedded Git implementation. |
| Fetch from remote on workspace load | Checkbox. When ticked, DataStar runs git fetch each time a Git workspace opens. |
| Branch Template | Text field. The template used when the Create Branch dialog pre-fills a name. Supports {taskid} as a placeholder. Watermark: "e.g. feature/{taskid}". |
Tab 3: MCP Server
Controls for the embedded Model Context Protocol server. See the MCP overview for what this is.
Workspace Settings
These settings apply to the currently-loaded workspace. Each workspace has its own values.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Port | Number spinner (1024–65535). The TCP port the MCP server listens on when serving this workspace. |
| Start MCP server when this workspace loads | Checkbox. When ticked, the server auto-starts whenever this workspace is opened. |
| Allow AI agents to modify data in this workspace | Checkbox. When ticked, MCP tools that change workspace or database state are enabled. When unticked, only read-only tools work. |
API Key
Per-user. The same API key is used for every workspace.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| API Key | The current key. Masked by default; click the eye icon to reveal. |
| Regenerate API Key | Button: creates a fresh key and invalidates the old one. Any AI client still using the old key will get a 401 until it's reconfigured. |
See Enable the MCP server for the setup walkthrough.
Tab 4: Metadata Tables
Additional metadata tables that the MCP server exposes to AI clients, scoped to the currently-loaded workspace. Same concept as the Workspace Settings → Metadata Tables tab, split into:
| Section | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Team defaults | Read-only list of metadata tables defined in Workspace Settings → Metadata Tables (these are team-shared and committed to the workspace). |
| My additions | Editable grid of extra tables you want to expose for your own use on this machine. Add / Delete buttons. Not shared with the team. |
See MCP metadata tables for what a metadata table is and how it's used.
Tab 5: Auto-connect
Per-workspace setting for which saved database connection to auto-connect on open. Database connection definitions themselves are managed under Workspace → Connections → Database; this tab only picks one of them as the default for the current workspace.
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Database Auto-connect | Checkbox + dropdown: enable and pick which saved connection to auto-connect when this workspace opens. Only available if the selected connection uses Windows authentication or has credentials saved. |
| Clear Auto-connect | Button: remove the auto-connect preference for this workspace. |