Settings Reference¶
Sidekick registers its settings in Binary Ninja's Settings system under the sidekick group. You can view and change them via Edit > Preferences > Settings in Binary Ninja, then filter by "Sidekick".
Settings marked Requires restart take effect only after restarting Binary Ninja.
Settings scoped to user only cannot be set per-project or per-file — they apply globally.
Service¶
These settings control how Sidekick connects to the cloud service.
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
sidekick.service.host |
string | api.sidekick.binary.ninja |
Hostname of the Sidekick cloud service. Change this only if you are connecting to a self-hosted or staging instance. Requires restart. User only. |
sidekick.service.port |
number | 0 |
Port for the Sidekick service. When 0, the port is omitted from the connection URL and the default port for the scheme is used. Range: 0-65535. Requires restart. User only. |
sidekick.service.api_key |
string | (empty) | API key for authenticating with the Sidekick service. This field is hidden in the UI. Requires restart. User only. |
sidekick.service.timeout |
number | 60 |
Request timeout in seconds. Set to 0 to disable the timeout entirely. Range: 0-3600. Requires restart. Applies at all scopes (user, project, resource). |
sidekick.service.start_online |
boolean | true |
When enabled, Sidekick starts online when Binary Ninja launches. When disabled, Sidekick starts offline and you must bring it online manually from Plugins > Sidekick > Toggle Online / Offline or the status indicator. Requires restart. Applies at all scopes (user, project, resource). |
Execution¶
These settings control Sidekick agent execution limits.
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
sidekick.execution.max_turn_time |
number | 600 |
Maximum wall-clock time, in seconds, that one Sidekick turn may spend across model calls, tool calls, and automatic continuations before Sidekick stops it. Range: 1-3600. Requires restart. User only. |
Semantic Index¶
These settings control the local semantic indexing system, which powers semantic search across binary artifacts and chat history.
General¶
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
sidekick.semantic_index.enabled |
boolean | false |
Master switch for semantic indexing. Managed sidecars require llama.cpp (llama-server) to be installed on your system. When sidecar management is disabled, Sidekick uses the configured service URLs directly. When semantic indexing is disabled, embedding/reranking providers and background enumeration do not start, and concept-based queries return empty results. Requires restart. User only. |
Binary View Adapter¶
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
sidekick.semantic_index.adapters.binaryview.enabled |
boolean | true |
Enable indexing of binary view content — functions, strings, and symbols — for semantic search. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.adapters.binaryview.strings.filter.enabled |
boolean | true |
Enable admission filtering for regular strings before they are submitted for indexing. When enabled, strings that fail the quality criteria below are excluded. Requires restart. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.adapters.binaryview.strings.filter.min_length |
number | 3 |
Minimum trimmed character length a regular string must have to pass the admission filter. Requires restart. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.adapters.binaryview.strings.filter.unreferenced_min_length |
number | 8 |
Minimum trimmed character length for strings that have no cross-references. Unreferenced strings are held to a stricter length threshold than referenced ones. Requires restart. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.adapters.binaryview.strings.filter.min_alpha_chars |
number | 3 |
Minimum number of alphabetic characters an unreferenced string must contain to pass the admission filter. Requires restart. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.adapters.binaryview.strings.filter.max_punctuation_percent |
number | 60 |
Maximum percentage of punctuation characters allowed in an unreferenced string. Strings exceeding this threshold are excluded from indexing. Requires restart. User only. |
Chat Message Adapter¶
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
sidekick.semantic_index.adapters.thread_message.enabled |
boolean | true |
Enable indexing of chat conversation history for semantic search. User only. |
Embedding Service¶
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
sidekick.semantic_index.embedding.model |
string | ggml-org/embeddinggemma-300M-GGUF |
Model name/path passed to the embedding service. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.embedding.host |
string | localhost |
Host used for the embedding service URL. This may point to a Sidekick-managed sidecar or to a service managed outside the plugin. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.embedding.sidecar.enabled |
boolean | true |
When enabled, Sidekick launches and stops the embedding service as a managed sidecar. Disable this when the configured host and port are owned by another process. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.embedding.port |
number | 8888 |
Port used by the embedding service. Range: 1024-65535. User only. |
Reranking Service¶
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
sidekick.semantic_index.reranking.model |
string | minhtd14/jina-reranker-v2-base-multilingual-Q8_0-GGUF |
Model name/path passed to the reranking service. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.reranking.host |
string | localhost |
Host used for the reranking service URL. This may point to a Sidekick-managed sidecar or to a service managed outside the plugin. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.reranking.sidecar.enabled |
boolean | true |
When enabled, Sidekick launches and stops the reranking service as a managed sidecar. Disable this when the configured host and port are owned by another process. User only. |
sidekick.semantic_index.reranking.port |
number | 8889 |
Port used by the reranking service. Range: 1024-65535. User only. |
UI¶
These settings control the appearance and behavior of Sidekick's interface.
| Key | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
sidekick.ui.chat.assistant_font_family |
string | (empty) | Font family used for assistant messages in Chat. Leave empty to use the Binary Ninja default font. User only. |
sidekick.ui.chat.tool_groups_expanded_by_default |
boolean | false |
When enabled, tool-call groups in Chat are expanded by default. When disabled, they are collapsed unless approval is required. User only. |
sidekick.ui.chat.open_external_urls |
string | ask |
Controls whether clicking http or https links in Chat opens them in your browser. always opens immediately, ask prompts for confirmation, and never blocks opening. Use never when analyzing untrusted inputs and you do not want Chat links to trigger network access. User only. |
sidekick.ui.indexes.max_query_results |
number | 1000 |
Maximum number of results returned when executing a BNQL query in the Indexes UI. Range: 1-100,000. User only. |
Note
Internal migration-marker keys (sidekick.internal.settings.*) and legacy keys from earlier versions of Sidekick are hidden in the Settings UI. They exist only to preserve values during upgrades and have no user-configurable purpose.