Settings reference

THelpChatSettings (unit HelpChatAI.Settings) is the Settings property of both components and what helpchatai.json fills. Every property below has the same name as its JSON key.

Engine

Property	Type	Default	Description
Provider	string	stub	Which provider answers: stub, docsearch, claude, openai, gemini or one of yours. A name nobody registered is an error, not a fallback to stub
Language	THelpChatLanguage	hclAuto	hclAuto (OS locale), hclEnglish, hclItalian. In JSON: "auto", "en", "it"
Greeting	string	(localized)	The first bubble of an empty conversation
PoolSize	Integer	2	Worker threads answering in parallel
MessageMaxLength	Integer	4000	A longer user message is cut
HistoryMaxMessages	Integer	50	Messages sent to the provider as context
MaxStoredMessages	Integer	200	Messages kept in the store; older ones are pruned

Documentation

Property	Type	Default	Description
DocIndexFile	string	help-index.json next to the exe	The documentation index
DocBaseUrl	string	(empty)	Prepended to the relative URLs of the pages
DocFolder	string	(empty)	Folder of Markdown pages the panel renders itself; see reading the pages inside the panel

Conversation persistence

Property	Type	Default	Description
PersistConversation	Boolean	True	Save and restore the conversation between runs
ConversationFile	string	%APPDATA%\<App>\helpchatai-conversation.json	Where
ConversationMaxAgeDays	Integer	30	An older saved conversation is discarded

The model providers

Settings.Claude, Settings.OpenAI and Settings.Gemini — JSON objects "Claude", "OpenAI" and "Gemini". They are the same shape, and only the one named by Provider is read. Settings.ActiveModel is that section, whichever it is.

Property	Type	Default	Description
ApiKey	string	(empty)	Empty = the environment variable of that provider
Model	string	(its own)	Empty = the default model of that provider
BaseUrl	string	(its own)	Empty = the official endpoint
MaxTokens	Integer	1024	Maximum length of a reply
GroundingMaxPages	Integer	3	Documentation pages injected into the system prompt (0 = off)
GroundingMaxChars	Integer	2000	Characters of page text per page (0 = summary only)
SystemPrompt	string	(built-in)	Replaces the built-in instruction
MaxToolRounds	Integer	4	Model calls per reply when actions are used
ConnectTimeoutMs	Integer	15000
ResponseTimeoutMs	Integer	120000

Defaults per provider:

Section	Model	Endpoint	Environment variable
Claude	claude-haiku-4-5	https://api.anthropic.com	ANTHROPIC_API_KEY
OpenAI	gpt-6-luna	https://api.openai.com	OPENAI_API_KEY
Gemini	gemini-3.8-flash	https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com	GEMINI_API_KEY, then GOOGLE_API_KEY

And what belongs to one of them only:

Property	Section	Default	Description
ApiVersion	Claude	2023-06-01	anthropic-version header
Organization	OpenAI	(empty)	OpenAI-Organization header; empty = not sent
AzureDeployment	OpenAI	(empty)	Not empty = Azure OpenAI: deployment in the path, key in the api-key header
AzureApiVersion	OpenAI	2024-10-21	The api-version query parameter of Azure

Remote engine

Settings.Remote — JSON object "Remote". See Running the engine on a server.

Property	Type	Default	Description
BaseUrl	string	(empty)	Root URL of the HelpChatAI server. Empty = the engine runs in this process
AppKey	string	(empty)	Key identifying this application to the server (not the model key)
UserId	string	(empty)	Who is asking, when the application knows: the server keeps one conversation per user
UserToken	string	(empty)	Optional credential for UserId, validated by the server's OnAuthenticate
UseHostChannel	Boolean	True	Open the loopback channel so the page can talk to its host (its ✕)
TimeoutMs	Integer	4000	Timeout of the calls the transport makes on the UI thread

The configuration files

THelpChatSettings.SharedUserConfigFile;  // %APPDATA%\HelpChatAI\helpchatai.json
THelpChatSettings.AppConfigFile;         // helpchatai.json next to the executable
THelpChatSettings.UserConfigFile;        // %APPDATA%\<YourApp>\helpchatai.json

They are merged in that order on activation when the component's ConfigFileName is empty — only the keys present in each file are applied. With a file named there, that one is read instead, and nothing else; if it is not found, activation raises EHelpChatConfigError. See Configuration.

Methods

Method	Description
Assign(Source)	Copies every setting (this is how a request gets its private snapshot)
LoadFromJSON(AJson) / SaveToJSON	Read and write the JSON form
LoadFromFile(AFileName) / SaveToFile(AFileName)	The same, on a file
LoadFromDefaultFiles	Merges the three standard files; returns the ones it read
LoadConfiguration(AFileName)	That file alone when named (raising if it is not there), else the three standard ones
ModelFor(AProvider) / ActiveModel	The section of a provider; the one in use, which is the Claude section for stub and docsearch
ResolveDocIndexFile	The index path actually used
ResolveConversationFile	The conversation path actually used
ResolveGreeting	Greeting, or the localized default
ActiveModel.ResolveApiKey	The key actually used (property, then environment variable)
ActiveModel.ResolveModel / NormalizedBaseUrl	The model and endpoint actually used

A complete file

{
  "Provider": "claude",
  "Language": "it",
  "Greeting": "",
  "DocIndexFile": "help-index.json",
  "DocBaseUrl": "https://help.mycompany.com/myapp/",
  "DocFolder": "Help",
  "PoolSize": 2,
  "MessageMaxLength": 4000,
  "HistoryMaxMessages": 50,
  "MaxStoredMessages": 200,
  "PersistConversation": true,
  "ConversationFile": "",
  "ConversationMaxAgeDays": 30,
  "Claude": {
    "ApiKey": "",
    "Model": "claude-haiku-4-5",
    "MaxTokens": 1024,
    "GroundingMaxPages": 3,
    "GroundingMaxChars": 2000,
    "SystemPrompt": "",
    "MaxToolRounds": 4,
    "BaseUrl": "https://api.anthropic.com",
    "ApiVersion": "2023-06-01",
    "ConnectTimeoutMs": 15000,
    "ResponseTimeoutMs": 120000
  },
  "OpenAI": {
    "ApiKey": "",
    "Model": "gpt-6-luna",
    "BaseUrl": "",
    "Organization": "",
    "AzureDeployment": "",
    "AzureApiVersion": "2024-10-21",
    "MaxTokens": 1024,
    "GroundingMaxPages": 3,
    "GroundingMaxChars": 2000,
    "SystemPrompt": "",
    "MaxToolRounds": 4,
    "ConnectTimeoutMs": 15000,
    "ResponseTimeoutMs": 120000
  },
  "Gemini": {
    "ApiKey": "",
    "Model": "gemini-3.8-flash",
    "BaseUrl": "",
    "MaxTokens": 1024,
    "GroundingMaxPages": 3,
    "GroundingMaxChars": 2000,
    "SystemPrompt": "",
    "MaxToolRounds": 4,
    "ConnectTimeoutMs": 15000,
    "ResponseTimeoutMs": 120000
  },
  "Remote": {
    "BaseUrl": "",
    "AppKey": "",
    "UserId": "",
    "UserToken": "",
    "UseHostChannel": true,
    "TimeoutMs": 4000
  }
}