pyproject.toml Configuration

Quell reads configuration from the [tool.quell] section of your pyproject.toml. Run quell init to generate a starter config.

Initialize

quell init

Adds to your pyproject.toml:

[tool.quell]
llm_provider = "anthropic"
llm_model = "claude-sonnet-4-5"
max_verification_attempts = 3
verification_timeout_seconds = 30
auto_write = false
enable_docstring = true
enable_types = true
enable_mutations = false
score_threshold = 0.0

Full reference

[tool.quell]
# LLM settings
llm_provider = "anthropic"           # "anthropic" | "openai" | "ollama"
llm_model = "claude-sonnet-4-6"      # model name for the provider
ollama_base_url = "http://localhost:11434"

# Verification
max_verification_attempts = 3         # retry count for flaky tests
verification_timeout_seconds = 30     # subprocess timeout per test run

# Writing behaviour
auto_write = false                    # skip confirmation prompt if true

# Spec sources
enable_docstring = true               # read docstrings for requirements
enable_types = true                   # read Pydantic models and type annotations
enable_mutations = false              # read mutmut/Stryker results (optional)

# CI gate
score_threshold = 0.0                 # minimum score for quell ci

# Paths
audit_log_path = ".quell/audit.jsonl"
backup_dir = ".quell/backups"

Option descriptions

llm_provider

Which LLM to use for complex or unstructured specs (e.g., bug descriptions). Quell never calls the LLM for specs it can parse directly (docstrings, Pydantic models).

llm_model

Model name passed to the provider. Defaults:

max_verification_attempts

How many times to retry verification if the test result is non-deterministic. Use 1 for strict mode, 3 for tolerating flaky infrastructure.

verification_timeout_seconds

Maximum time (in seconds) for a single pytest subprocess run. If your test suite has heavy fixtures, increase this.

auto_write

If true, Quell writes verified tests without asking for confirmation. Useful for automated scripts and CI.

enable_docstring / enable_types

Which spec readers to activate. Both are true by default. Set enable_types = false if your project doesn't use Pydantic.

score_threshold

Minimum acceptable score for quell ci. Overridden by --threshold on the CLI.

Monorepo setup

For projects with multiple packages, each sub-package can have its own pyproject.toml:

my-monorepo/
├── packages/
│   ├── payments/
│   │   ├── pyproject.toml   # [tool.quell] here
│   │   └── src/
│   └── auth/
│       ├── pyproject.toml   # [tool.quell] here
│       └── src/

Run with:

quell ci src/ --root packages/payments
quell ci src/ --root packages/auth