Settings file

INTERSECT persists user-wide preferences (the ones that aren’t part of a saved session) to a single file: settings.yaml. This includes the active theme, UI scale, NRPN settings, file-browser bookmarks, recent and last-used folders, audition settings, the custom presets folder, and the stem separation model folder.

Where it lives

OS Settings file
Windows %APPDATA%\Roaming\INTERSECT\settings.yaml
macOS ~/Library/Application Support/INTERSECT/settings.yaml
Linux ~/.config/INTERSECT/settings.yaml

The folder is created on first launch. themes/, presets/ (your saved presets), preset-samples/ (audio unpacked from presets exported with samples), downloaded ONNX Runtime bundles, and downloaded stem models also live alongside it.

When it’s written

settings.yaml is rewritten whenever you change any of the persisted preferences from inside the plugin:

  • Adjust UI scale in SET
  • Pick a different theme in SET → Themes
  • Change middle-C octave in SET
  • Close the file browser (FILES) — this saves the folder you were in
  • Change browser bookmarks, add or load from a new folder (recent folders), or change AUTO or the audition volume
  • Change any NRPN setting in SET → NRPN Settings
  • Select a stem model folder or compute device in SET → Stem Separation
  • Choose or clear a custom presets folder in SET → Presets

If the settings folder can’t be created (sandboxed plugin host, read-only home), the save is skipped silently — INTERSECT still runs with the in-memory defaults.

Format

The file is a simple line-oriented key: value format with one minor structure: bookmarks are written as a nested list.

uiScale: 1.50
theme: oc
nrpnEnabled: false
nrpnChannel: 0
nrpnBlockCc: true
middleC: 4
sampleBrowserBookmarks:
  - /home/you/samples/breaks
  - /home/you/samples/oneshots
browserRecentFolders:
  - /home/you/samples/breaks
browserLastFolder: /home/you/samples/breaks
auditionAutoPlay: true
auditionGainDb: -6.0
stemModelFolder: /home/you/.config/INTERSECT/stem-models
presetFolder: /home/you/Sync/intersect-presets
stemComputeDevice: cuda

Key reference

Key Type Values Purpose
uiScale float 0.5 to 3.0 (in 0.25 steps) Desired editor scale factor. Mirrors the uiScale APVTS parameter on load. The plugin renders at the largest scale that fully fits your display, so on small monitors the on-screen size may be smaller than this value — the SET menu then shows it as “fits …x”.
theme string filename stem of a theme in your themes/ folder Active theme. Falls back to dark if the named file isn’t present.
nrpnEnabled bool true / false Master toggle for NRPN slice editing.
nrpnChannel int 0 to 16 (0 = omni) MIDI channel filter for NRPN editing.
nrpnBlockCc bool true / false If true, NRPN edit CCs are stripped from MIDI output instead of passing through.
middleC int 3, 4, or 5 Which octave the note name display calls middle C. Doesn’t change stored MIDI data.
sampleBrowserBookmarks list YAML-style nested list of paths Pinned folders shown under BOOKMARKS in the file browser.
browserRecentFolders list YAML-style nested list of paths, newest first (max 8) Folders you recently added or loaded files from, shown under RECENT.
browserLastFolder string filesystem path The folder the file browser opens in. Falls back to your home folder if it no longer exists.
auditionAutoPlay bool true / false Whether selecting a file in the browser previews it (AUTO).
auditionGainDb float -24.0 to 6.0 Browser audition volume in dB (VOL).
stemModelFolder string filesystem path Folder INTERSECT scans for ONNX stem models.
presetFolder string filesystem path Custom presets folder, listed in the browser alongside the default presets/ folder. Omitted when none is set.
stemComputeDevice string cpu, cuda, migraphx, directml, coreml (depends on platform) Active stem-separation device.

Legacy keys

Old key Behaviour
sampleBrowserVisible Whether the old side-panel browser was open. Ignored: the file browser always starts closed.
stemModelPath Single-file path (pre-folder builds). If present and valid, INTERSECT migrates it by treating the file’s parent directory as the new stemModelFolder and rewriting the file on next save.

Old keys you no longer need can be left in the file safely — unknown keys are ignored.

Recipes

Reset to defaults

Quit your DAW (or the standalone), delete settings.yaml, then start INTERSECT again. The file is recreated the next time you change a setting.

Move your setup to a new machine

Copy the entire INTERSECT settings folder (the parent of settings.yaml) to the same path on the new machine. You’ll get your themes, scale, NRPN config, bookmarks, downloaded models, and downloaded ONNX Runtime bundle in one move.

Share a theme without copying settings

Only copy the file from inside themes/. The theme: line in someone else’s settings.yaml is irrelevant to you — INTERSECT looks up the file by name.