Per-user settings via Telegram (/settings command)

[dcellison]

Parent: #196

Problem

Per-user defaults for model, budget, and timeout are global env vars (CLAUDE_MODEL, CLAUDE_MAX_BUDGET_USD, CLAUDE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS). In a multi-user setup, all users share the same defaults with no way to customize without SSH access.

The /model command already exists for per-session model switching, but the preference doesn't persist across session restarts. Budget and timeout have no Telegram interface at all.

Proposal

Add a /settings command for users to manage their own persistent defaults:

/settings                    - show current settings
/settings model <name>       - set default model (haiku/sonnet/opus)
/settings budget <n>         - set working budget in USD
/settings timeout <n>        - set timeout in seconds
/settings reset              - clear all overrides
/settings reset <field>      - clear a single field

Precedence

1. Database (user-set via /settings)
2. users.yaml (admin-set baseline: max_budget ceiling)
3. Env file (global defaults)

Constraints

• Budget set via /settings cannot exceed max_budget from users.yaml (admin ceiling)
• Model validation against available models
• Timeout must be positive integer

Storage

Settings table with keys like user_config:{chat_id}:{field}.

Relationship to existing commands

• /model currently sets model for the current session only. After this change, /settings model sets the persistent default, and /model continues to work as a per-session override (taking precedence until session restart).
• /budget currently exists as a per-session command. Same pattern: /settings budget is the persistent default.

users.yaml schema extension

Add optional fields to UserConfig:

users:
  - telegram_id: 123456789
    name: alice
    role: admin
    model: opus          # default model (new)
    timeout: 300         # default timeout (new)
    max_budget: 20.0     # budget ceiling (existing)

The existing max_budget field acts as a ceiling. A new model field and timeout field provide admin-set defaults that users can override via Telegram (within the ceiling for budget).

[dcellison]

Triage by Kai

Triage summary: Proposes a /settings Telegram command for per-user persistent configuration of model, budget, and timeout, with a precedence hierarchy (DB > users.yaml > env vars) and admin-enforced budget ceiling. This is a well-specified child issue of #196 covering the user-facing Telegram interface for multi-user configuration.

Priority: medium
Labels applied: (none added)
Related issues: #196, #195, #103