Default Settings for Modly: Complete Configuration Reference

Modly applies a hierarchy of hard-coded CLI defaults, environment variables, and user-level settings.json files to configure its API endpoints, file paths, and 3D generation parameters, with all core defaults defined in tools/modly-cli/agent.py.

Modly is an open-source 3D asset generation toolkit hosted in the lightningpixel/modly repository. Its behavior is governed by a structured configuration system that combines environment variables, JSON configuration files, and fallback constants defined directly in the source code.

API and Network Defaults

The networking layer initializes with localhost-centric defaults designed for local development.

• API Base URL: http://127.0.0.1:8765 (overridable via MODLY_API_URL environment variable) — defined at line 40 of tools/modly-cli/agent.py
• Backend Host: "127.0.0.1" — line 1172
• Backend Port: 8765 — line 1173
• Per-Request Timeout: 30 seconds for individual HTTP operations — line 1189
• ComfyUI Integration: Default URL is http://127.0.0.1:8188, configurable via COMFYUI_URL environment variable — line 1134

CLI Timing and Polling Configuration

Modly's CLI agent uses conservative timeouts suitable for heavy 3D generation workloads.

• CLI Timeout: 1800 seconds (30 minutes), controlled by MODLY_CLI_TIMEOUT or MODLY_AGENT_TIMEOUT — line 41
• Polling Interval: 2.0 seconds between status checks, set via MODLY_CLI_POLL_SECONDS or MODLY_AGENT_POLL_SECONDS — line 42
• Generation Timeout: 1800 seconds — line 1160
• Generation Poll Interval: 2.0 seconds — line 1161

Supported File Formats

The system recognizes specific extensions for input and output operations.

Export Formats (line 43): glb, stl, obj, ply
Default Export Format (line 1144): "glb"
Supported Image Suffixes (line 44): .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .webp
Supported 3D Asset Suffixes (line 45): .glb, .gltf, .obj, .stl, .ply

3D Generation Parameters

Modly's mesh generation pipeline defaults to high-quality output settings.

• Default ComfyUI Workflow: "Trellis2Workflow" — line 1131
• Model Selector: "auto" (uses "active" if explicitly requested) — line 1145
• Workspace Collection: "Agent" — line 1146
• Remesh Mode: "quad" — line 1147
• Texture Generation: Enabled (True) — line 1148
• Texture Resolution: 1024 pixels — line 1151
• Texture Atlas Size: 2048 pixels — line 1153
• Texture Diffusion Steps: 30 — line 1154
• Texture Guidance Strength: 3.0 — line 1155

Configuration Resolution Hierarchy

Modly resolves settings through a cascading priority system implemented in the _resolve_serve_config function (lines 15-33 of tools/modly-cli/agent.py).

1. CLI arguments take highest precedence
2. User settings.json files located in APPDATA/Modly/ (Windows) or ~/.config/Modly/ (Unix)
3. Environment variables (e.g., MODLY_API_URL, HF_TOKEN)
4. Hard-coded defaults as defined in the source

Default Directory Paths

When no user configuration exists, Modly falls back to standard local directories.

• Models Directory: ~/.modly/models — line 28
• Workspace Directory: ~/.modly/workspace — line 30
• HF Token: Empty string ("") unless supplied via CLI flag, user settings, or the HF_TOKEN environment variable — lines 26-34

The settings router in api/routers/settings.py (lines 21-26) exposes these effective paths through the /settings/paths endpoint, returning the current in-process values of reg_module.MODELS_DIR and reg_module.WORKSPACE_DIR.

Querying Current Settings via the API

You can verify the active configuration at runtime using the Modly API:

import requests
import json

BASE = "http://127.0.0.1:8765"
resp = requests.get(f"{BASE}/settings/paths")
print(json.dumps(resp.json(), indent=2))

# Output: {"models_dir": "/home/user/.modly/models", "workspace_dir": "/home/user/.modly/workspace"}

To run the CLI with all defaults intact:

modly-cli generate \
  --image selfie.jpg \
  --output result.glb

# Internally applied defaults:

#   --model auto --remesh quad --texture --texture-resolution 1024 ...

To locate potential user settings files:

from pathlib import Path
import json

candidates = [
    Path.home() / ".config" / "Modly" / "settings.json",
    # Windows: Path(os.environ["APPDATA"]) / "Modly" / "settings.json"

]

for p in candidates:
    if p.exists():
        print(f"Found settings: {p}")
        print(json.loads(p.read_text()))

Summary

• Modly's default API endpoint is http://127.0.0.1:8765 with a 30-second request timeout and 1800-second generation timeout
• Default generation uses the "Trellis2Workflow" ComfyUI workflow with 1024px textures and quad remeshing
• File operations default to ~/.modly/models and ~/.modly/workspace directories
• All hard-coded defaults are defined in tools/modly-cli/agent.py, retrievable via the /settings/paths endpoint defined in api/routers/settings.py
• Configuration resolution follows: CLI args > user JSON settings > environment variables > source code defaults

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I override Modly's default API URL?

Set the MODLY_API_URL environment variable before launching the CLI or server. According to line 40 of tools/modly-cli/agent.py, this variable supersedes the hard-coded http://127.0.0.1:8765 default.

Where does Modly store its default models and workspace?

By default, Modly uses ~/.modly/models for model storage and ~/.modly/workspace for output files, as defined at lines 28 and 30 of tools/modly-cli/agent.py. These paths are exposed via the /settings/paths API endpoint implemented in api/routers/settings.py.

What is the default texture resolution in Modly?

The default texture resolution is 1024 pixels, with texture atlases sized at 2048 pixels. These values are hard-coded at lines 1151 and 1153 of tools/modly-cli/agent.py, alongside 30 diffusion steps and a guidance strength of 3.0.

How does Modly resolve conflicting configuration values?

Modly applies a strict hierarchy implemented in the _resolve_serve_config function (lines 15-33). Explicit CLI arguments take precedence, followed by values from settings.json in the user's config directory, then environment variables, and finally the hard-coded constants defined in the source files.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}