> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.alquimia.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Settings Overview

> Configure the building blocks that agents are assembled from.

Settings is where you configure the infrastructure your agents depend on. **Before creating your first agent, configure at least one model here.**

Think of Settings as the toolbox. Agents are built from the tools in the box. You define the tools once, and any agent in the workspace can use them.

## The settings sections

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Models Registry" icon="cpu" href="/platform/settings/models">
    Register LLM providers and their API credentials. Every agent needs a model.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MCP Servers" icon="plug" href="/platform/settings/mcp-servers">
    Connect external tools — APIs, databases, and services agents can call.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sentinels" icon="shield" href="/platform/settings/sentinels">
    Define safety and pre-processing agents that intercept requests before your main agent runs.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Note>
  Embeddings for the **Knowledge Base** are managed automatically by the Alquimia runtime — there is no embeddings model to configure here.
</Note>

## Recommended setup order

1. **Models** — required to create any agent
2. **MCP Servers** — required if you want agents to use external tools
3. **Sentinels** — optional, for safety and moderation workflows

<Note>
  All settings are scoped to the active workspace. If you switch to a different workspace, you'll start with an empty settings configuration for that workspace.
</Note>

## Bootstrap from Docker Compose

Cloud models are not pre-filled from `.env`—add them in **Settings → Models Registry**. If you use the **`with-local-models`** profile and set `OLLAMA_MODELS` in `.env`, `studio-init` can register those Ollama models for you; still confirm they appear under Models before you create an agent.