diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 803c559..dab6d5e 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -452,6 +452,7 @@ pub fn build_exe(
             .{ .name = "thespian", .module = thespian_mod },
             .{ .name = "cbor", .module = cbor_mod },
             .{ .name = "config", .module = config_mod },
+            .{ .name = "gui_config", .module = gui_config_mod },
             .{ .name = "log", .module = log_mod },
             .{ .name = "command", .module = command_mod },
             .{ .name = "EventHandler", .module = EventHandler_mod },
diff --git a/src/gui_config.zig b/src/gui_config.zig
index ea65ca3..c981dc7 100644
--- a/src/gui_config.zig
+++ b/src/gui_config.zig
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 fontface: [] const u8 = "Cascadia Code",
-fontsize: f32 = 17.5,
+fontsize: u8 = 17,
 
 include_files: []const u8 = "",
diff --git a/src/keybind/builtin/flow.json b/src/keybind/builtin/flow.json
index 1a83cb5..168aebe 100644
--- a/src/keybind/builtin/flow.json
+++ b/src/keybind/builtin/flow.json
@@ -199,6 +199,7 @@
             ["r", "open_recent_project"],
             ["p", "open_command_palette"],
             ["c", "open_config"],
+            ["g", "open_gui_config"],
             ["k", "open_keybind_config"],
             ["t", "change_theme"],
             ["q", "quit"],
diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 83469bd..1491189 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -393,7 +393,11 @@ pub fn free_config(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, bufs: [][]const u8) void {
     for (bufs) |buf| allocator.free(buf);
 }
 
+var config_mutex: std.Thread.Mutex = .{};
+
 pub fn read_config(T: type, allocator: std.mem.Allocator) struct { T, [][]const u8 } {
+    config_mutex.lock();
+    defer config_mutex.unlock();
     var bufs: [][]const u8 = &[_][]const u8{};
     const file_name = get_app_config_file_name(application_name, @typeName(T)) catch return .{ .{}, bufs };
     var conf: T = .{};
@@ -404,7 +408,7 @@ pub fn read_config(T: type, allocator: std.mem.Allocator) struct { T, [][]const
 
 fn read_config_file(T: type, allocator: std.mem.Allocator, conf: *T, bufs: *[][]const u8, file_name: []const u8) void {
     read_json_config_file(T, allocator, conf, bufs, file_name) catch |e|
-        log.logger("config").print_err("read_config", "error reading config file: {any}", .{e});
+        std.log.err("error reading config file '{s}' {any}", .{ file_name, e });
     return;
 }
 
@@ -453,6 +457,8 @@ fn read_nested_include_files(T: type, allocator: std.mem.Allocator, conf: *T, bu
 }
 
 pub fn write_config(conf: anytype, allocator: std.mem.Allocator) !void {
+    config_mutex.lock();
+    defer config_mutex.unlock();
     return write_json_file(@TypeOf(conf), conf, allocator, try get_app_config_file_name(application_name, @typeName(@TypeOf(conf))));
 }
 
@@ -643,14 +649,8 @@ fn get_app_config_file_name(appname: []const u8, comptime base_name: []const u8)
 fn get_app_config_dir_file_name(appname: []const u8, comptime config_file_name: []const u8) ![]const u8 {
     const local = struct {
         var config_file_buffer: [std.posix.PATH_MAX]u8 = undefined;
-        var config_file: ?[]const u8 = null;
     };
-    const config_file = if (local.config_file) |file|
-        file
-    else
-        try std.fmt.bufPrint(&local.config_file_buffer, "{s}/{s}", .{ try get_app_config_dir(appname), config_file_name });
-    local.config_file = config_file;
-    return config_file;
+    return std.fmt.bufPrint(&local.config_file_buffer, "{s}/{s}", .{ try get_app_config_dir(appname), config_file_name });
 }
 
 pub fn get_config_file_name(T: type) ![]const u8 {
diff --git a/src/renderer/win32/renderer.zig b/src/renderer/win32/renderer.zig
index 90ded6a..171e5e9 100644
--- a/src/renderer/win32/renderer.zig
+++ b/src/renderer/win32/renderer.zig
@@ -134,7 +134,10 @@ pub fn stop(self: *Self) void {
     // the window is created and we call dispatch_initialized
     const hwnd = self.hwnd orelse unreachable;
     gui.stop(hwnd);
-    if (self.thread) |thread| thread.join();
+    if (self.thread) |thread| {
+        thread.join();
+        self.thread = null;
+    }
 }
 
 pub fn stdplane(self: *Self) Plane {
diff --git a/src/tui/home.zig b/src/tui/home.zig
index cbd5c24..bd78972 100644
--- a/src/tui/home.zig
+++ b/src/tui/home.zig
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 const std = @import("std");
+const build_options = @import("build_options");
 const tp = @import("thespian");
 
 const Plane = @import("renderer").Plane;
@@ -25,7 +26,19 @@ input_namespace: []const u8,
 
 const Self = @This();
 
-const menu_commands = &[_][]const u8{
+const menu_commands = if (build_options.gui) &[_][]const u8{
+    "open_help",
+    "open_file",
+    "open_recent",
+    "open_recent_project",
+    "open_command_palette",
+    "open_config",
+    "open_gui_config",
+    "open_keybind_config",
+    "toggle_input_mode",
+    "change_theme",
+    "quit",
+} else &[_][]const u8{
     "open_help",
     "open_file",
     "open_recent",
diff --git a/src/tui/mainview.zig b/src/tui/mainview.zig
index e6630b5..bdb26b2 100644
--- a/src/tui/mainview.zig
+++ b/src/tui/mainview.zig
@@ -378,11 +378,17 @@ const cmds = struct {
     pub const open_help_meta = .{ .description = "Open help" };
 
     pub fn open_config(_: *Self, _: Ctx) Result {
-        const file_name = try root.get_config_file_name(@TypeOf(tui.current().config));
+        const file_name = try root.get_config_file_name(@import("config"));
         try tp.self_pid().send(.{ "cmd", "navigate", .{ .file = file_name } });
     }
     pub const open_config_meta = .{ .description = "Edit configuration file" };
 
+    pub fn open_gui_config(_: *Self, _: Ctx) Result {
+        const file_name = try root.get_config_file_name(@import("gui_config"));
+        try tp.self_pid().send(.{ "cmd", "navigate", .{ .file = file_name } });
+    }
+    pub const open_gui_config_meta = .{ .description = "Edit gui configuration file" };
+
     pub fn create_scratch_buffer(self: *Self, ctx: Ctx) Result {
         try self.check_all_not_dirty();
         tui.reset_drag_context();
diff --git a/src/win32/gui.zig b/src/win32/gui.zig
index 1e19e2b..7897a9c 100644
--- a/src/win32/gui.zig
+++ b/src/win32/gui.zig
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ const global = struct {
     var icons: Icons = undefined;
     var dwrite_factory: *win32.IDWriteFactory = undefined;
     var d2d_factory: *win32.ID2D1Factory = undefined;
+    var conf: ?*gui_config = null;
 
     const shared_screen = struct {
         var mutex: std.Thread.Mutex = .{};
@@ -149,10 +150,26 @@ const Dpi = struct {
 };
 
 fn createTextFormatEditor(dpi: Dpi) *win32.IDWriteTextFormat {
+    const default_config = gui_config{};
+    const fontface_utf8 = if (global.conf) |conf| conf.fontface else blk: {
+        std.log.err("global gui config not found", .{});
+        break :blk default_config.fontface;
+    };
+    const fontsize = if (global.conf) |conf| conf.fontsize else default_config.fontsize;
+
+    var buf: [4096]u8 = undefined;
+    var fba = std.heap.FixedBufferAllocator.init(&buf);
+    var fontface = std.ArrayList(u16).init(fba.allocator());
+    std.unicode.utf8ToUtf16LeArrayList(&fontface, fontface_utf8) catch {
+        std.log.err("fontface contains invalid UTF-8", .{});
+        fontface.clearRetainingCapacity();
+        std.unicode.utf8ToUtf16LeArrayList(&fontface, default_config.fontface) catch {};
+    };
+
     var err: HResultError = undefined;
     return ddui.createTextFormat(global.dwrite_factory, &err, .{
-        .size = win32.scaleDpi(f32, 14, dpi.value),
-        .family_name = win32.L("Cascadia Code"),
+        .size = win32.scaleDpi(f32, @as(f32, @floatFromInt(fontsize)), dpi.value),
+        .family_name = fontface.toOwnedSliceSentinel(0) catch @panic("OOM:createTextFormatEditor"),
     }) catch std.debug.panic("{s} failed, hresult=0x{x}", .{ err.context, err.hr });
 }
 
@@ -230,6 +247,7 @@ const State = struct {
     scroll_delta: isize = 0,
     currently_rendered_cell_size: ?XY(i32) = null,
     background: ?u32 = null,
+    conf: gui_config,
 };
 fn stateFromHwnd(hwnd: win32.HWND) *State {
     const addr: usize = @bitCast(win32.GetWindowLongPtrW(hwnd, @enumFromInt(0)));
@@ -422,6 +440,8 @@ fn entry(pid: thespian.pid) !void {
     );
 
     const conf, _ = root.read_config(gui_config, arena_instance.allocator());
+    root.write_config(conf, arena_instance.allocator()) catch
+        std.log.err("failed to write gui config file", .{});
 
     var create_args = CreateWindowArgs{
         .allocator = arena_instance.allocator(),
@@ -1132,7 +1152,10 @@ fn WndProc(
 
             state.* = .{
                 .pid = create_args.pid,
+                .conf = create_args.conf,
             };
+            global.conf = &state.conf;
+
             const existing = win32.SetWindowLongPtrW(
                 hwnd,
                 @enumFromInt(0),