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Agent Model Settings

Configure per-agent model overrides for subagents via settings, without editing agent definition files.

What it does

The agentModels.models setting lets you override the default model used by each subagent type (e.g., Explore, Sandbox) without modifying the agent definition .md files. You can specify an ordered fallback list — the first available model is used.

This applies to all subagents, including those launched by the mach6 skill workflow.

Configuration

Add to your ~/.dreb/settings.json:

{
  "agentModels": {
    "models": {
      "Explore": ["openai/gpt-4o", "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-20250514"],
      "Sandbox": ["anthropic/claude-haiku-3-20250422"]
    }
  }
}

Each key is an agent type name, and the value is an ordered list of model IDs (in provider/model format). Project-level settings (.dreb/settings.json) are merged over global settings.

Resolution Order

When a subagent is launched, its model is resolved in this priority:

  1. Per-invocation model override — highest priority, set explicitly in the subagent tool call
  2. agentModels.models setting — from your settings.json, per agent type
  3. Agent definition model field — from the .md agent file's frontmatter
  4. Parent session model — used when none of the above resolve to an available model

If the agentModels.models list is empty or undefined for a given agent, resolution falls through to the agent definition's model, then to the parent session model.

Parent Model Identity in System Prompt

The parent session's running model is exposed in its own system prompt as:

You are running on: provider/id

This lets the parent model make self-aware routing decisions — e.g. delegating vision tasks if it's on a text-only model, or explicitly requesting a differently-architected model as a critic when diverse perspectives improve reliability. The identity line updates automatically whenever the user switches models mid-session.

TUI Usage

Open /settings and select the Agent Models submenu. Each discovered agent type gets its own entry where you can:

  • Reorder models (move up/down to set priority)
  • Add new models from the available model list
  • Remove models from the fallback list

Changes are saved to your global settings immediately.

Example

{
  "agentModels": {
    "models": {
      "Explore": [
        "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
        "anthropic/claude-haiku-3-20250422"
      ]
    }
  }
}

This configures the Explore agent to prefer gpt-4o-mini, falling back to claude-haiku if the first isn't available. All other agents use their default models.