Owner decision 2026-09-22: 'it doesn't make sense to have any default
model configured anywhere; the application is bring your own keys.'
config.ts: MODELS deleted; ModelRole becomes an explicit 9-role union;
DEFAULT_THINKING_ORDER (medium, low, high, minimal, xhigh, max) bakes
the unset-level default — first entry the model supports; explicitly
set levels keep pi's native nearest-clamp.
core/settings-resolution: the factory layer dissolves — the chain is
role override → slot → NOTHING. resolveSettings(record) takes no
factory. Empty chains resolve to null/undefined; a thinkingLevel-only
slot is inert (stored, never run). resolveConversationSpec: chat.model
override over the strong slot, null when both empty. resolveRoleSpec
spans all nine roles for the job/extraction engines.
Refusal envelope (core/settings.ts): modelsNotConfigured(missing) —
{error, code: 'models_not_configured', missing: [slot tiers]} +
ModelsNotConfiguredError with .envelope. Per-need gates, each honest:
- chat-handler: universal turn gate (new + continuing turns) returns
503 before beginTurn — no liveness, no write-ahead persist, no graph
trigger before the gate fires.
- runner.runJob: unresolvable engine lands the job as error with the
envelope wording; no phantom loop, no result steer.
- extraction: refuseIfStagesUnconfigured throws before any stage
(turn-service info-skips so coverage retries next turn; the import
route surfaces per-file code+missing); labeler-less runs skip
cluster naming with a console line and still merge.
Write side: slot entries must carry a model — level-only slot writes
are 400s (absent slot key = clear). piEngineForSpec resolves unset
thinking levels via DEFAULT_THINKING_ORDER; piEngineFor now throws
honestly; thinkingLevelFor/modelIdFor deleted; teacher-agent, pi-run,
visual-maker, pdf-reader all read engine.level.
model-catalog: defaults/slots/rolePins null when the chain is empty
(contracts nullable) — no phantom ids in payloads. Stores drop
MODEL_PINS entirely.
Tests: pin-leaners converted to explicit injection (per-chat model
pins on scripted chats — exactly what the setup flow writes; faux
engines for agent-construction tests). New coverage: the 503 gate
envelope, the runner refusal, the extraction refusal + labeler skip.
Gates: typecheck, lint, 815/815, build.
Model slots wave (2026-09-20), chunk B:
- settings: new `models` section {strong, cheap, vision} slots (each
field independent, same shape as a role override); ROLE_SLOT maps all
nine roles to tiers (strong=prober+teacher, cheap=researcher/
demoBuilder/extractor/auditor/labeler, vision=visualMaker+pdfReader);
resolution chain per role: override → slot → factory pin.
- config: ModelSpec gains provider (all pins openrouter, the BYOK
default); MODEL_PINS in stores.ts now spans all nine roles (the strong
slot's factory rep IS the prober pin).
- engine: piModels() registers EVERY builtin provider catalog;
piEngineForSpec(resolved spec) is the new engine factory (pi-ai
resolves per-provider keys from env itself); piEngineFor stays as the
config-pin fallback. chat-handler resolves the conversation chain
(chat override → strong slot → pin) and injects engineFor into the job
runner, closing the old gap where per-role overrides never reached
job engines.
- /api/models: models federate ONLY keyed providers (providers surface
with keyPresent, env-wins, fresh per call); slots (resolved tier pins)
join rolePins; catalogDefaultsFor inherits the strong slot; the models
settings section gets the same catalog gate as chat.
- pricing: PRICES/CONTEXT_LIMITS uniformly keyed provider:id
(regenerated from ALL pi-ai catalogs, 1354 keys); usage stamps
(TurnUsage, JobUsage, extraction stages) switch to provider:id —
owner decision: no legacy compat, old stamps render unpriced.
Search port + model slots wave, chunk A (owner design, 2026-09-20):
- core/search.ts: SearchHit + SearchProvider port + SearchStatus —
pure, browser-safe; adapters arrive as injected dependencies.
- server/search.ts: Tavily + Brave adapters (wire shapes VERIFIED
against docs.tavily.com's OpenAPI + Brave's dashboard docs — Tavily
auth is the Bearer header, not the legacy body api_key; Brave is
X-Subscription-Token) + engine resolution per owner decisions: a key
ALONE activates its engine (no engine choice needed), explicit
agent.search.engine pins the preference (both keys: Tavily first),
a pinned engine with a missing key is honestly unavailable — no
silent fallback, no default engine.
- Curated keys catalog: GOOGLE_SEARCH_API_KEY/GOOGLE_CSE_ID retire
(CSE closed to new customers, dies Jan 2027 — stored values become
preserved unknown vars); TAVILY_API_KEY (tvly- shape) + BRAVE_API_KEY
(length guard) join. UI keys-section TOOL_IDS now derives from the
catalog — cannot drift.
- GET /api/search: {available, engine, reason} — the honest status for
the settings gray-out; researcher-disable semantics ride the same
signal (Teacher stream rewires the tool onto the port).
- agent.search settings field (schema + sanitizer + strict parser);
web.ts's WebSearchResult is now the core SearchHit (re-exported).
amosblomqvist