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.
Model + thinking control refinements (components/model-picker.tsx):
- Drop the '·' separator between the two buttons.
- The thinking button shows just the level ('High', 'Max') — same
doctrine as the model button showing just the model name; '—' when
unknown. Pinned in render-stats-bar (label + no-dot assertions).
- The dropdowns now close on any pointerdown outside the control
(the toggle buttons stay inside the container and keep their own
toggling) and on Esc — the intuitive dropdown contract, instead of
the button being the only way out.
Note: file is graph-stream-owned per SCOPE; touching it per the owner's
direct request (same as cd518a4) — flagged for master.
Live-driving the real browser caught it (the user's report: "they don't
work as buttons"): the stats row sits OUTSIDE the composer shell's
pointer-events-auto div, inside the sticky scroll wrapper's
pointer-events-none — every control on the row was unclickable, including
the pre-existing stats-detail popover button. The row now re-enables
pointer-events itself.
Also, per the user's sizing note: bar text 10px → 11px with a touch more
breathing room, and the model + thinking controls gain quiet pill
affordance (rounded-full border, card bg, ▾ chevron) — still muted by
design, but visibly buttons.
Verified live end-to-end in the browser: click opens the model menu ABOVE
(366 rows, search autofocused), "qwen flash" narrows to 5, picking
qwen3.8-flash persists + flips the label, the thinking menu shows exactly
that model's supported levels (Off/Minimal/Low/Medium/High), Medium
persists on the record via PUT, labels update. Test session settings
restored after the drive. Gates 350/350.
The model-control wave (user-decided design, 2026-09-12): ONE controller
for the conversation agents (prober/teacher are functionally one agent);
background sub-agents stay config-pinned. pi-ai owns the registry — the
shipped 366-model OpenRouter catalog (cost, context, modality,
thinkingLevelMap), getSupportedThinkingLevels/clampThinkingLevel for the
per-model thinking truth, and streamSimple's automatic clamp. No second
registry to drift out of sync.
Seams:
- config.ts: ReasoningEffort retired for pi's ThinkingLevel
(off|minimal|low|medium|high|xhigh|max). GLM roles go honest at "low" —
pi's catalog says GLM-5.3-flash accepts exactly low|high|max, and the old
"minimal" was silently clamped to low by streamSimple since the swap;
nothing changes behaviorally. visualMaker → qwen/qwen3.8-flash (fixes
the dead qwen/qwen3.8-max slug — the catalog only ships -0902; also the
user's cost pick, 0.15/0.47 per-1M).
- src/agent/models.ts: piEngineFor(role, settings?) — provider+id resolved
from the catalog, thinking level from settings ?? config, CLAMPED to the
model's supported list (a settings change between models can never send
an invalid level). PiEngine gains `level` (observability/tests).
- ChatRecord.settings {model?: {provider, id}, thinkingLevel?} — written
by PUT /api/chats/[id]/settings (replace-whole, no updatedAt churn),
read by chat-handler at turn composition: agents are stateless per turn,
so the change is next-turn-effective by construction. The turns log
still records the ACTUAL billed model (the honest witness).
- GET /api/models: the configured-provider catalog as client-safe DTOs
(core/contracts/models.ts) + config defaults; a second provider joins
the picker by registering it in piModels() — nothing else changes.
- PUT settings validation gate (src/server/model-catalog.ts): unknown
provider/model or unsupported level → 400 carrying the supported list,
never a silent clamp.
- scripts/sync-pricing.ts: regenerated PRICES/CONTEXT_LIMITS from pi-ai's
shipped openrouter.json (offline; same source as the engine + picker).
All 366 models priced; glm's stale 0.15/0.5 → pi's 0.075/0.25, limit
1310720 → 1048576 — cost is inferred at read time, so history re-prices.
- UI (components/model-picker.tsx): stats-bar right side becomes model +
thinking buttons; menus open ABOVE; fuzzy search over "provider id
name" (core/fuzzy.ts — pi's /model pattern); model rows show name/id/
price/context; the thinking menu lists exactly the chosen model's
supported levels (GLM: low|high|max — no dead options, no "off").
Model switch drops an incompatible pinned level (falls back to config,
which clamps honestly) rather than carrying a 400.
Tests (350/350, +15): catalog projection + defaults, the settings gate,
pi thinking truth pinned against upgrades (glm low|high|max; minimal→low;
off→low — GLM cannot disable thinking), the engine factory's
override/fallback/clamp/throw matrix, fuzzy ranking, store round-trip,
and the re-priced folds (usage, stats bar, activity dock).
Live smoke (disposable driver, deleted): catalog route 366 + defaults;
glm+minimal → 400 + supported; turn 1 billed qwen/qwen3.8-flash under
the override; mid-session switch flipped turn 2 to glm; clear-overrides
restored the config pin. ALL CHECKS PASS on real OpenRouter.
Live smoke exposed two bugs in the turn usage log:
- onFinish messages carry no ids (withMessageIds fills copies inside
persistTurn), so fresh turns keyed messageId "" — provenance lost.
- The SDK coalesces continuation turns into ONE response message (a whole
probe conversation lands in a single assistant message), so per-messageId
idempotency swallowed every continuation turn's usage.
TurnUsage gains id: string (unique per request, the append idempotency
key); messageId stays as transcript provenance, taken from the id-filled
list. appendTurnUsage dedupes by id; continuation turns with the same
messageId each keep their usage.
One quiet row beneath the composer/question shell (not flush to the
screen bottom; static height, outside the morphing shell):
- LEFT: context window + session cost, clickable → per-turn detail
popover (context, total, unpriced count, one row per turn with
model/steps/cost). All folds from core/prices.ts — sessionCost,
contextWindow, turnCost — no cost math in components.
- RIGHT: model + "Thinking —" — a placeholder slot for the coming
model/thinking-level CONTROL (later work with its contract changes);
display-only today, model read from the last turn's usage,
pretty-printed (Glm 5.3 Flash).
- Data: the record's turns log, seeded on mount, refreshed when the
local stream settles, kept fresh by the existing record re-syncs.
No turns yet → "—" everywhere; unpriceable turns never fold into a
fake $0 (the doctrine).
- formatUsd/formatTokens moved to components/usage-format.ts (shared
with the activity dock); prettyModel joins them, pure + tested.
amosblomqvist