Fix 1 — clamp, never reject (owner ruling, interlude 2026-09-22): a
model swap with a pinned thinking level must JUST WORK. The owner hit
the write-side 400 live (Claude Fable 5.1/xhigh → GLM 5.3 flash:
"z-ai/glm-5.3-flash does not support thinking level xhigh"). The
supported-level verdicts in validateChatSettings and
validateModelsSettings are DEAD — the WRITE clamps the pin to the new
model's nearest supported level (pi's clampThinkingLevel, the same
translation piEngineForSpec applies at runtime) and stores the clamped
result; the server is the truth — the record shows the clamped level
after write.
New pure helpers in model-catalog.ts, applied by ALL THREE write
routes (section, defaults, per-chat — one verdict seam, so every
surface that used the old 400 gets the clamp uniformly):
- clampModelsLevels: every slot's level clamps against the SLOT'S OWN
model (the parser already requires a model on each slot write).
- clampChatLevel: the body's own model, else the record's resolved
strong slot (the chain's fallback); no model anywhere → rides
unchecked (runtime clamps at engine build; the turn gate refuses
the model-less chat anyway).
Fix 2 — DEFAULT_THINKING_ORDER moves from config.ts to core/settings
(core barrel, AUTH_KEYS precedent — one source of truth, no drift).
The UI imports it to auto-populate a thinking level on FRESH model
picks; the ordering has no other client role. Legacy unset records
keep the runtime defaultThinkingLevel fallback at engine build
untouched. Import sites updated: agent/models.ts, tests.
Verified live on 3004: the owner's exact case stores max (not 400);
a bare chat-level write clamps to low against the strong slot's glm;
unknown provider/model still 400s with the provider list.
Tests: the level-verdict suites became clamp suites (the owner's case
pinned verbatim: xhigh→max, minimal→low, off→low, supported
pass-through, level-less slots ride); the machine-aware
expectBareLevelVerdict chain is retired — clampChatLevel takes the
strong slot as an explicit param, so the tests are pure again.
Gates: typecheck, lint, 839/839, build.
amosblomqvist
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