Per-Agent Model Selection

Try this to prioritize quality for the session:

Have all agents use Opus for the rest of this session

Try this to optimize costs:

Switch to Haiku — I'm trying to save costs

Try this to balance quality and budget:

Use Sonnet for code, Haiku for everything else

Squad adjusts model selection based on your directive. Agents writing code get quality models (Sonnet/Opus), agents doing docs/logs get cost-optimized models (Haiku). You can override anytime.

How It Works

Squad routes each agent to the right model based on what they’re doing — not a one-size-fits-all default. The governing principle: cost first, unless code is being written.

How It Works

Model selection uses a layered system. First match wins:

  1. User Override — You said “use opus” or “save costs”? Done. Session-wide directives persist until contradicted.
  2. Charter Preference — The agent’s charter specifies a ## Model section with a preferred model.
  3. Task-Aware Auto-Selection — The coordinator checks what the agent is actually doing:
Task Output Model Tier
Writing code (implementation, refactoring, tests, bug fixes) claude-sonnet-4.5 Standard
Writing prompts or agent designs claude-sonnet-4.5 Standard
Non-code work (docs, planning, triage, changelogs) claude-haiku-4.5 Fast
Visual/design work requiring image analysis claude-opus-4.5 Premium
  1. Default — If nothing matched, claude-haiku-4.5. Cost wins when in doubt.

Role-to-Model Mapping

Role Default Model Why
Core Dev / Backend / Frontend claude-sonnet-4.5 Writes code — quality first
Tester / QA claude-sonnet-4.5 Writes test code
Lead / Architect auto (per-task) Mixed: code review vs. planning
Prompt Engineer auto (per-task) Prompt design is like code
DevRel / Writer claude-haiku-4.5 Docs — not code
Scribe / Logger claude-haiku-4.5 Mechanical file ops
Git / Release claude-haiku-4.5 Changelogs, tags, version bumps
Designer / Visual claude-opus-4.5 Vision capability required

16-Model Catalog

Squad supports 16 models across three tiers:

  • Premium: claude-opus-4.6, claude-opus-4.6-fast, claude-opus-4.5
  • Standard: claude-sonnet-4.5, gpt-5.2-codex, claude-sonnet-4, gpt-5.2, gpt-5.1-codex, gpt-5.1, gpt-5, gemini-3-pro-preview
  • Fast/Cheap: claude-haiku-4.5, gpt-5.1-codex-mini, gpt-4.1, gpt-5-mini, gpt-5.1-codex-mini

Fallback Chains

If a model is unavailable (plan restriction, rate limit, deprecation), Squad silently retries with the next in chain:

Premium:  claude-opus-4.6 → claude-opus-4.6-fast → claude-opus-4.5 → claude-sonnet-4.5
Standard: claude-sonnet-4.5 → gpt-5.2-codex → claude-sonnet-4 → gpt-5.2
Fast:     claude-haiku-4.5 → gpt-5.1-codex-mini → gpt-4.1 → gpt-5-mini

Never falls back UP in tier — a fast task won’t land on a premium model.

User Overrides

Tell the coordinator what you want:

  • "use opus for this" — one-off premium
  • "always use haiku" — session-wide cost savings
  • "use gpt-5.2-codex for Fenster" — agent-specific override

Sample Prompts

use opus for this architecture work

Override to premium model for a single high-stakes task.

always use haiku to save costs

Set session-wide preference for the cheapest model tier.

what model did Kane use for that last task?

Check which model was actually used for a completed task.

use gpt-5.2-codex for all backend work

Set a specific model for tasks in a particular domain.

switch back to automatic model selection

Clear any session-wide overrides and return to task-aware auto-selection.