diff --git a/nix/templates/harness-base.nix b/nix/templates/harness-base.nix
index d81178d5..e58829d8 100644
--- a/nix/templates/harness-base.nix
+++ b/nix/templates/harness-base.nix
@@ -106,6 +106,34 @@ in
     '';
   };
 
+  options.hyperhive.availableModels = lib.mkOption {
+    type = lib.types.listOf lib.types.str;
+    default = [
+      "haiku"
+      "sonnet"
+      "opus"
+    ];
+    example = [
+      "sonnet"
+      "opus"
+    ];
+    description = ''
+      Models offered in the per-agent web UI's model quick-picker. Rendered
+      into the `HIVE_AVAILABLE_MODELS` environment variable (comma-separated)
+      which the harness surfaces to the agent UI, so the picker lists exactly
+      these models instead of a hardcoded set.
+
+      Configure hive-wide by setting a shared default (e.g. in your
+      `agent-base.nix`) or per-agent to narrow the menu — for example a
+      haiku-only agent can hide `opus` and `sonnet`. The *current* model is
+      still set by `hyperhive.model` and remains switchable at runtime via the
+      UI; this option only controls which choices the picker presents.
+
+      Values are the short model names that `claude --model` accepts:
+      `"haiku"`, `"sonnet"`, `"opus"` (or any future identifier).
+    '';
+  };
+
   options.hyperhive.allowedBashPatterns = lib.mkOption {
     type = lib.types.listOf lib.types.str;
     default = [ ];
@@ -612,6 +640,17 @@ in
         assertion = config.hyperhive.model != "";
         message = "hyperhive.model must not be empty (set it to e.g. \"haiku\" or \"sonnet\")";
       }
+      # The current model must appear in the quick-picker menu, otherwise the
+      # UI would offer no way back to the model the agent is actually running.
+      {
+        assertion =
+          config.hyperhive.availableModels == [ ]
+          || builtins.elem config.hyperhive.model config.hyperhive.availableModels;
+        message =
+          "hyperhive.model (\"${config.hyperhive.model}\") must be one of "
+          + "hyperhive.availableModels ([ ${lib.concatStringsSep " " config.hyperhive.availableModels} ]) "
+          + "— add it to the list or change the model.";
+      }
       # hyperhive.forge.url must look like an HTTP URL when non-default.
       {
         assertion =
@@ -868,6 +907,11 @@ in
     # host-level `services.hyperhive.c0re.contextWindowTokens` option — not set here.
     environment.variables = {
       HIVE_DEFAULT_MODEL = config.hyperhive.model;
+      # HIVE_AVAILABLE_MODELS is the comma-separated menu for the per-agent
+      # UI model quick-picker (see hyperhive.availableModels). The harness
+      # surfaces it to the frontend; an empty value falls back to the
+      # built-in default list.
+      HIVE_AVAILABLE_MODELS = lib.concatStringsSep "," config.hyperhive.availableModels;
       HIVE_ASSETS_DIR = "${pkgs.hyperhive-assets}/share/hyperhive";
       SHELL = "${pkgs.bashInteractive}/bin/bash";
     }