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hyperhive/docs/swarm/inference.md
atlas 594693f4c7 agents: remove the hive-level /model control; the swarm editor sets the model
The per-agent web UI no longer sets the model: the `/model` slash
command, the model picker, `POST /api/model`, `Bus::set_model` and the
`hyperhive-model` writer are gone. The model chip is display-only and
shows where the model comes from (`model_source` in `/api/state`). The
model is set on the swarm (swarm UI agents page, `swarmctl agent
inference set`).

The read side is unchanged: with no swarm value an agent runs its
agent.nix model, else an existing `hyperhive-model` file, else haiku.
Existing files are not touched.

With the picker gone, its model list goes too: `available_models` in
`/api/state`, the ACP model-list filter, and the harness's global
`HIVE_AVAILABLE_MODELS`. The subagent daemon keeps its own
`HIVE_AVAILABLE_MODELS` from mcp.nix, and the `availableModels`
assertion stays.

`/effort` (command, picker, route, file) is unchanged.

Refs #5034
2026-10-10 23:11:53 +02:00

120 lines
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Markdown

# Per-agent inference settings
The swarm can set the model and reasoning effort each agent's turns run on,
plus the models it may start subagents on. A field you set wins over the
agent's own value; a field you leave unset keeps the agent on its own value,
so an agent you set nothing for runs as it does today.
## Setting them
```sh
swarmctl agent inference set iris --model opus --effort high
swarmctl agent inference get iris
swarmctl agent inference clear iris
```
- `set` changes only the flags you pass; the other fields keep what's
stored. A hive must declare the agent.
- `--effort` is one of `low`, `medium`, `high`, `xhigh`, `max`.
- `--subagent-models` takes a comma-separated list. It replaces the
agent's `availableModels` as the models its subagent `start` and
`continue` calls may name, read on each call
([`subagent.md`](../tools/subagent.md#which-models-a-subagent-may-run-on)).
- `get` shows each field, naming the unset ones (or says the swarm sets
nothing for the agent), and then the model and effort the agent reports
running on, each with where it comes from.
- `clear` removes every field; the agent goes back to its own values.
The full flag reference is [`swarmctl-cli.md`](../tools/swarmctl-cli.md). The
swarm UI's agents page edits the same settings; see [UI](ui.md). The
swarm is the only place to change an agent's model at runtime: its web UI
shows the model but has no picker and no `/model` command.
## What an agent runs on
`get` shows what the agent runs on next to what the swarm sets:
```text
model: opus
effort: (not set; the agent's own)
subagent_models: (not set; the agent's own)
running model: opus (swarm)
running effort: medium (local_file)
```
Each running value names where it comes from:
| source | meaning |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `swarm` | the value set here |
| `agent_nix` | `services.hyperhive.agent.model` or `effortLevel` in the agent's agent.nix |
| `local_file` | an `/effort` pick in the agent's web UI, or a `hyperhive-model` file |
| `default` | the harness's built-in default (`haiku`, `medium`) |
When the agent starts without a swarm value, its agent.nix model wins over
a `hyperhive-model` file, and its `/effort` pick wins over its agent.nix
effort. A `hyperhive-model` file comes from a runtime model pick the
agent's web UI no longer offers; the agent still reads it but never writes
it.
The agent reports these whenever they change, and again once a minute.
swarm-controller keeps only what it has received since it started, so for up
to a minute after a controller restart `get` shows `running: not reported…`.
## When an agent picks a change up
Each agent reads its settings every 10 seconds and switches on the next
read: its next turn runs on the new model or effort, and its web UI badge
shows it. A turn already running keeps what it started with.
- **Its own value is the one it runs without the swarm**: its agent.nix, an
`/effort` pick in its web UI, or a `hyperhive-model` file. Setting a swarm
value doesn't overwrite it.
- **Clearing a field** (or the whole key) puts the agent back on its own
value on the next read.
- **An `/effort` pick while the swarm sets effort** changes the agent's own
value, but the swarm value comes back on the next read.
- **After a restart**, the agent runs its own values until its first read
of its settings succeeds.
<details><summary>Implementation</summary>
The settings live in the `agent-inference` KV bucket, one key per agent,
which swarm-controller alone writes:
```json
{ "model": "opus", "effort": "high", "subagent_models": ["haiku", "sonnet"] }
```
Every field is optional. The agent runs the same with `{}` as with no key;
`GET` answers `"configured": null` for no key (or a cleared one) and `{}` for
a stored value with no fields.
| method | path | body |
| -------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `GET` | `/api/agents/<agent>/inference` | —; answers `{"configured": <the stored value, or null>, "effective": <what the agent reported, or null>}` |
| `PUT` | `/api/agents/<agent>/inference` | the whole value, replacing the stored one; the controller refuses unknown fields, an unknown effort, or a model name with whitespace or a leading `-` |
| `DELETE` | `/api/agents/<agent>/inference` | —; answers 204 |
An agent's own queue credential grants it
`$JS.API.DIRECT.GET.KV_agent-inference.$KV.agent-inference.<agent>`, the
direct read of its own key, and nothing else in this bucket — the same shape
as its schedule key ([`schedules.md`](schedules.md)).
The harness (`hive-agent`'s `swarm_inference`) applies a set field to the
in-memory model or effort without writing `hyperhive-model` or
`hyperhive-effort`, which keep the agent's own value.
The subagent daemon (`hive-subagent-mcp`'s `swarm_models`) reads
`subagent_models` with the same direct get, under the same credential, on
each `start` or `continue` that names a model.
`effective` comes from the agent's turn-state header on
`$SWARM.agent-state.<agent>` ([`README.md`](README.md)), which carries
`model`, `effort`, `model_source` and `effort_source`. swarm-controller
subscribes to every agent's header with the reader grant it already holds for
the state relay and keeps the latest per agent in memory. A header without
those fields, from an agent that doesn't report them, leaves `effective`
`null`.
</details>