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hyperhive/docs/swarm/inference.md
atlas d723fac0be swarm: show each agent's effective model and effort, and where they came from
Each agent now reports the model and effort it runs on, and where each
comes from (`swarm`, `agent_nix`, `local_file` or `default`), in its
turn-state header on `$SWARM.agent-state.<agent>`: `effort`,
`model_source` and `effort_source` join `model`. The shared
`swarm_queue_client::agent_inference::{Effective, Source}` types spell
those fields for both ends.

The Bus keeps a source next to the model and effort. `Bus::new` takes it
from the local fallback chain (`harness_state::local_model` /
`local_effort`, which now return the source with the value), a `/model`
or `/effort` pick sets `local_file`, and the swarm poller sets `swarm`
or, on a clear, the local chain's source. A swarm value equal to the one
the agent already runs is now applied once, so the source moves to
`swarm` and the header is republished; before, `next()` skipped it as
unchanged.

swarm-controller subscribes to every agent's header with the reader
grant it already holds for the state relay, and keeps the latest
inference fields per agent in memory (`inference::Reported`).
`GET /api/agents/{name}/inference` now answers
`{configured, effective}`, `effective` being `null` until the agent's
first header with these fields since the controller started.
`swarmctl agent inference get` prints both; `set` reads `configured`.

Refs #5034
2026-10-10 17:37:23 +02:00

113 lines
5.5 KiB
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)).
The web UI's model picker doesn't use it.
- `get` shows each field, naming the unset ones, 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).
## 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` | a `/model` or `/effort` pick in the agent's web UI |
| `default` | the harness's built-in default (`haiku`, `medium`) |
When the agent starts without a swarm value, its agent.nix model wins over
its `/model` pick, and its `/effort` pick wins over its agent.nix effort.
The agent reports these whenever they change. swarm-controller keeps only
what it has received since it started, so after a controller restart `get`
shows `running: not reported…` for an agent until its next change (its next
turn, or a setting changing).
## 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**, from a `/model`
or `/effort` pick in its web UI or from its agent.nix. 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.
- **A `/model` or `/effort` pick while the swarm sets that field** 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, and `{}` reads the same as no key.
| method | path | body |
| -------- | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| `GET` | `/api/agents/<agent>/inference` | —; answers `{"configured": <the stored value, {} when none>, "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 |
| `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>