[FEATURE] Error message when local models are not supported

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• [x] This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

I have been playing around with using Ollama with Claude Code, and was left confused when many of the models I was trying didn't work. Tool calling seems unsupported by models other than the one's listed in the documentation for setting up local models with Claude Code. The error for this is unhelpful, it spits out an API error which led me to believe there were API problems when, in fact, it was the model I was using all along causing my issues.

Proposed Solution

An error message clearly stating to choose a different, supported model would be most helpful so that users can clearly diagnose their issue without confusion.

Alternative Solutions

A popup screen when Claude Code starts alerting the user that tool calling is not supported by their model of choice. This would also help users learn of the issue before they even get an error message. This would also allow for a list of currently supported models to be displayed for the user to allow them to choose the right one.

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

API and model interactions

Use Case Example

User attempts to load Deepseek-coder-v2:latest on Ollama with Claude Code, a model for which tool calling is unsupported. The user would be alerted to this immediately, and able to exit and switch models without confusion.

Additional Context

_No response_