Allow per-session model and effort overrides from `claude agents` dispatch input
Feature request
Please support per-session model and effort overrides when dispatching a new background session from the claude agents UI.
Today, claude agents can be launched with defaults such as:
claude agents --model opus --effort high
And a background task can be started from the shell with:
claude --bg --model sonnet --effort medium "..."
However, once inside the claude agents UI, the dispatch input does not appear to provide a direct way to choose --model or --effort for only the next session.
Why this matters
Different background tasks need different cost/performance tradeoffs:
- Simple refactors or typo fixes may only need
sonnetwithlowormediumeffort. - Architecture reviews may need
opuswithhighormaxeffort. - Debugging, review, and implementation tasks often benefit from different model/effort settings.
Current workarounds
The current alternatives are workable but indirect:
- Restart
claude agentswith different default--model/--effortvalues. - Create multiple custom agents with fixed
modelandeffortfrontmatter. - Attach to the session after dispatch and manually run
/modelor/effort.
Proposed behavior
Allow model and effort to be specified directly in the dispatch input for a newly created background session.
Possible syntax examples:
@repo --model opus --effort high investigate the root cause of this flaky test
/model opus /effort high review the current PR for architecture risks
Any syntax that fits existing Claude Code UI conventions would be fine.
Expected result
A user should be able to dispatch a new background session from claude agents and override the model and effort for that specific session without leaving agent view, restarting claude agents, or relying on preconfigured custom agents.
This would make agent view much more flexible for users running multiple concurrent tasks with different complexity and cost requirements.
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