Feature request: session-only model override without changing global default

Status Fixed / completed
Maintainer reply ✓ Yes — bcherny
Activity 4 comments · opened Jun 17, 2026 · closed Aug 17, 2026
💡 Likely answer: A maintainer (bcherny, collaborator) responded on this thread — see the highlighted reply below.

Problem

Currently, /model <name> saves the model as the global default for all future sessions. There's no way to switch models for just the current session without permanently changing the default.

The --model flag at launch (claude --model <name>) is the only session-scoped option, but it's only available at startup — you can't switch mid-session without affecting your global default.

Requested Behaviour

Either:

  • /model <name> should apply only to the current session (and not persist), or
  • A separate command/flag for session-scoped overrides, e.g. /model --session <name> or /model --temp <name>

Use Case

Quickly trying a different model for one session (e.g. testing Sonnet vs Opus for a specific task) without having to remember to switch back afterwards.

View original on GitHub ↗

4 Comments

github-actions[bot] · 2 months ago

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

  1. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/43061
  2. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/12645
  3. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/44025

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

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dgilford · 2 months ago

This matches my experience (#69097 ), and I hope this bug is eventually fixed.

contentfree · 1 month ago

For the love… please…

bcherny collaborator · 14 days ago

This exists today: run /model to open the picker, highlight the model, and press s to switch for the current session only (Enter switches and saves it as your default). claude --model <name> at launch is also session-scoped.

Docs: https://code.claude.com/docs/en/model-config#setting-your-model

Closing as available.

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