fix(agents): fall back to agents.defaults.model when agent has no model config by bianbiandashen · Pull Request #24210 · openclaw/openclaw

bianbiandashen · 2026-02-23T05:57:13Z

Summary

Fix embedded agents ignoring agents.defaults.model when per-agent model is omitted
resolveAgentModelPrimary now correctly falls back to global defaults
Add test coverage for defaults fallback behavior

Root Cause

When configuring openclaw.json, if a user specifies global default models in agents.defaults.model but omits the model block in a specific agent's entry, resolveAgentModelPrimary returned undefined instead of checking the global defaults.

This caused embedded background agents (like slug-generator) to fall back to a hardcoded DEFAULT_MODEL = "claude-opus-4-6" instead of using the user's configured default.

Solution

Modified resolveAgentModelPrimary to check cfg.agents.defaults.model when the agent-specific model config is not present. Supports both string and object formats for the default model.

Test Plan

Added unit tests for defaults fallback (string format)
Added unit tests for defaults fallback (object format with primary)
Verified existing per-agent model override behavior preserved
All existing tests pass

Fixes #24168

🤖 AI-assisted (Claude) - Lightly tested locally

Greptile Summary

This PR modifies resolveAgentModelPrimary to fall back to cfg.agents.defaults.model when an agent has no per-agent model configured, fixing the issue where embedded agents would ignore user-configured global defaults and fall back to the hardcoded DEFAULT_MODEL.

Key issues found:

Model source attribution regression: The status command (src/commands/models/list.status-command.ts) uses the return value of resolveAgentModelPrimary to determine whether to display "agent" or "defaults" as the model source. After this change, agents inheriting from defaults will be incorrectly reported as "agent" source, since the function now returns a value instead of undefined even when the model comes from defaults. This affects both the CLI display and JSON output.
Type mismatch in test: The test sets defaults.model to a bare string ("anthropic/claude-sonnet-4"), but AgentDefaultsConfig.model is typed as AgentModelListConfig (object only: { primary?: string; fallbacks?: string[] }), not the union type AgentModelConfig that includes strings. Either the test or the type definition should be updated to match.

Confidence Score: 2/5

This PR introduces a side effect that misattributes model source in the status command; should be addressed before merging.
The core logic change is sound in isolation, but it changes the semantics of resolveAgentModelPrimary from "agent-specific model" to "effective model including defaults" without updating downstream callers that depend on the distinction. The status command will incorrectly label default-sourced models as agent-sourced. Additionally, the test has a type mismatch with the declared config types.
Pay close attention to src/agents/agent-scope.ts and its interaction with src/commands/models/list.status-command.ts (lines 345, 407) where model source attribution is determined.

_{Last reviewed commit: 7020f2e}

greptile-apps

_{2 files reviewed, 2 comments}

_{Edit Code Review Agent Settings | Greptile}

greptile-apps · 2026-02-23T06:01:07Z

src/agents/agent-scope.ts

 export function resolveAgentModelPrimary(cfg: OpenClawConfig, agentId: string): string | undefined {
  const raw = resolveAgentConfig(cfg, agentId)?.model;
-  if (!raw) {
+  if (raw) {
+    if (typeof raw === "string") {
+      const trimmed = raw.trim();
+      if (trimmed) {
+        return trimmed;
+      }
+    } else {
+      const primary = raw.primary?.trim();
+      if (primary) {
+        return primary;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Fallback to agents.defaults.model when agent has no model configured
+  const defaultModel = cfg.agents?.defaults?.model;
+  if (!defaultModel) {
    return undefined;
  }
-  if (typeof raw === "string") {
-    return raw.trim() || undefined;
+  if (typeof defaultModel === "string") {
+    return defaultModel.trim() || undefined;
  }
-  const primary = raw.primary?.trim();
-  return primary || undefined;
+  return defaultModel.primary?.trim() || undefined;
 }


Defaults fallback changes model source attribution in status command

The callers in src/commands/models/list.status-command.ts (line 345) and (line 407) use the return value of resolveAgentModelPrimary to determine whether the model source is "agent" or "defaults":

defaultSource: agentModelPrimary ? "agent" : "defaults",

With this change, when an agent has no per-agent model but agents.defaults.model is set, the function now returns the defaults value instead of undefined. This causes the status command to incorrectly report the model source as "agent" when it actually came from "defaults".

Consider either:

Updating the status command callers to distinguish between agent-level and defaults-level sources, or

Keeping resolveAgentModelPrimary focused on agent-specific config and adding a separate resolveAgentEffectiveModelPrimary that includes the defaults fallback.

Prompt To Fix With AI

This is a comment left during a code review. Path: src/agents/agent-scope.ts Line: 145-170 Comment: **Defaults fallback changes model source attribution in status command** The callers in `src/commands/models/list.status-command.ts` (line 345) and (line 407) use the return value of `resolveAgentModelPrimary` to determine whether the model source is `"agent"` or `"defaults"`: ```typescript defaultSource: agentModelPrimary ? "agent" : "defaults", ``` With this change, when an agent has no per-agent model but `agents.defaults.model` is set, the function now returns the defaults value instead of `undefined`. This causes the status command to incorrectly report the model source as `"agent"` when it actually came from `"defaults"`. Consider either: 1. Updating the status command callers to distinguish between agent-level and defaults-level sources, or 2. Keeping `resolveAgentModelPrimary` focused on agent-specific config and adding a separate `resolveAgentEffectiveModelPrimary` that includes the defaults fallback. How can I resolve this? If you propose a fix, please make it concise.

greptile-apps · 2026-02-23T06:01:08Z

src/agents/agent-scope.test.ts

+    const cfgWithStringDefault: OpenClawConfig = {
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4",
+        },
+        list: [{ id: "main" }],
+      },
+    };


Test sets defaults.model to a string but the type only allows an object

AgentDefaultsConfig.model is typed as AgentModelListConfig ({ primary?: string; fallbacks?: string[] }), not as AgentModelConfig (string | { primary?: string; fallbacks?: string[] }). This test assigns a bare string to defaults.model, which should be a TypeScript type error.

While the runtime handling of a string here is fine as defensive coding, the test should match the declared types. Consider changing this to use the object format:

Suggested change

const cfgWithStringDefault: OpenClawConfig = {

agents: {

defaults: {

model: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4",

},

list: [{ id: "main" }],

},

};

const cfgWithStringDefault: OpenClawConfig = {

agents: {

defaults: {

model: {

primary: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4",

},

},

list: [{ id: "main" }],

},

};

If string-format defaults should be supported, the AgentDefaultsConfig.model type in src/config/types.agent-defaults.ts should be updated to AgentModelConfig instead.

Prompt To Fix With AI

This is a comment left during a code review. Path: src/agents/agent-scope.test.ts Line: 63-70 Comment: **Test sets `defaults.model` to a string but the type only allows an object** `AgentDefaultsConfig.model` is typed as `AgentModelListConfig` (`{ primary?: string; fallbacks?: string[] }`), not as `AgentModelConfig` (`string | { primary?: string; fallbacks?: string[] }`). This test assigns a bare string to `defaults.model`, which should be a TypeScript type error. While the runtime handling of a string here is fine as defensive coding, the test should match the declared types. Consider changing this to use the object format: ```suggestion const cfgWithStringDefault: OpenClawConfig = { agents: { defaults: { model: { primary: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4", }, }, list: [{ id: "main" }], }, }; ``` If string-format defaults should be supported, the `AgentDefaultsConfig.model` type in `src/config/types.agent-defaults.ts` should be updated to `AgentModelConfig` instead. How can I resolve this? If you propose a fix, please make it concise.

…el config When an agent in agents.list lacks a model configuration, resolveAgentModelPrimary now correctly falls back to cfg.agents.defaults.model instead of returning undefined. This fixes embedded agents (like slug-generator) silently falling back to a hardcoded DEFAULT_MODEL when the main agent omits the model block but global defaults are configured. Fixes openclaw#24168

gumadeiras · 2026-02-23T08:18:58Z

Merged via squash.

Prepared head SHA: 0f272b1
Merge commit: a4c3739

Thanks @bianbiandashen!

@gumadeiras