feat: allow configuring models through env vars (#586)

Allow providing Claude model settings via env var on startup. Providing model settings is required when using Claude with alternative llm provider, e.g. Bedrock as models have different IDs there
2026-10-27 04:30:59 +00:00 · 2026-04-24 14:50:28 +01:00
parent 92adcbd1ac
commit 1e15f3d8b0
3 changed files with 179 additions and 1 deletions
--- a/docs/model-configuration.md
+++ b/docs/model-configuration.md
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+# Model Configuration
+
+When using claude-agent-acp with alternative providers (e.g. AWS Bedrock), model IDs differ from the direct Anthropic API. The `CLAUDE_MODEL_CONFIG` environment variable lets you configure model overrides and availability at the deployment level.
+
+## `CLAUDE_MODEL_CONFIG`
+
+A JSON string with two optional fields:
+
+| Field             | Type                     | Description                                                                                                   |
+| ----------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
+| `modelOverrides`  | `Record<string, string>` | Maps Anthropic model IDs to provider-specific model IDs (e.g. Bedrock model IDs or ARNs)                      |
+| `availableModels` | `string[]`               | Restricts which models are offered to users. Accepts aliases (`"opus"`), prefixes (`"opus-4-5"`), or full IDs |
+
+### Examples
+
+**Bedrock model overrides:**
+
+```bash
+CLAUDE_MODEL_CONFIG='{"modelOverrides":{"claude-opus-4-6":"us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1","claude-sonnet-4-5":"us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-5-v1"}}'
+```
+
+**Restrict available models:**
+
+```bash
+CLAUDE_MODEL_CONFIG='{"availableModels":["opus","sonnet"]}'
+```
+
+**Both together:**
+
+```bash
+CLAUDE_MODEL_CONFIG='{"modelOverrides":{"claude-opus-4-6":"us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1","claude-sonnet-4-5":"us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-5-v1"},"availableModels":["opus","sonnet"]}'
+```
+
+**Full Bedrock example:**
+
+```bash
+CLAUDE_CODE_USE_BEDROCK=1 \
+AWS_REGION=us-west-2 \
+CLAUDE_MODEL_CONFIG='{"modelOverrides":{"claude-opus-4-6":"us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1"}}' \
+node dist/index.js
+```
+
+## Precedence
+
+When an ACP caller provides `settings` via `_meta.claudeCode.options.settings` in the `sessions/create` request, `CLAUDE_MODEL_CONFIG` is ignored entirely. The env var is a deployment-level fallback for cases where the caller does not configure model settings itself.
+
+| Source                                       | Priority                                              |
+| -------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- |
+| `_meta.claudeCode.options.settings` (caller) | Highest — used if present                             |
+| `CLAUDE_MODEL_CONFIG` (env var)              | Fallback — used only when caller provides no settings |
+
+## Format details
+
+- The value must be valid JSON. Invalid JSON will cause session creation to fail with a parse error.
+- Only `modelOverrides` and `availableModels` keys are read; other keys in the JSON are ignored.
+- Both fields map directly to the Claude Agent SDK's `Settings` type.