fix: Honor availableModels settings allowlist (#637)

Merge and dedupe entries across settings sources, preserve the
default model, and pass user-specified model IDs through to setModel.

Closes #620

src/acp-agent.ts

@@ -1956,18 +1956,21 @@ export class ClaudeAcpAgent implements Agent {
       );
     }
 
-    const models = await getAvailableModels(
-      q,
-      initializationResult.models,
-      settingsManager,
-      this.logger,
-    );
+    // Apply user's `availableModels` allowlist from settings.json before any
+    // downstream model handling. The SDK only enforces this allowlist in its
+    // own UI, not in `initializationResult.models`, so we filter here to keep
+    // configOptions, the current-model resolver, and the stored modelInfos
+    // consistent with what the user configured.
+    const settingsAvailableModels = settingsManager.getSettings().availableModels;
+    const allowedModels = Array.isArray(settingsAvailableModels)
+      ? applyAvailableModelsAllowlist(initializationResult.models, settingsAvailableModels)
+      : initializationResult.models;
+
+    const models = await getAvailableModels(q, allowedModels, settingsManager, this.logger);
 
     // Gate `auto` (and future model-specific modes) on the resolved model's
     // `ModelInfo`. See `buildAvailableModes` for the canonical SDK signal.
-    const currentModelInfo = initializationResult.models.find(
-      (m) => m.value === models.currentModelId,
-    );
+    const currentModelInfo = allowedModels.find((m) => m.value === models.currentModelId);
     const availableModes = buildAvailableModes(currentModelInfo);
 
     // Clamp `permissionMode` if the resolved session does not offer it. The
@@ -2008,7 +2011,7 @@ export class ClaudeAcpAgent implements Agent {
     const configOptions = buildConfigOptions(
       modes,
       models,
-      initializationResult.models,
+      allowedModels,
       settingsManager.getSettings().effortLevel,
     );
 
@@ -2035,7 +2038,7 @@ export class ClaudeAcpAgent implements Agent {
       },
       modes,
       models,
-      modelInfos: initializationResult.models,
+      modelInfos: allowedModels,
       configOptions,
       promptRunning: false,
       pendingMessages: new Map(),
@@ -2364,6 +2367,52 @@ function resolveSettingsModel(
   return resolveModelPreference(models, settingsModel);
 }
 
+/**
+ * Restrict the SDK's model list to the user's `availableModels` allowlist
+ * (already merged-and-deduped across settings sources by `SettingsManager`).
+ * The user's exact entries become the model IDs surfaced via configOptions
+ * and passed to `setModel`, which prevents Claude Code from silently
+ * substituting a date-pinned variant (e.g. `haiku` →
+ * `claude-haiku-4-5-20251001`) that the user may not have access to.
+ *
+ * Display info and capability flags are copied from the closest SDK match so
+ * the UI still renders sensible names and effort levels.
+ *
+ * Semantics from https://code.claude.com/docs/en/model-config#restrict-model-selection:
+ * - `undefined` is handled by the caller (no allowlist applied).
+ * - The Default option is unaffected by `availableModels` — it always remains
+ *   available, even when the allowlist is `[]`.
+ */
+function applyAvailableModelsAllowlist(sdkModels: ModelInfo[], allowlist: string[]): ModelInfo[] {
+  // Default is always preserved per the docs. Synthesize one if the SDK
+  // didn't surface it so downstream code (e.g. `getAvailableModels` picking
+  // `models[0]` as a fallback) still has something to work with.
+  const defaultModel = sdkModels.find((m) => m.value === "default") ?? {
+    value: "default",
+    displayName: "Default",
+    description: "",
+  };
+  const result: ModelInfo[] = [defaultModel];
+  const seen = new Set<string>([defaultModel.value]);
+
+  const sdkModelsWithoutDefault = sdkModels.filter((m) => m.value !== "default");
+
+  for (const entry of allowlist) {
+    const trimmed = entry.trim();
+    if (!trimmed || seen.has(trimmed)) continue;
+
+    const sdkMatch = resolveModelPreference(sdkModelsWithoutDefault, trimmed);
+    if (sdkMatch) {
+      result.push({ ...sdkMatch, value: trimmed });
+    } else {
+      result.push({ value: trimmed, displayName: trimmed, description: "" });
+    }
+    seen.add(trimmed);
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
+
 async function getAvailableModels(
   query: Query,
   models: ModelInfo[],

src/settings.ts

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ export interface ClaudeCodeSettings {
   env?: Record<string, string>;
   model?: string;
   effortLevel?: string;
+  availableModels?: string[];
 }
 
 /**
@@ -193,6 +194,15 @@ export class SettingsManager {
         merged.effortLevel = settings.effortLevel;
       }
 
+      if (settings.availableModels !== undefined) {
+        // Per Claude Code docs: "When `availableModels` is set at multiple
+        // levels, such as user settings and project settings, arrays are
+        // merged and deduplicated."
+        // https://code.claude.com/docs/en/model-config#merge-behavior
+        const combined = [...(merged.availableModels ?? []), ...settings.availableModels];
+        merged.availableModels = Array.from(new Set(combined));
+      }
+
       if (settings.permissions?.defaultMode !== undefined) {
         merged.permissions = {
           ...merged.permissions,

src/tests/acp-agent-settings.test.ts

@@ -362,6 +362,199 @@ describe("ClaudeAcpAgent settings", () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe("availableModels allowlist from settings", () => {
+    function mockQueryWithModels(models: any[]): {
+      setModelSpy: ReturnType<typeof vi.fn>;
+    } {
+      const setModelSpy = vi.fn();
+      querySpy.mockImplementation(() => {
+        return {
+          initializationResult: async () => ({ models }),
+          setModel: setModelSpy,
+          supportedCommands: async () => [],
+        } as any;
+      });
+      return { setModelSpy };
+    }
+
+    it("restricts configOptions to the user's allowlist using their exact IDs", async () => {
+      // Reproduces the scenario from
+      // https://github.com/agentclientprotocol/claude-agent-acp/issues/620:
+      // user lists `claude-haiku-4-5` (no date pin) in availableModels, but
+      // the SDK still surfaces its `haiku` alias which resolves to a
+      // date-pinned variant the user doesn't have access to.
+      await fs.promises.writeFile(
+        path.join(tempDir, "settings.json"),
+        JSON.stringify({
+          availableModels: [
+            "claude-sonnet-4-6[1m]",
+            "claude-opus-4-6[1m]",
+            "claude-haiku-4-5",
+            "claude-opus-4-7[1m]",
+          ],
+        }),
+      );
+
+      const projectDir = path.join(tempDir, "project");
+      await fs.promises.mkdir(projectDir, { recursive: true });
+
+      mockQueryWithModels([
+        { value: "default", displayName: "Default", description: "Default model" },
+        {
+          value: "sonnet[1m]",
+          displayName: "Sonnet (1M context)",
+          description: "Sonnet 4.6 long context",
+        },
+        {
+          value: "opus[1m]",
+          displayName: "Opus (1M context)",
+          description: "Opus 1M context",
+        },
+        { value: "haiku", displayName: "Haiku", description: "Fast" },
+      ]);
+
+      const { ClaudeAcpAgent } = await import("../acp-agent.js");
+      const agent: ClaudeAcpAgentType = new ClaudeAcpAgent(createMockClient());
+
+      const response = await (agent as any).createSession({
+        cwd: projectDir,
+        mcpServers: [],
+        _meta: { disableBuiltInTools: true },
+      });
+
+      const modelOption = response.configOptions.find((o: any) => o.id === "model");
+      expect(modelOption.options.map((o: any) => o.value)).toEqual([
+        "default",
+        "claude-sonnet-4-6[1m]",
+        "claude-opus-4-6[1m]",
+        "claude-haiku-4-5",
+        "claude-opus-4-7[1m]",
+      ]);
+    });
+
+    it("unions availableModels across user and project settings", async () => {
+      // https://code.claude.com/docs/en/model-config#merge-behavior
+      await fs.promises.writeFile(
+        path.join(tempDir, "settings.json"),
+        JSON.stringify({ availableModels: ["claude-haiku-4-5"] }),
+      );
+
+      const projectDir = path.join(tempDir, "project");
+      await fs.promises.mkdir(path.join(projectDir, ".claude"), { recursive: true });
+      await fs.promises.writeFile(
+        path.join(projectDir, ".claude", "settings.json"),
+        JSON.stringify({
+          availableModels: ["claude-haiku-4-5", "claude-opus-4-7[1m]"],
+        }),
+      );
+
+      mockQueryWithModels([
+        { value: "default", displayName: "Default", description: "Default model" },
+        { value: "haiku", displayName: "Haiku", description: "Fast" },
+      ]);
+
+      const { ClaudeAcpAgent } = await import("../acp-agent.js");
+      const agent: ClaudeAcpAgentType = new ClaudeAcpAgent(createMockClient());
+
+      const response = await (agent as any).createSession({
+        cwd: projectDir,
+        mcpServers: [],
+        _meta: { disableBuiltInTools: true },
+      });
+
+      const modelOption = response.configOptions.find((o: any) => o.id === "model");
+      // User and project entries are unioned and deduplicated.
+      expect(modelOption.options.map((o: any) => o.value)).toEqual([
+        "default",
+        "claude-haiku-4-5",
+        "claude-opus-4-7[1m]",
+      ]);
+    });
+
+    it("returns only the default entry when availableModels is an empty array", async () => {
+      await fs.promises.writeFile(
+        path.join(tempDir, "settings.json"),
+        JSON.stringify({ availableModels: [] }),
+      );
+
+      const projectDir = path.join(tempDir, "project");
+      await fs.promises.mkdir(projectDir, { recursive: true });
+
+      mockQueryWithModels([
+        { value: "default", displayName: "Default", description: "Default model" },
+        { value: "haiku", displayName: "Haiku", description: "Fast" },
+      ]);
+
+      const { ClaudeAcpAgent } = await import("../acp-agent.js");
+      const agent: ClaudeAcpAgentType = new ClaudeAcpAgent(createMockClient());
+
+      const response = await (agent as any).createSession({
+        cwd: projectDir,
+        mcpServers: [],
+        _meta: { disableBuiltInTools: true },
+      });
+
+      const modelOption = response.configOptions.find((o: any) => o.id === "model");
+      expect(modelOption.options.map((o: any) => o.value)).toEqual(["default"]);
+    });
+
+    it("does not filter when availableModels is absent from settings", async () => {
+      const projectDir = path.join(tempDir, "project");
+      await fs.promises.mkdir(projectDir, { recursive: true });
+
+      mockQueryWithModels([
+        { value: "default", displayName: "Default", description: "Default model" },
+        { value: "haiku", displayName: "Haiku", description: "Fast" },
+      ]);
+
+      const { ClaudeAcpAgent } = await import("../acp-agent.js");
+      const agent: ClaudeAcpAgentType = new ClaudeAcpAgent(createMockClient());
+
+      const response = await (agent as any).createSession({
+        cwd: projectDir,
+        mcpServers: [],
+        _meta: { disableBuiltInTools: true },
+      });
+
+      const modelOption = response.configOptions.find((o: any) => o.id === "model");
+      expect(modelOption.options.map((o: any) => o.value)).toEqual(["default", "haiku"]);
+    });
+
+    it("passes the user's exact ID to setModel when it matches an SDK alias", async () => {
+      // Without the allowlist, the SDK would resolve `haiku` to a
+      // date-pinned variant. Forcing setModel to receive `claude-haiku-4-5`
+      // is exactly what the issue's workaround
+      // (`ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL`) achieves manually.
+      await fs.promises.writeFile(
+        path.join(tempDir, "settings.json"),
+        JSON.stringify({
+          availableModels: ["claude-haiku-4-5"],
+          model: "claude-haiku-4-5",
+        }),
+      );
+
+      const projectDir = path.join(tempDir, "project");
+      await fs.promises.mkdir(projectDir, { recursive: true });
+
+      const { setModelSpy } = mockQueryWithModels([
+        { value: "default", displayName: "Default", description: "Default model" },
+        { value: "haiku", displayName: "Haiku", description: "Fast" },
+      ]);
+
+      const { ClaudeAcpAgent } = await import("../acp-agent.js");
+      const agent: ClaudeAcpAgentType = new ClaudeAcpAgent(createMockClient());
+
+      const response = await (agent as any).createSession({
+        cwd: projectDir,
+        mcpServers: [],
+        _meta: { disableBuiltInTools: true },
+      });
+
+      expect(setModelSpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith("claude-haiku-4-5");
+      expect(response.models.currentModelId).toBe("claude-haiku-4-5");
+    });
+  });
+
   it("resolves model aliases like opus[1m] to the correct model", async () => {
     await fs.promises.writeFile(
       path.join(tempDir, "settings.json"),

src/tests/settings.test.ts

@@ -53,6 +53,57 @@ describe("SettingsManager", () => {
       expect(settings.model).toBe("claude-3-5-haiku");
     });
 
+    it("should expose availableModels from settings", async () => {
+      const claudeDir = path.join(tempDir, ".claude");
+      await fs.promises.mkdir(claudeDir, { recursive: true });
+
+      await fs.promises.writeFile(
+        path.join(claudeDir, "settings.json"),
+        JSON.stringify({
+          availableModels: ["claude-haiku-4-5", "claude-opus-4-7[1m]"],
+        }),
+      );
+
+      settingsManager = new SettingsManager(tempDir);
+      await settingsManager.initialize();
+
+      const settings = settingsManager.getSettings();
+      expect(settings.availableModels).toEqual(["claude-haiku-4-5", "claude-opus-4-7[1m]"]);
+    });
+
+    it("should union and dedupe availableModels across sources", async () => {
+      // Per Claude Code docs: "When `availableModels` is set at multiple
+      // levels, such as user settings and project settings, arrays are
+      // merged and deduplicated."
+      // https://code.claude.com/docs/en/model-config#merge-behavior
+      const claudeDir = path.join(tempDir, ".claude");
+      await fs.promises.mkdir(claudeDir, { recursive: true });
+
+      await fs.promises.writeFile(
+        path.join(claudeDir, "settings.json"),
+        JSON.stringify({
+          availableModels: ["claude-haiku-4-5", "claude-opus-4-7[1m]"],
+        }),
+      );
+      await fs.promises.writeFile(
+        path.join(claudeDir, "settings.local.json"),
+        JSON.stringify({
+          // claude-opus-4-7[1m] overlaps with project; should be deduped.
+          availableModels: ["claude-opus-4-7[1m]", "claude-sonnet-4-6[1m]"],
+        }),
+      );
+
+      settingsManager = new SettingsManager(tempDir);
+      await settingsManager.initialize();
+
+      const settings = settingsManager.getSettings();
+      expect(settings.availableModels).toEqual([
+        "claude-haiku-4-5",
+        "claude-opus-4-7[1m]",
+        "claude-sonnet-4-6[1m]",
+      ]);
+    });
+
     it("should merge permissions.defaultMode with later sources taking precedence", async () => {
       const claudeDir = path.join(tempDir, ".claude");
       await fs.promises.mkdir(claudeDir, { recursive: true });