Add simple model configuration command and new model notifications

[nic-pandion]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing requests and this feature hasn't been requested yet
• This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

Problem

When Anthropic releases a new model (e.g., Opus 4.6), there's no obvious way to:

1. Know the new model is available
2. Switch to it as the default

Currently users must:

• Discover releases independently
• Manually create %APPDATA%\Claude\settings.json (Windows) or ~/.claude/settings.json
• Know the undocumented "model": "opus" setting

Suggested improvements

1. claude config command - e.g., claude config set model opus
2. New model notifications - "Opus 4.6 available. Run /model opus to try it"
3. Interactive setup - claude setup that asks for preferred model
4. Document user settings file - Currently not in --help or docs

Context

Discovered after assuming my project settings.local.json would handle model preferences - it doesn't. Required assistance to find the correct location and format.

Proposed Solution

1. claude config command - Allow setting defaults via CLI, e.g.:

   • claude config set model opus
   • claude config list to see current settings

2. New model notifications - On startup, show something like:
   "Opus 4.6 now available. Run /model opus to try it"

3. Interactive setup - Add claude setup that walks through preferences including default model

4. Document the user settings file - Add to --help output and docs:

   • Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\settings.json
   • Mac/Linux: ~/.claude/settings.json
   • Available settings: model, etc.

5. Auto-upgrade option - Setting like "model": "latest-opus" that always uses the newest Opus release

Alternative Solutions

No response

Priority

Medium - Would be very helpful

Feature Category

CLI commands and flags

Use Case Example

Anthropic released Opus 4.6 on Feb 5, 2026. As a paying Claude Code max user, I wanted to upgrade immediately but:

1. Discovered settings.local.json model preferences don't work
2. Spent 20+ minutes finding the actual user settings location
3. Had to manually create %APPDATA%\Claude\settings.json
4. Wrote {"model": "opus"} based on trial and error

Expected: claude config set model opus or a prompt on startup saying "New model available"

Additional Context

No response

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. [Feature Request] Add 'claude model list' CLI command for non-interactive model queries #12612
2. Feature: semantic model tier aliases for agents, skills, and commands #23454
3. Link to JSON Schema for settings.json in the official docs #11795

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[nic-pandion]

Update: Root cause was outdated Claude Code (2.0.72 → 2.1.37). Running claude update solved it.

The feature request still stands: users shouldn't need 5 troubleshooting sessions to discover they need to run claude update. A startup notification like "Opus 4.6 available - run claude update to access" would have saved significant time.

[fmmatthewzeemann]

Custom model aliases for /model picker

We run Claude Code on AWS Bedrock with a shared team config. All three alias slots are occupied (haiku, sonnet, opus), but we need both Opus 4.5 and 4.6 accessible mid-session via /model.

Why both? They're complementary, not interchangeable:

• Opus 4.5 — faster, fewer thinking tokens, great for routine code gen and quick implementations
• Opus 4.6 — deeper reasoning, 1M context, better architectural planning and debugging, but burns more tokens

Our team wants to switch between them mid-flight depending on the task. Typing global.anthropic.claude-opus-4-5-20251101-v1:0 into /model is not realistic for a team of engineers.

Proposal: custom aliases in settings

{
  "modelAliases": {
    "opus45": "global.anthropic.claude-opus-4-5-20251101-v1:0",
    "opus46": "global.anthropic.claude-opus-4-6-v1"
  }
}

These would appear in the /model picker alongside the built-in aliases and work at both user and project config level.

Bonus: Allow configurable opusplan routing — e.g. Opus 4.6 for planning, Opus 4.5 for execution:

{
  "opusplan": {
    "planModel": "opus46",
    "executeModel": "opus45"
  }
}

This is a growing pain for Bedrock teams where model IDs are long ARNs and the 3-alias system doesn't scale as model variants multiply. Related: #10169.

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.