v7.4.0 — per-dispatch worker model + thinking-mode selection

Worker model + thinking-mode selection at pre-dispatch review

Steering proposes — and you can override — the worker's model and extended-thinking budget per dispatch, recorded in the dispatch file and injected into the claude --bg launch. A doc-only chore can run on a small model; a complex implementation bead can get a top-tier model with extended thinking.

Dispatch schema

• New fields worker_model + worker_thinking_mode (default inherit for both). inherit omits the --model flag and thinking env entirely — the launch is byte-identical to v7.3.0. Dispatch files missing the fields behave as inherit: no migration needed.
• Thinking delivery is MAX_THINKING_TOKENS env at spawn (none=0, think=10000, ultrathink=31999) — session-wide for the worker's whole lifecycle, unlike prompt keywords which decay after one turn.
• Enforcement is --bg-only for BOTH fields; in --via-paste/--paste the recorded values are advisory, the downgrade messages say so, and the dispatch prompt carries honoring instructions.

Protocol

• Step 1 proposal surface alongside file_scope confirmation, with a cynefin/type/forecast-driven heuristic table (guidance, not policy).
• --dry-run previews the selection + resulting launch shape.
• respawn-fresh successors reuse the recorded values.

Velocity report pipeline (kit scripts)

• velocity-report.py template path fixed (report generation was previously broken); new self-locating velocity.html dashboard template ships beside the script.
• Generator hardened: non-ASCII metrics no longer crash it; backslashes no longer silently corrupt the embedded data; malformed jsonl lines are counted to stderr instead of silently skipped.

Also

• .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md now ships with the kit.
• Pre-release hardening pass: a 10-reviewer validation sweep over the dispatch docs fixed advisory-semantics gaps, a respawn template that silently dropped model pins, and stale decision-tree diagrams.

Validated against field deployment data. Full details: .claude/skills/falcon/changelog.md.