feat(modes): add per-mode Kilo Code model overrides #5252

iscekic · 2026-01-20T17:47:17Z

Context

This PR adds the ability to set a Kilo Code gateway model override per mode (e.g. different models for code, architect, etc.).

The goal is to make mode-switching more powerful for users who want different performance/cost/behavior characteristics depending on what they’re doing, while keeping the default model behavior unchanged unless an override is explicitly set.

Implementation

Introduced a new persisted setting (modeModelOverrides) that stores a mapping of modeSlug -> modelId.
Added a per-mode model picker in the Modes UI that:
- Is only enabled when the active provider is Kilo Code and the gateway model list is available.
- Allows selecting a specific gateway model or choosing Use default (clears the override).
Wired a new webview message (setModeModelOverride) to:
- Update modeModelOverrides in global state.
- Immediately apply the selected model when the override is set for the currently active mode (so users don’t need to switch modes to see it take effect).
Updated mode switching behavior so that when the user switches modes, if an override exists for the target mode, the extension applies the overridden model to the active provider configuration.
Added a safety gate around application of overrides:
- Overrides are only applied when the extension knows Kilo Code gateway models are available (tracked from router model fetch results), preventing setting a model that can’t be resolved when the gateway model list is unavailable.
Added/updated test coverage for:
- Persisting overrides via webview messages.
- Applying overrides on mode switch (and not applying when models are unavailable).
- UI behavior: enabled/disabled states and correct postMessage payloads.

Screenshots

https://www.loom.com/share/c9e2a007b3aa491697d336fb814371c7

- persist per-mode model selections via new `modeModelOverrides` global setting - add webview message to set/clear overrides and update extension state - apply override on mode switch only when Kilo Code gateway models are available - add Modes UI model selector backed by routerModels plus coverage updates

Extract per-mode Kilo Code model override UI into a dedicated component with searchable combobox, provider-aware enable/disable behavior, and updated tests for helper text and selection actions

When updating the override for the active mode, immediately update the active Kilo Code model (only when gateway models are available) so users don’t need to switch modes to see the change. Expose a provider getter and add coverage for the new behavior.

changeset-bot · 2026-01-20T17:47:21Z

🦋 Changeset detected

Latest commit: 53c1655

The changes in this PR will be included in the next version bump.

This PR includes changesets to release 1 package

Name	Type
kilo-code	Minor

Not sure what this means? Click here to learn what changesets are.

Click here if you're a maintainer who wants to add another changeset to this PR

Ensure per-mode Kilo Code model overrides take precedence when restoring tasks from history, even if the activated provider profile specifies a different model. Skip applying when gateway models are unavailable and log failures to avoid breaking restore flow.

Ensure custom modes schema validation failures surface an error message for all files, with fallbacks when i18n or VS Code APIs are unavailable, to avoid silent failures and reduce test flakiness. Update YAML edge case tests to use hoist-safe vscode mocks, mock i18n, and dynamically import CustomModesManager for deterministic assertions.

Ensure Kilo Code per-mode overrides are only applied when the Kilo Code provider is active and gateway models are available (with a best-effort refresh to avoid stale availability state). Re-apply the override when activating/switching provider profiles and validate the setModeModelOverride payload via a shared Zod schema. Also localize the mode model picker UI strings.

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR implements per-mode model overrides for Kilo Code gateway models, allowing users to configure different models for different modes (e.g., code, architect) while maintaining the default model behavior when no override is set.

Changes:

Added UI component and state management for selecting per-mode Kilo Code gateway models
Implemented persistence and application logic for mode-specific model overrides with safety gates
Added comprehensive test coverage for the new feature across UI and backend components

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 35 out of 35 changed files in this pull request and generated 5 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
webview-ui/src/i18n/locales/*/kilocode.json	Added translations for mode model picker UI in 20 locales
webview-ui/src/components/kilocode/KiloModeModelPicker.tsx	New component for selecting per-mode Kilo Code gateway models
webview-ui/src/components/modes/ModesView.tsx	Integrated KiloModeModelPicker into modes settings UI
webview-ui/src/components/modes/tests/ModesView.spec.tsx	Added tests for mode model picker UI behavior
src/shared/WebviewMessage.ts	Added setModeModelOverride message type and payload schema
src/shared/ExtensionMessage.ts	Added modeModelOverrides to extension state
packages/types/src/global-settings.ts	Added modeModelOverrides to global settings schema
src/core/webview/ClineProvider.ts	Added gateway models availability tracking and model override application logic
src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts	Implemented setModeModelOverride message handler with immediate application
src/core/webview/tests/ClineProvider.sticky-mode.spec.ts	Added tests for mode override application during mode switch
src/tests/modeModelOverride-active-update.spec.ts	New test file for active mode model override updates
src/core/config/CustomModesManager.ts	Enhanced schema validation error handling (unrelated improvement)
src/core/config/tests/CustomModesManager.yamlEdgeCases.spec.ts	Updated tests to handle improved error messaging

src/core/webview/ClineProvider.ts

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

src/__tests__/modeModelOverride-active-update.spec.ts

src/core/config/CustomModesManager.ts

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

kiloconnect · 2026-01-20T20:14:03Z

Code Review Summary

Status: 6 Issues Found | Recommendation: Address before merge

Overview

Severity	Count
CRITICAL	0
WARNING	3
SUGGESTION	3

Issue Details (click to expand)

WARNING

File	Line	Issue
`src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts`	N/A	Unused import `z` from `@roo-code/types`
`src/core/config/CustomModesManager.ts`	N/A	Duplicate error message shown twice in the same code block
`src/core/config/CustomModesManager.ts`	N/A	Two separate calls to `vscode.window.showErrorMessage` for the same error

SUGGESTION

File	Line	Issue
`src/core/webview/ClineProvider.ts`	N/A	Redundant `return` statement without a value
`src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts`	1808	Type check condition on line 1795 checks `typeof modelId === "string"` but the schema already validates this
`src/__tests__/modeModelOverride-active-update.spec.ts`	2	New test file should have `// kilocode_change - new file` marker per AGENTS.md

Files Reviewed (42 files)

.changeset/true-pears-throw.md - No issues
AGENTS.md - Formatting changes only
apps/kilocode-docs/docs/providers/kilocode.md - Whitespace fix
apps/kilocode-docs/docusaurus.config.ts - Formatting changes only
apps/kilocode-docs/i18n/zh-CN/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/current/features/checkpoints.md - Whitespace fix
packages/agent-runtime/src/communication/__tests__/ipc.test.ts - Formatting changes only
packages/agent-runtime/src/host/ExtensionHost.ts - Formatting changes only
packages/agent-runtime/src/process.ts - Formatting changes only
packages/agent-runtime/src/services/extension.ts - Formatting changes only
packages/types/src/global-settings.ts - Added modeModelOverrides type
packages/types/src/mode.ts - Added model override field
src/__tests__/modeModelOverride-active-update.spec.ts - New test file, 1 suggestion
src/core/config/CustomModesManager.ts - 2 warnings
src/core/webview/ClineProvider.ts - Added modeModelOverrides to state, 1 suggestion
src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts - Added setModeModelOverride handler, 2 issues
src/shared/ExtensionMessage.ts - Added modeModelOverrides type
src/shared/WebviewMessage.ts - Added schema for mode model override payload
webview-ui/src/components/kilocode/KiloModeModelPicker.tsx - New component, no issues
webview-ui/src/components/modes/ModesView.tsx - Integrated model picker, no issues
webview-ui/src/components/modes/__tests__/ModesView.spec.tsx - Added tests, no issues
webview-ui/src/i18n/locales/*/kilocode.json (22 files) - Added translations, no issues

Summary

This PR adds per-mode model override functionality for the Kilo Code gateway provider. The implementation is well-structured with:

✅ Proper TypeScript types and Zod schema validation
✅ New KiloModeModelPicker component with controlled/uncontrolled modes
✅ State persistence via modeModelOverrides in global state
✅ Comprehensive test coverage
✅ Translations for all 22 supported languages

The existing inline comments cover the identified issues. Most are minor suggestions or warnings that don't block the merge.

Fix these issues in Kilo Cloud

Add stable data-testid attributes to KiloModeModelPicker helper text and update ModesView tests to assert via test IDs instead of strings.

Ensure mode model overrides are applied for any non-null payload value and explicitly return undefined for non-typical providers.

Copilot

Pull request overview

Copilot reviewed 35 out of 35 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

src/core/config/CustomModesManager.ts

- Update active model when the current mode’s model override is cleared (null) so the UI stays in sync without a mode switch - Ensure schema validation failures surface a single error toast with safe fallback behavior (keeps tests deterministic) - Normalize kilocode marker comments

Remove defensive null checks around router/kilocode model maps and call setKilocodeGatewayModelsAvailable directly to ensure availability is consistently updated.

Allow custom mode definitions (YAML/JSON) to specify an optional provider-agnostic `model` field and automatically derive persisted `modeModelOverrides` from merged custom modes, clearing overrides when a mode omits `model` while leaving non-custom slugs untouched.

Stop reapplying per-mode overrides when updating the current mode or activating provider profiles. Mirror modeModelOverrides from ExtensionContext.globalState into ContextProxy on startup so the webview renders the latest overrides immediately.

Do not delete existing mode model overrides when custom modes omit `mode.model`, and avoid unnecessary globalState writes during refresh. Also mirror `modeModelOverrides` into ContextProxy so the webview updates immediately after YAML-driven changes.

Allow KiloModeModelPicker to be controlled via selectedModelId/onSelectModelId so create-mode flow can defer persistence until submit. Persist the selected model override after mode creation and add test ids + coverage for the new dialog behavior.

iscekic · 2026-01-22T14:02:20Z

I'm not too happy about code quality here - I'm open to ideas on how to make it better.

Use optional chaining when calling `setKilocodeGatewayModelsAvailable` to avoid errors with partial provider mocks in unit tests.

marius-kilocode · 2026-01-23T17:11:52Z

apps/kilocode-docs/i18n/zh-CN/docusaurus-plugin-content-docs/current/features/checkpoints.md

 - **恢复文件和任务** - 恢复工作区文件并删除所有后续对话消息。当您希望将代码和对话完全重置回检查点的时间点时使用。此选项需要在对话框中进行确认，因为它无法撤消。

-               <img src="/docs/img/checkpoints/checkpoints-9.png" alt="恢复文件和任务检查点的确认对话框" width="300" />
+                 <img src="/docs/img/checkpoints/checkpoints-9.png" alt="恢复文件和任务检查点的确认对话框" width="300" />


Do we need to extend the docs for this not anyway for the user?

marius-kilocode · 2026-01-23T17:18:15Z

src/core/webview/ClineProvider.ts

+					this.context.globalState.get<Record<string, string>>("modeModelOverrides") ?? {}
+				await this.contextProxy.setValue("modeModelOverrides", overridesFromGlobalState)
+			} catch {
+				// non-fatal


Should we log this or handle explicitly? UI should not stay stale here, we should inform the user about the failure.

marius-kilocode · 2026-01-23T17:20:19Z

src/core/webview/ClineProvider.ts

+			// kilocode_change start: per-mode overrides are Kilo Code-specific
+			// Prevent accidentally writing a Kilo Code gateway model id into another provider's model-id field.
+			if (provider !== "kilocode") {
+				return
+			}
+			// kilocode_change end: per-mode overrides are Kilo Code-specific


Nested kilocode_change markers?

marius-kilocode · 2026-01-23T17:20:49Z

src/core/webview/ClineProvider.ts

+		const { name, id, ...providerSettingsFromProfile } = await this.providerSettingsManager.activateProfile(args)
+		let providerSettings = providerSettingsFromProfile
+		// kilocode_change: do NOT re-apply per-mode override here; it should only happen during mode switches.


We should wrapp here kilocode_change properly

marius-kilocode · 2026-01-23T17:22:18Z

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

+					provider.context.globalState.get<Record<string, string>>("modeModelOverrides") ?? {}
+				await updateGlobalState("modeModelOverrides", overridesFromGlobalState)
+			} catch {
+				// non-fatal


We should log here.

marius-kilocode · 2026-01-23T17:23:03Z

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

+			// CustomModesManager updates `context.globalState` directly (not through ContextProxy), so we need to
+			// mirror `modeModelOverrides` into ContextProxy so the webview can render it immediately.
+			try {
+				const overridesFromGlobalState =


Code looks very similar to above, not sure if its possible to exact this logic out into a new file, then we just need a marker for the file and can delegate.

marius-kilocode · 2026-01-23T17:26:29Z

src/core/webview/webviewMessageHandler.ts

+				updated[mode] = modelId
+			}
+
+			await updateGlobalState("modeModelOverrides", updated)


This might not work with agent manager, but we can figure this out later. Each agent-runtime process maintains it's own state file in a tmp directory to stay ephemeral. If a mutation happens here this might be therefore fine, as we don't change it in the actively running session. So if users later have to restart the agent manager this should be fine for now.

marius-kilocode · 2026-01-23T17:28:04Z

webview-ui/src/components/modes/__tests__/ModesView.spec.tsx

+			payload: { mode: "code", modelId: null },
+		})
+	})
+	// kilocode_change end: per-mode model override UI behavior


Do we need a marker for each individual test?

marius-kilocode · 2026-01-23T17:29:58Z

src/__tests__/modeModelOverride-active-update.spec.ts

+		} as any
+	}
+
+	it("does not apply the per-mode override immediately when updating the current mode (only on mode switch)", async () => {


Should it not apply it immediately?

iscekic added 3 commits January 20, 2026 18:19

feat(ui): add Kilo Code per-mode model picker

3a2f41a

Extract per-mode Kilo Code model override UI into a dedicated component with searchable combobox, provider-aware enable/disable behavior, and updated tests for helper text and selection actions

iscekic self-assigned this Jan 20, 2026

iscekic added 4 commits January 20, 2026 19:30

feat(i18n): add mode model picker strings

f433f0b

iscekic requested a review from Copilot January 20, 2026 20:09

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of iscekic January 20, 2026 20:09 View session

chore(changesets): add release notes changeset

a87d4af

iscekic marked this pull request as ready for review January 20, 2026 20:11

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

iscekic added 2 commits January 20, 2026 21:29

test(ui): query mode model helper by testid

45a06fd

Add stable data-testid attributes to KiloModeModelPicker helper text and update ModesView tests to assert via test IDs instead of strings.

fix(webview): accept non-string mode model overrides

07d46f0

Ensure mode model overrides are applied for any non-null payload value and explicitly return undefined for non-typical providers.

iscekic requested a review from Copilot January 20, 2026 21:25

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of iscekic January 20, 2026 21:25 View session

test: add kilocode marker comment to spec

dc1c990

Copilot AI reviewed Jan 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

src/core/config/CustomModesManager.ts Outdated Show resolved Hide resolved

iscekic added 6 commits January 20, 2026 22:35

fix(webview): tighten kilocode model availability tracking

b4a100d

Remove defensive null checks around router/kilocode model maps and call setKilocodeGatewayModelsAvailable directly to ensure availability is consistently updated.

iscekic mentioned this pull request Jan 22, 2026

feat(agent-manager): add mode selection for CLI sessions #5211

Merged

iscekic requested review from chrarnoldus and markijbema January 22, 2026 14:01

iscekic added 2 commits January 22, 2026 15:27

Merge branch 'main' into model-per-mode

97b1d53

fix(webview): guard kilocode gateway availability setter

53c1655

Use optional chaining when calling `setKilocodeGatewayModelsAvailable` to avoid errors with partial provider mocks in unit tests.

iscekic requested a review from marius-kilocode January 23, 2026 14:17

marius-kilocode reviewed Jan 23, 2026

View reviewed changes

feat(modes): add per-mode Kilo Code model overrides #5252

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