ADE harnesses: picking what a session runs on

ADE separates the harness (which agent runs: Claude Code, Codex, Droid, OpenCode, …) from the model provider (where it gets its intelligence: a native sign-in, a provider signed in to OpenCode — OpenCode Go, Zen, or any provider connected there — a stored API key, or a subscription borrowed through ADE's proxy). Any routable harness can run any model its sources serve: ADE points the harness straight at the source when they speak the same API, and translates through its local proxy when they do not.

A harness preset — shown in the app as Custom (Settings › Providers › Custom) — is one saved pairing of the two, with the model, the thinking level and the subagent pins attached. It has an id, and that id is the only thing a launch needs. The permission tier is not part of a preset: it is chosen at launch, the same way it is for every other provider.

See what this machine can run

ade chat models --text                 # every model, grouped by provider
ade chat models --provider claude --text
ade providers accounts list --text     # Claude/Codex accounts on this machine
ade providers accounts list --provider codex --text

Presets and accounts also ride the AI status payload, which is the one call that answers what a session can run on without three round trips:

ade actions run ai getStatus --text

Read harnessPresets[] ({id, name, harness, model, source}) and providerAccounts[] ({id, provider, label, isDefault, signedIn}). Neither carries a key or a config path — only the ids the flags below take.

See what each harness can reach

ade harness routes --harness claude --text   # every model Claude Code can run, by source
ade harness routes --text                    # the same for every routable harness

Rows tagged via ADE proxy are translated (the proxy starts on demand). Check one pairing with a one-token request before relying on it — the verdict is remembered, so later launches route around a protocol the model refused:

ade harness test --harness claude --via opencode-go --model deepseek-v4.1-flash --text

Launch on a specific setup

you want	flag
any reachable model, no saved preset	--provider <harness> --via <source> --model <id>
a saved custom setup (harness preset)	--preset <preset-id>
one stored API key, no preset	--credential <credential-id>
a specific Claude/Codex account	--instance <account-id>

# A chat on a saved preset — model, effort and subagent pins all come from
# the preset, so nothing else needs stating.
ade chat create --lane <lane> --preset hp_opus_work

# A tracked CLI terminal on the same preset.
ade new chat --mode cli --lane <lane> --provider claude --preset hp_opus_work

# A key saved on a provider page, with no preset around it.
ade chat create --lane <lane> --provider claude --credential openrouter

# A specific account, without a preset.
ade chat create --lane <lane> --provider claude --instance work

# OpenCode Go's DeepSeek inside Claude Code, chat or CLI, no preset.
ade chat create --lane <lane> --provider claude --via opencode-go --model deepseek-v4.1-flash
ade new chat --mode cli --lane <lane> --provider codex --via opencode-go --model glm-5.3

--via takes opencode-go, opencode (Zen), opencode:<provider>, or key:<provider>[:<credentialId>]. Subagents follow the main model unless a preset pins them.

Run a custom setup in your own terminal

eval "$(ade harness env <preset-id> --text)" && claude --model <model>

The output holds the provider token. It is printed for eval and never written anywhere; do not paste it into a chat or a file.

--preset and --credential are mutually exclusive: each names a whole setup, and passing both would leave ADE guessing which one you meant.

Run subagents on a different preset

A subagent is a chat, so it takes the same flag. Spawn one on a cheaper or faster preset than the parent and keep working:

ade chat create --lane <lane> --preset hp_haiku_cheap \
  --type subagent --permission-mode full-auto \
  --prompt "Find every caller of resolveLaunchBrain and report the list."

For a harness that takes one, you do not have to spawn a separate chat at all: a preset can name its subagents' model and thinking level (Settings › Providers › Custom › Subagents), which apply to every subagent the chat spawns natively, with no extra flag. Claude Code, Codex CLI, Grok and OpenCode take a subagent model; Claude Code and Codex CLI take a level too. Claude Code, Grok and OpenCode also let you pin individual named roles (Explore, Plan, general-purpose) under Subagent naming. A harness the preset's wizard says runs subagents on the main model takes neither.

What does not take a preset

Three CLIs read their identity from their own sign-in and accept no key or endpoint from the launch: Cursor, Copilot, Kimi. A preset on one of them in CLI mode is dropped and the native CLI starts — a working session on the harness's own account, with the reason recorded. (Grok used to be here; it now runs routed models from an ADE-owned GROK_HOME.)

OpenCode's free Zen models only answer inside OpenCode itself, so they are never offered in another harness.

Two more have no key path at all, in either mode:

• Pi reads its endpoints and model ids from its own models.json. Add the provider in Pi; a preset key has nowhere to go.
• Cursor holds one key at a time in its own store, so a per-preset key would change every other Cursor session on the machine.

When a preset cannot be honoured, the chat says which capability was dropped and runs on the harness's own sign-in. It never fails the launch.