fix: resolveProvider now supports model_list for cross-provider fallback

resolveProvider tries FindModelConfigByRef → CreateProviderFromConfig
(model_list path) first, then falls back to legacy CreateProviderByName
(providers section). This ensures cross-provider fallback works correctly
when config uses the new model_list format.

- Add FindModelConfigByRef to config.go for model_list lookup
- Update resolveProvider signature to accept both provider and model name
- Use provider/model composite key for provider cache
- Remove eager cache seeding in NewAgentLoop (lazy creation sufficient)

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

pkg/agent/loop.go

@@ -74,12 +74,7 @@ func NewAgentLoop(cfg *config.Config, msgBus *bus.MessageBus, provider providers
 		stateManager = state.NewManager(defaultAgent.Workspace)
 	}
 
-	// Initialize provider cache and seed with primary provider
 	providerCache := make(map[string]providers.LLMProvider)
-	primaryName := strings.ToLower(cfg.Agents.Defaults.Provider)
-	if primaryName != "" {
-		providerCache[primaryName] = provider
-	}
 
 	// Create stats tracker if enabled
 	var statsTracker *stats.Tracker
@@ -273,24 +268,38 @@ func (al *AgentLoop) SetChannelManager(cm *channels.Manager) {
 	al.channelManager = cm
 }
 
-// resolveProvider returns the LLMProvider for the given provider name.
+// resolveProvider returns the LLMProvider for the given provider/model pair.
-// It caches created providers so each name is only resolved once.
+// It caches created providers by "provider/model" key so each combination is
-// On creation failure, it logs a warning and returns the fallback provider.
+// only resolved once. Looks up model_list first (new format), then falls back
-func (al *AgentLoop) resolveProvider(providerName string, fallback providers.LLMProvider) providers.LLMProvider {
+// to the legacy providers section via CreateProviderByName.
-	name := strings.ToLower(providerName)
+func (al *AgentLoop) resolveProvider(providerName, modelName string, fallback providers.LLMProvider) providers.LLMProvider {
-	if name == "" {
+	key := strings.ToLower(providerName + "/" + modelName)
+	if key == "/" {
 		return fallback
 	}
-	if p, ok := al.providerCache[name]; ok {
+	if p, ok := al.providerCache[key]; ok {
 		return p
 	}
-	p, err := providers.CreateProviderByName(al.cfg, name)
+
+	// Try model_list first (new config format).
+	if mc := al.cfg.FindModelConfigByRef(providerName, modelName); mc != nil {
+		p, _, err := providers.CreateProviderFromConfig(mc)
+		if err == nil {
+			al.providerCache[key] = p
+			return p
+		}
+		logger.WarnCF("agent", "Failed to create provider from model_list, trying legacy",
+			map[string]interface{}{"provider": providerName, "model": modelName, "error": err.Error()})
+	}
+
+	// Fall back to legacy providers section.
+	p, err := providers.CreateProviderByName(al.cfg, providerName)
 	if err != nil {
 		logger.WarnCF("agent", "Failed to create provider for fallback, using primary",
-			map[string]interface{}{"provider": name, "error": err.Error()})
+			map[string]interface{}{"provider": providerName, "error": err.Error()})
 		return fallback
 	}
-	al.providerCache[name] = p
+	al.providerCache[key] = p
 	return p
 }
 
@@ -762,7 +771,7 @@ func (al *AgentLoop) runLLMIteration(
 			if len(agent.Candidates) > 1 && al.fallback != nil {
 				fbResult, fbErr := al.fallback.Execute(ctx, agent.Candidates,
 					func(ctx context.Context, provider, model string) (*providers.LLMResponse, error) {
-						p := al.resolveProvider(provider, agent.Provider)
+						p := al.resolveProvider(provider, model, agent.Provider)
 						return p.Chat(ctx, messages, providerToolDefs, model, map[string]interface{}{
 							"max_tokens":  agent.MaxTokens,
 							"temperature": agent.Temperature,

pkg/agent/loop_test.go

@@ -725,14 +725,14 @@ func TestResolveProvider_CachesProviders(t *testing.T) {
 	primary := &mockProvider{}
 	al := NewAgentLoop(cfg, msgBus, primary)
 
-	// Primary provider should be cached under "vllm"
+	// First call creates and caches a provider for "vllm/test-model"
-	p1 := al.resolveProvider("vllm", primary)
+	p1 := al.resolveProvider("vllm", "test-model", primary)
-	if p1 != primary {
+	if p1 == primary {
-		t.Fatal("expected primary provider for 'vllm'")
+		t.Fatal("expected a new provider from legacy providers config, not the fallback")
 	}
 
 	// Calling again should return the same instance (cached)
-	p2 := al.resolveProvider("vllm", primary)
+	p2 := al.resolveProvider("vllm", "test-model", primary)
 	if p1 != p2 {
 		t.Fatal("expected same cached instance on second call")
 	}
@@ -762,7 +762,7 @@ func TestResolveProvider_FallsBackOnError(t *testing.T) {
 	al := NewAgentLoop(cfg, msgBus, primary)
 
 	// Request a provider that can't be created (no config for "nonexistent")
-	p := al.resolveProvider("nonexistent", primary)
+	p := al.resolveProvider("nonexistent", "unknown-model", primary)
 	if p != primary {
 		t.Fatal("expected fallback to primary provider on creation error")
 	}
@@ -795,7 +795,7 @@ func TestResolveProvider_EmptyNameReturnsFallback(t *testing.T) {
 	primary := &mockProvider{}
 	al := NewAgentLoop(cfg, msgBus, primary)
 
-	p := al.resolveProvider("", primary)
+	p := al.resolveProvider("", "", primary)
 	if p != primary {
 		t.Fatal("expected fallback provider for empty name")
 	}

pkg/config/config.go

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 	"sync/atomic"
 
 	"github.com/caarlos0/env/v11"
@@ -618,6 +619,19 @@ func (c *Config) findMatches(modelName string) []ModelConfig {
 	return matches
 }
 
+// FindModelConfigByRef finds a ModelConfig entry whose Model field matches
+// "protocol/modelID" (case-insensitive). Used by the fallback chain to look up
+// cross-provider candidates in model_list.
+func (c *Config) FindModelConfigByRef(protocol, modelID string) *ModelConfig {
+	target := strings.ToLower(protocol + "/" + modelID)
+	for i := range c.ModelList {
+		if strings.ToLower(c.ModelList[i].Model) == target {
+			return &c.ModelList[i]
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // HasProvidersConfig checks if any provider in the old providers config has configuration.
 func (c *Config) HasProvidersConfig() bool {
 	v := c.Providers

pkg/config/defaults.go

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ func DefaultConfig() *Config {
 				MaxTokens:           8192,
 				Temperature:         nil, // nil means use provider default
 				MaxToolIterations:    20,
+				TaskReminderInterval: 5,
 			},
 		},
 		Bindings: []AgentBinding{},