The Dial

The Dial controls how hard Amp works on a task. Choose a mode based on how much the agent needs to figure out, not on which model happens to be behind it.

Choose a Mode

• low is for small, well-defined tasks. Use it when you know exactly what you want, such as a focused bug fix, test, or refactor.
• medium is the default for most work. Use it for messy or multi-part tasks where Amp needs to fill in some of the steps.
• high is for hard tasks where a subtle miss would be expensive. It spends more time reasoning and usually produces a result that is closer to review-ready.
• ultra is for hard, open-ended work where the outcome is clear but the path is not. Use it for migrations, architecture, and changes that cross many files or systems.

Starting too low can cost more if you need several attempts. Starting too high can waste time and credits on a simple change. Use medium for most threads. Choose a lower mode when the task is clear, and a higher mode when a miss costs more than the wait.

Choose the Mode Before the First Message

A thread keeps the mode you chose when you sent its first message. You cannot change the mode later in that thread. To work in a different mode, start a new thread.

The mode is fixed for two reasons. First, most models get confused when they continue a conversation that another model started, and in our experience the results were never good. Second, each mode has its own system prompt and tool definitions. Switching mid-thread would mean rewriting them, which invalidates the prompt cache and makes the thread more expensive.

In the CLI, press Ctrl+S before your first message to turn the Dial. You can also open the command palette with Ctrl+O and type mode. After the first message,

Models Behind the Dial

Amp chooses the model, reasoning effort, system prompt, and tools for each mode. That routing changes as models improve, but the meaning of each position on the Dial stays the same. See Modes for the current model behind each mode.

Amp may customize the main agent’s routing based on connected model provider subscriptions, workspace restrictions, and model availability.

The Task and Read Thread subagents that a mode starts run the same model and reasoning effort as its main agent. If you want a built-in mode to always use a specific model, you can pin one per mode in the dial editor.

Use a ChatGPT Subscription

When you sign in with ChatGPT and allow token sharing, OpenAI model usage is billed to your ChatGPT subscription instead of Amp credits. This includes the GPT-6 Astra main agent in high and the Task and Read Thread subagents it starts.

From the CLI, run amp config model-providers add-chatgpt-subscription (or amp add-chatgpt-sub) to open the same sign-in flow in your browser. Existing legacy ChatGPT connections keep working; you do not need to reconnect them.

By default, some modes, such as medium, run a main agent model your subscription does not serve, and those bill to Amp credits. If you have not changed your mode dial or Tune Modes, and your workspace has not tuned its modes, linking ChatGPT applies the ChatGPT Only preset for you. Otherwise Amp leaves your modes as they are and offers to apply the preset in one click, as it also does when you reactivate the subscription. You can also open Tune Modes, press the preset at the bottom, and save. It pins the main agent of low, medium, and high to OpenAI models (GPT-5.6 Terra for low, GPT-6.1 Sol for medium, and GPT-6 Astra for high), so later changes to Amp’s default models do not move these modes off your subscription. The Task and Read Thread subagents in these modes run the same models.

Each of these main agent roles follows the preset instead of holding its own copy of the model. When Amp changes the preset, for example to a newer OpenAI model, the roles change with it and you do not need to apply the preset again. A role that follows the preset shows the preset’s name in Tune Modes.

You can still change one thing. If you set the model or the effort of such a role, the role uses your setting and keeps following the preset for everything else. The other modes are not affected. Press Preset on the role to drop your setting, or Auto to stop that role following the preset. Press the preset at the bottom again to stop following it: the roles you did not change return to Auto, and the roles you changed keep your model or effort as ordinary pins.

If you deactivate or delete the subscription, Amp offers to return the roles it served to Auto, so they follow Amp’s default models instead of billing their pinned models to Amp credits.

ultra keeps Amp’s routing so it can run the strongest model Amp has selected for the hardest tasks. Modes shows both routings side by side.

Costs and Limitations

You can use runners on your own machine for free. When using orbs, you pay for the orbs (from Amp Megawatt/Gigawatt or Amp credits); the orbs aren’t covered by your ChatGPT plan.

Image generation with Painter still uses Amp credits because OpenAI does not support it through ChatGPT subscriptions. Web search, reading web pages, and voice also use Amp credits.

Use Your Claude Subscription

Amp's own modes, such as medium, high, and ultra, and any raw models are never covered by your Claude plan. Only the Claude Code mode uses your Claude plan.

The Claude Code mode in Amp lets you use Claude models with your Claude Subscription.

It uses the Claude Agent SDK instead of Amp's own agent. It supports orbs, runners, thread sharing, portals, multiplayer, and thread-to-thread messaging, with the differences below. For an overview, read Use Your Claude Subscription in Amp.

To use the Claude Code mode, pick Mode > Claude Code when you start a thread, or press Ctrl+S in the CLI and select Claude Code. If you have not linked a Claude subscription yet, Amp asks for one when you pick the mode. You can also link it ahead of time in Settings → Model Routing as Claude Subscription. Orbs and runners use that linked subscription.

You can use runners on your own machine for free. When using Claude Code mode in orbs, you pay for the orbs (from Amp Megawatt/Gigawatt or Amp credits); the orbs aren't covered by your Claude plan.

Choose Model and Effort

When starting a new thread, open Mode and select Claude Code. Use the Model and Effort menus on the dial to choose your model and effort level before sending the first message.

For threads you start from the CLI in execute mode (-x) or orb execute mode (-ox), set the model and effort with --mode and --features:

amp -x "Review this repository" --mode external-agent:claude-code \
  --features model:claude-opus-5-5

amp -ox "Review this repository" --mode external-agent:claude-code \
  --features model:mythos,effort:high

You can pass any model ID supported by Claude Code and available on your plan.

Costs and Limitations

• Painter (which generates images) uses Amp credits. To avoid it, add Do not use the painter tool. to AGENTS.md (or CLAUDE.md if present).

Custom Modes

Plugins can add custom agent modes with their own model, prompt, tools, and display settings. Custom modes are always available in the mode picker, whether or not they are on your dial. See Use Modes That Are Not on Your Dial.

Customize Your Dial

You can customize the dial in two ways under Settings → Mode Dial:

• Tune Modes lets you choose the model and reasoning effort behind a builtin mode’s main agent, which the mode’s subagents also run. Use models served by your own API key or subscription while keeping the mode’s prompt and tools.
• Build Dial lets you put two to four builtin or plugin modes on the dial in your preferred order. Add a specialist agent you use often, e.g., a reviewer with your team’s instructions.

Workspace admins can configure both tabs for their members, and personal settings take precedence.

Enterprise workspace admins can also disable models for their members in Allowed Models. A disabled model is marked “Disabled” in the Tune Modes list, and a personal pin to a disabled model is ignored until the model is enabled again.

The dial holds the modes you reach for most often. It is not the full list. Every other mode, including plugin modes and modes that run a single model, stays one step away in the mode picker. You do not need a dial slot for a mode to use it.

Tune the Modes

Open Tune Modes and turn the dial to a builtin mode. Each mode has one role, Main Agent, which runs the conversation. You can pin its model and reasoning effort. Subagents have no model setting of their own: Task and Read Thread run the same model and reasoning effort as the thread that started them, so they follow your pin. Supporting system models keep Amp’s routing.

Choose a model from the Main Agent list, adjust its reasoning effort if needed, and press Save. The mode keeps its prompt and tools.

Puck is not on the dial, but you can tune it too. Press the Puck button under the dial to pin its Main Agent model.

Plugin agents and other modes with their own routing appear for reference. Their routing cannot be changed in Tune Modes; plugin agent models must be changed in their agent definitions. This includes plugin agents that extend a builtin mode: pinning a model for medium does not change the main model of an agent that extends medium.

Automatic Models and Reasoning Effort

A model set to Auto follows Amp’s model choices as they change. You can pin the model for some modes and leave the others on Auto.

Reasoning effort controls how much thinking the model does before it answers. You can pin effort without pinning a model, or keep effort on Auto while choosing a model. Only supported effort levels are available, and models without an effort control have no adjustable levels.

If a pinned model becomes unavailable or your workspace restricts it, Amp falls back to automatic model selection. If an effort level is not supported by the model, Amp uses the closest supported level.

Save or Reset Tuning

• Save applies your model and effort changes. Discard returns to the saved settings.
• Revert on a role discards only that role’s unsaved changes.
• Auto on a role clears both its model and effort pins. Press Save to apply it.
• Reset to default clears your pins for the selected mode and saves immediately. If your workspace has pins for that mode, you follow those instead.

Use Your Own Key or Subscription

1. Add your API key (BYOK) or link your ChatGPT subscription in Model Routing.
2. In Tune Modes, select models that your connection supports for the modes you want to change.
3. Save, then check the routing preview in Model Routing to see which connection serves each model.

Tune Modes selects the model, while Model Routing determines which provider serves it. A pin takes precedence over Amp’s automatic model choices. It does not give your subscription access to models your plan does not support.

Usage through your key bills to your provider account. Usage through your subscription counts against that plan, and usage served by Amp bills to Amp credits. Workspace provider restrictions still apply.

Tuning a mode does not change supporting system models, e.g., image generation. Do not assume that pinning the main agent puts every model call on your subscription.

Build Your Dial

Open Build Dial to choose two to four modes and their order. The catalog includes builtin modes and the plugin agents available to you. You do not need to change your dial to use Tune Modes.

1. Drag a mode onto a slot, or click it to add it to the next free slot. Remove a mode to free a slot.
2. Drag modes on the dial to reorder them, or select one and use the arrow keys.
3. Hold the save button to apply your dial. Revert discards unsaved changes.

Presets fill the dial in one click and appear only when all their modes are available. The Factory preset also returns every mode to Auto. Hold the save button to apply both resets. A personal Factory reset clears only your personal dial and pins, so you follow your workspace’s settings if it has any, or Amp’s defaults otherwise.

When you start a new thread, the mode picker in the app and Ctrl+S in the CLI turn through your saved modes.

Use Modes That Are Not on Your Dial

The dial has at most four slots, but you can start a thread in any mode you have access to. Keep the standard low, medium, high, and ultra on the dial and pick everything else from the full list when you need it.

In the web app, open the mode picker when you create a thread. The Amp Modes tab shows your dial. The Raw Models tab shows every other mode, e.g., a plugin mode you installed or a mode that runs one specific model as its main agent. A single-model mode runs that model for its main agent and its Task and Read Thread subagents. Typing in the picker searches all modes at once, so you can type a mode’s name without switching tabs.

In the CLI, press Ctrl+S to open the dial, then press Tab to switch to a list of every mode. Your dial modes come first and the rest follow. Use ↑ and

Plugin Modes on the Dial

Use a plugin mode for work you repeat, e.g., a security review with your team’s checks. The agent has its own instructions and tools, so you do not need to repeat those instructions each time you select it.

Ask Amp to create a personal plugin agent, or follow Define a Custom Agent Mode. A plugin agent can extend low, medium, high, or ultra and add instructions to that mode’s prompt. It inherits the mode’s tools and, unless you specify another model, its model and effort.

Keep the plugin in your personal plugins to use it across projects, or have a workspace admin publish it as a workspace plugin. The mode is then available in the mode picker right away. Add it to your dial from the Build Dial catalog only if you want it in one of the four slots. Plugin models are defined by the agent, while billing follows your provider connections just as it does for builtin modes.

Example Dials

• Keep medium and high for coding, and add your reviewer mode for checking changes.
• Keep medium for coding, and add your security agent for reviewing sensitive changes.

These are examples of agents you can create, not builtin presets.

If a mode on your dial disappears, e.g., because the plugin is uninstalled or the mode is renamed, the dial skips it. If fewer than two modes remain available, Amp shows the standard dial until you fix the selection.

Share Your Dial

Copy link copies a URL containing your selected modes and their order. Opening it loads an unsaved draft in Build Dial and drops modes the recipient cannot access. The recipient must save the draft to use it.

The link does not install plugins or copy model tuning. Share the plugin separately if the recipient does not already have it.

Personal and Workspace Dials

Workspace admins can configure both tabs under Workspace Settings → Dial. A personal dial overrides the workspace lineup. Personal model and effort pins override workspace pins for the same setting, so you can choose your own model for one mode while following the workspace’s models for the others.

Without a personal pin, a role follows the workspace’s pin if there is one, or Amp’s automatic choices otherwise. The model list shows Workspace when it inherits a workspace model.

Read The Dial and A Dial for You for the original announcements. See Customize Your Dial for the customization announcement.