Switch between Anthropic models and GLM 4.6?

[jorgecolonconsulting]

Is it possible to switch between custom models like GLM 4.6 and Anthropic's built-in models just by using the /model slash command? I switch between models quickly depending on the task. One level above that is if there's a way to use the same custom aliases with the subagent model frontmatter option (https://code.claude.com/docs/en/sub-agents#model-selection).

I tried to see in the documentation if there was a way to do that, but it wasn't very clear if that was possible.

[starbaser]

Thanks for the question! Yes, you can use any model in either /model or the model frontmatter field in Claude Code.

I had not realized and assumed it was common knowledge, although I recall Claude Code communicating it better in the earlier versions than it does now. I'll have to update the examples, thanks!

The "Default", "Sonnet", etc. options shown when submitting /model with no argument are just shorthand for the full model ids it actually sends. That field through Claude Code directly sets the model field it uses in api requests. For quick switching, you can manually set /model think and you will use the model_name: think deployment in the LiteLLM config. The model router hook reads these aliases and rewrites the request to the desired provider/model.

If you want even more control, you can write your own model routing logic through the "rules" system too. The current examples in the docs are not as relevant as they were anymore, so if you come up with a good application of using custom models I'd love to credit you and include it in the documentation!