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, tools, and oracle for each mode. That routing changes as models improve, but the meaning of each position on the Dial stays the same. See Modes & Models for the current model behind each mode.

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

If you want a mode to always use a specific model for its main agent, Oracle, or subagents, you can pin one per mode in the dial editor.

Every mode has an oracle that the main agent can consult for a second opinion. The more capable modes can pair different frontier models so one model can review the other’s reasoning.

Use a ChatGPT Subscription

When you link a ChatGPT subscription, 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 GPT-6 Astra Oracle in every mode that routes to it.

Linking also changes the Oracle routing. The high Oracle switches from Claude Fable 5.1 to GPT-6 Astra. On plans that include GPT-6 Astra (Plus, Pro, and Business Premium, but not Go or standard Business), the medium Oracle switches from GPT-5.6 Sol to GPT-6 Astra, so every mode’s Oracle runs GPT-6 Astra.

The main agent in ultra continues to use Amp credits so it can run the strongest model Amp has selected for the hardest tasks. If you do not link a subscription, all modes continue to use Amp’s standard model routing and billing. Modes & Models shows both routings side by side.

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 models and reasoning effort behind a builtin mode’s main agent, Oracle, or subagents. 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.

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. You can pin a model for each of its three roles:

• Main Agent runs the conversation.
• Oracle handles the second opinions requested through the oracle tool.
• Subagents covers Task workers, codebase search, thread reading, and the Librarian.

Choose a model from a role’s list, adjust its reasoning effort if needed, and press Save. The mode keeps its prompt and tools. Plugin agents appear here for reference, but their models must be changed in their agent definitions, not in Tune Modes.

Automatic Models and Reasoning Effort

A model set to Auto follows Amp’s model choices as they change. You can pin only the Oracle and leave the other roles on Auto. Subagents on Auto can each use a different model, while pinning that role selects one model for all of them.

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 roles 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, including changes made when you connect a subscription. 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 these roles does not change the separate code review check or supporting system models, e.g., image generation. Do not assume that pinning all three roles 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. Saving the standard low, medium, high, ultra lineup clears your personal dial, so you follow your workspace’s dial if it has one, or Amp’s default 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 always runs one specific model. 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 Oracle while following the workspace’s main-agent model.

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.