improvement(agent): allow variable references in reasoning effort and verbosity

Reasoning Effort and Verbosity were select-only dropdowns, so a workflow could
not sweep them from a variable or an upstream block the way it already can with
the model. Both become editable comboboxes, matching the model field directly
above them and the managed-agent selectors.

- switch both subblocks to `combobox`, keeping their fetched per-model option
  lists intact
- keep them visible when `model` itself holds a reference, since the concrete
  model id is only known at execution time and cannot be matched against the
  static capability list
- normalize the resolved level in the provider chokepoint so a reference that
  resolves to `"High"` or to nothing behaves sanely instead of hitting a
  provider 400

Author: waleedlatif1

apps/sim/blocks/blocks.test.ts

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest'
 
 vi.unmock('@/blocks/registry')
 
+import { evaluateSubBlockCondition } from '@/lib/workflows/subblocks/visibility'
 import { generateRouterPrompt } from '@/blocks/blocks/router'
 import {
   getAllBlocks,
@@ -842,6 +843,33 @@ describe.concurrent('Blocks Module', () => {
       expect(modelSubBlock?.commandSearchable).toBe(true)
     })
 
+    it('should let the agent reasoning and verbosity fields take a typed reference', () => {
+      const agentBlock = getBlock('agent')
+
+      for (const id of ['reasoningEffort', 'verbosity']) {
+        const subBlock = agentBlock?.subBlocks.find((sb) => sb.id === id)
+        // A combobox is editable, so a `<block.output>` / `{{ENV_VAR}}` reference can be
+        // typed into it; the option list still offers every level the model accepts.
+        expect(subBlock?.type).toBe('combobox')
+        expect(typeof subBlock?.condition).toBe('function')
+      }
+    })
+
+    it('should keep the agent reasoning and verbosity fields visible when the model is a reference', () => {
+      const agentBlock = getBlock('agent')
+
+      for (const id of ['reasoningEffort', 'verbosity']) {
+        const subBlock = agentBlock?.subBlocks.find((sb) => sb.id === id)
+        const condition = subBlock?.condition
+        if (typeof condition !== 'function') throw new Error(`${id} condition is not a function`)
+
+        expect(evaluateSubBlockCondition(condition, { model: '<start.model>' })).toBe(true)
+        expect(evaluateSubBlockCondition(condition, { model: '{{MODEL_ID}}' })).toBe(true)
+        expect(evaluateSubBlockCondition(condition, { model: 'gpt-5.1' })).toBe(true)
+        expect(evaluateSubBlockCondition(condition, { model: 'claude-sonnet-5' })).toBe(false)
+      }
+    })
+
     it('should hide generator API keys on hosted only for Fal.ai providers', () => {
       for (const blockType of ['image_generator_v2', 'video_generator_v3']) {
         const block = getBlock(blockType)

apps/sim/blocks/blocks/agent.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { AgentIcon } from '@/components/icons'
 import type { BlockConfig } from '@/blocks/types'
 import { AuthMode, IntegrationType } from '@/blocks/types'
 import {
+  getModelCapabilityCondition,
   getModelOptions,
   getProviderCredentialSubBlocks,
   normalizeFileInput,
@@ -159,8 +160,8 @@ Return ONLY the JSON array.`,
     {
       id: 'reasoningEffort',
       title: 'Reasoning Effort',
-      type: 'dropdown',
-      placeholder: 'Select reasoning effort...',
+      type: 'combobox',
+      placeholder: 'Type or select reasoning effort...',
       options: [
         { label: 'auto', id: 'auto' },
         { label: 'low', id: 'low' },
@@ -207,16 +208,13 @@ Return ONLY the JSON array.`,
         return [autoOption, ...validOptions.map((opt) => ({ label: opt, id: opt }))]
       },
       mode: 'advanced',
-      condition: {
-        field: 'model',
-        value: MODELS_WITH_REASONING_EFFORT,
-      },
+      condition: getModelCapabilityCondition(MODELS_WITH_REASONING_EFFORT),
     },
     {
       id: 'verbosity',
       title: 'Verbosity',
-      type: 'dropdown',
-      placeholder: 'Select verbosity...',
+      type: 'combobox',
+      placeholder: 'Type or select verbosity...',
       options: [
         { label: 'auto', id: 'auto' },
         { label: 'low', id: 'low' },
@@ -263,10 +261,7 @@ Return ONLY the JSON array.`,
         return [autoOption, ...validOptions.map((opt) => ({ label: opt, id: opt }))]
       },
       mode: 'advanced',
-      condition: {
-        field: 'model',
-        value: MODELS_WITH_VERBOSITY,
-      },
+      condition: getModelCapabilityCondition(MODELS_WITH_VERBOSITY),
     },
     {
       id: 'thinkingLevel',

apps/sim/blocks/utils.ts

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
   isOllamaConfigured,
 } from '@/lib/core/config/env-flags'
 import { getScopesForService } from '@/lib/oauth/utils'
+import { containsReference } from '@/lib/workflows/sanitization/references'
 import { buildCanonicalIndex } from '@/lib/workflows/subblocks/visibility'
 import type { BlockOutput, OutputFieldDefinition, SubBlockConfig } from '@/blocks/types'
 import {
@@ -235,6 +236,23 @@ function shouldRequireApiKeyForModel(model: string): boolean {
   return true
 }
 
+/**
+ * Visibility condition for a model-tuning field that only some models accept, such as
+ * reasoning effort or verbosity. Gates on the capability list, but keeps the field visible
+ * when `model` itself holds a variable or block reference — the concrete model id is only
+ * known at execution time then, so matching a reference against a static list would hide
+ * the field for every workflow that binds its model dynamically.
+ */
+export function getModelCapabilityCondition(capableModels: string[]) {
+  return (values?: Record<string, unknown>) => {
+    const model = typeof values?.model === 'string' ? values.model : ''
+    if (containsReference(model)) {
+      return buildModelVisibilityCondition(model, true)
+    }
+    return { field: 'model', value: capableModels }
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Get the API key condition for provider credential subblocks.
  * Handles hosted vs self-hosted environments and excludes providers that don't need API key.

apps/sim/executor/variables/resolver.test.ts

@@ -1341,3 +1341,50 @@ describe('VariableResolver function context overflow offload', () => {
     expect(result.resolvedInputs.code).toBe('return globals()["__blockRef_0"]')
   })
 })
+
+/**
+ * The agent block's Reasoning Effort and Verbosity fields are editable comboboxes, so a
+ * workflow can bind them to a reference instead of picking a level. These lock in that the
+ * generic input resolution actually reaches those two fields.
+ */
+describe('VariableResolver agent model levels', () => {
+  it('resolves block, workflow-variable, and env references in reasoning effort and verbosity', async () => {
+    const producer = createBlock('producer', 'Producer', BlockType.API)
+    const agent = createBlock('agent', 'Agent', BlockType.AGENT, {
+      model: 'gpt-5',
+      reasoningEffort: '<Producer.result>',
+      verbosity: '<variable.Detail>',
+      thinkingLevel: '{{THINKING}}',
+    })
+    const workflow: SerializedWorkflow = {
+      version: '1',
+      blocks: [producer, agent],
+      connections: [],
+      loops: {},
+      parallels: {},
+    }
+
+    const state = new ExecutionState()
+    state.setBlockOutput('producer', { result: 'high' })
+    const ctx = {
+      blockStates: state.getBlockStates(),
+      blockLogs: [],
+      environmentVariables: { THINKING: 'medium' },
+      workflowVariables: { 'var-1': { id: 'var-1', name: 'Detail', type: 'string', value: 'low' } },
+      decisions: { router: new Map(), condition: new Map() },
+      loopExecutions: new Map(),
+      executedBlocks: new Set(),
+      activeExecutionPath: new Set(),
+      completedLoops: new Set(),
+      metadata: {},
+    } as unknown as ExecutionContext
+
+    const resolver = new VariableResolver(workflow, { THINKING: 'medium' }, state)
+    const result = await resolver.resolveInputs(ctx, 'agent', agent.config.params, agent)
+
+    expect(result.reasoningEffort).toBe('high')
+    expect(result.verbosity).toBe('low')
+    expect(result.thinkingLevel).toBe('medium')
+    expect(result.model).toBe('gpt-5')
+  })
+})

apps/sim/lib/workflows/sanitization/references.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 import {
+  containsReference,
   isLikelyReferenceSegment,
   splitReferenceSegment,
 } from '@/lib/workflows/sanitization/references'
@@ -53,3 +54,37 @@ describe('isLikelyReferenceSegment', () => {
     expect(isLikelyReferenceSegment('<123>')).toBe(false)
   })
 })
+
+describe('containsReference', () => {
+  it('detects block and variable references', () => {
+    expect(containsReference('<start.input>')).toBe(true)
+    expect(containsReference('<variable.model>')).toBe(true)
+    expect(containsReference('<loop.index>')).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('detects environment variable placeholders', () => {
+    expect(containsReference('{{MODEL_ID}}')).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('detects a reference embedded in surrounding text', () => {
+    expect(containsReference('gpt-<start.suffix>')).toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('returns false for literal model ids', () => {
+    expect(containsReference('gpt-5.1')).toBe(false)
+    expect(containsReference('claude-sonnet-5')).toBe(false)
+    expect(containsReference('azure/gpt-5.1-codex')).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('returns false for empty and non-string values', () => {
+    expect(containsReference('')).toBe(false)
+    expect(containsReference(undefined)).toBe(false)
+    expect(containsReference(null)).toBe(false)
+    expect(containsReference(42)).toBe(false)
+  })
+
+  it('returns false for stray brackets that are not references', () => {
+    expect(containsReference('a < b')).toBe(false)
+    expect(containsReference('<123>')).toBe(false)
+  })
+})

apps/sim/lib/workflows/sanitization/references.ts

@@ -77,6 +77,21 @@ export function isLikelyReferenceSegment(segment: string): boolean {
   return true
 }
 
+const ENV_VAR_PATTERN = new RegExp(`\\${REFERENCE.ENV_VAR_START}[^}]+\\${REFERENCE.ENV_VAR_END}`)
+
+/**
+ * Whether a subblock value carries a `<block.path>` / `<variable.name>` reference or a
+ * `{{ENV_VAR}}` placeholder instead of a literal value — i.e. its real value is only known
+ * once the workflow runs. Conditions that gate one field on a sibling's literal value use
+ * this to stay visible while the sibling is bound dynamically.
+ */
+export function containsReference(value: unknown): boolean {
+  if (typeof value !== 'string' || !value) {
+    return false
+  }
+  return extractReferencePrefixes(value).length > 0 || ENV_VAR_PATTERN.test(value)
+}
+
 export function extractReferencePrefixes(value: string): Array<{ raw: string; prefix: string }> {
   if (!value || typeof value !== 'string') {
     return []

apps/sim/providers/index.test.ts

@@ -412,3 +412,70 @@ describe('executeProviderRequest — streaming cost policy', () => {
     })
   })
 })
+
+/**
+ * `reasoningEffort` and `verbosity` can be bound to a variable or block reference in the
+ * agent block, so by the time they reach the provider they hold whatever that reference
+ * resolved to rather than a value picked from a list.
+ */
+describe('executeProviderRequest — model level normalization', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks()
+    mockGetApiKeyWithBYOK.mockResolvedValue({ apiKey: 'sk-rotating', isBYOK: false })
+    mockExecuteRequest.mockResolvedValue({
+      content: 'hi',
+      model: 'gpt-5',
+      tokens: { input: 1, output: 1, total: 2 },
+    } as ProviderResponse)
+  })
+
+  const sentRequest = () => mockExecuteRequest.mock.calls[0][0] as Record<string, unknown>
+
+  it('trims and lower-cases levels a reference resolved to', async () => {
+    await executeProviderRequest('openai', {
+      model: 'gpt-5',
+      workspaceId: 'ws-1',
+      reasoningEffort: ' High ',
+      verbosity: 'LOW',
+    })
+
+    expect(sentRequest().reasoningEffort).toBe('high')
+    expect(sentRequest().verbosity).toBe('low')
+  })
+
+  it('treats a level that resolved to nothing as unset rather than an empty string', async () => {
+    await executeProviderRequest('openai', {
+      model: 'gpt-5',
+      workspaceId: 'ws-1',
+      reasoningEffort: '',
+      verbosity: '   ',
+    })
+
+    expect(sentRequest().reasoningEffort).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(sentRequest().verbosity).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  it('leaves an already-valid level untouched', async () => {
+    await executeProviderRequest('openai', {
+      model: 'gpt-5',
+      workspaceId: 'ws-1',
+      reasoningEffort: 'medium',
+      verbosity: 'high',
+    })
+
+    expect(sentRequest().reasoningEffort).toBe('medium')
+    expect(sentRequest().verbosity).toBe('high')
+  })
+
+  it('still drops levels the resolved model does not support', async () => {
+    await executeProviderRequest('anthropic', {
+      model: 'claude-opus-4-6',
+      workspaceId: 'ws-1',
+      reasoningEffort: 'high',
+      verbosity: 'high',
+    })
+
+    expect(sentRequest().reasoningEffort).toBeUndefined()
+    expect(sentRequest().verbosity).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+})

apps/sim/providers/index.ts

@@ -39,10 +39,26 @@ const logger = createLogger('Providers')
  */
 export const MAX_TOOL_ITERATIONS = 20
 
+/**
+ * Normalizes a model-tuning level that may have arrived from a variable or block reference
+ * rather than a picker. Every level a model declares is lower-case, so trimming and
+ * lower-casing lets a reference resolve to `"High"` or `" high "` and still apply. A level
+ * that resolves to nothing becomes `undefined` so the field reads as untouched instead of
+ * sending an empty string the provider rejects.
+ */
+function normalizeModelLevel(value: string | undefined): string | undefined {
+  if (typeof value !== 'string') return undefined
+  const normalized = value.trim().toLowerCase()
+  return normalized || undefined
+}
+
 function sanitizeRequest(request: ProviderRequest): ProviderRequest {
   const sanitizedRequest = { ...request }
   const model = sanitizedRequest.model
 
+  sanitizedRequest.reasoningEffort = normalizeModelLevel(sanitizedRequest.reasoningEffort)
+  sanitizedRequest.verbosity = normalizeModelLevel(sanitizedRequest.verbosity)
+
   if (model && !supportsTemperature(model)) {
     sanitizedRequest.temperature = undefined
   }