Problem

When using Chief with Claude Code configured for local models (e.g., via LM Studio), Chief fails because Claude Code's -p (non-interactive/print) mode ignores the model configured in ~/.claude/settings.json.

Error Message

There's an issue with the selected model (claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929). It may not exist or you may not have access to it.
Run --model to pick a different model.

Root Cause

Chief spawns Claude Code with:

exec.CommandContext(ctx, "claude",
 "--dangerously-skip-permissions",
 "-p", prompt,
 "--output-format", "stream-json",
 "--verbose",
)

When using Claude Code's -p (non-interactive) mode, it does not respect the model setting from ~/.claude/settings.json. The --model flag must be explicitly provided.

Environment Setup

For context, this is how local models are configured:

# LM Studio setup
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:1234/v1
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=lm-studio
# Claude Code works fine interactively
claude --model qwen/qwen3-coder-next

But Chief's non-interactive calls fail because --model isn't passed.

Requested Solution

Add a way to configure the model that Chief passes to Claude Code. Options:

Option 1: Environment Variable (Preferred)

export CHIEF_CLAUDE_MODEL=qwen/qwen3-coder-next
chief

Option 2: CLI Flag

chief --claude-model qwen/qwen3-coder-next

Option 3: Config File

# .chief/config.yaml
claude:
 model: qwen/qwen3-coder-next

Affected Code Locations

The --model flag needs to be added in:

• internal/loop/loop.go:263-268 (main agent loop)
• internal/prd/generator.go:144-148 (PRD conversion)
• internal/tui/first_time_setup.go:511 (first-time setup detection)

Workarounds Attempted

• Setting ~/.claude/settings.json model: ❌ Ignored in -p mode
• Exporting env vars before running Chief: ❌ Not passed through properly
• Wrapper scripts: ❌ Hacky and fragile

Use Case

Users with powerful local machines (e.g., Mac Studio) want to use quantized models via LM Studio/MLX instead of paying for API calls. This would enable Chief to work with:

• Local models via LM Studio
• Custom endpoints
• Alternative model providers

Priority

This blocks usage of Chief for anyone not using Anthropic's official API/models. Thanks.