diff --git a/.opencode/agent/triage.md b/.opencode/agent/triage.md
index 539be154917..000947e5a4c 100644
--- a/.opencode/agent/triage.md
+++ b/.opencode/agent/triage.md
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ mode: primary
 hidden: true
 model: opencode/claude-haiku-4-5
 color: "#44BA81"
+variant: "high"
 tools:
   "*": false
   "github-triage": true
diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/agent/agent.ts b/packages/opencode/src/agent/agent.ts
index 21859186659..57993ca64ef 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/agent/agent.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/agent/agent.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ export namespace Agent {
       prompt: z.string().optional(),
       options: z.record(z.string(), z.any()),
       steps: z.number().int().positive().optional(),
+      variant: z.string().optional(),
     })
     .meta({
       ref: "Agent",
@@ -190,6 +191,7 @@ export namespace Agent {
       item.color = value.color ?? item.color
       item.name = value.name ?? item.name
       item.steps = value.steps ?? item.steps
+      item.variant = value.variant ?? item.variant
       item.options = mergeDeep(item.options, value.options ?? {})
       item.permission = PermissionNext.merge(item.permission, PermissionNext.fromConfig(value.permission ?? {}))
     }
diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/component/dialog-agent.tsx b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/component/dialog-agent.tsx
index 365a22445b4..d5312bd44b4 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/component/dialog-agent.tsx
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/component/dialog-agent.tsx
@@ -9,10 +9,12 @@ export function DialogAgent() {
 
   const options = createMemo(() =>
     local.agent.list().map((item) => {
+      const desc = item.native ? "native" : item.description
+      const variant = item.variant ? ` (${item.variant})` : ""
       return {
         value: item.name,
         title: item.name,
-        description: item.native ? "native" : item.description,
+        description: desc ? desc + variant : variant.trim(),
       }
     }),
   )
diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/component/prompt/index.tsx b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/component/prompt/index.tsx
index 4558914cb7e..b8eeb8b9f59 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/component/prompt/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/component/prompt/index.tsx
@@ -697,8 +697,8 @@ export function Prompt(props: PromptProps) {
   const showVariant = createMemo(() => {
     const variants = local.model.variant.list()
     if (variants.length === 0) return false
-    const current = local.model.variant.current()
-    return !!current
+    const effective = local.model.variant.effective()
+    return !!effective
   })
 
   const spinnerDef = createMemo(() => {
@@ -944,7 +944,7 @@ export function Prompt(props: PromptProps) {
                   <Show when={showVariant()}>
                     <text fg={theme.textMuted}>·</text>
                     <text>
-                      <span style={{ fg: theme.warning, bold: true }}>{local.model.variant.current()}</span>
+                      <span style={{ fg: theme.warning, bold: true }}>{local.model.variant.effective()}</span>
                     </text>
                   </Show>
                 </box>
diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/context/local.tsx b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/context/local.tsx
index b60a775b375..b36232fa323 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/context/local.tsx
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/tui/context/local.tsx
@@ -313,6 +313,9 @@ export const { use: useLocal, provider: LocalProvider } = createSimpleContext({
             const key = `${m.providerID}/${m.modelID}`
             return modelStore.variant[key]
           },
+          effective() {
+            return this.current() ?? agent.current().variant
+          },
           list() {
             const m = currentModel()
             if (!m) return []
@@ -332,11 +335,12 @@ export const { use: useLocal, provider: LocalProvider } = createSimpleContext({
             const variants = this.list()
             if (variants.length === 0) return
             const current = this.current()
-            if (!current) {
+            const effective = this.effective()
+            if (!effective) {
               this.set(variants[0])
               return
             }
-            const index = variants.indexOf(current)
+            const index = variants.indexOf(effective)
             if (index === -1 || index === variants.length - 1) {
               this.set(undefined)
               return
diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/config/config.ts b/packages/opencode/src/config/config.ts
index 130031f020e..c2e5939a34b 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/config/config.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/config/config.ts
@@ -478,6 +478,7 @@ export namespace Config {
         .optional()
         .describe("Maximum number of agentic iterations before forcing text-only response"),
       maxSteps: z.number().int().positive().optional().describe("@deprecated Use 'steps' field instead."),
+      variant: z.string().optional().describe("Default model variant for this agent (e.g., 'high', 'low', 'max')"),
       permission: Permission.optional(),
     })
     .catchall(z.any())
@@ -493,6 +494,7 @@ export namespace Config {
         "color",
         "steps",
         "maxSteps",
+        "variant",
         "options",
         "permission",
         "disable",
diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/session/llm.ts b/packages/opencode/src/session/llm.ts
index 7e2967e31ba..a06d9ba5ec0 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/session/llm.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/session/llm.ts
@@ -83,8 +83,8 @@ export namespace LLM {
 
     const provider = await Provider.getProvider(input.model.providerID)
     const small = input.small ? ProviderTransform.smallOptions(input.model) : {}
-    const variant =
-      !input.small && input.model.variants && input.user.variant ? input.model.variants[input.user.variant] : {}
+    const variantKey = input.user.variant ?? input.agent.variant
+    const variant = !input.small && input.model.variants && variantKey ? input.model.variants[variantKey] : {}
     const options = pipe(
       ProviderTransform.options(input.model, input.sessionID, provider.options),
       mergeDeep(small),
diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/tool/task.ts b/packages/opencode/src/tool/task.ts
index 3489f3bf7fb..d3a7d8e9fee 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/tool/task.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/tool/task.ts
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ export const TaskTool = Tool.define("task", async () => {
           providerID: model.providerID,
         },
         agent: agent.name,
+        variant: agent.variant,
         tools: {
           todowrite: false,
           todoread: false,
diff --git a/packages/sdk/js/src/v2/gen/types.gen.ts b/packages/sdk/js/src/v2/gen/types.gen.ts
index fb3be8208ac..2a390d0ccbe 100644
--- a/packages/sdk/js/src/v2/gen/types.gen.ts
+++ b/packages/sdk/js/src/v2/gen/types.gen.ts
@@ -1274,6 +1274,10 @@ export type AgentConfig = {
    * @deprecated Use 'steps' field instead.
    */
   maxSteps?: number
+  /**
+   * Default model variant for this agent (e.g., 'high', 'low', 'max')
+   */
+  variant?: string
   permission?: PermissionConfig
   [key: string]:
     | unknown
@@ -1930,6 +1934,7 @@ export type Agent = {
     [key: string]: unknown
   }
   steps?: number
+  variant?: string
 }
 
 export type McpStatusConnected = {