PROXY_MODE Reference Guide

What is PROXY_MODE?

PROXY_MODE is a directive that tells an agent to delegate its task to an external AI model via Claudish.

How It Works

1. Orchestrator launches Task with PROXY_MODE-enabled agent
2. Agent detects PROXY_MODE: {model} at start of prompt
3. Agent extracts model ID and actual task
4. Agent runs claudish --model {model} with the task
5. Agent returns external model's response

Multi-Backend Routing

Claudish routes to different backends based on model ID prefix:

⚠️ Prefix Collision Warning

OpenRouter model IDs may collide with routing prefixes. Check the prefix table above.

Collision-free models (safe for OpenRouter): - x-ai/grok-* ✅ - deepseek/* ✅ - minimax/* ✅ (use mmax/ for MiniMax Direct) - qwen/* ✅ - mistralai/* ✅ - moonshotai/* ✅ (use kimi/ for Kimi Direct) - anthropic/* ✅ - z-ai/* ✅ (use glm/ for GLM Direct) - google/* ✅ (use g/ for Gemini Direct) - openai/* ✅ (use oai/ for OpenAI Direct)

Direct API prefixes for cost savings: | OpenRouter Model | Direct API Prefix | Notes | |------------------|-------------------|-------| | openai/gpt-* | oai/gpt-* | OpenAI Direct API | | google/gemini-* | g/gemini-* | Gemini Direct API | | minimax/* | mmax/* or mm/* | MiniMax Direct API | | moonshotai/* | kimi/* or moonshot/ | Kimi Direct API | | z-ai/glm-* | glm/* or zhipu/* | GLM Direct API |

Workaround for collisions: 1. Use collision-free OpenRouter models (recommended for simplicity) 2. Use direct API prefix for cost savings (e.g., oai/gpt-4o instead of openai/gpt-4o) 3. Set up the corresponding API key for direct access

The PROXY_MODE Directive

Format:

PROXY_MODE: {model_id}

{actual task}

Example:

PROXY_MODE: x-ai/grok-code-fast-1

Review the architecture plan at ai-docs/plan.md

Approach Selection

Preference Order: 1. ✅ First: Use PROXY_MODE if agent supports it (see Supported Agents below) 2. ✅ Fallback: Use Bash + CLI if agent lacks PROXY_MODE support

Alternative: Bash + CLI (Works with ANY Agent)

Use the CLI directly when an agent doesn't support PROXY_MODE:

# Pattern
echo "{PROMPT}" | npx claudish --agent {PLUGIN}:{AGENT} --model {MODEL_ID} --stdin --quiet

# Examples
echo "Research React hooks" | npx claudish --agent dev:researcher --model x-ai/grok-code-fast-1 --stdin --quiet
echo "Debug this error" | npx claudish --agent dev:debugger --model google/gemini-3-pro-preview --stdin --quiet

This approach works with ALL agents, not just PROXY_MODE-enabled ones.

Supported Agents (for PROXY_MODE Directive)

Total: 25+ PROXY_MODE-enabled agents across 4 plugins

agentdev plugin (3 agents)

frontend plugin (8 agents)

seo plugin (5 agents)

dev plugin (7 agents)

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Using general-purpose

// ❌ WRONG for Task + PROXY_MODE approach
Task({
  subagent_type: "general-purpose",
  prompt: "PROXY_MODE: grok..."
})

general-purpose doesn't have <proxy_mode_support> so it won't recognize the directive.

Fix: Either use a PROXY_MODE-enabled agent, or use the Bash + CLI approach:

echo "Your task" | npx claudish --agent dev:researcher --model x-ai/grok-code-fast-1 --stdin --quiet

Mistake 2: Instructing agent to run claudish

// ❌ WRONG
Task({
  subagent_type: "general-purpose",
  prompt: "Run claudish with model X to review..."
})

The agent doesn't know the claudish pattern. Use PROXY_MODE instead.

Mistake 3: Wrong prompt format

// ❌ WRONG - PROXY_MODE must be first line
Task({
  subagent_type: "agentdev:reviewer",
  prompt: "Please review this plan.
PROXY_MODE: grok..."
})

The directive must be at the START of the prompt.

Correct Usage Pattern

// ✅ CORRECT
Task({
  subagent_type: "agentdev:reviewer",
  description: "Grok review",
  run_in_background: true,
  prompt: `PROXY_MODE: x-ai/grok-code-fast-1

Review the implementation at path/to/file.ts

Focus on:
1. Code quality
2. Error handling
3. Performance
4. Security`
})

Checking Agent Support

To verify if an agent supports PROXY_MODE:

# Find agents with PROXY_MODE support
grep -l "proxy_mode_support" plugins/*/agents/*.md

# Check specific agent
grep "proxy_mode_support" plugins/agentdev/agents/reviewer.md

Troubleshooting

"Agent didn't use external model"

Cause: Agent doesn't support PROXY_MODE Fix: Use a PROXY_MODE-enabled agent (see table above)

"Got Claude response instead of Grok response"

Cause: general-purpose or other non-PROXY_MODE agent was used Fix: Switch to agentdev:reviewer or similar

"PROXY_MODE directive in output"

Cause: Agent treated directive as content, not instruction Fix: Use correct agent; ensure directive is first line