Persist project provider selection after API-key connect

API-key and Custom connects now write the project-local provider/model
selection the same way OAuth does, so a restart keeps the connected model
without storing secrets in the per-repo file.

Author: TheGreatAxios

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ parallel copies under `docs/` or `scripts/notes/`. At cut time: rename
   the key, so personal and team keys can coexist (`openai/default`,
   `anthropic/work`, …). Reusing an existing name replaces that instance after
   an explicit confirm. Custom endpoints stay free-form and single-entry.
+- **API-key connect keeps the project selection.** Connecting an API-key or
+  Custom provider now writes the same project-local provider/model selection
+  OAuth already wrote, so a restart in that repo resolves to the account just
+  connected. Secrets stay in global credential storage only.
 
 ## [0.2.97] - 2026-08-10
 

docs/IMPLEMENTATION.md

@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ Profiles supply per-project or named-profile overrides for `model`, `maxTurns`,
 
 Providers and credentials are read exclusively from settings files: the global `~/.corbits/settings.json` (definitions + credentials) and the per-repo `.corbits/settings.json` (selection only). There are no `OPENAI_COMPATIBLE_*` environment-variable overrides, and `index.ts` does not load `.env` files — a deliberately stale or exported key can no longer shadow the configured provider.
 
-**Models-first connect.** There is no standalone `/login` command. `/model` opens on a flat model list (Recent, Favorites, then provider groups) built by `buildModelsFirstList` (`src/tui/model-picker.ts`). **Alt+A** / **c** opens Connect; API-key first-class rows use an auth-only form (key only; catalog base URL is display-only). **Alt+F** toggles favorites; recent/favorite pairs live in global settings (`recentModels` / `favoriteModels`). First-class providers ship from `packages/first-class-providers` (corbits-agnostic defs) and `packages/opencode-go` (Go catalog, auth validate, multi-protocol endpoints, usage). OAuth providers open the existing browser login modal; API-key providers pre-seed models and persist on save so selection works without restart. OpenCode Go forces `OPENCODE_GO_BASE_URL` when `opencodeGo` is set so subscription traffic is not billed as Zen PAYG.
+**Models-first connect.** There is no standalone `/login` command. `/model` opens on a flat model list (Recent, Favorites, then provider groups) built by `buildModelsFirstList` (`src/tui/model-picker.ts`). **Alt+A** / **c** opens Connect; API-key first-class rows use an auth-only form (key only; catalog base URL is display-only). **Alt+F** toggles favorites; recent/favorite pairs live in global settings (`recentModels` / `favoriteModels`). First-class providers ship from `packages/first-class-providers` (corbits-agnostic defs) and `packages/opencode-go` (Go catalog, auth validate, multi-protocol endpoints, usage). OAuth providers open the existing browser login modal; API-key providers pre-seed models and persist on save so selection works without restart. Both OAuth and API-key (including Custom) connects share `persistConnectedSelection` in `provider-setup-submit.ts` so project-local provider/model selection is written alongside global credentials. OpenCode Go forces `OPENCODE_GO_BASE_URL` when `opencodeGo` is set so subscription traffic is not billed as Zen PAYG.
 
 **OpenCode Go multi-protocol.** Each Go model carries protocol metadata (`chat-completions`, `responses`, or `messages`). `buildGoSource` / `resolveGoEndpoint` pick the adapter and base URL per model (not a single provider-wide OpenAI route). When Go is the active provider, subscription usage is fetched for the status bar and omitted on auth/network failure.
 

src/tui/onboarding.ts

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { runTUI } from "./runner.js";
 import { buildProviderSubmitHandler } from "./provider-setup-submit.js";
 import { loadConfig, type UnconfiguredConfig } from "../config/index.js";
-import { globalSettingsPath, loadSettings } from "../config/settings.js";
+import { globalSettingsPath, loadSettings, localSettingsPath } from "../config/settings.js";
 import { activateHeldTelemetry, telemetryFirstRunPending } from "../telemetry/first-run.js";
 import { runProviderSetup } from "./provider-setup.js";
 
@@ -20,7 +20,11 @@ export async function runOnboarding(config: UnconfiguredConfig): Promise<number>
   const submitted = await runProviderSetup({
     showTelemetryNotice,
     existingProviderNames: Object.keys(existing?.providers ?? {}),
-    onSubmit: buildProviderSubmitHandler(settingsPath, existing, config.cwd),
+    onSubmit: buildProviderSubmitHandler(
+      settingsPath,
+      existing,
+      localSettingsPath(config.cwd),
+    ),
   });
 
   // If the user cancelled (Ctrl+C) onSubmit was never called and settings were

src/tui/provider-connect.test.ts

@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ describe("connectProviderInline", () => {
         providerId: "openai",
         settingsPath,
         localSettingsPath: join(dir, "local.json"),
-        cwd: dir,
         existing: null,
         createRenderer: async () => harness.renderer,
       })

src/tui/provider-connect.ts

@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ import { runProviderSetup, type ProviderSetupConfig } from "./provider-setup.js"
 export type ConnectProviderInput = {
   readonly providerId: string
   readonly settingsPath: string
+  /** Project-local selection file; written after a successful connect. */
   readonly localSettingsPath: string
-  readonly cwd: string
   readonly existing: Settings | null
   readonly createRenderer?: ProviderSetupConfig["createRenderer"]
   readonly startLogin?: ProviderSetupConfig["startLogin"]
@@ -35,7 +35,11 @@ export async function connectProviderInline(
   input: ConnectProviderInput,
 ): Promise<ConnectProviderResult> {
   let result: ConnectProviderResult = { connected: false }
-  const submitProvider = buildProviderSubmitHandler(input.settingsPath, input.existing, input.cwd)
+  const submitProvider = buildProviderSubmitHandler(
+    input.settingsPath,
+    input.existing,
+    input.localSettingsPath,
+  )
 
   const submitted = await runProviderSetup({
     showTelemetryNotice: false,

src/tui/provider-setup-submit.test.ts

@@ -1,30 +1,33 @@
-import { describe, test, expect, afterEach } from "bun:test";
+import { describe, test, expect } from "bun:test";
 import { mkdtemp, rm } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
 import { join } from "node:path";
 
 import { buildProviderSubmitHandler } from "./provider-setup-submit.js";
-import { loadSettings } from "../config/settings.js";
+import {
+  loadLocalSettings,
+  loadSettings,
+  localSettingsPath,
+} from "../config/settings.js";
 import type { ProviderFormValues, SubmitPhase } from "./provider-setup.js";
 
 const noopSetPhase = (_phase: SubmitPhase): void => {};
 
-async function withTempSettingsPath(
-  run: (path: string) => Promise<void>,
-): Promise<void> {
+async function withTempDir(run: (dir: string) => Promise<void>): Promise<void> {
   const dir = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "provider-setup-submit-"));
-  const path = join(dir, "settings.json");
   try {
-    await run(path);
+    await run(dir);
   } finally {
     await rm(dir, { recursive: true, force: true });
   }
 }
 
 describe("buildProviderSubmitHandler", () => {
   test("rejects an empty key on a key-required preset without persisting", async () => {
-    await withTempSettingsPath(async (path) => {
-      const submit = buildProviderSubmitHandler(path, null, "/tmp/cwd");
+    await withTempDir(async (dir) => {
+      const path = join(dir, "settings.json");
+      const localPath = localSettingsPath(dir);
+      const submit = buildProviderSubmitHandler(path, null, localPath);
       const values: ProviderFormValues = {
         name: "openai",
         baseURL: "https://api.openai.com/v1",
@@ -39,12 +42,14 @@ describe("buildProviderSubmitHandler", () => {
       ).rejects.toThrow(/api key/i);
 
       expect(await loadSettings(path)).toBeNull();
+      expect(await loadLocalSettings(localPath)).toBeNull();
     });
   });
 
   test("allows an empty key on the manual/custom path (no preset)", async () => {
-    await withTempSettingsPath(async (path) => {
-      const submit = buildProviderSubmitHandler(path, null, "/tmp/cwd");
+    await withTempDir(async (dir) => {
+      const path = join(dir, "settings.json");
+      const submit = buildProviderSubmitHandler(path, null, localSettingsPath(dir));
       const values: ProviderFormValues = {
         name: "local",
         baseURL: "http://localhost:11434/v1",
@@ -62,8 +67,9 @@ describe("buildProviderSubmitHandler", () => {
   });
 
   test("marks a save-anyway submit as unverified", async () => {
-    await withTempSettingsPath(async (path) => {
-      const submit = buildProviderSubmitHandler(path, null, "/tmp/cwd");
+    await withTempDir(async (dir) => {
+      const path = join(dir, "settings.json");
+      const submit = buildProviderSubmitHandler(path, null, localSettingsPath(dir));
       const values: ProviderFormValues = {
         name: "openai",
         baseURL: "https://api.openai.com/v1",
@@ -79,4 +85,116 @@ describe("buildProviderSubmitHandler", () => {
       expect(settings?.providers.openai?.verified).toBe(false);
     });
   });
+
+  test("API-key connect persists project-local selection like OAuth", async () => {
+    // CL-5900: API-key path must write the same local selection OAuth writes,
+    // so a restart in this repo resolves to the connected provider/model.
+    await withTempDir(async (dir) => {
+      const path = join(dir, "settings.json");
+      const localPath = localSettingsPath(dir);
+      const submit = buildProviderSubmitHandler(path, null, localPath);
+      const values: ProviderFormValues = {
+        name: "openai",
+        baseURL: "https://api.openai.com/v1",
+        apiKey: "sk-test-fake",
+        model: "gpt-5",
+        oauthProfile: "",
+      };
+      const preset = { id: "openai", models: ["gpt-5"], anthropic: false, opencodeGo: false };
+
+      await submit(values, noopSetPhase, { skipValidation: true, preset });
+
+      const local = await loadLocalSettings(localPath);
+      expect(local).toEqual({ provider: "openai", model: "gpt-5" });
+      // Secrets stay out of the local selection file.
+      expect(JSON.stringify(local)).not.toContain("sk-test-fake");
+      const global = await loadSettings(path);
+      expect(global?.providers.openai?.apiKey).toBe("sk-test-fake");
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("Custom connect also persists project-local selection", async () => {
+    await withTempDir(async (dir) => {
+      const path = join(dir, "settings.json");
+      const localPath = localSettingsPath(dir);
+      const submit = buildProviderSubmitHandler(path, null, localPath);
+      const values: ProviderFormValues = {
+        name: "ollama",
+        baseURL: "http://localhost:11434/v1",
+        apiKey: "",
+        model: "llama3",
+        oauthProfile: "",
+      };
+
+      await submit(values, noopSetPhase, { skipValidation: true });
+
+      const local = await loadLocalSettings(localPath);
+      expect(local).toEqual({ provider: "ollama", model: "llama3" });
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("OAuth connect still persists project-local selection via the shared helper", async () => {
+    await withTempDir(async (dir) => {
+      const path = join(dir, "settings.json");
+      const localPath = localSettingsPath(dir);
+      const submit = buildProviderSubmitHandler(path, null, localPath);
+      const values: ProviderFormValues = {
+        name: "",
+        baseURL: "https://chatgpt.com/backend-api",
+        apiKey: "",
+        model: "gpt-5",
+        oauthProfile: "work",
+      };
+
+      await submit(values, noopSetPhase, {
+        skipValidation: true,
+        oauth: { kind: "codex", providerName: "codex/work", profile: "work" },
+      });
+
+      const local = await loadLocalSettings(localPath);
+      expect(local).toEqual({ provider: "codex/work", model: "gpt-5" });
+    });
+  });
+
+  test("restart resolution reads the local selection written by API-key connect", async () => {
+    // Regression: after connect, loadLocalSettings must surface the same
+    // provider/model pair a subsequent session would resolve against.
+    await withTempDir(async (dir) => {
+      const path = join(dir, "settings.json");
+      const localPath = localSettingsPath(dir);
+      const submit = buildProviderSubmitHandler(path, null, localPath);
+      await submit(
+        {
+          name: "anthropic",
+          baseURL: "https://api.anthropic.com",
+          apiKey: "sk-ant-test",
+          model: "claude-sonnet-4",
+          oauthProfile: "",
+        },
+        noopSetPhase,
+        {
+          skipValidation: true,
+          preset: {
+            id: "anthropic",
+            models: ["claude-sonnet-4"],
+            anthropic: true,
+            opencodeGo: false,
+          },
+        },
+      );
+
+      // Simulate restart: re-load both files the way config resolution does.
+      const global = await loadSettings(path);
+      const local = await loadLocalSettings(localPath);
+      expect(local?.provider).toBe("anthropic");
+      expect(local?.model).toBe("claude-sonnet-4");
+      expect(global?.providers.anthropic?.defaultModel).toBe("claude-sonnet-4");
+      // Local selection is what wins on restart when present.
+      const resolvedProvider = local?.provider ?? global?.defaultProvider;
+      const resolvedModel =
+        local?.model ?? global?.providers[resolvedProvider ?? ""]?.defaultModel;
+      expect(resolvedProvider).toBe("anthropic");
+      expect(resolvedModel).toBe("claude-sonnet-4");
+    });
+  });
 });

src/tui/provider-setup-submit.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 import {
-  localSettingsPath,
   mergeProviderIntoSettings,
   saveGlobalSettings,
   saveLocalSettings,
@@ -8,22 +7,44 @@ import {
 import { validateProviderConnection } from "../provider/validate-connection.js";
 import type { ProviderSetupSubmit } from "./provider-setup.js";
 
+/**
+ * Persist the project-local provider/model selection after a successful
+ * connect. Shared by OAuth and API-key paths so both leave the same two
+ * files `/model` would write on a switch: global credentials/catalog and
+ * local selection only (never secrets).
+ */
+export async function persistConnectedSelection(
+  localSettingsFile: string,
+  provider: string,
+  model: string,
+): Promise<void> {
+  await saveLocalSettings(localSettingsFile, {
+    provider,
+    model,
+  });
+}
+
 /**
  * The single write path every provider-setup exit takes, shared by first-run
  * onboarding and mid-session "connect a new provider" so a credential is
  * validated (or explicitly marked unverified) the same way regardless of
  * where the form was opened from.
+ *
+ * `localSettingsFile` is the project-local selection path (wired through from
+ * callers that already own it — never re-derived here so tests and the
+ * mid-session connect path can pass an explicit file).
  */
 export function buildProviderSubmitHandler(
   settingsPath: string,
   existing: Settings | null,
-  cwd: string,
+  localSettingsFile: string,
 ): ProviderSetupSubmit {
   return async (values, setPhase, { skipValidation, preset, oauth }) => {
     const { name, baseURL, apiKey, model } = values;
     const providerName = name.trim();
     const trimmedBaseURL = baseURL.trim();
     const trimmedKey = apiKey.trim();
+    const selectedModel = model.trim();
 
     // A signed-in subscription provider has no key to test or store: the
     // tokens are already in the home-level auth store, and config load
@@ -45,10 +66,7 @@ export function buildProviderSubmitHandler(
         ...base,
         defaultProvider: oauth.providerName,
       });
-      await saveLocalSettings(localSettingsPath(cwd), {
-        provider: oauth.providerName,
-        model: model.trim(),
-      });
+      await persistConnectedSelection(localSettingsFile, oauth.providerName, selectedModel);
       return;
     }
 
@@ -78,7 +96,6 @@ export function buildProviderSubmitHandler(
     }
 
     setPhase("saving");
-    const selectedModel = model.trim();
     // A picked provider seeds its whole catalog so /model has more than the
     // one model chosen here; the protocol flags cannot be expressed by the
     // four form values and come from the catalog entry.
@@ -104,5 +121,9 @@ export function buildProviderSubmitHandler(
     // plugins/pluginPaths/sessionMode/shell/tools survive re-onboarding.
     const merged = mergeProviderIntoSettings(existing, providerName, newProvider);
     await saveGlobalSettings(settingsPath, merged);
+    // Same project-local selection contract as OAuth: credentials stay in
+    // global storage; the local file is selection only so a restart in this
+    // repo resolves to the provider just connected.
+    await persistConnectedSelection(localSettingsFile, providerName, selectedModel);
   };
 }

src/tui/runner.ts

@@ -2113,7 +2113,6 @@ export async function runTUI(initialConfig: Config): Promise<number> {
             providerId: providerName,
             settingsPath: trueGlobalSettingsPath,
             localSettingsPath: localSettingsFile,
-            cwd: config.cwd,
             existing: config.settings ?? null,
             createRenderer: () => Promise.resolve(host.renderer),
           });