--model
A Claude Code CLI flag, read out of the shipped bundle. It has been in the build since v2.1.138, including the newest one read.
What it is
Sets the model for the current session with an alias for the latest model (sonnet, opus, haiku, or fable) or a model's full name. Overrides the [model](/docs/en/settings-reference#model) setting and [ANTHROPIC_MODEL](/docs/en/model-config#environment-variables)
Anthropic's own wording. Read off CLI reference, captured 2026-08-28.
Presence across releases
| Releases | Reading | Declared type | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1.245 – 2.1.250 5 releases | never mined | — | — |
| 2.1.138 – 2.1.243 95 releases | in the build | — | — |
A row reading never mined is a release with no archived bundle behind it. Nothing was read out of it, so nothing here says whether the name was in it. A declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.
Changelog entries naming it
-
v2.1.236
ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_MODELsets the model when nothing else doesSet ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_MODEL and it becomes your model whenever no flag or ANTHROPIC_MODEL applies.
named in this entry
-
v2.1.228Relaunching Claude Code keeps your selected model
Restarting after an update keeps the model you picked instead of reverting to the default.
named in this entry
-
v2.1.228Model selection forwarded on restart-in-place
Your selected model is passed along whenever Claude Code re-executes itself.
named in this entry
Documentation pages
- CLI reference reference table Claude Code CLI
- optimizing-for-cost-and-intelligence mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- bash-tool mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- code-execution-tool mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- overview mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- text-editor-tool mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- web-fetch-tool mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- web-search-tool mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- beta-headers mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- errors mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- citations mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- claude-in-microsoft-foundry mentions it Claude Developer Platform
- claude-platform-on-aws mentions it Claude Developer Platform
A reference table page is one whose own table defines this name, and it is where the description above came from. A page that mentions it carries the name somewhere in its text and may say nothing about it at all. Every page carrying it.
Read out of the published npm bundle release by release, and out of Anthropic's own documentation as this site captured it. Nothing on this page is a description anybody here wrote about what the CLI flag does. All CLI flags.