CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL_FORCE
A Claude Code environment variable, read out of the shipped bundle. It has been in the build since v2.1.257, including the newest one read.
With the forced subagent model set, the workflow authoring reference drops its model-override guidance.
Not Anthropic's. This is the line from the earliest changelog entry here that named it, v2.1.257.
In the changelogs
8Releases whose published page names CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL_FORCE.
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v2.1.319
The model picker can show a mix row defined by Anthropic's server
A server-sent recipe can add a model picker row that sets which model subagents use, unless you already set that yourself
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.315
New
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_EFFORTsets a default effort for subagentsSet
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_EFFORTto give subagents and workflow agents an effort level when their own definition does not set onefound in this entry's text
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v2.1.315
Another model override now turns off relative subagent effort
Asking a subagent for lower or higher effort is now also turned off when a second kind of model override is set
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.296
New
CLAUDE_CODE_WORKFLOW_SUBAGENT_MODELpicks the model for workflow subagentsSetting
CLAUDE_CODE_WORKFLOW_SUBAGENT_MODELchooses which model subagents use during a workflow run, separately from other subagentsfound in this entry's text
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v2.1.296
Subagents can be asked for lower or higher effort, off by default
Claude can now ask a subagent for lower or higher effort than its own, but the option is off unless switched on
found in this entry's text
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v2.1.281
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL_FORCE added to a propagated env list
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL_FORCE joins a list of passed-on env vars, and RUNNER_ENVIRONMENT is added next to GITHUB_ACTIONS
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.257
Workflow docs: model-override guidance suppressed when CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL_FORCE is set
With the forced subagent model set, the workflow authoring reference drops its model-override guidance.
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
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v2.1.257
New
CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL_FORCEenv varA new env var stops per-call model overrides for subagents and workflow agents, forcing them to inherit.
found in this entry's text, named in this entry
First cited
5The earliest release whose published evidence quoted CLAUDE_CODE_SUBAGENT_MODEL_FORCE was v2.1.257, 1 Sep 2026. That is the oldest release this project wrote about it, so it is a floor on the name's age and not the release that introduced it. It is not a presence reading: which builds carried the name is the table below.
Presence across releases
1Build by build
59One row per release since the first build this name was read out of. Absent means the build was read and the name was not in it, never mined means no bundle for that release was ever archived, and a declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.
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 environment variable does. All environment variables.