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Faster provider switching in the UI update

Feature Requests

The new quick model picker UI makes it much slower to switch providers, which I frequently do. I kept clicking on the provider header thinking I was missing something but I’m stuck scrolling through a long list of models to switch providers. The best workaround is to search for the model and then pick the provider, but that’s really inverse logic for my workflow.

Having the header at the top of the UI function as a provider picker would be much quicker.

Posted by Will Ernst ·
Status: Completed6 comments

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Comments6

  • Daniel Nguyen

    Team•

    May 6

    Man, this is a hard UX problem. I prefer the old picker too because my flow is the same: first I find the provider then I pick the model. But many other users said it’s not intuitive and they prefer the current version (all providers and models in one list with search).

    Now I want to understand your request better. When you switch provider, you will need to select a model anyway — even in the old picker. I wonder what is your expected UX / flow here? Can you share it step by step so I can follow your request better.

    Note that you can type the provider name in the search too.

    • Will Ernst

      •

      May 6

      I’m a “drill down” by reduction type of user. For me the provider is typically the scope I want to use, either related to work or personal managed providers, and billing context. Once within a provider I pick an available model.

      So my expected workflow would be:

      • Open the model picker

      • Choose a top-level provider

      • Choose an available model

      My ideal would also include a dedicated Favorites section that had pinned provider-model for the handful of primary exact matches I predominantly use.

      I can lean on Agents to get some of this, but having more flexible composability is nice, decoupling the agent selection from the provider-model to be able to use the same agent prompt across models.

      • Will Ernst

        •

        May 6

        Is it possible for that header to be a selector? Having that function as a popup picker list of providers is what I was intuitively trying. If that’s not possible, having it under the ellipsis context menu would also work. But honestly I’d be happy with just pinned favorites, personally.

        • Daniel Nguyen

          Team•

          May 6

          You can right-click a model and add it as favorite.

          • Will Ernst

            •

            May 6

            mindBlown.gif

            Well, um, I guess that’s me sorted then? I didn’t even think to try right-clicking on the elements. That’s a much cleaner UI than a bunch of empty star outlines for unfavorited items, but does expect the user to be clued in, which test I failed.

            Thanks!

            • Daniel Nguyen

              Team•

              May 6

              I thikn I can add a star hint in the right side, similar to the left sidebar. Easier to discover. Thanks