Dropstone Docs

Models

Choosing between Dropstone Fast 1.5, Pro 1.5, and Heavy 1.5, the three model tiers Dropstone ships, plus how to set defaults and tune reasoning depth.

Dropstone ships three model tiers that cover the full range of coding work, from cheap throwaway questions to long-horizon agentic refactors. You pick a tier; Dropstone runs the inference. There is no concept of an external "provider" to configure.

The three tiers

TierModel IDBest for
Fast 1.5dropstone/dropstone-fastDefault daily-driver. Chat, single-file edits, quick answers, code review, simple tool use. Cheapest, fastest.
Pro 1.5dropstone/dropstone-proFrontier coding capability with a balanced speed/cost tradeoff. Multi-file edits, bugs that need real reasoning, design discussions.
Heavy 1.5dropstone/dropstone-heavyLong-horizon work: architecture, large refactors, multi-agent orchestration. Deepest reasoning ceiling.

To switch between them during a session:

/models

or press Ctrl+X M.

How to set a default

Add the model ID to your dropstone.json. Project config overrides global config, so you can pick a different default per-project.

Set Fast 1.5 as your default

{
  "$schema": "https://dropstone.io/schema/config.json",
  "model": "dropstone/dropstone-fast"
}

Set Pro 1.5 as your default

{
  "$schema": "https://dropstone.io/schema/config.json",
  "model": "dropstone/dropstone-pro"
}

Set Heavy 1.5 as your default

{
  "$schema": "https://dropstone.io/schema/config.json",
  "model": "dropstone/dropstone-heavy"
}

You can also pick a model for a single run with --model:

dropstone --model dropstone/dropstone-heavy

Reasoning depth

Each tier supports four reasoning depths via /effort:

  • low: fast answers, minimal credits
  • medium: everyday balance (default)
  • high: deeper reasoning for tricky problems
  • xhigh: maximum reasoning depth, biggest credit spend

Switch during a session:

/effort

To lock in a depth as your default, add variant:

{
  "$schema": "https://dropstone.io/schema/config.json",
  "model": "dropstone/dropstone-pro",
  "variant": "high"
}

Trivial questions on low cost a fraction of high-effort answers. Pick the level that matches the task.

The 1.5 version naming

Fast, Pro, and Heavy are branded names, not specific model checkpoints. Each carries a calendar-aligned version suffix:

  • 1.5 means Year 1, Month 5 (May 2026)
  • 1.6 will mean Year 1, Month 6 (June 2026)
  • And so on

Every month, the best frontier coding model for each tier is re-evaluated and the top performer becomes the new month's pick. The brand stays stable; the underlying model improves over time.

This is documented openly on the Dropstone Trust page: each release's branded tier and its underlying model are public. You always know what's powering your prompts.

Switching tiers mid-session

Use the command palette or a keyboard shortcut to switch without restarting. The conversation history persists across tier changes.

ActionSlash commandShortcut
Switch tier (Fast / Pro / Heavy)/modelsCtrl+X M
Quick-switch to a recently-used tierF2
Adjust reasoning depth/effort

Picking the right tier

WorkloadTierWhy
"What does this function do?"FastSingle-file context, fast answer needed
"Fix this bug in auth.ts"Fast or ProPro if the bug needs deeper reasoning
"Refactor the entire routes/ directory"Pro or HeavyMulti-file changes benefit from longer-context reasoning
"Design a new caching layer for our API"HeavyArchitecture-level reasoning needs the deepest model
Daily quick-fix flowFast5× more turns per dollar than the top frontier CLIs

When in doubt: start on Fast and step up if the answer isn't deep enough.

Loading order

When Dropstone starts, it picks a model in this priority:

  1. The --model / -m command-line flag (e.g. dropstone --model dropstone/dropstone-pro)
  2. The model value in your dropstone.json config
  3. The last-used model from the previous session
  4. Fast 1.5 as the safe default
Ctrl+I