EvoScientist/config/settings.py

@@ -288,7 +288,9 @@ class EvoScientistConfig:
     # a deploy-style langgraph server instead of the in-terminal CLI/TUI.
     ui_backend: Literal["cli", "tui", "webui"] = "tui"
     log_level: str = "warning"
-    reasoning_effort: str = "high"
+    # Empty means use the provider/model default. A non-empty value is an
+    # explicit user override exported as EVOSCIENTIST_REASONING_EFFORT.
+    reasoning_effort: str = ""
     # Anthropic prompt caching for OpenRouter anthropic/* models. Opt out if
     # cache-write costs outweigh the benefit for a workflow.
     openrouter_anthropic_prompt_cache: bool = True

EvoScientist/llm/models.py

@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ _DEEPSEEK_BASE_URL = "https://api.deepseek.com"
 _MOONSHOT_BASE_URL = "https://api.moonshot.cn/v1"
 _KIMI_CODING_BASE_URL = "https://api.kimi.com/coding/"
 
+
+def _resolve_reasoning_effort(default: str) -> str:
+    """Return the configured reasoning effort or a provider-specific default."""
+    return os.environ.get("EVOSCIENTIST_REASONING_EFFORT", "").strip() or default
+
+
 # Providers routed through the OpenAI provider with a custom base_url.
 # Maps provider name → (base_url or None, env var for API key).
 _OPENAI_ROUTED_PROVIDERS: dict[str, tuple[str | None, str]] = {
@@ -359,11 +365,17 @@ def _apply_auto_config(
             # ccproxy uses Chat Completions which doesn't support reasoning.
             pass
         else:
-            _eff = (
+            _default_effort = (
                 "xhigh"
-                if ("5.4" in model_id or "5.5" in model_id or "codex" in model_id)
+                if (
+                    "5.4" in model_id
+                    or "5.5" in model_id
+                    or "5.6" in model_id
+                    or "codex" in model_id
+                )
                 else "high"
             )
+            _eff = _resolve_reasoning_effort(_default_effort)
             kwargs["reasoning"] = {"effort": _eff, "summary": "auto"}
 
     # Google GenAI: surface thinking traces
@@ -508,7 +520,7 @@ def get_chat_model(
         # passback (OpenRouter's `/responses` beta is stateless, store=false —
         # "Item with id 'rs_...' not found"); the patch strips them on passback,
         # so enabling `summary` is safe. See langchain-ai/langchain#37777.
-        effort = os.environ.get("EVOSCIENTIST_REASONING_EFFORT", "").strip() or "high"
+        effort = _resolve_reasoning_effort("high")
         kwargs.setdefault("reasoning", {"effort": effort, "summary": "auto"})
         # App attribution (issue #339): identify EvoScientist to OpenRouter so
         # usage is credited to the project (app rankings, model app tabs,

tests/test_config.py

@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ class TestEvoScientistConfig:
         assert config.show_thinking is True
         assert config.ui_backend == "tui"
         assert config.log_level == "warning"
-        assert config.reasoning_effort == "high"
+        assert config.reasoning_effort == ""
         assert config.openrouter_anthropic_prompt_cache is True
         assert config.openrouter_http_referer == (
             "https://github.com/EvoScientist/EvoScientist"

tests/test_llm.py

@@ -2432,6 +2432,11 @@ class TestPatchOpenrouterStripResponsesReasoning:
 
 
 class TestAutoConfig:
+    @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
+    def _clear_reasoning_effort_env(self, monkeypatch):
+        """Keep auto-config tests independent of the developer environment."""
+        monkeypatch.delenv("EVOSCIENTIST_REASONING_EFFORT", raising=False)
+
     @patch("EvoScientist.llm.models.init_chat_model")
     def test_anthropic_4_5_thinking(self, mock_init, monkeypatch):
         """Anthropic 4-5 models get enabled thinking with budget."""
@@ -2521,6 +2526,7 @@ class TestAutoConfig:
         """gpt-5.4+ and codex models get xhigh reasoning."""
         mock_init.return_value = "mock_model"
         monkeypatch.delenv("OPENAI_BASE_URL", raising=False)
+        monkeypatch.delenv("EVOSCIENTIST_REASONING_EFFORT", raising=False)
 
         get_chat_model("gpt-5.4", provider="openai")
         assert mock_init.call_args[1]["reasoning"] == {
@@ -2540,6 +2546,26 @@ class TestAutoConfig:
             "summary": "auto",
         }
 
+        get_chat_model("gpt-5.6-sol", provider="openai")
+        assert mock_init.call_args[1]["reasoning"] == {
+            "effort": "xhigh",
+            "summary": "auto",
+        }
+
+    @patch("EvoScientist.llm.models.init_chat_model")
+    def test_openai_reasoning_effort_from_env(self, mock_init, monkeypatch):
+        """Native OpenAI reasoning effort should be configurable via env var."""
+        mock_init.return_value = "mock_model"
+        monkeypatch.delenv("OPENAI_BASE_URL", raising=False)
+        monkeypatch.setenv("EVOSCIENTIST_REASONING_EFFORT", "high")
+
+        get_chat_model("gpt-5.5", provider="openai")
+
+        assert mock_init.call_args[1]["reasoning"] == {
+            "effort": "high",
+            "summary": "auto",
+        }
+
     @patch("EvoScientist.llm.models.init_chat_model")
     def test_openai_reasoning_high_fallback(self, mock_init, monkeypatch):
         """Other OpenAI models get high reasoning effort."""