# Thread settings

Source: https://www.hyperagent.com/docs/concepts/threads/thread-settings

> For AI agents: the documentation index is at https://www.hyperagent.com/llms.txt and the complete documentation in one file at https://www.hyperagent.com/llms-full.txt. Any docs page is also served as Markdown by appending `.md` to its URL.

Every dial for one conversation in one place: the model and how hard it thinks, subagents, execution mode and turn timeout, tools, appearance, the run's cost, and what it proposes to keep.

Thread settings are where you make one conversation behave the way this piece of work needs, without touching the agent everywhere else. They open from the settings control in the thread header, in three tabs: **Configuration** for what the run can do, **Usage** for what it has cost, and **Learning** for what it proposes to keep.

A named agent sets the standing default; a thread setting layers on top of it
for this conversation. Leave a dial untouched and it inherits the agent's
value; change it and the thread's choice wins, everywhere else left alone.

## How every setting here resolves [#how-every-setting-here-resolves]

One rule governs the whole Configuration tab, so it is worth learning once. Each control has an agent default and an optional thread override. When the thread override is unset, the run inherits the agent's value; when you set it, the thread value wins for this conversation. The exception is anything that latches at the thread's first run, like the runtime, which is fixed for the life of the thread once set.

Two settings inherit slightly differently and are worth knowing:

* **The turn timeout** can be set at three levels, agent, thread, and per turn from the composer, and the most specific one wins.
* **The system prompt** is snapshotted into the thread when it starts, so later edits to the agent don't rewrite a running thread. When the agent has moved on, the panel shows **Prompt is out of date**; **Update agent config** pulls the latest prompt into this thread, and **Reset to agent** returns an overridden thread to the agent's current values.

## The Configuration tab [#the-configuration-tab]

The Configuration tab is a single scrolling panel of collapsible sections. Here is the whole panel; each section is documented in full below.



### Model & compute [#model--compute]

Four controls decide which model runs and how hard it works.

* **Default model** picks the model for this thread. The picker offers the models compatible with the thread's runtime (see below).

* **Fast inference** trades cost for speed: **Faster output, billed at 2x token cost.** Turn it on when latency matters more than token spend.

* **Reasoning effort** sets how much the model thinks before it answers. Higher effort means deeper reasoning and more tokens. Not every model exposes the full ladder, and some fixed-reasoning models show no picker at all.

  | Level          | What it's for    |
  | -------------- | ---------------- |
  | **Low**        | Fast responses   |
  | **Medium**     | Balanced         |
  | **High**       | Deep reasoning   |
  | **Extra high** | Deeper reasoning |
  | **Max**        | Maximum capacity |

* **Runtime** is the execution environment that serves the model. **Default** lets Hyperagent choose the runtime that matches the selected model. The runtime latches when the thread's first run starts, and after that the model picker offers only compatible models. Start a new thread when the work needs a model on a different runtime. See [how the runtime is selected](https://www.hyperagent.com/docs/concepts/agents/models#runtime).

### Subagents [#subagents]

**Subagents** controls whether this thread can dispatch short-lived subagents to work in parallel. These are temporary workers inside the run, not named agents reached through an invocation, and **Subagent model** sets which model they use. Their cost is attributed in the **Usage** tab. Delegating to named specialist agents is a separate capability, covered in [Agent delegation](https://www.hyperagent.com/docs/concepts/agents/agent-delegation).

### Autonomy & safety [#autonomy--safety]

Two controls decide how freely the run acts, and for how long.

**Execution mode** decides whether the agent pauses before sensitive actions. It is the same choice as the composer's Plan/Execute menu, so setting it in either place moves the other.

| Mode          | Behavior                                                                                                |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Auto**      | Agent runs everything end-to-end without stopping.                                                      |
| **Ask first** | Agent pauses for approval before sensitive actions like sending messages or modifying external systems. |

One consequence is worth knowing: a run with no one watching cannot pause for approval, so **Ask first** collapses to **Auto** on background runs (a schedule, a webhook, a one-way email). Keep a person in the loop through a channel, or a thread you're watching, when approval matters. See [Invocations](https://www.hyperagent.com/docs/concepts/agents/invocations) for which runs are attended.

**Turn timeout** caps how long a single turn may run before it stops. **Max duration before the agent is stopped.** The presets and the three levels it can be set at are in [Limits that bound a run](#limits-that-bound-a-run).

### Capabilities [#capabilities]

**Tools** lists the tools this thread can use. On an agent-bound thread this layers over the agent's **Tools** baseline: turning a tool off here leaves it off for this conversation without changing the agent everywhere else. For what each tool does and the full list with defaults, see [Tools](https://www.hyperagent.com/docs/tools).

### Visual [#visual]

**Visual** settings change how the thread is presented to you, such as its appearance, and nothing about what the agent does.

## Limits that bound a run [#limits-that-bound-a-run]

A run isn't open-ended. Three limits control how long a turn can work, when older context is summarized, and how much a message can carry.

**Turn timeout** caps how long a single turn may run before it stops. The default is 60 minutes, and you can pick from preset spans:

| Preset      | Good for            |
| ----------- | ------------------- |
| **10 min**  | Quick tasks         |
| **30 min**  | Standard tasks      |
| **60 min**  | Long research tasks |
| **90 min**  | Extended tasks      |
| **4 hours** | Ambitious builds    |

You can set the turn timeout on the agent, on the thread, or per turn from the composer, and the most specific choice wins.

**Auto-compact threshold** decides when a long thread starts summarizing older messages to free room in the [context window](https://www.hyperagent.com/docs/concepts/threads/index#when-the-work-changes-start-a-new-thread). It defaults to **Default**, which compacts once the window is nearly full, and you can move it earlier or later:

| Preset      | Effect                                         |
| ----------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| **Default** | Compact when the context window is nearly full |
| **50%**     | Compact early                                  |
| **60%**     | Compact early                                  |
| **70%**     | Balanced                                       |
| **80%**     | Keep more context                              |
| **90%**     | Keep more context                              |

You can also compact on demand with **Compact context now**, whose tooltip reads `Summarize the conversation so far to free up context`. For what compaction does to a run, and how the Thread Context Document survives it, see [Run, stop, and fork a thread](https://www.hyperagent.com/docs/concepts/threads/running#long-threads-and-compaction).

A single message can carry up to 20 files, up to 100 MB in total. A file that's too large is refused with a note that it must be smaller and a suggestion to split it, compress it, or share a link instead.

## See what a run has cost [#see-what-a-run-has-cost]

A run costs something, and the thread shows you what. The **Usage** tab reports this thread's own consumption: the total cost, a line-item breakdown of where it went, cost attributed per tool, and the cost of any subagents the run spun up. The model chip in the thread header carries a lighter, live view: its popover shows the running session cost and a context gauge, with **View detailed usage** as the link through to the full accounting.



## Review what a run proposes to keep [#review-what-a-run-proposes-to-keep]

A finished run can propose a memory, skill, prompt improvement, or agent-configuration change. The **Learning** tab shows the suggestions from this conversation, where you can inspect what would change before saving, applying, or dismissing it.



Nothing suggested becomes lasting knowledge until its learning level allows it. See [Suggestions and auto-learning](https://www.hyperagent.com/docs/learning/manage-suggestions) for how proposals are raised and reviewed everywhere.

## FAQs [#faqs]

The most specific one. The agent sets the standing default, the thread's Autonomy & safety section overrides it for this conversation, and a per-turn choice from the composer overrides both for that single turn.

Because the runtime latched when the thread's first run started, and the picker offers only models compatible with it. Start a new thread when the work needs a model on a different runtime. See [What's in a thread](https://www.hyperagent.com/docs/concepts/threads/whats-in-a-thread#the-runtime-the-thread-inherits).

Because a background run has no one to approve. Ask first pauses for a human, so on unattended runs like schedules, webhooks, and one-way email it collapses to Auto rather than hang waiting. Route the run through a channel where a person can reply, or keep it in a thread you're watching, when approval matters.

The agent's instructions are snapshotted into a thread when it starts, so edits you make to the agent later don't rewrite a conversation already running. When the agent has changed since, the panel shows **Prompt is out of date**; **Update agent config** pulls the latest prompt into this thread, and **Reset to agent** returns an overridden thread to the agent's current values.

No. Thread settings layer over the agent's baseline for this conversation only. To change the standing default every new thread starts from, edit the agent itself.