# How to Toggle Smart Routing in OpenClaude: A Complete Guide to the /smartroute Command > Toggle smart routing in OpenClaude effortlessly with the /smartroute command. Learn to enable disable or set model keys for optimal AI routing in this complete guide. - Repository: [Gitlawb/openclaude](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude) - Tags: how-to-guide - Published: 2026-09-06 --- **Use the `/smartroute` slash command to toggle smart routing in OpenClaude by running `/smartroute on` to enable, `/smartroute off` to disable, or set model keys with `/smartroute simple ` and `/smartroute strong `.** OpenClaude, an open-source AI assistant interface from Gitlawb/openclaude, ships an **experimental smart-routing layer** that automatically directs each user turn to either a lightweight **simple** model or a more capable **strong** model based on query complexity. This feature is controlled through a configuration object stored under `settings.smartRouting` and exposed entirely through the `/smartroute` slash command interface. ## What Is Smart Routing in OpenClaude? Smart routing is an experimental optimization mechanism that reduces API costs and latency by classifying incoming requests and routing them to appropriately sized models. When enabled, the system consults [`src/services/api/smartRouting/index.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/services/api/smartRouting/index.ts) (specifically the `resolveSmartRoutingRoleModelString` function) at runtime to select between the configured simple and strong model keys. The configuration resides in your user settings and can be initialized with environment variables such as `SMART_ROUTING_ENABLED`, `SMART_ROUTING_SIMPLE_MODEL`, and `SMART_ROUTING_STRONG_MODEL` (read by [`src/services/api/smartRouting/settings.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/services/api/smartRouting/settings.ts) lines 34-68). ## How to Toggle Smart Routing Using the /smartroute Command The primary interface for managing this feature is the `/smartroute` slash command implemented in [`src/commands/smartroute/index.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/commands/smartroute/index.ts). ### Checking Current Status To view the current configuration without making changes, invoke the command without arguments: ```text /smartroute ``` The system calls `readCurrentSmartRouting` (lines 45-50) to read the persisted configuration via `readSmartRouting(settings)`, then outputs the enabled flag, model keys, and any auto-disable status (lines 68-82). A typical response looks like: ```text Smart routing (experimental) status: enabled simple: mini strong: main available agentModels keys: default, my-custom ``` ### Enabling Smart Routing To activate the feature, run: ```text /smartroute on ``` According to the source code at lines 87-96, this command sets `enabled: true` only if both the simple and strong model keys are already defined in the `smartRouting` block. It also clears any session-level auto-disable flags. The change persists through `updateSettingsForSource('userSettings', …)` (lines 58-66), which serializes the updated configuration to your user settings store. ### Disabling Smart Routing To deactivate the feature immediately: ```text /smartroute off ``` As implemented at lines 99-101, this writes `enabled: false` to the configuration object and persists the change to your user settings. ## Configuring Model Keys for Smart Routing Before enabling smart routing, you must define which models correspond to the "simple" and "strong" classifications using the available agent model keys from your configuration. ### Setting the Simple Model Assign the lightweight model for the simple routing tier: ```text /smartroute simple mini ``` This updates the `smartRouting.simple` entry in your settings file. The key must match an available model defined in your agent configuration. ### Setting the Strong Model Assign the high-capability model for complex queries: ```text /smartroute strong default ``` This updates the `smartRouting.strong` entry. Both keys must be set before the `/smartroute on` command will succeed. ## Understanding the Configuration Architecture When you issue toggle commands, OpenClaude performs several coordinated operations across its service layer: 1. **Configuration Reading**: The command handler invokes `readCurrentSmartRouting` which normalizes settings from [`src/services/api/smartRouting/settings.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/services/api/smartRouting/settings.ts), including any environment variable defaults. 2. **Persistence**: All writes flow through `updateSettingsForSource('userSettings', …)` at lines 58-66 of the smartroute command file, ensuring atomic updates to the user settings store. 3. **Runtime Enforcement**: During actual query processing, [`src/services/api/smartRouting/index.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/services/api/smartRouting/index.ts) exports `resolveSmartRoutingRoleModelString`, which consults the same `smartRouting` configuration block to determine which model string to use for the current turn. 4. **Schema Validation**: The TypeScript definitions in [`src/utils/settings/types.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/utils/settings/types.ts) define the `smartRouting` schema within the global `SettingsJson` type, ensuring type safety across the configuration pipeline. ## Summary - **Smart routing** in OpenClaude automatically selects between simple and strong models based on query classification. - Use **`/smartroute on`** and **`/smartroute off`** to toggle the feature, implemented in [`src/commands/smartroute/index.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/commands/smartroute/index.ts). - **Both model keys must be configured** before enabling; set them with `/smartroute simple ` and `/smartroute strong `. - Configuration persists through **`updateSettingsForSource`** and is read at runtime by **`resolveSmartRoutingRoleModelString`** in the API service layer. - Environment variables like **`SMART_ROUTING_ENABLED`** can provide default values as parsed by [`src/services/api/smartRouting/settings.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/services/api/smartRouting/settings.ts). ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why does `/smartroute on` fail with an error about missing model keys? The enable logic at lines 87-96 explicitly validates that both `simple` and `strong` model keys exist in your configuration before setting `enabled: true`. You must define these first using `/smartroute simple ` and `/smartroute strong ` commands, ensuring the keys match available models in your agent configuration. ### Can I configure smart routing via environment variables instead of commands? Yes. The [`src/services/api/smartRouting/settings.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/services/api/smartRouting/settings.ts) file (lines 34-68) implements `readEnvSmartRouting` which reads `SMART_ROUTING_ENABLED`, `SMART_ROUTING_SIMPLE_MODEL`, and related variables. These provide default values that the `/smartroute` command can then override and persist to your user settings. ### How does OpenClaude decide which model to use for each turn? The routing decision occurs in [`src/services/api/smartRouting/index.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/services/api/smartRouting/index.ts) through the `resolveSmartRoutingRoleModelString` function. This service reads the current `smartRouting` configuration and classifies the incoming query to return either the simple or strong model string, which the query engine then uses for the API request. ### Where is the smart routing configuration stored after I run toggle commands? All changes persist to your user settings file through the `updateSettingsForSource('userSettings', …)` helper at lines 58-66 of [`src/commands/smartroute/index.ts`](https://github.com/Gitlawb/openclaude/blob/main/src/commands/smartroute/index.ts). This updates the `smartRouting` block within your global settings object, making the configuration available to the runtime resolver in subsequent sessions.