fix(coding-agent): defer startup model catalog refresh

packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- Moved automatic model catalog network refresh out of startup initialization and into the running interactive and RPC modes.
 - Fixed persisted sessions being read and parsed twice when opened, reducing startup latency for large sessions ([#6793](https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/issues/6793)).
 - Fixed prompt-template defaults for all arguments (`${@:-default}` and `${ARGUMENTS:-default}`) ([#6695](https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/issues/6695)).
 - Fixed obsolete custom UI, custom tool, and custom editor examples in the extension documentation ([#6735](https://github.com/earendil-works/pi/issues/6735)).

packages/coding-agent/src/core/model-runtime.ts

@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@ export interface CreateModelRuntimeOptions {
 	modelsPath?: string | null;
 	modelsStore?: ModelsStore;
 	modelsStorePath?: string;
+	/** Allow create() to refresh model catalogs over the network. Defaults to false. */
 	allowModelNetwork?: boolean;
+	/** Timeout for the create-time network model refresh. */
 	modelRefreshTimeoutMs?: number;
 	catalogBaseUrl?: string;
 }
@@ -98,7 +100,7 @@ export class ModelRuntime implements Models {
 	private readonly extensionProviders = new Map<string, ProviderConfigInput>();
 	private readonly compositionErrors = new Map<string, string>();
 	private readonly modelsPath: string | undefined;
-	private readonly allowModelNetwork: boolean;
+	private readonly modelNetworkEnabled: boolean;
 	private config: ModelConfig;
 	private snapshot: ModelRuntimeSnapshot = {
 		all: [],
@@ -116,12 +118,12 @@ export class ModelRuntime implements Models {
 		modelsPath: string | undefined,
 		modelsStore: ModelsStore,
 		providers: readonly Provider[],
-		allowModelNetwork: boolean,
+		modelNetworkEnabled: boolean,
 	) {
 		this.credentials = credentials;
 		this.config = config;
 		this.modelsPath = modelsPath;
-		this.allowModelNetwork = allowModelNetwork;
+		this.modelNetworkEnabled = modelNetworkEnabled;
 		this.defaultBuiltins = new Map(providers.map((provider) => [provider.id, provider]));
 		for (const [providerId, provider] of this.defaultBuiltins) this.builtins.set(providerId, provider);
 		this.models = createModels({ credentials, modelsStore });
@@ -149,16 +151,17 @@ export class ModelRuntime implements Models {
 			modelsPath,
 			modelsStore,
 			providers,
-			options.allowModelNetwork ?? process.env.PI_OFFLINE === undefined,
+			process.env.PI_OFFLINE === undefined,
 		);
 		runtime.configureRadiusProviders();
 		runtime.rebuildProviders();
-		const controller = new AbortController();
+		const refreshFromNetwork = runtime.modelNetworkEnabled && options.allowModelNetwork === true;
-		const timeout = runtime.allowModelNetwork
+		const controller = refreshFromNetwork ? new AbortController() : undefined;
+		const timeout = controller
 			? setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), options.modelRefreshTimeoutMs ?? 15_000)
 			: undefined;
 		try {
-			await runtime.refresh({ allowNetwork: runtime.allowModelNetwork, signal: controller.signal });
+			await runtime.refresh({ allowNetwork: refreshFromNetwork, signal: controller?.signal });
 		} finally {
 			if (timeout) clearTimeout(timeout);
 		}
@@ -389,7 +392,11 @@ export class ModelRuntime implements Models {
 		};
 	}
 
-	async setRuntimeApiKey(providerId: string, apiKey: string): Promise<void> {
+	async setRuntimeApiKey(
+		providerId: string,
+		apiKey: string,
+		refreshOptions: ModelsRefreshOptions = {},
+	): Promise<void> {
 		this.credentials.setRuntimeApiKey(providerId, apiKey);
 		const auth = new Map(this.snapshot.auth).set(providerId, { type: "api_key", source: "runtime API key" });
 		const configuredProviders = new Set(this.snapshot.configuredProviders).add(providerId);
@@ -401,12 +408,12 @@ export class ModelRuntime implements Models {
 			storedProviders,
 			available: this.snapshot.all.filter((model) => configuredProviders.has(model.provider)),
 		};
-		await this.refresh({ allowNetwork: this.allowModelNetwork });
+		await this.refresh(refreshOptions);
 	}
 
 	async removeRuntimeApiKey(providerId: string): Promise<void> {
 		this.credentials.removeRuntimeApiKey(providerId);
-		await this.refresh({ allowNetwork: this.allowModelNetwork });
+		await this.refresh({ allowNetwork: this.modelNetworkEnabled });
 	}
 
 	listCredentials(): Promise<readonly CredentialInfo[]> {
@@ -492,7 +499,7 @@ export class ModelRuntime implements Models {
 
 	async login(providerId: string, type: AuthType, interaction: AuthInteraction): Promise<Credential> {
 		const credential = await this.models.login(providerId, type, interaction);
-		await this.refresh({ allowNetwork: this.allowModelNetwork });
+		await this.refresh({ allowNetwork: this.modelNetworkEnabled });
 		return credential;
 	}
 
@@ -500,20 +507,20 @@ export class ModelRuntime implements Models {
 		await this.models.logout(providerId);
 		// Reset credential-dependent compatibility projections before the unconfigured provider is skipped by refresh.
 		this.recomposeProvider(providerId);
-		await this.refresh({ allowNetwork: this.allowModelNetwork });
+		await this.refresh({ allowNetwork: this.modelNetworkEnabled });
 	}
 
 	async reloadConfig(): Promise<void> {
 		this.config = await ModelConfig.load(this.modelsPath);
 		this.configureRadiusProviders();
 		this.rebuildProviders();
-		await this.refresh({ allowNetwork: this.allowModelNetwork });
+		await this.refresh({ allowNetwork: this.modelNetworkEnabled });
 	}
 
 	async refresh(options: ModelsRefreshOptions = {}): Promise<ModelsRefreshResult> {
 		const refreshOptions = {
 			...options,
-			allowNetwork: options.allowNetwork ?? this.allowModelNetwork,
+			allowNetwork: options.allowNetwork ?? this.modelNetworkEnabled,
 		};
 		// Published pi-ai builds before ModelsStore returned void and accepted a provider ID.
 		// The fallback keeps source-mode CLI tests working without rebuilding workspace dependencies.

packages/coding-agent/src/main.ts

@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ export async function main(args: string[], options?: MainOptions) {
 					message: "--api-key requires a model to be specified via --model, --provider/--model, or --models",
 				});
 			} else {
-				await modelRuntime.setRuntimeApiKey(sessionOptions.model.provider, parsed.apiKey);
+				await modelRuntime.setRuntimeApiKey(sessionOptions.model.provider, parsed.apiKey, { allowNetwork: false });
 				await services.modelRuntime.getAvailable();
 			}
 		}
@@ -808,6 +808,10 @@ export async function main(args: string[], options?: MainOptions) {
 		process.exit(1);
 	}
 
+	if (!offlineMode && (appMode === "interactive" || appMode === "rpc")) {
+		void modelRuntime.refresh().catch(() => {});
+	}
+
 	if (appMode === "rpc") {
 		printTimings();
 		await runRpcMode(runtime);

packages/coding-agent/test/radius.test.ts

@@ -91,6 +91,20 @@ describe("Radius provider", () => {
 		expect(vi.mocked(fetch).mock.calls[0]?.[1]?.headers).toMatchObject({ authorization: "Bearer access-token" });
 	});
 
+	it("does not refresh catalogs over the network by default", async () => {
+		const fetchSpy = vi.spyOn(globalThis, "fetch");
+		const runtime = await ModelRuntime.create({
+			credentials: AuthStorage.inMemory({
+				[RADIUS_PROVIDER_ID]: radiusOAuthCredential("https://radius.example.com/v1"),
+			}),
+			modelsStore: new InMemoryModelsStore(),
+			modelsPath: null,
+		});
+
+		expect(runtime.getModel(RADIUS_PROVIDER_ID, "auto")).toBeDefined();
+		expect(fetchSpy).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+	});
+
 	it("does not fetch or expose Radius models without configured auth", async () => {
 		const fetchSpy = vi.spyOn(globalThis, "fetch");
 		const runtime = await ModelRuntime.create({