Discovering Tools

discover() scans the local machine for installed AI tools and returns metadata about each one — availability, capabilities, models, version, and type.

import { discover } from "switchboard-ai-sdk";

const tools = await discover();

for (const tool of tools) {
  console.log({
    id: tool.id,
    available: tool.available,
    capabilities: tool.capabilities,
    models: tool.models ?? [],
    defaultModel: tool.defaultModel ?? null
  });
}

Return Type

type DiscoveredTool = {
  id: "claude-code" | "codex" | "ollama" | "opencode";
  name: string;
  type: "agent" | "runtime" | "server" | "unknown";
  available: boolean;
  version?: string;
  capabilities: string[];
  models?: string[];
  defaultModel?: string;
  metadata?: Record<string, unknown>;
};

Type Field

• agent — Tools like Codex, Claude Code, and OpenCode that can autonomously execute tasks. These may read project context or modify files.
• runtime — Tools like Ollama that serve models but don't autonomously act on your environment.
• server / unknown — Reserved for future provider types.

Capabilities

Capabilities describe what a tool can do without hard-coding provider assumptions:

Capability	Meaning
chat	Can handle conversational prompts
completion	Supports text completion
model-list	Can enumerate available models
agent-task	Can execute agent-style autonomous tasks
code-edit	Can modify code files
health-check	Supports health status queries
embeddings	Supports text embeddings

Model Discovery by Provider

Each provider surfaces models differently depending on what its underlying CLI or API supports.

Ollama

Ollama exposes its full list of installed local models via its HTTP API.

• models returns all installed models
• defaultModel is the configured ollamaModel or SWITCHBOARD_OLLAMA_MODEL if set, otherwise the first discovered model

OpenCode

OpenCode can enumerate available models through its CLI.

• models returns the full model list from the OpenCode CLI
• defaultModel is the configured opencodeModel or SWITCHBOARD_OPENCODE_MODEL if set, otherwise the CLI default
• Model names follow the format provider/model-name (e.g. openai/gpt-5.5, opencode/deepseek-v4-flash-free)

Free Models (no subscription required)

opencode/big-pickle, opencode/deepseek-v4-flash-free, opencode/mimo-v2.5-free, opencode/nemotron-3-ultra-free, opencode/north-mini-code-free

OpenCode Go Models (paid subscription)

opencode-go/deepseek-v4-flash, opencode-go/deepseek-v4-pro, opencode-go/glm-5.1, opencode-go/glm-5.2, opencode-go/kimi-k2.6, opencode-go/kimi-k2.7-code, opencode-go/mimo-v2.5, opencode-go/mimo-v2.5-pro, opencode-go/minimax-m2.7, opencode-go/minimax-m3, opencode-go/qwen3.6-plus, opencode-go/qwen3.7-max, opencode-go/qwen3.7-plus

OpenAI-backed Models (bring your own key)

openai/gpt-5.3-codex-spark, openai/gpt-5.4, openai/gpt-5.4-fast, openai/gpt-5.4-mini, openai/gpt-5.4-mini-fast, openai/gpt-5.5, openai/gpt-5.5-fast, openai/gpt-5.5-pro

Codex

Codex mirrors its configured model into models and defaultModel when one is explicitly set through configure() or environment variables.

• Without configuration: models is undefined
• With codexModel configured: models contains that single model, and it becomes defaultModel

Claude Code

Claude Code mirrors its configured model, same as Codex:

• Without configuration: models is undefined
• With claudeCodeModel configured: models contains that single model, and it becomes defaultModel

Picking a Provider

Use the discovery results to decide which tool to use:

const tools = await discover();

// Prefer an agent-type tool for coding tasks
const codingTool = tools.find(t => t.type === "agent" && t.available);

// Fall back to any available tool
const anyTool = tools.find(t => t.available);

// Pick a specific tool by ID
const ollama = tools.find(t => t.id === "ollama");