Description
AI Provider Settings gives users a concrete control plane for the models and local agents Dots can use. It presents detected provider availability, credential entry, health state, local-agent discovery, rescan controls, embedding-provider configuration, restart requirements, and the option to re-embed existing knowledge when the embedding setup changes. The surface translates infrastructure state into actions a buyer can understand.
The settings experience distinguishes changes that take effect immediately from changes that need a runtime restart. Secret values are submitted through dedicated clients and are not treated as ordinary profile settings. Provider rows show the resolved status of each capability, while local-agent panels help users connect on-machine coding agents without guessing whether discovery succeeded.
Selling Points
- Makes bring-your-own-provider setup understandable without requiring environment-file editing or command-line knowledge.
- Shows whether a provider is actually available, preventing a saved key from being mistaken for a working capability.
- Separates language, embedding, and local-agent concerns so users can diagnose the specific missing rung.
- Explains restart and re-embedding consequences before users expect an immediate change.
- Supports rescanning local providers, keeping the UI aligned with tools installed after the application first started.
User Story
A buyer adds an embedding-provider key, sees that a restart is required, restarts the local runtime, and returns to a healthy status. They then run the offered re-embedding action so existing knowledge uses the newly configured provider, and rescan to pick up a coding agent installed that morning.
Extension Surface
The web feature is configurable. apps/web/src/modules/shell/settings/tabs/providers/ProviderList.tsx presents the supported provider roster and status, while apps/web/src/modules/shell/settings/providers/providers-client.ts reads live availability. The formal provider adapters live in data-side packages outside this lane; this candidate covers the Settings experience and therefore claims configuration, not their separate pluggability.
Capabilities & Limits
- Configures provider credentials and displays live capability health.
- Detects local agents, rescans provider availability, and explains restart-to-apply state.
- Offers re-embedding when an embedding-provider change requires existing knowledge to be regenerated.
- Limit: the browser does not implement provider adapters, and some credential changes cannot take effect until the local runtime restarts.
Implementation Map
apps/web/src/modules/shell/settings/tabs/providers/ProviderList.tsxapps/web/src/modules/shell/settings/tabs/providers/EmbeddingKeyCard.tsxapps/web/src/modules/shell/settings/tabs/providers/LocalAgentsPanel.tsxapps/web/src/modules/shell/settings/providers/providers-client.ts