aaif-goose/goose · error

Could not resolve model config: {error}

Error message

Could not resolve model config: {error}

What it means

Reply-path final fallback: with provider and model names from global config, model_config_from_user_config still failed and its {error} is wrapped here. The payload names the actual failure — usually an unresolvable provider id or a malformed custom provider definition, since the names were present but couldn't be turned into a working ModelConfig.

Source

Thrown at crates/goose/src/agents/agent.rs:1775

                        }
                    }
                    Ok(None) => {}
                    Err(e) => tracing::warn!("Failed to generate session description: {}", e),
                }
            });
        }

        let model_config = match entry_session.model_config {
            Some(model_config) => model_config,
            None => {
                let provider_name = Config::global()
                    .get_goose_provider()
                    .map_err(|_| anyhow!("Could not resolve model config: missing provider"))?;
                let model_name = Config::global()
                    .get_goose_model()
                    .map_err(|_| anyhow!("Could not resolve model config: missing model"))?;
                crate::model_config::model_config_from_user_config(&provider_name, &model_name)
                    .map_err(|error| anyhow!("Could not resolve model config: {error}"))?
            }
        };

        let context_limit = provider
            .get_context_limit(&model_config)
            .await
            .unwrap_or_else(|_| model_config.context_limit());
        let steer_queue = self.steer_queue(&session_id).await;
        let machine = self.create_state_machine(
            provider,
            model_config,
            context_limit,
            session_config.max_turns,
            cancel.clone(),
            steer_queue,
        );
        let reply_span = tracing::Span::current();

View on GitHub (pinned to 3810898a74)

Solutions

1. Read the wrapped {error} — it states exactly why construction failed
2. Match the provider id against `goose configure` options
3. Fix or complete custom provider entries in config.yaml
4. Update goose so recently added providers resolve

Example fix

# before
GOOSE_PROVIDER=anthropic-claude GOOSE_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-5 goose session
Error: Could not resolve model config: ...

# after
GOOSE_PROVIDER=anthropic GOOSE_MODEL=claude-sonnet-4-5 goose session

let (p, m) = (
    goose::config::Config::global().get_goose_provider()?,
    goose::config::Config::global().get_goose_model()?,
);
if goose::model_config::model_config_from_user_config(&p, &m).is_err() {
    anyhow::bail!("cannot build model config from {p}/{m} — check provider id");
}

fn model_config_failed(e: &anyhow::Error) -> bool {
    let s = e.to_string();
    s.starts_with("Could not resolve model config")
        && !s.contains("missing provider")
        && !s.contains("missing model")
}

match agent.reply(msg, session_config, token).await {
    Err(e) if model_config_failed(&e) => {
        // provider id invalid; stop and reconfigure rather than retrying
        anyhow::bail!("invalid provider/model config: {e}");
    }
    other => other?,
}

When it happens

Trigger: GOOSE_PROVIDER value doesn't match any built-in/configured provider; custom OpenAI-compatible provider entry in config.yaml is malformed; provider id requires a newer goose version.

Common situations: Typos or renamed provider ids across goose versions; copied config files referencing custom providers that aren't defined on this machine.

Related errors

• Could not resolve model config: {e}
• Provider not set
• Could not resolve model config: missing provider
• Provider '{}' has dynamic_models: false but no static models
• Invalid base URL '{}': {}

AI-assisted analysis of aaif-goose/goose@3810898a74 (2026-08-16). Data as JSON: /api/errors/30ae11dea2cd24c5. Report an issue: GitHub.