[FEATURE]: Footer/Tab agent selector should show only primary agents (or be configurable)

[michaelvolz]

Feature hasn't been suggested before.

• I have verified this feature I'm about to request hasn't been suggested before.

Describe the enhancement you want to request

Add a configuration option to restore the old behavior where the footer agent display and Tab selector only shows primary agents (excluding subagents).

Since v1.3.4 (March 29, 2026) the footer/Tab selector now includes all agents — primary + every subagent.

Use case / Why this is needed

We rely heavily on the compound-engineering plugin. That package alone registers ~20 agents. Combined with our own custom agents we now have well over 30 entries in the Tab cycle.

Manual switching via the footer has become extremely slow and disrupts daily workflow.

Proposed solution

Add a simple toggle (ideally in opencode.json or a new TUI section):

{
  "tui": {
    "footerShowSubagents": false
  }
}

Additional context

OpenCode version: 1.3.17 (and every version after 1.3.4)
This change was introduced alongside the subagent TUI improvements but removed the previous clean primary-only experience for heavy multi-agent users

This small config option would restore the highly usable workflow we had before while keeping the new subagent orchestration features for users who want full visibility.

[github-actions]

This issue might be a duplicate of existing issues. Please check:

• [FEATURE]: ability to hide agents from tabbing #12530: [FEATURE]: ability to hide agents from tabbing — open feature request to hide agents from the Tab cycle, closely related to this request
• [FEATURE]: Allow showing/hiding subagents from primary agents #4764: [FEATURE]: Allow showing/hiding subagents from primary agents — previously closed request for the same primary-vs-subagent visibility control

[ariane-emory]

This sounds more like a bug than a feature, and I suspect that it is probably a bug related to the plug-in that you are using. I am not seeing this behaviour myself in the vanilla OpenCode.

[michaelvolz]

This sounds more like a bug than a feature, and I suspect that it is probably a bug related to the plug-in that you are using. I am not seeing this behaviour myself in the vanilla OpenCode.

@ariane-emory It is just a collection of skills and agents. It is not configured as a plugin.

[michaelvolz]

Update: Root cause identified

I found the actual bug.

@ariane-emory Your comment made me rethink the problem.

When subagents are added to opencode.json to override their model (faster/cheaper inference), OpenCode treats all of them as primary agents. The mode: subagent setting defined in the original agent .md files is completely ignored.

Removing the entries from opencode.json or explicitly adding "mode": "subagent" in the config restores the correct subagent behavior (they disappear from the footer/Tab selector).

This explains why the footer suddenly showed 30+ agents and is clearly a regression in config-based agent mode resolution.