feat: replace Agent mode with independent Tools toggle

- Remove 'agent' from mode dropdown; Chat/Note/OTR remain
- Add ⚡ tools toggle button in input bar (persisted in localStorage)
  When on: routes to POST /orchestrate (Gemini tool loop); send btn → "Run"
  When off: routes to POST /chat (direct to active role); no change
- Role selector and tools toggle are now fully independent:
  active chat_role sent in orchestrate payload → used for final response
- orchestrator_engine.run() accepts response_role param; passes it to
  complete(role=...) instead of hardcoded model="claude"
- OrchestrateRequest gains chat_role field (default "chat")
- Migrate stored 'agent' mode/MRU entries to 'chat' on load

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>

cortex/orchestrator_engine.py

@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ async def run(
     respond_with_claude: bool = True,
     gemini_api_key: str | None = None,
     model_name: str | None = None,
+    response_role: str = "chat",
 ) -> OrchestratorResult:
     """
     Run the full orchestration loop for a task.
@@ -176,7 +177,7 @@ async def run(
         response_text, backend = await complete(
             system_prompt=system_prompt,
             messages=messages,
-            model="claude",
+            role=response_role,
         )
     else:
         # Cron/background tasks: return Gemini's summary directly, no Claude call

cortex/routers/orchestrator.py

@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ class OrchestrateRequest(BaseModel):
     include_short: bool = True
     user: str = "scott"
     persona: str = "inara"
+    chat_role: str = "chat"             # role used for the final response (decoupled from tool-loop model)
 
 
 class OrchestrateResponse(BaseModel):
@@ -184,6 +185,7 @@ async def _run_job(job_id: str, req: OrchestrateRequest, user: str) -> None:
                 respond_with_claude=req.respond_with_claude,
                 gemini_api_key=gemini_key,
                 model_name=orch_model.get("model_name") if orch_model else None,
+                response_role=req.chat_role,
             )
 
         # Save the turn to the session store so it survives a page refresh

cortex/static/app.js

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
         const mode_icon_el       = document.getElementById('mode-icon');
         const mode_label_el      = document.getElementById('mode-label');
         const note_vis_btn_el    = document.getElementById('note-vis-btn');
+        const tools_toggle_el    = document.getElementById('tools-toggle');
         const settings_btn_el    = document.getElementById('settings-btn');
         const settings_dd_el     = document.getElementById('settings-dropdown');
         const sessionsBackdrop   = document.getElementById('sessions-backdrop');
@@ -151,22 +152,22 @@
 
         // ── Input mode — dropdown select with MRU ordering ──────────
         const MODES = {
-            chat:  { icon: 'message-circle', label: 'Chat' },
-            note:  { icon: 'pencil',         label: 'Note' },
-            otr:   { icon: 'lock',           label: 'OTR'  },
-            agent: { icon: 'bot',            label: 'Agent' },
+            chat: { icon: 'message-circle', label: 'Chat' },
+            note: { icon: 'pencil',         label: 'Note' },
+            otr:  { icon: 'lock',           label: 'OTR'  },
         };
         const send_defs = {
-            chat:  { icon: 'arrow-up', label: 'Send' },
-            note:  { icon: 'pencil',   label: 'Note' },
-            otr:   { icon: 'arrow-up', label: 'Send' },
-            agent: { icon: 'zap',      label: 'Run'  },
+            chat: { icon: 'arrow-up', label: 'Send' },
+            note: { icon: 'pencil',   label: 'Note' },
+            otr:  { icon: 'arrow-up', label: 'Send' },
         };
 
         let current_mode = localStorage.getItem('current_mode') || 'chat';
+        if (!(current_mode in MODES)) current_mode = 'chat';  // migrate stored 'agent'
         let note_public  = false;
         // MRU list — most recent first; used to sort dropdown options
-        let mode_mru = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('mode_mru') || '["chat","note","otr","agent"]');
+        let mode_mru = JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem('mode_mru') || '["chat","note","otr"]');
+        mode_mru = mode_mru.filter(m => m in MODES);  // strip stale 'agent' entries
 
         function push_mru(mode) {
             mode_mru = [mode, ...mode_mru.filter(m => m !== mode)];
@@ -219,7 +220,7 @@
         });
 
         function update_mode_ui() {
-            const m  = MODES[current_mode];
+            const m  = MODES[current_mode] || MODES.chat;
             const sd = send_defs[current_mode] || send_defs.chat;
 
             // Update trigger button
@@ -235,13 +236,15 @@
             note_vis_btn_el.classList.toggle('pub', note_public);
 
             // Textarea mode classes
-            inputEl.classList.toggle('mode-note',  current_mode === 'note');
-            inputEl.classList.toggle('public',      current_mode === 'note' && note_public);
-            inputEl.classList.toggle('mode-otr',   current_mode === 'otr');
-            inputEl.classList.toggle('mode-agent', current_mode === 'agent');
+            inputEl.classList.toggle('mode-note', current_mode === 'note');
+            inputEl.classList.toggle('public',    current_mode === 'note' && note_public);
+            inputEl.classList.toggle('mode-otr',  current_mode === 'otr');
 
-            // Send button label + icon
-            sendBtn.innerHTML = icon_html(sd.icon) + ' ' + sd.label;
+            // Send button label + icon (tools active → "Run", otherwise per-mode)
+            const effectiveSd = toolsEnabled && current_mode !== 'note'
+                ? { icon: 'zap', label: 'Run' }
+                : sd;
+            sendBtn.innerHTML = icon_html(effectiveSd.icon) + ' ' + effectiveSd.label;
 
             render_icons();
             updateInputPlaceholder();
@@ -252,12 +255,14 @@
                 inputEl.placeholder = note_public
                     ? 'Public note — LLM sees this next turn…'
                     : 'Private note — only you see this…';
-            } else if (current_mode === 'agent') {
-                inputEl.placeholder = ctrlEnterMode
-                    ? `Task for ${personaLabel}… (orchestrator — Ctrl+Enter to run)`
-                    : `Task for ${personaLabel}… (orchestrator)`;
             } else if (current_mode === 'otr') {
-                inputEl.placeholder = 'Off the record — not logged or distilled…';
+                inputEl.placeholder = toolsEnabled
+                    ? `Task for ${personaLabel}… ⚡ tools + off the record`
+                    : 'Off the record — not logged or distilled…';
+            } else if (toolsEnabled) {
+                inputEl.placeholder = ctrlEnterMode
+                    ? `Task for ${personaLabel}… ⚡ tools (Ctrl+Enter to run)`
+                    : `Task for ${personaLabel}… ⚡ tools`;
             } else {
                 inputEl.placeholder = ctrlEnterMode
                     ? `Message ${personaLabel}… (Ctrl+Enter to send)`
@@ -272,6 +277,26 @@
             update_mode_ui();
         });
 
+        // ── Tools toggle ─────────────────────────────────────────────
+        // When on: submit goes to POST /orchestrate (Gemini tool loop → active role responds).
+        // When off: submit goes to POST /chat (direct to active role, no tools).
+        let toolsEnabled = localStorage.getItem('tools-enabled') === 'true';
+
+        function updateToolsToggleUI() {
+            tools_toggle_el.classList.toggle('local-on', toolsEnabled);
+            tools_toggle_el.title = toolsEnabled
+                ? '⚡ Tools enabled — click to disable'
+                : 'Tools disabled — click to enable';
+            update_mode_ui();
+        }
+
+        tools_toggle_el.addEventListener('click', (e) => {
+            e.stopPropagation();
+            toolsEnabled = !toolsEnabled;
+            localStorage.setItem('tools-enabled', toolsEnabled);
+            updateToolsToggleUI();
+        });
+
         // ── Settings dropdown ─────────────────────────────────────────
         settings_btn_el.addEventListener('click', (e) => {
             e.stopPropagation();
@@ -1098,6 +1123,7 @@
                         include_long: memLong,
                         include_mid: memMid,
                         include_short: memShort,
+                        chat_role: activeRole()?.role || 'chat',
                         user: CORTEX_USER,
                         persona: CORTEX_PERSONA,
                     }),
@@ -1171,7 +1197,7 @@
 
         function dispatchSend() {
             if (current_mode === 'note') addNote();
-            else if (current_mode === 'agent') sendOrchestrate();
+            else if (toolsEnabled) sendOrchestrate();
             else sendMessage();
         }
 
@@ -1636,6 +1662,7 @@
 
         updateTierUI();
         updateMemUI();
+        updateToolsToggleUI();
         update_mode_ui();
 
         // ── Init ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────

cortex/static/index.html

@@ -176,6 +176,8 @@
             <div id="mode-dropdown"></div>
             <!-- Note visibility sub-toggle — only shown when note mode is active -->
             <button id="note-vis-btn" title="Toggle note visibility (private / public)">prv</button>
+            <!-- Tools toggle — routes through the orchestrator tool loop when active -->
+            <button id="tools-toggle" title="Tools disabled — click to enable">⚡</button>
         </div>
         <textarea id="input" rows="1" placeholder="Message…" autofocus></textarea>
         <div id="send-col">