QA: reuse shared runtime model defaults

Route Matrix QA model selection through the qa-lab runtime surface so the live
lane keeps the same preferred-model behavior as the rest of the QA host,
including the Codex OAuth fallback.

This removes the duplicated default table from qa-matrix, adds a narrow helper
around the shared runtime seam, and locks the behavior with a focused test.

extensions/qa-lab/src/runtime-api.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ export type { OpenClawConfig } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/config-runtime";
 export { definePluginEntry } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/plugin-entry";
 export { callGatewayFromCli } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/browser-node-runtime";
 export type { PluginRuntime } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/runtime-store";
+export { defaultQaRuntimeModelForMode } from "./model-selection.runtime.js";
 export {
   buildQaTarget,
   createQaBusThread,

extensions/qa-matrix/src/run-config.ts

@@ -1,31 +1,9 @@
 export type QaProviderMode = "mock-openai" | "live-frontier";
 export type QaProviderModeInput = QaProviderMode | "live-openai";
 
-const DEFAULT_QA_MODELS = {
-  "live-frontier": {
-    primary: "openai/gpt-5.4",
-    alternate: "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6",
-  },
-  "mock-openai": {
-    primary: "mock-openai/gpt-5.4",
-    alternate: "mock-openai/gpt-5.4-alt",
-  },
-} as const satisfies Record<
-  QaProviderMode,
-  {
-    primary: string;
-    alternate: string;
-  }
->;
-
 export function normalizeQaProviderMode(input: unknown): QaProviderMode {
   if (input === "mock-openai") {
     return "mock-openai";
   }
   return "live-frontier";
 }
-
-export function defaultQaModelForMode(mode: QaProviderMode, alternate = false) {
-  const preset = DEFAULT_QA_MODELS[normalizeQaProviderMode(mode)];
-  return alternate ? preset.alternate : preset.primary;
-}

extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/model-selection.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+const loadQaLabRuntimeModule = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn());
+const defaultQaRuntimeModelForMode = vi.hoisted(() => vi.fn());
+
+vi.mock("openclaw/plugin-sdk/qa-lab-runtime", () => ({
+  loadQaLabRuntimeModule,
+}));
+
+describe("matrix qa model selection", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    defaultQaRuntimeModelForMode.mockReset().mockImplementation((mode, options) =>
+      options?.alternate ? `${mode}:alt` : `${mode}:primary`,
+    );
+    loadQaLabRuntimeModule.mockReset().mockReturnValue({
+      defaultQaRuntimeModelForMode,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("delegates default model selection through qa-lab runtime defaults", async () => {
+    const { resolveMatrixQaModels } = await import("./model-selection.js");
+
+    expect(resolveMatrixQaModels({ providerMode: "live-openai" })).toEqual({
+      providerMode: "live-frontier",
+      primaryModel: "live-frontier:primary",
+      alternateModel: "live-frontier:alt",
+    });
+    expect(defaultQaRuntimeModelForMode).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(1, "live-frontier");
+    expect(defaultQaRuntimeModelForMode).toHaveBeenNthCalledWith(2, "live-frontier", {
+      alternate: true,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("preserves explicit model overrides", async () => {
+    const { resolveMatrixQaModels } = await import("./model-selection.js");
+
+    expect(
+      resolveMatrixQaModels({
+        providerMode: "mock-openai",
+        primaryModel: "custom-primary",
+        alternateModel: "custom-alt",
+      }),
+    ).toEqual({
+      providerMode: "mock-openai",
+      primaryModel: "custom-primary",
+      alternateModel: "custom-alt",
+    });
+    expect(defaultQaRuntimeModelForMode).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});

extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/model-selection.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import { loadQaLabRuntimeModule } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/qa-lab-runtime";
+import { normalizeQaProviderMode, type QaProviderModeInput } from "../../run-config.js";
+
+export type ResolvedMatrixQaModels = {
+  providerMode: ReturnType<typeof normalizeQaProviderMode>;
+  primaryModel: string;
+  alternateModel: string;
+};
+
+export function resolveMatrixQaModels(params: {
+  providerMode?: QaProviderModeInput;
+  primaryModel?: string;
+  alternateModel?: string;
+}): ResolvedMatrixQaModels {
+  const providerMode = normalizeQaProviderMode(params.providerMode ?? "live-frontier");
+  const qaLabRuntime = loadQaLabRuntimeModule();
+  return {
+    providerMode,
+    primaryModel:
+      params.primaryModel?.trim() ||
+      qaLabRuntime.defaultQaRuntimeModelForMode(providerMode),
+    alternateModel:
+      params.alternateModel?.trim() ||
+      qaLabRuntime.defaultQaRuntimeModelForMode(providerMode, { alternate: true }),
+  };
+}

extensions/qa-matrix/src/runners/contract/runtime.ts

@@ -7,11 +7,7 @@ import { formatErrorMessage } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/error-runtime";
 import { loadQaLabRuntimeModule } from "openclaw/plugin-sdk/qa-lab-runtime";
 import type { QaReportCheck } from "../../report.js";
 import { renderQaMarkdownReport } from "../../report.js";
-import {
-  defaultQaModelForMode,
-  normalizeQaProviderMode,
-  type QaProviderModeInput,
-} from "../../run-config.js";
+import { type QaProviderModeInput } from "../../run-config.js";
 import {
   appendLiveLaneIssue,
   buildLiveLaneArtifactsError,
@@ -31,6 +27,7 @@ import {
   type MatrixQaCanaryArtifact,
   type MatrixQaScenarioArtifacts,
 } from "./scenarios.js";
+import { resolveMatrixQaModels } from "./model-selection.js";
 
 type MatrixQaGatewayChild = {
   call(
@@ -308,9 +305,11 @@ export async function runMatrixQaLive(params: {
     path.join(repoRoot, ".artifacts", "qa-e2e", `matrix-${Date.now().toString(36)}`);
   await fs.mkdir(outputDir, { recursive: true });
 
-  const providerMode = normalizeQaProviderMode(params.providerMode ?? "live-frontier");
-  const primaryModel = params.primaryModel?.trim() || defaultQaModelForMode(providerMode);
-  const alternateModel = params.alternateModel?.trim() || defaultQaModelForMode(providerMode, true);
+  const { providerMode, primaryModel, alternateModel } = resolveMatrixQaModels({
+    providerMode: params.providerMode,
+    primaryModel: params.primaryModel,
+    alternateModel: params.alternateModel,
+  });
   const sutAccountId = params.sutAccountId?.trim() || "sut";
   const scenarios = findMatrixQaScenarios(params.scenarioIds);
   const observedEvents: MatrixQaObservedEvent[] = [];
@@ -592,5 +591,6 @@ export const __testing = {
   buildMatrixQaConfig,
   buildObservedEventsArtifact,
   isMatrixAccountReady,
+  resolveMatrixQaModels,
   waitForMatrixChannelReady,
 };

src/plugin-sdk/qa-lab-runtime.ts

@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 import { loadBundledPluginPublicSurfaceModuleSync } from "./facade-runtime.js";
 
 type QaLabRuntimeSurface = {
+  defaultQaRuntimeModelForMode: (
+    mode: string,
+    options?: {
+      alternate?: boolean;
+      preferredLiveModel?: string;
+    },
+  ) => string;
   startQaLiveLaneGateway: (...args: unknown[]) => Promise<unknown>;
 };