diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index fc7d3aca..9ed1eaef 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ Imports:
     withr,
     xml2
 Suggests:
-    bslib (>= 0.7.0),
+    bslib (>= 0.11.0),
     callr,
     chromote,
     covr,
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ Suggests:
     renv,
     roxygen2,
     shiny,
-    shinychat (>= 0.3.0),
+    shinychat (>= 0.3.0.9000),
     testthat (>= 3.0.0),
     tibble,
     usethis
@@ -137,3 +137,5 @@ Collate:
     'utils-r.R'
     'utils.R'
     'zzz.R'
+Remotes:  
+    posit-dev/shinychat
diff --git a/R/btw_client_app.R b/R/btw_client_app.R
index 0b147a03..9f946616 100644
--- a/R/btw_client_app.R
+++ b/R/btw_client_app.R
@@ -4,27 +4,37 @@
 #'   chat
 #' @param messages A list of initial messages to show in the chat, passed to
 #'   [shinychat::chat_mod_ui()].
+#' @param model_choices Can be one of `"btw_md"` (model choices from your
+#'   `path_btw` configuration), `"provider"` (models from the provider API),
+#'   `"auto"` (uses `path_btw` if `client` comes from `path_btw`, otherwise
+#'   falling back to provider), or `"none"` (don't show model choices).
 #' @export
 btw_app <- function(
   ...,
   client = NULL,
   tools = NULL,
   path_btw = NULL,
-  messages = list()
+  messages = list(),
+  model_choices = c("auto", "btw_md", "provider", "none")
 ) {
   rlang::check_installed("shiny")
-  rlang::check_installed("bslib")
+  rlang::check_installed("bslib", version = "0.11.0")
   rlang::check_installed("htmltools")
-  rlang::check_installed("shinychat", version = "0.3.0")
+  rlang::check_installed("shinychat", version = "0.3.0.9000")
+
+  model_choices <- rlang::arg_match(model_choices)
 
   if (getOption("btw.app.close_on_session_end", FALSE)) {
     cli::cli_alert("Starting up {.fn btw::btw_app} ...")
   }
 
+  client_name <- if (is_string(client)) client
+
   # Get reference tools for the app
   if (inherits(client, "AsIs")) {
     # When client is AsIs (pre-configured), use btw_tools() as reference
     reference_tools <- btw_tools()
+    app_models <- app_resolve_model_choices(model_choices, path_btw = FALSE)
   } else {
     client <- btw_client(
       client = client,
@@ -44,12 +54,24 @@ btw_app <- function(
       )
       reference_tools <- reference_client$get_tools()
     })
+
+    app_models <- app_resolve_model_choices(
+      model_choices,
+      path_btw,
+      client_name = client_name
+    )
+  }
+
+  selected_client <- if (is.list(app_models) && !is.null(client_name)) {
+    resolve_model_choice_name(client_name, names(app_models))
   }
 
   btw_app_from_client(
     client,
     messages = messages,
     allowed_tools = reference_tools,
+    app_models = app_models,
+    selected_client = selected_client,
     ...
   )
 }
@@ -72,18 +94,14 @@ btw_app_from_client <- function(
   client,
   messages = list(),
   allowed_tools = btw_tools(),
+  app_models = "provider",
+  selected_client = NULL,
   ...
 ) {
   path_figures_installed <- system.file("help", "figures", package = "btw")
   path_figures_dev <- system.file("man", "figures", package = "btw")
   path_logo <- "btw_figures/logo.png"
 
-  provider_model <- sprintf(
-    "%s/%s",
-    client$get_provider()@name,
-    client$get_model()
-  )
-
   # Store original client tools (preserves configuration like closures)
   # $get_tools() returns a named list where names are tool names
   original_client_tools <- client$get_tools()
@@ -179,11 +197,16 @@ btw_app_from_client <- function(
       shinychat::chat_mod_ui(
         "chat",
         messages = messages,
-        width = "min(750px, 100%)"
+        width = "min(750px, 100%)",
+        footer = if (utils::packageVersion("shinychat") >= "0.3.0.9000") {
+          btw_status_bar_ui(
+            "status_bar",
+            client = client,
+            models = app_models,
+            selected = selected_client
+          )
+        }
       ),
-      if (utils::packageVersion("shinychat") >= "0.2.0.9000") {
-        btw_status_bar_ui("status_bar", provider_model)
-      },
       btw_app_html_dep(),
     )
   }
@@ -191,8 +214,12 @@ btw_app_from_client <- function(
   server <- function(input, output, session) {
     chat <- shinychat::chat_mod_server("chat", client = client)
 
-    if (utils::packageVersion("shinychat") >= "0.2.0.9000") {
-      btw_status_bar_server("status_bar", chat)
+    if (utils::packageVersion("shinychat") >= "0.3.0.9000") {
+      res <- btw_status_bar_server("status_bar", chat, app_models)
+
+      shiny::observeEvent(res$clear_chat(), {
+        chat$clear(client_history = "clear")
+      })
     }
 
     shiny::observeEvent(input$show_sidebar, {
@@ -470,60 +497,176 @@ notifier <- function(icon, action, error = NULL, ...) {
   bslib_show_toast(toast)
 }
 
-btw_status_bar_ui <- function(id, provider_model) {
+btw_status_bar_ui <- function(
+  id,
+  client,
+  models = "provider",
+  selected = NULL
+) {
   ns <- shiny::NS(id)
+
+  if (identical(models, "provider")) {
+    selected <- client$get_model()
+    choices <- selected  # full list populated asynchronously in server
+  } else if (length(models) > 0) {
+    selected <- selected %||% names(models)[[1]]
+    choices <- names(models)
+  }
+
   shiny::tagList(
     shiny::tags$footer(
-      class = "status-footer d-flex align-items-center gap-3 small text-muted",
+      class = "status-footer small text-muted",
       style = "width: min(725px, 100%); margin-inline: auto;",
-      bslib::tooltip(
-        shiny::actionLink(ns("show_sys_prompt"), tool_icon("quick-reference")),
-        "Show system prompt"
-      ),
-      shiny::div(
-        class = "status-provider-model",
-        shiny::span(class = "font-monospace", provider_model),
-      ),
-      shiny::div(
-        class = "ms-auto status-tokens font-monospace",
-        bslib::tooltip(
-          id = ns("status_tokens_input_tooltip"),
-          shiny::span(
-            id = ns("status_tokens_input"),
-            class = "status-countup",
-            "data-type" = "tokens_input"
-          ),
-          "Input tokens"
+      bslib::toolbar(
+        gap = "0.25em",
+        shiny::uiOutput(ns("provider")),
+        if (is.null(models)) {
+          shiny::div(
+            class = "status-model badge text-body-secondary fw-normal",
+            client$get_model()
+          )
+        } else {
+          bslib::toolbar_input_select(
+            id = ns("model"),
+            label = "Model",
+            selected = selected,
+            choices = choices,
+            style = bslib::css(min_width = "12rem")
+          )
+        },
+        bslib::toolbar_spacer(),
+        bslib::toolbar_input_button(
+          id = ns("show_sys_prompt"),
+          label = "Show system prompt",
+          icon = tool_icon("quick-reference")
         ),
-        bslib::tooltip(
-          shiny::span(
-            id = ns("status_tokens_output"),
-            class = "status-countup",
-            "data-type" = "tokens_output"
-          ),
-          "Output tokens"
-        )
-      ),
-      shiny::div(
-        class = "status-cost font-monospace",
-        bslib::tooltip(
-          id = ns("status_cost_tooltip"),
-          shiny::span(
-            id = ns("status_cost"),
-            class = "status-countup",
-            "data-type" = "cost"
+        bslib::toolbar_input_button(
+          id = ns("clear_chat"),
+          label = "Clear chat",
+          icon = tool_icon("ink-eraser"),
+        ),
+        bslib::toolbar_divider(),
+        shiny::div(
+          class = "status-tokens font-monospace",
+          bslib::tooltip(
+            id = ns("status_tokens_input_tooltip"),
+            shiny::span(
+              id = ns("status_tokens_input"),
+              class = "status-countup",
+              "data-type" = "tokens_input"
+            ),
+            "Input tokens"
           ),
-          "Estimated cost"
-        )
+          bslib::tooltip(
+            shiny::span(
+              id = ns("status_tokens_output"),
+              class = "status-countup",
+              "data-type" = "tokens_output"
+            ),
+            "Output tokens"
+          )
+        ),
+        shiny::div(
+          class = "status-cost font-monospace",
+          bslib::tooltip(
+            id = ns("status_cost_tooltip"),
+            shiny::span(
+              id = ns("status_cost"),
+              class = "status-countup",
+              "data-type" = "cost"
+            ),
+            "Estimated cost"
+          )
+        ),
+        width = "100%"
       )
     )
   )
 }
 
-btw_status_bar_server <- function(id, chat) {
+btw_status_bar_server <- function(id, chat, models = "provider") {
   shiny::moduleServer(
     id,
     function(input, output, session) {
+      provider_name <- shiny::reactiveVal({
+        # chat$client is not reactive, will be updated manually on model change
+        chat$client$get_provider()@name
+      })
+
+      model_name <- shiny::reactiveVal({
+        chat$client$get_model()
+      })
+
+      if (identical(models, "provider")) {
+        shiny::observe({
+          provider_df <- client_get_models(chat$client)
+          if (!is.null(provider_df)) {
+            current <- shiny::isolate(model_name())
+            all_choices <- union(current, sort(provider_df$id))
+            shiny::updateSelectInput(session, "model", choices = all_choices, selected = current)
+          }
+        })
+      }
+
+      output$provider <- shiny::renderUI({
+        badge <- shiny::div(
+          class = "status-provider badge",
+          provider_name()
+        )
+        if (identical(models, "provider")) {
+          badge
+        } else {
+          bslib::tooltip(badge, model_name(), placement = "top")
+        }
+      })
+
+      shiny::observeEvent(input$model, ignoreInit = TRUE, {
+        tryCatch(
+          {
+            old_provider <- chat$client$get_provider()@name
+
+            if (identical(models, "provider")) {
+              new_client <- chat$client$clone()
+              new_client$set_model(input$model)
+            } else {
+              new_config <- models[[input$model]]
+              new_client <- btw_client(client = new_config, tools = FALSE)
+              new_client$set_system_prompt(chat$client$get_system_prompt())
+              turns <- chat$client$get_turns()
+              new_provider <- new_client$get_provider()@name
+              if (!identical(old_provider, new_provider)) {
+                turns <- turns_replace_thinking(turns)
+              }
+              new_client$set_turns(turns)
+              new_client$set_tools(chat$client$get_tools())
+            }
+
+            chat$set_client(new_client, sync = FALSE)
+            new_provider <- chat$client$get_provider()@name
+            provider_name(new_provider)
+            model_name(chat$client$get_model())
+
+            notifier(
+              shiny::icon("check"),
+              shiny::HTML(
+                sprintf(
+                  "Switched model to <code>%s</code> from %s.",
+                  new_client$get_model(),
+                  new_provider
+                )
+              )
+            )
+          },
+          error = function(err) {
+            notifier(
+              shiny::icon("warning"),
+              sprintf("Failed to switch model to %s", input$model),
+              error = err
+            )
+          }
+        )
+      })
+
       chat_tokens <- shiny::reactiveVal(
         chat_get_tokens(chat$client),
         label = "btw_app_tokens"
@@ -559,6 +702,10 @@ btw_status_bar_server <- function(id, chat) {
         }
       })
 
+      shiny::observeEvent(input$clear_chat, {
+        session$sendCustomMessage("btw_reset_status", list(ns = session$ns("")))
+      })
+
       shiny::observeEvent(chat_tokens(), {
         tokens <- chat_tokens()
 
@@ -683,6 +830,12 @@ btw_status_bar_server <- function(id, chat) {
           )
         }
       )
+
+      return(
+        list(
+          clear_chat = reactive(input$clear_chat)
+        )
+      )
     }
   )
 }
diff --git a/R/utils-ellmer.R b/R/utils-ellmer.R
index e8ea6cde..b395cd92 100644
--- a/R/utils-ellmer.R
+++ b/R/utils-ellmer.R
@@ -1,3 +1,168 @@
+client_get_models <- function(client) {
+  provider <- client$get_provider()
+
+  models_fns <- list(
+    ProviderAnthropic = function(p) {
+      ellmer::models_anthropic(
+        base_url = p@base_url,
+        credentials = p@credentials
+      )
+    },
+    ProviderGoogleGemini = function(p) {
+      ellmer::models_google_gemini(
+        base_url = p@base_url,
+        credentials = p@credentials
+      )
+    },
+    ProviderAWSBedrock = function(p) {
+      base_url <- sub("bedrock-runtime", "bedrock", p@base_url)
+      ellmer::models_aws_bedrock(profile = p@profile, base_url = base_url)
+    },
+    ProviderOpenAI = function(p) {
+      ellmer::models_openai(base_url = p@base_url, credentials = p@credentials)
+    },
+    ProviderMistral = function(p) {
+      ellmer::models_mistral()
+    },
+    ProviderLMStudio = function(p) {
+      base_url <- sub("/v1$", "", p@base_url)
+      ellmer::models_lmstudio(base_url = base_url, credentials = p@credentials)
+    },
+    ProviderVllm = function(p) {
+      ellmer::models_vllm(base_url = p@base_url, credentials = p@credentials)
+    },
+    ProviderOllama = function(p) {
+      base_url <- sub("/v1$", "", p@base_url)
+      ellmer::models_ollama(base_url = base_url, credentials = p@credentials)
+    },
+    ProviderPortkeyAI = function(p) {
+      ellmer::models_portkey(base_url = p@base_url)
+    },
+    ProviderOpenAICompatible = function(p) {
+      base_url <- sub("/v1$", "", p@base_url)
+      ellmer::models_openai(base_url = p@base_url, credentials = p@credentials)
+    }
+  )
+
+  try_get_models <- function(fn, provider) {
+    tryCatch(fn(provider), error = function(e) {
+      cli::cli_warn(
+        "Failed to fetch models for provider {provider@name}",
+        parent = e
+      )
+      NULL
+    })
+  }
+
+  if (provider@name == "LM Studio") {
+    return(try_get_models(models_fns$ProviderLMStudio, provider))
+  }
+
+  for (cls in names(models_fns)) {
+    if (inherits(provider, sprintf("ellmer::%s", cls))) {
+      return(
+        tryCatch(models_fns[[cls]](provider), error = function(e) {
+          cli::cli_warn(
+            "Failed to fetch models for provider {provider@name}",
+            parent = e
+          )
+          NULL
+        })
+      )
+    }
+  }
+
+  NULL
+}
+
+# Returns NULL (no selector), "provider" (lazy fetch), or list of btw.md client configs
+app_resolve_model_choices <- function(
+  model_choices,
+  path_btw,
+  client_name = NULL
+) {
+  if (model_choices == "none") {
+    return(NULL)
+  }
+  if (model_choices == "provider") {
+    return("provider")
+  }
+
+  config <- read_btw_file(path_btw)
+  btw_models <- config$client
+
+  if (is.null(btw_models)) {
+    return("provider")
+  }
+
+  if (is_list(btw_models)) {
+    if (all(nzchar(names2(btw_models)))) {
+      if (
+        model_choices == "auto" &&
+          !is.null(client_name) &&
+          is.null(resolve_model_choice_name(client_name, names(btw_models)))
+      ) {
+        return("provider")
+      }
+      return(btw_models)
+    }
+    cli::cli_inform(
+      "Model choices in `client` in {.path {btw_md}} must be named for model selection to work."
+    )
+  }
+
+  "provider"
+}
+
+resolve_model_choice_name <- function(name, choices) {
+  idx <- match(tolower(name), tolower(choices))
+  if (is.na(idx)) NULL else choices[[idx]]
+}
+
+client_models_from_config <- function(client_config) {
+  aliases <- client_aliases(client_config)
+  if (is.null(aliases)) {
+    return(NULL)
+  }
+
+  model_ids <- vapply(
+    client_config,
+    function(cfg) {
+      if (is_string(cfg)) {
+        parts <- strsplit(cfg, "/", fixed = TRUE)[[1]]
+        if (length(parts) > 1) paste(parts[-1], collapse = "/") else ""
+      } else if (is.list(cfg) && !inherits(cfg, "Chat")) {
+        cfg$model %||% ""
+      } else if (inherits(cfg, "Chat")) {
+        cfg$get_model()
+      } else {
+        ""
+      }
+    },
+    character(1)
+  )
+
+  valid <- nzchar(model_ids)
+  if (!any(valid)) {
+    return(NULL)
+  }
+
+  model_ids[valid]
+}
+
+turns_replace_thinking <- function(turns) {
+  lapply(turns, function(turn) {
+    turn@contents <- lapply(turn@contents, function(content) {
+      if (S7::S7_inherits(content, ellmer::ContentThinking)) {
+        ellmer::ContentText(format(content))
+      } else {
+        content
+      }
+    })
+    turn
+  })
+}
+
 btw_prompt <- function(path, ..., .envir = parent.frame()) {
   path <- system.file("prompts", path, package = "btw")
   ellmer::interpolate_file(path, ..., .envir = .envir)
@@ -78,7 +243,8 @@ BtwToolBuiltIn <- tryCatch(
 )
 
 built_in_tool_info <- function(name) {
-  switch(name,
+  switch(
+    name,
     web_search = list(
       title = "Web Search",
       description = "Search the web for up-to-date information.",
diff --git a/R/zzz.R b/R/zzz.R
index 5d09c061..6ad5346c 100644
--- a/R/zzz.R
+++ b/R/zzz.R
@@ -7,6 +7,18 @@
     assign(tool_def@name, tool_def, envir = pkg_env)
   }
 
+  # Patch ellmer:::Chat to add set_model() if it doesn't exist
+  ellmer_chat <- getFromNamespace("Chat", "ellmer")
+  if (!is.null(ellmer_chat)) {
+    if (!"set_model" %in% names(ellmer_chat$public_methods)) {
+      ellmer_chat$set("public", "set_model", function(model) {
+        old <- private$provider@model
+        private$provider@model <- model
+        invisible(old)
+      })
+    }
+  }
+
   rlang::run_on_load()
 }
 
diff --git a/btw.md b/btw.md
deleted file mode 100644
index 6439220c..00000000
--- a/btw.md
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,136 +0,0 @@
----
-client:
-  sonnet:
-    provider: aws_bedrock
-    model: us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-6
-    api_args:
-      additionalModelRequestFields:
-        thinking:
-          type: enabled
-          budget_tokens: 4000
-  haiku:
-    provider: aws_bedrock
-    model: us.anthropic.claude-haiku-4-5-20251001-v1:0
-    api_args:
-      additionalModelRequestFields:
-        thinking:
-          type: enabled
-          budget_tokens: 4000
-  opus:
-    provider: aws_bedrock
-    model: us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-5-20251101-v1:0
-    api_args:
-      additionalModelRequestFields:
-        thinking:
-          type: enabled
-          budget_tokens: 4000
-
-  sonnet-4.5:
-    provider: aws_bedrock
-    model: us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929-v1:0
-  sonnet-4:
-    provider: aws_bedrock
-    model: us.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-20250514-v1:0
-  opus-4.5:
-    provider: aws_bedrock
-    model: us.anthropic.claude-opus-4-5-20251101-v1:0
-
-  gemma4:
-    provider: openai_compatible
-    model: google/gemma-4-26b-a4b
-    # base_url: http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1
-    base_url: http://remy.local:1234/v1
-    name: "LM Studio"
-
-  qwen3.6:
-    provider: openai_compatible
-    model: qwen/qwen3.6-35b-a3b
-    base_url: http://remy.local:1234/v1
-    name: "LM Studio"
-    preserve_thinking: true
-
-  qwen-3-5-35b:
-    provider: openai_compatible
-    model: qwen/qwen3.5-35b-a3b
-    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1
-    name: "LM Studio"
-
-  qwen-3-5-9b:
-    provider: openai_compatible
-    model: qwen/qwen3.5-9b
-    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1
-    name: "LM Studio"
-    params:
-      reasoning_effort: medium
-
-  glm-4-7-flash:
-    provider: openai_compatible
-    model: zai-org/glm-4.7-flash
-    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1
-    name: "LM Studio"
-
-  nemotron-3-nano-4b:
-    provider: openai_compatible
-    model: nvidia/nemotron-3-nano-4b
-    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1
-    name: "LM Studio"
-
-  lm-glm4v:
-    provider: openai_compatible
-    model: zai-org/glm-4.6v-flash
-    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1
-    name: "LM Studio"
-  qwen3:
-    provider: openai_compatible
-    model: qwen/qwen3-vl-30b
-    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1
-    name: "LM Studio"
-  gpt-oss-20b:
-    provider: openai_compatible
-    model: openai/gpt-oss-20b
-    base_url: http://127.0.0.1:1234/v1
-    name: "LM Studio"
-
-tools:
-  # - agent
-  - skills
-  - files_list
-  - files_read
-  - files_write
-  # - files_edit
-  - files_replace
-  - docs_help_page
-  - docs_package_help_topics
-
-options:
-  skills:
-    paths: ["~/.agents/skills"]
-  subagent:
-    # client: openai/gpt-5.4-mini
-    tools_allowed: [docs, files_search, files_list]
----
-
-## Overview
-
-btw is an R package that helps humans and LLMs work together with R by providing utilities to describe R objects, package documentation, and workspace state in LLM-friendly plain text. The package offers a flexible collection of tools that can be used interactively (copy-paste workflows), programmatically (direct function calls), or as enhanced chat clients (via ellmer or MCP servers).
-
-The primary goal is creating a collection of tools useful to both LLMs and humans when working together with R, with an emphasis on flexibility of usage across different workflows and platforms.
-
-## Quick Reference
-
-- **Project type:** R Package
-- **Language:** R (≥ 4.1.0)
-- **Key frameworks:** ellmer (LLM chat integration), mcptools (Model Context Protocol), shiny and shinychat (chat app)
-
-## Purpose and Design Philosophy
-
-btw prioritizes flexibility of usage through multiple entry points:
-
-- **`btw()`** - Interactive copy-paste workflow: gather context from R and paste into any chat interface
-- **`btw_tools()`** - Register tools with ellmer chat clients for custom applications
-- **`btw_client()` / `btw_app()`** - Batteries-included chat clients with your preferred LLM provider, model, and project context
-- **MCP server** - Expose tools to third-party coding agents like Claude Desktop or Continue via `btw_mcp_server()`
-
-Project configuration via `btw.md` files provides conversation stability across sessions by defining default provider, model, tools, and project-specific instructions. These files are treated as instructions for coding assistants and help avoid repeating context.
-
-btw also serves as a laboratory for discovering best practices in LLM tool design - output formats and approaches evolve based on experimentation with what works best across different models.
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diff --git a/inst/icons/ink-eraser.svg b/inst/icons/ink-eraser.svg
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..8969a7fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/inst/icons/ink-eraser.svg
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" height="24px" viewBox="0 -960 960 960" width="24px" fill="currentColor"><path d="M690-240h190v80H610l80-80Zm-500 80-85-85q-23-23-23.5-57t22.5-58l440-456q23-24 56.5-24t56.5 23l199 199q23 23 23 57t-23 57L520-160H190Zm296-80 314-322-198-198-442 456 64 64h262Zm-6-240Z"/></svg>
diff --git a/inst/js/app/btw_app.css b/inst/js/app/btw_app.css
index 538bb6c9..1a25352d 100644
--- a/inst/js/app/btw_app.css
+++ b/inst/js/app/btw_app.css
@@ -66,15 +66,23 @@ shiny-chat-message .message-icon {
   height: 1em;
   width: 1em;
 }
-.status-provider-model {
-  text-overflow: ellipsis;
-  text-wrap-mode: nowrap;
-  overflow: hidden;
+.status-footer .status-tokens,
+.status-footer .status-cost {
+  display: inline-flex;
+  gap: 0.75rem;
+}
+.status-footer .status-cost {
+  margin-left: 0.5rem;
 }
 .modal {
   --bs-modal-margin: min(2rem, 10%);
 }
 
+.status-provider.badge {
+  color: var(--bs-body-color);
+  background-color: rgba(var(--bs-body-color-rgb), 0.1);
+}
+
 /* ---------------- Tool Results ---------------- */
 .btw-tool-result-write-file > .card > .card-body {
   padding: 0;
diff --git a/inst/js/app/btw_app.js b/inst/js/app/btw_app.js
index fc06c84a..2e2a9412 100644
--- a/inst/js/app/btw_app.js
+++ b/inst/js/app/btw_app.js
@@ -20,11 +20,30 @@ function initializeCountUp(element, initialValue, options) {
   return counter
 }
 
-document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function () {
-  document.querySelectorAll(".status-countup").forEach((element) => {
+function initializeStatusCountups() {
+  const elements = document.querySelectorAll(".status-countup")
+  elements.forEach((element) => {
+    if (statusCounters.has(element)) return
     const counter = initializeCountUp(element, 0)
     statusCounters.set(element, counter)
   })
+  return elements.length > 0
+}
+
+document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function () {
+  if (initializeStatusCountups()) return
+
+  let attempt = 0
+  const maxAttempts = 5
+  const baseDelay = 100
+
+  function retry() {
+    attempt++
+    if (initializeStatusCountups() || attempt >= maxAttempts) return
+    setTimeout(retry, baseDelay * Math.pow(2, attempt))
+  }
+
+  setTimeout(retry, baseDelay)
 })
 
 if (typeof Shiny !== "undefined") {
@@ -32,11 +51,12 @@ if (typeof Shiny !== "undefined") {
     const element = document.getElementById(message.id)
     if (element) {
       const counter = statusCounters.get(element)
-      const lastValue = parseFloat(element.dataset.value | "0")
+      const lastValue = parseFloat(element.dataset.value || "0")
 
-      if (counter && message.value) {
+      if (counter && Object.hasOwn(message, "value")) {
         if (
           element.dataset.type === "cost" &&
+          message.value > 0 &&
           (lastValue < 0.1 || message.value < 0.1)
         ) {
           const newCounter = initializeCountUp(element, lastValue, {
@@ -61,6 +81,19 @@ if (typeof Shiny !== "undefined") {
       }
     }
   })
+
+  Shiny.addCustomMessageHandler("btw_reset_status", function (message) {
+    const elements = document.querySelectorAll(".status-countup")
+    elements.forEach((element) => {
+      if (!element.id.startsWith(message.ns)) return
+      element.classList.remove("btw-status-recalculating", "btw-status-unknown")
+      element.dataset.value = 0
+      const counter = statusCounters.get(element)
+      if (counter) {
+        counter.update(0)
+      }
+    })
+  })
 }
 
 // Open File Buttons ----------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/man/btw_client.Rd b/man/btw_client.Rd
index 9391d9d3..dfa06260 100644
--- a/man/btw_client.Rd
+++ b/man/btw_client.Rd
@@ -13,7 +13,14 @@ btw_client(
   path_llms_txt = NULL
 )
 
-btw_app(..., client = NULL, tools = NULL, path_btw = NULL, messages = list())
+btw_app(
+  ...,
+  client = NULL,
+  tools = NULL,
+  path_btw = NULL,
+  messages = list(),
+  model_choices = c("auto", "btw_md", "provider", "none")
+)
 }
 \arguments{
 \item{...}{In \code{btw_app()}, additional arguments are passed to
@@ -54,6 +61,11 @@ the your current working directory or its parents. Set \code{path_llms_txt = FAL
 
 \item{messages}{A list of initial messages to show in the chat, passed to
 \code{\link[shinychat:chat_mod_ui]{shinychat::chat_mod_ui()}}.}
+
+\item{model_choices}{Can be one of \code{"btw_md"} (model choices from your
+\code{path_btw} configuration), \code{"provider"} (models from the provider API),
+\code{"auto"} (uses \code{path_btw} if \code{client} comes from \code{path_btw}, otherwise
+falling back to provider), or \code{"none"} (don't show model choices).}
 }
 \value{
 Returns an \link[ellmer:Chat]{ellmer::Chat} object with additional tools registered