diff --git a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run/runtime.ts b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run/runtime.ts
index 41207a912d..a745d7ed33 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run/runtime.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/src/cli/cmd/run/runtime.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
+import path from "path"
 import { createCliRenderer, type CliRenderer, type ScrollbackWriter } from "@opentui/core"
 import { TuiConfig } from "../../../config/tui"
+import { Global } from "../../../global"
+import { Filesystem } from "../../../util/filesystem"
 import { Locale } from "../../../util/locale"
 import { RunFooter } from "./footer"
 import { entrySplash, exitSplash, splashMeta } from "./splash"
@@ -9,6 +12,7 @@ import type { FooterApi, FooterKeybinds, RunInput } from "./types"
 
 const FOOTER_HEIGHT = 6
 const HISTORY_LIMIT = 200
+const MODEL_FILE = path.join(Global.Path.state, "model.json")
 
 const DEFAULT_KEYBINDS: FooterKeybinds = {
   leader: "ctrl+x",
@@ -65,10 +69,20 @@ type ModelInfo = {
   limits: Record<string, number>
 }
 
+type SessionMessages = Awaited<ReturnType<RunInput["sdk"]["session"]["messages"]>>["data"]
+
+type ModelState = {
+  variant?: Record<string, string | undefined>
+}
+
 function modelKey(provider: string, model: string): string {
   return `${provider}/${model}`
 }
 
+function variantKey(model: NonNullable<RunInput["model"]>): string {
+  return modelKey(model.providerID, model.modelID)
+}
+
 async function resolveModelInfo(sdk: RunInput["sdk"], model: RunInput["model"]): Promise<ModelInfo> {
   try {
     const response = await sdk.provider.list()
@@ -150,6 +164,120 @@ async function resolvePromptHistory(sdk: RunInput["sdk"], sessionID: string): Pr
   }
 }
 
+/** @internal Exported for testing */
+export function pickVariant(model: RunInput["model"], messages: SessionMessages): string | undefined {
+  if (!model || !messages || messages.length === 0) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  for (let index = messages.length - 1; index >= 0; index -= 1) {
+    const info = messages[index]?.info
+    if (!info || info.role !== "user") {
+      continue
+    }
+
+    if (info.model.providerID !== model.providerID || info.model.modelID !== model.modelID) {
+      continue
+    }
+
+    return info.variant
+  }
+
+  return undefined
+}
+
+function fitVariant(value: string | undefined, variants: string[]): string | undefined {
+  if (!value) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  if (variants.length === 0 || variants.includes(value)) {
+    return value
+  }
+
+  return undefined
+}
+
+/** @internal Exported for testing */
+export function resolveVariant(
+  input: string | undefined,
+  session: string | undefined,
+  saved: string | undefined,
+  variants: string[],
+): string | undefined {
+  if (input !== undefined) {
+    return input
+  }
+
+  const fallback = fitVariant(saved, variants)
+  const current = fitVariant(session, variants)
+  if (current !== undefined) {
+    return current
+  }
+
+  return fallback
+}
+
+async function resolveStoredVariant(
+  sdk: RunInput["sdk"],
+  sessionID: string,
+  model: RunInput["model"],
+): Promise<string | undefined> {
+  if (!model) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const response = await sdk.session.messages({
+      sessionID,
+      limit: HISTORY_LIMIT,
+    })
+
+    return pickVariant(model, response.data)
+  } catch {
+    return undefined
+  }
+}
+
+async function resolveSavedVariant(model: RunInput["model"]): Promise<string | undefined> {
+  if (!model) {
+    return undefined
+  }
+
+  try {
+    const state = await Filesystem.readJson<ModelState>(MODEL_FILE)
+    return state.variant?.[variantKey(model)]
+  } catch {
+    return undefined
+  }
+}
+
+function saveVariant(model: RunInput["model"], variant: string | undefined): void {
+  if (!model) {
+    return
+  }
+
+  void (async () => {
+    const state = await Filesystem.readJson<ModelState>(MODEL_FILE).catch(() => ({}) as ModelState)
+    const map = {
+      ...(state.variant ?? {}),
+    }
+    const key = variantKey(model)
+    if (variant) {
+      map[key] = variant
+    }
+
+    if (!variant) {
+      delete map[key]
+    }
+
+    await Filesystem.writeJson(MODEL_FILE, {
+      ...state,
+      variant: map,
+    })
+  })().catch(() => {})
+}
+
 async function resolveFooterKeybinds(): Promise<FooterKeybinds> {
   try {
     const config = await TuiConfig.get()
@@ -370,11 +498,13 @@ export async function runPromptQueue(input: QueueInput): Promise<void> {
 }
 
 export async function runInteractiveMode(input: RunInput): Promise<void> {
-  const [keybinds, info, first, history] = await Promise.all([
+  const [keybinds, info, first, history, storedVariant, savedVariant] = await Promise.all([
     resolveFooterKeybinds(),
     resolveModelInfo(input.sdk, input.model),
     resolveFirstPrompt(input.sdk, input.sessionID),
     resolvePromptHistory(input.sdk, input.sessionID),
+    resolveStoredVariant(input.sdk, input.sessionID, input.model),
+    resolveSavedVariant(input.model),
   ])
   const meta = splashMeta({
     title: input.sessionTitle,
@@ -385,7 +515,7 @@ export async function runInteractiveMode(input: RunInput): Promise<void> {
     exit: false,
   }
   const variants = info.variants
-  let activeVariant = input.variant
+  let activeVariant = resolveVariant(input.variant, storedVariant, savedVariant, variants)
   let aborting = false
 
   const renderer = await createCliRenderer({
@@ -423,6 +553,7 @@ export async function runInteractiveMode(input: RunInput): Promise<void> {
       }
 
       activeVariant = cycleVariant(activeVariant, variants)
+      saveVariant(input.model, activeVariant)
       return {
         status: activeVariant ? `variant ${activeVariant}` : "variant default",
         modelLabel: formatModelLabel(input.model, activeVariant),
diff --git a/packages/opencode/test/cli/run/direct-runtime.test.ts b/packages/opencode/test/cli/run/direct-runtime.test.ts
index 45274ee8e6..9e72bbedfc 100644
--- a/packages/opencode/test/cli/run/direct-runtime.test.ts
+++ b/packages/opencode/test/cli/run/direct-runtime.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test"
-import { queueSplash, runPromptQueue } from "../../../src/cli/cmd/run/runtime"
+import { pickVariant, queueSplash, resolveVariant, runPromptQueue } from "../../../src/cli/cmd/run/runtime"
 import type { EntryKind, FooterApi, FooterPatch } from "../../../src/cli/cmd/run/types"
 
 function createFooter() {
@@ -75,6 +75,100 @@ function createFooter() {
 }
 
 describe("run runtime", () => {
+  test("restores variant from latest matching user message", () => {
+    expect(
+      pickVariant(
+        {
+          providerID: "openai",
+          modelID: "gpt-5",
+        },
+        [
+          {
+            info: {
+              role: "user",
+              model: {
+                providerID: "openai",
+                modelID: "gpt-5",
+              },
+              variant: "high",
+            },
+          },
+          {
+            info: {
+              role: "user",
+              model: {
+                providerID: "anthropic",
+                modelID: "claude-3",
+              },
+              variant: "max",
+            },
+          },
+          {
+            info: {
+              role: "user",
+              model: {
+                providerID: "openai",
+                modelID: "gpt-5",
+              },
+              variant: "minimal",
+            },
+          },
+        ] as unknown as Parameters<typeof pickVariant>[1],
+      ),
+    ).toBe("minimal")
+  })
+
+  test("respects default variant from latest matching user message", () => {
+    expect(
+      pickVariant(
+        {
+          providerID: "openai",
+          modelID: "gpt-5",
+        },
+        [
+          {
+            info: {
+              role: "user",
+              model: {
+                providerID: "openai",
+                modelID: "gpt-5",
+              },
+              variant: "high",
+            },
+          },
+          {
+            info: {
+              role: "assistant",
+              providerID: "openai",
+              modelID: "gpt-5",
+            },
+          },
+          {
+            info: {
+              role: "user",
+              model: {
+                providerID: "openai",
+                modelID: "gpt-5",
+              },
+            },
+          },
+        ] as unknown as Parameters<typeof pickVariant>[1],
+      ),
+    ).toBeUndefined()
+  })
+
+  test("keeps saved variant when session variant is default", () => {
+    expect(resolveVariant(undefined, undefined, "high", ["high", "minimal"])).toBe("high")
+  })
+
+  test("session variant overrides saved variant", () => {
+    expect(resolveVariant(undefined, "minimal", "high", ["high", "minimal"])).toBe("minimal")
+  })
+
+  test("cli variant overrides session and saved variant", () => {
+    expect(resolveVariant("custom", "minimal", "high", ["high", "minimal"])).toBe("custom")
+  })
+
   test("queues entry and exit splash only once", () => {
     const writes: unknown[] = []
     let renders = 0