feat: tiered LLM providers (fast/heavy) with multi-provider config

Adds tier-based LLM routing so fast local models (vLLM, Ollama) handle
structured tasks while cloud models (Gemini, Anthropic) are reserved for
heavy reasoning. Single-provider configs continue to work via fallback.

- Tier type + ProviderRegistry with assignTier/getProvider/fallback chain
- Multi-provider config format: { providers: [{ name, type, tier, ... }] }
- NamedProvider wrapper for multiple instances of same provider type
- Setup wizard: Simple (legacy) / Advanced (fast+heavy tiers) modes
- Status display: tiered view with /llm/providers endpoint
- Call sites use getProvider('fast') instead of getActive()
- Full backward compatibility with existing single-provider configs

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

src/cli/src/commands/config-setup.ts

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import https from 'node:https';
 import { execFile } from 'node:child_process';
 import { promisify } from 'node:util';
 import { loadConfig, saveConfig } from '../config/index.js';
-import type { ConfigLoaderDeps, McpctlConfig, LlmConfig, LlmProviderName } from '../config/index.js';
+import type { ConfigLoaderDeps, McpctlConfig, LlmConfig, LlmProviderName, LlmProviderEntry, LlmTier } from '../config/index.js';
 import type { SecretStore } from '@mcpctl/shared';
 import { createSecretStore } from '@mcpctl/shared';
 
@@ -32,13 +32,28 @@ interface ProviderChoice {
   description: string;
 }
 
-const PROVIDER_CHOICES: ProviderChoice[] = [
+/** Provider config fields returned by per-provider setup functions. */
-  { name: 'Gemini CLI', value: 'gemini-cli', description: 'Google Gemini via local CLI (free, no API key)' },
+interface ProviderFields {
-  { name: 'Ollama', value: 'ollama', description: 'Local models via Ollama' },
+  model?: string;
-  { name: 'Anthropic (Claude)', value: 'anthropic', description: 'Claude API (requires API key)' },
+  url?: string;
+  binaryPath?: string;
+}
+
+const FAST_PROVIDER_CHOICES: ProviderChoice[] = [
   { name: 'vLLM', value: 'vllm', description: 'Self-hosted vLLM (OpenAI-compatible)' },
+  { name: 'Ollama', value: 'ollama', description: 'Local models via Ollama' },
+];
+
+const HEAVY_PROVIDER_CHOICES: ProviderChoice[] = [
+  { name: 'Gemini CLI', value: 'gemini-cli', description: 'Google Gemini via local CLI (free, no API key)' },
+  { name: 'Anthropic (Claude)', value: 'anthropic', description: 'Claude API (requires API key)' },
   { name: 'OpenAI', value: 'openai', description: 'OpenAI API (requires API key)' },
   { name: 'DeepSeek', value: 'deepseek', description: 'DeepSeek API (requires API key)' },
+];
+
+const ALL_PROVIDER_CHOICES: ProviderChoice[] = [
+  ...FAST_PROVIDER_CHOICES,
+  ...HEAVY_PROVIDER_CHOICES,
   { name: 'None (disable)', value: 'none', description: 'Disable LLM features' },
 ];
 
@@ -145,6 +160,283 @@ async function defaultWhichBinary(name: string): Promise<string | null> {
   }
 }
 
+// --- Per-provider setup functions (return ProviderFields for reuse in both modes) ---
+
+async function setupGeminiCliFields(
+  prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt,
+  log: (...args: string[]) => void,
+  whichBinary: (name: string) => Promise<string | null>,
+  currentModel?: string,
+): Promise<ProviderFields> {
+  const model = await prompt.select<string>('Select model:', [
+    ...GEMINI_MODELS.map((m) => ({
+      name: m === currentModel ? `${m} (current)` : m,
+      value: m,
+    })),
+    { name: 'Custom...', value: '__custom__' },
+  ]);
+
+  const finalModel = model === '__custom__'
+    ? await prompt.input('Model name:', currentModel)
+    : model;
+
+  let binaryPath: string | undefined;
+  const detected = await whichBinary('gemini');
+  if (detected) {
+    log(`Found gemini at: ${detected}`);
+    binaryPath = detected;
+  } else {
+    log('Warning: gemini binary not found in PATH');
+    const manualPath = await prompt.input('Binary path (or install with: npm i -g @google/gemini-cli):');
+    if (manualPath) binaryPath = manualPath;
+  }
+
+  const result: ProviderFields = { model: finalModel };
+  if (binaryPath) result.binaryPath = binaryPath;
+  return result;
+}
+
+async function setupOllamaFields(
+  prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt,
+  fetchModels: ConfigSetupDeps['fetchModels'],
+  currentUrl?: string,
+  currentModel?: string,
+): Promise<ProviderFields> {
+  const url = await prompt.input('Ollama URL:', currentUrl ?? 'http://localhost:11434');
+  const models = await fetchModels(url, '/api/tags');
+  let model: string;
+
+  if (models.length > 0) {
+    const choices = models.map((m) => ({
+      name: m === currentModel ? `${m} (current)` : m,
+      value: m,
+    }));
+    choices.push({ name: 'Custom...', value: '__custom__' });
+    model = await prompt.select<string>('Select model:', choices);
+    if (model === '__custom__') {
+      model = await prompt.input('Model name:', currentModel);
+    }
+  } else {
+    model = await prompt.input('Model name (could not fetch models):', currentModel ?? 'llama3.2');
+  }
+
+  const result: ProviderFields = { model };
+  if (url) result.url = url;
+  return result;
+}
+
+async function setupVllmFields(
+  prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt,
+  fetchModels: ConfigSetupDeps['fetchModels'],
+  currentUrl?: string,
+  currentModel?: string,
+): Promise<ProviderFields> {
+  const url = await prompt.input('vLLM URL:', currentUrl ?? 'http://localhost:8000');
+  const models = await fetchModels(url, '/v1/models');
+  let model: string;
+
+  if (models.length > 0) {
+    const choices = models.map((m) => ({
+      name: m === currentModel ? `${m} (current)` : m,
+      value: m,
+    }));
+    choices.push({ name: 'Custom...', value: '__custom__' });
+    model = await prompt.select<string>('Select model:', choices);
+    if (model === '__custom__') {
+      model = await prompt.input('Model name:', currentModel);
+    }
+  } else {
+    model = await prompt.input('Model name (could not fetch models):', currentModel ?? 'default');
+  }
+
+  const result: ProviderFields = { model };
+  if (url) result.url = url;
+  return result;
+}
+
+async function setupApiKeyFields(
+  prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt,
+  secretStore: SecretStore,
+  provider: LlmProviderName,
+  secretKey: string,
+  hardcodedModels: string[],
+  currentModel?: string,
+  currentUrl?: string,
+): Promise<ProviderFields> {
+  const existingKey = await secretStore.get(secretKey);
+  let apiKey: string;
+
+  if (existingKey) {
+    const masked = `****${existingKey.slice(-4)}`;
+    const changeKey = await prompt.confirm(`API key stored (${masked}). Change it?`, false);
+    apiKey = changeKey ? await prompt.password('API key:') : existingKey;
+  } else {
+    apiKey = await prompt.password('API key:');
+  }
+
+  if (apiKey !== existingKey) {
+    await secretStore.set(secretKey, apiKey);
+  }
+
+  let model: string;
+  if (hardcodedModels.length > 0) {
+    const choices = hardcodedModels.map((m) => ({
+      name: m === currentModel ? `${m} (current)` : m,
+      value: m,
+    }));
+    choices.push({ name: 'Custom...', value: '__custom__' });
+    model = await prompt.select<string>('Select model:', choices);
+    if (model === '__custom__') {
+      model = await prompt.input('Model name:', currentModel);
+    }
+  } else {
+    model = await prompt.input('Model name:', currentModel ?? 'gpt-4o');
+  }
+
+  let url: string | undefined;
+  if (provider === 'openai') {
+    const customUrl = await prompt.confirm('Use custom API endpoint?', false);
+    if (customUrl) {
+      url = await prompt.input('API URL:', currentUrl ?? 'https://api.openai.com');
+    }
+  }
+
+  const result: ProviderFields = { model };
+  if (url) result.url = url;
+  return result;
+}
+
+/** Configure a single provider type and return its fields. */
+async function setupProviderFields(
+  providerType: LlmProviderName,
+  prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt,
+  log: (...args: string[]) => void,
+  fetchModels: ConfigSetupDeps['fetchModels'],
+  whichBinary: (name: string) => Promise<string | null>,
+  secretStore: SecretStore,
+): Promise<ProviderFields> {
+  switch (providerType) {
+    case 'gemini-cli':
+      return setupGeminiCliFields(prompt, log, whichBinary);
+    case 'ollama':
+      return setupOllamaFields(prompt, fetchModels);
+    case 'vllm':
+      return setupVllmFields(prompt, fetchModels);
+    case 'anthropic':
+      return setupApiKeyFields(prompt, secretStore, 'anthropic', 'anthropic-api-key', ANTHROPIC_MODELS);
+    case 'openai':
+      return setupApiKeyFields(prompt, secretStore, 'openai', 'openai-api-key', []);
+    case 'deepseek':
+      return setupApiKeyFields(prompt, secretStore, 'deepseek', 'deepseek-api-key', DEEPSEEK_MODELS);
+    default:
+      return {};
+  }
+}
+
+/** Build a LlmProviderEntry from type, name, and fields. */
+function buildEntry(providerType: LlmProviderName, name: string, fields: ProviderFields, tier?: LlmTier): LlmProviderEntry {
+  const entry: LlmProviderEntry = { name, type: providerType };
+  if (fields.model) entry.model = fields.model;
+  if (fields.url) entry.url = fields.url;
+  if (fields.binaryPath) entry.binaryPath = fields.binaryPath;
+  if (tier) entry.tier = tier;
+  return entry;
+}
+
+/** Simple mode: single provider (legacy format). */
+async function simpleSetup(
+  config: McpctlConfig,
+  configDeps: Partial<ConfigLoaderDeps>,
+  prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt,
+  log: (...args: string[]) => void,
+  fetchModels: ConfigSetupDeps['fetchModels'],
+  whichBinary: (name: string) => Promise<string | null>,
+  secretStore: SecretStore,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const currentLlm = config.llm && 'provider' in config.llm ? config.llm : undefined;
+
+  const choices = ALL_PROVIDER_CHOICES.map((c) => {
+    if (currentLlm?.provider === c.value) {
+      return { ...c, name: `${c.name} (current)` };
+    }
+    return c;
+  });
+
+  const provider = await prompt.select<LlmProviderName>('Select LLM provider:', choices);
+
+  if (provider === 'none') {
+    const updated: McpctlConfig = { ...config, llm: { provider: 'none' } };
+    saveConfig(updated, configDeps);
+    log('LLM disabled. Restart mcplocal: systemctl --user restart mcplocal');
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const fields = await setupProviderFields(provider, prompt, log, fetchModels, whichBinary, secretStore);
+  const llmConfig: LlmConfig = { provider, ...fields };
+  const updated: McpctlConfig = { ...config, llm: llmConfig };
+  saveConfig(updated, configDeps);
+  log(`\nLLM configured: ${llmConfig.provider}${llmConfig.model ? ` / ${llmConfig.model}` : ''}`);
+  log('Restart mcplocal: systemctl --user restart mcplocal');
+}
+
+/** Advanced mode: multiple providers with tier assignments. */
+async function advancedSetup(
+  config: McpctlConfig,
+  configDeps: Partial<ConfigLoaderDeps>,
+  prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt,
+  log: (...args: string[]) => void,
+  fetchModels: ConfigSetupDeps['fetchModels'],
+  whichBinary: (name: string) => Promise<string | null>,
+  secretStore: SecretStore,
+): Promise<void> {
+  const entries: LlmProviderEntry[] = [];
+
+  // Fast providers
+  const addFast = await prompt.confirm('Add a FAST provider? (vLLM, Ollama — local, cheap, fast)', true);
+  if (addFast) {
+    let addMore = true;
+    while (addMore) {
+      const providerType = await prompt.select<LlmProviderName>('Fast provider type:', FAST_PROVIDER_CHOICES);
+      const defaultName = providerType === 'vllm' ? 'vllm-local' : providerType;
+      const name = await prompt.input('Provider name:', defaultName);
+      const fields = await setupProviderFields(providerType, prompt, log, fetchModels, whichBinary, secretStore);
+      entries.push(buildEntry(providerType, name, fields, 'fast'));
+      log(`  Added: ${name} (${providerType}) → fast tier`);
+      addMore = await prompt.confirm('Add another fast provider?', false);
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Heavy providers
+  const addHeavy = await prompt.confirm('Add a HEAVY provider? (Gemini, Anthropic, OpenAI — cloud, smart)', true);
+  if (addHeavy) {
+    let addMore = true;
+    while (addMore) {
+      const providerType = await prompt.select<LlmProviderName>('Heavy provider type:', HEAVY_PROVIDER_CHOICES);
+      const defaultName = providerType;
+      const name = await prompt.input('Provider name:', defaultName);
+      const fields = await setupProviderFields(providerType, prompt, log, fetchModels, whichBinary, secretStore);
+      entries.push(buildEntry(providerType, name, fields, 'heavy'));
+      log(`  Added: ${name} (${providerType}) → heavy tier`);
+      addMore = await prompt.confirm('Add another heavy provider?', false);
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (entries.length === 0) {
+    log('No providers configured.');
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // Summary
+  log('\nProvider configuration:');
+  for (const e of entries) {
+    log(`  ${e.tier ?? 'unassigned'}: ${e.name} (${e.type})${e.model ? ` / ${e.model}` : ''}`);
+  }
+
+  const updated: McpctlConfig = { ...config, llm: { providers: entries } };
+  saveConfig(updated, configDeps);
+  log('\nRestart mcplocal: systemctl --user restart mcplocal');
+}
+
 export function createConfigSetupCommand(deps?: Partial<ConfigSetupDeps>): Command {
   return new Command('setup')
     .description('Interactive LLM provider setup wizard')
@@ -157,191 +449,16 @@ export function createConfigSetupCommand(deps?: Partial<ConfigSetupDeps>): Comma
       const secretStore = deps?.secretStore ?? await createSecretStore();
 
       const config = loadConfig(configDeps);
-      const currentLlm = config.llm;
 
-      // Annotate current provider in choices
+      const mode = await prompt.select<'simple' | 'advanced'>('Setup mode:', [
-      const choices = PROVIDER_CHOICES.map((c) => {
+        { name: 'Simple', value: 'simple', description: 'One provider for everything' },
-        if (currentLlm?.provider === c.value) {
+        { name: 'Advanced', value: 'advanced', description: 'Multiple providers with fast/heavy tiers' },
-          return { ...c, name: `${c.name} (current)` };
+      ]);
-        }
-        return c;
-      });
 
-      const provider = await prompt.select<LlmProviderName>('Select LLM provider:', choices);
+      if (mode === 'simple') {
-
+        await simpleSetup(config, configDeps, prompt, log, fetchModels, whichBinary, secretStore);
-      if (provider === 'none') {
+      } else {
-        const updated: McpctlConfig = { ...config, llm: { provider: 'none' } };
+        await advancedSetup(config, configDeps, prompt, log, fetchModels, whichBinary, secretStore);
-        saveConfig(updated, configDeps);
-        log('LLM disabled. Restart mcplocal: systemctl --user restart mcplocal');
-        return;
       }
-
-      let llmConfig: LlmConfig;
-
-      switch (provider) {
-        case 'gemini-cli':
-          llmConfig = await setupGeminiCli(prompt, log, whichBinary, currentLlm);
-          break;
-        case 'ollama':
-          llmConfig = await setupOllama(prompt, fetchModels, currentLlm);
-          break;
-        case 'anthropic':
-          llmConfig = await setupApiKeyProvider(prompt, secretStore, 'anthropic', 'anthropic-api-key', ANTHROPIC_MODELS, currentLlm);
-          break;
-        case 'vllm':
-          llmConfig = await setupVllm(prompt, fetchModels, currentLlm);
-          break;
-        case 'openai':
-          llmConfig = await setupApiKeyProvider(prompt, secretStore, 'openai', 'openai-api-key', [], currentLlm);
-          break;
-        case 'deepseek':
-          llmConfig = await setupApiKeyProvider(prompt, secretStore, 'deepseek', 'deepseek-api-key', DEEPSEEK_MODELS, currentLlm);
-          break;
-        default:
-          return;
-      }
-
-      const updated: McpctlConfig = { ...config, llm: llmConfig };
-      saveConfig(updated, configDeps);
-      log(`\nLLM configured: ${llmConfig.provider}${llmConfig.model ? ` / ${llmConfig.model}` : ''}`);
-      log('Restart mcplocal: systemctl --user restart mcplocal');
     });
 }
-
-async function setupGeminiCli(
-  prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt,
-  log: (...args: string[]) => void,
-  whichBinary: (name: string) => Promise<string | null>,
-  current?: LlmConfig,
-): Promise<LlmConfig> {
-  const model = await prompt.select<string>('Select model:', [
-    ...GEMINI_MODELS.map((m) => ({
-      name: m === current?.model ? `${m} (current)` : m,
-      value: m,
-    })),
-    { name: 'Custom...', value: '__custom__' },
-  ]);
-
-  const finalModel = model === '__custom__'
-    ? await prompt.input('Model name:', current?.model)
-    : model;
-
-  // Auto-detect gemini binary path
-  let binaryPath: string | undefined;
-  const detected = await whichBinary('gemini');
-  if (detected) {
-    log(`Found gemini at: ${detected}`);
-    binaryPath = detected;
-  } else {
-    log('Warning: gemini binary not found in PATH');
-    const manualPath = await prompt.input('Binary path (or install with: npm i -g @google/gemini-cli):');
-    if (manualPath) binaryPath = manualPath;
-  }
-
-  return { provider: 'gemini-cli', model: finalModel, binaryPath };
-}
-
-async function setupOllama(prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt, fetchModels: ConfigSetupDeps['fetchModels'], current?: LlmConfig): Promise<LlmConfig> {
-  const url = await prompt.input('Ollama URL:', current?.url ?? 'http://localhost:11434');
-
-  // Try to fetch models from Ollama
-  const models = await fetchModels(url, '/api/tags');
-  let model: string;
-
-  if (models.length > 0) {
-    const choices = models.map((m) => ({
-      name: m === current?.model ? `${m} (current)` : m,
-      value: m,
-    }));
-    choices.push({ name: 'Custom...', value: '__custom__' });
-    model = await prompt.select<string>('Select model:', choices);
-    if (model === '__custom__') {
-      model = await prompt.input('Model name:', current?.model);
-    }
-  } else {
-    model = await prompt.input('Model name (could not fetch models):', current?.model ?? 'llama3.2');
-  }
-
-  return { provider: 'ollama', model, url };
-}
-
-async function setupVllm(prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt, fetchModels: ConfigSetupDeps['fetchModels'], current?: LlmConfig): Promise<LlmConfig> {
-  const url = await prompt.input('vLLM URL:', current?.url ?? 'http://localhost:8000');
-
-  // Try to fetch models from vLLM (OpenAI-compatible)
-  const models = await fetchModels(url, '/v1/models');
-  let model: string;
-
-  if (models.length > 0) {
-    const choices = models.map((m) => ({
-      name: m === current?.model ? `${m} (current)` : m,
-      value: m,
-    }));
-    choices.push({ name: 'Custom...', value: '__custom__' });
-    model = await prompt.select<string>('Select model:', choices);
-    if (model === '__custom__') {
-      model = await prompt.input('Model name:', current?.model);
-    }
-  } else {
-    model = await prompt.input('Model name (could not fetch models):', current?.model ?? 'default');
-  }
-
-  return { provider: 'vllm', model, url };
-}
-
-async function setupApiKeyProvider(
-  prompt: ConfigSetupPrompt,
-  secretStore: SecretStore,
-  provider: LlmProviderName,
-  secretKey: string,
-  hardcodedModels: string[],
-  current?: LlmConfig,
-): Promise<LlmConfig> {
-  // Check for existing API key
-  const existingKey = await secretStore.get(secretKey);
-  let apiKey: string;
-
-  if (existingKey) {
-    const masked = `****${existingKey.slice(-4)}`;
-    const changeKey = await prompt.confirm(`API key stored (${masked}). Change it?`, false);
-    if (changeKey) {
-      apiKey = await prompt.password('API key:');
-    } else {
-      apiKey = existingKey;
-    }
-  } else {
-    apiKey = await prompt.password('API key:');
-  }
-
-  // Store API key
-  if (apiKey !== existingKey) {
-    await secretStore.set(secretKey, apiKey);
-  }
-
-  // Model selection
-  let model: string;
-  if (hardcodedModels.length > 0) {
-    const choices = hardcodedModels.map((m) => ({
-      name: m === current?.model ? `${m} (current)` : m,
-      value: m,
-    }));
-    choices.push({ name: 'Custom...', value: '__custom__' });
-    model = await prompt.select<string>('Select model:', choices);
-    if (model === '__custom__') {
-      model = await prompt.input('Model name:', current?.model);
-    }
-  } else {
-    model = await prompt.input('Model name:', current?.model ?? 'gpt-4o');
-  }
-
-  // Optional custom URL for openai
-  let url: string | undefined;
-  if (provider === 'openai') {
-    const customUrl = await prompt.confirm('Use custom API endpoint?', false);
-    if (customUrl) {
-      url = await prompt.input('API URL:', current?.url ?? 'https://api.openai.com');
-    }
-  }
-
-  return { provider, model, url };
-}

src/cli/src/commands/status.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ const DIM = '\x1b[2m';
 const RESET = '\x1b[0m';
 const CLEAR_LINE = '\x1b[2K\r';
 
+interface ProvidersInfo {
+  providers: string[];
+  tiers: { fast: string[]; heavy: string[] };
+}
+
 export interface StatusCommandDeps {
   configDeps: Partial<ConfigLoaderDeps>;
   credentialsDeps: Partial<CredentialsDeps>;
@@ -24,6 +29,8 @@ export interface StatusCommandDeps {
   checkLlm: (mcplocalUrl: string) => Promise<string>;
   /** Fetch available models from mcplocal's /llm/models endpoint */
   fetchModels: (mcplocalUrl: string) => Promise<string[]>;
+  /** Fetch provider tier info from mcplocal's /llm/providers endpoint */
+  fetchProviders: (mcplocalUrl: string) => Promise<ProvidersInfo | null>;
   isTTY: boolean;
 }
 
@@ -91,6 +98,25 @@ function defaultFetchModels(mcplocalUrl: string): Promise<string[]> {
   });
 }
 
+function defaultFetchProviders(mcplocalUrl: string): Promise<ProvidersInfo | null> {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const req = http.get(`${mcplocalUrl}/llm/providers`, { timeout: 5000 }, (res) => {
+      const chunks: Buffer[] = [];
+      res.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => chunks.push(chunk));
+      res.on('end', () => {
+        try {
+          const body = JSON.parse(Buffer.concat(chunks).toString('utf-8')) as ProvidersInfo;
+          resolve(body);
+        } catch {
+          resolve(null);
+        }
+      });
+    });
+    req.on('error', () => resolve(null));
+    req.on('timeout', () => { req.destroy(); resolve(null); });
+  });
+}
+
 const SPINNER_FRAMES = ['⠋', '⠙', '⠹', '⠸', '⠼', '⠴', '⠦', '⠧', '⠇', '⠏'];
 
 const defaultDeps: StatusCommandDeps = {
@@ -101,11 +127,35 @@ const defaultDeps: StatusCommandDeps = {
   checkHealth: defaultCheckHealth,
   checkLlm: defaultCheckLlm,
   fetchModels: defaultFetchModels,
+  fetchProviders: defaultFetchProviders,
   isTTY: process.stdout.isTTY ?? false,
 };
 
+/** Determine LLM label from config (handles both legacy and multi-provider formats). */
+function getLlmLabel(llm: unknown): string | null {
+  if (!llm || typeof llm !== 'object') return null;
+  // Legacy format: { provider, model }
+  if ('provider' in llm) {
+    const legacy = llm as { provider: string; model?: string };
+    if (legacy.provider === 'none') return null;
+    return `${legacy.provider}${legacy.model ? ` / ${legacy.model}` : ''}`;
+  }
+  // Multi-provider format: { providers: [...] }
+  if ('providers' in llm) {
+    const multi = llm as { providers: Array<{ name: string; type: string; tier?: string }> };
+    if (multi.providers.length === 0) return null;
+    return multi.providers.map((p) => `${p.name}${p.tier ? ` (${p.tier})` : ''}`).join(', ');
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+/** Check if config uses multi-provider format. */
+function isMultiProvider(llm: unknown): boolean {
+  return !!llm && typeof llm === 'object' && 'providers' in llm;
+}
+
 export function createStatusCommand(deps?: Partial<StatusCommandDeps>): Command {
-  const { configDeps, credentialsDeps, log, write, checkHealth, checkLlm, fetchModels, isTTY } = { ...defaultDeps, ...deps };
+  const { configDeps, credentialsDeps, log, write, checkHealth, checkLlm, fetchModels, fetchProviders, isTTY } = { ...defaultDeps, ...deps };
 
   return new Command('status')
     .description('Show mcpctl status and connectivity')
@@ -114,16 +164,16 @@ export function createStatusCommand(deps?: Partial<StatusCommandDeps>): Command
       const config = loadConfig(configDeps);
       const creds = loadCredentials(credentialsDeps);
 
-      const llmLabel = config.llm && config.llm.provider !== 'none'
+      const llmLabel = getLlmLabel(config.llm);
-        ? `${config.llm.provider}${config.llm.model ? ` / ${config.llm.model}` : ''}`
+      const multiProvider = isMultiProvider(config.llm);
-        : null;
 
       if (opts.output !== 'table') {
         // JSON/YAML: run everything in parallel, wait, output at once
-        const [mcplocalReachable, mcpdReachable, llmStatus] = await Promise.all([
+        const [mcplocalReachable, mcpdReachable, llmStatus, providersInfo] = await Promise.all([
           checkHealth(config.mcplocalUrl),
           checkHealth(config.mcpdUrl),
           llmLabel ? checkLlm(config.mcplocalUrl) : Promise.resolve(null),
+          multiProvider ? fetchProviders(config.mcplocalUrl) : Promise.resolve(null),
         ]);
 
         const llm = llmLabel
@@ -141,6 +191,7 @@ export function createStatusCommand(deps?: Partial<StatusCommandDeps>): Command
           outputFormat: config.outputFormat,
           llm,
           llmStatus,
+          ...(providersInfo ? { providers: providersInfo } : {}),
         };
 
         log(opts.output === 'json' ? formatJson(status) : formatYaml(status));
@@ -167,35 +218,58 @@ export function createStatusCommand(deps?: Partial<StatusCommandDeps>): Command
         return;
       }
 
-      // LLM check + models fetch in parallel — queries mcplocal endpoints
+      // LLM check + models + providers fetch in parallel
       const llmPromise = checkLlm(config.mcplocalUrl);
       const modelsPromise = fetchModels(config.mcplocalUrl);
+      const providersPromise = multiProvider ? fetchProviders(config.mcplocalUrl) : Promise.resolve(null);
 
       if (isTTY) {
         let frame = 0;
         const interval = setInterval(() => {
-          write(`${CLEAR_LINE}LLM:        ${llmLabel} ${DIM}${SPINNER_FRAMES[frame % SPINNER_FRAMES.length]} checking...${RESET}`);
+          write(`${CLEAR_LINE}LLM:        ${DIM}${SPINNER_FRAMES[frame % SPINNER_FRAMES.length]} checking...${RESET}`);
           frame++;
         }, 80);
 
-        const [llmStatus, models] = await Promise.all([llmPromise, modelsPromise]);
+        const [llmStatus, models, providersInfo] = await Promise.all([llmPromise, modelsPromise, providersPromise]);
         clearInterval(interval);
 
-        if (llmStatus === 'ok' || llmStatus === 'ok (key stored)') {
+        if (providersInfo && (providersInfo.tiers.fast.length > 0 || providersInfo.tiers.heavy.length > 0)) {
-          write(`${CLEAR_LINE}LLM:        ${llmLabel} ${GREEN}✓ ${llmStatus}${RESET}\n`);
+          // Tiered display
+          write(`${CLEAR_LINE}`);
+          if (providersInfo.tiers.fast.length > 0) {
+            log(`LLM (fast):  ${providersInfo.tiers.fast.join(', ')} ${GREEN}✓${RESET}`);
+          }
+          if (providersInfo.tiers.heavy.length > 0) {
+            log(`LLM (heavy): ${providersInfo.tiers.heavy.join(', ')} ${GREEN}✓${RESET}`);
+          }
         } else {
-          write(`${CLEAR_LINE}LLM:        ${llmLabel} ${RED}✗ ${llmStatus}${RESET}\n`);
+          // Legacy single provider display
+          if (llmStatus === 'ok' || llmStatus === 'ok (key stored)') {
+            write(`${CLEAR_LINE}LLM:        ${llmLabel} ${GREEN}✓ ${llmStatus}${RESET}\n`);
+          } else {
+            write(`${CLEAR_LINE}LLM:        ${llmLabel} ${RED}✗ ${llmStatus}${RESET}\n`);
+          }
         }
         if (models.length > 0) {
           log(`${DIM}            Available: ${models.join(', ')}${RESET}`);
         }
       } else {
         // Non-TTY: no spinner, just wait and print
-        const [llmStatus, models] = await Promise.all([llmPromise, modelsPromise]);
+        const [llmStatus, models, providersInfo] = await Promise.all([llmPromise, modelsPromise, providersPromise]);
-        if (llmStatus === 'ok' || llmStatus === 'ok (key stored)') {
+
-          log(`LLM:        ${llmLabel} ✓ ${llmStatus}`);
+        if (providersInfo && (providersInfo.tiers.fast.length > 0 || providersInfo.tiers.heavy.length > 0)) {
+          if (providersInfo.tiers.fast.length > 0) {
+            log(`LLM (fast):  ${providersInfo.tiers.fast.join(', ')}`);
+          }
+          if (providersInfo.tiers.heavy.length > 0) {
+            log(`LLM (heavy): ${providersInfo.tiers.heavy.join(', ')}`);
+          }
         } else {
-          log(`LLM:        ${llmLabel} ✗ ${llmStatus}`);
+          if (llmStatus === 'ok' || llmStatus === 'ok (key stored)') {
+            log(`LLM:        ${llmLabel} ✓ ${llmStatus}`);
+          } else {
+            log(`LLM:        ${llmLabel} ✗ ${llmStatus}`);
+          }
         }
         if (models.length > 0) {
           log(`${DIM}            Available: ${models.join(', ')}${RESET}`);

src/cli/src/config/index.ts

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-export { McpctlConfigSchema, LlmConfigSchema, LLM_PROVIDERS, DEFAULT_CONFIG } from './schema.js';
+export { McpctlConfigSchema, LlmConfigSchema, LlmProviderEntrySchema, LlmMultiConfigSchema, LLM_PROVIDERS, LLM_TIERS, DEFAULT_CONFIG } from './schema.js';
-export type { McpctlConfig, LlmConfig, LlmProviderName } from './schema.js';
+export type { McpctlConfig, LlmConfig, LlmProviderEntry, LlmMultiConfig, LlmProviderName, LlmTier } from './schema.js';
 export { loadConfig, saveConfig, mergeConfig, getConfigPath } from './loader.js';
 export type { ConfigLoaderDeps } from './loader.js';

src/cli/src/config/schema.ts

@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@ import { z } from 'zod';
 export const LLM_PROVIDERS = ['gemini-cli', 'ollama', 'anthropic', 'openai', 'deepseek', 'vllm', 'none'] as const;
 export type LlmProviderName = typeof LLM_PROVIDERS[number];
 
+export const LLM_TIERS = ['fast', 'heavy'] as const;
+export type LlmTier = typeof LLM_TIERS[number];
+
+/** Legacy single-provider format. */
 export const LlmConfigSchema = z.object({
   /** LLM provider name */
   provider: z.enum(LLM_PROVIDERS),
@@ -16,6 +20,31 @@ export const LlmConfigSchema = z.object({
 
 export type LlmConfig = z.infer<typeof LlmConfigSchema>;
 
+/** Multi-provider entry (advanced mode). */
+export const LlmProviderEntrySchema = z.object({
+  /** User-chosen name for this provider instance (e.g. "vllm-local") */
+  name: z.string(),
+  /** Provider type */
+  type: z.enum(LLM_PROVIDERS),
+  /** Model name */
+  model: z.string().optional(),
+  /** Provider URL (for ollama, vllm, openai with custom endpoint) */
+  url: z.string().optional(),
+  /** Binary path override (for gemini-cli) */
+  binaryPath: z.string().optional(),
+  /** Tier assignment */
+  tier: z.enum(LLM_TIERS).optional(),
+}).strict();
+
+export type LlmProviderEntry = z.infer<typeof LlmProviderEntrySchema>;
+
+/** Multi-provider format with providers array. */
+export const LlmMultiConfigSchema = z.object({
+  providers: z.array(LlmProviderEntrySchema).min(1),
+}).strict();
+
+export type LlmMultiConfig = z.infer<typeof LlmMultiConfigSchema>;
+
 export const McpctlConfigSchema = z.object({
   /** mcplocal daemon endpoint (local LLM pre-processing proxy) */
   mcplocalUrl: z.string().default('http://localhost:3200'),
@@ -35,8 +64,8 @@ export const McpctlConfigSchema = z.object({
   outputFormat: z.enum(['table', 'json', 'yaml']).default('table'),
   /** Smithery API key */
   smitheryApiKey: z.string().optional(),
-  /** LLM provider configuration for smart features (pagination summaries, etc.) */
+  /** LLM provider configuration — accepts legacy single-provider or multi-provider format */
-  llm: LlmConfigSchema.optional(),
+  llm: z.union([LlmConfigSchema, LlmMultiConfigSchema]).optional(),
 }).transform((cfg) => {
   // Backward compatibility: if old daemonUrl is set but mcplocalUrl wasn't explicitly changed,
   // use daemonUrl as mcplocalUrl

src/cli/tests/commands/config-setup.test.ts

@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ async function runSetup(deps: ConfigSetupDeps): Promise<void> {
 describe('config setup wizard', () => {
   describe('provider: none', () => {
     it('disables LLM and saves config', async () => {
-      const deps = buildDeps({ answers: ['none'] });
+      const deps = buildDeps({ answers: ['simple', 'none'] });
       await runSetup(deps);
 
       const config = readConfig();
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
     it('auto-detects binary path and saves config', async () => {
       // Answers: select provider, select model (no binary prompt — auto-detected)
       const deps = buildDeps({
-        answers: ['gemini-cli', 'gemini-2.5-flash'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'gemini-cli', 'gemini-2.5-flash'],
         whichBinary: vi.fn(async () => '/home/user/.npm-global/bin/gemini'),
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
     it('prompts for manual path when binary not found', async () => {
       // Answers: select provider, select model, enter manual path
       const deps = buildDeps({
-        answers: ['gemini-cli', 'gemini-2.5-flash', '/opt/gemini'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'gemini-cli', 'gemini-2.5-flash', '/opt/gemini'],
         whichBinary: vi.fn(async () => null),
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
     it('saves gemini-cli with custom model', async () => {
       // Answers: select provider, select custom, enter model name
       const deps = buildDeps({
-        answers: ['gemini-cli', '__custom__', 'gemini-3.0-flash'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'gemini-cli', '__custom__', 'gemini-3.0-flash'],
         whichBinary: vi.fn(async () => '/usr/bin/gemini'),
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
       const fetchModels = vi.fn(async () => ['llama3.2', 'codellama', 'mistral']);
       // Answers: select provider, enter URL, select model
       const deps = buildDeps({
-        answers: ['ollama', 'http://localhost:11434', 'codellama'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'ollama', 'http://localhost:11434', 'codellama'],
         fetchModels,
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
       const fetchModels = vi.fn(async () => []);
       // Answers: select provider, enter URL, enter model manually
       const deps = buildDeps({
-        answers: ['ollama', 'http://localhost:11434', 'llama3.2'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'ollama', 'http://localhost:11434', 'llama3.2'],
         fetchModels,
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
     it('prompts for API key and saves to secret store', async () => {
       // Answers: select provider, enter API key, select model
       const deps = buildDeps({
-        answers: ['anthropic', 'sk-ant-new-key', 'claude-haiku-3-5-20241022'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'anthropic', 'sk-ant-new-key', 'claude-haiku-3-5-20241022'],
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
 
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
       // Answers: select provider, confirm change=false, select model
       const deps = buildDeps({
         secrets: { 'anthropic-api-key': 'sk-ant-existing-key-1234' },
-        answers: ['anthropic', false, 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'anthropic', false, 'claude-sonnet-4-20250514'],
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
 
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
       // Answers: select provider, confirm change=true, enter new key, select model
       const deps = buildDeps({
         secrets: { 'anthropic-api-key': 'sk-ant-old' },
-        answers: ['anthropic', true, 'sk-ant-new', 'claude-haiku-3-5-20241022'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'anthropic', true, 'sk-ant-new', 'claude-haiku-3-5-20241022'],
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
 
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
       const fetchModels = vi.fn(async () => ['my-model', 'llama-70b']);
       // Answers: select provider, enter URL, select model
       const deps = buildDeps({
-        answers: ['vllm', 'http://gpu:8000', 'llama-70b'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'vllm', 'http://gpu:8000', 'llama-70b'],
         fetchModels,
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
     it('prompts for key, model, and optional custom endpoint', async () => {
       // Answers: select provider, enter key, enter model, confirm custom URL=true, enter URL
       const deps = buildDeps({
-        answers: ['openai', 'sk-openai-key', 'gpt-4o', true, 'https://custom.api.com'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'openai', 'sk-openai-key', 'gpt-4o', true, 'https://custom.api.com'],
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
 
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
     it('skips custom URL when not requested', async () => {
       // Answers: select provider, enter key, enter model, confirm custom URL=false
       const deps = buildDeps({
-        answers: ['openai', 'sk-openai-key', 'gpt-4o-mini', false],
+        answers: ['simple', 'openai', 'sk-openai-key', 'gpt-4o-mini', false],
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
 
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
     it('prompts for key and model', async () => {
       // Answers: select provider, enter key, select model
       const deps = buildDeps({
-        answers: ['deepseek', 'sk-ds-key', 'deepseek-chat'],
+        answers: ['simple', 'deepseek', 'sk-ds-key', 'deepseek-chat'],
       });
       await runSetup(deps);
 
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
 
   describe('output messages', () => {
     it('shows restart instruction', async () => {
-      const deps = buildDeps({ answers: ['gemini-cli', 'gemini-2.5-flash'] });
+      const deps = buildDeps({ answers: ['simple', 'gemini-cli', 'gemini-2.5-flash'] });
       await runSetup(deps);
 
       expect(logs.some((l) => l.includes('systemctl --user restart mcplocal'))).toBe(true);
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ describe('config setup wizard', () => {
     });
 
     it('shows configured provider and model', async () => {
-      const deps = buildDeps({ answers: ['gemini-cli', 'gemini-2.5-flash'] });
+      const deps = buildDeps({ answers: ['simple', 'gemini-cli', 'gemini-2.5-flash'] });
       await runSetup(deps);
 
       expect(logs.some((l) => l.includes('gemini-cli') && l.includes('gemini-2.5-flash'))).toBe(true);

src/cli/tests/commands/status.test.ts

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ function baseDeps(overrides?: Partial<StatusCommandDeps>): Partial<StatusCommand
     log,
     write,
     checkHealth: async () => true,
+    fetchProviders: async () => null,
     isTTY: false,
     ...overrides,
   };

src/mcplocal/src/http/config.ts

@@ -44,13 +44,27 @@ export interface LlmFileConfig {
   binaryPath?: string;
 }
 
+/** Multi-provider entry from config file. */
+export interface LlmProviderFileEntry {
+  name: string;
+  type: string;
+  model?: string;
+  url?: string;
+  binaryPath?: string;
+  tier?: 'fast' | 'heavy';
+}
+
 export interface ProjectLlmOverride {
   model?: string;
   provider?: string;
 }
 
+interface LlmMultiFileConfig {
+  providers: LlmProviderFileEntry[];
+}
+
 interface McpctlConfig {
-  llm?: LlmFileConfig;
+  llm?: LlmFileConfig | LlmMultiFileConfig;
   projects?: Record<string, { llm?: ProjectLlmOverride }>;
 }
 
@@ -70,16 +84,58 @@ function loadFullConfig(): McpctlConfig {
   }
 }
 
+/** Type guard: is config the multi-provider format? */
+function isMultiConfig(llm: LlmFileConfig | LlmMultiFileConfig): llm is LlmMultiFileConfig {
+  return 'providers' in llm && Array.isArray((llm as LlmMultiFileConfig).providers);
+}
+
 /**
  * Load LLM configuration from ~/.mcpctl/config.json.
  * Returns undefined if no LLM section is configured.
+ * @deprecated Use loadLlmProviders() for multi-provider support.
  */
 export function loadLlmConfig(): LlmFileConfig | undefined {
   const config = loadFullConfig();
-  if (!config.llm?.provider || config.llm.provider === 'none') return undefined;
+  if (!config.llm) return undefined;
+  if (isMultiConfig(config.llm)) {
+    // Multi-provider format — return first provider as legacy compat
+    const first = config.llm.providers[0];
+    if (!first) return undefined;
+    const legacy: LlmFileConfig = { provider: first.type };
+    if (first.model) legacy.model = first.model;
+    if (first.url) legacy.url = first.url;
+    if (first.binaryPath) legacy.binaryPath = first.binaryPath;
+    return legacy;
+  }
+  if (!config.llm.provider || config.llm.provider === 'none') return undefined;
   return config.llm;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Load LLM providers from ~/.mcpctl/config.json.
+ * Normalizes both legacy single-provider and multi-provider formats.
+ * Returns empty array if no LLM is configured.
+ */
+export function loadLlmProviders(): LlmProviderFileEntry[] {
+  const config = loadFullConfig();
+  if (!config.llm) return [];
+
+  if (isMultiConfig(config.llm)) {
+    return config.llm.providers.filter((p) => p.type !== 'none');
+  }
+
+  // Legacy single-provider format → normalize to one entry
+  if (!config.llm.provider || config.llm.provider === 'none') return [];
+  const entry: LlmProviderFileEntry = {
+    name: config.llm.provider,
+    type: config.llm.provider,
+  };
+  if (config.llm.model) entry.model = config.llm.model;
+  if (config.llm.url) entry.url = config.llm.url;
+  if (config.llm.binaryPath) entry.binaryPath = config.llm.binaryPath;
+  return [entry];
+}
+
 /**
  * Load per-project LLM override from ~/.mcpctl/config.json.
  * Returns the project-specific model/provider override, or undefined.

src/mcplocal/src/http/server.ts

@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ export async function createHttpServer(
   const LLM_HEALTH_CACHE_MS = 10 * 60 * 1000; // 10 minutes
 
   app.get('/llm/health', async (_request, reply) => {
-    const provider = deps.providerRegistry?.getActive() ?? null;
+    const provider = deps.providerRegistry?.getProvider('fast') ?? null;
     if (!provider) {
       reply.code(200).send({ status: 'not configured' });
       return;
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ export async function createHttpServer(
 
   // LLM models — list available models from the active provider
   app.get('/llm/models', async (_request, reply) => {
-    const provider = deps.providerRegistry?.getActive() ?? null;
+    const provider = deps.providerRegistry?.getProvider('fast') ?? null;
     if (!provider) {
       reply.code(200).send({ models: [], provider: null });
       return;
@@ -140,6 +140,22 @@ export async function createHttpServer(
     }
   });
 
+  // LLM providers — list all registered providers with tier assignments
+  app.get('/llm/providers', async (_request, reply) => {
+    const registry = deps.providerRegistry;
+    if (!registry) {
+      reply.code(200).send({ providers: [], tiers: { fast: [], heavy: [] } });
+      return;
+    }
+    reply.code(200).send({
+      providers: registry.list(),
+      tiers: {
+        fast: registry.getTierProviders('fast'),
+        heavy: registry.getTierProviders('heavy'),
+      },
+    });
+  });
+
   // Proxy management routes to mcpd
   const mcpdClient = new McpdClient(config.mcpdUrl, config.mcpdToken);
   registerProxyRoutes(app, mcpdClient);

src/mcplocal/src/llm-config.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 import type { SecretStore } from '@mcpctl/shared';
-import type { LlmFileConfig } from './http/config.js';
+import type { LlmFileConfig, LlmProviderFileEntry } from './http/config.js';
 import { ProviderRegistry } from './providers/registry.js';
 import { GeminiAcpProvider } from './providers/gemini-acp.js';
 import { OllamaProvider } from './providers/ollama.js';
 import { AnthropicProvider } from './providers/anthropic.js';
 import { OpenAiProvider } from './providers/openai.js';
 import { DeepSeekProvider } from './providers/deepseek.js';
+import type { LlmProvider } from './providers/types.js';
 import type { GeminiAcpConfig } from './providers/gemini-acp.js';
 import type { OllamaConfig } from './providers/ollama.js';
 import type { AnthropicConfig } from './providers/anthropic.js';
@@ -13,87 +14,158 @@ import type { OpenAiConfig } from './providers/openai.js';
 import type { DeepSeekConfig } from './providers/deepseek.js';
 
 /**
- * Create a ProviderRegistry from user config + secret store.
+ * Thin wrapper that delegates all LlmProvider methods but overrides `name`.
- * Returns an empty registry if config is undefined or provider is 'none'.
+ * Used when the user's chosen name (e.g. "vllm-local") differs from the
+ * underlying provider's name (e.g. "openai").
  */
-export async function createProviderFromConfig(
+class NamedProvider implements LlmProvider {
-  config: LlmFileConfig | undefined,
+  readonly name: string;
-  secretStore: SecretStore,
+  private inner: LlmProvider;
-): Promise<ProviderRegistry> {
-  const registry = new ProviderRegistry();
-  if (!config?.provider || config.provider === 'none') return registry;
 
-  switch (config.provider) {
+  constructor(name: string, inner: LlmProvider) {
+    this.name = name;
+    this.inner = inner;
+  }
+
+  complete(...args: Parameters<LlmProvider['complete']>) {
+    return this.inner.complete(...args);
+  }
+  listModels() {
+    return this.inner.listModels();
+  }
+  isAvailable() {
+    return this.inner.isAvailable();
+  }
+  dispose() {
+    this.inner.dispose?.();
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Create a single LlmProvider from a provider entry config.
+ * Returns null if required config is missing (logs warning).
+ */
+async function createSingleProvider(
+  entry: LlmProviderFileEntry,
+  secretStore: SecretStore,
+): Promise<LlmProvider | null> {
+  switch (entry.type) {
     case 'gemini-cli': {
       const cfg: GeminiAcpConfig = {};
-      if (config.binaryPath) cfg.binaryPath = config.binaryPath;
+      if (entry.binaryPath) cfg.binaryPath = entry.binaryPath;
-      if (config.model) cfg.defaultModel = config.model;
+      if (entry.model) cfg.defaultModel = entry.model;
       const provider = new GeminiAcpProvider(cfg);
       provider.warmup();
-      registry.register(provider);
+      return provider;
-      break;
     }
 
     case 'ollama': {
       const cfg: OllamaConfig = {};
-      if (config.url) cfg.baseUrl = config.url;
+      if (entry.url) cfg.baseUrl = entry.url;
-      if (config.model) cfg.defaultModel = config.model;
+      if (entry.model) cfg.defaultModel = entry.model;
-      registry.register(new OllamaProvider(cfg));
+      return new OllamaProvider(cfg);
-      break;
     }
 
     case 'anthropic': {
       const apiKey = await secretStore.get('anthropic-api-key');
       if (!apiKey) {
-        process.stderr.write('Warning: Anthropic API key not found in secret store. Run "mcpctl config setup" to configure.\n');
+        process.stderr.write(`Warning: Anthropic API key not found for provider "${entry.name}". Run "mcpctl config setup" to configure.\n`);
-        return registry;
+        return null;
       }
       const cfg: AnthropicConfig = { apiKey };
-      if (config.model) cfg.defaultModel = config.model;
+      if (entry.model) cfg.defaultModel = entry.model;
-      registry.register(new AnthropicProvider(cfg));
+      return new AnthropicProvider(cfg);
-      break;
     }
 
     case 'openai': {
       const apiKey = await secretStore.get('openai-api-key');
       if (!apiKey) {
-        process.stderr.write('Warning: OpenAI API key not found in secret store. Run "mcpctl config setup" to configure.\n');
+        process.stderr.write(`Warning: OpenAI API key not found for provider "${entry.name}". Run "mcpctl config setup" to configure.\n`);
-        return registry;
+        return null;
       }
       const cfg: OpenAiConfig = { apiKey };
-      if (config.url) cfg.baseUrl = config.url;
+      if (entry.url) cfg.baseUrl = entry.url;
-      if (config.model) cfg.defaultModel = config.model;
+      if (entry.model) cfg.defaultModel = entry.model;
-      registry.register(new OpenAiProvider(cfg));
+      return new OpenAiProvider(cfg);
-      break;
     }
 
     case 'deepseek': {
       const apiKey = await secretStore.get('deepseek-api-key');
       if (!apiKey) {
-        process.stderr.write('Warning: DeepSeek API key not found in secret store. Run "mcpctl config setup" to configure.\n');
+        process.stderr.write(`Warning: DeepSeek API key not found for provider "${entry.name}". Run "mcpctl config setup" to configure.\n`);
-        return registry;
+        return null;
       }
       const cfg: DeepSeekConfig = { apiKey };
-      if (config.url) cfg.baseUrl = config.url;
+      if (entry.url) cfg.baseUrl = entry.url;
-      if (config.model) cfg.defaultModel = config.model;
+      if (entry.model) cfg.defaultModel = entry.model;
-      registry.register(new DeepSeekProvider(cfg));
+      return new DeepSeekProvider(cfg);
-      break;
     }
 
     case 'vllm': {
-      // vLLM uses OpenAI-compatible API
+      if (!entry.url) {
-      if (!config.url) {
+        process.stderr.write(`Warning: vLLM URL not configured for provider "${entry.name}". Run "mcpctl config setup" to configure.\n`);
-        process.stderr.write('Warning: vLLM URL not configured. Run "mcpctl config setup" to configure.\n');
+        return null;
-        return registry;
       }
-      registry.register(new OpenAiProvider({
+      return new OpenAiProvider({
         apiKey: 'unused',
-        baseUrl: config.url,
+        baseUrl: entry.url,
-        defaultModel: config.model ?? 'default',
+        defaultModel: entry.model ?? 'default',
-      }));
+      });
-      break;
+    }
+
+    default:
+      return null;
+  }
+}
+
+/**
+ * Create a ProviderRegistry from multi-provider config entries + secret store.
+ * Registers each provider, wraps with NamedProvider if needed, assigns tiers.
+ */
+export async function createProvidersFromConfig(
+  entries: LlmProviderFileEntry[],
+  secretStore: SecretStore,
+): Promise<ProviderRegistry> {
+  const registry = new ProviderRegistry();
+
+  for (const entry of entries) {
+    const rawProvider = await createSingleProvider(entry, secretStore);
+    if (!rawProvider) continue;
+
+    // Wrap with NamedProvider if user name differs from provider's built-in name
+    const provider = rawProvider.name !== entry.name
+      ? new NamedProvider(entry.name, rawProvider)
+      : rawProvider;
+
+    registry.register(provider);
+
+    if (entry.tier) {
+      registry.assignTier(provider.name, entry.tier);
     }
   }
 
   return registry;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Create a ProviderRegistry from legacy single-provider config + secret store.
+ * @deprecated Use createProvidersFromConfig() with loadLlmProviders() instead.
+ */
+export async function createProviderFromConfig(
+  config: LlmFileConfig | undefined,
+  secretStore: SecretStore,
+): Promise<ProviderRegistry> {
+  if (!config?.provider || config.provider === 'none') {
+    return new ProviderRegistry();
+  }
+
+  const entry: LlmProviderFileEntry = {
+    name: config.provider,
+    type: config.provider,
+  };
+  if (config.model) entry.model = config.model;
+  if (config.url) entry.url = config.url;
+  if (config.binaryPath) entry.binaryPath = config.binaryPath;
+
+  return createProvidersFromConfig([entry], secretStore);
+}

src/mcplocal/src/llm/pagination.ts

@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ export class ResponsePaginator {
     raw: string,
     pages: PageInfo[],
   ): Promise<PaginationIndex> {
-    const provider = this.providers?.getActive();
+    const provider = this.providers?.getProvider('fast');
     if (!provider) {
       return this.generateSimpleIndex(resultId, toolName, raw, pages);
     }

src/mcplocal/src/llm/processor.ts

@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ export class LlmProcessor {
       return { optimized: false, params };
     }
 
-    const provider = this.providers.getActive();
+    const provider = this.providers.getProvider('fast');
     if (!provider) {
       return { optimized: false, params };
     }
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ export class LlmProcessor {
       return { filtered: false, result: response.result, originalSize: raw.length, filteredSize: raw.length };
     }
 
-    const provider = this.providers.getActive();
+    const provider = this.providers.getProvider('fast');
     if (!provider) {
       const raw = JSON.stringify(response.result);
       return { filtered: false, result: response.result, originalSize: raw.length, filteredSize: raw.length };

src/mcplocal/src/main.ts

@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ import { StdioProxyServer } from './server.js';
 import { StdioUpstream } from './upstream/stdio.js';
 import { HttpUpstream } from './upstream/http.js';
 import { createHttpServer } from './http/server.js';
-import { loadHttpConfig, loadLlmConfig } from './http/config.js';
+import { loadHttpConfig, loadLlmProviders } from './http/config.js';
 import type { HttpConfig } from './http/config.js';
-import { createProviderFromConfig } from './llm-config.js';
+import { createProvidersFromConfig } from './llm-config.js';
 import { createSecretStore } from '@mcpctl/shared';
 import type { ProviderRegistry } from './providers/registry.js';
 
@@ -65,13 +65,19 @@ export async function main(argv: string[] = process.argv): Promise<MainResult> {
   const args = parseArgs(argv);
   const httpConfig = loadHttpConfig();
 
-  // Load LLM provider from user config + secret store
+  // Load LLM providers from user config + secret store
-  const llmConfig = loadLlmConfig();
+  const llmEntries = loadLlmProviders();
   const secretStore = await createSecretStore();
-  const providerRegistry = await createProviderFromConfig(llmConfig, secretStore);
+  const providerRegistry = await createProvidersFromConfig(llmEntries, secretStore);
-  const activeLlm = providerRegistry.getActive();
+  if (providerRegistry.hasTierConfig()) {
-  if (activeLlm) {
+    const fast = providerRegistry.getTierProviders('fast');
-    process.stderr.write(`LLM provider: ${activeLlm.name}\n`);
+    const heavy = providerRegistry.getTierProviders('heavy');
+    process.stderr.write(`LLM providers: fast=[${fast.join(',')}] heavy=[${heavy.join(',')}]\n`);
+  } else {
+    const activeLlm = providerRegistry.getActive();
+    if (activeLlm) {
+      process.stderr.write(`LLM provider: ${activeLlm.name}\n`);
+    }
   }
 
   let upstreamConfigs: UpstreamConfig[] = [];

src/mcplocal/src/providers/registry.ts

@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
-import type { LlmProvider } from './types.js';
+import type { LlmProvider, Tier } from './types.js';
 
 /**
- * Registry for LLM providers. Supports switching the active provider at runtime.
+ * Registry for LLM providers. Supports tier-based routing (fast/heavy)
+ * with cross-tier fallback, and legacy single-provider mode.
  */
 export class ProviderRegistry {
   private providers = new Map<string, LlmProvider>();
   private activeProvider: string | null = null;
+  private tierProviders = new Map<Tier, string[]>();
 
   register(provider: LlmProvider): void {
     this.providers.set(provider.name, provider);
@@ -20,6 +22,15 @@ export class ProviderRegistry {
       const first = this.providers.keys().next();
       this.activeProvider = first.done ? null : first.value;
     }
+    // Remove from tier assignments
+    for (const [tier, names] of this.tierProviders) {
+      const filtered = names.filter((n) => n !== name);
+      if (filtered.length === 0) {
+        this.tierProviders.delete(tier);
+      } else {
+        this.tierProviders.set(tier, filtered);
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   setActive(name: string): void {
@@ -34,6 +45,42 @@ export class ProviderRegistry {
     return this.providers.get(this.activeProvider) ?? null;
   }
 
+  /** Assign a provider to a tier. Call order = priority within the tier. */
+  assignTier(providerName: string, tier: Tier): void {
+    if (!this.providers.has(providerName)) {
+      throw new Error(`Provider '${providerName}' is not registered`);
+    }
+    const existing = this.tierProviders.get(tier) ?? [];
+    if (!existing.includes(providerName)) {
+      this.tierProviders.set(tier, [...existing, providerName]);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Get provider for a specific tier with fallback.
+   * Resolution: requested tier → other tier → getActive() (legacy).
+   */
+  getProvider(tier: Tier): LlmProvider | null {
+    const primary = this.firstInTier(tier);
+    if (primary) return primary;
+
+    const otherTier: Tier = tier === 'fast' ? 'heavy' : 'fast';
+    const fallback = this.firstInTier(otherTier);
+    if (fallback) return fallback;
+
+    return this.getActive();
+  }
+
+  /** Get provider names assigned to a tier. */
+  getTierProviders(tier: Tier): string[] {
+    return this.tierProviders.get(tier) ?? [];
+  }
+
+  /** Whether any tier assignments exist (vs legacy single-provider mode). */
+  hasTierConfig(): boolean {
+    return this.tierProviders.size > 0;
+  }
+
   get(name: string): LlmProvider | undefined {
     return this.providers.get(name);
   }
@@ -46,10 +93,31 @@ export class ProviderRegistry {
     return this.activeProvider;
   }
 
+  /** Provider info for status display. */
+  listProviders(): Array<{ name: string; tiers: Tier[] }> {
+    return this.list().map((name) => {
+      const tiers: Tier[] = [];
+      for (const [tier, names] of this.tierProviders) {
+        if (names.includes(name)) tiers.push(tier);
+      }
+      return { name, tiers };
+    });
+  }
+
   /** Dispose all registered providers that have a dispose method. */
   disposeAll(): void {
     for (const provider of this.providers.values()) {
       provider.dispose?.();
     }
   }
+
+  private firstInTier(tier: Tier): LlmProvider | null {
+    const names = this.tierProviders.get(tier);
+    if (!names) return null;
+    for (const name of names) {
+      const provider = this.providers.get(name);
+      if (provider) return provider;
+    }
+    return null;
+  }
 }

src/mcplocal/src/providers/types.ts

@@ -44,6 +44,9 @@ export interface CompletionOptions {
   model?: string;
 }
 
+/** LLM provider tier. 'fast' = local inference, 'heavy' = cloud reasoning. */
+export type Tier = 'fast' | 'heavy';
+
 export interface LlmProvider {
   /** Provider identifier (e.g., 'openai', 'anthropic', 'ollama') */
   readonly name: string;

src/mcplocal/tests/llm-config.test.ts

@@ -116,9 +116,9 @@ describe('createProviderFromConfig', () => {
       { provider: 'vllm', model: 'my-model', url: 'http://gpu-server:8000' },
       store,
     );
-    // vLLM reuses OpenAI provider under the hood
+    // vLLM reuses OpenAI provider under the hood, wrapped with NamedProvider
     expect(registry.getActive()).not.toBeNull();
-    expect(registry.getActive()!.name).toBe('openai');
+    expect(registry.getActive()!.name).toBe('vllm');
   });
 
   it('returns empty registry when vllm URL is missing', async () => {

src/mcplocal/tests/pagination.test.ts

@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ function makeProvider(response: string): ProviderRegistry {
   };
   return {
     getActive: () => provider,
+    getProvider: () => provider,
     register: vi.fn(),
     setActive: vi.fn(),
     listProviders: () => [{ name: 'test', available: true, active: true }],
@@ -177,6 +178,7 @@ describe('ResponsePaginator', () => {
       };
       const registry = {
         getActive: () => provider,
+        getProvider: () => provider,
         register: vi.fn(),
         setActive: vi.fn(),
         listProviders: () => [{ name: 'test', available: true, active: true }],
@@ -208,6 +210,7 @@ describe('ResponsePaginator', () => {
       };
       const registry = {
         getActive: () => provider,
+        getProvider: () => provider,
         register: vi.fn(),
         setActive: vi.fn(),
         listProviders: () => [{ name: 'test', available: true, active: true }],
@@ -231,6 +234,7 @@ describe('ResponsePaginator', () => {
     it('falls back to simple when no active provider', async () => {
       const registry = {
         getActive: () => null,
+        getProvider: () => null,
         register: vi.fn(),
         setActive: vi.fn(),
         listProviders: () => [],
@@ -256,6 +260,7 @@ describe('ResponsePaginator', () => {
       };
       const registry = {
         getActive: () => provider,
+        getProvider: () => provider,
         register: vi.fn(),
         setActive: vi.fn(),
         listProviders: () => [{ name: 'test', available: true, active: true }],
@@ -281,6 +286,7 @@ describe('ResponsePaginator', () => {
       };
       const registry = {
         getActive: () => provider,
+        getProvider: () => provider,
         register: vi.fn(),
         setActive: vi.fn(),
         listProviders: () => [{ name: 'test', available: true, active: true }],

src/mcplocal/tests/providers.test.ts

@@ -115,4 +115,105 @@ describe('ProviderRegistry', () => {
 
     expect(models).toEqual(['anthropic-model-1', 'anthropic-model-2']);
   });
+
+  describe('tier management', () => {
+    it('assigns providers to tiers', () => {
+      registry.register(mockProvider('vllm'));
+      registry.register(mockProvider('gemini'));
+
+      registry.assignTier('vllm', 'fast');
+      registry.assignTier('gemini', 'heavy');
+
+      expect(registry.getTierProviders('fast')).toEqual(['vllm']);
+      expect(registry.getTierProviders('heavy')).toEqual(['gemini']);
+      expect(registry.hasTierConfig()).toBe(true);
+    });
+
+    it('getProvider returns tier-specific provider', () => {
+      const vllm = mockProvider('vllm');
+      const gemini = mockProvider('gemini');
+      registry.register(vllm);
+      registry.register(gemini);
+
+      registry.assignTier('vllm', 'fast');
+      registry.assignTier('gemini', 'heavy');
+
+      expect(registry.getProvider('fast')).toBe(vllm);
+      expect(registry.getProvider('heavy')).toBe(gemini);
+    });
+
+    it('getProvider falls back to other tier', () => {
+      const vllm = mockProvider('vllm');
+      registry.register(vllm);
+
+      registry.assignTier('vllm', 'fast');
+
+      // Requesting heavy but only fast exists → falls back to fast
+      expect(registry.getProvider('heavy')).toBe(vllm);
+    });
+
+    it('getProvider falls back to getActive when no tiers', () => {
+      const openai = mockProvider('openai');
+      registry.register(openai);
+
+      // No tier assignments → falls back to legacy getActive()
+      expect(registry.getProvider('fast')).toBe(openai);
+      expect(registry.getProvider('heavy')).toBe(openai);
+      expect(registry.hasTierConfig()).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    it('unregister removes from tier assignments', () => {
+      registry.register(mockProvider('vllm'));
+      registry.register(mockProvider('gemini'));
+
+      registry.assignTier('vllm', 'fast');
+      registry.assignTier('gemini', 'heavy');
+
+      registry.unregister('vllm');
+
+      expect(registry.getTierProviders('fast')).toEqual([]);
+      expect(registry.getTierProviders('heavy')).toEqual(['gemini']);
+    });
+
+    it('assignTier throws for unregistered provider', () => {
+      expect(() => registry.assignTier('unknown', 'fast')).toThrow("Provider 'unknown' is not registered");
+    });
+
+    it('multiple providers in same tier uses first', () => {
+      const vllm = mockProvider('vllm');
+      const ollama = mockProvider('ollama');
+      registry.register(vllm);
+      registry.register(ollama);
+
+      registry.assignTier('vllm', 'fast');
+      registry.assignTier('ollama', 'fast');
+
+      expect(registry.getProvider('fast')).toBe(vllm);
+      expect(registry.getTierProviders('fast')).toEqual(['vllm', 'ollama']);
+    });
+
+    it('listProviders includes tier info', () => {
+      registry.register(mockProvider('vllm'));
+      registry.register(mockProvider('gemini'));
+
+      registry.assignTier('vllm', 'fast');
+      registry.assignTier('gemini', 'heavy');
+
+      const providers = registry.listProviders();
+      expect(providers).toEqual([
+        { name: 'vllm', tiers: ['fast'] },
+        { name: 'gemini', tiers: ['heavy'] },
+      ]);
+    });
+
+    it('disposeAll calls dispose on all providers', () => {
+      const disposeFn = vi.fn();
+      const provider = { ...mockProvider('test'), dispose: disposeFn };
+      registry.register(provider);
+
+      registry.disposeAll();
+
+      expect(disposeFn).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    });
+  });
 });