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Choosing an AI model

Strata runs every prompt through one of several frontier AI models. The exact set you can pick from is a curated Model Catalog that Kronisys maintains and your organization enables — this page covers how the catalog works, how to choose, and how to switch.

Where the model list comes from

Strata is built on a DB-driven Model Catalog. Kronisys (the platform owner) curates a central catalog of models across many providers — OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, DeepSeek, Mistral AI, Cohere, and Microsoft — all served through Microsoft Azure AI Foundry. Your administrator then enables the subset your organization wants.

What this means for you:

  • The models in your picker are whatever your organization has enabled from the catalog. Two organizations can offer different lists.
  • The catalog can grow or change without an app update. A model Kronisys adds and your admin enables simply appears; a retired one disappears.
  • The in-app picker is always the live source of truth for which models you can use right now.
Note

Representative chat models in the catalog include Claude Opus 4.8, Claude Sonnet 4.6, the GPT-5.6 family (Sol, Terra, and Luna), GPT-5.4, GPT-5.4 Mini, and Grok — alongside o-series, DeepSeek, Mistral, Cohere, and Phi models. Your organization decides which of these are turned on, so your list may be shorter.

Switching the model

  1. In the chat composer, click the model name in the toolbar to open the model picker.
  2. Click the model you want. Current models are listed first; older models sit under an expandable Legacy models group at the bottom.

The pick takes effect on your next message. It is saved as this conversation's model and becomes the default for new chats — there's no separate "default model" setting to manage. See Settings for the rest of your account preferences.

Picking a model in practice

Each model in the picker shows a short descriptor — either the model's provider name or a one-line hint from the catalog, whichever is more informative. As a starting point:

  • Default to a balanced model like Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5.6 Terra when it is available — strong quality at good speed for everyday analysis, drafting, and data questions.
  • Switch to a top-tier model like Claude Opus 4.8 or GPT-5.6 Sol for a hard problem that needs the most reasoning — a complex SQL design, a careful financial reconciliation, a multi-step agentic build. These are slower.
  • Use a fast, low-cost model (for example GPT-5.6 Luna, GPT-5.4 Mini, or a Grok fast tier) for quick lookups and high-volume questions where speed matters more than depth.
  • Cross-check a Claude answer with a GPT model (or vice versa) when you want a second opinion from a different model family.
Tip

Admins can open the catalog from Organization settings → Models → Model Catalog (click Open the catalog) to see each model's capabilities, context window, knowledge cutoff, and per-million-token pricing.

How org policy shapes your list

Your administrator decides which catalog models your organization can use, and the picker only ever offers those. The available set is enforced everywhere Strata uses a chat model — chat, agents, the Teams bot, and the API. (Voice mode runs on a separate dedicated real-time model rather than the chat picker, so it's gated by whether your org has voice enabled, not by this list.)

A few things to know:

  • Models your org hasn't enabled don't appear in the picker. If you need one that's missing, ask your admin to enable it in Organization settings → Models → Model Catalog.
  • Per-user limits. An admin can narrow the list further for a single user (Admin → Users → manage a user → Extensions & Data → AI models). Your effective set is the intersection of your organization's, your role's, and your personal allowed models.
  • Automatic fallback. If a model you previously used is later disabled for you, Strata silently switches your next message to an allowed model — your conversation keeps working.

Every model your organization enables is deployed in your organization's own Azure AI Foundry — that's the deployment Strata orchestrates against for each prompt. Because inference runs inside your own Azure tenant, your prompts and data never reach a Kronisys-controlled model. See AI engine.

Legacy models

When Strata advances its lineup, older models are marked legacy and grouped at the bottom of the picker rather than removed immediately. This gives you time to migrate your chats, agents, and saved workflows before a model is retired. When a model is eventually retired, Strata auto-migrates anything pinned to it (such as agents) to its designated replacement. If you're on a legacy model and need migration guidance, contact your admin.

Per-conversation vs. default

  • The model you pick in a chat applies to that conversation. Switching mid-conversation uses the new model for your next message; messages already in the transcript are not regenerated.
  • The default model for new chats is saved on your account and used until you change it.
  • Loading a saved conversation restores whichever model was active when you started it, so follow-up questions stay consistent. If that model is no longer available to you, Strata falls back to an allowed one.

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