diff --git a/test/list-aliases.ts b/test/list-aliases.ts
index 18e2cbd..fbfdaee 100644
--- a/test/list-aliases.ts
+++ b/test/list-aliases.ts
@@ -1,67 +1,95 @@
 /**
- * emits a JSON array of { slug, agent, name } entries for the `models-live`
- * matrix job. `agent` is auto-derived from the alias provider and matches the
- * harness the runtime would pick in production.
+ * emits a JSON array of { slug, agent, name } entries for one of two CI matrix
+ * jobs. `agent` mirrors the harness the runtime would pick in production
+ * (anthropic/* → claude-code, everything else → opencode).
  *
- * set MATRIX_FILTER to a substring to restrict the matrix to matching aliases
- * — useful for iterating on a single provider without paying for every model.
+ * MODE=aliases (default) — every alias minus pruned passthroughs. consumed by
+ *   `models-live`, which runs the cheap top-level CLI smoke per alias
+ *   (`action/test/model-smoke.ts`) to validate resolution + auth.
  *
- * passthrough pruning: openrouter/* aliases and keyed opencode/* aliases are
- * just routing-layer wrappers around models we already smoke-test directly
- * (anthropic/*, openai/*, google/*, etc). running every passthrough burns CI
- * minutes without catching anything the direct smoke doesn't. we keep one
- * canary per routing layer to validate the routing layer itself is alive;
- * slug-drift is caught separately by the `models-catalog` job. set
- * INCLUDE_ALL_PASSTHROUGHS=1 to bypass this for full validation.
+ * MODE=flagships — one standard-tier model per provider. consumed by
+ *   `providers-live`, which runs the full harness smoke
+ *   (`pnpm runtest smoke <agent>`) to validate provider-class tool-calling
+ *   (e.g. Gemini schema sanitizer, OpenAI tool-call format).
+ *
+ * passthrough pruning (aliases mode): openrouter/* aliases and keyed opencode/*
+ * aliases are routing-layer wrappers around models we already smoke-test
+ * directly. running every passthrough burns CI minutes without catching
+ * anything new — slug-drift is covered by the `models-catalog` job. one canary
+ * per routing layer proves the routing surface (auth, tool-call translation)
+ * is alive; set INCLUDE_PASSTHROUGHS=1 to bypass for full validation.
  *
  * usage:
  *   node action/test/list-aliases.ts
+ *   MODE=flagships node action/test/list-aliases.ts
  *   MATRIX_FILTER=gemini node action/test/list-aliases.ts
- *   INCLUDE_ALL_PASSTHROUGHS=1 node action/test/list-aliases.ts
- *   INCLUDE_EXPENSIVE=1 node action/test/list-aliases.ts
+ *   INCLUDE_PASSTHROUGHS=1 node action/test/list-aliases.ts
  */
 import { modelAliases } from "../models.ts";
 
-function agentForSlug(slug: string): "claude" | "opencode" {
-  return slug.startsWith("anthropic/") ? "claude" : "opencode";
-}
-
-// one canary per routing layer — proves the routing surface (auth, tool-call
-// translation) is alive without re-testing every underlying model.
 const ROUTING_CANARIES = new Set(["openrouter/claude-sonnet", "opencode/claude-sonnet"]);
 
-// pruned by default; opt back in with INCLUDE_EXPENSIVE=1 or MATRIX_FILTER.
-// matched against `alias.resolve` so every routing layer (openai/, opencode/,
-// openrouter/) is covered without enumerating each slug separately.
-// gpt-5.5-pro burns ~$2.40/run on this fixture — too expensive per-push.
-const EXPENSIVE_RESOLVE_SUBSTRINGS = ["gpt-5.5-pro"];
-
-function isExpensive(alias: (typeof modelAliases)[number]): boolean {
-  return EXPENSIVE_RESOLVE_SUBSTRINGS.some((s) => alias.resolve.includes(s));
-}
+// hand-picked "standard good model" per provider — not the pro/opus tier (too
+// expensive for per-push) and not the free/experimental tier (too flaky). these
+// aliases anchor the harness smoke job that catches provider-class regressions
+// like Gemini schema sanitization or OpenAI tool-call format drift. the
+// assertion below catches slug-drift loudly, but adding a NEW provider without
+// an entry here silently omits it from `providers-live` — see
+// wiki/models-catalog.md "To add a provider".
+const FLAGSHIPS = [
+  "anthropic/claude-sonnet",
+  "openai/gpt",
+  "google/gemini-pro",
+  "xai/grok",
+  "deepseek/deepseek-pro",
+  "moonshotai/kimi-k2",
+  "opencode/big-pickle",
+  "openrouter/claude-sonnet",
+];
 
 function isPrunablePassthrough(alias: (typeof modelAliases)[number]): boolean {
   if (ROUTING_CANARIES.has(alias.slug)) return false;
   if (alias.provider === "openrouter") return true;
   // opencode FREE models (big-pickle, mimo, minimax, gpt-5-nano) are unique
   // to opencode and used in prod — keep them. only prune the keyed mirrors.
-  if (alias.provider === "opencode" && !alias.isFree) return true;
-  return false;
+  return alias.provider === "opencode" && !alias.isFree;
 }
 
-const filter = process.env.MATRIX_FILTER?.trim() ?? "";
-const includeAllPassthroughs = process.env.INCLUDE_ALL_PASSTHROUGHS === "1";
-const includeExpensive = process.env.INCLUDE_EXPENSIVE === "1" || filter !== "";
-
-const matrix = modelAliases
-  .filter((alias) => (filter ? alias.slug.toLowerCase().includes(filter.toLowerCase()) : true))
-  .filter((alias) => includeAllPassthroughs || !isPrunablePassthrough(alias))
-  .filter((alias) => includeExpensive || !isExpensive(alias))
-  .map((alias) => ({
+function toMatrixEntry(alias: (typeof modelAliases)[number]) {
+  return {
     slug: alias.slug,
-    agent: agentForSlug(alias.slug),
+    agent: alias.slug.startsWith("anthropic/") ? "claude" : "opencode",
     // readable display name (GHA renders slashes awkwardly in matrix job titles)
     name: alias.slug.replace("/", "-"),
-  }));
+  };
+}
+
+const mode = process.env.MODE === "flagships" ? "flagships" : "aliases";
+const filter = process.env.MATRIX_FILTER?.trim().toLowerCase() ?? "";
+const includePassthroughs = process.env.INCLUDE_PASSTHROUGHS === "1";
+
+const aliasBySlug = new Map(modelAliases.map((a) => [a.slug, a]));
+const matrix = (() => {
+  if (mode === "flagships") {
+    return FLAGSHIPS.map((slug) => {
+      const alias = aliasBySlug.get(slug);
+      if (!alias) {
+        throw new Error(
+          `list-aliases: flagship "${slug}" missing from modelAliases — update FLAGSHIPS`
+        );
+      }
+      return alias;
+    })
+      .filter((alias) => !filter || alias.slug.toLowerCase().includes(filter))
+      .map(toMatrixEntry);
+  }
+  return modelAliases
+    .filter((alias) => {
+      if (filter && !alias.slug.toLowerCase().includes(filter)) return false;
+      if (!includePassthroughs && isPrunablePassthrough(alias)) return false;
+      return true;
+    })
+    .map(toMatrixEntry);
+})();
 
 process.stdout.write(JSON.stringify(matrix));
diff --git a/test/model-smoke.ts b/test/model-smoke.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9b535d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/model-smoke.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,170 @@
+/**
+ * model-smoke: per-alias resolution + auth check that bypasses the Pullfrog
+ * harness. resolves a model alias to its concrete provider/model + agent CLI,
+ * invokes the CLI directly with a trivial "reply OK" prompt, and asserts the
+ * provider replied. validates exactly the surface that changes when models.ts
+ * changes — alias → resolve mapping, agent classification, env-var wiring —
+ * without booting Docker, MCP, or the full agent runtime.
+ *
+ * tool-calling correctness is a property of the underlying model, not the
+ * alias; the `providers-live` job runs the full harness smoke once per
+ * provider (one standard-tier model each), which is enough.
+ *
+ * usage:
+ *   node action/test/model-smoke.ts --slug openai/gpt
+ *   PULLFROG_MODEL=openai/gpt node action/test/model-smoke.ts
+ */
+import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
+import { mkdtempSync } from "node:fs";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import { config } from "dotenv";
+import { modelAliases, resolveCliModel } from "../models.ts";
+import { installFromNpmTarball } from "../utils/install.ts";
+import { getDevDependencyVersion } from "../utils/version.ts";
+
+config({ path: join(import.meta.dirname, "..", ".env") });
+config({ path: join(import.meta.dirname, "..", "..", ".env") });
+
+const PROMPT = "Reply with exactly OK and nothing else.";
+const MATCH = /\bOK\b/i;
+const TIMEOUT_MS = 60_000;
+
+function parseSlug(): string {
+  const argIdx = process.argv.indexOf("--slug");
+  if (argIdx >= 0 && process.argv[argIdx + 1]) return process.argv[argIdx + 1];
+  if (process.env.PULLFROG_MODEL) return process.env.PULLFROG_MODEL;
+  throw new Error("model-smoke: pass --slug <alias> or set PULLFROG_MODEL");
+}
+
+type Plan =
+  | { agent: "opencode"; cliPath: string; args: string[] }
+  | { agent: "claude"; cliPath: string; args: string[] };
+
+async function plan(slug: string): Promise<Plan> {
+  const alias = modelAliases.find((a) => a.slug === slug);
+  if (!alias) throw new Error(`model-smoke: unknown alias "${slug}"`);
+
+  // walk the fallback chain so deprecated aliases (those with `fallback` set,
+  // e.g. opencode/mimo-v2-pro-free → opencode/big-pickle) hit their replacement
+  // instead of the dead resolve target. mirrors production via resolveCliModel.
+  const cliModel = resolveCliModel(slug);
+  if (!cliModel) throw new Error(`model-smoke: fallback chain for "${slug}" is broken or cyclic`);
+
+  // anthropic/* aliases run through claude-code in production; everything else
+  // (openai, google, xai, deepseek, moonshot, opencode, openrouter) runs through
+  // opencode. mirrors the inline classification in list-aliases.ts toMatrixEntry().
+  if (slug.startsWith("anthropic/")) {
+    const cliPath = await installFromNpmTarball({
+      packageName: "@anthropic-ai/claude-code",
+      version: getDevDependencyVersion("@anthropic-ai/claude-code"),
+      executablePath: "cli.js",
+      installDependencies: false,
+    });
+    // claude expects a bare model id (e.g. "claude-sonnet-4-6"), not "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6"
+    const bareModel = cliModel.split("/").slice(1).join("/");
+    return {
+      agent: "claude",
+      cliPath,
+      args: [cliPath, "-p", PROMPT, "--model", bareModel],
+    };
+  }
+
+  const cliPath = await installFromNpmTarball({
+    packageName: "opencode-ai",
+    version: getDevDependencyVersion("opencode-ai"),
+    executablePath: "bin/opencode",
+    installDependencies: true,
+  });
+  return {
+    agent: "opencode",
+    cliPath,
+    args: ["run", "--model", cliModel, PROMPT],
+  };
+}
+
+type SpawnResult = { ok: boolean; output: string; reason: string };
+
+function runCli(p: Plan, env: NodeJS.ProcessEnv): Promise<SpawnResult> {
+  // claude's cli.js shebangs to env node, but we invoke node explicitly to
+  // avoid PATH-resolution surprises in CI runners; opencode is a real binary.
+  const command = p.agent === "claude" ? "node" : p.cliPath;
+
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const child = spawn(command, p.args, { env, stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"] });
+
+    let stdout = "";
+    let stderr = "";
+    child.stdout?.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
+      stdout += chunk.toString();
+    });
+    child.stderr?.on("data", (chunk: Buffer) => {
+      stderr += chunk.toString();
+    });
+
+    const timer = setTimeout(() => {
+      child.kill("SIGKILL");
+    }, TIMEOUT_MS);
+
+    child.on("close", (code, signal) => {
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      const output = stdout + (stderr ? `\n---stderr---\n${stderr}` : "");
+      if (signal === "SIGKILL") {
+        resolve({ ok: false, output, reason: `timed out after ${TIMEOUT_MS / 1000}s` });
+        return;
+      }
+      if (code !== 0) {
+        resolve({ ok: false, output, reason: `exit ${code}` });
+        return;
+      }
+      if (!MATCH.test(stdout)) {
+        resolve({ ok: false, output, reason: "no OK in stdout" });
+        return;
+      }
+      resolve({ ok: true, output, reason: "ok" });
+    });
+
+    child.on("error", (err) => {
+      clearTimeout(timer);
+      resolve({ ok: false, output: stderr, reason: `spawn error: ${err.message}` });
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+async function main(): Promise<void> {
+  const slug = parseSlug();
+  const tempDir = mkdtempSync(join(tmpdir(), "model-smoke-"));
+  const homeDir = join(tempDir, "home");
+
+  // installFromNpmTarball reads PULLFROG_TEMP_DIR from process.env, not from
+  // the spawn env, so we mutate process.env up-front. HOME/XDG_CONFIG_HOME are
+  // redirected to keep the agent CLIs from picking up the dev user's config.
+  process.env.PULLFROG_TEMP_DIR = tempDir;
+  process.env.HOME = homeDir;
+  process.env.XDG_CONFIG_HOME = join(homeDir, ".config");
+  // opencode reads GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY for gemini; mirror the harness fallback.
+  if (!process.env.GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY && process.env.GEMINI_API_KEY) {
+    process.env.GOOGLE_GENERATIVE_AI_API_KEY = process.env.GEMINI_API_KEY;
+  }
+
+  console.log(`» model-smoke ${slug}`);
+  const p = await plan(slug);
+  console.log(
+    `» agent=${p.agent} cmd=${[p.agent === "claude" ? "node" : p.cliPath, ...p.args].join(" ")}`
+  );
+
+  const result = await runCli(p, process.env);
+  if (result.ok) {
+    console.log(`✓ ${slug} (${p.agent})`);
+    process.exit(0);
+  }
+
+  console.error(`✗ ${slug} (${p.agent}): ${result.reason}`);
+  if (result.output) console.error(result.output);
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
+main().catch((err: unknown) => {
+  console.error(err instanceof Error ? (err.stack ?? err.message) : String(err));
+  process.exit(1);
+});