Model Currency Checker Skill

Purpose: Prevent the system from running on stale, deprecated, or unapproved AI models. Model capability compounds — running on outdated models degrades output quality silently.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

Preparing a production deployment (check all model IDs before shipping)
After an AI provider announces a model update or deprecation
When output quality seems degraded (may indicate a deprecated model)
When auditing the codebase for technical debt
When pnpm starter:audit is run

Approved Model Policy

Task Category	Provider	Approved Model ID	Approved Since
Reasoning / orchestration	Anthropic	`claude-sonnet-4-6`	06/03/2026
Complex reasoning	Google	`gemini-2.5-pro-preview`	06/03/2026
Fast image gen / editing	Google	`gemini-2.5-flash-image`	06/03/2026
Image editing with context	Nano Banana	`nano-banana-pro`	06/03/2026
High-fidelity branding	Google	`imagen-4`	06/03/2026
3D logo renders	Google	`imagen-4`	06/03/2026

Review cycle: Model policy must be reviewed every 90 days. Next review due: 06/06/2026

Procedure

Step 1: Scan codebase for model references

Search these file types for model ID strings:

*.ts, *.js — TypeScript/JavaScript source
*.py — Python source
*.json — Config files (model IDs in env or config)
*.yaml, *.yml — CI/CD configs, docker compose
*.env, *.env.example — Environment files

Search patterns to find:

gemini- prefix
imagen- prefix
claude- prefix
gpt- prefix (should not be present — unapproved)
ollama references (check version)

Step 2: Classify each finding

For each model ID found:

Classification	Meaning
`CURRENT`	Model ID matches approved policy exactly
`OUTDATED`	Model ID was previously approved but has been superseded
`UNAPPROVED`	Model ID not in approved policy
`REVIEW_NEEDED`	Model ID format matches but version cannot be confirmed

Step 3: Generate report

Run pnpm starter:audit to generate reports/model-currency-report.md automatically.

Or manually: grep the codebase and compare against the table above.

Step 4: Remediate

For each OUTDATED or UNAPPROVED model:

Find the config file or code that references it
Update to the approved model ID
Test that the integration still works (prompt compatibility check)
Commit the change

Output Format

MODEL CURRENCY REPORT
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════
Date: [DD/MM/YYYY]
Codebase: [root path]

APPROVED POLICY
─────────────────
[table of approved models]

FINDINGS
─────────────────
CURRENT:    [file:line] — [model-id] — [category]
OUTDATED:   [file:line] — [model-id] — Replace with: [approved-id]
UNAPPROVED: [file:line] — [model-id] — Not in approved policy

SUMMARY
─────────────────
Current:    [N]
Outdated:   [N]
Unapproved: [N]

ACTION REQUIRED: Update [N] model reference(s) before shipping.
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════

Validation Gates

Before marking model check complete:

All file types scanned (not just .ts)
Env files checked (model IDs often set there)
CI/CD configs checked (model IDs in workflow env vars)
Report saved to reports/model-currency-report.md

Failure Modes

Failure	Recovery
No model references found	Verify scan covered the right file types and directories
Model ID found in env file but not code	Check if env var is actually used
Model ID in comment only	Mark as informational, not a live reference
Model has been deprecated by provider	Update to approved replacement immediately

Eval Examples

Good Example

Finding: apps/backend/src/models/anthropic.py:14 — claude-2 — OUTDATED Action: Replace with claude-sonnet-4-6 Verification: Test prompt round-trip after update

Bad Example (rejected)

Finding: "I think the models are up to date." Reason rejected: No scan performed, no evidence, opinion not evidence.

model-currency-checker