diff --git a/cc-ci-plan/launch-assistant.sh b/cc-ci-plan/launch-assistant.sh
index e8a3edb..4054ca0 100755
--- a/cc-ci-plan/launch-assistant.sh
+++ b/cc-ci-plan/launch-assistant.sh
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ CLAUDE_BIN="${CLAUDE_BIN:-/home/loops/.local/bin/claude}"
 # flag works. Mirror launch.sh's detection.
 if [ "$(id -u)" = "0" ]; then export CLAUDE_DANGEROUSLY_SKIP_PERMISSIONS=1; CLAUDE_FLAGS="${CLAUDE_FLAGS:-}";
 else CLAUDE_FLAGS="${CLAUDE_FLAGS:---dangerously-skip-permissions}"; fi
+ASSISTANT_MODEL="${ASSISTANT_MODEL:-sonnet}"         # the assistant runs on sonnet (cheaper for task work)
 REMOTE_CONTROL="${REMOTE_CONTROL:-1}"                # 1 => --remote-control (viewable at claude.ai/code)
 LOG_DIR="${LOG_DIR:-/srv/cc-ci/.cc-ci-logs}"
 ID_FILE="${ASSISTANT_ID_FILE:-$LOG_DIR/.assistant-session-id}"
@@ -70,8 +71,9 @@ start() {
   fi
   local prompt_arg=""
   [[ -n "$STARTUP_PROMPT" ]] && prompt_arg="'$STARTUP_PROMPT'"
+  local model=""; [[ -n "$ASSISTANT_MODEL" ]] && model="--model '$ASSISTANT_MODEL'"
   tmux new-session -d -s "$SESSION" -c "$WORKDIR" \
-    "$CLAUDE_BIN $sess $rc $CLAUDE_FLAGS $prompt_arg"
+    "$CLAUDE_BIN $sess $model $rc $CLAUDE_FLAGS $prompt_arg"
   tmux pipe-pane -o -t "$SESSION" "cat >> '$LOG_DIR/$SESSION.log'"
   log "started. status: $0 status | attach: tmux attach -t $SESSION | id: $id"
 }