diff --git a/src/runtime-1/main.py b/src/runtime-1/main.py
index 2d7f6a9..7b7dbef 100644
--- a/src/runtime-1/main.py
+++ b/src/runtime-1/main.py
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ agent-claw Runtime 1 — main assistant agent.
 Entrypoint for AgentCore CodeZip deployment.
 """
 import os
+import boto3
 from strands import Agent, tool
+from strands.models import BedrockModel
 from bedrock_agentcore.runtime import BedrockAgentCoreApp
 
 from channels.telegram import TelegramAdapter
@@ -15,6 +17,10 @@ from tools import messaging
 
 app = BedrockAgentCoreApp()
 
+# Read model ID from SSM once at module load (cached for warm invocations)
+_ssm = boto3.client("ssm", region_name=os.environ.get("AWS_REGION_NAME", "us-east-1"))
+_model_id = _ssm.get_parameter(Name="/agent-claw/model-id")["Parameter"]["Value"]
+
 
 # ── Tool definitions ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -77,6 +83,7 @@ def main(payload: dict, context) -> dict:
 
     # Create and run Strands agent
     agent = Agent(
+        model=BedrockModel(model_id=_model_id),
         system_prompt=system_prompt,
         tools=[send_message, web_search, web_fetch, read_workspace_file, write_workspace_file],
     )