diff --git a/docs/tools/web.md b/docs/tools/web.md
index be2a57f9e..e6e395b68 100644
--- a/docs/tools/web.md
+++ b/docs/tools/web.md
@@ -175,6 +175,7 @@ Search the web using your configured provider.
 - `search_lang` (optional): ISO language code for search results (e.g., "de", "en", "fr")
 - `ui_lang` (optional): ISO language code for UI elements
 - `freshness` (optional, Brave only): filter by discovery time (`pd`, `pw`, `pm`, `py`, or `YYYY-MM-DDtoYYYY-MM-DD`)
+- `model` (optional, Perplexity only): override the configured model per-query (e.g., "sonar", "sonar-pro")
 
 **Examples:**
 
@@ -200,6 +201,18 @@ await web_search({
   query: "TMBG interview",
   freshness: "pw"
 });
+
+// Perplexity: use faster model for simple lookups
+await web_search({
+  query: "Nick Saban birthday",
+  model: "sonar"
+});
+
+// Perplexity: use deeper reasoning for complex analysis
+await web_search({
+  query: "compare React vs Vue performance benchmarks 2026",
+  model: "sonar-pro"
+});
 ```
 
 ## web_fetch
diff --git a/src/agents/tools/web-search.ts b/src/agents/tools/web-search.ts
index 1d87676e8..37f195600 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools/web-search.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools/web-search.ts
@@ -63,6 +63,12 @@ const WebSearchSchema = Type.Object({
         "Filter results by discovery time (Brave only). Values: 'pd' (past 24h), 'pw' (past week), 'pm' (past month), 'py' (past year), or date range 'YYYY-MM-DDtoYYYY-MM-DD'.",
     }),
   ),
+  model: Type.Optional(
+    Type.String({
+      description:
+        "Perplexity model to use (e.g., 'sonar', 'sonar-pro'). Overrides configured default. Perplexity provider only.",
+    }),
+  ),
 });
 
 type WebSearchConfig = NonNullable<MoltbotConfig["tools"]>["web"] extends infer Web
@@ -459,6 +465,14 @@ export function createWebSearchTool(options?: {
           docs: "https://docs.molt.bot/tools/web",
         });
       }
+      const modelOverride = readStringParam(params, "model");
+      if (modelOverride && provider !== "perplexity") {
+        return jsonResult({
+          error: "unsupported_model",
+          message: "model parameter is only supported by the Perplexity web_search provider.",
+          docs: "https://docs.molt.bot/tools/web",
+        });
+      }
       const result = await runWebSearch({
         query,
         count: resolveSearchCount(count, DEFAULT_SEARCH_COUNT),
@@ -475,7 +489,7 @@ export function createWebSearchTool(options?: {
           perplexityAuth?.source,
           perplexityAuth?.apiKey,
         ),
-        perplexityModel: resolvePerplexityModel(perplexityConfig),
+        perplexityModel: modelOverride || resolvePerplexityModel(perplexityConfig),
       });
       return jsonResult(result);
     },
diff --git a/src/agents/tools/web-tools.enabled-defaults.test.ts b/src/agents/tools/web-tools.enabled-defaults.test.ts
index 41d44b12d..90d86a701 100644
--- a/src/agents/tools/web-tools.enabled-defaults.test.ts
+++ b/src/agents/tools/web-tools.enabled-defaults.test.ts
@@ -307,3 +307,115 @@ describe("web_search perplexity baseUrl defaults", () => {
     expect(mockFetch.mock.calls[0]?.[0]).toBe("https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions");
   });
 });
+
+describe("web_search model parameter", () => {
+  const priorFetch = global.fetch;
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.unstubAllEnvs();
+    // @ts-expect-error global fetch cleanup
+    global.fetch = priorFetch;
+  });
+
+  it("passes model parameter to Perplexity API", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("PERPLEXITY_API_KEY", "pplx-test");
+    const mockFetch = vi.fn(() =>
+      Promise.resolve({
+        ok: true,
+        json: () => Promise.resolve({ choices: [{ message: { content: "ok" } }], citations: [] }),
+      } as Response),
+    );
+    // @ts-expect-error mock fetch
+    global.fetch = mockFetch;
+
+    const tool = createWebSearchTool({
+      config: { tools: { web: { search: { provider: "perplexity" } } } },
+      sandboxed: true,
+    });
+    await tool?.execute?.(1, { query: "test-model-param", model: "sonar" });
+
+    expect(mockFetch).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    const body = JSON.parse(mockFetch.mock.calls[0]?.[1]?.body as string);
+    expect(body.model).toBe("sonar");
+  });
+
+  it("uses configured model when no model parameter provided", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("PERPLEXITY_API_KEY", "pplx-test");
+    const mockFetch = vi.fn(() =>
+      Promise.resolve({
+        ok: true,
+        json: () => Promise.resolve({ choices: [{ message: { content: "ok" } }], citations: [] }),
+      } as Response),
+    );
+    // @ts-expect-error mock fetch
+    global.fetch = mockFetch;
+
+    const tool = createWebSearchTool({
+      config: {
+        tools: {
+          web: {
+            search: {
+              provider: "perplexity",
+              perplexity: { model: "sonar-reasoning-pro" },
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      sandboxed: true,
+    });
+    await tool?.execute?.(1, { query: "test-configured-model" });
+
+    expect(mockFetch).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    const body = JSON.parse(mockFetch.mock.calls[0]?.[1]?.body as string);
+    expect(body.model).toBe("sonar-reasoning-pro");
+  });
+
+  it("model parameter overrides configured model", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("PERPLEXITY_API_KEY", "pplx-test");
+    const mockFetch = vi.fn(() =>
+      Promise.resolve({
+        ok: true,
+        json: () => Promise.resolve({ choices: [{ message: { content: "ok" } }], citations: [] }),
+      } as Response),
+    );
+    // @ts-expect-error mock fetch
+    global.fetch = mockFetch;
+
+    const tool = createWebSearchTool({
+      config: {
+        tools: {
+          web: {
+            search: {
+              provider: "perplexity",
+              perplexity: { model: "sonar-pro" },
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+      sandboxed: true,
+    });
+    await tool?.execute?.(1, { query: "test-model-override", model: "sonar" });
+
+    expect(mockFetch).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    const body = JSON.parse(mockFetch.mock.calls[0]?.[1]?.body as string);
+    expect(body.model).toBe("sonar");
+  });
+
+  it("rejects model parameter for Brave provider", async () => {
+    vi.stubEnv("BRAVE_API_KEY", "test-key");
+    const mockFetch = vi.fn(() =>
+      Promise.resolve({
+        ok: true,
+        json: () => Promise.resolve({ web: { results: [] } }),
+      } as Response),
+    );
+    // @ts-expect-error mock fetch
+    global.fetch = mockFetch;
+
+    const tool = createWebSearchTool({ config: undefined, sandboxed: true });
+    const result = await tool?.execute?.(1, { query: "test-brave-model", model: "sonar" });
+
+    expect(mockFetch).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    expect(result?.details).toMatchObject({ error: "unsupported_model" });
+  });
+});