diff --git a/docs/reference.md b/docs/reference.md
index 504d7639dd..77a957d941 100644
--- a/docs/reference.md
+++ b/docs/reference.md
@@ -1033,8 +1033,7 @@ with `MyConfig.model_validate(...)` or use the typed object directly.
 class ClientConfig(BaseModel):
     client_idx: int = 0
     client_type: ClientType = "openai_chat_completions"
-    preserve_all_thinking: bool = False
-    preserve_thinking_between_tool_calls: bool = False
+    renderer_config: RendererConfig | None = None
     api_key_var: str = "PRIME_API_KEY"
     api_base_url: str = "https://api.pinference.ai/api/v1"
     endpoint_configs: list[EndpointClientConfig] = []
@@ -1051,7 +1050,7 @@ class ClientConfig(BaseModel):
 
 `client_type` selects which `Client` implementation to instantiate (see [Client Classes](#client-classes)). Use `endpoint_configs` for multi-endpoint round-robin. In grouped scoring mode, groups are distributed round-robin across endpoint configs.
 
-`preserve_all_thinking` and `preserve_thinking_between_tool_calls` are forwarded to the underlying renderer when `client_type == "renderer"`. They control whether past-assistant `reasoning_content` is re-emitted on subsequent renders — `preserve_all_thinking` keeps every past-assistant turn's thinking, and `preserve_thinking_between_tool_calls` keeps thinking only inside the in-flight assistant→tool→…→assistant block after the most recent user turn (when that block contains at least one tool response). Both default to `False` (template default applies).
+`renderer_config` is a typed `renderers.RendererConfig` that drives the renderer pool when `client_type == "renderer"` (`None` is treated as `AutoRendererConfig()`). Its shared `thinking_retention` field controls whether past-assistant `reasoning_content` is re-emitted on subsequent renders: `"template"` (default) defers to the chat template, `"tool_cycle"` additionally keeps thinking inside the in-flight assistant→tool→…→assistant block after the most recent user turn (when that block contains at least one tool response), and `"all"` keeps every past-assistant turn's thinking.
 
 When `api_key_var` is `"PRIME_API_KEY"` (the default), credentials are loaded with the following precedence:
 - **API key**: `PRIME_API_KEY` env var > `~/.prime/config.json` > `"EMPTY"`
diff --git a/tests/test_renderer_client.py b/tests/test_renderer_client.py
index 24c6d4d8ca..e19f5e9c3e 100644
--- a/tests/test_renderer_client.py
+++ b/tests/test_renderer_client.py
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ def test_renderer_client_threads_chat_template_kwargs_into_pool():
 
     bases = [
         Qwen3RendererConfig(enable_thinking=True),
-        AutoRendererConfig(preserve_all_thinking=True),
+        AutoRendererConfig(thinking_retention="all"),
         None,
     ]
     for base in bases:
@@ -134,16 +134,16 @@ async def _fake_generate(**kwargs):
                 )
             )
 
-        expected_preserve_all = (
-            base.preserve_all_thinking
+        expected_retention = (
+            base.thinking_retention
             if isinstance(base, AutoRendererConfig)
-            else False
+            else "template"
         )
         create_pool_mock.assert_called_once_with(
             "Qwen/Qwen3-8B",
             Qwen3RendererConfig(
                 enable_thinking=False,
-                preserve_all_thinking=expected_preserve_all,
+                thinking_retention=expected_retention,
             ),
             size=1,
         )
diff --git a/verifiers/clients/renderer_client.py b/verifiers/clients/renderer_client.py
index 90cc423f95..b6c93b179a 100644
--- a/verifiers/clients/renderer_client.py
+++ b/verifiers/clients/renderer_client.py
@@ -392,8 +392,8 @@ def _resolve_renderer_config(
     inside ``renderers.create_renderer``), we pull resolution forward via
     ``MODEL_RENDERER_MAP`` so kwargs land on the concrete config variant
     and pydantic validates them against the actual renderer's schema —
-    ``AutoRendererConfig`` intentionally carries only ``preserve_*`` and
-    would reject template kwargs like ``enable_thinking``. ``renderer_model``
+    ``AutoRendererConfig`` intentionally carries only ``thinking_retention``
+    and would reject template kwargs like ``enable_thinking``. ``renderer_model``
     must match what the pool will tokenize with (i.e.
     ``ClientConfig.renderer_model_name`` when set, else the request model),
     so resolution agrees with the tokenizer the renderer will hold.
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ def _resolve_renderer_config(
 
     # Resolve auto → concrete (mirrors ``renderers._resolve_auto``) so
     # ``enable_thinking`` etc. validate against the right schema instead of
-    # ``AutoRendererConfig``'s minimal one. Carries ``preserve_*`` across.
+    # ``AutoRendererConfig``'s minimal one. Carries ``thinking_retention`` across.
     if base is None or isinstance(base, AutoRendererConfig):
         renderer_name = MODEL_RENDERER_MAP.get(renderer_model, "default")
         # ``config_from_name`` returns ``None`` only for ``"auto"``, which
@@ -417,10 +417,7 @@ def _resolve_renderer_config(
         assert concrete is not None
         if isinstance(base, AutoRendererConfig):
             concrete = concrete.model_copy(
-                update={
-                    "preserve_all_thinking": base.preserve_all_thinking,
-                    "preserve_thinking_between_tool_calls": base.preserve_thinking_between_tool_calls,
-                }
+                update={"thinking_retention": base.thinking_retention}
             )
         base = cast(RendererConfig, concrete)