Problem
When I temporarily switch to a specific model (e.g. Claude Sonnet 4.6) for one message, Cursor keeps that model selected for all subsequent messages. I always intend to return to Auto afterward and frequently forget to switch back.
Requested behaviour
Add a “one-shot” or “temporary” model override option: after one message is sent with the manually-selected model, Cursor automatically reverts the composer’s model selector back to Auto (or whatever the default is).
Alternatives considered
Cursor hooks (beforeSubmitPrompt) — investigated this but hooks cannot change model selection, only block sends. The model sent in the hook payload also does not reliably indicate whether the user is on Auto or a manual pick, making detection impossible from outside.
Suggested UX options (any one would work)
A “Use once” button or toggle next to the model picker that reverts after send.
A hook output field (e.g. reset_model: “auto”) that lets hooks trigger the revert.
A global setting: “Always return to Auto after manual model override.”
Hi, thanks for the forum post! We do have something along these lines already, though it’s an optional setting for your admin to turn on rather than a personal preference.
Your read is correct: beforeSubmitPrompt doesn’t receive the selected model and has no way to change it, so this isn’t something you can build from the outside today. On the core behavior, the model picker is intentionally sticky. Your selection persists across messages, chats, and restarts, and there’s currently no per-user “use once” toggle or “always return to Auto” setting.
The closest thing available today is Impose Auto, under Cursor Router in the team dashboard on Teams and Enterprise plans:
Soft defaults every new chat back to Auto. People can still switch models freely, but each new chat starts from Auto instead of inheriting the last manual pick.
Hard locks the picker to Auto entirely.
Both are off by default, and Cursor Router itself needs to be enabled first (on Enterprise it’s off until an admin turns it on). Details here: Cursor Router | Cursor Docs
Two things worth knowing before you raise it with your admin. It’s a team-wide policy, so it would apply to everyone rather than just you. And it acts at the start of a new chat, not after a single message, so a manual pick still carries through the rest of that conversation.
We are exploring other features similar to this to bring additional capability and control to model selection for teams. We’ll try to let you know any updates here!
Thanks, this is very helpful and confirms what I observed. We’ll ask our admin to evaluate Cursor Router with Impose Auto Soft as the nearest team-level workaround. For my original use case, I still need a per-user one-shot model override (use selected model for one message, then automatically return to Auto in the same chat). Please keep me posted if that feature becomes available.