# Custom model unavailable for explicit subagent selection

**URL:** <https://forum.cursor.com/t/custom-model-unavailable-for-explicit-subagent-selection/170676>\
**Category:** Bug Reports\
**Tags:** byok, subagents\
**Created:** [September 5, 2026, 7:00am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/custom-model-unavailable-for-explicit-subagent-selection/170676 "2026-09-05T07:00:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 6

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**Author:** ![mohitjain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/mohitjain/32/100229_2.png) [@mohitjain](https://forum.cursor.com/u/mohitjain)\
**Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 8:00am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/custom-model-unavailable-for-explicit-subagent-selection/170676/6 "2026-09-07T08:00:41Z")

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Hey @coreprocess, yes, this is intentional. Custom models you add yourself (or anything routed through your own API key) are deliberately left out of the explicit subagent model list, so a subagent can’t be pinned to one via the Task tool or a `model:` field. That’s why the frontmatter definition falls back to the parent’s model and `force-default-model` has no effect.

The supported way to run a subagent on a custom model is the one you found: select it in the parent chat and use `model: inherit` (or leave `model` unset). Subagents inherit the parent’s model, so they do genuinely run on your custom model there, not a different one.

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