# How to force subagent to use latest model

**URL:** <https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-force-subagent-to-use-latest-model/166323>\
**Category:** Help\
**Tags:** subagents, anthropic\
**Created:** [July 21, 2026, 11:16pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-force-subagent-to-use-latest-model/166323 "2026-07-21T23:16:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 5

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**Author:** ![deanrie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/deanrie/32/1263_2.png) [@deanrie](https://forum.cursor.com/u/deanrie)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2026, 2:38pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/how-to-force-subagent-to-use-latest-model/166323/5 "2026-07-24T14:38:26Z")

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Hey, thanks for the question. From your screenshot, I can see the Task subagent Draft architecture design spec ran on Sonnet 4.6 Medium even though you didn’t pick it. Subagent models are configurable, here’s how:

Custom subagents `.cursor/agents/*.md`, like your Design Spec. Add `model:` in the YAML frontmatter:

```yaml
---
name: Design Spec
model: claude-sonnet-5-thinking # or inherit to use the parent chat model
---

```

Bracket syntax pins the variant and effort, for example `model: claude-opus-4-8[effort=high]`. Note: this syntax isn’t officially documented yet, and it doesn’t work with the CLI `--model` flag. For CLI you need to pass the exact slug, for example `claude-opus-4-8-thinking-high`.

Built-in subagents, Explore, etc. Go to Settings \> Agents \> Subagents and pick a model per subagent type.

At the prompt level. You can tell the parent agent use my current model for any subagents. The Task tool also accepts a model argument.

About Grok automatically swapping in a Sonnet slug for Task calls without being asked, that’s known behavior. I can’t share an ETA for a change yet. If the model still doesn’t apply after setting `model:` in the frontmatter, send the Request ID and I can take a closer look.

Pricing. Sonnet 4.6 and Sonnet 5 are both $3/M in and $15/M out at standard pricing, but Sonnet 5 currently has a launch promo of $2/$10 through August 31, 2026, so it’s cheaper right now. Keep in mind actual cost depends on how many tokens a given task uses, not just the per-token rate.

More details in the related thread: [Subagent Model Choice Not Respected](https://forum.cursor.com/t/subagent-model-choice-not-respected/163645)

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