It keep on showing "the model default does not work with your current plan or api key"

[1Haxe (Haxe)]

seems like whenever you got the error, just turn off and reopen cursor, and its still fine until your first chat, then the next one

[Georgi_Pavlov]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

I started getting an “Invalid Model: The model default does not work with your current plan or api key” modal popup when using Agent in auto mode occasionally.

Last time I fixed that was by removing ChatGPT 5.2 from the enabled models list. I can probably lookup now if there is another that has been made available on temporary basis, or if an expired key is the problem. But the key issue here is why do i need to go through this trouble in the first place?

Steps to Reproduce

I had this problem with ChatGPT5.2 High enabled.
I am on a Pro plan.

Expected Behavior

I would rather appreciate a notification like “Warning: Model XYZ is not supported with your current plan. It will not be used in Agent auto mode.” with an option “don’t show again” and/or a silent ignore of the inapplicable models.

You are keeping it unclear which model auto uses anyway so I don’t think transparency will suffer form this definition.

Operating System

MacOS

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 2.3.41 (Universal)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 2ca326e0d1ce10956aea33d54c0e2d8c13c58a30
Date: 2026-01-16T19:14:00.150Z
Electron: 37.7.0
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.20.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 24.6.0

Additional Information

The reason I classify this as a bug rather than feature request is because I read auto mode as “do work autonomously with whatever of the models is applicable”.
The current behavior clearly breaks this contract.

Change to feature request if you feel otherwise.

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor

[Nouman_Khan]

yeah im facing the same problem , im wondering if they added a subscription to it imean auto was free of cost ig they now added a token limit idk

[liangliangGit]

0344dec1-7123-4534-878c-e874d4086adb

[Akash3 (Akash)]

Same issue. I am on free plan.

[Kanwarpal (Singh)]

Choosing specific model it always say “I’ve already hit the usage limit so I cannot use other model…”

forcing us to buy more credits, Stuck

[bllackhu]

it’s true, same case.

[Colloquial]

Same issue, and now saying “You’ve hit your usage limit“ (I didn’t really hit the limit - I’m on auto, and if I select a model like Opus it works fine - meaning I didn’t really any limit…)
Looks like I’ll be switching to Claude code very soon.
My advice to the cursor team is to be more stable.

[Tyrone_Tabornal]

Same issue here; Pro Plan.

[coreyp_1 (Corey Pennycuff)]

Between this and the other error, I’m not going to be able to finish my stuff tonight, and I’ve wasted 4+ hours of trying to get stuff done. I’ve uninstalled/reinstalled. Shutdown and restarted Windows, Closed and re-opened Cursor (even got an OOM error once tonight). It’s broken. I give up.

[keep_new]

Request ID: 7993f352-ad6f-4ec4-879c-6e895b8ca613

[cbail (CB)]

7dfd1df4-0f3e-4273-ab52-6dd39d75e055

[Georgi_Pavlov]

I don’t even turn it off. Just retry the prompt several times and it’s ok for me.

I suspect this has to do with ‘auto’ mode’s algorithm of picking up a model for the task.
Eventually it chooses one that won’t hit the error.

[Muhammad_Rehman]

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

when ever i am trying to use the auto mode it is stoping me to use that a prompt appear “the model default does not work with your current plan or api key” i have pro plan but this is happening from today

Steps to Reproduce

Everytime I ask a new question or give a new command

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Operating System

Windows 10/11

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 2.3.41 (system setup)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: 2ca326e0d1ce10956aea33d54c0e2d8c13c58a30
Date: 2026-01-16T19:14:00.150Z
Electron: 37.7.0
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.20.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26200

For AI issues: which model did you use?

auto

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Yes - Cursor is unusable