# Nested subagents don't inherit model in MAX mode **URL:** \ **Category:** Bug Reports\ **Tags:** max-mode, subagents, composer, anthropic\ **Created:** [February 23, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680 "2026-02-23T18:16:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@DFE](https://forum.cursor.com/u/DFE)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/1 "2026-02-23T18:16:44Z")
### Where does the bug appear (feature/product)? Cursor IDE ### Describe the Bug With MAX mode enabled and a specific model selected (claude-4.6-opus-max), first-level subagents correctly inherit the main agent’s model. However, when those subagents dispatch their own subagents (second level), the nested subagents fall back to composer1.5 instead of inheriting the model. All my agent .md files have model: inherit in their frontmatter. Per the documentation, omitting the model parameter means “inherits from parent” – but this only works one level deep. ### Steps to Reproduce Enable MAX mode with claude-4.6-opus-max. Set model: inherit on all agent files. Have the main agent dispatch a subagent (level 1), then have that subagent dispatch its own subagent (level 2). Level 1 uses the correct model; level 2 falls back to composer1.5. ### Expected Behavior Model inheritance should propagate through all subagent nesting levels, not just the first. ### Operating System Windows 10/11 ### Version Information Version: 2.5.20 (user setup) VSCode Version: 1.105.1 Commit: 511523af765daeb1fa69500ab0df5b6524424610 Date: 2026-02-19T20:41:31.942Z Build Type: Stable Release Track: Default Electron: 39.4.0 Chromium: 142.0.7444.265 Node.js: 22.22.0 V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0 OS: Windows\_NT x64 10.0.22631 ### For AI issues: which model did you use? claude-4.6-opus-max thinking Enabled MAX mode ### Does this stop you from using Cursor No - Cursor works, but with this issue ---
**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:** [February 24, 2026, 8:11am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/3 "2026-02-24T08:11:25Z")
Hey, thanks for the report. This is a known issue. A few users have said that sub-agents fall back to `composer 1.5` instead of using the configured model. In your case there’s a helpful detail. It looks like level 1 sub-agents work correctly, and the problem shows up only at level 2+ (sub-agents created by other sub-agents). I’ve shared this with the team. A couple things that would help with debugging: 1. Can you share the request ID? (Chat context menu, top right, then Copy Request ID, with Privacy Mode turned off.) This lets us check which model is actually used at each nesting level. 2. Have you tried setting an explicit model name (for example, `model: claude-4.6-opus-max`) instead of `model: inherit` in the agent files? I’m curious if explicit model names behave differently at level 2. Let me know how it goes. ---
**Author:** ![DFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@DFE](https://forum.cursor.com/u/DFE)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2026, 1:16pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/4 "2026-02-24T13:16:11Z")
1. Request ID: da57c516-c5a8-4266-9f09-92b23fc01a29. Privacy Mode is enabled and controlled by our org admin. It can’t be turned off. 2. Regarding explicit model names: I tested setting `model: claude-4.6-opus-max` explicitly in all agent `.md` files instead of `model: inherit`. Same result – level 1 subagents use claude-4.6-opus-max correctly, level 2 subagents still fall back to composer1.5. So the issue isn’t specific to inherit; model configuration is ignored entirely at level 2+. ---
**Author:** ![DFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@DFE](https://forum.cursor.com/u/DFE)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 11:10pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/7 "2026-02-28T23:10:10Z")
Hi @deanrie, Is there a rough timeline for a fix? We built a framework that relies on multi-level subagent orchestration, and when we started using it we hit this bug — our work has been blocked since. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2026, 10:01am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/8 "2026-03-01T10:01:43Z")
Hey, unfortunately we don’t have a specific timeline yet. The bug is logged and the team is aware, but I can’t give an ETA since that wouldn’t be fair. A useful detail from your test is that even explicitly setting `model: claude-4.6-opus-max` gets ignored at level 2+, which suggests the issue is deeper than just `inherit`. Right now there isn’t a workaround. If multi-level orchestration is critical, the only option is to flatten the setup to a single nesting level where the model is inherited correctly. I’ll update the thread when there’s progress. ---
**Author:** ![DFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@DFE](https://forum.cursor.com/u/DFE)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2026, 12:01am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/9 "2026-03-09T00:01:32Z")
Hi @deanrie @Colin, Additional info that might help: When I click a subagent, it opens as a file where I can see it running. For the level-1 subagent (which correctly inherits the model in MAX mode), the file shows at the top the inherited model, and there is a Chat Request window containing the full content from `agents/my_agent.md`. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/3/f/3fb0d591adcc89d29b427f91b044104120dae5d1.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/0/f/0f159b42c6a3271210c41134ea89248a0ae5393c.png) For level-2 subagents (spawned by the level-1 subagent), the file also opens the same way, but there is no Chat Request window at all, similar to the built-in subagents like explorer/bash/browser. ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/8/7/87cf8c4be7dc58451352bd85dd0cdf5f1d3586d7.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/c/6/c6b20900d9038c23dbdcc463aa943de011b30b09.png) This suggests the nested subagent is not only falling back to `composer1.5`, but also not receiving the full subagent instructions from `agents/my_agent.md`, so it may not behave as expected. ---
**Author:** ![DFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@DFE](https://forum.cursor.com/u/DFE)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 5:15pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/10 "2026-03-12T17:15:23Z")
Great news @deanrie ! I’m now on On-Demand Usage (request-based pricing) and it’s working as expected — level-2 subagents correctly inherit the model and no longer fall back to `composer1.5`. `run_in_background` also works properly at level-2 now. I didn’t test it with more than 2 levels. Not sure what caused the fix though, if it’s because I switched to On-Demand after exhausting my Included-Request quota. It definitely didn’t work on On-Demand before. I can’t retest on Included-Request until my quota resets at the beginning of next month — and it really matters that it works then, since in my plan On-Demand only kicks in after the Included-Request quota is exhausted. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2026, 9:35am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/11 "2026-03-14T09:35:19Z")
Hey, that’s a helpful update. It’s interesting that everything works correctly on On-Demand, that’s a good clue for debugging. When your Included Requests quota refreshes at the start of next month, let me know if the bug shows up again. If it turns out the issue is tied to the billing type, that’ll narrow down what to look at a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Adam\_Mitchell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eada6e/32.png) [@Adam\_Mitchell](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Adam_Mitchell)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2026, 7:35pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/12 "2026-03-27T19:35:13Z")
Just to note that this is happening again now on the current cursor version. subagents with model: inherit are just using composer 2 when started from an existing subagent. max mode is ON: ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/f/1/f11349827100849fa7f0e7e905b3c6ac36e35619.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/4/0/400bd32646d747fa2b381d78c64ee3abca07cbf7.png) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/original/3X/f/8/f825707dfb1eeed06f45bdc437678f0e15d96aa2.png) Version: 2.6.21 (Universal) VSCode Version: 1.105.1 Commit: fea2f546c979a0a4ad1deab23552a43568807590 Date: 2026-03-21T22:09:10.098Z (5 days ago) Build Type: Stable Release Track: Default Electron: 39.8.1 Chromium: 142.0.7444.265 Node.js: 22.22.1 V8: 14.2.231.22-electron.0 OS: Darwin arm64 24.5.0 ---
**Author:** ![DFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@DFE](https://forum.cursor.com/u/DFE)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2026, 11:22pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/13 "2026-04-14T23:22:24Z")
I ran subagents on many of the models and noticed that only in claude models with MAX mode do they never fall back to composer-2 and this has been completely fixed, but in other models, like in all gpt models and also in grok, even with MAX mode they sometimes fall back on some of the subagents and sometimes on all of them fall back to composer-2. ---
**Author:** ![tonyaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/tonyaw/32/107001_2.png) [@tonyaw](https://forum.cursor.com/u/tonyaw)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2026, 9:02am UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/14 "2026-04-28T09:02:00Z")
Could you please help to give the latest update for this issue? I can’t figure out how to not use composer-2. It is critical for the subagents usage. Meanwhile, is it possible to force build-in subagent(explore, generalPurpose) to use a given model instead of composer-2? ---
**Author:** ![Jon\_Rajavuori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jon\_Rajavuori](https://forum.cursor.com/u/Jon_Rajavuori)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/15 "2026-04-30T17:45:10Z")
This is still an issue. Using Claude Opus 4.6 in MAX mode, the subagents use Composer 2 all the time. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/cursor1/user_avatar/forum.cursor.com/system/32/99069_2.png) [@system](https://forum.cursor.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://forum.cursor.com/t/nested-subagents-dont-inherit-model-in-max-mode/152680/16 "2026-05-22T17:45:14Z")
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