Thanks for the extra details, this is a confirmed bug. The model field in frontmatter can currently be ignored under certain conditions. Another user reported the same thing here: Subagent with `model: inherit` doesn't actually inherit parent model (uses composer-1 instead). A fix is expected in version 2.5.
A couple questions to help the team debug:
- Can you share the Request ID (Chat context menu > Copy Request ID) with Privacy Mode turned off? That lets us verify on the backend which model is actually being used for subagents.
- Are you on the usage-based plan or the legacy request-based plan? (You can check at https://cursor.com/dashboard?tab=usage. If it shows dollars instead of a request count, you are on usage-based.)
@DjWarmonger: There is no exact public list of all model string IDs in the docs. The most reliable way is to check the model dropdown in Cursor (the model picker in chat). The model values in subagent file frontmatter should match what you see in the model picker. For “auto”, you can try auto or just leave out the model field.