Why Does Cursor Keep Switching My Selected Model to More Expensive Ones?

Support Bug Reports
,
1

Describe the Bug

Over the past two days, I have consistently selected Claude 4.5 Opus (standard) as my working model. Notably, Claude 4.5 Opus Thinking does not even appear in my model list.

However, I’ve repeatedly noticed that my selected model gets changed automatically without my action:

Claude 4.5 Opus → Claude 4.5 Opus Thinking

And today, it was switched again to Claude 4.5 Opus High, which is even more expensive.

This has happened many times, and it is becoming increasingly concerning.
The Thinking and High variants are significantly more costly, yet I did not choose them manually.

To clarify:

This is my personal computer, used only by me

Operating system: macOS 26.3 Beta 2

Cursor version: 2.4.0-pre.41.patch.0 (Universal)

I’d like to understand:

Why does Cursor override the user-selected model?

Is this behavior intentional or a bug?

How can users ensure their chosen model is not silently replaced?

This behavior makes cost control very difficult and undermines user trust in model selection.

Steps to Reproduce

Occurring every few hours

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

sample.jpg
sample.jpg742×684 40.3 KB

Operating System

MacOS

Current Cursor Version (Menu → About Cursor → Copy)

Version: 2.4.0-pre.41.patch.0 (Universal)
VSCode Version: 1.105.1
Commit: e62153373d5f281ae01af6e3d66e0bcef1e5e830
Date: 2026-01-16T08:27:33.020Z
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Nightly
Electron: 37.7.0
Chromium: 138.0.7204.251
Node.js: 22.20.0
V8: 13.8.258.32-electron.0
OS: Darwin arm64 25.3.0

Does this stop you from using Cursor

Sometimes - I can sometimes use Cursor

3

Hey, thanks for the report.

A similar issue with the model auto-switching has already been logged. It usually happens when switching modes (Agent/Ask/Plan). The team is working on a fix.

A couple quick questions to clarify:

  • When the model switches, are you changing modes (for example, from Agent to Ask), or does it happen within the same chat?
  • Does it happen when you open a new chat, or while you’re working in an existing one?

Also, since you’re on Nightly (2.4.0-pre) plus macOS Beta, please try switching to the Stable version for now to see if the bug still reproduces there. Nightly can include unstable changes in the model selection logic.

4

Just to clarify:

This happens even without opening a new chat.
I usually leave the IDE open, and when I wake up the next day, the model has already been switched automatically.

I also did not change modes (no Agent / Ask / Plan switch), and the IDE stayed open the whole time.

So in my case:

  • No new chat was created

  • No mode switch happened

  • Cursor was simply left running

  • The model still changed by itself (e.g. Opus → Opus Thinking / High)

This makes it feel like the model selection is being overridden in the background, not by user action.