Wrong subagent model chosen automatically

Support Bug Reports
, ,
1

Where does the bug appear (feature/product)?

Cursor IDE

Describe the Bug

“Explorer” chooses a different model than the one specified in the “Explore subagent model” setting.

I was using the “Plan” mode, and asked Cursor to re-validate the plan. It spun up two sub-agents as “Explorer”, and they used GPT-5.6 Sol. But in my settings, I have Composer 2.5 set as the “Explore subagent model”.

The model used in the planning session was Cursor Grok 4.5 High.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Switch to “Plan” mode, and draft a moderately sized plan for any task (mine had 7+ action items in the end).

  2. Once done, send this message: “go over your plan again, compare it against the codebase, and identify false positives or things you may have missed. update your plan accordingly.”

  3. Find any “Explorer” sub-agents spun up by Cursor in the process.

  4. Click on them, or hover over them to find the model is different from the one you have specified in the “Explorer subagent model” setting in Cursor.

Expected Behavior

The “Explorer subagent model” setting should be honored, so that the user does not face unexpected spending.

This instance blew through 6% of my 3rd party model usage in one shot, whereas if my setting were honored, it would not have used any.

Screenshots / Screen Recordings

Screenshot 2026-08-01 at 4.39.37 PM.png
Screenshot 2026-08-01 at 4.39.37 PM.png2044×1082 188 KB
Screenshot 2026-08-01 at 4.54.12 PM.png
Screenshot 2026-08-01 at 4.54.12 PM.png2144×606 21.3 KB

Operating System

MacOS

Version Information

Version: 3.14.7 (Universal)
VS Code Extension API: 1.128.0
Commit: a758f2241ca99fecf380180b6cbdbbce0f1f42c0
Date: 2026-07-30T06:41:34.009Z
Layout: IDE
Build Type: Stable
Release Track: Default
Electron: 40.10.3
Chromium: 144.0.7559.236
Node.js: 24.15.0
V8: 14.4.258.32-electron.0
xterm.js: 6.1.0-beta.291
OS: Darwin arm64 23.6.0

For AI issues: which model did you use?

Cursor Grok 4.5 High

For AI issues: add Request ID with privacy disabled

Request ID: 6f8bec5e-7ddc-480f-8f00-eaf8f0b0c1df

Sub-agent Request IDs:

  • e4a7b2ef-e6cd-43ef-92f5-b093d0549a4d
  • No request ID found (yes, it actually says that when I copy the request id)

Does this stop you from using Cursor

No - Cursor works, but with this issue

5

Hey, thanks for the detailed report. The Request ID, screenshots, and steps helped a lot. From them, I can see you have Composer 2.5 set in your settings, and the Explorer subagents switched to GPT-5.6 Sol Medium.

This is a known issue we’re tracking. Here’s what’s happening: the Explore subagent model setting only applies when the parent agent doesn’t explicitly pick a model for the subagent. In your case, the parent Grok 4.5 High in Plan mode passed a model directly in the subagent call, and that overrode your setting. That shouldn’t happen, and it’s not something wrong with your config.

For now, here are a couple workarounds to keep spend under control:

  1. Disable the unwanted model GPT-5.6 Sol in Settings > Models. Blocked models are excluded from model resolution for subagents, so the parent won’t be able to choose it.
  2. Alternatively, add a rule that explicitly says subagents must inherit the parent agent’s model.

I can’t share a timeline yet, but I’ll reply in the thread when there’s an update. Let me know if the workarounds helped.