fix(model dropdown): stop injecting default_model into unrelated providers — v0.50.88 (PR #672 by @franksong2702)

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -13,7 +13,12 @@
 ### Added
 - **Searchable model picker** — the model dropdown now has a live search input at the top. Type any part of a model name or ID to filter the list instantly; provider group headers (Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, etc.) remain visible in filtered results. Includes a clear button, Escape-to-close support, and a "No models found" empty state. i18n strings added for English, Spanish, and zh-CN. (PR #659 by @mmartial)
 
+## [v0.50.89] — 2026-04-19
 
+### Fixed
+- **System Preferences model dropdown no longer misattributes the default model to unrelated providers** — the `/api/models` builder no longer injects the global `default_model` into unknown provider groups such as `Alibaba` or `Minimax-Cn`. When a provider has no real model catalog of its own, it is now omitted from the dropdown instead of showing a misleading placeholder like `gpt-5.4-mini`. If the active provider still needs a default fallback, it is shown in a separate `Default` group rather than being mixed into another provider's models.
+
+## [v0.50.85] — 2026-04-18
 
 ### Fixed
 - **`_provider_oauth_authenticated()` now respects the `hermes_home` parameter** — the function had a CLI fast path (`hermes_cli.auth.get_auth_status()`) that ignored the caller-supplied `hermes_home` and read from the real system home. On machines where `openai-codex` (or another OAuth provider) was genuinely authenticated, this caused three test assertions to return `True` instead of `False`, regardless of the isolated `tmp_path` the test passed in. Removed the CLI fast path; the function now reads exclusively from `hermes_home/auth.json`, which is both the correct scoped behavior and what the docstring described. No functional change for production (the auth.json path was already the complete fallback). (Fixes pre-existing test_sprint34 failures)
@@ -1641,4 +1646,3 @@ Critical regressions introduced during the server.py split, caught by users and
 - **Regression test file added** (`tests/test_regressions.py`): 10 tests, one per introduced bug. These form a permanent regression gate so each class of error can never silently return.
 
 ---
-

api/config.py

@@ -1123,7 +1123,9 @@ def get_available_models() -> dict:
                 )
             else:
                 # Unknown provider -- use auto-detected models if available,
-                # otherwise fall back to default model placeholder
+                # otherwise skip it for the model dropdown. Do NOT inject the
+                # global default_model here: that would incorrectly imply the
+                # provider can serve the default model (e.g. Alibaba -> gpt-5.4-mini).
                 if auto_detected_models:
                     groups.append(
                         {
@@ -1131,19 +1133,6 @@ def get_available_models() -> dict:
                             "models": auto_detected_models,
                         }
                     )
-                else:
-                    if default_model:
-                        groups.append(
-                            {
-                                "provider": provider_name,
-                                "models": [
-                                    {
-                                        "id": default_model,
-                                        "label": default_model.split("/")[-1],
-                                    }
-                                ],
-                            }
-                        )
     else:
         # No providers detected. Show only the configured default model so the user
         # can at least send messages with their current setting. Avoid showing a
@@ -1186,7 +1175,14 @@ def get_available_models() -> dict:
                     injected = True
                     break
             if not injected and groups:
-                groups[0]["models"].insert(0, {"id": default_model, "label": label})
+                # Keep the default isolated rather than polluting the first
+                # detected provider group.
+                groups.append(
+                    {
+                        "provider": "Default",
+                        "models": [{"id": default_model, "label": label}],
+                    }
+                )
             elif not groups:
                 groups.append(
                     {

tests/test_model_resolver.py

@@ -245,6 +245,10 @@ def _available_models_with_full_cfg(provider, default, base_url):
         'default': default,
         'base_url': base_url,
     }
+    try:
+        _cfg._cfg_mtime = _cfg.Path(_cfg._get_config_path()).stat().st_mtime
+    except Exception:
+        pass
     # Clear model-override env vars to prevent the real profile from leaking in
     _model_env_keys = ('HERMES_MODEL', 'OPENAI_MODEL', 'LLM_MODEL')
     _saved_env = {k: os.environ.pop(k, None) for k in _model_env_keys}
@@ -318,16 +322,59 @@ def test_default_model_lands_under_active_provider_group(monkeypatch):
     )
     groups = {g['provider']: [m['id'] for m in g['models']] for g in result['groups']}
     assert 'OpenAI Codex' in groups, f"OpenAI Codex group missing: {list(groups)}"
-    assert 'gpt-5.4' in groups['OpenAI Codex'], (
+    norm = lambda mid: mid.split('/', 1)[-1].split(':', 1)[-1]
+    assert 'gpt-5.4' in {norm(mid) for mid in groups['OpenAI Codex']}, (
         f"gpt-5.4 not in OpenAI Codex group; contents: {groups['OpenAI Codex']}"
     )
     # And crucially, it must NOT have landed in the alphabetically-first
     # group (Anthropic) via the fallback path.
-    assert 'gpt-5.4' not in groups.get('Anthropic', []), (
+    assert 'gpt-5.4' not in {norm(mid) for mid in groups.get('Anthropic', [])}, (
         f"gpt-5.4 leaked into Anthropic group via fallback: {groups.get('Anthropic')}"
     )
 
 
+def test_unknown_providers_do_not_inherit_default_model(monkeypatch):
+    """Detected providers without their own model catalog must not be filled
+    with the global default_model placeholder.
+
+    Regression guard for the bug where Alibaba / Minimax-Cn ended up showing
+    gpt-5.4-mini even though those providers do not serve it.
+    """
+    import sys, types
+
+    fake_mod = types.ModuleType('hermes_cli.models')
+    fake_mod.list_available_providers = lambda: [
+        {'id': 'openai-codex', 'authenticated': True},
+        {'id': 'alibaba',      'authenticated': True},
+        {'id': 'minimax-cn',   'authenticated': True},
+    ]
+    fake_auth = types.ModuleType('hermes_cli.auth')
+    fake_auth.get_auth_status = lambda pid: {'key_source': 'env'}
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, 'hermes_cli.models', fake_mod)
+    monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, 'hermes_cli.auth', fake_auth)
+
+    result = _available_models_with_full_cfg(
+        provider='openai-codex',
+        default='gpt-5.4-mini',
+        base_url='',
+    )
+    groups = {g['provider']: [m['id'] for m in g['models']] for g in result['groups']}
+    norm = lambda mid: mid.split('/', 1)[-1].split(':', 1)[-1]
+
+    assert 'Alibaba' not in groups, (
+        f"Alibaba should not inherit the default model placeholder: {groups}"
+    )
+    assert 'Minimax-Cn' not in groups, (
+        f"Minimax-Cn should not inherit the default model placeholder: {groups}"
+    )
+    assert not any(
+        norm(mid) == 'gpt-5.4-mini'
+        for mid in groups.get('Alibaba', []) + groups.get('Minimax-Cn', [])
+    ), (
+        f"Unknown provider groups still inherited the default model: {groups}"
+    )
+
+
 def test_custom_endpoint_uses_model_config_api_key_for_model_discovery(monkeypatch):
     """Custom endpoint model discovery must use model.api_key from config.yaml,
     not only environment variables, otherwise the dropdown collapses to the
@@ -342,6 +389,10 @@ def test_custom_endpoint_uses_model_config_api_key_for_model_discovery(monkeypat
         'base_url': 'https://example.test/v1',
         'api_key': 'sk-test-model-key',
     }
+    try:
+        _cfg._cfg_mtime = _cfg.Path(_cfg._get_config_path()).stat().st_mtime
+    except Exception:
+        pass
     _cfg.cfg.pop('providers', None)
 
     captured = {}