diff --git a/mobile/src/session/use-mobile-structured-agent-session-send.test.tsx b/mobile/src/session/use-mobile-structured-agent-session-send.test.tsx
index 925de3288ce..6a3cac4d48f 100644
--- a/mobile/src/session/use-mobile-structured-agent-session-send.test.tsx
+++ b/mobile/src/session/use-mobile-structured-agent-session-send.test.tsx
@@ -221,6 +221,7 @@ describe('mobile structured send actions', () => {
                   { id: 'opus[1m]', label: 'Opus', isDefault: true, efforts },
                   { id: 'claude-gone', label: 'claude-gone', isDefault: false, efforts: [] }
                 ],
+                listedModelIds: ['opus[1m]'],
                 current: { model: 'claude-gone', effort: 'high' }
               })
             : ok({})
diff --git a/src/main/acp/acp-structured-host-live-listing.test.ts b/src/main/acp/acp-structured-host-live-listing.test.ts
index f077684b1a4..201ff58b85e 100644
--- a/src/main/acp/acp-structured-host-live-listing.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/acp/acp-structured-host-live-listing.test.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ describe('a live Grok listing', () => {
   it('is saved through the host catalog when the chat reads its options', async () => {
     const modelCatalog: AgentModelCatalogService = {
       read: vi.fn(async () => ({ origin: 'unknown' as const })),
+      retainedLiveModelIds: vi.fn(() => []),
       recordLiveListing: vi.fn(),
       prewarm: vi.fn(async () => {}),
       stop: vi.fn(),
@@ -38,7 +39,8 @@ describe('a live Grok listing', () => {
   it('starts the chat even when saving its start listing throws', async () => {
     const modelCatalog: AgentModelCatalogService = {
       read: vi.fn(async () => ({ origin: 'unknown' as const })),
-      recordLiveListing: vi.fn(() => {
+      retainedLiveModelIds: vi.fn(() => []),
+      recordLiveListing: vi.fn().mockImplementationOnce(() => {
         throw new Error('catalog unavailable')
       }),
       prewarm: vi.fn(async () => {}),
@@ -46,8 +48,10 @@ describe('a live Grok listing', () => {
       providerStarted: vi.fn()
     }
     // The rig's attach must succeed: bookkeeping never fails a proven start.
-    const { store } = await openAttachedHostRig({}, undefined, modelCatalog)
+    const { host, store } = await openAttachedHostRig({}, undefined, modelCatalog)
     expect(modelCatalog.recordLiveListing).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1)
     expect(store.getRecord(SESSION)?.lease.ownerProcess).not.toBeNull()
+    await expect(host.readOptions(SESSION)).resolves.toHaveProperty('models')
+    expect(modelCatalog.recordLiveListing).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(2)
   })
 })
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-entry.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-entry.ts
index da7593e91c7..79b49d284a0 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-entry.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-entry.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import type { AgentSessionUnavailable } from '../../../shared/agent-session-availability'
 import type {
   AgentSessionFastModeSupport,
+  AgentSessionModelCatalogResult,
   AgentSessionModelOption
 } from '../../../shared/agent-session-wire'
 
@@ -120,6 +121,25 @@ export type AgentModelCatalogEntry = {
   fetchedAt: number
 }
 
+export function agentModelCatalogResultFromEntry(
+  entry: AgentModelCatalogEntry,
+  namesDefault: boolean,
+  listingNamesConfiguredModel: boolean
+): Exclude<AgentSessionModelCatalogResult, { origin: 'unknown' }> {
+  // A CLI-resolved default names the configured model even where the listing names none.
+  const namesConfigured = listingNamesConfiguredModel || entry.configured !== null
+  return {
+    origin: entry.origin,
+    // Without a default the picker names nothing until the chat reports its model.
+    models: entry.models.map((model) =>
+      namesDefault ? { ...model } : { ...model, isDefault: false }
+    ),
+    ...(entry.fastModeSupport ? { fastModeSupport: entry.fastModeSupport } : {}),
+    fetchedAt: entry.fetchedAt,
+    listingNamesConfiguredModel: namesDefault && namesConfigured
+  }
+}
+
 /** Which models exist and their menus follow the newer listing; the default model and effort are
  *  the CLI-resolved configured default's, else discovery's, else what a live child reported while
  *  its model offers it. */
@@ -189,6 +209,17 @@ export function agentModelCatalogEntry(
   }
 }
 
+/** Only a launch-added row needs independent account membership; ordinary incoming rows stand. */
+export function retainedAgentModelCatalogModels(
+  previous: Pick<AgentModelCatalogEntry, 'models'> | null | undefined,
+  listing: AgentModelCatalogLiveListing
+): AgentSessionModelOption[] {
+  const launchOnly = listing.launchOnlyModelId
+  return launchOnly !== undefined && !previous?.models.some((model) => model.id === launchOnly)
+    ? listing.models.filter((model) => model.id !== launchOnly)
+    : listing.models
+}
+
 /** The entry `success` makes of `previous`, replacing only the listing of its source. */
 export function agentModelCatalogEntryWithSuccess(
   previous: AgentModelCatalogEntry | undefined,
@@ -197,11 +228,7 @@ export function agentModelCatalogEntryWithSuccess(
   source: AgentModelCatalogSource,
   at: number
 ): AgentModelCatalogEntry | null {
-  const launchOnly = success.launchOnlyModelId
-  const models =
-    launchOnly !== undefined && !previous?.models.some((model) => model.id === launchOnly)
-      ? success.models.filter((model) => model.id !== launchOnly)
-      : success.models
+  const models = retainedAgentModelCatalogModels(previous, success)
   if (models.length === 0) {
     // An empty list identifies no model; it is doubt, not a catalog.
     return null
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-fingerprint.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-fingerprint.ts
index fcd20b48931..e15763eef43 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-fingerprint.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-fingerprint.ts
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import {
  * Everything that changes which models a listing can answer with: the agent,
  * the account home the CLI reads credentials/config from, and the execution
  * host that runs the binary. Login-state or CLI-version drift under the same
- * key is corrected by the next refresh, never by the fingerprint.
+ * key is corrected by later listings, never by the fingerprint.
  */
 export type AgentModelCatalogIdentity = {
   agent: string
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-prewarm.test.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-prewarm.test.ts
index 290313f8f65..b74a7f74823 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-prewarm.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-prewarm.test.ts
@@ -288,6 +288,11 @@ describe('one account, one catalog key', () => {
     })
     // What the chat saved, through the host and through the Codex adapter's own handle…
     service.recordLiveListing('session-1', { models: listing('gpt-live').models })
+    const incoming = { models: [...listing('gpt-live').models, ...listing('gpt-new').models] }
+    const retained = (launchOnlyModelId: string) =>
+      service.retainedLiveModelIds('session-1', { ...incoming, launchOnlyModelId })
+    expect(retained('gpt-live')).toEqual(['gpt-live', 'gpt-new'])
+    expect(retained('gpt-new')).toEqual(['gpt-live'])
     const adapterAccess = agentModelCatalogSessionAccess(
       store,
       { agent: 'codex', accountHomeVariable: 'CODEX_HOME' },
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-service.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-service.ts
index b0530e834e5..275f3d43d4c 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-service.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-service.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,11 @@ import {
   agentModelCatalogFingerprint,
   agentModelCatalogFingerprintForRecord
 } from './agent-model-catalog-fingerprint'
-import type { AgentModelCatalogConfiguredChoice } from './agent-model-catalog-entry'
+import {
+  agentModelCatalogResultFromEntry,
+  retainedAgentModelCatalogModels,
+  type AgentModelCatalogConfiguredChoice
+} from './agent-model-catalog-entry'
 import type {
   AgentModelCatalogEntry,
   AgentModelCatalogLiveListing,
@@ -62,7 +66,9 @@ export type AgentModelCatalogService = {
     /** Answer only from the saved entry and held reason; start, join or re-check no listing. */
     savedOnly?: boolean
   }) => Promise<AgentSessionModelCatalogResult>
-  /** Saves what a running session listed as its account's catalog, so the next chat starts warm. */
+  /** Incoming listing ids, checking only a launch-added row against the pinned account. */
+  retainedLiveModelIds: (sessionId: string, listing: AgentModelCatalogLiveListing) => string[]
+  /** Saves a session's listing and newly learned menus so the next chat starts warm. */
   recordLiveListing: (sessionId: string, listing: AgentModelCatalogLiveListing) => void
   /** Lists, in the background, every agent the user has used here (a saved catalog or a chat)
    *  whose catalog for the account a new chat would pin is missing or old, so a picker never meets
@@ -79,25 +85,6 @@ export type AgentModelCatalogService = {
 // At most this many agents list at once: each listing spawns that agent's CLI.
 const PREWARM_CONCURRENCY = 2
 
-function resultFromEntry(
-  entry: AgentModelCatalogEntry,
-  namesDefault: boolean,
-  listingNamesConfiguredModel: boolean
-): Exclude<AgentSessionModelCatalogResult, { origin: 'unknown' }> {
-  // A CLI-resolved default names the configured model even where the listing names none.
-  const namesConfigured = listingNamesConfiguredModel || entry.configured !== null
-  return {
-    origin: entry.origin,
-    // Without a default the picker names nothing until the chat reports its model.
-    models: entry.models.map((model) =>
-      namesDefault ? { ...model } : { ...model, isDefault: false }
-    ),
-    ...(entry.fastModeSupport ? { fastModeSupport: entry.fastModeSupport } : {}),
-    fetchedAt: entry.fetchedAt,
-    listingNamesConfiguredModel: namesDefault && namesConfigured
-  }
-}
-
 /** A named workspace keeps the listed default only when none of its own config can replace it. */
 async function workspaceKeepsListedDefault(
   deps: AgentModelCatalogServiceDeps,
@@ -258,7 +245,7 @@ export function createAgentModelCatalogService(
       ): Promise<AgentSessionModelCatalogResult> => {
         const unavailable = deps.store.failure(fingerprint)?.unavailable
         const result = listed
-          ? resultFromEntry(
+          ? agentModelCatalogResultFromEntry(
               listed,
               await workspaceKeepsListedDefault(deps, params.agent, workspacePath, accountHomePath),
               deps.listingNamesConfiguredModel?.has(params.agent) === true
@@ -314,6 +301,14 @@ export function createAgentModelCatalogService(
       }
       return answer(entry)
     },
+    retainedLiveModelIds(sessionId, listing) {
+      const record = deps.getRecord(sessionId)
+      const entry =
+        record && deps.drivesRecord(record)
+          ? deps.store.get(agentModelCatalogFingerprintForRecord(record))
+          : undefined
+      return retainedAgentModelCatalogModels(entry, listing).map((model) => model.id)
+    },
     recordLiveListing(sessionId, listing) {
       const record = deps.getRecord(sessionId)
       if (!record || !deps.drivesRecord(record)) {
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-store.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-store.ts
index 6a2a6e58192..fa412f2e299 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-store.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-store.ts
@@ -35,11 +35,11 @@ export type { AgentModelCatalogFailure }
 
 // The execution host's one model catalog per (agent, launch fingerprint):
 // served immediately at any age, refreshed in the background when old, and
-// written through by every successful listing a live session already performs.
+// written through by each session's startup and later capability listings.
 // Each entry keeps two listings: the last account-level discovery (the only
 // source of the configured default and default efforts, and the only clock a
-// refresh follows) and the last live session's listing (which models exist and
-// their efforts). Readers see the two merged; neither write erases the other.
+// refresh follows) and the last received session listing (which models exist
+// and their efforts). Readers see the two merged; neither write erases the other.
 // Success-only: a failure, timeout or empty list is never stored as a catalog
 // and never persisted — it is held separately under a short TTL so a burst of
 // picker opens does not hammer a dead binary, then dies on its own (see
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-launch-permission.test.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-launch-permission.test.ts
index 18c830f1797..48a64a13d9d 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-launch-permission.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-launch-permission.test.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ function launchPermission(
   })
   const modelCatalog = {
     read,
+    retainedLiveModelIds: vi.fn(() => []),
     recordLiveListing: vi.fn(),
     prewarm: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
     stop: vi.fn(),
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-options-read.test.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-options-read.test.ts
index 7097f3f2a14..28bf3f77071 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-options-read.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-options-read.test.ts
@@ -9,6 +9,10 @@ import {
 } from '../agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-store'
 import type { StructuredAgentSessionMutationContext } from './structured-agent-session-host-mutations'
 import { readStructuredAgentSessionOptions } from './structured-agent-session-options-read'
+import { AcpStructuredOptions } from '../../acp/acp-structured-options'
+import { GROK_CONFIG_OPTIONS } from '../../acp/acp-structured-adapter.test-support'
+import { SessionConfigOptionSchema } from '../../acp/generated/acp-protocol.generated'
+import { withLiveCatalogListing } from '../agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-entry'
 import { StructuredAgentSessionTaskQueue } from './structured-agent-session-task-queue'
 import { NO_STRUCTURED_AGENTS } from './structured-agent-session-adapter-router-test-support'
 
@@ -70,7 +74,7 @@ describe('options at rest', () => {
   })
 
   it.each(['codex', 'omp', 'grok', 'opencode'] as const)(
-    'omits an unknown model for %s while the catalog is unavailable',
+    '%s keeps an unknown model and learns menus from later options',
     async (provider) => {
       const record = { ...restingRecord(), provider }
       const probe = vi.fn(() => new Promise<AgentModelCatalogSuccess>(() => {}))
@@ -81,40 +85,60 @@ describe('options at rest', () => {
         resolveAccountHome: async () => ({ variable: 'CODEX_HOME', path: '/homes/a' }),
         probes: { codex: probe }
       })
+      let live = false
+      const reader = new AcpStructuredOptions()
+      const configOptions = SessionConfigOptionSchema.array().parse(GROK_CONFIG_OPTIONS)
       const resting = {
         child: null,
         params: { provider: 'codex' },
         journal: { threadGoal: () => null, context: { floor: () => null } }
       }
-      // oxlint-disable-next-line typescript/consistent-type-assertions -- SAFETY: the resting read touches only these members.
+      // oxlint-disable-next-line typescript/consistent-type-assertions -- SAFETY: options reads touch only these context members.
       const context = {
         deps: {
-          adapter: {},
+          adapter: { readOptions: async () => withLiveCatalogListing(reader.read()) },
           agents: NO_STRUCTURED_AGENTS,
           store: { getRecord: () => record },
           modelCatalog
         },
         serialize: (_sessionId: string, task: () => Promise<unknown>) => task(),
-        openConversation: async () => resting,
+        openConversation: async () => (live ? { ...resting, child: { fence: 7 } } : resting),
         conversation: async () => resting
       } as unknown as StructuredAgentSessionMutationContext
 
-      const result = await readStructuredAgentSessionOptions(context, SESSION, {
-        readsWithoutModel: true
-      })
+      const read = () =>
+        readStructuredAgentSessionOptions(context, SESSION, { readsWithoutModel: true })
+      const result = await read()
       expect(probe).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
       expect(result.models).toEqual([])
       expect(result.current).not.toHaveProperty('model')
       record.options = { model: 'later-model', effort: 'off' }
       // Only Codex is registered here, and a mode is stated only for a registered agent's chat.
-      expect(
-        (await readStructuredAgentSessionOptions(context, SESSION, { readsWithoutModel: true }))
-          .current
-      ).toEqual({
+      expect((await read()).current).toEqual({
         model: 'later-model',
         effort: 'off',
         ...(provider === 'codex' ? { permissionMode: 'ask' } : {})
       })
+      for (const emptyStart of [false, true]) {
+        modelCatalog.recordLiveListing(SESSION, {
+          models: [{ id: 'old', label: 'Old', isDefault: true, efforts: [] }]
+        })
+        reader.adoptSession(emptyStart ? {} : { configOptions })
+        modelCatalog.recordLiveListing(SESSION, reader.startListing())
+        reader.adoptConfigOptions(
+          configOptions.map((option) =>
+            option.type === 'select' && option.category === 'model'
+              ? { ...option, currentValue: 'grok-4.6' }
+              : option
+          )
+        )
+        record.options = { model: 'grok-4.6', effort: 'high' }
+        live = true
+        await read()
+        live = false
+        const answer = await read()
+        expect(answer.models).toEqual(reader.read().models)
+      }
     }
   )
 })
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-options-read.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-options-read.ts
index 7764e1a48a1..7d351922809 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-options-read.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-options-read.ts
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import type {
   AgentJournalThreadGoal
 } from '../../../shared/agent-session-journal-types'
 import { decodeStructuredAgentSessionOptionValue } from '../../../shared/structured-agent-session-option-codec'
+import { finishedListingIds } from '../../../shared/structured-agent-session-options'
 import {
   AGENT_CHAT_PERMISSION_MODE_OPTION_ID,
   agentChatPermissionModes
@@ -26,13 +27,18 @@ import { journalOpenReadRefusal } from '../agent-session-journal/journal-open-fa
 import type { StructuredAgentDefinition } from './structured-agent-definition'
 import type { StructuredAgentRegistry } from './structured-agent-registry'
 import type { StructuredAgentSessionLiveOptions } from './structured-agent-session-adapter'
+import { retainedAgentModelCatalogModels } from '../agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-entry'
+import { saveStructuredAgentSessionListing } from './structured-agent-session-start-listing'
 import type { StructuredAgentSessionHostDeps } from './structured-agent-session-host-types'
 import { structuredAgentSessionOptionModels } from './structured-agent-session-option-models'
 import { structuredAgentSessionLaunchPermission } from './structured-agent-session-launch-permission'
 import type { AgentSessionTurnContext, TurnOutcome } from './structured-agent-session-turns'
 import type { StructuredAgentSessionMutationContext } from './structured-agent-session-host-mutations'
 
-type RestingOptions = Pick<AgentSessionOptionsResult, 'models' | 'fastModeSupport' | 'current'>
+type RestingOptions = Pick<
+  AgentSessionOptionsResult,
+  'models' | 'listedModelIds' | 'fastModeSupport' | 'current'
+>
 
 /** What the asking client takes: whether it reads an answer that names no model. */
 export type StructuredAgentSessionOptionsReader = { readsWithoutModel: boolean }
@@ -119,6 +125,7 @@ async function readStructuredAgentSessionOptionsAtRest(
   // With no catalog for the account, the list a running child of this agent falls back to.
   const listed = catalog.origin === 'unknown' ? (rules?.fallbackModels() ?? null) : catalog.models
   const models = listed ?? []
+  const listedModelIds = finishedListingIds(catalog)
   const fastMode =
     saved.fastMode === undefined
       ? null
@@ -137,6 +144,7 @@ async function readStructuredAgentSessionOptionsAtRest(
       : undefined)
   return {
     models: listed ? structuredAgentSessionOptionModels(listed, model, (row) => row) : [],
+    ...(listedModelIds ? { listedModelIds } : {}),
     ...(catalog.origin !== 'unknown' && catalog.fastModeSupport
       ? { fastModeSupport: catalog.fastModeSupport }
       : {}),
@@ -228,11 +236,15 @@ export async function readStructuredAgentSessionOptions(
   let options: Omit<AgentSessionOptionsResult, 'rewind'>
   if (live) {
     const { catalogListing, ...answer } = live
-    if (catalogListing) {
-      // What a running child listed is its account's catalog too, so the next chat opens warm.
-      context.deps.modelCatalog?.recordLiveListing(sessionId, catalogListing)
-    }
     options = answer
+    if (catalogListing) {
+      // Check prior membership before saving: a launch-added row cannot verify itself.
+      const listedModelIds = context.deps.modelCatalog
+        ? context.deps.modelCatalog.retainedLiveModelIds(sessionId, catalogListing)
+        : retainedAgentModelCatalogModels(undefined, catalogListing).map((model) => model.id)
+      saveStructuredAgentSessionListing(context, sessionId, catalogListing)
+      options = { ...answer, listedModelIds }
+    }
   } else {
     options = await readStructuredAgentSessionOptionsAtRest(context.deps, sessionId, reader)
   }
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-outgrown-child.test.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-outgrown-child.test.ts
index eb1594768d6..a141ee6f37f 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-outgrown-child.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-outgrown-child.test.ts
@@ -319,6 +319,7 @@ describe('retireOutgrownStructuredAgentSessionChild', () => {
           fetchedAt: 1,
           models: rows.map((row) => ({ ...row, label: row.id, efforts: [] }))
         })),
+        retainedLiveModelIds: vi.fn(() => []),
         recordLiveListing: vi.fn(),
         prewarm: vi.fn(async () => undefined),
         stop: vi.fn(),
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started-catalog.test.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started-catalog.test.ts
index a256f02037e..a3f54d8a058 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started-catalog.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started-catalog.test.ts
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ function startHost(): void {
     },
     modelCatalog: {
       read: vi.fn(),
+      retainedLiveModelIds: vi.fn(() => []),
       recordLiveListing: vi.fn(),
       prewarm: vi.fn(async () => {}),
       stop: vi.fn(),
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started.test.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started.test.ts
index e36758ff177..c8de9f74b55 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started.test.ts
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ beforeEach(async () => {
     mintSpawnToken: () => 'spawn-a',
     modelCatalog: {
       read: async () => ({ origin: 'unknown' }),
+      retainedLiveModelIds: vi.fn(() => []),
       recordLiveListing: (sessionId, listing) => savedListings.push({ sessionId, listing }),
       prewarm: async () => {},
       stop: () => {},
@@ -239,8 +240,10 @@ describe('a publish-first Claude create whose init is slow', () => {
         configuredDefault: expect.objectContaining({ modelId: 'claude-opus-9' })
       })
     })
-    // A later options read lists the models and says nothing more about the default.
+    // A later read refreshes the listing without re-learning the configured default.
+    const saved = savedListings.length
     await host.readOptions(SESSION)
+    expect(savedListings).toHaveLength(saved + 1)
     expect(savedListings.at(-1)?.listing).not.toHaveProperty('configuredDefault')
   })
 
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started.ts
index 8c44ce53ecb..e0e6c313002 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-provider-started.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import {
   structuredAgentSessionConversationFence
 } from './structured-agent-session-provider-child'
 import {
-  saveStructuredAgentSessionStartListing,
+  saveStructuredAgentSessionListing,
   saveStructuredAgentSessionStartReadbackListing
 } from './structured-agent-session-start-listing'
 import type { StructuredAgentSessionStartupAttempts } from './structured-agent-session-startup-attempt'
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ export async function settleStructuredAgentSessionProviderStarted(
     void context.wakeDelivery(event.sessionId)
     noteStructuredAgentSessionProviderStarted(context.deps, event.sessionId)
     if (event.catalogListing) {
-      saveStructuredAgentSessionStartListing(context, event.sessionId, event.catalogListing)
+      saveStructuredAgentSessionListing(context, event.sessionId, event.catalogListing)
     }
     context.publishStatus?.(event.sessionId)
     return undefined
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-start-listing.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-start-listing.ts
index 4b102930838..93bb98e3362 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-start-listing.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-start-listing.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
-// What a start listed reaches the account's model catalog once, with the configured default its
-// start resolved: on `started`, or on Claude's settings readback that follows it. Bookkeeping: a
-// failure is logged, never the start's.
+// Session listings warm the account catalog; only startup/readback also resolves its default.
+// Catalog bookkeeping failures never reject the session action that supplied the listing.
 
 import type { AgentModelCatalogLiveListing } from '../agent-model-catalog/agent-model-catalog-entry'
 import type {
@@ -15,8 +14,8 @@ export type StructuredAgentSessionStartListingContext = {
   serialize: <T>(sessionId: string, task: () => Promise<T>) => Promise<T>
 }
 
-/** A proven start's listing, saved inside its serialized step. */
-export function saveStructuredAgentSessionStartListing(
+/** Catalog persistence must not reject a valid start or options answer. */
+export function saveStructuredAgentSessionListing(
   context: Pick<StructuredAgentSessionStartListingContext, 'deps'>,
   sessionId: string,
   listing: AgentModelCatalogLiveListing
@@ -24,8 +23,8 @@ export function saveStructuredAgentSessionStartListing(
   try {
     context.deps.modelCatalog?.recordLiveListing(sessionId, listing)
   } catch (error) {
-    context.deps.logger.warn('saving what a started provider listed failed', {
-      scope: 'provider-started-catalog',
+    context.deps.logger.warn('saving what a provider listed failed', {
+      scope: 'provider-catalog',
       sessionId,
       error
     })
diff --git a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-startup-attempt-host.test.ts b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-startup-attempt-host.test.ts
index cd7b1dd37f8..ae6c69fb113 100644
--- a/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-startup-attempt-host.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/native-chat/agent-session-wire/structured-agent-session-startup-attempt-host.test.ts
@@ -88,6 +88,7 @@ async function startHost(): Promise<void> {
     },
     modelCatalog: {
       read: vi.fn(async () => ({ origin: 'unknown' as const })),
+      retainedLiveModelIds: vi.fn(() => []),
       recordLiveListing: vi.fn(),
       prewarm: vi.fn(async () => {}),
       stop: vi.fn(),
diff --git a/src/main/runtime/structured-agent-session-runtime-model-catalog-lifetime.test.ts b/src/main/runtime/structured-agent-session-runtime-model-catalog-lifetime.test.ts
index b104e572a6a..be66bc127d7 100644
--- a/src/main/runtime/structured-agent-session-runtime-model-catalog-lifetime.test.ts
+++ b/src/main/runtime/structured-agent-session-runtime-model-catalog-lifetime.test.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ describe('the host catalog lifetime', () => {
   it('prewarms once the host is installed and stops its listings at teardown', async () => {
     const service = {
       read: vi.fn(async () => ({ origin: 'unknown' as const })),
+      retainedLiveModelIds: vi.fn(() => []),
       recordLiveListing: vi.fn(),
       prewarm: vi.fn(async () => {}),
       stop: vi.fn(),
diff --git a/src/shared/agent-session-wire.ts b/src/shared/agent-session-wire.ts
index 4ccf7c2b5bc..72f485ec699 100644
--- a/src/shared/agent-session-wire.ts
+++ b/src/shared/agent-session-wire.ts
@@ -480,6 +480,9 @@ export type AgentSessionOptionsResult = {
   /** This session takes image attachments. Absent = unknown (an older host). */
   acceptsImages?: boolean
   models: AgentSessionModelOption[]
+  /** The `models` ids the agent's own finished listing names, excluding host-added rows and
+   *  unverified launch-only rows. Absent: nothing verified, as from an older host. */
+  listedModelIds?: string[]
   /** Session/account/transport support. Absent means unknown, never unsupported. */
   fastModeSupport?: AgentSessionFastModeSupport
   current: {
diff --git a/src/shared/structured-agent-session-model-catalog-application.test.ts b/src/shared/structured-agent-session-model-catalog-application.test.ts
index 9947fdd2ed6..a75083c4ebc 100644
--- a/src/shared/structured-agent-session-model-catalog-application.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/structured-agent-session-model-catalog-application.test.ts
@@ -136,7 +136,8 @@ describe('structured option state from the host model catalog', () => {
       // The host list stays; the answer only says it is no longer a finished listing.
       expect(applyStructuredAgentSessionModelCatalog(hosted, SEED, answer, LAUNCH)).toEqual({
         ...hosted,
-        verifiedModelIds: undefined
+        verifiedModelIds: undefined,
+        hostListedModelIds: undefined
       })
     }
   })
@@ -151,9 +152,10 @@ describe('structured option state from the host model catalog', () => {
       }
     )
     expect(live.catalogSource).toBe('live')
+    // The host's ids are kept apart: they never verify the live answer's rows.
     expect(applyStructuredAgentSessionModelCatalog(live, SEED, HOST_CATALOG, LAUNCH)).toEqual({
       ...live,
-      verifiedModelIds: ['gpt-hosted']
+      hostListedModelIds: ['gpt-hosted']
     })
     const snapshot = structuredAgentSessionOptionSnapshot(live)
     const model = snapshot.find((descriptor) => descriptor.id === 'model')!
diff --git a/src/shared/structured-agent-session-option-view.test.ts b/src/shared/structured-agent-session-option-view.test.ts
index 2f86af05124..1e0eea292b5 100644
--- a/src/shared/structured-agent-session-option-view.test.ts
+++ b/src/shared/structured-agent-session-option-view.test.ts
@@ -28,10 +28,12 @@ const withHostList = (state = fresh(), catalog: AgentSessionModelCatalogResult =
   applyStructuredAgentSessionModelCatalog(state, CLAUDE_SESSION_OPTION_CATALOG, catalog, {
     newLaunch: true
   })
-// A stopped chat's own answer lists the host's rows plus its own model, named by its id.
-const stopped = (model: string, rows = [OPUS]) =>
+// A chat's own answer lists its listing's rows plus its own model, named by its id; `listed` are
+// the ids its listing names (none from an older host).
+const stopped = (model: string, rows = [OPUS], listed = rows.map((row) => row.id)) =>
   applyStructuredAgentSessionOptions(fresh(), CLAUDE_SESSION_OPTION_CATALOG, {
     models: [...rows, { id: model, label: model, isDefault: false, efforts: [] }],
+    listedModelIds: listed,
     current: { model, effort: 'high' }
   })
 
@@ -80,8 +82,8 @@ describe('a Claude model the verified list no longer offers', () => {
     })
   })
 
-  it('moves a model only the session itself lists, as the listing does not name it', () => {
-    const live = withHostList(stopped('sonnet', [OPUS, SONNET]))
+  it('moves a model only the session itself lists, as its listing does not name it', () => {
+    const live = stopped('sonnet', [OPUS, SONNET], ['opus[1m]'])
     expect(structuredAgentSessionListedPicks(live, undefined, {})).toEqual({
       model: 'opus[1m]',
       effort: 'xhigh'
@@ -100,13 +102,6 @@ describe('a Claude model the verified list no longer offers', () => {
   ])('keeps the model while the list is %s', (_name, catalog) => {
     const state = withHostList(fresh(), catalog)
     expect(structuredAgentSessionListedPicks(state, remembered, {})).toBeNull()
-    expect(
-      structuredAgentSessionListedPicks(
-        withHostList(stopped('claude-gone'), catalog),
-        undefined,
-        {}
-      )
-    ).toBeNull()
   })
 
   it('takes no row the finished listing does not name, as from a built-in fallback list', () => {
@@ -132,15 +127,17 @@ describe('a Claude model the verified list no longer offers', () => {
     ['a row with no efforts', [{ id: 'opus[1m]', label: 'Opus', isDefault: false }]],
     ['no rows', []]
   ])('keeps the model when the host answer has %s', (_name, models) => {
-    const live = stopped('claude-gone')
     // oxlint-disable-next-line typescript/consistent-type-assertions -- SAFETY: a malformed host answer is the case under test.
     const answer = { origin: 'probe', fetchedAt: 1, models } as AgentSessionModelCatalogResult
-    expect(structuredAgentSessionListedPicks(withHostList(live, answer), undefined, {})).toBeNull()
+    const state = withHostList(stopped('claude-gone', [OPUS], []), answer)
+    expect(structuredAgentSessionListedPicks(state, undefined, {})).toBeNull()
   })
 
-  it('keeps the model before any host answer', () => {
+  it('keeps the model before any host answer, and on an answer that verifies no row', () => {
     expect(structuredAgentSessionListedPicks(fresh(), remembered, {})).toBeNull()
-    expect(structuredAgentSessionListedPicks(stopped('claude-gone'), undefined, {})).toBeNull()
+    // An older host's answer names no listed ids.
+    const unverified = withHostList(stopped('claude-gone', [OPUS], []))
+    expect(structuredAgentSessionListedPicks(unverified, undefined, {})).toBeNull()
   })
 })
 
@@ -171,10 +168,26 @@ describe('what a send carries', () => {
     const named = { ...SONNET, isDefault: true }
     const listing = { ...LISTED, models: [OPUS, named], listingNamesConfiguredModel: true }
     expect(carried(withHostList(fresh(), listing))).toEqual({ model: 'sonnet' })
-    const listing2: AgentSessionModelCatalogResult = { ...LISTED, listingInProgress: true }
-    expect(carried(withHostList(stopped('claude-gone'), listing2))).toEqual({
-      model: 'claude-gone'
-    })
+    expect(carried(stopped('claude-gone', [OPUS], []))).toEqual({ model: 'claude-gone' })
+  })
+
+  it("keeps a model the chat's own listing names, whichever CLI version wrote the host's", () => {
+    // Claude Code 2.1.280 lists opus[1m] as its default and no plain opus; 2.1.302 the reverse.
+    const row = (id: string, isDefault = false) => ({ ...SONNET, id, label: id, isDefault })
+    const cli280 = [row('opus[1m]', true), row('sonnet'), row('sonnet[1m]'), row('haiku')]
+    const cli302 = [row('opus', true), row('sonnet'), row('haiku')]
+    const sent = (child: typeof cli280, model: string, host: typeof cli280) =>
+      carried(withHostList(stopped(model, child), { ...LISTED, models: host }))?.model
+    expect(sent(cli280, 'opus[1m]', cli302)).toBe('opus[1m]')
+    expect(sent(cli302, 'opus', cli280)).toBe('opus')
+    // A model the chat's own CLI no longer lists still moves to that CLI's default.
+    expect(sent(cli302, 'opus[1m]', cli280)).toBe('opus')
+    // An older host names no listed ids: only the chat's own default, where the host lists it.
+    const older = (child: typeof cli280, model: string, host: typeof cli280) =>
+      carried(withHostList(stopped(model, child, []), { ...LISTED, models: host }))?.model
+    expect(older(cli280, 'opus[1m]', cli302)).toBe('opus[1m]')
+    expect(older(cli302, 'opus', cli280)).toBe('opus')
+    expect(older(cli302, 'opus[1m]', cli302)).toBe('opus')
   })
 
   it('resolves a pick on its way as the picker shows it, a gone model it names included', () => {
diff --git a/src/shared/structured-agent-session-option-view.ts b/src/shared/structured-agent-session-option-view.ts
index ad73cb341f1..c049a1c1deb 100644
--- a/src/shared/structured-agent-session-option-view.ts
+++ b/src/shared/structured-agent-session-option-view.ts
@@ -105,19 +105,24 @@ export function nearestAgentEffort(
     .sort((a, b) => distance(a) - distance(b) || rank(b) - rank(a))[0]
 }
 
-/** What a send moves a Claude chat to when the host's finished listing does not name its model
- *  (held, else recorded, else seeded): the listed row marked default, else the first, with the
+/** What a send moves a Claude chat to when the finished listing the picker shows does not name its
+ *  model (held, else recorded, else seeded): that listing's default row, else its first, with the
  *  effort moved to the nearest level offered. Null keeps the model. */
 export function structuredAgentSessionListedPicks(
   state: StructuredAgentSessionOptionState,
   seed: Readonly<Record<string, string>> | undefined,
   held: Readonly<Record<string, string>>
 ): Record<string, string> | null {
-  const { catalog, catalogSource, record, verifiedModelIds: verified = [] } = state
+  const { catalog, catalogSource, record, verifiedModelIds: own } = state
   const tracked = record.model?.value
   const model = held.model ?? (typeof tracked === 'string' ? tracked : seed?.model)
-  // Only the listing proves a row: the session's own unlisted model is shown but never listed.
-  const rows = catalog?.models.filter((row) => verified.includes(row.id)) ?? []
+  // Only the listing proves a row: the session's own unlisted model is shown but never listed. An
+  // older host's answer proves none, so only its own default may stand in, where the host lists it.
+  const verified = own ?? state.hostListedModelIds ?? []
+  const rows =
+    catalog?.models.filter(
+      (row) => verified.includes(row.id) && (own !== undefined || row.isDefault)
+    ) ?? []
   if (
     record.agent !== 'claude' ||
     (catalogSource !== 'host' && catalogSource !== 'live') ||
diff --git a/src/shared/structured-agent-session-options.ts b/src/shared/structured-agent-session-options.ts
index 71af405ff0d..943f6d9ad90 100644
--- a/src/shared/structured-agent-session-options.ts
+++ b/src/shared/structured-agent-session-options.ts
@@ -52,9 +52,12 @@ export type StructuredAgentSessionOptionState = {
    *  built-in list before the host answered (shown as the quiet placeholder); `builtin` is the
    *  same list once the host said it has none, usable but naming nothing the host may replace. */
   catalogSource: 'seed' | 'builtin' | 'host' | 'live' | null
-  /** The models the host's latest answer names when it is a finished, well-formed listing: the
-   *  only rows that can stand in for a model it lacks, whatever list the picker shows. */
+  /** The rows of `catalog` its own finished listing names: the only ones that can stand in for a
+   *  model it lacks. Never another listing's, which may come from another CLI version. */
   verifiedModelIds?: readonly string[]
+  /** What the host's finished account list names, for a live answer from an older host that
+   *  names no listed ids of its own. */
+  hostListedModelIds?: readonly string[]
   record: NativeChatSessionOptionRecord
   /** The permission mode the host or launch last stated; null shows no picker. */
   permissionMode: string | null
@@ -81,17 +84,20 @@ export function createStructuredAgentSessionOptionState(
 export function settleStructuredAgentSessionBuiltinCatalog(
   state: StructuredAgentSessionOptionState
 ): StructuredAgentSessionOptionState {
-  const settled = withVerifiedModelIds(state, undefined)
+  const settled = withHostListedModelIds(state, undefined)
   return settled.catalogSource === 'seed' ? { ...settled, catalogSource: 'builtin' } : settled
 }
 
-function withVerifiedModelIds(
+/** The host list's ids, which verify the catalog only while the host's list is what it shows. */
+function withHostListedModelIds(
   state: StructuredAgentSessionOptionState,
   ids: readonly string[] | undefined
 ): StructuredAgentSessionOptionState {
-  return String(state.verifiedModelIds) === String(ids)
+  const verified = state.catalogSource === 'live' ? state.verifiedModelIds : ids
+  return String(state.hostListedModelIds) === String(ids) &&
+    String(state.verifiedModelIds) === String(verified)
     ? state
-    : { ...state, verifiedModelIds: ids }
+    : { ...state, verifiedModelIds: verified, hostListedModelIds: ids }
 }
 
 function isListedModelRow(row: unknown): row is { id: string } {
@@ -106,7 +112,7 @@ function isListedModelRow(row: unknown): row is { id: string } {
 }
 
 /** The ids a finished listing names; undefined for one still running, failed, empty or malformed. */
-function finishedListingIds(catalog: AgentSessionModelCatalogResult): string[] | undefined {
+export function finishedListingIds(catalog: AgentSessionModelCatalogResult): string[] | undefined {
   const rows: unknown = catalog.origin === 'unknown' ? null : catalog.models
   return Array.isArray(rows) &&
     rows.length > 0 &&
@@ -120,8 +126,8 @@ function finishedListingIds(catalog: AgentSessionModelCatalogResult): string[] |
 /**
  * Applies the host's stored model catalog: models only, no current selection
  * and no record writes, so nothing here reads as a committed value — the pick
- * stays provisional until a live options result confirms it. A live catalog
- * is never downgraded by this.
+ * stays provisional until a live options result confirms it. A live catalog,
+ * and the ids its own answer verified, are never replaced by this.
  */
 export function applyStructuredAgentSessionModelCatalog(
   state: StructuredAgentSessionOptionState,
@@ -129,9 +135,9 @@ export function applyStructuredAgentSessionModelCatalog(
   catalog: AgentSessionModelCatalogResult,
   options: { newLaunch: boolean }
 ): StructuredAgentSessionOptionState {
-  const verifiedModelIds = finishedListingIds(catalog)
+  const hostListedModelIds = finishedListingIds(catalog)
   if (state.catalogSource === 'live') {
-    return withVerifiedModelIds(state, verifiedModelIds)
+    return withHostListedModelIds(state, hostListedModelIds)
   }
   const models =
     catalog.origin === 'unknown'
@@ -157,7 +163,8 @@ export function applyStructuredAgentSessionModelCatalog(
       ...(namesDefault ? { defaultModelIsCliDefault: true } : {})
     },
     catalogSource: 'host',
-    verifiedModelIds
+    verifiedModelIds: hostListedModelIds,
+    hostListedModelIds
   }
 }
 
@@ -186,6 +193,7 @@ export function applyStructuredAgentSessionOptions(
     ...state,
     catalog: structuredAgentSessionOptionCatalog(seed, result),
     catalogSource: 'live',
+    verifiedModelIds: result.listedModelIds?.length ? result.listedModelIds : undefined,
     permissionMode: result.current.permissionMode ?? null
   }
 }