[BUG] Remote Control: model picked at new-session start (Opus) silently reverts to default (Sonnet) within seconds

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

When starting a brand-new Remote Control session and explicitly selecting a non-default model (Opus 4.8) before sending the first message, the session runs on Opus for the first reply, then silently reverts to the account/host default model (Sonnet 5) a few seconds later, with no user action in between. From then on, every new session created this way requires manually re-selecting Opus again for each session; the selection does not stick.

Environment

• Feature: Remote Control, standalone bridge (claude remote-control)
• Host: macOS, Mac mini (Henrys-Mac-mini.local)
• Client: Claude mobile/web app connecting to the bridge
• Default model configured on host: Sonnet 5

Steps to Reproduce

1. Host has default model set to Sonnet 5.
2. Start a new Remote Control session from the app; explicitly select "Opus 4.8" as the model before sending the first message (see screenshot 1 - footer shows "Opus 4.8").
3. Send "hi".
4. Session is created and responds. A few seconds later, with no further input from the user, ask "what model are you using?"
5. Response: "Running Claude Sonnet 5 (model ID: claude-sonnet-5)." Footer now shows "Sonnet 5" (see screenshot 2).
6. After that, if I pick Opus again, now the model works (screenshot 2).

<img width="824" height="159" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93a896fb-9334-4e64-b656-1a2c73dfa66f" />

<img width="819" height="465" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/91d3396c-3514-47a4-993c-e1873402cdda" />

Expected Behavior

The model explicitly selected at session creation should persist for the life of the session unless the user changes it.

Actual Behavior

The session silently falls back to the host/account default model (Sonnet 5) within seconds of creation, without any user action or notification that the model changed.

Additional Context

Possibly related to how the standalone bridge spawns a new child claude process per session; the model chosen at creation may not be correctly passed through to the spawned child process, which then falls back to whatever default model the host is configured with. Possibly related: #66666, #65373, #39724.

Related

GitHub's bot flagged #40095 as a potential duplicate. That issue was the same symptom (Opus silently switching to Sonnet with no user action) but specifically in the Claude Desktop app's Code tab, and it was fixed in early April 2026 (closed by amorriscode). This report is about the CLI claude remote-control standalone bridge instead, a different code path from the Desktop app, so this may be a separate occurrence of the same class of bug rather than a regression of #40095.