[BUG] /model: "Default (recommended)" shows your saved pick after restart

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?

After you pick a model in /model and restart Claude Code, the picker's first row, Default (recommended), names the model you picked instead of the model Claude Code recommends.

Before the restart, that row read Default (recommended) Fable 5.1. After I picked Haiku 4.5 and restarted, it read Default (recommended) Haiku 4.5. The ✔ on the Haiku 4.5 row is correct. Only the Default row is wrong.

The result is that your own choice is labelled as the recommendation, the actual recommendation (Fable 5.1) drops out of the Default row, and you can't tell what selecting Default would give you.

What Should Happen?

Row 1 keeps naming the recommended model (Default (recommended) Fable 5.1) whatever model you have saved. The saved pick is marked only by the ✔ on its own row, and selecting Default returns you to the recommended model.

Error Messages/Logs

_No response_

Steps to Reproduce

1. Run /model. Row 1 reads Default (recommended) Fable 5.1.
2. Select Haiku 4.5. Claude Code confirms the pick is saved as your default for new sessions. It is stored as "model" in ~/.claude/settings.json (after selecting Opus 5.5 the file holds "model": "opus").
3. Quit and restart Claude Code.
4. Run /model again. Row 1 now reads Default (recommended) Haiku 4.5.

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.283 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Picker before the restart, with Opus 5.5 active:

  1. Default (recommended)  Fable 5.1
❯ 2. Opus 5.5 ✔             Most capable for ambitious work
  3. Opus 5                 For complex tasks
  4. Sonnet 5               Most efficient for everyday tasks
  5. Fable 5.1              For your toughest challenges
  6. Haiku 4.5              Fastest for quick answers

Picker after selecting Haiku 4.5 and restarting:

  1. Default (recommended)  Haiku 4.5
  2. Opus 5.5               Most capable for ambitious work
  3. Opus 5                 For complex tasks
  4. Sonnet 5               Most efficient for everyday tasks
  5. Fable 5.1              For your toughest challenges
❯ 6. Haiku 4.5 ✔            Fastest for quick answers

The Default row seems to take its label from the saved model setting rather than from the built-in recommendation. Possibly related: #86788, where the ✔ follows the saved default instead of the model the session is running.

macOS 27.0 (26A428).

❯ 1. Default (recommended)  Fable 5.1
  2. Opus 5.5               For complex work and everyday tasks
  3. Fable 5.1 ✔            For your toughest challenges