The per-chat model picker and Auto
The per-chat model picker
Section titled “The per-chat model picker”Every chat has a model picker. You set it per conversation - not once globally - which is the whole point: the model is a per-task decision, the same way the mode is.
The roster spans multiple vendors. As documented, it covers Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, xAI, Moonshot, and Cursor’s own Composer family - frontier reasoning models, fast cheap models, and everything between, all behind one picker.
You’ll notice this chapter names almost no specific models, and that’s deliberate. The roster turns over fast enough that any slug printed here will be stale within a release or two. What doesn’t go stale is the shape of the decision: cheap-and-routed for the everyday, a strong frontier model for the genuinely hard reasoning, and an awareness of which pool each one bills against. Learn the shape; check the live picker for the names.
The judgment behind the picker is the one from the last chapter restated. A boilerplate accounts endpoint in budgetcli - list, create, read, delete, following patterns already in the codebase - has little to reason about. Don’t reach for the strongest engine to type it out. But the categorisation rules engine, where the design of how rules match, how they order, and how conflicts resolve is a genuine fork with several reasonable answers - that’s a turn where a stronger model’s reasoning may change the result. Spend there, and choose from the live picker rather than memorising a model name; the roster and labels change quickly.
Auto: let Cursor route the everyday
Section titled “Auto: let Cursor route the everyday”Most of the time you shouldn’t be picking a model at all. Auto lets Cursor choose for you - in its own words, Auto “allows Cursor to select models that balance intelligence, cost efficiency, and reliability.” It routes across models rather than pinning one default.
The detail that makes Auto more than a convenience toggle is that it routes across models rather than pinning one. What it costs depends on your plan, usage mode, and current Cursor pricing; the live pricing page is authoritative. For the bulk of a working day - the CRUD endpoints, the small refactors, the rename-this-everywhere chores - Auto is still the right default.
The reflex to build: default to Auto, and only override the picker when you can name why. “This is a hard reasoning problem and I want a specific frontier model on it” is a reason. “I always use this model” is a habit, and habits are what burn budget on mechanical work.
Auto covers the bulk of a working day, but there may be times you want to choose a specific model deliberately. Check its current context limits and billing treatment before doing so. Next: pricing, Composer, and MAX Mode.