diff --git a/cli-config.yaml.example b/cli-config.yaml.example
index 346e6e851..a0a2d7d8a 100644
--- a/cli-config.yaml.example
+++ b/cli-config.yaml.example
@@ -684,7 +684,11 @@ platform_toolsets:
 stt:
   enabled: true
   # provider: "local"          # auto-detected if omitted
-  model: "whisper-1"  # whisper-1 (cheapest) | gpt-4o-mini-transcribe | gpt-4o-transcribe
+  local:
+    model: "base"              # tiny | base | small | medium | large-v3 | turbo
+    # language: ""             # auto-detect; set to "en", "es", "fr", etc. to force
+  openai:
+    model: "whisper-1"         # whisper-1 | gpt-4o-mini-transcribe | gpt-4o-transcribe
   # mistral:
   #   model: "voxtral-mini-latest"  # voxtral-mini-latest | voxtral-mini-2602
 
diff --git a/gateway/platforms/discord.py b/gateway/platforms/discord.py
index a51f94095..34a51e721 100644
--- a/gateway/platforms/discord.py
+++ b/gateway/platforms/discord.py
@@ -1260,9 +1260,8 @@ class DiscordAdapter(BasePlatformAdapter):
         try:
             await asyncio.to_thread(VoiceReceiver.pcm_to_wav, pcm_data, wav_path)
 
-            from tools.transcription_tools import transcribe_audio, get_stt_model_from_config
-            stt_model = get_stt_model_from_config()
-            result = await asyncio.to_thread(transcribe_audio, wav_path, model=stt_model)
+            from tools.transcription_tools import transcribe_audio
+            result = await asyncio.to_thread(transcribe_audio, wav_path)
 
             if not result.get("success"):
                 return
diff --git a/gateway/run.py b/gateway/run.py
index 9aae8217d..9e9bb8fce 100644
--- a/gateway/run.py
+++ b/gateway/run.py
@@ -6099,16 +6099,14 @@ class GatewayRunner:
                 return f"{disabled_note}\n\n{user_text}"
             return disabled_note
 
-        from tools.transcription_tools import transcribe_audio, get_stt_model_from_config
+        from tools.transcription_tools import transcribe_audio
         import asyncio
 
-        stt_model = get_stt_model_from_config()
-
         enriched_parts = []
         for path in audio_paths:
             try:
                 logger.debug("Transcribing user voice: %s", path)
-                result = await asyncio.to_thread(transcribe_audio, path, model=stt_model)
+                result = await asyncio.to_thread(transcribe_audio, path)
                 if result["success"]:
                     transcript = result["transcript"]
                     enriched_parts.append(
diff --git a/hermes_cli/config.py b/hermes_cli/config.py
index 93aa1cc0c..4944e4293 100644
--- a/hermes_cli/config.py
+++ b/hermes_cli/config.py
@@ -612,7 +612,7 @@ DEFAULT_CONFIG = {
     },
 
     # Config schema version - bump this when adding new required fields
-    "_config_version": 13,
+    "_config_version": 14,
 }
 
 # =============================================================================
@@ -1767,6 +1767,56 @@ def migrate_config(interactive: bool = True, quiet: bool = False) -> Dict[str, A
             except Exception:
                 pass
 
+    # ── Version 13 → 14: migrate legacy flat stt.model to provider section ──
+    # Old configs (and cli-config.yaml.example) had a flat `stt.model` key
+    # that was provider-agnostic.  When the provider was "local" this caused
+    # OpenAI model names (e.g. "whisper-1") to be fed to faster-whisper,
+    # crashing with "Invalid model size".  Move the value into the correct
+    # provider-specific section and remove the flat key.
+    if current_ver < 14:
+        # Read raw config (no defaults merged) to check what the user actually
+        # wrote, then apply changes to the merged config for saving.
+        raw = read_raw_config()
+        raw_stt = raw.get("stt", {})
+        if isinstance(raw_stt, dict) and "model" in raw_stt:
+            legacy_model = raw_stt["model"]
+            provider = raw_stt.get("provider", "local")
+            config = load_config()
+            stt = config.get("stt", {})
+            # Remove the legacy flat key
+            stt.pop("model", None)
+            # Place it in the appropriate provider section only if the
+            # user didn't already set a model there
+            if provider in ("local", "local_command"):
+                # Don't migrate an OpenAI model name into the local section
+                _local_models = {
+                    "tiny.en", "tiny", "base.en", "base", "small.en", "small",
+                    "medium.en", "medium", "large-v1", "large-v2", "large-v3",
+                    "large", "distil-large-v2", "distil-medium.en",
+                    "distil-small.en", "distil-large-v3", "distil-large-v3.5",
+                    "large-v3-turbo", "turbo",
+                }
+                if legacy_model in _local_models:
+                    # Check raw config — only set if user didn't already
+                    # have a nested local.model
+                    raw_local = raw_stt.get("local", {})
+                    if not isinstance(raw_local, dict) or "model" not in raw_local:
+                        local_cfg = stt.setdefault("local", {})
+                        local_cfg["model"] = legacy_model
+                # else: drop it — it was an OpenAI model name, local section
+                # already defaults to "base" via DEFAULT_CONFIG
+            else:
+                # Cloud provider — put it in that provider's section only
+                # if user didn't already set a nested model
+                raw_provider = raw_stt.get(provider, {})
+                if not isinstance(raw_provider, dict) or "model" not in raw_provider:
+                    provider_cfg = stt.setdefault(provider, {})
+                    provider_cfg["model"] = legacy_model
+            config["stt"] = stt
+            save_config(config)
+            if not quiet:
+                print(f"  ✓ Migrated legacy stt.model to provider-specific config")
+
     if current_ver < latest_ver and not quiet:
         print(f"Config version: {current_ver} → {latest_ver}")
     
diff --git a/tests/gateway/test_stt_config.py b/tests/gateway/test_stt_config.py
index 436afd7c1..a49e40215 100644
--- a/tests/gateway/test_stt_config.py
+++ b/tests/gateway/test_stt_config.py
@@ -40,9 +40,6 @@ async def test_enrich_message_with_transcription_skips_when_stt_disabled():
     with patch(
         "tools.transcription_tools.transcribe_audio",
         side_effect=AssertionError("transcribe_audio should not be called when STT is disabled"),
-    ), patch(
-        "tools.transcription_tools.get_stt_model_from_config",
-        return_value=None,
     ):
         result = await runner._enrich_message_with_transcription(
             "caption",
@@ -63,9 +60,6 @@ async def test_enrich_message_with_transcription_avoids_bogus_no_provider_messag
     with patch(
         "tools.transcription_tools.transcribe_audio",
         return_value={"success": False, "error": "VOICE_TOOLS_OPENAI_KEY not set"},
-    ), patch(
-        "tools.transcription_tools.get_stt_model_from_config",
-        return_value=None,
     ):
         result = await runner._enrich_message_with_transcription(
             "caption",
diff --git a/tests/tools/test_transcription_tools.py b/tests/tools/test_transcription_tools.py
index f781c32bd..88a33298e 100644
--- a/tests/tools/test_transcription_tools.py
+++ b/tests/tools/test_transcription_tools.py
@@ -822,27 +822,54 @@ class TestTranscribeAudioDispatch:
 # ============================================================================
 
 class TestGetSttModelFromConfig:
-    def test_returns_model_from_config(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    """get_stt_model_from_config is provider-aware: it reads the model from the
+    correct provider-specific section (stt.local.model, stt.openai.model, etc.)
+    and only honours the legacy flat stt.model key for cloud providers."""
+
+    def test_returns_local_model_from_nested_config(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
         cfg = tmp_path / "config.yaml"
-        cfg.write_text("stt:\n  model: whisper-large-v3\n")
+        cfg.write_text("stt:\n  provider: local\n  local:\n    model: large-v3\n")
+        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
+
+        from tools.transcription_tools import get_stt_model_from_config
+        assert get_stt_model_from_config() == "large-v3"
+
+    def test_returns_openai_model_from_nested_config(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        cfg = tmp_path / "config.yaml"
+        cfg.write_text("stt:\n  provider: openai\n  openai:\n    model: gpt-4o-transcribe\n")
+        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
+
+        from tools.transcription_tools import get_stt_model_from_config
+        assert get_stt_model_from_config() == "gpt-4o-transcribe"
+
+    def test_legacy_flat_key_ignored_for_local_provider(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """Legacy stt.model should NOT be used when provider is local, to prevent
+        OpenAI model names (whisper-1) from being fed to faster-whisper."""
+        cfg = tmp_path / "config.yaml"
+        cfg.write_text("stt:\n  provider: local\n  model: whisper-1\n")
+        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
+
+        from tools.transcription_tools import get_stt_model_from_config
+        result = get_stt_model_from_config()
+        assert result != "whisper-1", "Legacy stt.model should be ignored for local provider"
+
+    def test_legacy_flat_key_honoured_for_cloud_provider(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """Legacy stt.model should still work for cloud providers that don't
+        have a section in DEFAULT_CONFIG (e.g. groq)."""
+        cfg = tmp_path / "config.yaml"
+        cfg.write_text("stt:\n  provider: groq\n  model: whisper-large-v3\n")
         monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
 
         from tools.transcription_tools import get_stt_model_from_config
         assert get_stt_model_from_config() == "whisper-large-v3"
 
-    def test_returns_none_when_no_stt_section(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
-        cfg = tmp_path / "config.yaml"
-        cfg.write_text("tts:\n  provider: edge\n")
+    def test_defaults_to_local_model_when_no_config_file(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+        """With no config file, load_config() returns DEFAULT_CONFIG which has
+        stt.provider=local and stt.local.model=base."""
         monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
 
         from tools.transcription_tools import get_stt_model_from_config
-        assert get_stt_model_from_config() is None
-
-    def test_returns_none_when_no_config_file(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
-        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
-
-        from tools.transcription_tools import get_stt_model_from_config
-        assert get_stt_model_from_config() is None
+        assert get_stt_model_from_config() == "base"
 
     def test_returns_none_on_invalid_yaml(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
         cfg = tmp_path / "config.yaml"
@@ -850,15 +877,12 @@ class TestGetSttModelFromConfig:
         monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
 
         from tools.transcription_tools import get_stt_model_from_config
-        assert get_stt_model_from_config() is None
-
-    def test_returns_none_when_model_key_missing(self, tmp_path, monkeypatch):
-        cfg = tmp_path / "config.yaml"
-        cfg.write_text("stt:\n  enabled: true\n")
-        monkeypatch.setenv("HERMES_HOME", str(tmp_path))
-
-        from tools.transcription_tools import get_stt_model_from_config
-        assert get_stt_model_from_config() is None
+        # _load_stt_config catches exceptions and returns {}, so the function
+        # falls through to return None (no provider section in empty dict)
+        result = get_stt_model_from_config()
+        # With empty config, load_config may still merge defaults; either
+        # None or a default is acceptable — just not an OpenAI model name
+        assert result is None or result in ("base", "small", "medium", "large-v3")
 
 
 # ============================================================================
diff --git a/tools/transcription_tools.py b/tools/transcription_tools.py
index d4f9145c2..3d3473a39 100644
--- a/tools/transcription_tools.py
+++ b/tools/transcription_tools.py
@@ -96,12 +96,28 @@ _local_model_name: Optional[str] = None
 def get_stt_model_from_config() -> Optional[str]:
     """Read the STT model name from ~/.hermes/config.yaml.
 
-    Returns the value of ``stt.model`` if present, otherwise ``None``.
+    Provider-aware: reads from the correct provider-specific section
+    (``stt.local.model``, ``stt.openai.model``, etc.).  Falls back to
+    the legacy flat ``stt.model`` key only for cloud providers — if the
+    resolved provider is ``local`` the legacy key is ignored to prevent
+    OpenAI model names (e.g. ``whisper-1``) from being fed to
+    faster-whisper.
+
     Silently returns ``None`` on any error (missing file, bad YAML, etc.).
     """
     try:
-        from hermes_cli.config import read_raw_config
-        return read_raw_config().get("stt", {}).get("model")
+        stt_cfg = _load_stt_config()
+        provider = stt_cfg.get("provider", DEFAULT_PROVIDER)
+        # Read from the provider-specific section first
+        provider_model = stt_cfg.get(provider, {}).get("model")
+        if provider_model:
+            return provider_model
+        # Legacy flat key — only honour for non-local providers to avoid
+        # feeding OpenAI model names (whisper-1) to faster-whisper.
+        if provider not in ("local", "local_command"):
+            legacy = stt_cfg.get("model")
+            if legacy:
+                return legacy
     except Exception:
         pass
     return None