diff --git a/agent/chat_completion_helpers.py b/agent/chat_completion_helpers.py
index 5c9c8cd771d..499d9411d48 100644
--- a/agent/chat_completion_helpers.py
+++ b/agent/chat_completion_helpers.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ from tools.terminal_tool import is_persistent_env
 from utils import base_url_host_matches, base_url_hostname, env_float, env_int
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+_OPENROUTER_PROVIDER_SORT_VALUES = {"throughput", "latency", "price"}
 
 
 def _ra():
@@ -115,6 +116,23 @@ def _is_openai_codex_backend(agent) -> bool:
     )
 
 
+def _validated_openrouter_provider_sort(raw_sort: Any) -> Optional[str]:
+    """Return a normalized OpenRouter provider.sort value or None."""
+    if not isinstance(raw_sort, str):
+        return None
+    sort_value = raw_sort.strip().lower()
+    if not sort_value:
+        return None
+    if sort_value in _OPENROUTER_PROVIDER_SORT_VALUES:
+        return sort_value
+    logger.warning(
+        "Ignoring invalid OpenRouter provider.sort value %r (allowed: %s)",
+        raw_sort,
+        ", ".join(sorted(_OPENROUTER_PROVIDER_SORT_VALUES)),
+    )
+    return None
+
+
 def _env_float(name: str, default: float) -> float:
     try:
         return float(os.getenv(name, str(default)))
@@ -698,8 +716,9 @@ def build_api_kwargs(agent, api_messages: list) -> dict:
         _prefs["ignore"] = agent.providers_ignored
     if agent.providers_order:
         _prefs["order"] = agent.providers_order
-    if agent.provider_sort:
-        _prefs["sort"] = agent.provider_sort
+    _provider_sort = _validated_openrouter_provider_sort(agent.provider_sort)
+    if _provider_sort:
+        _prefs["sort"] = _provider_sort
     if agent.provider_require_parameters:
         _prefs["require_parameters"] = True
     if agent.provider_data_collection:
@@ -1476,8 +1495,9 @@ def handle_max_iterations(agent, messages: list, api_call_count: int) -> str:
                 provider_preferences["ignore"] = agent.providers_ignored
             if agent.providers_order:
                 provider_preferences["order"] = agent.providers_order
-            if agent.provider_sort:
-                provider_preferences["sort"] = agent.provider_sort
+            _provider_sort = _validated_openrouter_provider_sort(agent.provider_sort)
+            if _provider_sort:
+                provider_preferences["sort"] = _provider_sort
             if provider_preferences and (
                 (agent.provider or "").strip().lower() == "openrouter"
                 or agent._is_openrouter_url()
diff --git a/cron/scheduler.py b/cron/scheduler.py
index e469fddcd53..410e9d7dc77 100644
--- a/cron/scheduler.py
+++ b/cron/scheduler.py
@@ -2335,7 +2335,7 @@ def run_job(job: dict) -> tuple[bool, str, str, Optional[str]]:
         max_iterations = _cfg.get("agent", {}).get("max_turns") or _cfg.get("max_turns") or 90
 
         # Provider routing
-        pr = _cfg.get("provider_routing", {})
+        pr = _cfg.get("provider_routing") or {}
 
         from hermes_cli.runtime_provider import (
             resolve_runtime_provider,
diff --git a/tests/agent/test_chat_completion_helpers_provider_sort.py b/tests/agent/test_chat_completion_helpers_provider_sort.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..fa4f75d7444
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/agent/test_chat_completion_helpers_provider_sort.py
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+from agent.chat_completion_helpers import _validated_openrouter_provider_sort
+
+
+def test_validated_openrouter_provider_sort_accepts_valid_values():
+    assert _validated_openrouter_provider_sort("price") == "price"
+    assert _validated_openrouter_provider_sort(" latency ") == "latency"
+    assert _validated_openrouter_provider_sort("THROUGHPUT") == "throughput"
+
+
+def test_validated_openrouter_provider_sort_rejects_invalid_values():
+    assert _validated_openrouter_provider_sort("intelligence") is None
+    assert _validated_openrouter_provider_sort("") is None
+    assert _validated_openrouter_provider_sort(None) is None
diff --git a/tests/run_agent/test_run_agent.py b/tests/run_agent/test_run_agent.py
index c60bf6e93db..b937c9cf1d5 100644
--- a/tests/run_agent/test_run_agent.py
+++ b/tests/run_agent/test_run_agent.py
@@ -1676,6 +1676,14 @@ class TestBuildApiKwargs:
         kwargs = agent._build_api_kwargs(messages)
         assert kwargs["extra_body"]["provider"]["only"] == ["Anthropic"]
 
+    def test_provider_preferences_drop_invalid_sort(self, agent):
+        agent.provider = "openrouter"
+        agent.base_url = "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
+        agent.provider_sort = "intelligence"
+        messages = [{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}]
+        kwargs = agent._build_api_kwargs(messages)
+        assert "sort" not in kwargs.get("extra_body", {}).get("provider", {})
+
     def test_reasoning_config_default_openrouter(self, agent):
         """Default reasoning config for OpenRouter should be medium."""
         agent.provider = "openrouter"
@@ -3492,6 +3500,20 @@ class TestHandleMaxIterations:
         kwargs = agent.client.chat.completions.create.call_args.kwargs
         assert kwargs["extra_body"]["provider"]["only"] == ["Anthropic"]
 
+    def test_summary_drops_invalid_provider_sort(self, agent):
+        agent.base_url = "https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
+        agent._base_url_lower = agent.base_url.lower()
+        agent.provider = "openrouter"
+        agent.provider_sort = "intelligence"
+        agent.client.chat.completions.create.return_value = _mock_response(content="Summary")
+        agent._cached_system_prompt = "You are helpful."
+
+        result = agent._handle_max_iterations([{"role": "user", "content": "do stuff"}], 60)
+
+        assert result == "Summary"
+        kwargs = agent.client.chat.completions.create.call_args.kwargs
+        assert "sort" not in kwargs.get("extra_body", {}).get("provider", {})
+
     def test_codex_summary_sanitizes_orphan_tool_results(self, agent):
         agent.api_mode = "codex_responses"
         agent.provider = "openai-codex"