diff --git a/agent/auxiliary_client.py b/agent/auxiliary_client.py
index 102ff79f1ce..e02fa1911f7 100644
--- a/agent/auxiliary_client.py
+++ b/agent/auxiliary_client.py
@@ -424,7 +424,7 @@ NOUS_EXTRA_BODY = _nous_extra_body()
 auxiliary_is_nous: bool = False
 
 # Default auxiliary models per provider
-_OPENROUTER_MODEL = "google/gemini-3-flash-preview"
+_OPENROUTER_MODEL = "google/gemini-2.5-flash"
 _NOUS_MODEL = "google/gemini-3-flash-preview"
 _NOUS_DEFAULT_BASE_URL = "https://inference-api.nousresearch.com/v1"
 _ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_BASE_URL = "https://api.anthropic.com"
@@ -1473,7 +1473,7 @@ def _resolve_api_key_provider() -> Tuple[Optional[OpenAI], Optional[str]]:
 
 
 
-def _try_openrouter(explicit_api_key: str = None) -> Tuple[Optional[OpenAI], Optional[str]]:
+def _try_openrouter(explicit_api_key: str = None, model: str = None) -> Tuple[Optional[OpenAI], Optional[str]]:
     pool_present, entry = _select_pool_entry("openrouter")
     if pool_present:
         or_key = explicit_api_key or _pool_runtime_api_key(entry)
@@ -1483,7 +1483,7 @@ def _try_openrouter(explicit_api_key: str = None) -> Tuple[Optional[OpenAI], Opt
         base_url = _pool_runtime_base_url(entry, OPENROUTER_BASE_URL) or OPENROUTER_BASE_URL
         logger.debug("Auxiliary client: OpenRouter via pool")
         return OpenAI(api_key=or_key, base_url=base_url,
-                       default_headers=build_or_headers()), _OPENROUTER_MODEL
+                       default_headers=build_or_headers()), model or _OPENROUTER_MODEL
 
     or_key = explicit_api_key or os.getenv("OPENROUTER_API_KEY")
     if not or_key:
@@ -1491,7 +1491,7 @@ def _try_openrouter(explicit_api_key: str = None) -> Tuple[Optional[OpenAI], Opt
         return None, None
     logger.debug("Auxiliary client: OpenRouter")
     return OpenAI(api_key=or_key, base_url=OPENROUTER_BASE_URL,
-                   default_headers=build_or_headers()), _OPENROUTER_MODEL
+                   default_headers=build_or_headers()), model or _OPENROUTER_MODEL
 
 
 def _describe_openrouter_unavailable() -> str:
@@ -3407,7 +3407,7 @@ def _resolve_strict_vision_backend(
     if provider == "copilot":
         return resolve_provider_client("copilot", model, is_vision=True)
     if provider == "openrouter":
-        return _try_openrouter()
+        return _try_openrouter(model=model)
     if provider == "nous":
         return _try_nous(vision=True)
     if provider == "openai-codex":