`/side` can inherit an unexpected model, and `/model` is unavailable inside the side conversation

[miraclebakelaser]

What version of Codex CLI is running?

codex-cli 0.130.0

What subscription do you have?

Pro

Which model were you using?

No response

What platform is your computer?

Darwin 25.4.0 arm64 arm

What terminal emulator and version are you using (if applicable)?

No response

What issue are you seeing?

/side can open a side conversation with a model that does not match the conversation I started it from, and then there is no way to correct it because /model is unavailable inside the side conversation.

What steps can reproduce the bug?

1. Start Conversation A using gpt-5.5.
2. Later, Conversation B and choose gpt-5.3-codex-spark.
3. Return to Conversation A.
4. Run /side.
5. Side Conversation A is limited to gpt-5.3-codex-spark.

What is the expected behavior?

• When the active conversation is a /side conversation, /model should open the model picker.
• The selected model should only apply to the active side conversation, and not change the parent conversation or global/default model.
• A side conversation should not unexpectedly inherit a newer global/default model from a different conversation.

Additional information

No response

[etraut-openai]

Thanks for the bug report. Yes, it looks like the side conversation is using the on-disk config for the model selection rather than inheriting it from the parent thread as it should.

/model and most other slash commands are intentionally not available in a side conversation. This is by design.

[miraclebakelaser]

Cool, I'm fine with parent model inheritance.