diff --git a/src/browser/components/ChatInput/index.tsx b/src/browser/components/ChatInput/index.tsx
index 4687e2b587..02abe3e7ac 100644
--- a/src/browser/components/ChatInput/index.tsx
+++ b/src/browser/components/ChatInput/index.tsx
@@ -253,12 +253,21 @@ export const ChatInput: React.FC<ChatInputProps> = (props) => {
         }
   );
 
-  // When entering creation mode (or when the default model changes), reset the
-  // project-scoped model to the explicit default so manual picks don't bleed
-  // into subsequent creation flows.
+  // When entering creation mode, initialize the project-scoped model to the
+  // default so previous manual picks don't bleed into new creation flows.
+  // Only runs once per creation session (not when defaultModel changes, which
+  // would clobber the user's intentional model selection).
+  const creationModelInitialized = useRef<string | null>(null);
   useEffect(() => {
     if (variant === "creation" && defaultModel) {
-      updatePersistedState(storageKeys.modelKey, defaultModel);
+      // Only initialize once per project scope
+      if (creationModelInitialized.current !== storageKeys.modelKey) {
+        creationModelInitialized.current = storageKeys.modelKey;
+        updatePersistedState(storageKeys.modelKey, defaultModel);
+      }
+    } else if (variant !== "creation") {
+      // Reset when leaving creation mode so re-entering triggers initialization
+      creationModelInitialized.current = null;
     }
   }, [variant, defaultModel, storageKeys.modelKey]);
 
diff --git a/src/browser/components/ChatInput/useCreationWorkspace.test.tsx b/src/browser/components/ChatInput/useCreationWorkspace.test.tsx
index 172f45f5fc..6fca864302 100644
--- a/src/browser/components/ChatInput/useCreationWorkspace.test.tsx
+++ b/src/browser/components/ChatInput/useCreationWorkspace.test.tsx
@@ -2,13 +2,14 @@ import type { APIClient } from "@/browser/contexts/API";
 import type { DraftWorkspaceSettings } from "@/browser/hooks/useDraftWorkspaceSettings";
 import {
   getInputKey,
+  getModelKey,
   getModeKey,
   getPendingScopeId,
   getProjectScopeId,
   getThinkingLevelKey,
 } from "@/common/constants/storage";
 import type { SendMessageError } from "@/common/types/errors";
-import type { SendMessageOptions, WorkspaceChatMessage } from "@/common/orpc/types";
+import type { WorkspaceChatMessage } from "@/common/orpc/types";
 import type { RuntimeMode } from "@/common/types/runtime";
 import type {
   FrontendWorkspaceMetadata,
@@ -60,13 +61,6 @@ void mock.module("@/browser/hooks/useDraftWorkspaceSettings", () => ({
   useDraftWorkspaceSettings: useDraftWorkspaceSettingsMock,
 }));
 
-let currentSendOptions: SendMessageOptions;
-const useSendMessageOptionsMock = mock(() => currentSendOptions);
-
-void mock.module("@/browser/hooks/useSendMessageOptions", () => ({
-  useSendMessageOptions: useSendMessageOptionsMock,
-}));
-
 let currentORPCClient: MockOrpcClient | null = null;
 void mock.module("@/browser/contexts/API", () => ({
   useAPI: () => {
@@ -278,11 +272,6 @@ describe("useCreationWorkspace", () => {
     updatePersistedStateCalls.length = 0;
     draftSettingsInvocations = [];
     draftSettingsState = createDraftSettingsHarness();
-    currentSendOptions = {
-      model: "gpt-4",
-      thinkingLevel: "medium",
-      mode: "exec",
-    } satisfies SendMessageOptions;
   });
 
   afterEach(() => {
@@ -376,6 +365,8 @@ describe("useCreationWorkspace", () => {
 
     persistedPreferences[getModeKey(getProjectScopeId(TEST_PROJECT_PATH))] = "plan";
     persistedPreferences[getThinkingLevelKey(getProjectScopeId(TEST_PROJECT_PATH))] = "high";
+    // Set model preference for the project scope (read by getSendOptionsFromStorage)
+    persistedPreferences[getModelKey(getProjectScopeId(TEST_PROJECT_PATH))] = "gpt-4";
 
     draftSettingsState = createDraftSettingsHarness({
       runtimeMode: "ssh",
@@ -412,8 +403,10 @@ describe("useCreationWorkspace", () => {
     expect(options?.projectPath).toBe(TEST_PROJECT_PATH);
     expect(options?.trunkBranch).toBe("dev");
     expect(options?.model).toBe("gpt-4");
-    expect(options?.mode).toBe("exec");
-    expect(options?.thinkingLevel).toBe("medium");
+    // Mode was set to "plan" in persistedPreferences, so that's what we expect
+    expect(options?.mode).toBe("plan");
+    // thinkingLevel was set to "high" in persistedPreferences
+    expect(options?.thinkingLevel).toBe("high");
     expect(options?.runtimeConfig).toEqual({
       type: "ssh",
       host: "example.com",
diff --git a/src/browser/components/ChatInput/useCreationWorkspace.ts b/src/browser/components/ChatInput/useCreationWorkspace.ts
index ecd41ea9e0..513dbff0f9 100644
--- a/src/browser/components/ChatInput/useCreationWorkspace.ts
+++ b/src/browser/components/ChatInput/useCreationWorkspace.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import type { ThinkingLevel } from "@/common/types/thinking";
 import { parseRuntimeString } from "@/browser/utils/chatCommands";
 import { useDraftWorkspaceSettings } from "@/browser/hooks/useDraftWorkspaceSettings";
 import { readPersistedState, updatePersistedState } from "@/browser/hooks/usePersistedState";
-import { useSendMessageOptions } from "@/browser/hooks/useSendMessageOptions";
+import { getSendOptionsFromStorage } from "@/browser/utils/messages/sendOptions";
 import {
   getInputKey,
   getModelKey,
@@ -95,8 +95,8 @@ export function useCreationWorkspace({
     getRuntimeString,
   } = useDraftWorkspaceSettings(projectPath, branches, recommendedTrunk);
 
-  // Get send options from shared hook (uses project-scoped storage key)
-  const sendMessageOptions = useSendMessageOptions(getProjectScopeId(projectPath));
+  // Project scope ID for reading send options at send time
+  const projectScopeId = getProjectScopeId(projectPath);
 
   // Load branches on mount
   useEffect(() => {
@@ -131,6 +131,11 @@ export function useCreationWorkspace({
           ? parseRuntimeString(runtimeString, "")
           : undefined;
 
+        // Read send options fresh from localStorage at send time to avoid
+        // race conditions with React state updates (requestAnimationFrame batching
+        // in usePersistedState can delay state updates after model selection)
+        const sendMessageOptions = getSendOptionsFromStorage(projectScopeId);
+
         // Send message with runtime config and creation-specific params
         const result = await api.workspace.sendMessage({
           workspaceId: null,
@@ -188,9 +193,9 @@ export function useCreationWorkspace({
       api,
       isSending,
       projectPath,
+      projectScopeId,
       onWorkspaceCreated,
       getRuntimeString,
-      sendMessageOptions,
       settings.trunkBranch,
     ]
   );
diff --git a/src/browser/utils/messages/sendOptions.ts b/src/browser/utils/messages/sendOptions.ts
index 7de1fbbe97..e8bfb07c7b 100644
--- a/src/browser/utils/messages/sendOptions.ts
+++ b/src/browser/utils/messages/sendOptions.ts
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ export function getSendOptionsFromStorage(workspaceId: string): SendMessageOptio
 
   return {
     model,
+    mode: mode === "exec" || mode === "plan" ? mode : "exec", // Only pass exec/plan to backend
     thinkingLevel: effectiveThinkingLevel,
     toolPolicy: modeToToolPolicy(mode),
     additionalSystemInstructions,