diff --git a/changelog.d/fixes/13927-combo-ref-vision-bridge.md b/changelog.d/fixes/13927-combo-ref-vision-bridge.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d12977c8ab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/fixes/13927-combo-ref-vision-bridge.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- fix(guardrails): resolve nested `combo-ref` steps to their real leaf models when deciding vision-bridge behavior, so a pass-through combo pointing at an all-vision-capable inner combo skips the describe-and-replace path instead of stripping raw images (#13927)
diff --git a/src/lib/guardrails/visionBridge.ts b/src/lib/guardrails/visionBridge.ts
index cdf4028cc0..e87a7c376e 100644
--- a/src/lib/guardrails/visionBridge.ts
+++ b/src/lib/guardrails/visionBridge.ts
@@ -31,11 +31,79 @@ import {
   isProviderConnectionUsable,
   hasUsableCredentialsForModel,
 } from "./visionBridgeCredentials";
+import { MAX_COMBO_DEPTH } from "@omniroute/open-sse/services/combo/comboPredicates.ts";
 
 export { isProviderConnectionUsable, hasUsableCredentialsForModel };
 
 type ComboVisionBridgeDecision = "process" | "skip" | "not-combo" | "no-vision";
 
+type LeafVisionTally = { hasVision: boolean; hasNonVision: boolean };
+
+/// Evaluate a single `kind: "model"` step's proven vision capability.
+/// Returns null when the step lacks a valid model string (malformed step).
+function evaluateModelStepCapability(s: Record<string, unknown>): "vision" | "non-vision" | null {
+  const targetModel = s.model;
+  if (typeof targetModel !== "string") return null;
+  const provider =
+    typeof s.providerId === "string"
+      ? s.providerId
+      : typeof s.provider === "string"
+        ? s.provider
+        : null;
+  const caps = getResolvedModelCapabilities({ provider, model: targetModel });
+  return caps.supportsVision === true ? "vision" : "non-vision";
+}
+
+/// Recursively resolve a `combo-ref` step to its real leaf models' vision
+/// capability, reusing the same MAX_COMBO_DEPTH guard as the flatten dispatch
+/// path (open-sse/services/combo/comboStructure.ts) plus a visited-set cycle
+/// guard, so this request-hot-path lookup can never recurse unbounded or loop
+/// on a cyclic combo-ref chain.
+///
+/// Unresolvable cases (combo not found, empty/invalid models, depth exceeded,
+/// or a cycle) fall back to treating the combo-ref step as a single
+/// non-vision-capable leaf -- conservative, but no longer forces the WHOLE
+/// outer combo to "process" the way the old unconditional shortcut did.
+async function resolveComboRefVisionCapability(
+  comboName: string,
+  visited: Set<string>,
+  depth: number
+): Promise<LeafVisionTally> {
+  const fallback: LeafVisionTally = { hasVision: false, hasNonVision: true };
+  if (depth > MAX_COMBO_DEPTH || visited.has(comboName)) return fallback;
+
+  const { getComboByName } = await import("@/lib/db/combos");
+  const nestedCombo = await getComboByName(comboName);
+  if (!nestedCombo) return fallback;
+
+  const nestedVisited = new Set(visited);
+  nestedVisited.add(comboName);
+
+  const nestedRawModels = (nestedCombo as Record<string, unknown>).models;
+  if (!Array.isArray(nestedRawModels) || nestedRawModels.length === 0) return fallback;
+
+  const tally: LeafVisionTally = { hasVision: false, hasNonVision: false };
+  let hasLeaf = false;
+  for (const step of nestedRawModels) {
+    const s = step as Record<string, unknown>;
+    if (s.kind === "combo-ref" && typeof s.comboName === "string") {
+      hasLeaf = true;
+      const nested = await resolveComboRefVisionCapability(s.comboName, nestedVisited, depth + 1);
+      tally.hasVision = tally.hasVision || nested.hasVision;
+      tally.hasNonVision = tally.hasNonVision || nested.hasNonVision;
+      continue;
+    }
+    if (s.kind === "model") {
+      hasLeaf = true;
+      const capability = evaluateModelStepCapability(s);
+      if (capability === "vision") tally.hasVision = true;
+      else tally.hasNonVision = true;
+    }
+  }
+
+  return hasLeaf ? tally : fallback;
+}
+
 export function resolveVisionComboName(mapping: Record<string, unknown>): string | null {
   const comboName = mapping.comboName ?? mapping.name ?? null;
   return typeof comboName === "string" && comboName.length > 0 ? comboName : null;
@@ -75,37 +143,43 @@ export async function getComboVisionBridgeDecision(
     if (!Array.isArray(rawModels)) return "process";
 
     // 4. Check each target for vision support
-    // combo-ref → conservative (process images)
+    // combo-ref → recursively resolve the referenced combo's real leaf
+    //   models (depth/cycle-guarded); unresolvable → conservative non-vision leaf
     // model step with no native vision → process images
     // all model steps with native vision → safe to skip
     // zero vision-capable model steps → "no-vision" (reroute-eligible)
     let hasModelStep = false;
     let hasVisionCapableStep = false;
     let hasNonVisionStep = false;
+    const rootComboName =
+      typeof (combo as Record<string, unknown>).name === "string"
+        ? ((combo as Record<string, unknown>).name as string)
+        : model;
     for (const step of rawModels) {
       const s = step as Record<string, unknown>;
-      if (s.kind === "combo-ref") return "process";
+      if (s.kind === "combo-ref") {
+        hasModelStep = true;
+        if (typeof s.comboName !== "string") {
+          hasNonVisionStep = true;
+          continue;
+        }
+        const nested = await resolveComboRefVisionCapability(
+          s.comboName,
+          new Set([rootComboName]),
+          1
+        );
+        if (nested.hasVision) hasVisionCapableStep = true;
+        if (nested.hasNonVision) hasNonVisionStep = true;
+        continue;
+      }
       if (s.kind === "model") {
         hasModelStep = true;
-        const targetModel = s.model;
-        if (typeof targetModel === "string") {
-          const provider =
-            typeof s.providerId === "string"
-              ? s.providerId
-              : typeof s.provider === "string"
-                ? s.provider
-                : null;
-          const caps = getResolvedModelCapabilities({
-            provider,
-            model: targetModel,
-          });
-          if (caps.supportsVision === true) {
-            hasVisionCapableStep = true;
-          } else {
-            hasNonVisionStep = true;
-          }
+        const capability = evaluateModelStepCapability(s);
+        if (capability === null) return "process";
+        if (capability === "vision") {
+          hasVisionCapableStep = true;
         } else {
-          return "process";
+          hasNonVisionStep = true;
         }
       }
     }
diff --git a/tests/unit/combo-ref-vision-bridge-13927.test.ts b/tests/unit/combo-ref-vision-bridge-13927.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6bb4fed682
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/combo-ref-vision-bridge-13927.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+/**
+ * Repro probe for #13927: combo-ref hop strips image parts.
+ *
+ * getComboVisionBridgeDecision() treats ANY top-level `combo-ref` step as an
+ * unconditional "process" (describe images as text) without ever resolving
+ * the nested combo to see whether its actual leaf targets support vision.
+ * For a pass-through combo whose single member is a combo-ref to another
+ * combo made entirely of vision-capable models, this wrongly triggers the
+ * describe-and-replace path instead of "skip" (pass the image through raw),
+ * which is what happens for the flat inner combo or the leaf model called
+ * directly.
+ */
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+
+process.env.DATA_DIR = `/tmp/omniroute-test-13927-${Date.now()}`;
+
+const { getComboVisionBridgeDecision } = await import("../../src/lib/guardrails/visionBridge.ts");
+const combosDb = await import("../../src/lib/db/combos.ts");
+const core = await import("../../src/lib/db/core.ts");
+
+test.after(() => {
+  core.resetDbInstance();
+});
+
+test("#13927: nested combo-ref to an all-vision-capable inner combo should resolve to skip, not process", async () => {
+  // Inner combo: flat, all leaf targets are proven vision-capable
+  // (command-code/gpt-5.5 is asserted vision-capable elsewhere, e.g.
+  // tests/unit/vision-bridge-native-skip.test.ts).
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "inner-vision-combo-13927",
+    models: [{ providerId: "command-code", model: "gpt-5.5", weight: 1 }],
+  });
+
+  // Outer combo: single member is a combo-ref to the inner (all-vision) combo
+  // -- exactly the "preset/default -> preset/deepseek-flash-latest" shape from
+  // the issue.
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "outer-passthrough-combo-13927",
+    models: [{ kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "inner-vision-combo-13927" }],
+  });
+
+  const innerDecision = await getComboVisionBridgeDecision("inner-vision-combo-13927");
+  assert.equal(
+    innerDecision,
+    "skip",
+    "sanity: the flat inner combo (all vision-capable targets) must resolve to skip"
+  );
+
+  const outerDecision = await getComboVisionBridgeDecision("outer-passthrough-combo-13927");
+  assert.equal(
+    outerDecision,
+    "skip",
+    "BUG #13927: outer combo whose only member is a combo-ref to an all-vision-capable " +
+      "combo must ALSO resolve to skip (image should pass through raw), not 'process' " +
+      "(which describes the image as text and drops the raw bytes before the leaf ever sees them)"
+  );
+});
+
+test("#13927: combo-ref to a mixed-capability inner combo resolves to process", async () => {
+  // Inner combo mixes one vision-capable and one non-vision-capable leaf.
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "inner-mixed-combo-13927",
+    models: [
+      { providerId: "command-code", model: "gpt-5.5", weight: 1 },
+      { providerId: "mistral", model: "mistral-large-latest", weight: 1 },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "outer-mixed-ref-combo-13927",
+    models: [{ kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "inner-mixed-combo-13927" }],
+  });
+
+  const decision = await getComboVisionBridgeDecision("outer-mixed-ref-combo-13927");
+  assert.equal(
+    decision,
+    "process",
+    "a combo-ref to a mixed inner combo must resolve real leaf capabilities and still " +
+      "describe images (some real leaves cannot see them)"
+  );
+});
+
+test("#13927: combo-ref to a zero-vision inner combo resolves to no-vision", async () => {
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "inner-zero-vision-combo-13927",
+    models: [{ providerId: "mistral", model: "mistral-large-latest", weight: 1 }],
+  });
+
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "outer-zero-vision-ref-combo-13927",
+    models: [{ kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "inner-zero-vision-combo-13927" }],
+  });
+
+  const decision = await getComboVisionBridgeDecision("outer-zero-vision-ref-combo-13927");
+  assert.equal(
+    decision,
+    "no-vision",
+    "a combo-ref to an all-non-vision inner combo must behave like a text-only model " +
+      "(reroute-eligible), matching the flat-combo 'no-vision' outcome"
+  );
+});
+
+test("#13927: circular combo-ref chain falls back safely and never throws", async () => {
+  // A -> B -> A. Neither combo has a real leaf model, only cyclic combo-refs,
+  // so both sides of the cycle hit the visited-set guard.
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "circular-a-13927",
+    models: [{ kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "circular-b-13927" }],
+  });
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "circular-b-13927",
+    models: [{ kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "circular-a-13927" }],
+  });
+
+  await assert.doesNotReject(async () => {
+    const decision = await getComboVisionBridgeDecision("circular-a-13927");
+    // Implementation-plan contract: an unresolvable/circular combo-ref step is
+    // folded in as a non-vision-capable leaf rather than forcing the whole
+    // combo back to "process" -- with no other real leaf present, that lands
+    // on "no-vision" (safe, reroute-eligible), never a crash.
+    assert.equal(decision, "no-vision");
+  });
+});
+
+test("#13927: circular combo-ref mixed with a real vision-capable leaf resolves to process", async () => {
+  // A real vision-capable leaf plus an unresolvable circular combo-ref: the
+  // circular hop still contributes a conservative non-vision leaf, so the
+  // combo is "mixed" and must describe images, not skip.
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "circular-c-13927",
+    models: [{ kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "circular-d-13927" }],
+  });
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "circular-d-13927",
+    models: [{ kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "circular-c-13927" }],
+  });
+  await combosDb.createCombo({
+    name: "outer-circular-mixed-combo-13927",
+    models: [
+      { providerId: "command-code", model: "gpt-5.5", weight: 1 },
+      { kind: "combo-ref", comboName: "circular-c-13927" },
+    ],
+  });
+
+  const decision = await getComboVisionBridgeDecision("outer-circular-mixed-combo-13927");
+  assert.equal(decision, "process");
+});