diff --git a/docs/changelog/fragments/10962.md b/docs/changelog/fragments/10962.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5170a415e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/fragments/10962.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+fix(catalog): expose only provider-routable GLM reasoning-effort tiers and remove unroutable ZCode aliases
diff --git a/open-sse/config/glmProvider.ts b/open-sse/config/glmProvider.ts
index 9c1580e7ae..8668de2c63 100644
--- a/open-sse/config/glmProvider.ts
+++ b/open-sse/config/glmProvider.ts
@@ -19,17 +19,16 @@ export const GLM_ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_BASE_URLS = Object.freeze({
 
 export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
   {
-    // GLM-5.3 (2026-08-14): one upstream id; effort is the reasoning_effort
-    // param (low|high|max, default max) — the -high/-low entries below are
-    // OmniRoute aliases resolved by GlmExecutor::parseGlmEffortTier.
-    // Default context window not yet published by Z.ai; 1M mirrored from
-    // GLM-5.2 (same base model). https://z.ai/blog/glm-5.3
+    // GLM-5.3 exposes low|high|max reasoning_effort (default max); -high/-low
+    // are OmniRoute aliases resolved by GlmExecutor::parseGlmEffortTier.
+    // https://docs.z.ai/guides/llm/glm-5.3
     id: "glm-5.3",
     name: "GLM 5.3",
     contextLength: 1000000,
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: ["low", "high", "max"],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-5.3-high",
@@ -38,6 +37,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: ["high"],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-5.3-low",
@@ -46,14 +46,19 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: ["low"],
   },
   {
+    // GLM-5.2 has two positive effective tiers: low/medium map to high and xhigh
+    // maps to max; disabling thinking remains the separate thinking toggle.
+    // https://docs.z.ai/guides/capabilities/thinking
     id: "glm-5.2",
     name: "GLM 5.2",
     contextLength: 1000000,
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: ["high", "max"],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-5.2-high",
@@ -62,6 +67,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: ["high"],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-5.2-max",
@@ -70,14 +76,18 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: ["max"],
   },
   {
+    // Earlier GLM families support the thinking toggle, not reasoning_effort.
+    // An explicit empty list prevents generic catalog tiers from being inferred.
     id: "glm-5.1",
     name: "GLM 5.1",
     contextLength: 204800,
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: [],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-5",
@@ -86,6 +96,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: [],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-5-turbo",
@@ -94,6 +105,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: [],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-4.7-flash",
@@ -102,6 +114,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: [],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-4.7",
@@ -110,6 +123,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 131072,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: [],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-4.6v",
@@ -118,6 +132,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 32768,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: [],
     supportsVision: true,
   },
   {
@@ -127,6 +142,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 32768,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: [],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-4.5v",
@@ -135,6 +151,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 32768,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: [],
     supportsVision: true,
   },
   {
@@ -144,6 +161,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 32768,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: [],
   },
   {
     id: "glm-4.5-air",
@@ -152,6 +170,7 @@ export const GLM_SHARED_MODELS = Object.freeze([
     maxOutputTokens: 32768,
     toolCalling: true,
     supportsReasoning: true,
+    supportedThinkingEfforts: [],
   },
 ]);
 
diff --git a/open-sse/config/providers/registry/zcode/index.ts b/open-sse/config/providers/registry/zcode/index.ts
index cd2a4eece6..65e2e1c3d3 100644
--- a/open-sse/config/providers/registry/zcode/index.ts
+++ b/open-sse/config/providers/registry/zcode/index.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,17 @@
 import type { RegistryEntry } from "../../shared.ts";
 import { GLM_SHARED_MODELS } from "../../../glmProvider.ts";
 
+const GLM_EXECUTOR_EFFORT_ALIASES = new Set([
+  "glm-5.3-high",
+  "glm-5.3-low",
+  "glm-5.2-high",
+  "glm-5.2-max",
+]);
+
+export const ZCODE_MODELS = GLM_SHARED_MODELS.filter(
+  (model) => !GLM_EXECUTOR_EFFORT_ALIASES.has(model.id)
+).map((model) => ({ ...model, supportedThinkingEfforts: [] }));
+
 /**
  * Local ZCode app-server backend. Authentication remains in the user's local
  * ZCode profile (`builtin:zai-coding-plan`); OmniRoute does not receive or
@@ -14,5 +25,7 @@ export const zcodeProvider: RegistryEntry = {
   baseUrl: "zcode://app-server/stdio",
   authType: "none",
   authHeader: "none",
-  models: [...GLM_SHARED_MODELS],
+  // ZCode's app-server transport does not consume reasoning_effort; keep thinking
+  // capability metadata without advertising aliases or tiers that it would ignore.
+  models: ZCODE_MODELS,
 };
diff --git a/open-sse/executors/glm.ts b/open-sse/executors/glm.ts
index a222571022..59e1871907 100644
--- a/open-sse/executors/glm.ts
+++ b/open-sse/executors/glm.ts
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ type GlmEffortTier = {
  * `thinking.type=enabled` (5.3 no longer accepts thinking disabled).
  *
  * https://docs.z.ai/devpack/latest-model
- * https://z.ai/blog/glm-5.3
+ * https://docs.z.ai/guides/llm/glm-5.3
  */
 function parseGlmEffortTier(model: string): GlmEffortTier | null {
   switch (model) {
diff --git a/open-sse/executors/zcode.ts b/open-sse/executors/zcode.ts
index 0841b4daa8..8f0a98ac14 100644
--- a/open-sse/executors/zcode.ts
+++ b/open-sse/executors/zcode.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { randomUUID } from "node:crypto";
 import { existsSync } from "node:fs";
 import { homedir } from "node:os";
 import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
-import { GLM_SHARED_MODELS } from "../config/glmProvider.ts";
+import { ZCODE_MODELS } from "../config/providers/registry/zcode/index.ts";
 import { BaseExecutor, type ExecuteInput, type ExecutorExecuteResult, type ProviderCredentials } from "./base.ts";
 import { ZcodeAppServerClient, type ZcodeClientLike } from "./zcodeProtocol.ts";
 import { buildErrorBody, errorResponse, sanitizeErrorMessage } from "../utils/error.ts";
@@ -12,8 +12,8 @@ const DEFAULT_PROVIDER_ID = "builtin:zai-coding-plan";
 const DEFAULT_TURN_TIMEOUT_MS = 120_000;
 const DEFAULT_POLL_INTERVAL_MS = 250;
 const TERMINAL_STATUSES = new Set(["completed", "idle", "paused", "error"]);
-const ZCODE_MODEL_ALLOWLIST = new Set(GLM_SHARED_MODELS.map((model) => model.id));
-const DEFAULT_ZCODE_MODEL = GLM_SHARED_MODELS[0]?.id || "glm-5.2";
+const ZCODE_MODEL_ALLOWLIST = new Set(ZCODE_MODELS.map((model) => model.id));
+const DEFAULT_ZCODE_MODEL = ZCODE_MODELS[0]?.id || "glm-5.2";
 
 type JsonRecord = Record<string, unknown>;
 type OpenAIMsg = { role?: string; content?: unknown };
diff --git a/open-sse/mcp-server/__tests__/glmCodingProviderConfig.test.ts b/open-sse/mcp-server/__tests__/glmCodingProviderConfig.test.ts
index 8b7f3cee32..50c16fa966 100644
--- a/open-sse/mcp-server/__tests__/glmCodingProviderConfig.test.ts
+++ b/open-sse/mcp-server/__tests__/glmCodingProviderConfig.test.ts
@@ -106,6 +106,29 @@ describe("GLM Coding provider registry surfaces", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it("declares exact GLM reasoning-effort tiers across every shared GLM provider", () => {
+    const routedTiers = new Map<string, readonly string[]>([
+      ["glm-5.3", ["low", "high", "max"]],
+      ["glm-5.3-high", ["high"]],
+      ["glm-5.3-low", ["low"]],
+      ["glm-5.2", ["high", "max"]],
+      ["glm-5.2-high", ["high"]],
+      ["glm-5.2-max", ["max"]],
+    ]);
+
+    for (const provider of ["glm", "glm-cn", "glmt"]) {
+      for (const model of getModelsByProviderId(provider)) {
+        expect(model.supportedThinkingEfforts, `${provider}/${model.id} effort tiers`).toEqual(
+          routedTiers.get(model.id) ?? []
+        );
+      }
+    }
+
+    for (const model of getModelsByProviderId("zcode")) {
+      expect(model.supportedThinkingEfforts, `zcode/${model.id} effort tiers`).toEqual([]);
+    }
+  });
+
   it("registers GLM-5.2 with correct specs and effort tier aliases", () => {
     const models = getModelsByProviderId("glm");
     const get = (id: string) => models.find((m) => m.id === id);
diff --git a/open-sse/utils/syncedEffortVariants.ts b/open-sse/utils/syncedEffortVariants.ts
index 2a2c7f0d68..33c5ec8c56 100644
--- a/open-sse/utils/syncedEffortVariants.ts
+++ b/open-sse/utils/syncedEffortVariants.ts
@@ -19,17 +19,17 @@
  * only when the base model's own `supportedThinkingEfforts` actually declares that tier —
  * never a blind string match.
  *
- * Skipped entirely for `codex` and `kimi`-owned models: both already own a conflicting
- * native `-{effort}` suffix mechanism (`splitCodexReasoningSuffix` /
- * `getKimiCodeStaticThinkingPolicy`), so double-registering here would collide with their
- * own alias resolution. Also skipped for any model whose id already ends in a token that
- * matches a canonical effort value, to avoid colliding with a model that legitimately ends
- * in an effort-like token (e.g. a model literally named "...-high").
+ * Skipped entirely for `codex`, `kimi`-owned, and GLM (`glm`, `glm-cn`, `glmt`) models:
+ * they already own conflicting `-{effort}` aliases (`splitCodexReasoningSuffix`,
+ * `getKimiCodeStaticThinkingPolicy`, or `GlmExecutor::parseGlmEffortTier`), so generating
+ * another layer here would create invalid nested ids. Also skipped for any model whose id
+ * already ends in a token that matches a canonical effort value, to avoid colliding with a
+ * model that legitimately ends in an effort-like token (e.g. a model named "...-high").
  */
 import { CANONICAL_EFFORT_VALUES } from "@/shared/reasoning/effortStandardization.ts";
 
-/** Provider ids that already own a native `-{effort}` suffix mechanism — never double-register. */
-export const SYNCED_EFFORT_SKIP_PROVIDERS = new Set(["codex"]);
+/** Provider ids with dedicated `-{effort}` aliases — never synthesize another suffix layer. */
+export const SYNCED_EFFORT_SKIP_PROVIDERS = new Set(["codex", "glm", "glm-cn", "glmt"]);
 /** Provider-id prefixes covering that mechanism's multiple connection variants (kimi-coding, kimi-coding-apikey). */
 const SYNCED_EFFORT_SKIP_PROVIDER_PREFIXES = ["kimi"];
 
diff --git a/src/lib/modelMetadataRegistry.ts b/src/lib/modelMetadataRegistry.ts
index 3828047b90..b7aa2aa216 100644
--- a/src/lib/modelMetadataRegistry.ts
+++ b/src/lib/modelMetadataRegistry.ts
@@ -130,6 +130,11 @@ function uniqueStrings(values: Array<string | null | undefined>) {
   ];
 }
 
+export function isGlmFamilyModel(modelId: string, displayName = ""): boolean {
+  const glmFamilyPattern = /(?:^|[/@:_. -])glm(?=$|[-._ /@:](?:z)?\d|\d)/i;
+  return glmFamilyPattern.test(modelId) || glmFamilyPattern.test(displayName);
+}
+
 function toQualifiedId(
   providerAlias: string | null,
   provider: string | null,
@@ -477,11 +482,16 @@ export function enrichCatalogModelEntry<T extends JsonRecord>(
         ? declaredEffortTiers
         : sourceDeclaresThinking
           ? undefined
-          : extendCodexGpt56EffortValues(
-              metadata.provider,
-              metadata.model,
-              CANONICAL_EFFORT_VALUES
-            );
+          : // #10963: GLM-family models never inherit generic OpenAI tiers — an
+            // explicit empty list is authoritative unless a provider-declared
+            // contract exists (handled by declaredEffortTiers above).
+            isGlmFamilyModel(metadata.model, metadata.displayName)
+            ? []
+            : extendCodexGpt56EffortValues(
+                metadata.provider,
+                metadata.model,
+                CANONICAL_EFFORT_VALUES
+              );
   const capabilityFields = {
     ...(typeof metadata.capabilities.vision === "boolean"
       ? { vision: metadata.capabilities.vision }
@@ -502,7 +512,9 @@ export function enrichCatalogModelEntry<T extends JsonRecord>(
     // #6241: surface thinking support + the canonical effort tiers so the frontend can
     // render the effort/thinking toggles. `thinking` is kept for back-compat; `supportsThinking`
     // is the explicit flag and `effort_tiers` lists the selectable reasoning levels
-    // (only when the model actually supports thinking).
+    // (only when the model actually supports thinking). An explicit empty registry list
+    // is authoritative; GLM models also require a provider-declared contract instead of
+    // inheriting generic OpenAI effort tiers.
     ...(typeof metadata.capabilities.supportsThinking === "boolean"
       ? {
           thinking: metadata.capabilities.supportsThinking,
diff --git a/tests/unit/glm-5.3-catalog-and-effort-tiers.test.ts b/tests/unit/glm-5.3-catalog-and-effort-tiers.test.ts
index d14c136e7b..5d927de02a 100644
--- a/tests/unit/glm-5.3-catalog-and-effort-tiers.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/glm-5.3-catalog-and-effort-tiers.test.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import test from "node:test";
 import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 
-// GLM-5.3 support (released 2026-08-14, https://z.ai/blog/glm-5.3).
+// GLM-5.3 support (released 2026-08-14, https://docs.z.ai/guides/llm/glm-5.3).
 //
 // Upstream ships ONE model id (`glm-5.3`) — effort is a request parameter
 // (`reasoning_effort`: low|high|max, default max) on the coding chat/completions
@@ -12,14 +12,15 @@ import assert from "node:assert/strict";
 // beta header), the 5.3 tiers use the documented `reasoning_effort` param on the
 // OpenAI coding transport.
 //
-// Spec caveat: Z.ai has not yet published the default context window — 1M is
-// mirrored from GLM-5.2 (same base model) per operator decision; correct when
-// the official spec lands.
+// Z.AI documents a 1M context window and 128K maximum output.
 
-const { getRegistryEntry } = await import("../../open-sse/config/providerRegistry.ts");
+const { getRegistryEntry, REGISTRY } = await import("../../open-sse/config/providerRegistry.ts");
 const { GlmExecutor } = await import("../../open-sse/executors/glm.ts");
 const { MODEL_SPECS } = await import("../../src/shared/constants/modelSpecs.ts");
 const { GLM_PRICING } = await import("../../src/shared/constants/pricing/shared-tiers.ts");
+const metadataRegistry = await import("../../src/lib/modelMetadataRegistry.ts");
+const { shouldExposeSyncedEffortVariants, SYNCED_EFFORT_SKIP_PROVIDERS } =
+  await import("../../open-sse/utils/syncedEffortVariants.ts");
 
 const GLM_5_3_IDS = ["glm-5.3", "glm-5.3-high", "glm-5.3-low"] as const;
 
@@ -38,6 +39,87 @@ function modelIds(provider: string): string[] {
   return (entry.models ?? []).map((m) => m.id);
 }
 
+test("shared GLM providers keep their dedicated aliases instead of synthesizing another layer", () => {
+  for (const provider of ["glm", "glm-cn", "glmt"]) {
+    assert.ok(SYNCED_EFFORT_SKIP_PROVIDERS.has(provider), provider);
+    assert.equal(
+      shouldExposeSyncedEffortVariants({
+        id: `${provider}/glm-5.3`,
+        owned_by: provider,
+        capabilities: { effort_tiers: ["low", "high", "max"] },
+      }),
+      false,
+      provider
+    );
+  }
+  assert.equal(SYNCED_EFFORT_SKIP_PROVIDERS.has("zcode"), false);
+});
+
+test("GLM family detection covers numeric, Z1, and bare provider model ids", () => {
+  for (const modelId of [
+    "hf:zai-org/GLM-5.2",
+    "THUDM/GLM-Z1-32B-0414",
+    "THUDM/GLM-Z1-9B-0414",
+    "glm",
+  ]) {
+    assert.equal(metadataRegistry.isGlmFamilyModel(modelId), true, modelId);
+  }
+  assert.equal(metadataRegistry.isGlmFamilyModel("llama-3.3"), false);
+});
+
+test("catalog suppresses inferred tiers for every GLM registry entry without a provider contract", () => {
+  let audited = 0;
+  for (const [provider, entry] of Object.entries(REGISTRY)) {
+    for (const model of entry.models ?? []) {
+      if (!metadataRegistry.isGlmFamilyModel(model.id, model.name)) continue;
+      audited += 1;
+      const enriched = metadataRegistry.enrichCatalogModelEntry({
+        id: `${provider}/${model.id}`,
+        object: "model",
+        owned_by: provider,
+        root: model.id,
+      }) as Record<string, unknown>;
+      const capabilities = enriched.capabilities as Record<string, unknown>;
+      if (capabilities.supportsThinking === true) {
+        assert.deepEqual(
+          capabilities.effort_tiers,
+          model.supportedThinkingEfforts ?? [],
+          `${provider}/${model.id}`
+        );
+      } else {
+        assert.equal("effort_tiers" in capabilities, false, `${provider}/${model.id}`);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  assert.ok(audited > 0);
+});
+
+test("catalog exposes only GLM effort tiers that each provider can route", () => {
+  const routedTiers = new Map<string, string[]>([
+    ["glm-5.3", ["low", "high", "max"]],
+    ["glm-5.3-high", ["high"]],
+    ["glm-5.3-low", ["low"]],
+    ["glm-5.2", ["high", "max"]],
+    ["glm-5.2-high", ["high"]],
+    ["glm-5.2-max", ["max"]],
+  ]);
+
+  for (const provider of ["glm", "glm-cn", "glmt", "zcode"]) {
+    for (const model of getRegistryEntry(provider)!.models ?? []) {
+      const enriched = metadataRegistry.enrichCatalogModelEntry({
+        id: `${provider}/${model.id}`,
+        object: "model",
+        owned_by: provider,
+        root: model.id,
+      }) as Record<string, unknown>;
+      const capabilities = enriched.capabilities as Record<string, unknown>;
+      const expected = provider === "zcode" ? [] : (routedTiers.get(model.id) ?? []);
+      assert.equal(capabilities.supportsThinking, true, `${provider}/${model.id}`);
+      assert.deepEqual(capabilities.effort_tiers, expected, `${provider}/${model.id}`);
+    }
+  }
+});
+
 for (const provider of ["glm", "glm-cn", "glmt"]) {
   test(`${provider} advertises the GLM-5.3 base model and effort tiers (GLM_SHARED_MODELS)`, () => {
     const ids = modelIds(provider);
diff --git a/tests/unit/zcode-executor.test.ts b/tests/unit/zcode-executor.test.ts
index c82e7b3368..db4a8586be 100644
--- a/tests/unit/zcode-executor.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/zcode-executor.test.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ function requestBody() {
 test("ZCode accepts GLM Coding Plan models and rejects unsafe/unknown ids", async () => {
   const { resolveZcodeModel } = await loadZcodeExecutor();
   assert.deepEqual(resolveZcodeModel("glm-5.2"), { ok: true, model: "glm-5.2" });
+  assert.equal(resolveZcodeModel("glm-5.2-high").ok, false);
+  assert.equal(resolveZcodeModel("glm-5.3-low").ok, false);
   assert.equal(resolveZcodeModel("-unexpected").ok, false);
   assert.equal(resolveZcodeModel("unknown-model").ok, false);
 });
@@ -70,7 +72,7 @@ test("ZCode buffers the completed turn into OpenAI SSE when stream=true", async
   });
 
   const result = await executor.execute({
-    model: "glm-5.2-high",
+    model: "glm-5.2",
     body: requestBody(),
     stream: true,
     credentials: {},
diff --git a/tests/unit/zcode-provider.test.ts b/tests/unit/zcode-provider.test.ts
index 3acf3c862c..e882ab5fd9 100644
--- a/tests/unit/zcode-provider.test.ts
+++ b/tests/unit/zcode-provider.test.ts
@@ -10,5 +10,18 @@ test("ZCode provider registry exposes a local no-auth GLM Coding Plan backend",
   assert.equal(zcodeProvider.baseUrl, "zcode://app-server/stdio");
   assert.equal(zcodeProvider.authType, "none");
   assert.equal(zcodeProvider.authHeader, "none");
-  assert.equal(zcodeProvider.models.some((model) => model.id === "glm-5.2"), true);
+  assert.equal(
+    zcodeProvider.models.some((model) => model.id === "glm-5.2"),
+    true
+  );
+  for (const alias of ["glm-5.3-high", "glm-5.3-low", "glm-5.2-high", "glm-5.2-max"]) {
+    assert.equal(
+      zcodeProvider.models.some((model) => model.id === alias),
+      false,
+      alias
+    );
+  }
+  for (const model of zcodeProvider.models) {
+    assert.deepEqual(model.supportedThinkingEfforts, [], model.id);
+  }
 });