diff --git a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/cli-code/components/HermesAgentToolCard.tsx b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/cli-code/components/HermesAgentToolCard.tsx
index dcdee025c2..f72b609b69 100644
--- a/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/cli-code/components/HermesAgentToolCard.tsx
+++ b/src/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/cli-code/components/HermesAgentToolCard.tsx
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ const HERMES_ROLES: Role[] = [
   { id: "approval", label: "Approval", description: "Safety and approval decisions" },
 ];
 
+const HERMES_AGENT_ZERO_CONFIG_PROVIDERS = ["opencode"];
+
 export default function HermesAgentToolCard({
   tool,
   isExpanded = false,
@@ -517,6 +519,7 @@ export default function HermesAgentToolCard({
         }}
         showCombos={true}
         activeProviders={activeProviders}
+        alwaysIncludeProviders={HERMES_AGENT_ZERO_CONFIG_PROVIDERS}
       />
     </Card>
   );
diff --git a/src/shared/components/ModelSelectModal.tsx b/src/shared/components/ModelSelectModal.tsx
index 8c30a2dfa4..9736ed3866 100644
--- a/src/shared/components/ModelSelectModal.tsx
+++ b/src/shared/components/ModelSelectModal.tsx
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ type ModelSelectModalProps = {
   addedModelValues?: string[];
   multiSelect?: boolean;
   showCombos?: boolean;
+  alwaysIncludeProviders?: string[] | null;
 };
 
 export default function ModelSelectModal({
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ export default function ModelSelectModal({
   addedModelValues = [],
   multiSelect = false,
   showCombos = true,
+  alwaysIncludeProviders = [],
 }: ModelSelectModalProps) {
   const t = useTranslations("common");
   const resolvedTitle = title ?? t("selectModel");
@@ -111,6 +113,11 @@ export default function ModelSelectModal({
     () => ({ ...OAUTH_PROVIDERS, ...NOAUTH_PROVIDERS, ...APIKEY_PROVIDERS }),
     []
   );
+  const alwaysIncludeProvidersKey = Array.isArray(alwaysIncludeProviders)
+    ? alwaysIncludeProviders
+        .filter((providerId) => typeof providerId === "string" && providerId)
+        .join("\0")
+    : "";
 
   // Group models by provider with priority order
   const groupedModels = useMemo(() => {
@@ -118,10 +125,14 @@ export default function ModelSelectModal({
 
     // Get all active provider IDs from connections
     const activeConnectionIds = activeProviders.map((p) => p.provider);
+    const explicitProviderIds = alwaysIncludeProvidersKey
+      ? alwaysIncludeProvidersKey.split("\0")
+      : [];
 
     // Only show connected providers (including both standard and custom)
     const providerIdsToShow = new Set([
-      ...activeConnectionIds, // Only connected providers
+      ...activeConnectionIds, // Connected providers
+      ...explicitProviderIds, // Zero-config providers required by specific clients
     ]);
 
     // Sort by PROVIDER_ORDER
@@ -262,7 +273,14 @@ export default function ModelSelectModal({
     });
 
     return groups;
-  }, [activeProviders, modelAliases, allProviders, providerNodes, customModels]);
+  }, [
+    activeProviders,
+    alwaysIncludeProvidersKey,
+    modelAliases,
+    allProviders,
+    providerNodes,
+    customModels,
+  ]);
 
   // Filter combos by search query
   const filteredCombos = useMemo(() => {
diff --git a/tests/unit/ui/hermes-agent-opencode-free.test.tsx b/tests/unit/ui/hermes-agent-opencode-free.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..57988fda70
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/ui/hermes-agent-opencode-free.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+// @vitest-environment jsdom
+import React from "react";
+import { act } from "react";
+import { createRoot } from "react-dom/client";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+let lastModelSelectProps: any = null;
+
+vi.mock("next-intl", () => ({
+  useTranslations: () => (key: string) => key,
+}));
+
+vi.mock("@/shared/components", () => ({
+  Card: ({ children }: any) => <div>{children}</div>,
+  Button: ({ children, onClick, disabled, ...props }: any) => (
+    <button type="button" onClick={onClick} disabled={disabled} {...props}>
+      {children}
+    </button>
+  ),
+  ModelSelectModal: (props: any) => {
+    lastModelSelectProps = props;
+    return <div data-testid="ModelSelectModal" />;
+  },
+}));
+
+const { default: HermesAgentToolCard } =
+  await import("@/app/(dashboard)/dashboard/cli-code/components/HermesAgentToolCard");
+
+const containers: HTMLElement[] = [];
+
+function renderCard() {
+  const container = document.createElement("div");
+  document.body.appendChild(container);
+  containers.push(container);
+
+  const root = createRoot(container);
+  act(() => {
+    root.render(
+      <HermesAgentToolCard
+        tool={{ name: "Hermes Agent", description: "Hermes Agent" }}
+        isExpanded={false}
+        baseUrl="http://localhost:3000"
+        apiKeys={[{ id: "key-1" }]}
+        activeProviders={[]}
+        batchStatus={null}
+      />
+    );
+  });
+
+  return container;
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  (
+    globalThis as typeof globalThis & { IS_REACT_ACT_ENVIRONMENT?: boolean }
+  ).IS_REACT_ACT_ENVIRONMENT = true;
+  lastModelSelectProps = null;
+});
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  while (containers.length > 0) {
+    containers.pop()?.remove();
+  }
+  document.body.innerHTML = "";
+});
+
+describe("HermesAgentToolCard", () => {
+  it("keeps OpenCode Free available in the model picker even with no active connections", async () => {
+    renderCard();
+    await act(async () => {});
+
+    expect(lastModelSelectProps).toBeTruthy();
+    expect(lastModelSelectProps.activeProviders).toEqual([]);
+    expect(lastModelSelectProps.alwaysIncludeProviders).toContain("opencode");
+  });
+});
diff --git a/tests/unit/ui/model-select-modal-zero-config.test.tsx b/tests/unit/ui/model-select-modal-zero-config.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..422207a34a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/ui/model-select-modal-zero-config.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+// @vitest-environment jsdom
+import React from "react";
+import { act } from "react";
+import { createRoot } from "react-dom/client";
+import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+vi.mock("next-intl", () => ({
+  useTranslations: () => (key: string) => key,
+}));
+
+const { default: ModelSelectModal } = await import("@/shared/components/ModelSelectModal");
+
+const containers: HTMLElement[] = [];
+
+async function renderModal(props: Partial<React.ComponentProps<typeof ModelSelectModal>> = {}) {
+  const container = document.createElement("div");
+  document.body.appendChild(container);
+  containers.push(container);
+
+  const root = createRoot(container);
+  await act(async () => {
+    root.render(
+      <ModelSelectModal
+        isOpen={true}
+        onClose={() => {}}
+        onSelect={() => {}}
+        showCombos={false}
+        activeProviders={[]}
+        {...props}
+      />
+    );
+  });
+
+  await act(async () => {});
+  return container;
+}
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  (
+    globalThis as typeof globalThis & { IS_REACT_ACT_ENVIRONMENT?: boolean }
+  ).IS_REACT_ACT_ENVIRONMENT = true;
+  vi.stubGlobal(
+    "fetch",
+    vi.fn(async (url: string) => {
+      if (url === "/api/provider-nodes") {
+        return { ok: true, json: async () => ({ nodes: [] }) };
+      }
+      if (url === "/api/provider-models") {
+        return { ok: true, json: async () => ({ models: {} }) };
+      }
+      if (url === "/api/combos") {
+        return { ok: true, json: async () => ({ combos: [] }) };
+      }
+      return { ok: true, json: async () => ({}) };
+    })
+  );
+});
+
+afterEach(() => {
+  while (containers.length > 0) {
+    containers.pop()?.remove();
+  }
+  document.body.innerHTML = "";
+  vi.unstubAllGlobals();
+});
+
+describe("ModelSelectModal zero-config providers", () => {
+  it("shows OpenCode Free models when explicitly included without an active connection", async () => {
+    const container = await renderModal({ alwaysIncludeProviders: ["opencode"] });
+
+    expect(container.textContent).toContain("OpenCode Free");
+    expect(container.textContent).toContain("Big Pickle");
+  });
+
+  it("does not show OpenCode Free by default without an active connection", async () => {
+    const container = await renderModal();
+
+    expect(container.textContent).not.toContain("OpenCode Free");
+    expect(container.textContent).not.toContain("Big Pickle");
+  });
+
+  it("treats null explicit provider lists as empty", async () => {
+    const container = await renderModal({ alwaysIncludeProviders: null });
+
+    expect(container.textContent).not.toContain("OpenCode Free");
+    expect(container.textContent).not.toContain("Big Pickle");
+  });
+});