diff --git a/open-sse/services/autoCombo/virtualFactory.ts b/open-sse/services/autoCombo/virtualFactory.ts
index 87e1006a8e..45b0397208 100644
--- a/open-sse/services/autoCombo/virtualFactory.ts
+++ b/open-sse/services/autoCombo/virtualFactory.ts
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ import {
 import type { AutoVariant } from "./autoPrefix";
 import { buildFamilyCandidateFilter, type ModelFamily } from "./modelFamily";
 import { getHiddenModelsByProvider } from "@/models";
+import { getSyncedAvailableModelsByConnection, getCustomModels } from "@/lib/db/models";
 import { filterPaidOnlyCandidates } from "./paidModelFilter";
 import { isModelExcludedByConnection } from "@/domain/connectionModelRules";
 import { filterExcludedCandidates } from "./candidateOverrides";
@@ -481,15 +482,41 @@ export async function prepareVirtualAutoComboInputs(
     const defaultModelIds = providerConnections
       .map((conn) => (typeof conn.defaultModel === "string" ? conn.defaultModel.trim() : ""))
       .filter(Boolean);
-    const modelIds = Array.from(new Set([...registryModelIds, ...defaultModelIds]));
     const hiddenModels = hiddenModelsMap.get(providerId);
 
+    // #auto-pool-visible-only: build the credentialed pool from the models the user
+    // actually has available (synced + custom non-hidden) when any exist, falling
+    // back to the static catalog only when the user has none. This keeps catalog-only
+    // models (e.g. openrouter/auto) out of every auto/* pool when the operator only
+    // synced a subset (e.g. OpenRouter with importFreeModelsOnly).
+    const [syncedByConnection, customModels] = await Promise.all([
+      getSyncedAvailableModelsByConnection(providerId),
+      getCustomModels(providerId),
+    ]);
+    const userVisibleIds = new Set<string>();
+    for (const models of Object.values(syncedByConnection)) {
+      for (const m of models) if (m.id && !hiddenModels?.has(m.id)) userVisibleIds.add(m.id);
+    }
+    for (const m of customModels) if (m.id && !hiddenModels?.has(m.id)) userVisibleIds.add(m.id);
+    const hasUserModels = userVisibleIds.size > 0;
+    const modelIds = hasUserModels
+      ? Array.from(userVisibleIds)
+      : Array.from(new Set([...registryModelIds, ...defaultModelIds]));
+
     for (const modelId of modelIds) {
       if (hiddenModels?.has(modelId)) continue;
 
       const allowedConnectionIds = providerConnections
         .filter((conn) => {
           if (isModelExcludedByConnection(modelId, conn.providerSpecificData)) return false;
+          if (hasUserModels) {
+            // User-synced models are scoped to the connections that carry them;
+            // custom models are provider-wide like registry models.
+            const connSynced = syncedByConnection[conn.id] ?? [];
+            const isSyncedForConn = connSynced.some((m) => m.id === modelId);
+            const isCustomForProvider = customModels.some((m) => m.id === modelId);
+            return isSyncedForConn || isCustomForProvider || conn.defaultModel?.trim() === modelId;
+          }
           // Registry models are provider-wide. A non-registry default (for a custom
           // or passthrough model) is scoped only to connections that selected it.
           return registryModelIdSet.has(modelId) || conn.defaultModel?.trim() === modelId;
diff --git a/open-sse/services/combo/autoStrategy.ts b/open-sse/services/combo/autoStrategy.ts
index cdb0124de2..a4a0c0dba2 100644
--- a/open-sse/services/combo/autoStrategy.ts
+++ b/open-sse/services/combo/autoStrategy.ts
@@ -39,6 +39,11 @@ import {
 } from "../autoCombo/scoring.ts";
 import type { RoutingHint } from "../manifestAdapter";
 import { getCachedProviderConnections } from "../../../src/lib/db/readCache";
+import {
+  getSyncedAvailableModels,
+  getCustomModels,
+  getHiddenModelsByProvider,
+} from "../../../src/lib/db/models";
 import { getProviderModels } from "../../config/providerModels.ts";
 import {
   getConnectionRoutingTags,
@@ -458,10 +463,27 @@ export async function expandAutoComboCandidatePool(
     // expansion doesn't turn into O(n^2) per provider. See #OOM incident
     // (zero-config auto combo expanding to 1000s of provider/model targets).
     const seenModelStrs = new Set(eligibleTargets.map((t) => t.modelStr));
+    const hiddenModelsMap = getHiddenModelsByProvider();
     for (const providerId of providerIds) {
-      const providerModels = getProviderModels(providerId);
-      for (const model of providerModels) {
-        const modelStr = `${providerId}/${model.id}`;
+      // #auto-pool-visible-only: when the operator has synced/custom models for
+      // this provider, expand ONLY those (minus hidden); fall back to the static
+      // catalog only when the user has none. This keeps catalog-only models
+      // (e.g. openrouter/auto) out of pure-auto pools when the operator only
+      // synced a subset (e.g. OpenRouter with importFreeModelsOnly).
+      const [syncedModels, customModels] = await Promise.all([
+        getSyncedAvailableModels(providerId),
+        getCustomModels(providerId),
+      ]);
+      const hiddenModels = hiddenModelsMap.get(providerId);
+      const userVisibleIds = new Set<string>();
+      for (const m of syncedModels) if (m.id && !hiddenModels?.has(m.id)) userVisibleIds.add(m.id);
+      for (const m of customModels) if (m.id && !hiddenModels?.has(m.id)) userVisibleIds.add(m.id);
+      const hasUserModels = userVisibleIds.size > 0;
+      const expandIds = hasUserModels
+        ? Array.from(userVisibleIds)
+        : getProviderModels(providerId).map((m) => m.id);
+      for (const modelId of expandIds) {
+        const modelStr = `${providerId}/${modelId}`;
         if (!seenModelStrs.has(modelStr)) {
           seenModelStrs.add(modelStr);
           eligibleTargets.push({
diff --git a/tests/unit/combo-auto-pool-visible-only.test.ts b/tests/unit/combo-auto-pool-visible-only.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e0748ea77b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/combo-auto-pool-visible-only.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+import test from "node:test";
+import assert from "node:assert/strict";
+import fs from "node:fs";
+import os from "node:os";
+import path from "node:path";
+
+// Regression coverage for the "auto combos must only pick user-visible models"
+// fix (2026-08-15): a provider whose connection only has synced/free models
+// (e.g. OpenRouter with importFreeModelsOnly) must NOT surface catalog-only
+// models like `openrouter/auto` in any auto candidate pool. The pool must be
+// built from what the user actually has visible (synced + custom non-hidden),
+// falling back to the static catalog only when the user has no synced/custom
+// models for that provider at all.
+
+const TEST_DATA_DIR = fs.mkdtempSync(path.join(os.tmpdir(), "omniroute-auto-visible-"));
+const ORIGINAL_DATA_DIR = process.env.DATA_DIR;
+process.env.DATA_DIR = TEST_DATA_DIR;
+
+const core = await import("../../src/lib/db/core.ts");
+const providersDb = await import("../../src/lib/db/providers.ts");
+const modelsDb = await import("../../src/lib/db/models.ts");
+const virtualFactory = await import("../../open-sse/services/autoCombo/virtualFactory.ts");
+const combo = await import("../../open-sse/services/combo.ts");
+
+function resetStorage() {
+  core.resetDbInstance();
+  fs.rmSync(TEST_DATA_DIR, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  fs.mkdirSync(TEST_DATA_DIR, { recursive: true });
+}
+
+test.beforeEach(() => resetStorage());
+
+test.after(() => {
+  core.resetDbInstance();
+  fs.rmSync(TEST_DATA_DIR, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  if (ORIGINAL_DATA_DIR === undefined) delete process.env.DATA_DIR;
+  else process.env.DATA_DIR = ORIGINAL_DATA_DIR;
+});
+
+async function createOpenRouterConnectionWithFreeSync() {
+  const conn = await providersDb.createProviderConnection({
+    provider: "openrouter",
+    authType: "apikey",
+    name: "OpenRouter",
+    apiKey: "sk-test-openrouter",
+    providerSpecificData: { importFreeModelsOnly: true },
+  });
+  const connectionId = (conn as { id?: string }).id;
+  assert.ok(connectionId, "created openrouter connection must expose an id");
+  await modelsDb.replaceSyncedAvailableModelsForConnection("openrouter", connectionId, [
+    {
+      id: "liquid/lfm-2.5-2.6b:free",
+      name: "LiquidAI: LFM2.5-2.6B (free)",
+      source: "imported" as const,
+    },
+    {
+      id: "nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning:free",
+      name: "NVIDIA: Nemotron 3.5 Lightning (free)",
+      source: "imported" as const,
+    },
+  ]);
+  return connectionId;
+}
+
+test("virtual auto-combo pool excludes catalog-only models (openrouter/auto) when only free models are synced", async () => {
+  await createOpenRouterConnectionWithFreeSync();
+
+  const prepared = await virtualFactory.prepareVirtualAutoComboInputs();
+  const pool = prepared.regularCandidates;
+  assert.ok(pool.length > 0, "expected a non-empty pool for the active openrouter connection");
+
+  assert.ok(
+    !pool.some((c) => c.provider === "openrouter" && c.model === "auto"),
+    "openrouter/auto must NOT be a candidate: the user never synced it (catalog-only model)"
+  );
+
+  assert.ok(
+    pool.some((c) => c.provider === "openrouter" && c.model === "liquid/lfm-2.5-2.6b:free"),
+    "a synced free model must remain a candidate"
+  );
+  assert.ok(
+    pool.some(
+      (c) => c.provider === "openrouter" && c.model === "nvidia/nemotron-3.5-lightning:free"
+    ),
+    "the second synced free model must remain a candidate"
+  );
+});
+
+test("expandAutoComboCandidatePool excludes catalog-only models (openrouter/auto) when only free models are synced", async () => {
+  await createOpenRouterConnectionWithFreeSync();
+
+  const expanded = await combo.expandAutoComboCandidatePool([], { config: {} });
+  assert.ok(expanded.length > 0, "expected expansion from the active openrouter connection");
+
+  assert.ok(
+    !expanded.some((t) => t.provider === "openrouter" && t.modelStr === "openrouter/auto"),
+    "expanded pool must NOT include openrouter/auto: the user never synced it"
+  );
+
+  assert.ok(
+    expanded.some((t) => t.provider === "openrouter" && t.modelStr === "openrouter/liquid/lfm-2.5-2.6b:free"),
+    "a synced free model must be expanded into the pool"
+  );
+});
+
+test("virtual auto-combo pool falls back to the static catalog when the provider has no synced/custom models", async () => {
+  await providersDb.createProviderConnection({
+    provider: "openai",
+    authType: "apikey",
+    name: "OpenAI",
+    apiKey: "sk-test-openai",
+    defaultModel: "gpt-4o-mini",
+  });
+
+  const prepared = await virtualFactory.prepareVirtualAutoComboInputs();
+  const pool = prepared.regularCandidates;
+  const openaiCandidates = pool.filter((c) => c.provider === "openai");
+  assert.ok(
+    openaiCandidates.length > 0,
+    "openai with no synced models must still get catalog candidates (fallback)"
+  );
+  assert.ok(
+    openaiCandidates.some((c) => c.model === "gpt-4o-mini"),
+    "the configured default must remain among catalog-fallback candidates"
+  );
+});
+test("virtual auto-combo pool filters EVERY provider with partial sync, not just openrouter", async () => {
+  // openai: sync only gpt-4o-mini (gpt-4o and gpt-4o-turbo exist in the static
+  // catalog but are NOT synced → must be absent). kilocode: 359 synced models,
+  // all with the kilocode provider prefix in the static registry → must be the
+  // only kilocode candidates.
+  const openaiConn = await providersDb.createProviderConnection({
+    provider: "openai",
+    authType: "apikey",
+    name: "OpenAI",
+    apiKey: "sk-test-openai",
+  });
+  const kilocodeConn = await providersDb.createProviderConnection({
+    provider: "kilocode",
+    authType: "apikey",
+    name: "KiloCode",
+    apiKey: "sk-test-kilocode",
+  });
+  const openaiId = (openaiConn as { id?: string }).id;
+  const kilocodeId = (kilocodeConn as { id?: string }).id;
+  await modelsDb.replaceSyncedAvailableModelsForConnection("openai", openaiId, [
+    { id: "gpt-4o-mini", name: "GPT-4o mini", source: "imported" as const },
+  ]);
+  await modelsDb.replaceSyncedAvailableModelsForConnection("kilocode", kilocodeId, [
+    { id: "kilocode/gpt-oss-120b", name: "GPT-OSS 120B", source: "imported" as const },
+    { id: "kilocode/qwen3-coder", name: "Qwen3 Coder", source: "imported" as const },
+  ]);
+
+  const prepared = await virtualFactory.prepareVirtualAutoComboInputs();
+  const pool = prepared.regularCandidates;
+
+  const openaiCandidates = pool.filter((c) => c.provider === "openai");
+  assert.ok(
+    openaiCandidates.some((c) => c.model === "gpt-4o-mini"),
+    "synced openai model must be a candidate"
+  );
+  assert.ok(
+    !openaiCandidates.some((c) => c.model !== "gpt-4o-mini"),
+    `only the synced openai model may be a candidate, got: ${openaiCandidates.map((c) => c.model).join(", ")}`
+  );
+
+  const kilocodeCandidates = pool.filter((c) => c.provider === "kilocode");
+  assert.deepEqual(
+    kilocodeCandidates.map((c) => c.model).sort(),
+    ["kilocode/gpt-oss-120b", "kilocode/qwen3-coder"],
+    "kilocode pool must contain exactly the two synced models"
+  );
+});