diff --git a/ui/src/e2e/chat-flow.models-reasoning.e2e.test.ts b/ui/src/e2e/chat-flow.models-reasoning.e2e.test.ts
index f24c32a14de7..f14a2fba672b 100644
--- a/ui/src/e2e/chat-flow.models-reasoning.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/e2e/chat-flow.models-reasoning.e2e.test.ts
@@ -130,22 +130,13 @@ suite.define(() => {
       await page.goto(`${suite.server.baseUrl}chat`);
 
       const main = page.getByRole("main");
-      const openModelSelect = async () => {
-        const trigger = main.locator(
-          'openclaw-chat-pane[aria-hidden="false"] wa-select.chat-controls__model-picker',
-        );
-        await trigger.waitFor({ state: "visible", timeout: 10_000 });
-        return trigger;
-      };
+      const activePane = () => main.locator('openclaw-chat-pane[aria-hidden="false"]');
       const selectModel = async (value: string) => {
-        const activePane = main.locator('openclaw-chat-pane[aria-hidden="false"]');
-        await selectChatModel(activePane, value);
+        await selectChatModel(activePane(), value);
       };
 
-      let modelSelect = await openModelSelect();
-      expect(await chatModelValue(main.locator('openclaw-chat-pane[aria-hidden="false"]'))).toBe(
-        "",
-      );
+      await chatModelPicker(activePane()).waitFor({ state: "visible", timeout: 10_000 });
+      expect(await chatModelValue(activePane())).toBe("");
 
       await selectModel("bedrock/claude-opus-4.5");
       const patchRequest = await gateway.waitForRequest("sessions.patch");
@@ -153,9 +144,7 @@ suite.define(() => {
         key: "agent:main:session-a",
         model: "bedrock/claude-opus-4.5",
       });
-      expect(await chatModelValue(main.locator('openclaw-chat-pane[aria-hidden="false"]'))).toBe(
-        "bedrock/claude-opus-4.5",
-      );
+      expect(await chatModelValue(activePane())).toBe("bedrock/claude-opus-4.5");
 
       await page
         .locator(
@@ -165,10 +154,8 @@ suite.define(() => {
       await page.locator(".sidebar-recent-session--active").getByText("Session B").waitFor({
         timeout: 10_000,
       });
-      modelSelect = await openModelSelect();
-      expect(await chatModelValue(main.locator('openclaw-chat-pane[aria-hidden="false"]'))).toBe(
-        "",
-      );
+      await chatModelPicker(activePane()).waitFor({ state: "visible", timeout: 10_000 });
+      expect(await chatModelValue(activePane())).toBe("");
 
       await page
         .locator(
@@ -179,10 +166,8 @@ suite.define(() => {
         timeout: 10_000,
       });
 
-      modelSelect = await openModelSelect();
-      expect(await chatModelValue(main.locator('openclaw-chat-pane[aria-hidden="false"]'))).toBe(
-        "bedrock/claude-opus-4.5",
-      );
+      await chatModelPicker(activePane()).waitFor({ state: "visible", timeout: 10_000 });
+      expect(await chatModelValue(activePane())).toBe("bedrock/claude-opus-4.5");
     } finally {
       await suite.closeBrowserContext(context);
     }
diff --git a/ui/src/e2e/new-session-page.workspace-memory.e2e.test.ts b/ui/src/e2e/new-session-page.workspace-memory.e2e.test.ts
index d626e47d8829..69873830e449 100644
--- a/ui/src/e2e/new-session-page.workspace-memory.e2e.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/e2e/new-session-page.workspace-memory.e2e.test.ts
@@ -317,7 +317,6 @@ suite.define(() => {
       });
       await expect.poll(() => effortSelect.getAttribute("data-chat-thinking-value")).toBe("xhigh");
 
-      const modelSelect = newSessionModelPicker(page);
       await selectNewSessionModel(page, "openai/gpt-5.6-sol");
       await effortSelect.click();
 
@@ -366,7 +365,6 @@ suite.define(() => {
       await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Worktree" }).click();
       await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
 
-      const modelSelect = newSessionModelPicker(page);
       await selectNewSessionModel(page, "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6");
       const effortSelect = page.locator('[data-chat-thinking-select="true"]');
       await effortSelect.click();
@@ -582,7 +580,6 @@ suite.define(() => {
           .toBe(1);
 
         await gateway.deferNext("users.prefs.set");
-        const modelSelect = newSessionModelPicker(page);
         await selectNewSessionModel(page, "");
         await expect
           .poll(async () => (await gateway.getRequests("users.prefs.set")).length)
@@ -665,7 +662,6 @@ suite.define(() => {
       await placeTrigger.click();
       await page.getByRole("button", { name: "Worktree" }).click();
       await page.keyboard.press("Escape");
-      const modelSelect = newSessionModelPicker(page);
       await selectNewSessionModel(page, "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6");
 
       await navigateInApp(page, "chat");
@@ -747,7 +743,6 @@ suite.define(() => {
         "openclaw-next",
       );
 
-      const modelSelect = newSessionModelPicker(page);
       await selectNewSessionModel(page, "anthropic/claude-sonnet-4-6");
       const storedPreference = await readMainPreference(page);
       expect(storedPreference).toMatchObject({
diff --git a/ui/src/pages/config/memory-dreaming.ts b/ui/src/pages/config/memory-dreaming.ts
index 530b9e5bf52b..55b278fdc17d 100644
--- a/ui/src/pages/config/memory-dreaming.ts
+++ b/ui/src/pages/config/memory-dreaming.ts
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ function renderField(props: DreamingSettingsProps, spec: DreamingFieldSpec) {
             placeholder: spec.placeholderKey ? t(spec.placeholderKey) : "",
             commit: "change",
           },
-          onChange: (value) => props.onPatch(spec.path, value.trim() || undefined),
+          onChange: (model) => props.onPatch(spec.path, model.trim() || undefined),
         })}
       `,
     });
diff --git a/ui/src/pages/config/session-observer-settings.ts b/ui/src/pages/config/session-observer-settings.ts
index b2abe8f6dd20..793306eda758 100644
--- a/ui/src/pages/config/session-observer-settings.ts
+++ b/ui/src/pages/config/session-observer-settings.ts
@@ -117,7 +117,12 @@ export function renderSessionObserverSettings(props: {
                   },
                 ]
               : []),
-            ...options.map((option) => ({ ...option, disabled: props.modelsUnavailable })),
+            ...options.map(({ value, label, provider }) => ({
+              value,
+              label,
+              provider,
+              disabled: props.modelsUnavailable,
+            })),
           ],
           disabled: props.disabled,
           onChange: (value) =>
diff --git a/ui/src/pages/config/talk.ts b/ui/src/pages/config/talk.ts
index f25e7cc293be..9bd6887d63a2 100644
--- a/ui/src/pages/config/talk.ts
+++ b/ui/src/pages/config/talk.ts
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ function renderModelRow(props: TalkViewProps) {
     control: renderModelPicker({
       label: t("talkPage.model.title"),
       value: model ?? TALK_PICKER_UNSET,
-      options: options.map((option) => ({ ...option, provider: provider.id })),
+      options: options.map(({ value, label }) => ({ value, label, provider: provider.id })),
       disabled: props.configBusy,
       onChange: (value) => props.onModelChange(value || null),
     }),
diff --git a/ui/src/pages/cron/view.test.ts b/ui/src/pages/cron/view.test.ts
index 5b6c9c4a83cd..094f712c88a5 100644
--- a/ui/src/pages/cron/view.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/pages/cron/view.test.ts
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ describe("cron view editor", () => {
     prompt.dispatchEvent(new Event("input", { bubbles: true }));
     expect(onFormChange).toHaveBeenCalledWith({ payloadText: "do the thing" });
 
-    for (const field of ["name", "sessionKey", "deliveryAccountId"] as const) {
+    for (const field of ["name", "sessionKey", "deliveryAccountId", "payloadModel"] as const) {
       const id = `cron-${field.replace(/[A-Z]/g, (letter) => `-${letter.toLowerCase()}`)}`;
       const input = getElement(container, `#${id}`, HTMLInputElement);
       if (field === "sessionKey" || field === "deliveryAccountId") {
@@ -545,26 +545,6 @@ describe("cron view editor", () => {
       expect(onFormChange).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({ [field]: field });
     }
 
-    const modelPicker = getElement(
-      container,
-      "#cron-payload-model-picker",
-      HTMLElement,
-    ) as HTMLElement & { value: string };
-    const customModel = Array.from(modelPicker.querySelectorAll("wa-option")).find(
-      (option) => option.textContent?.trim() === "Custom model…",
-    );
-    Object.defineProperty(modelPicker, "value", {
-      configurable: true,
-      value: customModel?.getAttribute("value"),
-    });
-    modelPicker.dispatchEvent(new Event("change", { bubbles: true }));
-    Reflect.deleteProperty(modelPicker, "value");
-    const modelInput = getElement(container, "#cron-payload-model", HTMLInputElement);
-    expect(modelInput.hidden).toBe(false);
-    modelInput.value = "vendor/model with spaces";
-    modelInput.dispatchEvent(new Event("input", { bubbles: true }));
-    expect(onFormChange).toHaveBeenLastCalledWith({ payloadModel: "vendor/model with spaces" });
-
     const channel = getElement(
       container,
       "#cron-failure-alert-channel",
@@ -575,7 +555,6 @@ describe("cron view editor", () => {
     expect(
       Array.from(channel.querySelectorAll("wa-option"), (option) => option.getAttribute("value")),
     ).toContain("retired-channel");
-    expect(channel.localName).toBe("wa-select");
     expect(channel.querySelector('wa-option[value="telegram"] img')).not.toBeNull();
     expect(
       (channel.querySelector('wa-option[value="telegram"]') as HTMLElement & { label?: string })
diff --git a/ui/src/pages/cron/view.ts b/ui/src/pages/cron/view.ts
index 01eefe3457e5..b10bdf5f1302 100644
--- a/ui/src/pages/cron/view.ts
+++ b/ui/src/pages/cron/view.ts
@@ -1242,7 +1242,7 @@ function renderPromptSection(
   const modelError = props.fieldErrors.payloadModel;
   const modelOptions = uniqueStrings(props.modelSuggestions).map((value) => {
     const provider = providerIdFromModelRef(value);
-    return { value, label: value, ...(provider ? { provider } : {}) };
+    return { value, label: value, provider: provider ?? undefined };
   });
   const agentTurnRows = ctx.isAgentTurn
     ? html`