diff --git a/packages/core/src/catalog.ts b/packages/core/src/catalog.ts
index a898fd618f..90439c625c 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/catalog.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/catalog.ts
@@ -217,6 +217,15 @@ const layer = Layer.effect(
             return
           }
 
+          // GitHub exposes utility models for title generation without including them in the picker.
+          // They remain in the catalog with enabled=false, so prefer them before family selection.
+          if (providerID.startsWith("github-copilot")) {
+            for (const id of COPILOT_UTILITY_MODELS) {
+              const model = record.models.get(ModelV2.ID.make(id))
+              if (model?.status === "active") return projectModel(model, provider)
+            }
+          }
+
           const priority = providerID.startsWith("opencode")
             ? ["gpt-nano"]
             : providerID.startsWith("github-copilot")
@@ -246,7 +255,9 @@ const layer = Layer.effect(
                 }
               }
 
-              const unprefixed = candidates.find((model) => !crossRegionPrefixes.some((prefix) => model.id.startsWith(prefix)))
+              const unprefixed = candidates.find(
+                (model) => !crossRegionPrefixes.some((prefix) => model.id.startsWith(prefix)),
+              )
               if (unprefixed) return projectModel(unprefixed, provider)
               continue
             }
@@ -261,5 +272,6 @@ const layer = Layer.effect(
 )
 
 const SMALL_MODEL_FAMILY_PRIORITY = ["gemini-flash", "gpt-nano", "claude-haiku"]
+const COPILOT_UTILITY_MODELS = ["gpt-5.4-nano", "gpt-4.1", "gpt-4o", "gpt-4o-mini"]
 
 export const node = makeLocationNode({ service: Service, layer, deps: [EventV2.node, Integration.node] })
diff --git a/packages/core/test/catalog.test.ts b/packages/core/test/catalog.test.ts
index 1e65ba6463..2f76685533 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/catalog.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/catalog.test.ts
@@ -393,6 +393,30 @@ describe("CatalogV2", () => {
     }),
   )
 
+  it.effect("small model prefers picker-disabled copilot utility models", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const catalog = yield* Catalog.Service
+      const providerID = ProviderV2.ID.githubCopilot
+      yield* catalog.transform((catalog) => {
+        catalog.provider.update(providerID, () => {})
+        catalog.model.update(providerID, ModelV2.ID.make("mini"), (model) => {
+          model.family = ModelV2.Family.make("gpt-mini")
+          model.time.released = Date.now()
+        })
+        catalog.model.update(providerID, ModelV2.ID.make("gpt-4o-mini"), (model) => {
+          model.enabled = false
+          model.time.released = Date.now() - 1000
+        })
+        catalog.model.update(providerID, ModelV2.ID.make("gpt-5.4-nano"), (model) => {
+          model.enabled = false
+          model.time.released = Date.now() - 2000
+        })
+      })
+
+      expect((yield* catalog.model.small(providerID))?.id).toBe(ModelV2.ID.make("gpt-5.4-nano"))
+    }),
+  )
+
   it.effect("small model prefers global bedrock deployments before regional ones", () =>
     Effect.gen(function* () {
       const catalog = yield* Catalog.Service
@@ -415,6 +439,54 @@ describe("CatalogV2", () => {
     }),
   )
 
+  it.effect("small model prefers regional bedrock deployments when global is missing", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const catalog = yield* Catalog.Service
+      const providerID = ProviderV2.ID.amazonBedrock
+      yield* catalog.transform((catalog) => {
+        catalog.provider.update(providerID, (provider) => {
+          provider.settings = { region: "us-west-2" }
+        })
+        catalog.model.update(providerID, ModelV2.ID.make("claude-haiku"), (model) => {
+          model.family = ModelV2.Family.make("claude-haiku")
+          model.time.released = Date.now()
+        })
+        catalog.model.update(providerID, ModelV2.ID.make("us.claude-haiku"), (model) => {
+          model.family = ModelV2.Family.make("claude-haiku")
+          model.time.released = Date.now() - 1000
+        })
+        catalog.model.update(providerID, ModelV2.ID.make("eu.claude-haiku"), (model) => {
+          model.family = ModelV2.Family.make("claude-haiku")
+          model.time.released = Date.now() + 1000
+        })
+      })
+
+      expect((yield* catalog.model.small(providerID))?.id).toBe(ModelV2.ID.make("us.claude-haiku"))
+    }),
+  )
+
+  it.effect("small model prefers unprefixed bedrock deployments when region prefixes are missing", () =>
+    Effect.gen(function* () {
+      const catalog = yield* Catalog.Service
+      const providerID = ProviderV2.ID.amazonBedrock
+      yield* catalog.transform((catalog) => {
+        catalog.provider.update(providerID, (provider) => {
+          provider.settings = { region: "ap-northeast-1" }
+        })
+        catalog.model.update(providerID, ModelV2.ID.make("eu.claude-haiku"), (model) => {
+          model.family = ModelV2.Family.make("claude-haiku")
+          model.time.released = Date.now()
+        })
+        catalog.model.update(providerID, ModelV2.ID.make("claude-haiku"), (model) => {
+          model.family = ModelV2.Family.make("claude-haiku")
+          model.time.released = Date.now() - 1000
+        })
+      })
+
+      expect((yield* catalog.model.small(providerID))?.id).toBe(ModelV2.ID.make("claude-haiku"))
+    }),
+  )
+
   it.effect("small model skips inferred models for Azure providers", () =>
     Effect.gen(function* () {
       const catalog = yield* Catalog.Service
diff --git a/packages/core/test/session-title.test.ts b/packages/core/test/session-title.test.ts
index d1906bf20c..aeccef95a9 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/session-title.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/session-title.test.ts
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ import { testEffect } from "./lib/effect"
 
 let requests: LLMRequest[] = []
 let resolvedModels: Array<{ id: string; provider: string } | undefined> = []
+let failSmallResolve = false
 const model = Model.make({
   id: "title-model",
   provider: "test",
@@ -42,6 +43,9 @@ const client = Layer.mock(LLMClient.Service)({
 const models = Layer.mock(SessionRunnerModel.Service)({
   resolve: (session) => {
     resolvedModels.push(session.model ? { id: session.model.id, provider: session.model.providerID } : undefined)
+    if (failSmallResolve && session.model?.id === "mini") {
+      return Effect.fail(new Error("small unavailable") as never)
+    }
     const selected = session.model
       ? Model.make({
           id: session.model.id,
@@ -221,6 +225,81 @@ it.effect("prefers the title agent model over the catalog small model", () =>
   }),
 )
 
+it.effect("falls back to the session model when no small model exists", () =>
+  Effect.gen(function* () {
+    requests = []
+    resolvedModels = []
+    failSmallResolve = false
+    yield* enableTitleAgent()
+    const sessionID = SessionV2.ID.make("ses_title_session_fallback")
+    yield* insertSession(sessionID, { id: "main", providerID: "test" })
+    yield* prompt(sessionID, "Help me debug the failing build")
+
+    const store = yield* SessionStore.Service
+    const session = yield* store
+      .get(sessionID)
+      .pipe(Effect.flatMap((session) => (session ? Effect.succeed(session) : Effect.die("session missing"))))
+    const title = yield* SessionTitle.Service
+    yield* title.generateForFirstPrompt(session)
+
+    expect(resolvedModels).toEqual([{ id: "main", provider: "test" }])
+    expect(String(requests[0]?.model.id)).toBe("main")
+  }),
+)
+
+it.effect("falls back to the session model when small model resolution fails", () =>
+  Effect.gen(function* () {
+    requests = []
+    resolvedModels = []
+    failSmallResolve = true
+    yield* enableTitleAgent()
+    yield* seedSmallModel()
+    const sessionID = SessionV2.ID.make("ses_title_small_resolve_fail")
+    yield* insertSession(sessionID, { id: "main", providerID: "test" })
+    yield* prompt(sessionID, "Help me debug the failing build")
+
+    const store = yield* SessionStore.Service
+    const session = yield* store
+      .get(sessionID)
+      .pipe(Effect.flatMap((session) => (session ? Effect.succeed(session) : Effect.die("session missing"))))
+    const title = yield* SessionTitle.Service
+    yield* title.generateForFirstPrompt(session)
+
+    expect(resolvedModels).toEqual([
+      { id: "mini", provider: "test" },
+      { id: "main", provider: "test" },
+    ])
+    expect(String(requests[0]?.model.id)).toBe("main")
+  }),
+)
+
+it.effect("uses the catalog default provider when the session has no model", () =>
+  Effect.gen(function* () {
+    requests = []
+    resolvedModels = []
+    failSmallResolve = false
+    yield* enableTitleAgent()
+    yield* seedSmallModel()
+    const catalog = yield* Catalog.Service
+    yield* catalog.transform((catalog) => {
+      catalog.model.default.set(ProviderV2.ID.make("test"), ModelV2.ID.make("main"))
+    })
+    const sessionID = SessionV2.ID.make("ses_title_default_provider")
+    yield* insertSession(sessionID)
+    yield* prompt(sessionID, "Help me debug the failing build")
+
+    const store = yield* SessionStore.Service
+    const session = yield* store
+      .get(sessionID)
+      .pipe(Effect.flatMap((session) => (session ? Effect.succeed(session) : Effect.die("session missing"))))
+    const title = yield* SessionTitle.Service
+    yield* title.generateForFirstPrompt(session)
+
+    expect(resolvedModels).toEqual([{ id: "mini", provider: "test" }])
+    expect(String(requests[0]?.model.id)).toBe("mini")
+  }),
+)
+
 it.effect("does not generate once a second user message exists", () =>
   Effect.gen(function* () {
     requests = []