diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/components/assistant-ui/message-timing.tsx b/studio/frontend/src/components/assistant-ui/message-timing.tsx
index 4fb68d4b90..be8d7dc7a1 100644
--- a/studio/frontend/src/components/assistant-ui/message-timing.tsx
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/components/assistant-ui/message-timing.tsx
@@ -33,10 +33,27 @@ export const MessageTiming: FC<{
 
   if (timing?.totalStreamTime === undefined) return null;
 
-  const serverTimings = (
+  const custom = (
     message.metadata as Record<string, unknown> | undefined
-  )?.custom as { serverTimings?: Record<string, number> } | undefined;
-  const st = serverTimings?.serverTimings;
+  )?.custom as
+    | {
+        serverTimings?: Record<string, number>;
+        contextUsage?: {
+          cachedTokens?: number;
+          cacheWriteTokens?: number;
+        };
+      }
+    | undefined;
+  const st = custom?.serverTimings;
+  // Cache-hit / cache-write counts. llama-server reports hits on
+  // timings.cache_n; external providers (Anthropic / OpenAI Responses /
+  // Gemini) report them on the include_usage envelope that the adapter
+  // normalizes into custom.contextUsage. Prefer the local-runtime value
+  // when present (so llama.cpp keeps populating the badge mid-stream)
+  // and fall back to the external envelope otherwise.
+  const cacheHits = (st?.cache_n ?? 0) || (custom?.contextUsage?.cachedTokens ?? 0);
+  // Anthropic-only: tokens written into the prompt cache on this turn.
+  const cacheWrites = custom?.contextUsage?.cacheWriteTokens ?? 0;
 
   // Guard unphysical tok/s: llama.cpp emits predicted_ms=0 on no-op
   // turns, blowing the rate up to Infinity. Require >=1 token AND a
@@ -122,11 +139,19 @@ export const MessageTiming: FC<{
                   </span>
                 </div>
               )}
-              {(st?.cache_n ?? 0) > 0 && (
+              {cacheHits > 0 && (
                 <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
                   <span className="text-muted-foreground">Cache hits</span>
                   <span className="font-mono tabular-nums">
-                    {formatNumber(st!.cache_n)}
+                    {formatNumber(cacheHits)}
+                  </span>
+                </div>
+              )}
+              {cacheWrites > 0 && (
+                <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
+                  <span className="text-muted-foreground">Cache writes</span>
+                  <span className="font-mono tabular-nums">
+                    {formatNumber(cacheWrites)}
                   </span>
                 </div>
               )}
@@ -146,7 +171,7 @@ export const MessageTiming: FC<{
             </>
           ) : (
             <>
-              {/* Client-side metrics (safetensors fallback) */}
+              {/* Client-side metrics (safetensors + external provider fallback) */}
               {timing.firstTokenTime !== undefined && (
                 <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
                   <span className="text-muted-foreground">First token</span>
@@ -155,6 +180,22 @@ export const MessageTiming: FC<{
                   </span>
                 </div>
               )}
+              {cacheHits > 0 && (
+                <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
+                  <span className="text-muted-foreground">Cache hits</span>
+                  <span className="font-mono tabular-nums">
+                    {formatNumber(cacheHits)}
+                  </span>
+                </div>
+              )}
+              {cacheWrites > 0 && (
+                <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
+                  <span className="text-muted-foreground">Cache writes</span>
+                  <span className="font-mono tabular-nums">
+                    {formatNumber(cacheWrites)}
+                  </span>
+                </div>
+              )}
               <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
                 <span className="text-muted-foreground">Total</span>
                 <span className="font-mono tabular-nums">
diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/chat-page.tsx b/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/chat-page.tsx
index d4aa53e4c4..eaa8c87cc0 100644
--- a/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/chat-page.tsx
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/chat-page.tsx
@@ -1491,9 +1491,15 @@ export function ChatPage(): ReactElement {
             ) : null}
           </div>
           <div className="ml-auto flex items-center gap-2">
-            {view.mode === "single" && ggufContextLength && contextUsage ? (
+            {view.mode === "single" && contextUsage ? (
               <ContextUsageBar
                 used={contextUsage.totalTokens}
+                // ggufContextLength is the local llama-server's KV-cache size;
+                // external providers (Anthropic / OpenAI Responses / Gemini)
+                // don't expose a stable per-model context window through the
+                // picker, so it is null in that mode. Pass it as-is -- the bar
+                // drops the "/ total" ratio + percentage when total is absent
+                // and still renders the per-turn counters + cache stats.
                 total={ggufContextLength}
                 cached={contextUsage.cachedTokens}
                 cacheWrites={contextUsage.cacheWriteTokens}
diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/components/context-usage-bar.tsx b/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/components/context-usage-bar.tsx
index 70193b76f7..bde340f4f6 100644
--- a/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/components/context-usage-bar.tsx
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/components/context-usage-bar.tsx
@@ -28,7 +28,15 @@ function getSeverityColor(percent: number): {
 
 export const ContextUsageBar: FC<{
   used: number;
-  total: number;
+  /**
+   * Context window size. Optional because external providers don't expose a
+   * stable per-model limit through the chat picker -- the local llama-server
+   * path is the only one that populates ggufContextLength. When omitted, the
+   * bar drops the "/ total" ratio + percentage bar and just shows the token
+   * counts (so cache hits / writes from Anthropic / OpenAI Responses still
+   * land in the tooltip).
+   */
+  total?: number | null;
   cached?: number;
   /**
    * Anthropic-only cache-write count (tokens written into the prompt cache
@@ -48,31 +56,49 @@ export const ContextUsageBar: FC<{
   completionTokens,
   className,
 }) => {
-  if (total <= 0) return null;
+  const hasKnownLimit = typeof total === "number" && total > 0;
+  const hasUsageDetails =
+    promptTokens !== undefined ||
+    completionTokens !== undefined ||
+    (cached !== undefined && cached > 0) ||
+    (cacheWrites !== undefined && cacheWrites > 0);
 
-  const percent = Math.min((used / total) * 100, 100);
-  const severity = getSeverityColor(percent);
+  // Nothing to show: no limit and no per-turn counters.
+  if (!hasKnownLimit && used <= 0 && !hasUsageDetails) return null;
+
+  const percent = hasKnownLimit
+    ? Math.min((used / (total as number)) * 100, 100)
+    : null;
+  const severity = getSeverityColor(percent ?? 0);
 
   return (
     <Tooltip>
       <TooltipTrigger asChild>
         <button
           type="button"
-          aria-label={`Context usage: ${formatTokenCount(used)} of ${formatTokenCount(total)} tokens`}
+          aria-label={
+            hasKnownLimit
+              ? `Context usage: ${formatTokenCount(used)} of ${formatTokenCount(total as number)} tokens`
+              : `Token usage: ${formatTokenCount(used)} tokens`
+          }
           className={cn(
             "flex items-center gap-2 rounded-[10px] px-2.5 py-1 font-mono text-chat-icon-fg text-[13px] tabular-nums transition-colors hover:bg-chat-icon-bg-hover hover:text-chat-icon-fg-hover",
             className,
           )}
         >
           <span>
-            {formatTokenCount(used)} / {formatTokenCount(total)}
+            {hasKnownLimit
+              ? `${formatTokenCount(used)} / ${formatTokenCount(total as number)}`
+              : `${formatTokenCount(used)} tokens`}
           </span>
-          <div className="h-1.5 w-16 rounded-full bg-black/10 dark:bg-white/15 overflow-hidden">
-            <div
-              className={cn("h-full rounded-full transition-all", severity.bar)}
-              style={{ width: `${percent}%` }}
-            />
-          </div>
+          {hasKnownLimit && percent !== null ? (
+            <div className="h-1.5 w-16 rounded-full bg-black/10 dark:bg-white/15 overflow-hidden">
+              <div
+                className={cn("h-full rounded-full transition-all", severity.bar)}
+                style={{ width: `${percent}%` }}
+              />
+            </div>
+          ) : null}
         </button>
       </TooltipTrigger>
       <TooltipContent
@@ -82,12 +108,14 @@ export const ContextUsageBar: FC<{
         className="[&_span>svg]:hidden!"
       >
         <div className="grid min-w-44 gap-1.5 text-xs">
-          <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
-            <span className="text-muted-foreground">Context usage</span>
-            <span className={cn("font-mono tabular-nums font-medium", severity.text)}>
-              {percent.toFixed(1)}%
-            </span>
-          </div>
+          {hasKnownLimit && percent !== null ? (
+            <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
+              <span className="text-muted-foreground">Context usage</span>
+              <span className={cn("font-mono tabular-nums font-medium", severity.text)}>
+                {percent.toFixed(1)}%
+              </span>
+            </div>
+          ) : null}
           {promptTokens !== undefined && (
             <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
               <span className="text-muted-foreground">Prompt tokens</span>
@@ -122,18 +150,22 @@ export const ContextUsageBar: FC<{
           )}
           <div className="my-0.5 border-t border-border/40" />
           <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-4">
-            <span className="text-muted-foreground">Total</span>
+            <span className="text-muted-foreground">
+              {hasKnownLimit ? "Total" : "Total tokens"}
+            </span>
             <span className="font-mono tabular-nums">
-              {formatTokenCountFull(used)} / {formatTokenCountFull(total)}
+              {hasKnownLimit
+                ? `${formatTokenCountFull(used)} / ${formatTokenCountFull(total as number)}`
+                : formatTokenCountFull(used)}
             </span>
           </div>
-          {percent > 85 && (
+          {hasKnownLimit && percent !== null && percent > 85 ? (
             <div className="mt-1 max-w-64 text-[11px] leading-snug text-muted-foreground/90">
               Close to the context limit. Generation will stop at 100%.
               Increase <span className="font-medium">Context Length</span> in
               the chat Settings panel to keep going.
             </div>
-          )}
+          ) : null}
         </div>
       </TooltipContent>
     </Tooltip>
diff --git a/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/runtime-provider.tsx b/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/runtime-provider.tsx
index 6d136c978e..4c758e01c4 100644
--- a/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/runtime-provider.tsx
+++ b/studio/frontend/src/features/chat/runtime-provider.tsx
@@ -831,10 +831,17 @@ function useStudioRuntimeAdapters(): StudioRuntimeAdapters {
             }
           | undefined;
         const store = useChatRuntimeStore.getState();
+        // External-provider threads have ggufContextLength === null because
+        // external picker selections don't carry a context-window number.
+        // Restore the persisted usage as long as it belongs to the active
+        // checkpoint; when a local GGUF context window IS known, also keep
+        // the original sanity check that the saved total fits inside it.
+        const withinLocalLimit =
+          !store.ggufContextLength ||
+          (savedUsage?.totalTokens ?? 0) <= store.ggufContextLength;
         if (
           savedUsage &&
-          store.ggufContextLength &&
-          savedUsage.totalTokens <= store.ggufContextLength &&
+          withinLocalLimit &&
           (!savedUsage.modelId ||
             savedUsage.modelId === store.params.checkpoint)
         ) {