diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/widget/chatWidget.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/widget/chatWidget.ts
index a3a0498410e..55f75663e0c 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/widget/chatWidget.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/widget/chatWidget.ts
@@ -1686,6 +1686,9 @@ export class ChatWidget extends Disposable implements IChatWidget {
 				this.createInput(this.inputContainer);
 				this.input.setChatMode(this.inputPart.currentModeObs.get().id);
 				this.input.setPermissionLevel(this.inputPart.currentModeInfo.permissionLevel ?? ChatPermissionLevel.Default);
+				if (currentElement.modelId) {
+					this.input.switchModelByIdentifier(currentElement.modelId);
+				}
 				this.input.setEditing(true, isEditingSentRequest);
 				this._onDidChangeActiveInputEditor.fire();
 			} else {
@@ -1787,10 +1790,6 @@ export class ChatWidget extends Disposable implements IChatWidget {
 		if (!isInput) {
 			this.inputPart.setChatMode(this.input.currentModeObs.get().id);
 			this.inputPart.setPermissionLevel(this.input.currentModeInfo.permissionLevel ?? ChatPermissionLevel.Default);
-			const currentModel = this.input.selectedLanguageModel.get();
-			if (currentModel) {
-				this.inputPart.switchModel(currentModel.metadata);
-			}
 
 			this.inputPart?.toggleChatInputOverlay(false);
 			try {
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/widget/input/chatInputPart.ts b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/widget/input/chatInputPart.ts
index fbd7ad17897..fdedf3735ad 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/widget/input/chatInputPart.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/contrib/chat/browser/widget/input/chatInputPart.ts
@@ -850,6 +850,20 @@ export class ChatInputPart extends Disposable implements IHistoryNavigationWidge
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Switch to a model by its identifier. Returns true if a matching model
+	 * was found and applied.
+	 */
+	public switchModelByIdentifier(identifier: string): boolean {
+		const models = this.getModels();
+		const model = models.find(m => m.identifier === identifier);
+		if (model) {
+			this.setCurrentLanguageModel(model);
+			return true;
+		}
+		return false;
+	}
+
 	public switchModelByQualifiedName(qualifiedModelNames: readonly string[]): boolean {
 		const models = this.getModels();
 		for (const qualifiedModelName of qualifiedModelNames) {