diff --git a/src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/claude/claudeAgent.ts b/src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/claude/claudeAgent.ts
index e488182512aa90..339fe009e471c7 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/claude/claudeAgent.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/agentHost/node/claude/claudeAgent.ts
@@ -48,16 +48,20 @@ import { ClaudeSessionMetadataStore, IClaudeSessionOverlay } from './claudeSessi
  * Returns true if `m` is a Claude-family model that should be advertised
  * to clients picking a model for the Claude provider.
  *
- * Combines the same surface checks the extension uses (vendor, picker
- * eligibility, tool-call support, `/v1/messages` endpoint) with a parse
- * of the model id via {@link tryParseClaudeModelId}, which excludes
- * synthetic ids like `auto` that aren't real Claude endpoints.
+ * Intentionally does NOT check `model_picker_enabled`: CAPI sets that flag
+ * conservatively (false for many models), and the Copilot extension overrides
+ * it via an A/B experiment (`copilotchat.showInModelPicker`) so the normal
+ * Claude Code window shows all capable models. The agent host has no access
+ * to that experiment service, so relying on the raw flag would cause it to
+ * show a much smaller set than the extension window does. The remaining four
+ * conditions (Anthropic vendor, `/v1/messages` endpoint, tool-call support,
+ * parseable model ID) are sufficient guards against synthetic or ineligible
+ * entries.
  */
 function isClaudeModel(m: CCAModel): boolean {
 	return (
 		m.vendor === 'Anthropic' &&
 		!!m.supported_endpoints?.includes('/v1/messages') &&
-		!!m.model_picker_enabled &&
 		!!m.capabilities?.supports?.tool_calls &&
 		tryParseClaudeModelId(m.id) !== undefined
 	);
diff --git a/src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/claudeAgent.test.ts b/src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/claudeAgent.test.ts
index 41664ae2219e02..db72bb9649c315 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/claudeAgent.test.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/agentHost/test/node/claudeAgent.test.ts
@@ -694,6 +694,12 @@ suite('ClaudeAgent', () => {
 	});
 
 	test('authenticate populates models filtered to Claude family', async () => {
+		// model_picker_enabled is intentionally NOT checked — CAPI sets it
+		// conservatively and the Copilot extension overrides it via
+		// experiments; the agent host has no experiment service, so we rely
+		// on vendor/endpoint/tool-call/model-id guards instead.
+		// ANTHROPIC_PICKER_DISABLED (claude-opus-4.5, model_picker_enabled:false)
+		// must appear here alongside the other Claude models.
 		const { agent, proxy } = createTestContext(disposables);
 
 		const accepted = await agent.authenticate('https://api.github.com', 'tok');
@@ -709,6 +715,7 @@ suite('ClaudeAgent', () => {
 			models: [
 				{ provider: 'claude', id: 'claude-opus-4.6', name: 'Claude Opus 4.6', maxContextWindow: 200_000, supportsVision: false, policyState: 'enabled', _meta: { multiplierNumeric: 1 } },
 				{ provider: 'claude', id: 'claude-sonnet-4.6', name: 'Claude Sonnet 4.6', maxContextWindow: 200_000, supportsVision: false, policyState: 'enabled', _meta: { multiplierNumeric: 1 } },
+				{ provider: 'claude', id: 'claude-opus-4.5', name: 'Claude Opus 4.5', maxContextWindow: 200_000, supportsVision: false, policyState: 'enabled', _meta: { multiplierNumeric: 1 } },
 			],
 		});
 	});
@@ -940,20 +947,22 @@ suite('ClaudeAgent', () => {
 			accepted: true,
 			startTokens: ['tok', 'tok'],
 			disposeCount: 0,
-			modelIds: [CLAUDE_OPUS.id, CLAUDE_SONNET.id],
+			modelIds: [CLAUDE_OPUS.id, CLAUDE_SONNET.id, ANTHROPIC_PICKER_DISABLED.id],
 		});
 	});
 
 	test('model filter excludes non-Claude entries', async () => {
 		// Same fixture set as the populate test, but assert on ids only —
 		// catches every exclusion criterion in one snapshot.
+		// Note: model_picker_enabled is NOT a filter criterion (see isClaudeModel);
+		// ANTHROPIC_PICKER_DISABLED (claude-opus-4.5) therefore appears here.
 		const { agent } = createTestContext(disposables);
 		await agent.authenticate('https://api.github.com', 'tok');
 		await tick();
 
 		assert.deepStrictEqual(
 			agent.models.get().map(m => m.id),
-			['claude-opus-4.6', 'claude-sonnet-4.6'],
+			['claude-opus-4.6', 'claude-sonnet-4.6', 'claude-opus-4.5'],
 		);
 	});