fix(nous): surface allowed models the curated list does not carry

An org allowlist can name a model the docs-hosted curated manifest has
never heard of. Intersecting the curated list against the reachable set
then produced an empty picker — "No models available for Nous Portal after
filtering" — which is strictly worse than showing an unfiltered list,
because the one model the org may actually use is the one that got dropped.

When the reachable set is small enough to be a human-authored allowlist,
append whatever it admits that the curated list is missing, after the
curated entries so their order survives.

Bounded by size, which is what separates the two kinds of policy: an
allowlist is small, while a provider-only policy leaves the whole catalog
reachable and appending it would bury the curated order. Past the cap the
intersection stands alone and the picker's custom-model entry remains the
way to reach anything omitted.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>

hermes_cli/models.py

@@ -2649,6 +2649,13 @@ def nous_policy_allowed_ids(*, force_refresh: bool = False) -> Optional[set[str]
     return set(pricing) or None
 
 
+# Above this many reachable models, an allowed set is treated as catalog-wide
+# rather than as an allowlist worth enumerating in a picker. NAS caps an
+# allowlist at 512, but a set this large is indistinguishable from the full
+# catalog for display purposes.
+_NOUS_POLICY_APPEND_MAX = 64
+
+
 def restrict_to_nous_policy(
     model_ids: list[str], allowed: Optional[set[str]]
 ) -> list[str]:
@@ -2665,12 +2672,33 @@ def restrict_to_nous_policy(
     """
     if not allowed:
         return list(model_ids)
-    return [
+    kept = [
         mid
         for mid in model_ids
         if mid in allowed or mid.split(":", 1)[0] in allowed
     ]
 
+    # An allowlist can admit models the curated manifest has never heard of, and
+    # intersecting alone would then leave the user with nothing to pick at all —
+    # strictly worse than the unfiltered list. When the reachable set is no
+    # larger than what would have been shown anyway, it IS the list: append
+    # whatever it admits that the curated list is missing.
+    #
+    # Bounded by size, which is what separates the two kinds of policy: a model
+    # allowlist is human-authored and small, while a provider-only policy leaves
+    # the whole catalog reachable. Appending several hundred alphabetical
+    # vendor-prefixed ids would bury the curated order — the regression the
+    # pickers' curated branch exists to avoid. Past the cap the intersection
+    # stands on its own, and the picker's custom-model entry remains the way to
+    # reach anything it omits.
+    if len(allowed) <= _NOUS_POLICY_APPEND_MAX:
+        covered: set[str] = set()
+        for mid in kept:
+            covered.add(mid)
+            covered.add(mid.split(":", 1)[0])
+        kept.extend(sorted(a for a in allowed if a not in covered))
+    return kept
+
 
 def get_pricing_for_provider(provider: str, *, force_refresh: bool = False) -> dict[str, dict[str, str]]:
     """Return live pricing for providers that support it (openrouter, nous, ai-gateway, novita)."""

tests/hermes_cli/test_nous_policy_filter.py

@@ -63,7 +63,11 @@ class TestRestrictToNousPolicy:
         ) == ["vendor/model:free"]
 
     def test_drops_a_free_sibling_whose_base_is_blocked(self):
-        assert restrict_to_nous_policy(["vendor/model:free"], {"other/model"}) == []
+        """The blocked sibling goes; the model the org may actually use takes
+        its place rather than leaving the picker empty."""
+        assert restrict_to_nous_policy(["vendor/model:free"], {"other/model"}) == [
+            "other/model"
+        ]
 
 
 class TestNousPolicyAllowedIds:
@@ -184,3 +188,35 @@ class TestNousPolicyNotice:
         notice = account_mod.nous_policy_notice()
         assert "/" not in notice, f"looks like it names a model: {notice}"
         assert len(notice.splitlines()) == 1
+
+
+class TestAllowlistOutsideTheCuratedList:
+    """An allowlist can name a model the curated manifest has never heard of.
+
+    Intersecting alone leaves the picker empty in that case — strictly worse
+    than showing an unfiltered list, because the one model the org may use is
+    the one that got dropped.
+    """
+
+    def test_surfaces_an_allowed_model_the_curated_list_lacks(self):
+        assert restrict_to_nous_policy(
+            ["vendor/a", "vendor/b"], {"amazon/nova-2-lite-v1"}
+        ) == ["amazon/nova-2-lite-v1"]
+
+    def test_keeps_curated_order_then_appends_the_rest(self):
+        kept = restrict_to_nous_policy(
+            ["z/curated", "a/curated"], {"z/curated", "a/curated", "new/model"}
+        )
+        assert kept == ["z/curated", "a/curated", "new/model"]
+
+    def test_does_not_append_a_free_sibling_already_covered(self):
+        assert restrict_to_nous_policy(["vendor/m:free"], {"vendor/m"}) == [
+            "vendor/m:free"
+        ]
+
+    def test_a_provider_only_policy_does_not_bury_the_curated_order(self):
+        """Such a policy leaves the whole catalog reachable; appending it would
+        drop hundreds of alphabetical ids into the picker."""
+        curated = ["vendor/one", "vendor/two"]
+        catalog = {f"vendor/model-{i}" for i in range(300)} | set(curated)
+        assert restrict_to_nous_policy(curated, catalog) == curated