diff --git a/.github/workflows/e2e.yml b/.github/workflows/e2e.yml
index 62d50cd0c1e..2535c1e4502 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/e2e.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/e2e.yml
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ jobs:
       PORT: "3100"
       PAPERCLIP_API_URL: http://127.0.0.1:3100
       PAPERCLIP_AUTH_HEADER: Bearer local-trusted-hermes-smoke
-      OPENROUTER_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENROUTER_API_KEY }}
+      OPENROUTER_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.PAP11985_OPENROUTER_API_KEY }}
       OPENAI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.OPENAI_API_KEY }}
       ANTHROPIC_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY }}
       GEMINI_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.GEMINI_API_KEY }}
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ jobs:
       PAPERCLIP_API_URL_FOR_HERMES: http://127.0.0.1:3100
       HERMES_SMOKE_DIAG_DIR: /tmp/hermes-gateway-diag-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}
       HERMES_SMOKE_STATE_DIR: /tmp/hermes-gateway-state-${{ github.run_id }}-${{ github.run_attempt }}
+      HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER: openrouter
+      HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT: z-ai/glm-5.2
+      HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_BASE_URL: https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
       RUN_TIMEOUT_SEC: "420"
       CASE_TIMEOUT_SEC: "420"
 
diff --git a/doc/HERMES_GATEWAY_SMOKE.md b/doc/HERMES_GATEWAY_SMOKE.md
index 09bf875b0a4..ba00cab9c64 100644
--- a/doc/HERMES_GATEWAY_SMOKE.md
+++ b/doc/HERMES_GATEWAY_SMOKE.md
@@ -26,6 +26,20 @@ and the non-loopback HTTP guard.
   `OPENROUTER_API_KEY`, `OPENAI_API_KEY`, `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`, `GEMINI_API_KEY`,
   `GOOGLE_API_KEY`, and `MISTRAL_API_KEY`, and logs only the provider env var
   names.
+- To pin the fresh Hermes container to a known non-secret model config, set
+  `HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER`, `HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT`, and optionally
+  `HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_BASE_URL`. For example, OpenRouter GLM:
+
+  ```sh
+  HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER=openrouter \
+  HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT=z-ai/glm-5.2 \
+  HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_BASE_URL=https://openrouter.ai/api/v1 \
+  pnpm smoke:hermes-gateway-e2e
+  ```
+
+  This writes only `model` and `providers: {}` into the temporary Hermes home;
+  provider keys still come from environment variables and are redacted from
+  diagnostics.
 - Board/operator auth is required through `PAPERCLIP_AUTH_HEADER`,
   `PAPERCLIP_COOKIE`, or a board-capable `PAPERCLIP_API_KEY`.
 - Diagnostic files are redacted before they are written, except the join output
diff --git a/scripts/smoke/hermes-gateway-e2e.sh b/scripts/smoke/hermes-gateway-e2e.sh
index 1087b82ee74..0702bd4273c 100755
--- a/scripts/smoke/hermes-gateway-e2e.sh
+++ b/scripts/smoke/hermes-gateway-e2e.sh
@@ -48,6 +48,9 @@ HERMES_SMOKE_NETWORK="${HERMES_SMOKE_NETWORK:-}"
 HERMES_DOCKER_ADD_HOST="${HERMES_DOCKER_ADD_HOST:-1}"
 HERMES_SMOKE_STATE_DIR="${HERMES_SMOKE_STATE_DIR:-${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/paperclip-hermes-gateway-smoke-${RUN_SUFFIX}}"
 HERMES_SMOKE_DIAG_DIR="${HERMES_SMOKE_DIAG_DIR:-${TMPDIR:-/tmp}/paperclip-hermes-gateway-e2e-diag-${RUN_SUFFIX}}"
+HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER="${HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER:-}"
+HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT="${HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT:-}"
+HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_BASE_URL="${HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_BASE_URL:-}"
 HERMES_AGENT_NAME="${HERMES_AGENT_NAME:-Hermes Gateway Smoke Agent ${RUN_SUFFIX}}"
 PAPERCLIP_API_URL_FOR_HERMES="${PAPERCLIP_API_URL_FOR_HERMES:-http://host.docker.internal:3100}"
 RUN_TIMEOUT_SEC="${RUN_TIMEOUT_SEC:-420}"
@@ -89,6 +92,9 @@ Common flags:
   HERMES_DOCKER_ADD_HOST=0|1
   HERMES_SMOKE_KEEP=1                              # keep diagnostics/container
   HERMES_SMOKE_DIAG_DIR=/tmp/hermes-gateway-diag
+  HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER=openrouter
+  HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT=z-ai/glm-5.2
+  HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_BASE_URL=https://openrouter.ai/api/v1
 
 Mode notes:
   HERMES_GATEWAY_API_BASE_URL is the URL stored on the Paperclip adapter and
@@ -487,6 +493,38 @@ prepare_fresh_state() {
   fi
 }
 
+yaml_single_quote() {
+  local value="$1"
+  value="${value//\'/\'\'}"
+  printf "'%s'" "$value"
+}
+
+write_hermes_model_config() {
+  if [[ -z "$HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER" && -z "$HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT" && -z "$HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_BASE_URL" ]]; then
+    return
+  fi
+  if [[ -z "$HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER" || -z "$HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT" ]]; then
+    fail "HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER and HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT must be set together"
+  fi
+
+  local config_file="${HERMES_SMOKE_STATE_DIR}/hermes-home/config.yaml"
+  if [[ -e "$config_file" ]]; then
+    fail "Hermes model config already exists in fresh state: ${config_file}"
+  fi
+
+  {
+    echo "model:"
+    printf "  default: %s\n" "$(yaml_single_quote "$HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT")"
+    printf "  provider: %s\n" "$(yaml_single_quote "$HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER")"
+    if [[ -n "$HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_BASE_URL" ]]; then
+      printf "  base_url: %s\n" "$(yaml_single_quote "$HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_BASE_URL")"
+    fi
+    echo "providers: {}"
+  } > "$config_file"
+  chmod 644 "$config_file"
+  log "seeded Hermes model config provider=${HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER} model=${HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT}"
+}
+
 start_container() {
   docker rm -f "$HERMES_CONTAINER_NAME" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
 
@@ -914,6 +952,7 @@ main() {
   resolve_company_id
 
   prepare_fresh_state
+  write_hermes_model_config
   build_image
   start_container
   assert_fresh_container_state
diff --git a/scripts/smoke/hermes-gateway-smoke.test.mjs b/scripts/smoke/hermes-gateway-smoke.test.mjs
index 04cc44144e8..cb36e94e620 100644
--- a/scripts/smoke/hermes-gateway-smoke.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/smoke/hermes-gateway-smoke.test.mjs
@@ -65,9 +65,33 @@ test("Hermes gateway smoke help documents operator safety flags", () => {
   const e2eHelp = run("bash", [e2eScript, "--help"]).stdout;
   assert.match(e2eHelp, /HERMES_SMOKE_KEEP/);
   assert.match(e2eHelp, /HERMES_SMOKE_NETWORK/);
+  assert.match(e2eHelp, /HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT/);
   assert.match(e2eHelp, /Docker/);
 });
 
+test("E2E helper can seed a minimal Hermes model config without secrets", () => {
+  const result = runBashFunctions(
+    e2eScript,
+    ["log", "fail", "yaml_single_quote", "write_hermes_model_config"],
+    `
+tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
+trap 'rm -rf "$tmp"' EXIT
+HERMES_SMOKE_STATE_DIR="$tmp"
+HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_PROVIDER="openrouter"
+HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_DEFAULT="z-ai/glm-5.2"
+HERMES_SMOKE_MODEL_BASE_URL="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1"
+mkdir -p "$HERMES_SMOKE_STATE_DIR/hermes-home"
+write_hermes_model_config
+config="$HERMES_SMOKE_STATE_DIR/hermes-home/config.yaml"
+grep -Fq "default: 'z-ai/glm-5.2'" "$config"
+grep -Fq "provider: 'openrouter'" "$config"
+grep -Fq "base_url: 'https://openrouter.ai/api/v1'" "$config"
+! grep -Eiq "api[_-]?key|token|secret" "$config"
+`,
+  );
+  assertSuccess(result, "write_hermes_model_config");
+});
+
 test("join helper redacts known secrets without exposing raw key material", () => {
   const result = runBashFunctions(
     joinScript,