diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/sf/codebase-generator.ts b/src/resources/extensions/sf/codebase-generator.ts
index 4e8ce0176..3f42d8858 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/sf/codebase-generator.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/sf/codebase-generator.ts
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ export function ensureCodebaseMapFresh(
   const existingDescriptions = parseCodebaseMap(existing);
   const ageMs = metadata ? now - Date.parse(metadata.generatedAt) : Number.POSITIVE_INFINITY;
   const staleReason =
-    !metadata ? "missing-metadata"
+    !metadata ? undefined  // no metadata = manually maintained by research agent, never auto-overwrite
     : metadata.fingerprint !== fingerprint ? "files-changed"
     : metadata.fileCount !== listed.files.length ? "file-count-changed"
     : metadata.truncated !== listed.truncated ? "truncation-changed"
diff --git a/src/resources/extensions/sf/preferences-models.ts b/src/resources/extensions/sf/preferences-models.ts
index 2d43b8a79..d3fe8d303 100644
--- a/src/resources/extensions/sf/preferences-models.ts
+++ b/src/resources/extensions/sf/preferences-models.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { join } from "node:path";
 import type { DynamicRoutingConfig } from "./model-router.js";
 import { defaultRoutingConfig } from "./model-router.js";
 import type { TokenProfile, InlineLevel } from "./types.js";
-import { getProviders, getModels } from "@singularity-forge/pi-ai";
+import { getProviders, getModels, getEnvApiKey } from "@singularity-forge/pi-ai";
 import { selectByBenchmarks } from "./benchmark-selector.js";
 
 import type {
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ function resolveAutoBenchmarkPickForUnit(
     const candidates: Array<{ provider: string; id: string }> = [];
     for (const provider of getProviders()) {
       if (allowed && !allowed.includes(provider.toLowerCase())) continue;
+      if (!getEnvApiKey(provider)) continue;
       for (const model of getModels(provider)) {
         if (!isProviderModelAllowed(provider, model.id, prefs?.provider_model_allow)) continue;
         candidates.push({ provider, id: model.id });