diff --git a/src/onboarding.ts b/src/onboarding.ts
index d51d408dc..a47d29498 100644
--- a/src/onboarding.ts
+++ b/src/onboarding.ts
@@ -323,6 +323,15 @@ async function runLlmStep(p: ClackModule, pc: PicoModule, authStorage: AuthStora
     p.log.info('Your Claude subscription will be used for inference. No API key needed.')
     // Store sentinel so hasAuth('claude-code') returns true on future boots
     authStorage.set('claude-code', { type: 'api_key', key: 'cli' })
+    // Persist claude-code as the default provider so the startup migration in
+    // cli.ts does not need to fire and the user is not left on "anthropic".
+    const settingsPath = join(agentDir, 'settings.json')
+    try {
+      const raw = existsSync(settingsPath) ? JSON.parse(readFileSync(settingsPath, 'utf-8')) : {}
+      raw.defaultProvider = 'claude-code'
+      mkdirSync(dirname(settingsPath), { recursive: true })
+      writeFileSync(settingsPath, JSON.stringify(raw, null, 2), 'utf-8')
+    } catch { /* non-fatal — startup migration will catch it */ }
     return true
   }
 
diff --git a/src/tests/onboarding-claude-cli-provider.test.ts b/src/tests/onboarding-claude-cli-provider.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fddb8727f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/onboarding-claude-cli-provider.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+import test from "node:test"
+import assert from "node:assert/strict"
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs"
+import { join } from "node:path"
+
+/**
+ * Source-level regression test: the claude-cli onboarding path must persist
+ * defaultProvider = 'claude-code' in settings.json so the user is not left
+ * on the 'anthropic' direct-API provider after selecting Claude Code CLI.
+ *
+ * Without this, the auto-migration in cli.ts does not fire when the user
+ * also has a stored Anthropic API key, leaving them on the wrong provider.
+ */
+test("onboarding claude-cli path persists defaultProvider to settings.json", () => {
+  const source = readFileSync(
+    join(import.meta.dirname, "..", "onboarding.ts"),
+    "utf-8",
+  )
+
+  // The claude-cli branch must write defaultProvider = 'claude-code' to settings.json
+  const cliBlock = source.slice(
+    source.indexOf("method === 'claude-cli'"),
+    source.indexOf("// ── Step 2"),
+  )
+  assert.ok(cliBlock.length > 0, "claude-cli block not found in onboarding.ts")
+  assert.match(
+    cliBlock,
+    /raw\.defaultProvider\s*=\s*['"]claude-code['"]/,
+    "claude-cli onboarding path must set defaultProvider = 'claude-code' in settings.json",
+  )
+})