From a6996f2a05fe24e486e2c34b8298b7e78497e8e3 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Andre Baptista <AndreBaptista@criticalmanufacturing.com>
Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2026 16:03:21 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] feat: add env var support for custom endpoint default models

---
 .../librechat_yaml/object_structure/custom_endpoint.mdx   | 6 ++++--
 content/docs/quick_start/custom_endpoints.mdx             | 8 ++++++++
 2 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/content/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/object_structure/custom_endpoint.mdx b/content/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/object_structure/custom_endpoint.mdx
index 4af49ddec..d6a36fa68 100644
--- a/content/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/object_structure/custom_endpoint.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/object_structure/custom_endpoint.mdx
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ endpoints:
         apiKey: "${YOUR_ENV_VAR_KEY}"
         baseURL: "https://api.mistral.ai/v1"
         models: 
-        default: ["mistral-tiny", "mistral-small", "mistral-medium", "mistral-large-latest"]
+        # NOTE: a single model or a comma-separated list of models can be specified in YOUR_MISTRAL_MODELS_ENV_VAR
+        default: ["mistral-tiny", "mistral-small", "mistral-medium", "${YOUR_MISTRAL_MODELS_ENV_VAR}"]
         titleConvo: true
         titleModel: "mistral-tiny" 
         modelDisplayLabel: "Mistral"
@@ -152,7 +153,7 @@ iconURL: https://github.com/danny-avila/LibreChat/raw/main/docs/assets/LibreChat
 **Key:**
 <OptionTable
   options={[
-    ['default', 'Array of Strings', 'An array of strings indicating the default models to use.', 'If fetching models fails, these defaults are used as a fallback.'],
+    ['default', 'Array of Strings', 'An array of strings indicating the default models to use. Entries may be literal model names or ${ENV_VAR} references.', 'If fetching models fails, these defaults are used as a fallback. Env vars that resolve to comma-separated values are expanded into multiple models.'],
   ]}
 />
 
@@ -164,6 +165,7 @@ default:
   - "mistral-tiny"
   - "mistral-small"
   - "mistral-medium"
+  - "${YOUR_MISTRAL_MODELS_ENV_VAR}"
 ```
 
 ### fetch
diff --git a/content/docs/quick_start/custom_endpoints.mdx b/content/docs/quick_start/custom_endpoints.mdx
index 18b5bb5a8..57dc03cff 100644
--- a/content/docs/quick_start/custom_endpoints.mdx
+++ b/content/docs/quick_start/custom_endpoints.mdx
@@ -76,6 +76,14 @@ endpoints:
       titleModel: "current_model"
 ```
 
+    <Callout type="info" title="Models from Environment Variables">
+
+    `models.default` can include `${ENV_VAR}` references in addition to literal model names. If an env var resolves to a comma-separated string, LibreChat expands it into multiple model names.
+
+    Example: `default: ["mistral-small", "${MISTRAL_MODELS}"]` with `MISTRAL_MODELS="mistral-medium, mistral-large-latest"`.
+
+    </Callout>
+
 Browse all compatible providers in the [AI Endpoints](/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/ai_endpoints) section. For the full field reference, see [Custom Endpoint Object Structure](/docs/configuration/librechat_yaml/object_structure/custom_endpoint).
 
 <Callout type="warning" title="API Key Configuration">