diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/BottomMenu.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/BottomMenu.tsx
index 24639fbe..19741514 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/BottomMenu.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/BottomMenu.tsx
@@ -167,7 +167,9 @@ export default function BottomMenu({
           className="flex items-center cursor-pointer"
           onClick={() => setIsModelMenuOpen(!isModelMenuOpen)}
         >
-          <span>{envModelProvider || currentModel?.name || 'Select Model'}</span>
+          <span>
+            {envModelProvider || (currentModel?.alias ?? currentModel?.name) || 'Select Model'}
+          </span>
           {isModelMenuOpen ? (
             <ChevronDown className="w-4 h-4 ml-1" />
           ) : (
@@ -182,14 +184,14 @@ export default function BottomMenu({
               <ModelRadioList
                 className="divide-y divide-borderSubtle"
                 renderItem={({ model, isSelected, onSelect }) => (
-                  <label key={model.name} className="block cursor-pointer">
+                  <label key={model.alias ?? model.name} className="block cursor-pointer">
                     <div
                       className="flex items-center justify-between p-2 text-textStandard hover:bg-bgSubtle transition-colors"
                       onClick={onSelect}
                     >
                       <div>
-                        <p className="text-sm ">{model.name}</p>
-                        <p className="text-xs text-textSubtle">{model.provider}</p>
+                        <p className="text-sm ">{model.alias ?? model.name}</p>
+                        <p className="text-xs text-textSubtle">{model.subtext ?? model.provider}</p>
                       </div>
                       <div className="relative">
                         <input
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/SettingsView.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/SettingsView.tsx
index b7b3f8b5..037a4613 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/SettingsView.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/SettingsView.tsx
@@ -247,23 +247,10 @@ export default function SettingsView({
           {/* Content Area */}
           <div className="flex-1 py-8 pt-[20px]">
             <div className="space-y-8">
+              {/*Models Section*/}
               <section id="models">
-                <div className="flex justify-between items-center mb-6 border-b border-borderSubtle px-8">
-                  <h2 className="text-xl font-medium text-textStandard">Models</h2>
-                  <button
-                    onClick={() => {
-                      setView('moreModels');
-                    }}
-                    className="text-indigo-500 hover:text-indigo-600 text-sm"
-                  >
-                    Browse
-                  </button>
-                </div>
-                <div className="px-8">
-                  <RecentModelsRadio />
-                </div>
+                <RecentModelsRadio setView={setView} />
               </section>
-
               <section id="extensions">
                 <div className="flex justify-between items-center mb-6 border-b border-borderSubtle px-8">
                   <h2 className="text-xl font-semibold text-textStandard">Extensions</h2>
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/AddModelInline.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/AddModelInline.tsx
index 7ab6d649..6c26182a 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/AddModelInline.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/AddModelInline.tsx
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import Select from 'react-select';
 import { Plus } from 'lucide-react';
 import { createSelectedModel, useHandleModelSelection } from './utils';
 import { useActiveKeys } from '../api_keys/ActiveKeysContext';
-import { goose_models } from './hardcoded_stuff';
+import { gooseModels } from './GooseModels';
 import { createDarkSelectStyles, darkSelectTheme } from '../../ui/select-styles';
 
 export function AddModelInline() {
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ export function AddModelInline() {
       return;
     }
 
-    const filtered = goose_models
+    const filtered = gooseModels
       .filter(
         (model) =>
           model.provider.toLowerCase() === selectedProvider &&
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/GooseModels.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/GooseModels.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d94ef7b3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/GooseModels.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import { Model } from './ModelContext';
+
+// TODO: move into backends / fetch dynamically
+// this is used by ModelContext
+export const gooseModels: Model[] = [
+  { id: 1, name: 'gpt-4o-mini', provider: 'OpenAI' },
+  { id: 2, name: 'gpt-4o', provider: 'OpenAI' },
+  { id: 3, name: 'gpt-4-turbo', provider: 'OpenAI' },
+  { id: 5, name: 'o1', provider: 'OpenAI' },
+  { id: 7, name: 'claude-3-5-sonnet-latest', provider: 'Anthropic' },
+  { id: 8, name: 'claude-3-5-haiku-latest', provider: 'Anthropic' },
+  { id: 9, name: 'claude-3-opus-latest', provider: 'Anthropic' },
+  { id: 10, name: 'gemini-1.5-pro', provider: 'Google' },
+  { id: 11, name: 'gemini-1.5-flash', provider: 'Google' },
+  { id: 12, name: 'gemini-2.0-flash', provider: 'Google' },
+  { id: 13, name: 'gemini-2.0-flash-lite-preview-02-05', provider: 'Google' },
+  { id: 14, name: 'gemini-2.0-flash-thinking-exp-01-21', provider: 'Google' },
+  { id: 15, name: 'gemini-2.0-pro-exp-02-05', provider: 'Google' },
+  { id: 16, name: 'llama-3.3-70b-versatile', provider: 'Groq' },
+  { id: 17, name: 'qwen2.5', provider: 'Ollama' },
+  { id: 18, name: 'anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet', provider: 'OpenRouter' },
+  { id: 19, name: 'gpt-4o', provider: 'Azure OpenAI' },
+  { id: 20, name: 'claude-3-7-sonnet@20250219', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
+  { id: 21, name: 'claude-3-5-sonnet-v2@20241022', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
+  { id: 22, name: 'claude-3-5-sonnet@20240620', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
+  { id: 23, name: 'claude-3-5-haiku@20241022', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
+  { id: 24, name: 'gemini-2.0-pro-exp-02-05', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
+  { id: 25, name: 'gemini-2.0-flash-001', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
+  { id: 26, name: 'gemini-1.5-pro-002', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
+];
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ModelContext.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ModelContext.tsx
index 3dba2c0d..560e80ef 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ModelContext.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ModelContext.tsx
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import React, { createContext, useContext, useState, ReactNode } from 'react';
 import { GOOSE_MODEL, GOOSE_PROVIDER } from '../../../env_vars';
-import { goose_models } from './hardcoded_stuff'; // Assuming hardcoded models are here
+import { gooseModels } from './GooseModels'; // Assuming hardcoded models are here
 
 // TODO: API keys
 export interface Model {
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ export interface Model {
   name: string;
   provider: string;
   lastUsed?: string;
+  alias?: string; // optional model display name
+  subtext?: string; // goes below model name if not the provider
 }
 
 interface ModelContextValue {
@@ -31,7 +33,7 @@ export const ModelProvider = ({ children }: { children: ReactNode }) => {
 
   const switchModel = (model: Model) => {
     const newModel = model.id
-      ? goose_models.find((m) => m.id === model.id) || model
+      ? gooseModels.find((m) => m.id === model.id) || model
       : { id: Date.now(), ...model }; // Assign unique ID for user-defined models
     updateModel(newModel);
   };
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ModelRadioList.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ModelRadioList.tsx
index da9a46d8..358f40cf 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ModelRadioList.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ModelRadioList.tsx
@@ -1,8 +1,16 @@
 import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
-import { Model } from './ModelContext';
+import { useRecentModels } from './RecentModels';
 import { useModel } from './ModelContext';
 import { useHandleModelSelection } from './utils';
-import { useRecentModels } from './RecentModels';
+import type { View } from '@/src/App';
+import { SettingsViewOptions } from '@/src/components/settings/SettingsView';
+
+export interface Model {
+  id?: number; // Make `id` optional to allow user-defined models
+  name: string;
+  provider: string;
+  lastUsed?: string;
+}
 
 interface ModelRadioListProps {
   renderItem: (props: {
@@ -13,6 +21,22 @@ interface ModelRadioListProps {
   className?: string;
 }
 
+export function SeeMoreModelsButtons({ setView }: { setView: (view: View) => void }) {
+  return (
+    <div className="flex justify-between items-center mb-6 border-b border-borderSubtle px-8">
+      <h2 className="text-xl font-medium text-textStandard">Models</h2>
+      <button
+        onClick={() => {
+          setView('moreModels');
+        }}
+        className="text-indigo-500 hover:text-indigo-600 text-sm"
+      >
+        Browse
+      </button>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
+
 export function ModelRadioList({ renderItem, className = '' }: ModelRadioListProps) {
   const { recentModels } = useRecentModels();
   const { currentModel } = useModel();
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ProviderButtons.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ProviderButtons.tsx
index a3b930c5..66257cf5 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ProviderButtons.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/ProviderButtons.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,8 @@ import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
 import { Button } from '../../ui/button';
 import { Switch } from '../../ui/switch';
 import { useActiveKeys } from '../api_keys/ActiveKeysContext';
-import { model_docs_link, goose_models } from './hardcoded_stuff';
+import { model_docs_link } from './hardcoded_stuff';
+import { gooseModels } from './GooseModels';
 import { useModel } from './ModelContext';
 import { useHandleModelSelection } from './utils';
 
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ export function ProviderButtons() {
 
   // Filter models by provider
   const providerModels = selectedProvider
-    ? goose_models.filter((model) => model.provider === selectedProvider)
+    ? gooseModels.filter((model) => model.provider === selectedProvider)
     : [];
 
   return (
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/RecentModels.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/RecentModels.tsx
index 992d91e2..ecfb7095 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/RecentModels.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/RecentModels.tsx
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import React, { useState, useEffect } from 'react';
 import { Clock } from 'lucide-react';
 import { Model } from './ModelContext';
-import { useHandleModelSelection } from './utils';
+import { ModelRadioList, SeeMoreModelsButtons } from './ModelRadioList';
 import { useModel } from './ModelContext';
-import { ModelRadioList } from './ModelRadioList';
+import { useHandleModelSelection } from './utils';
+import type { View } from '../../../App';
 
 const MAX_RECENT_MODELS = 3;
 
@@ -129,37 +130,41 @@ export function RecentModels() {
   );
 }
 
-export function RecentModelsRadio() {
+export function RecentModelsRadio({ setView }: { setView: (view: View) => void }) {
   return (
-    <div className="space-y-2">
-      <h2 className="text-md font-medium text-textStandard">Recently used</h2>
-      <ModelRadioList
-        renderItem={({ model, isSelected, onSelect }) => (
-          <label key={model.name} className="flex items-center py-2 cursor-pointer">
-            <div className="relative mr-4">
-              <input
-                type="radio"
-                name="recentModels"
-                value={model.name}
-                checked={isSelected}
-                onChange={onSelect}
-                className="peer sr-only"
-              />
-              <div
-                className="h-4 w-4 rounded-full border border-gray-400 dark:border-gray-500
+    <div>
+      <SeeMoreModelsButtons setView={setView} />
+      <div className="px-8">
+        <div className="space-y-2">
+          <ModelRadioList
+            renderItem={({ model, isSelected, onSelect }) => (
+              <label key={model.name} className="flex items-center py-2 cursor-pointer">
+                <div className="relative mr-4">
+                  <input
+                    type="radio"
+                    name="recentModels"
+                    value={model.name}
+                    checked={isSelected}
+                    onChange={onSelect}
+                    className="peer sr-only"
+                  />
+                  <div
+                    className="h-4 w-4 rounded-full border border-gray-400 dark:border-gray-500
                                 peer-checked:border-[6px] peer-checked:border-black dark:peer-checked:border-white
                                 peer-checked:bg-white dark:peer-checked:bg-black
                                 transition-all duration-200 ease-in-out"
-              ></div>
-            </div>
+                  ></div>
+                </div>
 
-            <div className="">
-              <p className="text-sm text-textStandard">{model.name}</p>
-              <p className="text-xs text-textSubtle">{model.provider}</p>
-            </div>
-          </label>
-        )}
-      />
+                <div className="">
+                  <p className="text-sm text-textStandard">{model.alias ?? model.name}</p>
+                  <p className="text-xs text-textSubtle">{model.subtext ?? model.provider}</p>
+                </div>
+              </label>
+            )}
+          />
+        </div>
+      </div>
     </div>
   );
 }
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/Search.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/Search.tsx
index 0c9b845f..76964aef 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/Search.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/Search.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import React, { useState, useEffect, useRef } from 'react';
 import { Search } from 'lucide-react';
 import { Switch } from '../../ui/switch';
-import { goose_models } from './hardcoded_stuff';
+import { gooseModels } from './GooseModels';
 import { useModel } from './ModelContext';
 import { useHandleModelSelection } from './utils';
 import { useActiveKeys } from '../api_keys/ActiveKeysContext';
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ export function SearchBar() {
   // results set will only include models that have a configured provider
   const { activeKeys } = useActiveKeys(); // Access active keys from context
 
-  const model_options = goose_models.filter((model) => activeKeys.includes(model.provider));
+  const model_options = gooseModels.filter((model) => activeKeys.includes(model.provider));
 
   const filteredModels = model_options
     .filter((model) => model.name.toLowerCase().includes(search.toLowerCase()))
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/hardcoded_stuff.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/hardcoded_stuff.tsx
index 75d7634a..6e424581 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/hardcoded_stuff.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/hardcoded_stuff.tsx
@@ -1,33 +1,5 @@
 import { Model } from './ModelContext';
 
-// TODO: move into backends / fetch dynamically
-export const goose_models: Model[] = [
-  { id: 1, name: 'gpt-4o-mini', provider: 'OpenAI' },
-  { id: 2, name: 'gpt-4o', provider: 'OpenAI' },
-  { id: 3, name: 'gpt-4-turbo', provider: 'OpenAI' },
-  { id: 5, name: 'o1', provider: 'OpenAI' },
-  { id: 7, name: 'claude-3-5-sonnet-latest', provider: 'Anthropic' },
-  { id: 8, name: 'claude-3-5-haiku-latest', provider: 'Anthropic' },
-  { id: 9, name: 'claude-3-opus-latest', provider: 'Anthropic' },
-  { id: 10, name: 'gemini-1.5-pro', provider: 'Google' },
-  { id: 11, name: 'gemini-1.5-flash', provider: 'Google' },
-  { id: 12, name: 'gemini-2.0-flash', provider: 'Google' },
-  { id: 13, name: 'gemini-2.0-flash-lite-preview-02-05', provider: 'Google' },
-  { id: 14, name: 'gemini-2.0-flash-thinking-exp-01-21', provider: 'Google' },
-  { id: 15, name: 'gemini-2.0-pro-exp-02-05', provider: 'Google' },
-  { id: 16, name: 'llama-3.3-70b-versatile', provider: 'Groq' },
-  { id: 17, name: 'qwen2.5', provider: 'Ollama' },
-  { id: 18, name: 'anthropic/claude-3.5-sonnet', provider: 'OpenRouter' },
-  { id: 19, name: 'gpt-4o', provider: 'Azure OpenAI' },
-  { id: 20, name: 'claude-3-7-sonnet@20250219', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
-  { id: 21, name: 'claude-3-5-sonnet-v2@20241022', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
-  { id: 22, name: 'claude-3-5-sonnet@20240620', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
-  { id: 23, name: 'claude-3-5-haiku@20241022', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
-  { id: 24, name: 'gemini-2.0-pro-exp-02-05', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
-  { id: 25, name: 'gemini-2.0-flash-001', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
-  { id: 26, name: 'gemini-1.5-pro-002', provider: 'GCP Vertex AI' },
-];
-
 export const openai_models = ['gpt-4o-mini', 'gpt-4o', 'gpt-4-turbo', 'o1'];
 
 export const anthropic_models = [
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/toasts.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/toasts.tsx
index 5887f3e9..08e03cad 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/toasts.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/toasts.tsx
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ export function ToastSuccessModelSwitch(model: Model) {
   return toast.success(
     <div>
       <strong>Model Changed</strong>
-      <div>Switched to {model.name}</div>
+      <div>Switched to {model.alias ?? model.name}</div>
     </div>,
     {
       position: 'top-right',
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/utils.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/utils.tsx
index 4cb5826d..8cb71e0a 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/utils.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/models/utils.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { useModel } from './ModelContext'; // Import the useModel hook
 import { Model } from './ModelContext';
 import { useMemo } from 'react';
-import { goose_models } from './hardcoded_stuff';
+import { gooseModels } from './GooseModels';
 import { ToastFailureGeneral, ToastSuccessModelSwitch } from './toasts';
 import { initializeSystem } from '../../../utils/providerUtils';
 import { useRecentModels } from './RecentModels';
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ export function useHandleModelSelection() {
 }
 
 export function createSelectedModel(selectedProvider, modelName) {
-  let selectedModel = goose_models.find(
+  let selectedModel = gooseModels.find(
     (model) =>
       model.provider.toLowerCase() === selectedProvider &&
       model.name.toLowerCase() === modelName.toLowerCase()
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ export function createSelectedModel(selectedProvider, modelName) {
   if (!selectedModel) {
     // Normalize the casing for the provider using the first matching model
     const normalizedProvider =
-      goose_models.find((model) => model.provider.toLowerCase() === selectedProvider)?.provider ||
+      gooseModels.find((model) => model.provider.toLowerCase() === selectedProvider)?.provider ||
       selectedProvider;
 
     // Construct a model object
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ export function createSelectedModel(selectedProvider, modelName) {
 
 export function useFilteredModels(search: string, activeKeys: string[]) {
   const filteredModels = useMemo(() => {
-    const modelOptions = goose_models.filter((model) => activeKeys.includes(model.provider));
+    const modelOptions = gooseModels.filter((model) => activeKeys.includes(model.provider));
 
     if (!search) {
       return modelOptions; // Return all models if no search term