diff --git a/api/server/controllers/ModelController.js b/api/server/controllers/ModelController.js
index 805d9eef27ba..426b27eac5f7 100644
--- a/api/server/controllers/ModelController.js
+++ b/api/server/controllers/ModelController.js
@@ -1,20 +1,12 @@
 const { logger } = require('@librechat/data-schemas');
-const { CacheKeys } = require('librechat-data-provider');
 const { loadDefaultModels, loadConfigModels } = require('~/server/services/Config');
-const { getLogStores } = require('~/cache');
 
 /**
  * @param {ServerRequest} req
  * @returns {Promise<TModelsConfig>} The models config.
  */
 const getModelsConfig = async (req) => {
-  const cache = getLogStores(CacheKeys.CONFIG_STORE);
-  let modelsConfig = await cache.get(CacheKeys.MODELS_CONFIG);
-  if (!modelsConfig) {
-    modelsConfig = await loadModels(req);
-  }
-
-  return modelsConfig;
+  return await loadModels(req);
 };
 
 /**
@@ -23,18 +15,10 @@ const getModelsConfig = async (req) => {
  * @returns {Promise<TModelsConfig>} The models config.
  */
 async function loadModels(req) {
-  const cache = getLogStores(CacheKeys.CONFIG_STORE);
-  const cachedModelsConfig = await cache.get(CacheKeys.MODELS_CONFIG);
-  if (cachedModelsConfig) {
-    return cachedModelsConfig;
-  }
   const defaultModelsConfig = await loadDefaultModels(req);
   const customModelsConfig = await loadConfigModels(req);
 
-  const modelConfig = { ...defaultModelsConfig, ...customModelsConfig };
-
-  await cache.set(CacheKeys.MODELS_CONFIG, modelConfig);
-  return modelConfig;
+  return { ...defaultModelsConfig, ...customModelsConfig };
 }
 
 async function modelController(req, res) {
diff --git a/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.spec.ts b/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.spec.ts
index 575cc5fef894..34dbaaead945 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.spec.ts
@@ -78,12 +78,14 @@ describe('fetchModels', () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it('should pass custom headers to the API request', async () => {
+  it('should resolve and merge custom headers to the API request', async () => {
     const customHeaders = {
       'X-Custom-Header': 'custom-value',
       'X-API-Version': 'v2',
     };
 
+    (resolveHeaders as jest.Mock).mockReturnValueOnce(customHeaders);
+
     await fetchModels({
       user: 'user123',
       apiKey: 'testApiKey',
@@ -92,6 +94,10 @@ describe('fetchModels', () => {
       headers: customHeaders,
     });
 
+    expect(resolveHeaders).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      headers: customHeaders,
+      user: undefined,
+    });
     expect(mockedAxios.get).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       expect.stringContaining('https://api.test.com/models'),
       expect.objectContaining({
@@ -104,6 +110,36 @@ describe('fetchModels', () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it('should allow custom authorization header to override default Bearer token', async () => {
+    const customHeaders = {
+      Authorization: 'Bearer user-specific-token',
+    };
+
+    (resolveHeaders as jest.Mock).mockReturnValueOnce(customHeaders);
+
+    await fetchModels({
+      user: 'user123',
+      apiKey: 'testApiKey',
+      baseURL: 'https://api.test.com',
+      name: 'TestAPI',
+      headers: { authorization: 'Bearer {{LIBRECHAT_OPENID_ID_TOKEN}}' },
+      userObject: { id: 'user123', email: 'test@example.com' },
+    });
+
+    expect(resolveHeaders).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      headers: { authorization: 'Bearer {{LIBRECHAT_OPENID_ID_TOKEN}}' },
+      user: { id: 'user123', email: 'test@example.com' },
+    });
+    expect(mockedAxios.get).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.stringContaining('https://api.test.com/models'),
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        headers: expect.objectContaining({
+          Authorization: 'Bearer user-specific-token',
+        }),
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   it('should handle null headers gracefully', async () => {
     await fetchModels({
       user: 'user123',
@@ -548,11 +584,13 @@ describe('getAnthropicModels', () => {
     );
   });
 
-  it('should pass custom headers for Anthropic endpoint', async () => {
+  it('should merge custom headers on top of Anthropic defaults', async () => {
     const customHeaders = {
       'X-Custom-Header': 'custom-value',
     };
 
+    (resolveHeaders as jest.Mock).mockReturnValueOnce(customHeaders);
+
     mockedAxios.get.mockResolvedValue({
       data: {
         data: [{ id: 'claude-3' }],
@@ -573,6 +611,7 @@ describe('getAnthropicModels', () => {
         headers: {
           'x-api-key': 'test-anthropic-key',
           'anthropic-version': expect.any(String),
+          'X-Custom-Header': 'custom-value',
         },
       }),
     );
diff --git a/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.ts b/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.ts
index 715b80656597..9e241294a47d 100644
--- a/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.ts
+++ b/packages/api/src/endpoints/models.ts
@@ -127,14 +127,17 @@ export async function fetchModels({
   }
 
   try {
+    const resolvedCustomHeaders = resolveHeaders({
+      headers: headers ?? undefined,
+      user: userObject,
+    });
+
     const options: {
       headers: Record<string, string>;
       timeout: number;
       httpsAgent?: HttpsProxyAgent<string>;
     } = {
-      headers: {
-        ...(headers ?? {}),
-      },
+      headers: {},
       timeout: 5000,
     };
 
@@ -147,6 +150,10 @@ export async function fetchModels({
       options.headers.Authorization = `Bearer ${apiKey}`;
     }
 
+    // Merge resolved custom headers after defaults so config headers
+    // (e.g. authorization with {{LIBRECHAT_OPENID_ACCESS_TOKEN}}) take precedence
+    Object.assign(options.headers, resolvedCustomHeaders);
+
     if (process.env.PROXY) {
       options.httpsAgent = new HttpsProxyAgent(process.env.PROXY);
     }