diff --git a/crates/agent_ui/src/agent_panel.rs b/crates/agent_ui/src/agent_panel.rs
index 0b6ec521e001cf344bf8aeb43e725c54749124db..305261183e92de6dbe2ad5756293e8b0bbf77849 100644
--- a/crates/agent_ui/src/agent_panel.rs
+++ b/crates/agent_ui/src/agent_panel.rs
@@ -287,6 +287,17 @@ impl AgentType {
     }
 }
 
+impl From<ExternalAgent> for AgentType {
+    fn from(value: ExternalAgent) -> Self {
+        match value {
+            ExternalAgent::Gemini => Self::Gemini,
+            ExternalAgent::ClaudeCode => Self::ClaudeCode,
+            ExternalAgent::Custom { name, command } => Self::Custom { name, command },
+            ExternalAgent::NativeAgent => Self::NativeAgent,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl ActiveView {
     pub fn which_font_size_used(&self) -> WhichFontSize {
         match self {
@@ -1052,6 +1063,11 @@ impl AgentPanel {
             editor
         });
 
+        if self.selected_agent != AgentType::TextThread {
+            self.selected_agent = AgentType::TextThread;
+            self.serialize(cx);
+        }
+
         self.set_active_view(
             ActiveView::prompt_editor(
                 context_editor.clone(),
@@ -1148,6 +1164,12 @@ impl AgentPanel {
                     }
                 }
 
+                let selected_agent = ext_agent.into();
+                if this.selected_agent != selected_agent {
+                    this.selected_agent = selected_agent;
+                    this.serialize(cx);
+                }
+
                 let thread_view = cx.new(|cx| {
                     crate::acp::AcpThreadView::new(
                         server,
@@ -1243,6 +1265,12 @@ impl AgentPanel {
                 cx,
             )
         });
+
+        if self.selected_agent != AgentType::TextThread {
+            self.selected_agent = AgentType::TextThread;
+            self.serialize(cx);
+        }
+
         self.set_active_view(
             ActiveView::prompt_editor(
                 editor,
@@ -1868,11 +1896,6 @@ impl AgentPanel {
         window: &mut Window,
         cx: &mut Context<Self>,
     ) {
-        if self.selected_agent != agent {
-            self.selected_agent = agent.clone();
-            self.serialize(cx);
-        }
-
         match agent {
             AgentType::Zed => {
                 window.dispatch_action(