diff --git a/packages/core/src/memory/relevanceSelector.test.ts b/packages/core/src/memory/relevanceSelector.test.ts
index 1dcc6a1fc86..ac94cc5071e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/memory/relevanceSelector.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/memory/relevanceSelector.test.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from 'vitest';
 import { runSideQuery } from '../utils/sideQuery.js';
+import type { Config } from '../config/config.js';
 import type { ScannedAutoMemoryDocument } from './scan.js';
 import { selectRelevantAutoMemoryDocumentsByModel } from './relevanceSelector.js';
 
@@ -37,27 +38,29 @@ const docs: ScannedAutoMemoryDocument[] = [
 ];
 
 describe('selectRelevantAutoMemoryDocumentsByModel', () => {
-  const mockConfig = {} as Parameters<
-    typeof selectRelevantAutoMemoryDocumentsByModel
-  >[0];
+  const mockConfig = {
+    getFastModel: vi.fn().mockReturnValue(undefined),
+  } as unknown as Config;
 
   beforeEach(() => {
-    vi.clearAllMocks();
+    vi.resetAllMocks();
   });
 
   it('returns documents chosen by the side-query selector', async () => {
     vi.mocked(runSideQuery).mockResolvedValue({
-      selected_memories: ['reference.md'],
+      selected_memories: ['user.md'],
     });
 
-    const selected = await selectRelevantAutoMemoryDocumentsByModel(
+    const result = await selectRelevantAutoMemoryDocumentsByModel(
       mockConfig,
-      'check the latency dashboard',
+      'check preferences',
       docs,
       2,
+      [],
     );
 
-    expect(selected).toEqual([docs[1]]);
+    expect(result).toEqual([docs[0]]);
+
     expect(runSideQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
       mockConfig,
       expect.objectContaining({
@@ -126,6 +129,52 @@ describe('selectRelevantAutoMemoryDocumentsByModel', () => {
     );
   });
 
+  it('passes the fast model to runSideQuery when configured', async () => {
+    vi.mocked(mockConfig.getFastModel).mockReturnValue('fast-flash-model');
+    vi.mocked(runSideQuery).mockResolvedValue({
+      selected_memories: ['reference.md'],
+    });
+
+    await selectRelevantAutoMemoryDocumentsByModel(
+      mockConfig,
+      'check the latency dashboard',
+      docs,
+      2,
+    );
+
+    expect(runSideQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      mockConfig,
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        purpose: 'auto-memory-recall',
+        model: 'fast-flash-model',
+        config: { temperature: 0 },
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('passes undefined model when no fast model is configured', async () => {
+    vi.mocked(mockConfig.getFastModel).mockReturnValue(undefined);
+    vi.mocked(runSideQuery).mockResolvedValue({
+      selected_memories: ['reference.md'],
+    });
+
+    await selectRelevantAutoMemoryDocumentsByModel(
+      mockConfig,
+      'check the latency dashboard',
+      docs,
+      2,
+    );
+
+    expect(runSideQuery).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      mockConfig,
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        purpose: 'auto-memory-recall',
+        model: undefined,
+        config: { temperature: 0 },
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
   it('throws when selector returns unknown relative paths', async () => {
     vi.mocked(runSideQuery).mockImplementation(async (_config, options) => {
       const error = options.validate?.({
diff --git a/packages/core/src/memory/relevanceSelector.ts b/packages/core/src/memory/relevanceSelector.ts
index 69f6fe7194f..2c54929ff85 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/memory/relevanceSelector.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/memory/relevanceSelector.ts
@@ -92,8 +92,12 @@ export async function selectRelevantAutoMemoryDocumentsByModel(
     contents,
     schema: RESPONSE_SCHEMA,
     abortSignal: callerAbortSignal
-      ? AbortSignal.any([AbortSignal.timeout(2_000), callerAbortSignal])
-      : AbortSignal.timeout(2_000),
+      ? AbortSignal.any([AbortSignal.timeout(1_000), callerAbortSignal])
+      : AbortSignal.timeout(1_000),
+
+    // Use the fast model for this background side-query to reduce latency and
+    // cost. Falls back to the main session model if no fast model is configured.
+    model: config.getFastModel(),
     systemInstruction: SELECT_MEMORIES_SYSTEM_PROMPT,
     config: {
       temperature: 0,
diff --git a/packages/core/src/utils/paths.test.ts b/packages/core/src/utils/paths.test.ts
index ab6c20479f3..11824de98de 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/utils/paths.test.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/utils/paths.test.ts
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import {
   isSubpath,
   shortenPath,
   tildeifyPath,
+  expandHomeDir,
   getProjectHash,
   _resetValidatePathCacheForTest,
 } from './paths.js';
@@ -911,3 +912,45 @@ describe('getProjectHash', () => {
     platformSpy.mockRestore();
   });
 });
+
+describe('expandHomeDir', () => {
+  const homeDir = os.homedir();
+
+  it('should return empty string for empty input', () => {
+    expect(expandHomeDir('')).toBe('');
+  });
+
+  it('should expand ~ to home directory', () => {
+    expect(expandHomeDir('~')).toBe(path.normalize(homeDir));
+  });
+
+  it('should expand ~/path to home directory path', () => {
+    expect(expandHomeDir('~/documents')).toBe(path.join(homeDir, 'documents'));
+  });
+
+  it('should not expand ~path (no slash)', () => {
+    expect(expandHomeDir('~documents')).toBe('~documents');
+  });
+
+  it('should expand %userprofile% (case-insensitive) to home directory', () => {
+    expect(expandHomeDir('%userprofile%')).toBe(path.normalize(homeDir));
+    expect(expandHomeDir('%USERPROFILE%')).toBe(path.normalize(homeDir));
+  });
+
+  it('should expand %userprofile%\\path to home directory path', () => {
+    const result = expandHomeDir('%userprofile%\\documents');
+    expect(result).toBe(path.normalize(homeDir + '\\documents'));
+  });
+
+  it('should return regular absolute path unchanged (but normalized)', () => {
+    expect(expandHomeDir('/absolute/path')).toBe(
+      path.normalize('/absolute/path'),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('should return relative path unchanged (but normalized)', () => {
+    expect(expandHomeDir('relative/path')).toBe(
+      path.normalize('relative/path'),
+    );
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/core/src/utils/paths.ts b/packages/core/src/utils/paths.ts
index ef858cdfa3f..e11fa0b3ffc 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/utils/paths.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/utils/paths.ts
@@ -75,6 +75,24 @@ export function tildeifyPath(path: string): string {
   return path;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Expands tilde (~) and Windows-style %userprofile% to the full home directory path.
+ * @param p - The path to expand.
+ * @returns The expanded path.
+ */
+export function expandHomeDir(p: string): string {
+  if (!p) {
+    return '';
+  }
+  let expandedPath = p;
+  if (p.toLowerCase().startsWith('%userprofile%')) {
+    expandedPath = os.homedir() + p.substring('%userprofile%'.length);
+  } else if (p === '~' || p.startsWith('~/')) {
+    expandedPath = os.homedir() + p.substring(1);
+  }
+  return path.normalize(expandedPath);
+}
+
 /**
  * Shortens a path string if it exceeds maxLen, prioritizing the start and end segments.
  * Shows root + first segment + "..." + end segments when middle segments are omitted.