diff --git a/internal/components/sdd/read_assignments.go b/internal/components/sdd/read_assignments.go
index a6f449a8..21a72203 100644
--- a/internal/components/sdd/read_assignments.go
+++ b/internal/components/sdd/read_assignments.go
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package sdd
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"os"
-	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/gentleman-programming/gentle-ai/internal/model"
 	"github.com/gentleman-programming/gentle-ai/internal/opencode"
@@ -79,18 +78,23 @@ func ReadCurrentModelAssignments(settingsPath string) (map[string]model.ModelAss
 		if !ok || modelStr == "" {
 			continue
 		}
-		// Try colon first (standard: "anthropic:claude-sonnet-4"), then slash
-		// ("zai-coding-plan/glm-5-turbo") for custom providers (issue #152).
-		idx := strings.Index(modelStr, ":")
-		if idx <= 0 {
-			idx = strings.Index(modelStr, "/")
+		// Find the first separator (either '/' or ':') to correctly parse
+		// model specs like "openrouter/qwen/qwen3.6-plus:free" where the
+		// provider is before the first slash, not before the colon.
+		// Issue #802: colon-first parsing broke OpenRouter free-model specs.
+		sep := -1
+		for i, c := range modelStr {
+			if c == '/' || c == ':' {
+				sep = i
+				break
+			}
 		}
-		if idx <= 0 {
+		if sep <= 0 {
 			// No separator or separator is the first character — skip malformed value.
 			continue
 		}
-		providerID := modelStr[:idx]
-		modelID := modelStr[idx+1:]
+		providerID := modelStr[:sep]
+		modelID := modelStr[sep+1:]
 		if modelID == "" {
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/internal/components/sdd/read_assignments_test.go b/internal/components/sdd/read_assignments_test.go
index 7e92e8da..deb57b63 100644
--- a/internal/components/sdd/read_assignments_test.go
+++ b/internal/components/sdd/read_assignments_test.go
@@ -215,6 +215,40 @@ func TestReadCurrentModelAssignmentsSlashSeparator(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestReadCurrentModelAssignmentsOpenRouterFreeModel verifies that model specs
+// with multiple slashes and a colon (like "openrouter/qwen/qwen3.6-plus:free")
+// are parsed correctly. The provider is everything before the FIRST separator
+// (slash or colon), not before the colon. Issue #802.
+func TestReadCurrentModelAssignmentsOpenRouterFreeModel(t *testing.T) {
+	dir := t.TempDir()
+	settingsPath := filepath.Join(dir, "opencode.json")
+
+	content := `{
+  "agent": {
+    "sdd-apply": { "model": "openrouter/qwen/qwen3.6-plus:free" }
+  }
+}`
+	if err := os.WriteFile(settingsPath, []byte(content), 0o644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write settings: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	got, err := ReadCurrentModelAssignments(settingsPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("ReadCurrentModelAssignments() error = %v", err)
+	}
+
+	a, ok := got["sdd-apply"]
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatal("sdd-apply missing from result — OpenRouter free-model format not parsed")
+	}
+	if a.ProviderID != "openrouter" {
+		t.Errorf("ProviderID = %q, want %q", a.ProviderID, "openrouter")
+	}
+	if a.ModelID != "qwen/qwen3.6-plus:free" {
+		t.Errorf("ModelID = %q, want %q", a.ModelID, "qwen/qwen3.6-plus:free")
+	}
+}
+
 // TestReadCurrentModelAssignmentsReadsVariant verifies that the
 // variant field in an agent definition is populated on the returned
 // ModelAssignment.Effort.
diff --git a/internal/update/upgrade/executor_test.go b/internal/update/upgrade/executor_test.go
index 7d366dc3..dd17622c 100644
--- a/internal/update/upgrade/executor_test.go
+++ b/internal/update/upgrade/executor_test.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/gentleman-programming/gentle-ai/internal/backup"
+	"github.com/gentleman-programming/gentle-ai/internal/components/gga"
 	"github.com/gentleman-programming/gentle-ai/internal/model"
 	"github.com/gentleman-programming/gentle-ai/internal/state"
 	"github.com/gentleman-programming/gentle-ai/internal/system"
@@ -856,8 +857,9 @@ func TestConfigPathsForBackup_CoversRegistryAgentsNotInOldList(t *testing.T) {
 func TestConfigPathsForBackup_GGAExtrasAreIncluded(t *testing.T) {
 	homeDir := t.TempDir()
 
-	// Create GGA config file at ~/.config/gga/config
-	ggaConfigFile := filepath.Join(homeDir, ".config", "gga", "config")
+	// Use gga package functions to get platform-correct paths
+	// (Windows uses %APPDATA%\gga, Unix uses ~/.config/gga)
+	ggaConfigFile := gga.ConfigPath(homeDir)
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(ggaConfigFile), 0o755); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("MkdirAll gga config: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -865,8 +867,9 @@ func TestConfigPathsForBackup_GGAExtrasAreIncluded(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatalf("WriteFile gga config: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// Create GGA runtime lib file at ~/.local/share/gga/lib/pr_mode.sh
-	ggaLibFile := filepath.Join(homeDir, ".local", "share", "gga", "lib", "pr_mode.sh")
+	// GGA runtime lib file at ~/.local/share/gga/lib/pr_mode.sh
+	// (same path on all platforms)
+	ggaLibFile := gga.RuntimePRModePath(homeDir)
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(ggaLibFile), 0o755); err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("MkdirAll gga lib: %v", err)
 	}