diff --git a/.changeset/fn-7942-settings-search-chat.md b/.changeset/fn-7942-settings-search-chat.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3e083c9505
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/fn-7942-settings-search-chat.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+"@runfusion/fusion": patch
+---
+
+summary: Settings search now surfaces Project Models Chat default settings when searching for chat.
+category: fix
+dev: Adds chat-default searchableText/searchableKeys to the project-models entry in SETTINGS_SECTIONS (SettingsModal.tsx); fixes FN-7907 search-index drift.
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/app/components/SettingsModal.tsx b/packages/dashboard/app/components/SettingsModal.tsx
index ef3512c9c5..c0cf59db0c 100644
--- a/packages/dashboard/app/components/SettingsModal.tsx
+++ b/packages/dashboard/app/components/SettingsModal.tsx
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ function useGitHubStarCount(): number | null {
  *   2. Add a corresponding case in renderSectionFields()
  */
 /** Section entry type with optional icon */
-type SettingsSection = {
+export type SettingsSection = {
   id: string;
   label: string;
   labelKey: string;
@@ -303,11 +303,11 @@ function removeEmptySettingsGroups(sections: SettingsSection[]): SettingsSection
   });
 }
 
-function normalizeSettingsSearchText(value: string): string {
+export function normalizeSettingsSearchText(value: string): string {
   return value.trim().toLocaleLowerCase();
 }
 
-function sectionMatchesSettingsSearch(
+export function sectionMatchesSettingsSearch(
   section: SettingsSection,
   query: string,
   label: string,
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ function sectionMatchesSettingsSearch(
     .some((candidate) => candidate.includes(query));
 }
 
-function filterSettingsSectionsForSearch(
+export function filterSettingsSectionsForSearch(
   sections: SettingsSection[],
   query: string,
   translateLabel: (section: SettingsSection) => string,
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ function resolveMaxAutoMergeRetriesForSettingsForm(settings?: { maxAutoMergeRetr
   return Number.isFinite(configured) && configured > 0 ? Math.floor(configured) : 3;
 }
 
-const SETTINGS_SECTIONS: SettingsSection[] = [
+export const SETTINGS_SECTIONS: SettingsSection[] = [
   // Global group (shared across all Fusion projects)
   { id: "__global_header", label: "Global", labelKey: "settings.nav.globalHeader", scope: undefined, isGroupHeader: true },
   { id: "global-general", label: "General", labelKey: "settings.nav.globalGeneral", scope: "global", searchableText: ["global defaults", "modal outside dismiss", "agent logs", "persist tool output", "thinking logs", "GitLab instance URL", "global tracking repo"] },
@@ -484,7 +484,45 @@ const SETTINGS_SECTIONS: SettingsSection[] = [
   { id: "memory", label: "Memory", labelKey: "settings.nav.memory", scope: "project", searchableText: ["memory backend", "Dreams", "long-term memory", "qmd", "memory file", "retrieval"] },
   { id: "backups", label: "Backups", labelKey: "settings.nav.backups", scope: "project", searchableText: ["backup", "restore", "settings export", "settings import"] },
   { id: "research-project", label: "Research", labelKey: "settings.nav.researchProject", scope: "project", searchableText: ["project research", "research runs", "citations", "search limits", "fetch synthesis"] },
-  { id: "project-models", label: "Project Models", labelKey: "settings.nav.projectModels", scope: "project", searchableText: ["default provider", "default model", "workflow model lanes", "Plan/Triage", "Executor", "Reviewer", "summarization model"] },
+  /**
+   * FNXC:SettingsNavigation 2026-07-13-00:00:
+   * Project Models owns the FN-7907 Direct-chat default settings. Its shared Settings search index must advertise chat-default terms and i18n labels so desktop nav, the mobile section picker, and filtered search all surface this section when operators search for Chat defaults.
+   */
+  {
+    id: "project-models",
+    label: "Project Models",
+    labelKey: "settings.nav.projectModels",
+    scope: "project",
+    searchableText: [
+      "default provider",
+      "default model",
+      "workflow model lanes",
+      "Plan/Triage",
+      "Executor",
+      "Reviewer",
+      "summarization model",
+      "chat",
+      "new chat",
+      "new chat behavior",
+      "chat default",
+      "chat default model",
+      "chat default agent",
+      "chat model",
+      "chat agent",
+      "prompt for model",
+      "always use default",
+    ],
+    searchableKeys: [
+      "settings.projectModels.chatHeading",
+      "settings.projectModels.chatDescription",
+      "settings.projectModels.chatNewSessionMode",
+      "settings.projectModels.chatNewSessionModePrompt",
+      "settings.projectModels.chatNewSessionModeAlwaysDefault",
+      "settings.projectModels.chatDefaultKind",
+      "settings.projectModels.chatDefaultModel",
+      "settings.projectModels.chatDefaultAgent",
+    ],
+  },
   { id: "secrets", label: "Secrets", labelKey: "settings.nav.secrets", scope: "project", searchableText: ["secrets", "secret storage", "environment", "credentials"] },
   { id: "mcp", label: "MCP Servers", labelKey: "settings.nav.mcp", scope: "project", searchableText: ["project MCP servers", "workspace MCP", "project tool servers", "mcp config"] },
   { id: "prompts", label: "Prompts", labelKey: "settings.nav.prompts", scope: "project", searchableText: ["prompt instructions", "PR title prompt", "PR description prompt", "custom prompts"] },
diff --git a/packages/dashboard/app/components/__tests__/SettingsModal.search.test.ts b/packages/dashboard/app/components/__tests__/SettingsModal.search.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..702170c9ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/dashboard/app/components/__tests__/SettingsModal.search.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import {
+  filterSettingsSectionsForSearch,
+  normalizeSettingsSearchText,
+  SETTINGS_SECTIONS,
+  type SettingsSection,
+} from "../SettingsModal";
+
+const searchTranslations: Record<string, string> = {
+  "settings.projectModels.chatHeading": "Chat",
+  "settings.projectModels.chatDescription": "Choose the default target for new Direct chats and whether New Chat should prompt or immediately use that default.",
+  "settings.projectModels.chatNewSessionMode": "New Chat behavior",
+  "settings.projectModels.chatNewSessionModePrompt": "Prompt for model each time",
+  "settings.projectModels.chatNewSessionModeAlwaysDefault": "Always use configured default",
+  "settings.projectModels.chatDefaultKind": "Chat default target",
+  "settings.projectModels.chatDefaultModel": "Chat Default Model",
+  "settings.projectModels.chatDefaultAgent": "Chat Default Agent",
+};
+
+function searchSettingsSectionIds(query: string): string[] {
+  return filterSettingsSectionsForSearch(
+    SETTINGS_SECTIONS,
+    normalizeSettingsSearchText(query),
+    (section: SettingsSection) => section.label,
+    (key: string) => searchTranslations[key] ?? key,
+  ).map((section) => section.id);
+}
+
+describe("SettingsModal Settings search index", () => {
+  it.each(["chat", "new chat", "chat model", "chat default agent"])(
+    "surfaces Project Models for the chat-default query %s",
+    (query) => {
+      expect(searchSettingsSectionIds(query)).toContain("project-models");
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("does not surface Project Models for unrelated Remote Access terms", () => {
+    expect(searchSettingsSectionIds("cloudflared")).not.toContain("project-models");
+  });
+});