diff --git a/src/core/ai/capabilities.ts b/src/core/ai/capabilities.ts
index 5d860a0ab..ac73d9350 100644
--- a/src/core/ai/capabilities.ts
+++ b/src/core/ai/capabilities.ts
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
  */
 
 import { resolveRecipe } from './model-resolver.ts';
+import { listRecipes } from './recipes/index.ts';
 import { AIConfigError } from './errors.ts';
 
 export interface ProviderCapabilities {
@@ -77,7 +78,10 @@ export function getProviderCapabilities(modelString: string): ProviderCapabiliti
   if (!chat) {
     throw new AIConfigError(
       `Provider "${recipe.id}" does not offer a chat touchpoint.`,
-      `Known providers with chat: openai, anthropic, google, openrouter, litellm-proxy, deepseek, groq, together, azure-openai, dashscope, minimax, zhipu, ollama, llama-server. Pick one for models.tier.subagent.`,
+      // Computed from the registry so the hint can't drift into listing
+      // chat-less providers (the pre-fix list falsely included embedding-only
+      // recipes, sending users in circles — #1157).
+      `Known providers with chat: ${listRecipes().filter(r => r.touchpoints.chat).map(r => r.id).join(', ')}. Pick one for models.tier.subagent.`,
     );
   }
 
diff --git a/src/core/ai/recipes/zhipu.ts b/src/core/ai/recipes/zhipu.ts
index 758c5c9cb..75ec63efe 100644
--- a/src/core/ai/recipes/zhipu.ts
+++ b/src/core/ai/recipes/zhipu.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import type { Recipe } from '../types.ts';
 
 /**
- * Zhipu AI (智谱AI) BigModel Open Platform. OpenAI-compatible /embeddings
- * endpoint at open.bigmodel.cn. Hosts embedding-2 (1024d) and embedding-3
- * (Matryoshka up to 2048d).
+ * Zhipu AI (智谱AI) BigModel Open Platform. OpenAI-compatible /embeddings and
+ * /chat/completions endpoints at open.bigmodel.cn. Hosts embedding-2 (1024d),
+ * embedding-3 (Matryoshka up to 2048d), and the GLM chat family (glm-5.1 etc.)
+ * with native tool calling — usable for models.tier.subagent (#1157).
  *
  * embedding-3 at 2048 dims exceeds pgvector's HNSW cap of 2000 — those
  * brains fall back to exact vector scans (see
@@ -25,6 +26,20 @@ export const zhipu: Recipe = {
     setup_url: 'https://open.bigmodel.cn/',
   },
   touchpoints: {
+    chat: {
+      // Informational list (openai-compat tier: assertTouchpoint doesn't
+      // enforce it), so newer GLM ids pass without a recipe edit.
+      models: ['glm-5.1', 'glm-4.6', 'glm-4.5'],
+      supports_tools: true,
+      // gbrain-side stable tool ids (v0.38 D11) decoupled the loop from
+      // Anthropic response formats; GLM tool calling is stable through the
+      // OpenAI-compat path, same as deepseek/groq.
+      supports_subagent_loop: true,
+      // Anthropic-style cache_control markers are not honored on the
+      // OpenAI-compat path — the loop runs hot (degraded:no_caching warn).
+      supports_prompt_cache: false,
+      max_context_tokens: 128000,
+    },
     embedding: {
       models: ['embedding-3', 'embedding-2'],
       default_dims: 1024,
@@ -36,5 +51,5 @@ export const zhipu: Recipe = {
     },
   },
   setup_hint:
-    'Get an API key at https://open.bigmodel.cn/, then `export ZHIPUAI_API_KEY=...`',
+    'Get an API key at https://open.bigmodel.cn/, then `export ZHIPUAI_API_KEY=...`. Chat/subagent: use `zhipu:glm-5.1`.',
 };
diff --git a/test/ai/recipe-zhipu.test.ts b/test/ai/recipe-zhipu.test.ts
index dfb5f112a..1a9507bd7 100644
--- a/test/ai/recipe-zhipu.test.ts
+++ b/test/ai/recipe-zhipu.test.ts
@@ -69,6 +69,45 @@ describe('recipe: zhipu', () => {
     expect(sql.toLowerCase()).toContain('hnsw');
   });
 
+  test('chat touchpoint declares GLM models with tool + subagent-loop support (#1157)', () => {
+    const r = getRecipe('zhipu')!;
+    expect(r.touchpoints.chat).toBeDefined();
+    expect(r.touchpoints.chat!.models).toContain('glm-5.1');
+    expect(r.touchpoints.chat!.supports_tools).toBe(true);
+    expect(r.touchpoints.chat!.supports_subagent_loop).toBe(true);
+    expect(r.touchpoints.chat!.supports_prompt_cache).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('zhipu:glm-5.1 passes the subagent capability gate (degraded:no_caching, not refused)', async () => {
+    // Pre-fix: getProviderCapabilities threw "does not offer a chat touchpoint"
+    // and classifyCapabilities returned 'unknown' → subagent submit refused.
+    const { getProviderCapabilities, classifyCapabilities } =
+      await import('../../src/core/ai/capabilities.ts');
+    const caps = getProviderCapabilities('zhipu:glm-5.1');
+    expect(caps.supportsToolCalling).toBe(true);
+    expect(classifyCapabilities('zhipu:glm-5.1')).toBe('degraded:no_caching');
+  });
+
+  test('no-chat-touchpoint error hint lists only providers that actually have chat', async () => {
+    // The hint is computed from the registry; every provider it names must
+    // really carry a chat touchpoint (pre-fix it hardcoded zhipu/dashscope/
+    // minimax, all embedding-only at the time).
+    const { getProviderCapabilities } = await import('../../src/core/ai/capabilities.ts');
+    const { listRecipes } = await import('../../src/core/ai/recipes/index.ts');
+    let hint = '';
+    try {
+      getProviderCapabilities('voyage:voyage-3');
+      throw new Error('expected AIConfigError for embedding-only provider');
+    } catch (e) {
+      hint = (e as { fix?: string }).fix ?? String(e);
+    }
+    const listed = hint.match(/chat: ([^.]+)\./)?.[1]?.split(', ') ?? [];
+    expect(listed.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+    const withChat = new Set(listRecipes().filter(r => r.touchpoints.chat).map(r => r.id));
+    for (const id of listed) expect(withChat.has(id)).toBe(true);
+    expect(listed).toContain('zhipu');
+  });
+
   test('dimsProviderOptions threads dimensions for embedding-3 (Matryoshka)', async () => {
     // Codex finding #1: Zhipu embedding-3 is Matryoshka 256-2048. Without
     // `dimensions` on the wire, user-selected non-default dims are