Nothing notifies you, so the habit has to be yours. The picker is the only current source — open the model, read the settings, note the date. Four things move: duration, resolution, reference ceilings and mode availability. Check them on the day you commit a spec to writing, not on the day you deliver.
Model rosters change monthly and nobody sends an email about it. That's fine as long as you know which four numbers you're relying on.
Why doesn't anything tell you?
Because a spec change isn't a product change from the platform's side.
A model version updates, a resolution tier is added or removed, a reference ceiling shifts. From the platform's perspective the roster still works — the picker shows the current state and everything generates. There's nothing broken to announce.
From your side it's different, because you may have promised something based on last month's state. A spec you wrote into a proposal doesn't update itself.
So the notification gap isn't negligence. It's a structural mismatch between what a platform considers a change and what a producer does.
A spec change breaks your proposal, not the platform. Which is why the platform doesn't tell you.
Which four settings actually move?
These, in rough order of how often they cause a problem.
| Setting | Why it moves | What it breaks |
|---|---|---|
| Resolution tiers | Added or removed with model versions, and separately gated by plan | A deliverable you promised. The most common and most expensive failure |
| Duration | Changes with model versions, and differs per mode | A scene written to a length that no longer fits in one pass |
| Reference ceilings | Vary per model and shift with versions | A reference-heavy workflow built around a ceiling that dropped |
| Mode availability | A model can support Create but not Edit, or appear in Edit and not Create | A pipeline step that silently stops being available for the model you were using |
Source: Hexcoded Creative Studio picker, checked September 2026. Model specifications change with versions.
Where this falls short. That last row is the least obvious and the hardest to notice, because nothing about the model disappears — it just stops appearing in one dropdown. If your workflow generates in Create and fixes in Edit, a model leaving the Edit list breaks the second half of it without touching the first.
Where does the current answer live?
The picker, and nothing outranks it.
Open the model in the mode you'll actually generate in, and read the settings. That's the current state on your plan, which is the only version of the question that matters.
Two things make this more reliable than it sounds. The model dropdown filters by sub-mode, so it shows only models certified for the workflow you're in — which means mode availability is visible rather than inferred. And every setting is exposed before you generate, so duration, resolution, aspect ratio and reference ceiling are all readable without spending anything.
What doesn't count as a source?
Three things, and the third one catches people out.
A vendor announcement. A statement of intent about what a model will do, which may not match what shipped.
A comparison post. Including ours. Every one of them is a snapshot of a moment, and the moment passes.
A static page inside the product. This is the one worth naming. We've seen a pricing-side reference page disagreeing with the picker on several rows — a model listed that wasn't selectable, a resolution tier shown that the picker didn't offer, and a flagship model missing entirely.
That last case is instructive precisely because it's internal. A page can be first-party, look authoritative, and still be out of date, because nothing forces a static page to track a live roster.
First-party doesn't mean current. A static page inside a product can be as stale as anything outside it.
Which gives a simple precedence rule. The picker, in the mode you'll generate in, on your plan. Everything else is a secondary source, regardless of who published it.
What about your plan?
A separate axis, and it moves for different reasons.
Model access is tiered — the entry plan carries a core set rather than the full roster, resolution is capped lower, and some tools aren't included at all. So a spec can be entirely unchanged and still become unavailable to you, because your plan changed rather than the model did.
Which means "can this model do X" and "can I do X" are two questions with two answers, and a downgrade at a billing cycle is functionally the same event as a deprecation.
What's the actual habit?
Four checks, and they take under a minute once they're a routine.
Check on the day you commit, not the day you deliver
The moment a spec goes into a proposal, an email or a schedule, open the picker and confirm it. That's the only timing that protects you.
Open the model in the mode you'll generate in
Not Create if you'll be extending. Mode availability differs per model, and the dropdown filters accordingly.
Read all four settings, not just the one you care about
Duration, resolution, reference ceiling, and which modes the model appears in. Checking one and assuming the rest is how the other three catch you.
Write down the date you checked
Alongside the spec, in whatever document carries it. A figure without a date is a figure you'll trust for longer than you should.
What should you do when something has moved?
Three things, in order.
Check whether it's the model or the plan. Those have different fixes, and a plan change is the more likely of the two.
Check the other modes. A model that's lost a resolution tier in Create may still have it elsewhere, and a model missing from one list may be present in another.
Then decide whether the deliverable or the model changes. If a client is expecting 4K and the model no longer offers it, either another model on the roster does or the deliverable does. Both are conversations, and both are cheaper before delivery than after.
- Nothing notifies you. A spec change breaks your proposal, not the platform
- Four settings move: resolution tiers, duration, reference ceilings and mode availability
- Mode availability is the least obvious. A model can leave one dropdown without disappearing
- The picker, in the mode you'll generate in, on your plan. Nothing outranks it
- First-party doesn't mean current. A static page inside a product can be as stale as anything else
- Check on the day you commit a spec to writing, not the day you deliver
- Read all four settings, not just the one you care about
- Write down the date you checked. A figure without a date gets trusted for too long
Open the model in the picker, in the mode you'll generate in, and read the settings. Nothing notifies you of a change, because from the platform's side nothing is broken — the picker shows the current state and everything generates.
Four. Resolution tiers, which are added or removed with versions and separately gated by plan. Duration, which changes with versions and differs per mode. Reference ceilings, which vary per model. And mode availability — whether a model appears in Create, Edit, Extend or Motion.
Not as a current source. A static page can be first-party, look authoritative and still be out of date, because nothing forces it to track a live roster. We've seen one disagreeing with the picker on several rows, including listing a model that wasn't selectable.
Yes. Model access and resolution are both plan-tiered, so a downgrade removes capabilities without any model changing. "Can this model do X" and "can I do X" are separate questions, and a billing change is functionally the same event as a deprecation.
Mode availability. A model can stop appearing in the Edit dropdown while remaining in Create, so nothing looks missing — but a workflow that generates in one mode and fixes in another breaks at the second step.
The day you commit a spec to writing — a proposal, an email, a schedule — rather than the day you deliver. And write the date next to the figure, because a spec without a date gets trusted for longer than it should be.
The picker is the spec sheet
Every setting is visible before you generate — duration, resolution, aspect ratio and reference ceiling, per model and per mode. The dropdown filters to whichever models support what you're doing.
Open Creative StudioMore on model capability, access and rights in Models.