diff --git a/src/extension-host/media-runtime-policy.test.ts b/src/extension-host/media-runtime-policy.test.ts
index 4442fd5cd67..6321d3604a1 100644
--- a/src/extension-host/media-runtime-policy.test.ts
+++ b/src/extension-host/media-runtime-policy.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,63 @@
 import { describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
 
 vi.mock("./runtime-backend-catalog.js", () => ({
+  listExtensionHostMediaRuntimeBackendCatalogEntries: vi.fn(() => [
+    {
+      id: "capability.runtime-backend:media.audio:deepgram",
+      family: "capability.runtime-backend",
+      subsystemId: "media.audio",
+      backendId: "deepgram",
+      source: "builtin",
+      defaultRank: 0,
+      selectorKeys: ["deepgram"],
+      capabilities: ["audio"],
+      metadata: { autoSelectable: true },
+    },
+    {
+      id: "capability.runtime-backend:media.audio:openai",
+      family: "capability.runtime-backend",
+      subsystemId: "media.audio",
+      backendId: "openai",
+      source: "builtin",
+      defaultRank: 1,
+      selectorKeys: ["openai"],
+      capabilities: ["audio"],
+      metadata: { autoSelectable: true },
+    },
+    {
+      id: "capability.runtime-backend:media.image:openai",
+      family: "capability.runtime-backend",
+      subsystemId: "media.image",
+      backendId: "openai",
+      source: "builtin",
+      defaultRank: 0,
+      selectorKeys: ["openai"],
+      capabilities: ["image"],
+      metadata: { autoSelectable: true, defaultModel: "openai-default" },
+    },
+    {
+      id: "capability.runtime-backend:media.image:google",
+      family: "capability.runtime-backend",
+      subsystemId: "media.image",
+      backendId: "google",
+      source: "builtin",
+      defaultRank: 1,
+      selectorKeys: ["google", "gemini"],
+      capabilities: ["image"],
+      metadata: { autoSelectable: true, defaultModel: "google-default" },
+    },
+    {
+      id: "capability.runtime-backend:media.video:openai",
+      family: "capability.runtime-backend",
+      subsystemId: "media.video",
+      backendId: "openai",
+      source: "builtin",
+      defaultRank: 0,
+      selectorKeys: ["openai"],
+      capabilities: ["video"],
+      metadata: { autoSelectable: true },
+    },
+  ]),
   listExtensionHostMediaAutoRuntimeBackendIds: vi.fn(
     (capability: "audio" | "image" | "video") =>
       ({
diff --git a/src/extension-host/media-runtime-policy.ts b/src/extension-host/media-runtime-policy.ts
index ba9dd5e0e6d..9115fb7ae97 100644
--- a/src/extension-host/media-runtime-policy.ts
+++ b/src/extension-host/media-runtime-policy.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 import type { MediaUnderstandingCapability } from "../media-understanding/types.js";
 import { normalizeExtensionHostMediaProviderId } from "./media-runtime-registry.js";
 import {
-  listExtensionHostMediaAutoRuntimeBackendIds,
+  listExtensionHostMediaRuntimeBackendCatalogEntries,
   resolveExtensionHostMediaRuntimeDefaultModel,
 } from "./runtime-backend-catalog.js";
+import { resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendIdsByPolicy } from "./runtime-backend-policy.js";
 
 export type ExtensionHostMediaActiveModel = {
   provider: string;
@@ -15,6 +16,18 @@ export type ExtensionHostMediaProviderCandidate = {
   model?: string;
 };
 
+function resolveExtensionHostMediaRuntimeSubsystemId(
+  capability: MediaUnderstandingCapability,
+): "media.audio" | "media.image" | "media.video" {
+  if (capability === "audio") {
+    return "media.audio";
+  }
+  if (capability === "video") {
+    return "media.video";
+  }
+  return "media.image";
+}
+
 function resolveExtensionHostMediaCandidateModel(params: {
   capability: MediaUnderstandingCapability;
   provider: string;
@@ -39,16 +52,16 @@ export function resolveExtensionHostMediaProviderCandidates(params: {
   activeModel?: ExtensionHostMediaActiveModel;
 }): readonly ExtensionHostMediaProviderCandidate[] {
   const candidates: ExtensionHostMediaProviderCandidate[] = [];
-  const seen = new Set<string>();
-
-  const pushCandidate = (provider: string | undefined): void => {
-    const normalized = provider?.trim()
-      ? normalizeExtensionHostMediaProviderId(provider)
-      : undefined;
-    if (!normalized || seen.has(normalized)) {
-      return;
-    }
-    seen.add(normalized);
+  const preferredProvider = params.activeModel?.provider?.trim()
+    ? normalizeExtensionHostMediaProviderId(params.activeModel.provider)
+    : undefined;
+  for (const provider of resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendIdsByPolicy({
+    entries: listExtensionHostMediaRuntimeBackendCatalogEntries(),
+    subsystemId: resolveExtensionHostMediaRuntimeSubsystemId(params.capability),
+    preferredBackendId: preferredProvider,
+    include: (entry) => entry.metadata?.autoSelectable === true,
+  })) {
+    const normalized = normalizeExtensionHostMediaProviderId(provider);
     candidates.push({
       provider: normalized,
       model: resolveExtensionHostMediaCandidateModel({
@@ -57,11 +70,6 @@ export function resolveExtensionHostMediaProviderCandidates(params: {
         activeModel: params.activeModel,
       }),
     });
-  };
-
-  pushCandidate(params.activeModel?.provider);
-  for (const providerId of listExtensionHostMediaAutoRuntimeBackendIds(params.capability)) {
-    pushCandidate(providerId);
   }
 
   return candidates;
diff --git a/src/extension-host/runtime-backend-policy.test.ts b/src/extension-host/runtime-backend-policy.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e029769ae45
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/extension-host/runtime-backend-policy.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendIdsByPolicy } from "./runtime-backend-policy.js";
+
+const entries = [
+  {
+    id: "capability.runtime-backend:media.image:openai",
+    family: "capability.runtime-backend",
+    subsystemId: "media.image",
+    backendId: "openai",
+    source: "builtin",
+    defaultRank: 0,
+    selectorKeys: ["openai"],
+    capabilities: ["image"],
+    metadata: { autoSelectable: true },
+  },
+  {
+    id: "capability.runtime-backend:media.image:google",
+    family: "capability.runtime-backend",
+    subsystemId: "media.image",
+    backendId: "google",
+    source: "builtin",
+    defaultRank: 1,
+    selectorKeys: ["google", "gemini"],
+    capabilities: ["image"],
+    metadata: { autoSelectable: true },
+  },
+  {
+    id: "capability.runtime-backend:media.image:custom",
+    family: "capability.runtime-backend",
+    subsystemId: "media.image",
+    backendId: "custom",
+    source: "builtin",
+    defaultRank: 2,
+    selectorKeys: ["custom"],
+    capabilities: ["image"],
+    metadata: { autoSelectable: false },
+  },
+  {
+    id: "capability.runtime-backend:tts:edge",
+    family: "capability.runtime-backend",
+    subsystemId: "tts",
+    backendId: "edge",
+    source: "builtin",
+    defaultRank: 0,
+    selectorKeys: ["edge"],
+    capabilities: ["tts.synthesis"],
+  },
+  {
+    id: "capability.runtime-backend:tts:openai",
+    family: "capability.runtime-backend",
+    subsystemId: "tts",
+    backendId: "openai",
+    source: "builtin",
+    defaultRank: 1,
+    selectorKeys: ["openai"],
+    capabilities: ["tts.synthesis", "tts.telephony"],
+  },
+] as const;
+
+describe("runtime-backend-policy", () => {
+  it("resolves the default-ranked filtered chain when no preferred backend is provided", () => {
+    expect(
+      resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendIdsByPolicy({
+        entries,
+        subsystemId: "media.image",
+        include: (entry) => entry.metadata?.autoSelectable === true,
+      }),
+    ).toEqual(["openai", "google"]);
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the preferred backend first even when it is outside the filtered chain", () => {
+    expect(
+      resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendIdsByPolicy({
+        entries,
+        subsystemId: "media.image",
+        preferredBackendId: "missing-provider",
+        include: (entry) => entry.metadata?.autoSelectable === true,
+      }),
+    ).toEqual(["missing-provider", "openai", "google"]);
+  });
+
+  it("falls back to an explicit backend id when no filtered default exists", () => {
+    expect(
+      resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendIdsByPolicy({
+        entries,
+        subsystemId: "tts",
+        include: () => false,
+        fallbackBackendId: "edge",
+      }),
+    ).toEqual(["edge"]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/extension-host/runtime-backend-policy.ts b/src/extension-host/runtime-backend-policy.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f2a87a6d997
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/extension-host/runtime-backend-policy.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import {
+  resolveExtensionHostDefaultRuntimeBackendIdByArbitration,
+  resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendFallbackChainByArbitration,
+} from "./runtime-backend-arbitration.js";
+import type {
+  ExtensionHostRuntimeBackendCatalogEntry,
+  ExtensionHostRuntimeBackendSubsystemId,
+} from "./runtime-backend-catalog.js";
+
+type ExtensionHostRuntimeBackendPolicyPredicate = (
+  entry: ExtensionHostRuntimeBackendCatalogEntry,
+) => boolean;
+
+export function resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendIdsByPolicy(params: {
+  entries: readonly ExtensionHostRuntimeBackendCatalogEntry[];
+  subsystemId: ExtensionHostRuntimeBackendSubsystemId;
+  preferredBackendId?: string;
+  include?: ExtensionHostRuntimeBackendPolicyPredicate;
+  fallbackBackendId?: string;
+}): readonly string[] {
+  const preferredBackendId = params.preferredBackendId?.trim();
+  if (preferredBackendId) {
+    return resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendFallbackChainByArbitration({
+      entries: params.entries,
+      subsystemId: params.subsystemId,
+      preferredBackendId,
+      include: params.include,
+    });
+  }
+
+  const defaultBackendId = resolveExtensionHostDefaultRuntimeBackendIdByArbitration({
+    entries: params.entries,
+    subsystemId: params.subsystemId,
+    include: params.include,
+    fallbackBackendId: params.fallbackBackendId,
+  });
+  if (!defaultBackendId) {
+    return [];
+  }
+
+  return resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendFallbackChainByArbitration({
+    entries: params.entries,
+    subsystemId: params.subsystemId,
+    preferredBackendId: defaultBackendId,
+    include: params.include,
+  });
+}
diff --git a/src/extension-host/tts-runtime-policy.ts b/src/extension-host/tts-runtime-policy.ts
index 3a27c395be0..68242a0ff6d 100644
--- a/src/extension-host/tts-runtime-policy.ts
+++ b/src/extension-host/tts-runtime-policy.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
 import type { TtsProvider } from "../config/types.tts.js";
-import {
-  resolveExtensionHostDefaultRuntimeBackendIdByArbitration,
-  resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendFallbackChainByArbitration,
-} from "./runtime-backend-arbitration.js";
 import {
   listExtensionHostTtsRuntimeBackendCatalogEntries,
   type ExtensionHostRuntimeBackendCatalogEntry,
 } from "./runtime-backend-catalog.js";
+import { resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendIdsByPolicy } from "./runtime-backend-policy.js";
 import type { ResolvedTtsConfig } from "./tts-config.js";
 import { isExtensionHostTtsProviderConfigured } from "./tts-runtime-registry.js";
 
@@ -18,19 +15,19 @@ function isConfiguredTtsRuntimeBackend(
 }
 
 export function resolveExtensionHostDefaultTtsProvider(config: ResolvedTtsConfig): TtsProvider {
-  return (resolveExtensionHostDefaultRuntimeBackendIdByArbitration({
+  return (resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendIdsByPolicy({
     entries: listExtensionHostTtsRuntimeBackendCatalogEntries(),
     subsystemId: "tts",
     include: (entry) => isConfiguredTtsRuntimeBackend(config, entry),
     fallbackBackendId: "edge",
-  }) ?? "edge") as TtsProvider;
+  })[0] ?? "edge") as TtsProvider;
 }
 
 export function resolveExtensionHostTtsFallbackProviders(params: {
   config: ResolvedTtsConfig;
   preferredProvider: TtsProvider;
 }): readonly TtsProvider[] {
-  return resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendFallbackChainByArbitration({
+  return resolveExtensionHostRuntimeBackendIdsByPolicy({
     entries: listExtensionHostTtsRuntimeBackendCatalogEntries(),
     subsystemId: "tts",
     preferredBackendId: params.preferredProvider,