diff --git a/src/lib/models/model-dependency-tree-builder.ts b/src/lib/models/model-dependency-tree-builder.ts
index 6e217be..6c1911f 100644
--- a/src/lib/models/model-dependency-tree-builder.ts
+++ b/src/lib/models/model-dependency-tree-builder.ts
@@ -13,6 +13,43 @@ import ansiColors from "ansi-colors";
 import { SitemapHierarchy } from "../pushers/page-pusher/sitemap-hierarchy";
 import { AssetReferenceExtractor } from "../assets/asset-reference-extractor";
 
+/**
+ * Expand a list of model reference names to include every model they reference through
+ * linked-content fields.
+ */
+export function resolveReferencedModels(modelNames: string[], allModels: any[]): string[] {
+  const byLower = new Map<string, any>();
+  (allModels || []).forEach((m: any) => {
+    if (m?.referenceName) byLower.set(m.referenceName.toLowerCase(), m);
+  });
+
+  const result = new Set<string>();
+  const queue: string[] = [];
+
+  const add = (name: string | undefined | null) => {
+    if (!name || typeof name !== "string") return;
+    const model = byLower.get(name.toLowerCase());
+    const canonical = model?.referenceName ?? name;
+    if (!result.has(canonical)) {
+      result.add(canonical);
+      queue.push(canonical);
+    }
+  };
+
+  (modelNames || []).forEach(add);
+
+  while (queue.length > 0) {
+    const name = queue.pop()!;
+    const model = byLower.get(name.toLowerCase());
+    if (!model || !Array.isArray(model.fields)) continue;
+    for (const field of model.fields) {
+      add(field?.settings?.ContentDefinition);
+    }
+  }
+
+  return Array.from(result);
+}
+
 export interface ModelDependencyTree {
   models: Set<string>; // Model reference names
   containers: Set<number>;
@@ -75,6 +112,10 @@ export class ModelDependencyTreeBuilder {
     this.findTemplatesUsedByPages(tree);
     // 🎯 NEW: Include models for the newly discovered content
     this.findModelsForDiscoveredContent(tree);
+    // 🎯 NEW: Include models referenced by other models via linked-content fields
+    // (e.g. FooterLinks → FooterLinksLists). Without this, a selected model whose field points at
+    // another model fails to save on the target with a 404 "Definition for setting X not found".
+    this.findModelsReferencedByModels(tree);
     // 🎯 NEW: Include containers for the newly discovered models
     this.findContainersForDiscoveredModels(tree);
     // 🎯 NEW: Include containers that contain discovered content items
@@ -345,6 +386,16 @@ export class ModelDependencyTreeBuilder {
     // console.log(ansiColors.gray(`  📋 Added ${newModelCount} additional models for content dependencies`));
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Expand the model set with models referenced by other models through linked-content fields.
+   * Delegates to the shared `resolveReferencedModels` walk (transitive, de-duplicated, cycle-safe).
+   */
+  private findModelsReferencedByModels(tree: ModelDependencyTree): void {
+    if (!this.sourceData.models) return;
+    const expanded = resolveReferencedModels(Array.from(tree.models), this.sourceData.models);
+    expanded.forEach((name) => tree.models.add(name));
+  }
+
   /**
    * Find containers for newly discovered models
    */
diff --git a/src/lib/models/tests/model-dependency-tree-builder.test.ts b/src/lib/models/tests/model-dependency-tree-builder.test.ts
index 015d095..1a8cd06 100644
--- a/src/lib/models/tests/model-dependency-tree-builder.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/models/tests/model-dependency-tree-builder.test.ts
@@ -94,6 +94,63 @@ function makeSourceData(overrides: Partial<any> = {}): any {
   };
 }
 
+// ─── model→model references via linked-content fields (PROD-2187) ─────────────
+
+function makeModelWithRefs(id: number, referenceName: string, refs: string[] = []): any {
+  return {
+    id,
+    referenceName,
+    fields: refs.map((r) => ({ type: "Content", settings: { ContentDefinition: r } })),
+  };
+}
+
+describe("ModelDependencyTreeBuilder — model→model references", () => {
+  it("includes a model referenced via a linked-content field (FooterLinks → FooterLinksLists)", () => {
+    const builder = new ModelDependencyTreeBuilder(
+      makeSourceData({
+        models: [makeModelWithRefs(1, "FooterLinks", ["FooterLinksLists"]), makeModelWithRefs(2, "FooterLinksLists")],
+      })
+    );
+    const tree = builder.buildDependencyTree(["FooterLinks"], "website");
+    expect(tree.models.has("FooterLinks")).toBe(true);
+    expect(tree.models.has("FooterLinksLists")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("resolves references transitively (A → B → C)", () => {
+    const builder = new ModelDependencyTreeBuilder(
+      makeSourceData({
+        models: [makeModelWithRefs(1, "A", ["B"]), makeModelWithRefs(2, "B", ["C"]), makeModelWithRefs(3, "C")],
+      })
+    );
+    const tree = builder.buildDependencyTree(["A"], "website");
+    expect(tree.models.has("B")).toBe(true);
+    expect(tree.models.has("C")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("does not pull in unrelated models", () => {
+    const builder = new ModelDependencyTreeBuilder(
+      makeSourceData({
+        models: [
+          makeModelWithRefs(1, "FooterLinks", ["FooterLinksLists"]),
+          makeModelWithRefs(2, "FooterLinksLists"),
+          makeModelWithRefs(9, "Unrelated"),
+        ],
+      })
+    );
+    const tree = builder.buildDependencyTree(["FooterLinks"], "website");
+    expect(tree.models.has("Unrelated")).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("terminates on a reference cycle (A → B → A)", () => {
+    const builder = new ModelDependencyTreeBuilder(
+      makeSourceData({ models: [makeModelWithRefs(1, "A", ["B"]), makeModelWithRefs(2, "B", ["A"])] })
+    );
+    const tree = builder.buildDependencyTree(["A"], "website");
+    expect(tree.models.has("A")).toBe(true);
+    expect(tree.models.has("B")).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
 // ─── resetLoggingFlags ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
 describe("ModelDependencyTreeBuilder.resetLoggingFlags", () => {
diff --git a/src/lib/pushers/guid-data-loader.ts b/src/lib/pushers/guid-data-loader.ts
index 9887065..dae1788 100644
--- a/src/lib/pushers/guid-data-loader.ts
+++ b/src/lib/pushers/guid-data-loader.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ import { fileOperations } from "../../core/fileOperations";
 import { getState } from "../../core/state";
 import * as mgmtApi from "@agility/management-sdk";
 
+// Shared model→model reference resolver, defined alongside the dependency-tree builder so both the
+// --models (here) and --models-with-deps (tree builder) paths use the same logic. 
+import { resolveReferencedModels } from "../models/model-dependency-tree-builder";
+export { resolveReferencedModels };
+
 export interface ModelFilterOptions {
   models?: string[]; // Simple model filtering
   modelsWithDeps?: string[]; // Model filtering with dependency tree
@@ -202,13 +207,18 @@ export class GuidDataLoader {
       );
     }
 
-    // Build dependency tree and filter all related entities using complete data
-    const dependencyTree = treeBuilder.buildDependencyTree(validation.valid, locale);
-
+    // --models (simple): pull ONLY the requested models plus the models they reference through
+    // linked-content fields (e.g. FooterLinks → FooterLinksLists), transitively. No content, pages,
+    // containers, or assets. Referenced models must be included or the model push fails on the target
+    // with a 404 "Definition for setting X not found".
     if (!useFullDependencyTree) {
-      return this.filterGuidEntitiesByModels(guidEntities, validation.valid);
+      const expandedModels = resolveReferencedModels(validation.valid, (completeEntities ?? guidEntities).models);
+      return this.filterGuidEntitiesByModels(guidEntities, expandedModels);
     }
 
+    // Build dependency tree and filter all related entities using complete data
+    const dependencyTree = treeBuilder.buildDependencyTree(validation.valid, locale);
+
     return await this.filterGuidEntitiesByDependencyTree(completeEntities, dependencyTree, locale);
   }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/pushers/tests/guid-data-loader.test.ts b/src/lib/pushers/tests/guid-data-loader.test.ts
index 9b9d500..7721ce2 100644
--- a/src/lib/pushers/tests/guid-data-loader.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/pushers/tests/guid-data-loader.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import * as fs from "fs";
 import * as os from "os";
 import * as path from "path";
 import { resetState, setState, state } from "core/state";
-import { GuidDataLoader } from "../guid-data-loader";
+import { GuidDataLoader, resolveReferencedModels } from "../guid-data-loader";
 
 let tmpDir: string;
 
@@ -211,6 +211,64 @@ describe("GuidDataLoader.validateDataStructure", () => {
   });
 });
 
+// ─── resolveReferencedModels (PROD-2187: --models pulls referenced models) ───
+
+describe("resolveReferencedModels", () => {
+  const contentField = (refName: string) => ({ type: "Content", settings: { ContentDefinition: refName } });
+  const model = (referenceName: string, refs: string[] = []) => ({
+    referenceName,
+    fields: refs.map(contentField),
+  });
+
+  it("returns just the requested model when it references nothing", () => {
+    const all = [model("FooterLinksLists")];
+    expect(resolveReferencedModels(["FooterLinksLists"], all)).toEqual(["FooterLinksLists"]);
+  });
+
+  it("includes a model referenced via a linked-content field (FooterLinks → FooterLinksLists)", () => {
+    const all = [model("FooterLinks", ["FooterLinksLists"]), model("FooterLinksLists")];
+    const result = resolveReferencedModels(["FooterLinks"], all);
+    expect(result).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(["FooterLinks", "FooterLinksLists"]));
+    expect(result).toHaveLength(2);
+  });
+
+  it("resolves references transitively (A → B → C)", () => {
+    const all = [model("A", ["B"]), model("B", ["C"]), model("C")];
+    const result = resolveReferencedModels(["A"], all);
+    expect(result).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(["A", "B", "C"]));
+    expect(result).toHaveLength(3);
+  });
+
+  it("terminates on a reference cycle (A → B → A)", () => {
+    const all = [model("A", ["B"]), model("B", ["A"])];
+    const result = resolveReferencedModels(["A"], all);
+    expect(result.sort()).toEqual(["A", "B"]);
+  });
+
+  it("matches case-insensitively but returns the canonical reference name", () => {
+    const all = [model("FooterLinks", ["FooterLinksLists"]), model("FooterLinksLists")];
+    const result = resolveReferencedModels(["footerlinks"], all);
+    expect(result).toEqual(expect.arrayContaining(["FooterLinks", "FooterLinksLists"]));
+  });
+
+  it("keeps a requested model even if it is not found in the model set", () => {
+    expect(resolveReferencedModels(["Ghost"], [])).toEqual(["Ghost"]);
+  });
+
+  it("ignores fields with empty/absent ContentDefinition", () => {
+    const all = [
+      {
+        referenceName: "M",
+        fields: [
+          { type: "Text", settings: {} },
+          { type: "Content", settings: { ContentDefinition: "" } },
+        ],
+      },
+    ];
+    expect(resolveReferencedModels(["M"], all)).toEqual(["M"]);
+  });
+});
+
 // ─── loadGuidEntities — with prepared filesystem ─────────────────────────────
 
 describe("GuidDataLoader.loadGuidEntities", () => {
@@ -291,4 +349,47 @@ describe("GuidDataLoader.loadGuidEntities", () => {
       /Model validation failed/
     );
   });
+
+  it("--models pulls the requested model AND its referenced models, but no content/pages/containers", async () => {
+    // Lay down models on disk: FooterLinks references FooterLinksLists via a linked-content field.
+    const guid = "models-only-refs-guid-u";
+    const modelsDir = path.join(tmpDir, guid, "models");
+    fs.mkdirSync(modelsDir, { recursive: true });
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(modelsDir, "157.json"),
+      JSON.stringify({
+        id: 157,
+        referenceName: "FooterLinks",
+        contentDefinitionTypeID: 1,
+        fields: [{ name: "footerLinks", type: "Content", settings: { ContentDefinition: "FooterLinksLists" } }],
+      })
+    );
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(modelsDir, "158.json"),
+      JSON.stringify({ id: 158, referenceName: "FooterLinksLists", contentDefinitionTypeID: 1, fields: [] })
+    );
+    // A model that was NOT requested and is unrelated — must NOT be pulled in.
+    fs.writeFileSync(
+      path.join(modelsDir, "999.json"),
+      JSON.stringify({ id: 999, referenceName: "Unrelated", contentDefinitionTypeID: 1, fields: [] })
+    );
+
+    state.elements = "Models";
+    state.isSync = false;
+    state.modelsWithDeps = "";
+
+    const loader = new GuidDataLoader(guid);
+    const entities = await loader.loadGuidEntities("en-us", { models: ["FooterLinks"] });
+
+    const names = entities.models.map((m: any) => m.referenceName).sort();
+    expect(names).toEqual(["FooterLinks", "FooterLinksLists"]); // referenced model included, Unrelated excluded
+
+    // Models-only: nothing else is pulled.
+    expect(entities.containers).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(entities.content).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(entities.pages).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(entities.templates).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(entities.assets).toHaveLength(0);
+    expect(entities.galleries).toHaveLength(0);
+  });
 });