diff --git a/packages/img2vql/pyproject.toml b/packages/img2vql/pyproject.toml
index 497a395..81222e0 100644
--- a/packages/img2vql/pyproject.toml
+++ b/packages/img2vql/pyproject.toml
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ dependencies = [
 [project.optional-dependencies]
 opencv = ["opencv-python-headless>=4.8.0"]
 ocr = ["rapidocr-onnxruntime>=1.3.0"]
+llm = [
+    "subactor-subllm @ git+https://github.com/subactor/subllm.git@40726bb9399eb5cf9dfc038c1c948b7d2fbdca3b",
+]
 
 [project.scripts]
 img2vql = "img2vql.cli:main"
diff --git a/packages/img2vql/src/img2vql/pipeline/llm_client.py b/packages/img2vql/src/img2vql/pipeline/llm_client.py
index 8b74185..ff74d65 100644
--- a/packages/img2vql/src/img2vql/pipeline/llm_client.py
+++ b/packages/img2vql/src/img2vql/pipeline/llm_client.py
@@ -7,12 +7,18 @@
 import os
 import urllib.error
 import urllib.request
+from collections.abc import Mapping, Sequence
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any
 
 from img2vql.contracts import response_format
 from img2vql.pipeline.config import DEFAULT_VQL_VISION_MODEL, PipelineLLMConfig
 
+try:
+    from subllm import complete as subllm_complete
+except ImportError:
+    subllm_complete = None
+
 
 class LLMClientError(RuntimeError):
     pass
@@ -29,6 +35,17 @@ def _image_to_data_url(path: str | Path) -> str:
     return f"data:image/{mime};base64,{b64}"
 
 
+def _messages_have_image(messages: Sequence[Mapping[str, Any]]) -> bool:
+    for message in messages:
+        content = message.get("content")
+        if not isinstance(content, list):
+            continue
+        for part in content:
+            if isinstance(part, Mapping) and part.get("type") == "image_url":
+                return True
+    return False
+
+
 def chat_completion(
     config: PipelineLLMConfig,
     messages: list[dict[str, Any]],
@@ -38,6 +55,27 @@ def chat_completion(
             "LLM not configured: set VQL_LLM_ENABLED=1 and OPENROUTER_API_KEY in .env"
         )
 
+    if _messages_have_image(messages):
+        if subllm_complete is None:
+            raise LLMClientError("subactor-subllm is not installed")
+        try:
+            response = subllm_complete(
+                "autogrammar-vql",
+                "vision",
+                messages,
+                response_format=response_format(),
+                timeout_seconds=float(config.timeout_s),
+                credentials={"openrouter": config.api_key},
+            )
+        except Exception as exc:
+            raise LLMClientError(f"SubLLM vision request failed: {exc}") from exc
+        return {
+            "content": response.content,
+            "model": response.model,
+            "usage": dict(response.usage),
+            "raw": {},
+        }
+
     body = {
         "model": config.model,
         "messages": messages,
diff --git a/packages/img2vql/tests/test_llm_contract.py b/packages/img2vql/tests/test_llm_contract.py
index 46d0d67..491738e 100644
--- a/packages/img2vql/tests/test_llm_contract.py
+++ b/packages/img2vql/tests/test_llm_contract.py
@@ -116,6 +116,42 @@ def fake_urlopen(request, timeout):
     )
 
 
+def test_image_messages_use_central_subllm_vision(monkeypatch) -> None:
+    captured: dict = {}
+
+    def fake_complete(application, function, messages, **kwargs):
+        captured.update(application=application, function=function, kwargs=kwargs)
+        return type("Response", (), {"content": '{"ok":true}', "model": "z-ai/glm-4.5v", "usage": {}})()
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr("img2vql.pipeline.llm_client.subllm_complete", fake_complete)
+    config = PipelineLLMConfig(
+        enabled=True,
+        api_key="test-key",
+        model="ignored-by-policy",
+        base_url="https://openrouter.ai/api/v1",
+        vision=True,
+        temperature=0,
+        max_tokens=1000,
+        timeout_s=30,
+    )
+    result = chat_completion(
+        config,
+        [
+            {
+                "role": "user",
+                "content": [
+                    {"type": "image_url", "image_url": {"url": "data:image/png;base64,aaa"}},
+                    {"type": "text", "text": "extract"},
+                ],
+            }
+        ],
+    )
+    assert result["content"] == '{"ok":true}'
+    assert captured["application"] == "autogrammar-vql"
+    assert captured["function"] == "vision"
+    assert captured["kwargs"]["credentials"] == {"openrouter": "test-key"}
+
+
 def test_manifest_and_models_share_versions_and_artifacts() -> None:
     manifest = json.loads((CONTRACTS / "manifest.json").read_text(encoding="utf-8"))
     proto = (CONTRACTS / "vql-program.proto").read_text(encoding="utf-8")