diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.css b/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.css
index 0692cf1..2fe96d9 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.css
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.css
@@ -113,3 +113,21 @@
 }
 @media (min-width: 700px) { .mdl-embed-row input, .mdl-embed-row select { font-size: 0.84rem; } }
 .mdl-embed-note { margin: 10px 0 0; font-size: 0.78rem; color: var(--text-muted); }
+
+/* Typing an id the proxy does not list. */
+.mdl-add { display: flex; gap: 8px; margin: 10px 0; }
+.mdl-add input {
+  flex: 1; min-width: 0; padding: 6px 10px; font: inherit; font-size: .85rem;
+  color: var(--text); background: var(--input-bg);
+  border: 1px solid var(--border); border-radius: 6px;
+}
+
+/* Off, not gone: the row stays, dimmed, with its settings intact. */
+.mdl-current li.is-off code { opacity: .55; text-decoration: line-through; }
+.mdl-badge.is-off { background: var(--border); color: var(--text-muted); }
+.mdl-toggle {
+  padding: 3px 10px; font-size: .78rem; font-weight: 600; cursor: pointer;
+  color: var(--text-muted); background: none;
+  border: 1px solid var(--border); border-radius: 999px;
+}
+.mdl-toggle:hover { color: var(--primary); border-color: var(--primary); }
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.jsx b/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.jsx
index e594ae9..4fcd6a8 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.jsx
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ export default function ModelsAdmin() {
   const [finding, setFinding] = useState(false)
   const [findError, setFindError] = useState('')
   const [filter, setFilter] = useState('')
+  const [typed, setTyped] = useState('')
   const [allowFor, setAllowFor] = useState('teach')
 
   // Embeddings: one model for the whole site.
@@ -112,6 +113,28 @@ export default function ModelsAdmin() {
     finally { setFinding(false) }
   }
 
+  //: Off rather than gone. The row keeps its task, its default flag and any
+  //: key on it, so turning a model back on is one press rather than finding
+  //: it in the proxy list again and setting it up from scratch.
+  const setActive = (model, on) => act(`active:${model.id}`,
+    async () => {
+      const res = await api.put(`/admin/models/${model.id}`, { is_active: on })
+      setModels(prev => prev.map(row => (row.id === model.id ? res.data : row)))
+    },
+    on ? 'Could not turn that model on' : 'Could not turn that model off',
+    `${model.model_id} is ${on ? 'on' : 'off'} for ${JOBS.find(j => j.key === allowFor)?.label}.`)
+
+  //: A model id the proxy does not list. Discovery reads /model/info, and a
+  //: gateway can route a model it does not advertise there — a new alias, a
+  //: provider added by hand — so the roster must not be limited to what the
+  //: list happens to say.
+  const allowTyped = () => {
+    const id = typed.trim()
+    if (!id) return
+    setTyped('')
+    allow(id)
+  }
+
   const allow = (modelId) => act(`allow:${modelId}`,
     async () => {
       const res = await api.post('/admin/models',
@@ -289,9 +312,19 @@ export default function ModelsAdmin() {
 
             <ul className="mdl-current">
               {(byJob[allowFor] || []).map(model => (
-                <li key={model.id}>
+                <li key={model.id} className={truthy(model.is_active) ? undefined : 'is-off'}>
                   <code>{model.model_id}</code>
                   {truthy(model.is_default) && <span className="mdl-badge">in use</span>}
+                  {!truthy(model.is_active) && <span className="mdl-badge is-off">off</span>}
+                  {/* Off, not gone. A model taken out while the proxy is
+                      misbehaving used to have to be removed and then found
+                      and allowed again afterwards, losing whether it was the
+                      default and any key set on it. */}
+                  <button type="button" className="mdl-toggle" disabled={busy === `active:${model.id}`}
+                    aria-label={`${truthy(model.is_active) ? 'Turn off' : 'Turn on'} ${model.name}`}
+                    onClick={() => setActive(model, !truthy(model.is_active))}>
+                    {truthy(model.is_active) ? 'Turn off' : 'Turn on'}
+                  </button>
                   <button type="button" className="mdl-remove" disabled={busy === `allow:${model.id}`}
                     aria-label={`Remove ${model.name}`} onClick={() => disallow(model)}>Remove</button>
                 </li>
@@ -301,6 +334,17 @@ export default function ModelsAdmin() {
               )}
             </ul>
 
+            {/* Typed, for anything the list does not carry. */}
+            <div className="mdl-add">
+              <input value={typed} aria-label="A model id the proxy does not list"
+                placeholder="Or type a model id the list does not carry"
+                onChange={e => setTyped(e.target.value)}
+                onKeyDown={e => { if (e.key === 'Enter') { e.preventDefault(); allowTyped() } }} />
+              <button type="button" className="btn btn-secondary btn-sm"
+                disabled={!typed.trim() || busy === `allow:${typed.trim()}`}
+                onClick={allowTyped}>Allow it</button>
+            </div>
+
             {offered.length > 0 && (
               <>
                 <input type="search" value={filter} aria-label="Filter offered models"
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.test.jsx b/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.test.jsx
index ae5a329..5f2c2ce 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.test.jsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/ModelsAdmin.test.jsx
@@ -117,3 +117,42 @@ describe('model selection', () => {
     expect(api.get).not.toHaveBeenCalled()
   })
 })
+
+it('turns a model off without losing it, and allows an id the proxy never listed', async () => {
+  // Two things ped-ai's page has and this one did not. Taking a model out
+  // while the proxy misbehaves used to mean removing it and setting it up
+  // again afterwards, losing the default flag and any key on it. And the
+  // roster could only ever hold what /model/info happened to advertise,
+  // though the gateway will route aliases it does not list.
+  api.get.mockImplementation(url => Promise.resolve({
+    data: url === '/admin/models'
+      ? [{ id: 1, name: 'ds-flash', model_id: 'ds-flash', task: 'extraction',
+           is_active: true, is_default: true }]
+      : {},
+  }))
+  api.put.mockResolvedValue({ data: {
+    id: 1, name: 'ds-flash', model_id: 'ds-flash', task: 'extraction',
+    is_active: false, is_default: true } })
+  api.post.mockResolvedValue({ data: {
+    id: 2, name: 'brand-new-alias', model_id: 'brand-new-alias',
+    task: 'extraction', is_active: true, is_default: false } })
+
+  render(<ModelsAdmin />)
+  // The roster is behind its own disclosure.
+  await userEvent.click(await screen.findByRole('button', { name: /Which models this site may use/ }))
+  // The roster shows one job at a time; ds-flash is an extraction model.
+  await userEvent.selectOptions(
+    await screen.findByLabelText('Job to allow a model for'), 'extraction')
+  await userEvent.click(await screen.findByRole('button', { name: /Turn off ds-flash/ }))
+  expect(api.put).toHaveBeenCalledWith('/admin/models/1', { is_active: false })
+  // Still listed, still the default — off, not gone.
+  expect(await screen.findByText('off')).toBeInTheDocument()
+  expect(screen.getByText('in use')).toBeInTheDocument()
+
+  await userEvent.type(
+    screen.getByLabelText('A model id the proxy does not list'), 'brand-new-alias')
+  await userEvent.click(screen.getByRole('button', { name: 'Allow it' }))
+  expect(api.post).toHaveBeenCalledWith('/admin/models', expect.objectContaining({
+    model_id: 'brand-new-alias', task: 'extraction', is_active: true,
+  }))
+})