diff --git a/src/routes/adminConfig.js b/src/routes/adminConfig.js
index 573ede3..de63d5b 100644
--- a/src/routes/adminConfig.js
+++ b/src/routes/adminConfig.js
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ var PROMPTS = require('../utils/prompts');
 var logger = require('../utils/logger');
 var { gatewayUrl } = require('../utils/errors');
 var { GOOGLE_TTS_VOICES, OPENAI_TTS_VOICES, getTTSEnvProvider, getLiteLLMHeaders, getLiteLLMTTSModels, getTTSProvider, getTTSVoiceLists } = require('../utils/ttsProvider');
+var { getSTTDependencies, getSTTModelLists, getSTTProvider } = require('../utils/sttProvider');
 
 router.use(authMiddleware);
 
@@ -626,21 +627,9 @@ router.post('/config/tts/test', async function(req, res) {
 // ── GET STT provider status and model list ─────────────────────────────────
 router.get('/config/stt', async function(req, res) {
   try {
-    var { isGoogleSTTConfigured } = require('../utils/transcribeGoogle');
-    var { isAWSTranscribeConfigured } = require('../utils/transcribeAWS');
-    var { isLocalWhisperConfigured } = require('../utils/transcribeLocal');
-    var { whisperClient, litellmClient } = require('../utils/ai');
-
     var envProvider = process.env.TRANSCRIBE_PROVIDER || 'auto';
-    var activeProvider = envProvider;
-    if (envProvider === 'auto') {
-      if (isGoogleSTTConfigured()) activeProvider = 'google';
-      else if (isAWSTranscribeConfigured()) activeProvider = 'aws';
-      else if (isLocalWhisperConfigured()) activeProvider = 'local';
-      else if (litellmClient) activeProvider = 'litellm';
-      else if (whisperClient) activeProvider = 'openai';
-      else activeProvider = 'none';
-    }
+    var configured = getSTTDependencies();
+    var activeProvider = getSTTProvider(configured);
     var dbModel   = await db.getSetting('stt.model') || '';
     var envModel  = process.env.GOOGLE_STT_MODEL || process.env.LITELLM_STT_MODEL || '';
     res.json({
@@ -650,20 +639,8 @@ router.get('/config/stt', async function(req, res) {
       currentModel: dbModel || envModel,
       dbModel: dbModel,
       envModel: envModel,
-      configured: {
-        google: isGoogleSTTConfigured(),
-        aws: isAWSTranscribeConfigured(),
-        local: isLocalWhisperConfigured(),
-        litellm: !!litellmClient,
-        openai: !!whisperClient
-      },
-      models: {
-        google: ['gemini-2.0-flash', 'gemini-2.5-flash', 'gemini-2.0-flash-lite'],
-        aws: ['standard', 'medical'],
-        openai: ['whisper-1'],
-        litellm: ['whisper-1', 'gemini-2.0-flash', 'gemini-2.5-flash'],
-        local: ['tiny', 'base', 'small', 'medium', 'large']
-      }
+      configured: configured,
+      models: getSTTModelLists()
     });
   } catch (e) { res.status(500).json({ error: 'Request failed' }); }
 });
@@ -673,22 +650,10 @@ router.get('/config/stt/discover', async function(req, res) {
   try {
     var search = (req.query.q || '').toLowerCase().trim();
     var axios = require('axios');
-    var { isGoogleSTTConfigured } = require('../utils/transcribeGoogle');
-    var { isAWSTranscribeConfigured } = require('../utils/transcribeAWS');
-    var { isLocalWhisperConfigured } = require('../utils/transcribeLocal');
     var { whisperClient, litellmClient } = require('../utils/ai');
     var discovered = [];
 
-    var envProvider = process.env.TRANSCRIBE_PROVIDER || 'auto';
-    var provider = envProvider;
-    if (envProvider === 'auto') {
-      if (isGoogleSTTConfigured()) provider = 'google';
-      else if (isAWSTranscribeConfigured()) provider = 'aws';
-      else if (isLocalWhisperConfigured()) provider = 'local';
-      else if (litellmClient) provider = 'litellm';
-      else if (whisperClient) provider = 'openai';
-      else provider = 'none';
-    }
+    var provider = getSTTProvider();
 
     if (provider === 'google') {
       ['gemini-2.5-flash','gemini-2.0-flash','gemini-2.0-flash-lite','gemini-1.5-pro','gemini-1.5-flash'].forEach(function(m) {
@@ -757,22 +722,14 @@ router.post('/config/stt/test', async function(req, res) {
     var audioBuffer = Buffer.from(audioBase64, 'base64');
     var mime = mimeType || 'audio/webm';
 
-    var { isGoogleSTTConfigured, transcribeWithGemini } = require('../utils/transcribeGoogle');
-    var { isAWSTranscribeConfigured, transcribeWithAWS } = require('../utils/transcribeAWS');
-    var { isLocalWhisperConfigured, transcribeWithLocal } = require('../utils/transcribeLocal');
+    var { transcribeWithGemini } = require('../utils/transcribeGoogle');
+    var { transcribeWithAWS } = require('../utils/transcribeAWS');
+    var { transcribeWithLocal } = require('../utils/transcribeLocal');
     var { whisperClient, litellmClient } = require('../utils/ai');
     var axios = require('axios');
 
-    var envProvider = process.env.TRANSCRIBE_PROVIDER || 'auto';
-    var provider = envProvider;
-    if (envProvider === 'auto') {
-      if (isGoogleSTTConfigured()) provider = 'google';
-      else if (isAWSTranscribeConfigured()) provider = 'aws';
-      else if (isLocalWhisperConfigured()) provider = 'local';
-      else if (litellmClient) provider = 'litellm';
-      else if (whisperClient) provider = 'openai';
-      else return res.json({ success: false, error: 'No STT provider configured' });
-    }
+    var provider = getSTTProvider();
+    if (provider === 'none') return res.json({ success: false, error: 'No STT provider configured' });
 
     var start = Date.now();
     var text = '';
diff --git a/src/utils/sttProvider.js b/src/utils/sttProvider.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3aed8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utils/sttProvider.js
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+const GOOGLE_STT_MODELS = ['gemini-2.0-flash', 'gemini-2.5-flash', 'gemini-2.0-flash-lite'];
+const AWS_STT_MODES = ['standard', 'medical'];
+const OPENAI_STT_MODELS = ['whisper-1'];
+const LITELLM_STT_MODELS = ['whisper-1', 'gemini-2.0-flash', 'gemini-2.5-flash'];
+const LOCAL_WHISPER_MODELS = ['tiny', 'base', 'small', 'medium', 'large'];
+
+function getSTTDependencies() {
+  var { isGoogleSTTConfigured } = require('./transcribeGoogle');
+  var { isAWSTranscribeConfigured } = require('./transcribeAWS');
+  var { isLocalWhisperConfigured } = require('./transcribeLocal');
+  var { whisperClient, litellmClient } = require('./ai');
+  return {
+    google: isGoogleSTTConfigured(),
+    aws: isAWSTranscribeConfigured(),
+    local: isLocalWhisperConfigured(),
+    litellm: !!litellmClient,
+    openai: !!whisperClient
+  };
+}
+
+function getSTTProvider(deps) {
+  var env = process.env.TRANSCRIBE_PROVIDER || 'auto';
+  if (env !== 'auto') return env;
+
+  var configured = deps || getSTTDependencies();
+  if (configured.google) return 'google';
+  if (configured.aws) return 'aws';
+  if (configured.local) return 'local';
+  if (configured.litellm) return 'litellm';
+  if (configured.openai) return 'openai';
+  return 'none';
+}
+
+function getSTTModelLists() {
+  return {
+    google: GOOGLE_STT_MODELS,
+    aws: AWS_STT_MODES,
+    openai: OPENAI_STT_MODELS,
+    litellm: LITELLM_STT_MODELS,
+    local: LOCAL_WHISPER_MODELS
+  };
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+  AWS_STT_MODES,
+  GOOGLE_STT_MODELS,
+  LITELLM_STT_MODELS,
+  LOCAL_WHISPER_MODELS,
+  OPENAI_STT_MODELS,
+  getSTTDependencies,
+  getSTTModelLists,
+  getSTTProvider
+};
diff --git a/test/stt-provider.test.js b/test/stt-provider.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7bfd279
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/stt-provider.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+const { test } = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+
+const ENV_KEYS = ['TRANSCRIBE_PROVIDER'];
+
+function withEnv(overrides, fn) {
+  const previous = {};
+  ENV_KEYS.forEach((key) => { previous[key] = process.env[key]; delete process.env[key]; });
+  Object.entries(overrides).forEach(([key, value]) => { process.env[key] = value; });
+  try {
+    return fn();
+  } finally {
+    ENV_KEYS.forEach((key) => {
+      if (previous[key] === undefined) delete process.env[key];
+      else process.env[key] = previous[key];
+    });
+  }
+}
+
+test('STT provider respects explicit provider override', () => {
+  const sttProvider = require('../src/utils/sttProvider');
+  withEnv({ TRANSCRIBE_PROVIDER: 'litellm' }, () => {
+    assert.equal(sttProvider.getSTTProvider({ google: true }), 'litellm');
+  });
+});
+
+test('STT provider auto-detects in existing priority order', () => {
+  const sttProvider = require('../src/utils/sttProvider');
+  withEnv({}, () => {
+    assert.equal(sttProvider.getSTTProvider({ google: true, aws: true, local: true, litellm: true, openai: true }), 'google');
+    assert.equal(sttProvider.getSTTProvider({ aws: true, local: true, litellm: true, openai: true }), 'aws');
+    assert.equal(sttProvider.getSTTProvider({ local: true, litellm: true, openai: true }), 'local');
+    assert.equal(sttProvider.getSTTProvider({ litellm: true, openai: true }), 'litellm');
+    assert.equal(sttProvider.getSTTProvider({ openai: true }), 'openai');
+    assert.equal(sttProvider.getSTTProvider({}), 'none');
+  });
+});
+
+test('STT model lists preserve admin defaults', () => {
+  const sttProvider = require('../src/utils/sttProvider');
+  assert.deepEqual(sttProvider.getSTTModelLists(), {
+    google: ['gemini-2.0-flash', 'gemini-2.5-flash', 'gemini-2.0-flash-lite'],
+    aws: ['standard', 'medical'],
+    openai: ['whisper-1'],
+    litellm: ['whisper-1', 'gemini-2.0-flash', 'gemini-2.5-flash'],
+    local: ['tiny', 'base', 'small', 'medium', 'large']
+  });
+});