diff --git a/public/components/admin.html b/public/components/admin.html
index b9dd6323..99ef15d4 100644
--- a/public/components/admin.html
+++ b/public/components/admin.html
@@ -336,7 +336,10 @@
             </div>
             <div class="admin-row">
               <strong class="admin-row-label">Conversation input budget</strong>
-              <p id="assistant-conversation-budget" role="status" style="margin:0;font-size:13px;color:var(--g600);">Loading server budget metadata...</p>
+              <div style="flex:1;display:flex;flex-direction:column;gap:4px;min-width:0;">
+                <input id="assistant-conversation-budget" type="number" min="1000" max="1000000" class="admin-control" placeholder="e.g. 120000" aria-label="Conversation input budget (UTF-16 code units)">
+                <p id="assistant-conversation-budget-meta" role="status" style="margin:0;font-size:12px;color:var(--g500);">UTF-16 code units. Leave empty to use CLINICAL_ASSISTANT_CONVERSATION_CHARS.</p>
+              </div>
             </div>
             <section aria-labelledby="clinical-prompts-heading">
               <h4 id="clinical-prompts-heading">Clinical Assistant prompts</h4>
diff --git a/public/js/admin/clinicalAssistant.js b/public/js/admin/clinicalAssistant.js
index df6441f5..597535a3 100644
--- a/public/js/admin/clinicalAssistant.js
+++ b/public/js/admin/clinicalAssistant.js
@@ -136,10 +136,15 @@ export function initClinicalAssistantAdmin(adminEscapeHtml) {
       setValue('assistant-search-limit', cfg['clinical_assistant.search_limit'] || '8');
       setValue('assistant-context-chars', cfg['clinical_assistant.context_chars'] || '1400');
       setValue('assistant-translate-provider', ['libretranslate', 'deepl'].includes(cfg['clinical_assistant.translate_provider']) ? cfg['clinical_assistant.translate_provider'] : 'libretranslate');
-      var budgetLabel = document.getElementById('assistant-conversation-budget');
-      if (budgetLabel) budgetLabel.textContent =
-        budget.limit.toLocaleString() + ' ' + budget.unit + ' (' + budget.measure + ') — ' + budget.env +
-        (budget.source === 'environment' ? ' (environment).' : ' (server default; environment unset).');
+      var budgetInput = document.getElementById('assistant-conversation-budget');
+      if (budgetInput && budget && Number.isInteger(budget.limit)) {
+        var cfgBudget = cfg['clinical_assistant.conversation_chars'];
+        budgetInput.value = cfgBudget ? String(cfgBudget) : String(budget.limit);
+      }
+      var budgetMeta = document.getElementById('assistant-conversation-budget-meta');
+      if (budgetMeta) budgetMeta.textContent = budget && budget.source === 'environment'
+        ? 'Currently from CLINICAL_ASSISTANT_CONVERSATION_CHARS (' + budget.limit.toLocaleString() + '). Set a value here to override it; clear it to use the environment again.'
+        : 'UTF-16 code units. Leave empty to use CLINICAL_ASSISTANT_CONVERSATION_CHARS.';
       configState = 'ready';
       updateAssistantLoadState();
       loadAssistantImageModels();
@@ -358,6 +363,7 @@ export function initClinicalAssistantAdmin(adminEscapeHtml) {
       putAssistantConfig('clinical_assistant.search_limit', getValue('assistant-search-limit') || '8'),
       putAssistantConfig('clinical_assistant.context_chars', getValue('assistant-context-chars') || '1400'),
       putAssistantConfig('clinical_assistant.translate_provider', getValue('assistant-translate-provider') || 'libretranslate'),
+      putAssistantConfig('clinical_assistant.conversation_chars', getValue('assistant-conversation-budget')),
       putAssistantConfig('clinical_assistant.allowed_models', checkedAssistantModels('assistant-allowed-chat-models').join(',')),
       putAssistantConfig('clinical_assistant.allowed_image_models', checkedAssistantModels('assistant-allowed-image-models').join(','))
     ]).then(function() {
diff --git a/public/js/clinicalAssistant.js b/public/js/clinicalAssistant.js
index 771e42c7..55d59745 100644
--- a/public/js/clinicalAssistant.js
+++ b/public/js/clinicalAssistant.js
@@ -192,12 +192,12 @@ import {
             imageModel: data.imageModel || ''
           };
           bindModelSelects();
-          fillModelSelect(document.getElementById('assistant-chat-model-select'), statusChoices.allowedChatModels, statusChoices.chatModel, selectedChatModel, 'ped_assistant_chat_model');
+          fillModelSelect(document.getElementById('assistant-chat-model-select'), statusChoices.allowedChatModels, statusChoices.chatModel, selectedChatModel, 'ped_assistant_chat_model', 'chat');
           var chatSel = document.getElementById('assistant-chat-model-select');
           selectedChatModel = chatSel ? chatSel.value : selectedChatModel;
           var imageSel = document.getElementById('assistant-image-model-select');
           if (imageSel) {
-            fillModelSelect(imageSel, statusChoices.allowedImageModels, statusChoices.imageModel, selectedImageModel, 'ped_assistant_image_model');
+            fillModelSelect(imageSel, statusChoices.allowedImageModels, statusChoices.imageModel, selectedImageModel, 'ped_assistant_image_model', 'image');
             selectedImageModel = imageSel.value || selectedImageModel;
           }
         }
@@ -1165,7 +1165,7 @@ import {
     var select = modal.querySelector('#create-image-chat');
     if (select) select.selectedIndex = 0;
     bindModelSelects();
-    fillModelSelect(document.getElementById('assistant-image-model-select'), statusChoices.allowedImageModels, statusChoices.imageModel, selectedImageModel, 'ped_assistant_image_model');
+    fillModelSelect(document.getElementById('assistant-image-model-select'), statusChoices.allowedImageModels, statusChoices.imageModel, selectedImageModel, 'ped_assistant_image_model', 'image');
     renderCreateImageHistory();
   }
 
@@ -1296,8 +1296,9 @@ import {
       else localStorage.removeItem(key);
     } catch (e) {}
   }
-  function fillModelSelect(select, allowed, configured, saved, saveKind) {
+  function fillModelSelect(select, allowed, configured, saved, saveKind, kind) {
     if (!select) return;
+    if (kind) select.setAttribute('data-model-select-kind', kind);
     select.innerHTML = '';
     var def = document.createElement('option');
     def.value = '';
@@ -1320,22 +1321,18 @@ import {
     if (pill) pill.hidden = !show;
   }
   function bindModelSelects() {
-    var chatSel = document.getElementById('assistant-chat-model-select');
-    if (chatSel && !chatSel.dataset.bound) {
-      chatSel.dataset.bound = '1';
-      chatSel.addEventListener('change', function() {
-        selectedChatModel = chatSel.value || '';
-        saveModelSelection('ped_assistant_chat_model', selectedChatModel);
-      });
-    }
-    var imageSel = document.getElementById('assistant-image-model-select');
-    if (imageSel && !imageSel.dataset.bound) {
-      imageSel.dataset.bound = '1';
-      imageSel.addEventListener('change', function() {
-        selectedImageModel = imageSel.value || '';
-        saveModelSelection('ped_assistant_image_model', selectedImageModel);
-      });
-    }
+    // Delegated persistence: any chat/image model select saves immediately,
+    // even when the popup recreates its element.
+    if (document.dataset.modelSelectsBound) return;
+    document.dataset.modelSelectsBound = '1';
+    document.addEventListener('change', function(e) {
+      var sel = e.target && e.target.closest ? e.target.closest('[data-model-select-kind]') : null;
+      if (!sel) return;
+      var kind = sel.getAttribute('data-model-select-kind');
+      var value = sel.value || '';
+      if (kind === 'chat') { selectedChatModel = value; saveModelSelection('ped_assistant_chat_model', value); }
+      if (kind === 'image') { selectedImageModel = value; saveModelSelection('ped_assistant_image_model', value); }
+    });
   }
 
   // ── Saved-chat options: Rename, Pin, Export, Delete (ChatGPT-style menu) ──
diff --git a/src/routes/clinicalAssistant.js b/src/routes/clinicalAssistant.js
index 454d4405..9c78f29a 100644
--- a/src/routes/clinicalAssistant.js
+++ b/src/routes/clinicalAssistant.js
@@ -755,7 +755,14 @@ function isUsefulIndexedTopicExample(item) {
   return true;
 }
 
-function getConversationLimit() {
+async function getConversationLimit() {
+  // Admin-set value wins over the environment so the administrator can test
+  // the warning/refusal behavior with a lower limit.
+  var override = await getSetting('clinical_assistant.conversation_chars', '');
+  if (override !== '') {
+    var parsed = parseInt(override, 10);
+    if (Number.isInteger(parsed) && parsed >= 1000 && parsed <= 1000000) return parsed;
+  }
   return conversationBudget(process.env).limit;
 }