diff --git a/core/http/endpoints/localai/systemone.go b/core/http/endpoints/localai/systemone.go
index e272e1b8b..435414d39 100644
--- a/core/http/endpoints/localai/systemone.go
+++ b/core/http/endpoints/localai/systemone.go
@@ -371,6 +371,35 @@ func systemOneError(c echo.Context, status int, msg string) error {
 	})
 }
 
+// systemOneModelAllowed keeps chat and embedding models out of the decision
+// API with an actionable error instead of a backend failure. A config that
+// declares no usecases predates the flag and stays allowed, and a
+// token_classify model is allowed because the NER path serves it.
+func systemOneModelAllowed(cfg config.ModelConfig) error {
+	if cfg.KnownUsecases == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	if *cfg.KnownUsecases&(config.FLAG_SYSTEMONE|config.FLAG_TOKEN_CLASSIFY) != 0 {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return fmt.Errorf("model %q does not declare the systemone usecase (known_usecases: [systemone])", cfg.Name)
+}
+
+// checkSystemOneModel applies systemOneModelAllowed to a model looked up by
+// name. An unknown model passes here so the existing not-found handling
+// downstream keeps its status code.
+func checkSystemOneModel(app *application.Application, modelName string) error {
+	cl := app.ModelConfigLoader()
+	if cl == nil {
+		return nil
+	}
+	cfg, ok := cl.GetModelConfig(modelName)
+	if !ok {
+		return nil
+	}
+	return systemOneModelAllowed(cfg)
+}
+
 // backendSupportsScore reports whether the named backend implements the
 // Score gRPC RPC. vllm-cpp does (kev/laya decision pipeline and cua-s1-forms
 // scoring via the unified vllm_decide C ABI); other backends fall through to
@@ -408,6 +437,9 @@ func SystemOneEndpoint(app *application.Application) echo.HandlerFunc {
 		if req.Model == "" {
 			return systemOneError(c, http.StatusBadRequest, "model is required")
 		}
+		if err := checkSystemOneModel(app, req.Model); err != nil {
+			return systemOneError(c, http.StatusBadRequest, err.Error())
+		}
 		// vllm-cpp models (kev/laya) implement the decision pipeline natively
 		// via the vllm_decide C ABI. Forward the raw request JSON through the
 		// Score RPC and return the backend's response as-is.
@@ -474,6 +506,9 @@ func SystemOnePermuteEndpoint(app *application.Application) echo.HandlerFunc {
 		if req.Request.Model == "" {
 			return systemOneError(c, http.StatusBadRequest, "model is required")
 		}
+		if err := checkSystemOneModel(app, req.Request.Model); err != nil {
+			return systemOneError(c, http.StatusBadRequest, err.Error())
+		}
 		if req.Question == "" {
 			return systemOneError(c, http.StatusBadRequest, "question is required")
 		}
@@ -610,6 +645,9 @@ func SystemOneSeparateEndpoint(app *application.Application) echo.HandlerFunc {
 		if req.Model == "" {
 			return systemOneError(c, http.StatusBadRequest, "model is required")
 		}
+		if err := checkSystemOneModel(app, req.Model); err != nil {
+			return systemOneError(c, http.StatusBadRequest, err.Error())
+		}
 		parsed, err := parseSystemOneRequest(&req)
 		if err != nil {
 			return systemOneError(c, http.StatusBadRequest, err.Error())
diff --git a/core/http/endpoints/localai/systemone_gate_test.go b/core/http/endpoints/localai/systemone_gate_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b7857da56
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/http/endpoints/localai/systemone_gate_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+package localai
+
+import (
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("systemOneModelAllowed", func() {
+	mk := func(usecases ...string) config.ModelConfig {
+		return config.ModelConfig{
+			Name:          "m",
+			Backend:       "vllm-cpp",
+			KnownUsecases: config.GetUsecasesFromYAML(usecases),
+		}
+	}
+
+	It("accepts a declared systemone model", func() {
+		Expect(systemOneModelAllowed(mk("systemone"))).To(Succeed())
+	})
+
+	It("accepts a token_classify model, which the NER path serves", func() {
+		Expect(systemOneModelAllowed(mk("token_classify"))).To(Succeed())
+	})
+
+	It("keeps configs that declare no usecases working", func() {
+		Expect(systemOneModelAllowed(config.ModelConfig{Name: "laya", Backend: "vllm-cpp"})).To(Succeed())
+	})
+
+	It("refuses a chat-only model with an actionable message", func() {
+		Expect(systemOneModelAllowed(mk("chat"))).To(MatchError(ContainSubstring("known_usecases: [systemone]")))
+	})
+})