diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/__tests__/monitoring-public-gate-dc096.test.js b/dashcaddy-api/__tests__/monitoring-public-gate-dc096.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4c6c1e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/__tests__/monitoring-public-gate-dc096.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,184 @@
+/**
+ * DC-096 regression tests: the `monitoring: { public: false }` config option
+ * actually gates the monitoring endpoints.
+ *
+ * WHY THIS EXISTS:
+ *   The middleware comment documented `monitoring: { public: false }` in
+ *   config.json as the way to require auth for /api/v1/monitoring/stats and
+ *   /api/v1/health-checks/status on internet-exposed deployments. But the
+ *   option was dead three ways:
+ *     1. applyConfigFields() never copied `monitoring` out of raw config —
+ *        siteConfig.monitoring stayed undefined forever.
+ *     2. `monitoring` was not in config-schema KNOWN_KEYS — saving it via
+ *        POST /api/v1/config produced "Unknown config key" warnings (save
+ *        still succeeded, so users saw a warning for a real feature).
+ *     3. MONITORING_PUBLIC was a const frozen at mount time AND re-required
+ *        the config/site singleton — POST /config changes never took effect
+ *        without a full process restart.
+ *
+ *   Net effect: an operator who set the documented hardening option on an
+ *   exposed box kept serving monitoring data unauthenticated, with only a
+ *   cosmetic warning. Classic "config option that never worked".
+ *
+ * These tests pin the fixed behavior:
+ *   - applyConfigFields copies monitoring through to siteConfig
+ *   - isPublicRoute honors the gate LIVE (no restart)
+ *   - env override still wins over config
+ *   - schema accepts `monitoring` and validates its shape
+ *   - typo keys setupCompleted/setupMode no longer silently allowlisted
+ */
+const express = require('express');
+const request = require('supertest');
+
+// The config/site module exports the siteConfig singleton + loaders.
+const { siteConfig, loadSiteConfig } = require('../src/config/site');
+const { validateConfig } = require('../src/utilities/config-schema');
+
+// Build a minimal app mounting ONLY the middleware under test, with the
+// same dependency shape app.js passes. This mirrors how configureMiddleware
+// is used in production without booting the whole app (routes, docker, etc).
+function buildMiddlewareApp(configOverrides = {}) {
+  const configureMiddleware = require('../src/utilities/middleware');
+  const app = express();
+
+  const siteConfigDep = {
+    tld: '.sami',
+    dashboardHost: 'status.sami',
+    ...configOverrides
+  };
+
+  const deps = {
+    siteConfig: siteConfigDep,
+    totpConfig: { enabled: true }, // force the auth path to actually run
+    tailscaleConfig: { enabled: false, requireAuth: false },
+    metrics: { recordRequest: () => {} },
+    auditLogger: { middleware: () => (req, res, next) => next() },
+    authManager: {
+      verifyJWT: async () => null,
+      verifyAPIKey: async () => null
+    },
+    log: {
+      info: () => {}, warn: () => {}, error: () => {}, debug: () => {}
+    },
+    cryptoUtils: { loadOrCreateKey: () => 'test-key-not-a-real-secret' },
+    isValidContainerId: () => true,
+    isTailscaleIP: () => false,
+    getTailscaleStatus: async () => ({})
+  };
+
+  configureMiddleware(app, deps);
+  // Probe route AFTER middleware so it exercises the auth chain.
+  app.get('/api/v1/monitoring/stats', (req, res) => res.json({ ok: true }));
+  app.get('/api/v1/health-checks/status', (req, res) => res.json({ ok: true }));
+  return app;
+}
+
+describe('DC-096: monitoring.public config gate (middleware + site config)', () => {
+  const ENV_KEY = 'MONITORING_PUBLIC';
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    delete process.env[ENV_KEY];
+    // Reset the singleton to a clean default for other suites
+    siteConfig.monitoring = null;
+  });
+
+  test('applyConfigFields copies monitoring through to siteConfig (the original dead option)', () => {
+    loadSiteConfig(null, null); // no CONFIG_FILE arg → falls to catch, keeps defaults
+    siteConfig.monitoring = undefined;
+    // Directly exercise applyConfigFields via the public loader with a real temp file
+    const fs = require('fs');
+    const os = require('os');
+    const path = require('path');
+    const tmp = path.join(os.tmpdir(), `dc096-config-${Date.now()}.json`);
+    fs.writeFileSync(tmp, JSON.stringify({
+      tld: '.sami',
+      monitoring: { public: false }
+    }));
+    try {
+      const noopLog = { info: () => {}, warn: () => {}, error: () => {} };
+      loadSiteConfig(tmp, noopLog);
+      expect(siteConfig.monitoring).toEqual({ public: false });
+    } finally {
+      fs.unlinkSync(tmp);
+    }
+  });
+
+  test('monitoring endpoints are PUBLIC by default (no monitoring config)', async () => {
+    const app = buildMiddlewareApp();
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/v1/monitoring/stats');
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(res.body.ok).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('monitoring: { public: false } in config → endpoints require auth (401) — LIVE, no restart', async () => {
+    const app = buildMiddlewareApp({ monitoring: { public: false } });
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/v1/monitoring/stats');
+    expect(res.status).toBe(401);
+    const res2 = await request(app).get('/api/v1/health-checks/status');
+    expect(res2.status).toBe(401);
+  });
+
+  test('gate reads config LIVE: flipping siteConfig.monitoring.public at runtime flips the gate', async () => {
+    const cfg = { monitoring: { public: true } };
+    const app = buildMiddlewareApp(cfg);
+    let res = await request(app).get('/api/v1/monitoring/stats');
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+
+    // Simulate POST /api/v1/config refreshing the singleton in place —
+    // the same object the middleware holds a reference to.
+    cfg.monitoring.public = false;
+    res = await request(app).get('/api/v1/monitoring/stats');
+    expect(res.status).toBe(401);
+  });
+
+  test('env override MONITORING_PUBLIC=true beats config monitoring.public=false', async () => {
+    process.env.MONITORING_PUBLIC = 'true';
+    const app = buildMiddlewareApp({ monitoring: { public: false } });
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/v1/monitoring/stats');
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+  });
+
+  test('env override MONITORING_PUBLIC=false beats config monitoring.public=true', async () => {
+    process.env.MONITORING_PUBLIC = 'false';
+    const app = buildMiddlewareApp({ monitoring: { public: true } });
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/v1/monitoring/stats');
+    expect(res.status).toBe(401);
+  });
+
+  test('non-monitoring public routes stay public when monitoring gate closes', async () => {
+    const app = buildMiddlewareApp({ monitoring: { public: false } });
+    // /api/v1/version is public unconditionally
+    const res = await request(app).get('/api/v1/version');
+    // No route mounted at that path in this harness → 404 from express,
+    // NOT 401 — proving the auth middleware let it through.
+    expect(res.status).toBe(404);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('DC-096: config-schema accepts monitoring', () => {
+  test('monitoring: { public: boolean } passes with zero warnings', () => {
+    const result = validateConfig({ monitoring: { public: false } });
+    expect(result.warnings).toEqual([]);
+    expect(result.valid).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('monitoring.public non-boolean is an ERROR (not silent)', () => {
+    const result = validateConfig({ monitoring: { public: 'false' } });
+    expect(result.valid).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.errors).toContain('monitoring.public must be a boolean');
+  });
+
+  test('monitoring non-object is an ERROR', () => {
+    const result = validateConfig({ monitoring: 'private' });
+    expect(result.valid).toBe(false);
+    expect(result.errors).toContain('monitoring must be an object');
+  });
+
+  test('typo keys setupCompleted/setupMode now WARN (no longer silently allowlisted)', () => {
+    const result = validateConfig({ setupCompleted: true, setupMode: 'simple' });
+    expect(result.warnings).toEqual([
+      'Unknown config key "setupCompleted" — possible typo?',
+      'Unknown config key "setupMode" — possible typo?'
+    ]);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/src/config/site.js b/dashcaddy-api/src/config/site.js
index b8bac9a..db33a4d 100644
--- a/dashcaddy-api/src/config/site.js
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/src/config/site.js
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ const { loadAndMigrate, CURRENT_VERSION } = require('./migrations');
 
 const siteConfig = {
   tld: '.home',
-  caName: '',
   dnsServerIp: '',
   dnsServerPort: CADDY.DEFAULT_DNS_PORT,
   dashboardHost: '',
@@ -27,7 +26,6 @@ const siteConfig = {
 function applyConfigFields(raw) {
   siteConfig.tld = raw.tld || '.home';
   if (!siteConfig.tld.startsWith('.')) siteConfig.tld = '.' + siteConfig.tld;
-  siteConfig.caName = raw.caName || '';
   siteConfig.dnsServerIp = (raw.dns && raw.dns.ip) || '';
   siteConfig.dnsServerPort = (raw.dns && raw.dns.port) || CADDY.DEFAULT_DNS_PORT;
   siteConfig.dashboardHost = raw.dashboardHost || `status${siteConfig.tld}`;
@@ -37,6 +35,11 @@ function applyConfigFields(raw) {
   siteConfig.domain = raw.domain || '';
   siteConfig.routingMode = raw.routingMode || 'subdomain';
   siteConfig.pylon = raw.pylon || null;
+  // DC-096: `monitoring` was previously NOT copied out of raw config, so the
+  // documented hardening option `monitoring: { public: false }` (middleware.js
+  // MONITORING_PUBLIC) silently never applied — siteConfig.monitoring stayed
+  // undefined forever. Copy it through so the middleware actually sees it.
+  siteConfig.monitoring = raw.monitoring || null;
 }
 function validateAndLogConfig(raw, log) {
   const { valid, errors: configErrors, warnings: configWarnings } = validateConfig(raw);
diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/config-schema.js b/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/config-schema.js
index dac8ad2..1b47515 100644
--- a/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/config-schema.js
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/config-schema.js
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ const VALID_DNS_PROVIDERS = ['technitium', 'cloudflare', 'rfc2136', 'manual'];
 const KNOWN_KEYS = [
   'tld', 'caName', 'dns', 'dnsServers', 'dashboardHost', 'timezone', 'theme',
   'updatedAt', 'timestamp', 'logo', 'logoPosition', 'favicon', 'weather',
-  'setupComplete', 'setupCompleted', 'setupMode', 'onboardingCompleted',
+  'setupComplete', 'onboardingCompleted',
   'configurationType', 'defaults', 'customLogo', 'customFavicon',
   'dashboardTitle', 'tailscale', 'license', 'skipped',
   'routingMode', 'domain', 'email', 'defaultIP', 'pylon',
@@ -18,7 +18,13 @@ const KNOWN_KEYS = [
   // license-manager.js persists the last activation to config.licenseBackup
   // (restore-on-restart path); src/config/migrations.js stamps _version.
   // Both are first-party writes — see DC-091.
-  'licenseBackup', '_version'
+  'licenseBackup', '_version',
+  // DC-096: monitoring.public gates whether /api/v1/monitoring/stats and
+  // /api/v1/health-checks/status are public (middleware.js isMonitoringPublic).
+  // Removed 'setupCompleted' and 'setupMode' — never written by any code
+  // (past or present); they only existed here, where they masked the actual
+  // typo of the real key `setupComplete` (writers: setup-wizard.js).
+  'monitoring'
 ];
 
 /**
@@ -162,6 +168,22 @@ function validateKnownKeys(ctx, config) {
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * @param {{errors:string[], warnings:string[]}} ctx
+ * @param {object} config
+ */
+function validateMonitoring(ctx, config) {
+  if (config.monitoring === undefined) return;
+  if (typeof config.monitoring !== 'object' || config.monitoring === null) {
+    ctx.errors.push('monitoring must be an object');
+    return;
+  }
+  if (config.monitoring.public !== undefined
+      && typeof config.monitoring.public !== 'boolean') {
+    ctx.errors.push('monitoring.public must be a boolean');
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Validate a config object and return errors/warnings.
  * @param {object} config - The config object to validate
@@ -183,6 +205,7 @@ function validateConfig(config) {
   validateTheme(ctx, config);
   validateRoutingMode(ctx, config);
   validateDomain(ctx, config);
+  validateMonitoring(ctx, config);
   validateKnownKeys(ctx, config);
 
   return { valid: errors.length === 0, errors, warnings };
diff --git a/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/middleware.js b/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/middleware.js
index 5cbeda8..d4a778e 100644
--- a/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/middleware.js
+++ b/dashcaddy-api/src/utilities/middleware.js
@@ -359,18 +359,25 @@ module.exports = function configureMiddleware(app, {
   // (env var) or `monitoring: { public: false }` (config.json) to require
   // auth for these — useful for internet-exposed deployments where
   // CPU/memory/disk data is sensitive.
-  const MONITORING_PUBLIC = (() => {
+  //
+  // DC-096: this used to be a const frozen at mount time AND it re-required
+  // the config/site singleton instead of using the `siteConfig` dependency
+  // injected by app.js — so POST /api/v1/config changes never took effect
+  // until a full process restart, and a fresh process with
+  // monitoring.public=false in config.json never saw it either (the field
+  // was dropped by applyConfigFields — see site.js). Resolved per-request
+  // from: explicit env override → live config value → default (public).
+  const isMonitoringPublic = () => {
     if (process.env.MONITORING_PUBLIC === 'false') return false;
     if (process.env.MONITORING_PUBLIC === 'true') return true;
-    // Default: check config.json if loaded
-    try {
-      const cfg = require('../config/site').siteConfig;
-      if (cfg && cfg.monitoring && typeof cfg.monitoring.public === 'boolean') {
-        return cfg.monitoring.public;
-      }
-    } catch { /* config not loaded yet, use default */ }
+    // Read the injected config object live — siteConfig is the same mutable
+    // singleton that loadSiteConfig()/POST /config refresh in place.
+    if (siteConfig && typeof siteConfig.monitoring === 'object' && siteConfig.monitoring !== null
+        && typeof siteConfig.monitoring.public === 'boolean') {
+      return siteConfig.monitoring.public;
+    }
     return true; // default: public (current behavior, dashboard needs it)
-  })();
+  };
 
   const PUBLIC_ROUTES = [
     // Health probes — root-level only. See src/app.js for the handler block.
@@ -452,18 +459,18 @@ module.exports = function configureMiddleware(app, {
     { path: '/api/v1/themes',            exact: true,  method: 'GET' },
     { path: '/api/v1/license/status',    exact: true,  method: 'GET' },
     { path: '/api/v1/license/feature/',  prefix: true, method: 'GET' },
-    { path: '/api/v1/config',             exact: true,  method: 'GET' },
-    { path: '/api/v1/services/status',    exact: true,  method: 'GET' },
-    { path: '/api/v1/health-checks/status', exact: true, method: 'GET' },
+    { path: '/api/v1/config',             exact: true, method: 'GET' },
+    { path: '/api/v1/services/status',    exact: true, method: 'GET' },
+    // (/api/v1/health-checks/status and /api/v1/monitoring/stats are listed
+    // further below WITH the monitoring.public live gate — DC-096. They were
+    // previously duplicated here unconditionally, which silently defeated
+    // the MONITORING_PUBLIC gate entirely.)
     // DC-075: System health endpoint for external uptime monitoring (UptimeRobot, BetterStack)
-    { path: '/api/v1/system/health',   exact: true,  method: 'GET' },
+    { path: '/api/v1/system/health',   exact: true, method: 'GET' },
     // DC-097: Prometheus metrics endpoint (scraped by Prometheus, no auth)
     { path: '/api/v1/metrics/prometheus', exact: true, method: 'GET' },
     // DC-077: i18n endpoints (language list + translations, public)
     { path: '/api/v1/i18n/',               prefix: true, method: 'GET' },
-    // System Overview widget on the dashboard — needs the flattened CPU/mem
-    // data without going through auth. See skill references/totp-and-system-overview-pitfalls.md §3.
-    { path: '/api/v1/monitoring/stats',      exact: true, method: 'GET' },
     // Read-only update/version info shown on the dashboard view (verification
     // modal, topbar version, update badges). Mutating actions — update-apply,
     // rollback (POST) — are NOT listed here and stay TOTP-protected.
@@ -473,11 +480,13 @@ module.exports = function configureMiddleware(app, {
     { path: '/api/v1/system/update-check',   exact: true, method: 'GET' },
     { path: '/api/v1/updates/available',     exact: true, method: 'GET' },
     { path: '/api/v1/system/update-notify', exact: true, method: 'POST' },
-    // Monitoring endpoints — only public if MONITORING_PUBLIC is true
-    ...(MONITORING_PUBLIC ? [
-      { path: '/api/v1/monitoring/stats',     exact: true, method: 'GET' },
-      { path: '/api/v1/health-checks/status', exact: true, method: 'GET' },
-    ] : []),
+    // Monitoring endpoints — public only while isMonitoringPublic() is true.
+    // DC-096: these are listed unconditionally and gated inside
+    // isPublicRoute() so the gate is resolved LIVE per request — flipping
+    // `monitoring: { public: false }` via POST /api/v1/config takes effect
+    // on the next request, no process restart.
+    { path: '/api/v1/monitoring/stats',     exact: true, method: 'GET', monitoring: true },
+    { path: '/api/v1/health-checks/status', exact: true, method: 'GET', monitoring: true },
     { path: '/api/v1/version',             exact: true, method: 'GET' },
     // Security ingest endpoints — auth via per-host Bearer token (handled in routes/security.js),
     // NOT via TOTP/JWT. This lets remote DashCaddy agents and log parsers push events
@@ -489,6 +498,9 @@ module.exports = function configureMiddleware(app, {
   function isPublicRoute(req) {
     return PUBLIC_ROUTES.some(r => {
       if (r.method && req.method !== r.method) return false;
+      // DC-096: monitoring routes are only public while the live gate says so
+      // (env override → config → default public). Checked per request.
+      if (r.monitoring && !isMonitoringPublic()) return false;
       if (r.exact) {
         // Exact string match, BUT allow `:param` placeholders in the
         // PUBLIC_ROUTES entry to match any single path segment. This was a