diff --git a/kubernetes/apps/llama-server/deployment.yaml b/kubernetes/apps/llama-server/deployment.yaml
index db9e77a0..51018cb4 100644
--- a/kubernetes/apps/llama-server/deployment.yaml
+++ b/kubernetes/apps/llama-server/deployment.yaml
@@ -90,6 +90,20 @@ spec:
             # to it server-side; the WebUI is same-origin and unaffected.
             - --cors-origins
             - localhost
+            # Stable name for the API, so consumers ask for "chat" rather than
+            # the full repo string. Without it the model id is the value of
+            # --hf-repo, and every consumer's config would break the next time
+            # the model is swapped.
+            - --alias
+            - chat
+            # Qwen3.6 enables thinking by default. At ~11.6 tok/s that spends
+            # minutes reasoning before answering, and a request with a modest
+            # max_tokens returns an empty `content` with finish_reason "length"
+            # because the whole budget went to reasoning_content. Off by default
+            # keeps answers usable; a client that wants it can send
+            # chat_template_kwargs per request.
+            - --chat-template-kwargs
+            - '{"enable_thinking": false}'
           env:
             # Where --hf-repo caches the weights. Pointing it at the PVC makes
             # the download a one-time cost, shared with llama-embed, and keeps