this is a big slop that might backfire lol... new config system and UI!

server/src/services/audioForwardService/configuration.js

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+// Audio-Forwarding Configuration
+// Purpose: Defines upload bounds and the ffmpeg publishing command inputs.
+// Scope: Contains configuration metadata only and never creates runtime FIFOs.
+const { strictObject, string, boolean, integer } = require('../../configuration/schemaHelpers');
+
+module.exports = {
+  key: 'audioForward',
+  defaultValue: { enabled: true, ffmpegBin: 'ffmpeg', streamSuffix: '-fwd', maxUploadBytes: 8388608 },
+  schema: strictObject({
+    enabled: boolean(),
+    ffmpegBin: string({ title: 'ffmpeg executable', minLength: 1, maxLength: 500 }),
+    streamSuffix: string({ minLength: 1, maxLength: 80 }),
+    maxUploadBytes: integer({ minimum: 262144, maximum: 1073741824 }),
+  }, { title: 'Audio forwarding', required: ['enabled', 'ffmpegBin', 'streamSuffix', 'maxUploadBytes'] }),
+};

server/src/services/audioForwardService/index.js

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ const path = require('path');
 const EventEmitter = require('events');
 const io = require('../../globals/io');
 const logger = require('../../globals/logger').child('audioForwardService');
-const { loadConfig } = require('../../helpers/configLoader');
+const { loadConfig } = require('../../configuration');
 const { resolveRuntimePath } = require('../../helpers/dataPaths');
 const roverManager = require('../roverManager');
 const turnService = require('../turnService');
@@ -20,7 +20,10 @@ const audioForwardEvents = new EventEmitter();
 const config = loadConfig();
 const audioForwardConfig = config.audioForward || {};
 const mediaConfig = config.media || {};
-const serviceEnabled = audioForwardConfig.enabled !== false;
+// Configuration defaults always provide this boolean. Treat only an explicit
+// true as enabled so no credential, path, or historical fallback can opt the
+// service in on the operator's behalf.
+const serviceEnabled = Boolean(audioForwardConfig.enabled);
 const ffmpegBin = audioForwardConfig.ffmpegBin || 'ffmpeg';
 const streamSuffix =
   typeof audioForwardConfig.streamSuffix === 'string' && audioForwardConfig.streamSuffix.trim()