diff --git a/ratings-ui-demo/src/services/ai-service.ts b/ratings-ui-demo/src/services/ai-service.ts
index 021b71ddec050b8b03eadc89d2534fe9740bf04e..92c7722468ac934a0d1772667406591cc166274f 100644
--- a/ratings-ui-demo/src/services/ai-service.ts
+++ b/ratings-ui-demo/src/services/ai-service.ts
@@ -19,12 +19,40 @@ import {
 let aiDelegateInitialized = false;
 let promptsRegistered = false;
 
+/**
+ * Check if local auth mode should be enabled for ai-delegate.
+ * Local auth mode allows direct API calls without going through the server proxy.
+ *
+ * Priority:
+ * 1. NEXT_PUBLIC_AI_DELEGATE_LOCAL_AUTH env var (explicit override)
+ * 2. Development mode (NODE_ENV === 'development')
+ */
+function isLocalAuthEnabled(): boolean {
+  const envOverride = process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_AI_DELEGATE_LOCAL_AUTH;
+
+  // If explicit env var is set, use that
+  if (envOverride !== undefined && envOverride !== '') {
+    return envOverride === 'true' || envOverride === '1';
+  }
+
+  // Default to development mode
+  return process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development';
+}
+
 /**
  * Ensure AiDelegate is initialized and prompts are registered
  */
 async function ensureAiDelegateInitialized(): Promise<void> {
   if (!aiDelegateInitialized) {
-    await AiDelegate.init({ endpoint: '/ai-delegate' });
+    const allowLocalMode = isLocalAuthEnabled();
+
+    console.log(
+      `[ai-service] Initializing ai-delegate: allowLocalMode=${allowLocalMode}`,
+      `(NODE_ENV=${process.env.NODE_ENV},`,
+      `NEXT_PUBLIC_AI_DELEGATE_LOCAL_AUTH=${process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_AI_DELEGATE_LOCAL_AUTH ?? 'not set'})`
+    );
+
+    await AiDelegate.init({ endpoint: '/ai-delegate', allowLocalMode });
     aiDelegateInitialized = true;
   }