diff --git a/ui/src/ui/app-render.ts b/ui/src/ui/app-render.ts
index 8a0b3dee0d1f..8453b4f64e63 100644
--- a/ui/src/ui/app-render.ts
+++ b/ui/src/ui/app-render.ts
@@ -1198,7 +1198,10 @@ export function renderApp(state: AppViewState) {
     gatewayUrl: state.settings.gatewayUrl,
     assistantName: state.assistantName,
     configPath: state.configSnapshot?.path ?? null,
-    rawAvailable: typeof state.configSnapshot?.raw === "string",
+    rawAvailable:
+      typeof state.configSnapshot?.raw === "string" ||
+      !!state.configSnapshot?.config ||
+      !!state.configForm,
   } satisfies Omit<
     ConfigProps,
     | "formMode"
diff --git a/ui/src/ui/controllers/config.test.ts b/ui/src/ui/controllers/config.test.ts
index 0cf4d0d383f9..a204672b2cf3 100644
--- a/ui/src/ui/controllers/config.test.ts
+++ b/ui/src/ui/controllers/config.test.ts
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ describe("applyConfigSnapshot", () => {
     expect(state.configDraftBaseHash).toBe("hash-remote");
   });
 
-  it("forces form mode when the snapshot does not include raw text", () => {
+  it("keeps raw mode when editable config can be serialized without raw text", () => {
     const state = createState();
     state.configFormMode = "raw";
 
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ describe("applyConfigSnapshot", () => {
       raw: null,
     });
 
-    expect(state.configFormMode).toBe("form");
+    expect(state.configFormMode).toBe("raw");
     expect(state.configRaw).toBe('{\n  "gateway": {\n    "mode": "local"\n  }\n}\n');
   });
 });
@@ -707,6 +707,29 @@ describe("applyConfig", () => {
 });
 
 describe("saveConfig", () => {
+  it("submits generated raw text when the snapshot did not include raw text", async () => {
+    const request = createRequestWithConfigGet();
+    const state = createState();
+    state.connected = true;
+    state.client = { request } as unknown as ConfigState["client"];
+    state.configFormMode = "raw";
+    applyConfigSnapshot(state, {
+      hash: "hash-generated-raw",
+      sourceConfig: { gateway: { mode: "local" } },
+      config: { gateway: { mode: "local", runtimeOnly: true } },
+      valid: true,
+      issues: [],
+      raw: null,
+    });
+
+    await saveConfig(state);
+
+    expect(request).toHaveBeenCalledWith("config.set", {
+      raw: '{\n  "gateway": {\n    "mode": "local"\n  }\n}\n',
+      baseHash: "hash-generated-raw",
+    });
+  });
+
   it("submits the original draft base hash after a dirty config refresh", async () => {
     const request = createRequestWithConfigGet();
     const state = createState();
diff --git a/ui/src/ui/controllers/config.ts b/ui/src/ui/controllers/config.ts
index ba860d0eaebd..6ea358194a38 100644
--- a/ui/src/ui/controllers/config.ts
+++ b/ui/src/ui/controllers/config.ts
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ export function applyConfigSnapshot(
   const draftBaseHash = state.configDraftBaseHash ?? state.configSnapshot?.hash ?? null;
   state.configSnapshot = snapshot;
   const editableConfig = resolveEditableSnapshotConfig(snapshot);
-  const rawAvailable = typeof snapshot.raw === "string";
+  const rawAvailable = typeof snapshot.raw === "string" || !!editableConfig || !!state.configForm;
   if (!rawAvailable && state.configFormMode === "raw") {
     state.configFormMode = "form";
   }
@@ -161,9 +161,6 @@ function asJsonSchema(value: unknown): JsonSchema | null {
  * gateway's Zod validation always sees correctly typed values.
  */
 function serializeFormForSubmit(state: ConfigState): string {
-  if (state.configFormMode === "raw" && typeof state.configSnapshot?.raw !== "string") {
-    throw new Error("Raw config editing is unavailable for this snapshot. Switch to Form mode.");
-  }
   if (state.configFormMode !== "form" || !state.configForm) {
     return state.configRaw;
   }