diff --git a/pkg/inference/backend.go b/pkg/inference/backend.go
index 019e52983..0eae5d4cc 100644
--- a/pkg/inference/backend.go
+++ b/pkg/inference/backend.go
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ func (m BackendMode) String() string {
 }
 
 type BackendConfiguration struct {
-	ContextSize int64    `json:"context_size,omitempty"`
-	RawFlags    []string `json:"flags,omitempty"`
+	ContextSize  int64    `json:"context-size,omitempty"`
+	RuntimeFlags []string `json:"runtime-flags,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // Backend is the interface implemented by inference engine backends. Backend
diff --git a/pkg/inference/backends/llamacpp/llamacpp.go b/pkg/inference/backends/llamacpp/llamacpp.go
index 930535daa..00fa57b86 100644
--- a/pkg/inference/backends/llamacpp/llamacpp.go
+++ b/pkg/inference/backends/llamacpp/llamacpp.go
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ func (l *llamaCpp) Run(ctx context.Context, socket, model string, mode inference
 		if config.ContextSize >= 0 {
 			args = append(args, "--ctx-size", strconv.Itoa(int(config.ContextSize)))
 		}
-		args = append(args, config.RawFlags...)
+		args = append(args, config.RuntimeFlags...)
 	}
 
 	l.log.Infof("llamaCppArgs: %v", args)
diff --git a/pkg/inference/scheduling/api.go b/pkg/inference/scheduling/api.go
index 52c8ec56d..d718df4b4 100644
--- a/pkg/inference/scheduling/api.go
+++ b/pkg/inference/scheduling/api.go
@@ -86,7 +86,8 @@ type UnloadResponse struct {
 
 // ConfigureRequest specifies per-model runtime configuration options.
 type ConfigureRequest struct {
-	Model           string `json:"model"`
-	ContextSize     int64  `json:"context-size,omitempty"`
-	RawRuntimeFlags string `json:"raw-runtime-flags,omitempty"`
+	Model           string   `json:"model"`
+	ContextSize     int64    `json:"context-size,omitempty"`
+	RuntimeFlags    []string `json:"runtime-flags,omitempty"`
+	RawRuntimeFlags string   `json:"raw-runtime-flags,omitempty"`
 }
diff --git a/pkg/inference/scheduling/scheduler.go b/pkg/inference/scheduling/scheduler.go
index 5a9d0e5b1..fa6f794e9 100644
--- a/pkg/inference/scheduling/scheduler.go
+++ b/pkg/inference/scheduling/scheduler.go
@@ -388,23 +388,27 @@ func (s *Scheduler) Configure(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 	}
 
 	configureRequest := ConfigureRequest{
-		Model:           "",
-		ContextSize:     -1,
-		RawRuntimeFlags: "",
+		ContextSize: -1,
 	}
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &configureRequest); err != nil {
 		http.Error(w, "invalid request", http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return
 	}
-	rawFlags, err := shellwords.Parse(configureRequest.RawRuntimeFlags)
-	if err != nil {
-		http.Error(w, "invalid request", http.StatusBadRequest)
-		return
+	var runtimeFlags []string
+	if len(configureRequest.RuntimeFlags) > 0 {
+		runtimeFlags = configureRequest.RuntimeFlags
+	} else {
+		rawFlags, err := shellwords.Parse(configureRequest.RawRuntimeFlags)
+		if err != nil {
+			http.Error(w, "invalid request", http.StatusBadRequest)
+			return
+		}
+		runtimeFlags = rawFlags
 	}
 
 	var runnerConfig inference.BackendConfiguration
 	runnerConfig.ContextSize = configureRequest.ContextSize
-	runnerConfig.RawFlags = rawFlags
+	runnerConfig.RuntimeFlags = runtimeFlags
 
 	if err := s.loader.setRunnerConfig(r.Context(), backend.Name(), configureRequest.Model, inference.BackendModeCompletion, runnerConfig); err != nil {
 		s.log.Warnf("Failed to configure %s runner for %s: %s", backend.Name(), configureRequest.Model, err)