diff --git a/config.example.yaml b/config.example.yaml
index a0eacc14..3a7e7fbd 100644
--- a/config.example.yaml
+++ b/config.example.yaml
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ routing:
 # When true, enable authentication for the WebSocket API (/v1/ws).
 ws-auth: false
 
-# When true, emit blank lines every 5s for non-streaming responses to prevent idle timeouts.
-nonstream-keepalive: false
+# When > 0, emit blank lines every N seconds for non-streaming responses to prevent idle timeouts.
+nonstream-keepalive-interval: 0
 
 # Streaming behavior (SSE keep-alives + safe bootstrap retries).
 # streaming:
diff --git a/internal/config/sdk_config.go b/internal/config/sdk_config.go
index 4ce35d6a..4d4abc37 100644
--- a/internal/config/sdk_config.go
+++ b/internal/config/sdk_config.go
@@ -26,8 +26,9 @@ type SDKConfig struct {
 	// Streaming configures server-side streaming behavior (keep-alives and safe bootstrap retries).
 	Streaming StreamingConfig `yaml:"streaming" json:"streaming"`
 
-	// NonStreamKeepAlive enables emitting blank lines every 5 seconds for non-streaming responses.
-	NonStreamKeepAlive bool `yaml:"nonstream-keepalive" json:"nonstream-keepalive"`
+	// NonStreamKeepAliveInterval controls how often blank lines are emitted for non-streaming responses.
+	// <= 0 disables keep-alives. Value is in seconds.
+	NonStreamKeepAliveInterval int `yaml:"nonstream-keepalive-interval,omitempty" json:"nonstream-keepalive-interval,omitempty"`
 }
 
 // StreamingConfig holds server streaming behavior configuration.
diff --git a/internal/watcher/diff/config_diff.go b/internal/watcher/diff/config_diff.go
index e21d910c..fecbc242 100644
--- a/internal/watcher/diff/config_diff.go
+++ b/internal/watcher/diff/config_diff.go
@@ -54,8 +54,8 @@ func BuildConfigChangeDetails(oldCfg, newCfg *config.Config) []string {
 	if oldCfg.ForceModelPrefix != newCfg.ForceModelPrefix {
 		changes = append(changes, fmt.Sprintf("force-model-prefix: %t -> %t", oldCfg.ForceModelPrefix, newCfg.ForceModelPrefix))
 	}
-	if oldCfg.NonStreamKeepAlive != newCfg.NonStreamKeepAlive {
-		changes = append(changes, fmt.Sprintf("nonstream-keepalive: %t -> %t", oldCfg.NonStreamKeepAlive, newCfg.NonStreamKeepAlive))
+	if oldCfg.NonStreamKeepAliveInterval != newCfg.NonStreamKeepAliveInterval {
+		changes = append(changes, fmt.Sprintf("nonstream-keepalive-interval: %d -> %d", oldCfg.NonStreamKeepAliveInterval, newCfg.NonStreamKeepAliveInterval))
 	}
 
 	// Quota-exceeded behavior
diff --git a/internal/watcher/diff/config_diff_test.go b/internal/watcher/diff/config_diff_test.go
index 6606c776..82486659 100644
--- a/internal/watcher/diff/config_diff_test.go
+++ b/internal/watcher/diff/config_diff_test.go
@@ -231,11 +231,11 @@ func TestBuildConfigChangeDetails_FlagsAndKeys(t *testing.T) {
 		AmpCode:                config.AmpCode{UpstreamAPIKey: "keep", RestrictManagementToLocalhost: false},
 		RemoteManagement:       config.RemoteManagement{DisableControlPanel: false, PanelGitHubRepository: "old/repo", SecretKey: "keep"},
 		SDKConfig: sdkconfig.SDKConfig{
-			RequestLog:         false,
-			ProxyURL:           "http://old-proxy",
-			APIKeys:            []string{"key-1"},
-			ForceModelPrefix:   false,
-			NonStreamKeepAlive: false,
+			RequestLog:                 false,
+			ProxyURL:                   "http://old-proxy",
+			APIKeys:                    []string{"key-1"},
+			ForceModelPrefix:           false,
+			NonStreamKeepAliveInterval: 0,
 		},
 	}
 	newCfg := &config.Config{
@@ -268,11 +268,11 @@ func TestBuildConfigChangeDetails_FlagsAndKeys(t *testing.T) {
 			SecretKey:             "",
 		},
 		SDKConfig: sdkconfig.SDKConfig{
-			RequestLog:         true,
-			ProxyURL:           "http://new-proxy",
-			APIKeys:            []string{" key-1 ", "key-2"},
-			ForceModelPrefix:   true,
-			NonStreamKeepAlive: true,
+			RequestLog:                 true,
+			ProxyURL:                   "http://new-proxy",
+			APIKeys:                    []string{" key-1 ", "key-2"},
+			ForceModelPrefix:           true,
+			NonStreamKeepAliveInterval: 5,
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ func TestBuildConfigChangeDetails_FlagsAndKeys(t *testing.T) {
 	expectContains(t, details, "proxy-url: http://old-proxy -> http://new-proxy")
 	expectContains(t, details, "ws-auth: false -> true")
 	expectContains(t, details, "force-model-prefix: false -> true")
-	expectContains(t, details, "nonstream-keepalive: false -> true")
+	expectContains(t, details, "nonstream-keepalive-interval: 0 -> 5")
 	expectContains(t, details, "quota-exceeded.switch-project: false -> true")
 	expectContains(t, details, "quota-exceeded.switch-preview-model: false -> true")
 	expectContains(t, details, "api-keys count: 1 -> 2")
diff --git a/sdk/api/handlers/handlers.go b/sdk/api/handlers/handlers.go
index 6239c20b..6160b9bd 100644
--- a/sdk/api/handlers/handlers.go
+++ b/sdk/api/handlers/handlers.go
@@ -49,7 +49,6 @@ const idempotencyKeyMetadataKey = "idempotency_key"
 const (
 	defaultStreamingKeepAliveSeconds = 0
 	defaultStreamingBootstrapRetries = 0
-	nonStreamingKeepAliveInterval    = 5 * time.Second
 )
 
 // BuildErrorResponseBody builds an OpenAI-compatible JSON error response body.
@@ -115,6 +114,19 @@ func StreamingKeepAliveInterval(cfg *config.SDKConfig) time.Duration {
 	return time.Duration(seconds) * time.Second
 }
 
+// NonStreamingKeepAliveInterval returns the keep-alive interval for non-streaming responses.
+// Returning 0 disables keep-alives (default when unset).
+func NonStreamingKeepAliveInterval(cfg *config.SDKConfig) time.Duration {
+	seconds := 0
+	if cfg != nil {
+		seconds = cfg.NonStreamKeepAliveInterval
+	}
+	if seconds <= 0 {
+		return 0
+	}
+	return time.Duration(seconds) * time.Second
+}
+
 // StreamingBootstrapRetries returns how many times a streaming request may be retried before any bytes are sent.
 func StreamingBootstrapRetries(cfg *config.SDKConfig) int {
 	retries := defaultStreamingBootstrapRetries
@@ -298,10 +310,11 @@ func (h *BaseAPIHandler) GetContextWithCancel(handler interfaces.APIHandler, c *
 // StartNonStreamingKeepAlive emits blank lines every 5 seconds while waiting for a non-streaming response.
 // It returns a stop function that must be called before writing the final response.
 func (h *BaseAPIHandler) StartNonStreamingKeepAlive(c *gin.Context, ctx context.Context) func() {
-	if h == nil || h.Cfg == nil || !h.Cfg.NonStreamKeepAlive {
+	if h == nil || c == nil {
 		return func() {}
 	}
-	if c == nil {
+	interval := NonStreamingKeepAliveInterval(h.Cfg)
+	if interval <= 0 {
 		return func() {}
 	}
 	flusher, ok := c.Writer.(http.Flusher)
@@ -318,7 +331,7 @@ func (h *BaseAPIHandler) StartNonStreamingKeepAlive(c *gin.Context, ctx context.
 	wg.Add(1)
 	go func() {
 		defer wg.Done()
-		ticker := time.NewTicker(nonStreamingKeepAliveInterval)
+		ticker := time.NewTicker(interval)
 		defer ticker.Stop()
 		for {
 			select {