diff --git a/apps/api-service/README.md b/apps/api-service/README.md
index f6a4183..3fd9404 100644
--- a/apps/api-service/README.md
+++ b/apps/api-service/README.md
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ bun run --filter api-service dev
 | `DB_HOST`, `DB_PORT`, `DB_USER`, `DB_NAME` | `DB_PORT` `5432`, others required | UNS indexer Postgres database, read only |
 | `DB_PASS` | none | its password, handled as a [secret](../../packages/service-kit/#secrets) |
 | `UNS_DOMAINS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS` | `30` | how long the domain list is served from memory |
+| `HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED` | `false` | `true` serves `POST /hardware`; any value other than `true` or `false` stops the service at startup |
 | `PORT`, `LOG_LEVEL` | | see [service-kit](../../packages/service-kit/#environment) |
 
 The Nomad jobs set `GEO_IP_SERVICE_URL` from Consul, as [operations](../../operations/#reaching-it-from-another-job) describes.
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ The Nomad jobs set `GEO_IP_SERVICE_URL` from Consul, as [operations](../../opera
 | `GET /relays?fingerprints=<a>,<b>` | the same for every known relay in the list; `400` without fingerprints |
 | `GET /relay-map/` | H3 cells holding relays: `index`, `relayCount`, `geo` (cell center) and `boundary` |
 | `GET /fingerprint-map/` | per relay fingerprint: `hexId`, `coordinates` (cell center), country, region, city and autonomous system |
-| `POST /hardware` | validates hardware relay info, which must include an `ATEC` entry in `serNums`, and stores it in Onionoo; `400` with the list of validation errors |
+| `POST /hardware` | only with `HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED=true`, otherwise the not found page: validates hardware relay info, which must include an `ATEC` entry in `serNums`, and stores it in Onionoo; `400` with the list of validation errors |
 | `GET /operators` | operator addresses; `?withDomains=true` adds the `.anyone` domains each one owns |
 | `GET /anyone-domains` | every `.anyone` domain with its token id and owner |
 | `GET /healthz` | service health, see [Health](#health) |
diff --git a/apps/api-service/src/app.test.ts b/apps/api-service/src/app.test.ts
index 306c26e..a198a5e 100644
--- a/apps/api-service/src/app.test.ts
+++ b/apps/api-service/src/app.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { GeoIpClient, type GeoLocation } from '@anyone-protocol/geo-ip-client';
 import { createLogger } from '@anyone-protocol/service-kit';
 import { afterEach, beforeEach, describe, expect, it } from 'bun:test';
 import { cellToBoundary } from 'h3-js';
-import { startServer } from './app';
+import { type ServerOptions, startServer } from './app';
 import { Onionoo, type Relay } from './onionoo';
 import { OperatorRegistry } from './operator-registry';
 import { StubGeoIpService, StubUpstreams } from './testing/stubs';
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ let server: ReturnType<typeof startServer>;
 let clock: number;
 let domainRows: () => Promise<UnsTokenRow[]>;
 
-function serve() {
+function serve(options: Partial<ServerOptions> = {}) {
   const logger = createLogger({ service: 'api-service', write: () => {} });
   server = startServer({
     port: 0,
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ function serve() {
     operatorRegistry: new OperatorRegistry({ nodeUrl: upstreams.url, processId: PROCESS_ID, cacheTtlMs: 0, logger, read: { retryDelayMs: 1 } }),
     unsDomains: new UnsDomains({ rows: () => domainRows(), cacheTtlMs: 0, logger }),
     logger,
+    ...options,
   });
   return server;
 }
@@ -299,7 +300,22 @@ describe('when geo-ip-service is down', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('POST /hardware when the endpoint is off', () => {
+  it('answers 404 by default and does not call Onionoo', async () => {
+    const response = await post('/hardware', JSON.stringify({ fingerprint: 'A'.repeat(40) }));
+
+    expect(response.status).toBe(404);
+    expect(await response.text()).toContain('Cannot POST /hardware');
+    expect(upstreams.requests).toHaveLength(0);
+  });
+});
+
 describe('POST /hardware', () => {
+  beforeEach(async () => {
+    await server.stop(true);
+    serve({ hardwareEnabled: true });
+  });
+
   const hardwareInfo = {
     id: 'id',
     company: 'company',
diff --git a/apps/api-service/src/app.ts b/apps/api-service/src/app.ts
index 3eb413a..3bcaea6 100644
--- a/apps/api-service/src/app.ts
+++ b/apps/api-service/src/app.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ export interface ServerOptions {
   operatorRegistry: OperatorRegistry;
   unsDomains: UnsDomains;
   logger: Logger;
+  hardwareEnabled?: boolean;
 }
 
 type Handler = (request: BunRequest) => Response | Promise<Response>;
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ function withTrailingSlashes(routes: Routes): Routes {
   return Object.fromEntries(Object.entries(routes).flatMap(([path, methods]) => [[path, methods], [`${path}/`, methods]]));
 }
 
-export function startServer({ port, onionoo, relayMetrics, geo, hexagonResolution, operatorRegistry, unsDomains, logger }: ServerOptions) {
+export function startServer({ port, onionoo, relayMetrics, geo, hexagonResolution, operatorRegistry, unsDomains, logger, hardwareEnabled = false }: ServerOptions) {
   const health = createHealthReporter('api-service', { checks: { geoIp: () => geoIpCheck(geo) } });
 
   const answer =
@@ -107,17 +108,21 @@ export function startServer({ port, onionoo, relayMetrics, geo, hexagonResolutio
       }),
     },
 
-    '/hardware': {
-      POST: answer('Error posting hardware info', async (request) => {
-        const body = await readJsonBody(request);
-        if (body instanceof Response) return body;
+    ...(hardwareEnabled
+      ? {
+          '/hardware': {
+            POST: answer('Error posting hardware info', async (request) => {
+              const body = await readJsonBody(request);
+              if (body instanceof Response) return body;
 
-        const errors = validateHardwareInfo(body);
-        if (errors.length > 0) return json(request, { errors }, 400);
+              const errors = validateHardwareInfo(body);
+              if (errors.length > 0) return json(request, { errors }, 400);
 
-        return relayedText(request, await onionoo.updateHardwareInfo(body as HardwareInfo));
-      }),
-    },
+              return relayedText(request, await onionoo.updateHardwareInfo(body as HardwareInfo));
+            }),
+          },
+        }
+      : {}),
 
     '/operators': {
       GET: answer('Error querying operators', async (request) => {
diff --git a/apps/api-service/src/config.test.ts b/apps/api-service/src/config.test.ts
index 7d2b852..54b0cc7 100644
--- a/apps/api-service/src/config.test.ts
+++ b/apps/api-service/src/config.test.ts
@@ -30,9 +30,18 @@ describe('loadConfig', () => {
       OPERATOR_REGISTRY_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS: 0,
       DB_PORT: 5432,
       UNS_DOMAINS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS: 30,
+      HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED: 'false',
     });
   });
 
+  it('turns the hardware endpoint on only for true', () => {
+    expect(loadConfig({ ...REQUIRED, HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED: 'true' }).HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED).toBe('true');
+  });
+
+  it.each(['yes', '1', 'TRUE', 'on'])('refuses HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED=%s', (value) => {
+    expect(() => loadConfig({ ...REQUIRED, HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED: value })).toThrow('HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED must be one of true, false');
+  });
+
   it.each(['HB_URL', 'OPERATOR_REGISTRY_PROCESS_ID', 'ONIONOO_INSTANCE', 'VICTORIA_METRICS_ADDRESS', 'GEO_IP_SERVICE_URL', 'DB_HOST'])('fails closed without %s', (name) => {
     expect(() => loadConfig({ ...REQUIRED, [name]: undefined })).toThrow(`${name} is required`);
   });
diff --git a/apps/api-service/src/config.ts b/apps/api-service/src/config.ts
index 7ff0381..92748fd 100644
--- a/apps/api-service/src/config.ts
+++ b/apps/api-service/src/config.ts
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ export const apiServiceEnv = {
   DB_PASS: env.secret(env.string({ optional: true })),
   DB_NAME: env.string(),
   UNS_DOMAINS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS: env.integer({ default: 30 }),
+  HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED: env.oneOf(['true', 'false'], { default: 'false' }),
 };
 
 export type ApiServiceConfig = ReturnType<typeof loadConfig>;
diff --git a/apps/api-service/src/main.ts b/apps/api-service/src/main.ts
index fb97c0c..769dfc5 100644
--- a/apps/api-service/src/main.ts
+++ b/apps/api-service/src/main.ts
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ const server = startServer({
   }),
   unsDomains: new UnsDomains({ rows: unsTokenRows(database), cacheTtlMs: config.UNS_DOMAINS_CACHE_TTL_SECONDS * SECOND_MS, logger }),
   logger,
+  hardwareEnabled: config.HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED === 'true',
 });
 
 logger.info('Listening', {
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ logger.info('Listening', {
   onionoo: config.ONIONOO_INSTANCE,
   operatorRegistryProcessId: config.OPERATOR_REGISTRY_PROCESS_ID,
   geoIpService: config.GEO_IP_SERVICE_URL,
+  hardwareEndpointEnabled: config.HARDWARE_ENDPOINT_ENABLED === 'true',
 });
 
 handleShutdownSignals(