diff --git a/src/app/api/admin/ai-settings/__tests__/route.test.ts b/src/app/api/admin/ai-settings/__tests__/route.test.ts
index f776098b5..2a64f5d60 100644
--- a/src/app/api/admin/ai-settings/__tests__/route.test.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/admin/ai-settings/__tests__/route.test.ts
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ vi.mock("@/lib/db", () => ({
       upsert: vi.fn(),
     },
     user: { findMany: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue([]) },
+    providerHealth: { deleteMany: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ count: 0 }) },
+    insightStatusCache: {
+      updateMany: vi.fn().mockResolvedValue({ count: 0 }),
+    },
   },
 }));
 
@@ -217,6 +221,31 @@ describe("PUT /api/admin/ai-settings", () => {
       statusCode: 429,
     });
   });
+
+  // #1279 — background work leaves a provider the health ledger benched out
+  // of every account's chain. A fixed operator provider must not sit out a
+  // pause the broken one earned, so a saved change forgets what the ledger
+  // recorded for it on every account, and lets their notes try again.
+  it("forgets the operator provider's recorded failures on every account", async () => {
+    upsertEcho();
+    await PUT(jsonReq({ model: "gpt-4o-mini" }));
+    expect(prisma.providerHealth.deleteMany).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      where: { providerType: "admin-openai" },
+    });
+    expect(prisma.insightStatusCache.updateMany).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      where: {
+        OR: [{ retryAt: { not: null } }, { failureStreak: { gt: 0 } }],
+      },
+      data: { retryAt: null, negativeReason: null, failureStreak: 0 },
+    });
+  });
+
+  it("forgets nothing when the change is refused", async () => {
+    await expect(
+      PUT(jsonReq({ baseUrl: "https://attacker.example/v1" })),
+    ).rejects.toMatchObject({ statusCode: 422 });
+    expect(prisma.providerHealth.deleteMany).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
 });
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/app/api/admin/ai-settings/route.ts b/src/app/api/admin/ai-settings/route.ts
index aafbd9b7a..a413d0bb9 100644
--- a/src/app/api/admin/ai-settings/route.ts
+++ b/src/app/api/admin/ai-settings/route.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ import { encrypt, decrypt } from "@/lib/crypto";
 import { checkRateLimit } from "@/lib/rate-limit";
 import { annotate } from "@/lib/logging/context";
 import { legacyPrivateHostReport } from "@/lib/ai/legacy-private-host-report";
+import { forgetProviderHealth } from "@/lib/ai/provider-health-ledger";
+import { clearStatusNegativeWindows } from "@/lib/insights/status-negative-window";
 
 export const dynamic = "force-dynamic";
 
@@ -134,6 +136,16 @@ export const PUT = apiHandler(async (request: NextRequest) => {
     details: auditDetails,
   });
 
+  // #1279 — background work leaves out a provider the health ledger benched,
+  // on every account whose chain falls back on this one, and a status note
+  // waits out its negative window. A fixed operator provider must not sit out
+  // a pause the broken one earned, so what was recorded against it is
+  // forgotten on every account, as a person's own save does for theirs.
+  await Promise.all([
+    forgetProviderHealth({ providerType: "admin-openai" }),
+    clearStatusNegativeWindows(),
+  ]);
+
   const hasKey = Boolean(settings.adminAiKeyEncrypted);
 
   return apiSuccess({
diff --git a/src/lib/ai/provider-health-ledger.ts b/src/lib/ai/provider-health-ledger.ts
index 8368aadab..4ddafe397 100644
--- a/src/lib/ai/provider-health-ledger.ts
+++ b/src/lib/ai/provider-health-ledger.ts
@@ -64,12 +64,14 @@ export const HARD_FAILURE_SKIP_THRESHOLD = 3;
  * From `PROVIDER_PAUSE_THRESHOLD` consecutive hard failures on, each failure
  * re-arms the skip window at `PROVIDER_PAUSE_BASE_MS` doubled per further
  * failure, capped at `PROVIDER_PAUSE_MAX_MS`. Paused is the same skip as
- * backoff (the provider moves to the tail of the chain, behind everything
- * healthy, and is still walked as a last resort, so a chain never loses its
- * only provider). When the window lifts, the next call tries it again: one
- * success clears the count and resumes it in place, one more failure doubles
- * the pause. Nothing needs to be reset by hand. The admin provider-health card
- * shows a paused provider and until when.
+ * backoff: an interactive call moves the provider to the tail of the chain,
+ * behind everything healthy, and still walks it as a last resort, so a person
+ * never loses their only provider; background work leaves it out until the
+ * window lifts (#1279, `background-bench.ts`). When the window lifts, the next
+ * call tries it again: one success clears the count and resumes it in place,
+ * one more failure doubles the pause. Saving a fixed provider forgets its
+ * record (`forgetProviderHealth`). The admin provider-health card shows a
+ * paused provider and until when.
  *
  * Conservative on purpose: five failures in a row is far past a brown-out,
  * the first pause is half an hour, and the ceiling is a day, so a provider
@@ -283,12 +285,12 @@ export const postgresProviderHealthLedger: ProviderHealthLedger = {
  * Drop the recorded outcomes of a credential that has just been replaced.
  *
  * The ledger describes a credential, not a provider slot: once the person
- * (or, for `admin-codex`, the operator) signs in again, the `auth_failed`
- * row of the refused credential would otherwise keep the fresh one at the
- * tail of the chain and reported as expired for the rest of its cooldown.
- * Without `userId` the rows of every account are dropped — the operator's
- * central connection is one credential shared by all of them. Best effort,
- * like every ledger write.
+ * (or, for the `admin-*` providers, the operator) signs in again or saves a
+ * fixed setup, the row of the refused one would otherwise keep the fresh one
+ * at the tail of every interactive chain, out of background work entirely
+ * (#1279), and reported as expired for the rest of its window. Without
+ * `userId` the rows of every account are dropped: an operator provider is one
+ * credential shared by all of them. Best effort, like every ledger write.
  */
 export async function forgetProviderHealth(target: {
   providerType: ProviderChainType;
@@ -302,7 +304,8 @@ export async function forgetProviderHealth(target: {
       },
     });
   } catch {
-    // A stale row only deprioritises; it never blocks.
+    // A stale row lapses with its window; until then it keeps background
+    // work off the replaced credential (#1279).
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/insights/__tests__/status-negative-window.test.ts b/src/lib/insights/__tests__/status-negative-window.test.ts
index 56b253fc6..fbc8c9263 100644
--- a/src/lib/insights/__tests__/status-negative-window.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/insights/__tests__/status-negative-window.test.ts
@@ -209,4 +209,14 @@ describe("clearStatusNegativeWindows", () => {
     updateMany.mockRejectedValue(new Error("pool exhausted"));
     await expect(clearStatusNegativeWindows("u1")).resolves.toBeUndefined();
   });
+
+  it("closes them for every record when the operator's provider changed", async () => {
+    await clearStatusNegativeWindows();
+    expect(updateMany).toHaveBeenCalledWith({
+      where: {
+        OR: [{ retryAt: { not: null } }, { failureStreak: { gt: 0 } }],
+      },
+      data: { retryAt: null, negativeReason: null, failureStreak: 0 },
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/src/lib/insights/status-negative-window.ts b/src/lib/insights/status-negative-window.ts
index d6d740337..e748f89cd 100644
--- a/src/lib/insights/status-negative-window.ts
+++ b/src/lib/insights/status-negative-window.ts
@@ -136,15 +136,17 @@ export async function statusNoteCoolingDown(
 /**
  * Close every open window on one record's notes, streaks included: the person
  * asked for fresh notes (the regenerate action) or changed what answers them.
- * Best-effort: a failed write leaves windows that lapse on their own.
+ * Without `userId`, on every record's notes: the operator changed the
+ * provider every account may fall back on. Best-effort: a failed write leaves
+ * windows that lapse on their own.
  */
 export async function clearStatusNegativeWindows(
-  userId: string,
+  userId?: string,
 ): Promise<void> {
   try {
     await prisma.insightStatusCache.updateMany({
       where: {
-        userId,
+        ...(userId ? { userId } : {}),
         OR: [{ retryAt: { not: null } }, { failureStreak: { gt: 0 } }],
       },
       data: { retryAt: null, negativeReason: null, failureStreak: 0 },