diff --git a/config.template b/config.template
index efe9409..a9ef433 100644
--- a/config.template
+++ b/config.template
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ ollamaHostName = http://localhost:11434
 # Produce LLM replies to messages that aren't commands?
 # If False, the LLM only replies to the "ask:" and "askai" commands.
 llmReplyToNonCommands = True
+# if True, the input is sent raw to the LLM, if False uses legacy template query
+rawLLMQuery = True 
 
 # StoreForward Enabled and Limits
 StoreForward = True
diff --git a/modules/llm.py b/modules/llm.py
index cc9f034..d18e5ac 100644
--- a/modules/llm.py
+++ b/modules/llm.py
@@ -8,11 +8,13 @@ from modules.log import *
 # https://github.com/ollama/ollama/blob/main/docs/faq.md#how-do-i-configure-ollama-server
 import requests
 import json
-from googlesearch import search # pip install googlesearch-python
+
+if not rawLLMQuery:
+    # this may be removed in the future
+    from googlesearch import search # pip install googlesearch-python
 
 # LLM System Variables
 ollamaAPI = ollamaHostName + "/api/generate"
-rawQuery = True # if True, the input is sent raw to the LLM, if False, it is processed by the meshBotAI template
 tokens = 450 # max charcters for the LLM response, this is the max length of the response also in prompts
 requestTruncation = True # if True, the LLM "will" truncate the response 
 
@@ -80,7 +82,7 @@ def llm_query(input, nodeID=0, location_name=None):
 
     # if this is the first initialization of the LLM the query of " " should bring meshbotAIinit OTA shouldnt reach this?
     # This is for LLM like gemma and others now?
-    if input == " " and rawQuery:
+    if input == " " and rawLLMQuery:
         logger.warning("System: These LLM models lack a traditional system prompt, they can be verbose and not very helpful be advised.")
         input = meshbotAIinit
 
@@ -102,7 +104,7 @@ def llm_query(input, nodeID=0, location_name=None):
     else:
         antiFloodLLM.append(nodeID)
 
-    if llmContext_fromGoogle and not rawQuery:
+    if llmContext_fromGoogle and not rawLLMQuery:
         # grab some context from the internet using google search hits (if available)
         # localization details at https://pypi.org/project/googlesearch-python/
 
@@ -133,7 +135,7 @@ def llm_query(input, nodeID=0, location_name=None):
     location_name += f" at the current time of {datetime.now().strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %Z')}"
 
     try:
-        if rawQuery:
+        if rawLLMQuery:
             # sanitize the input to remove tool call syntax
             if '```' in input:
                 logger.warning("System: LLM Query: Code markdown detected, removing for raw query")
@@ -165,7 +167,7 @@ def llm_query(input, nodeID=0, location_name=None):
     # cleanup for message output
     response = result.strip().replace('\n', ' ')
     
-    if rawQuery and requestTruncation and len(response) > 450:
+    if rawLLMQuery and requestTruncation and len(response) > 450:
         #retryy loop to truncate the response
         logger.warning(f"System: LLM Query: Response exceeded {tokens} characters, requesting truncation")
         truncateQuery = {"model": llmModel, "prompt": truncatePrompt + response, "stream": False, "max_tokens": tokens}
diff --git a/modules/settings.py b/modules/settings.py
index 2c2948a..08ab3b7 100644
--- a/modules/settings.py
+++ b/modules/settings.py
@@ -219,8 +219,9 @@ try:
     solar_conditions_enabled = config['general'].getboolean('spaceWeather', True)
     wikipedia_enabled = config['general'].getboolean('wikipedia', False)
     llm_enabled = config['general'].getboolean('ollama', False) # https://ollama.com
-    llmModel = config['general'].get('ollamaModel', 'gemma3:270m') # default gemma3:270m
     ollamaHostName = config['general'].get('ollamaHostName', 'http://localhost:11434') # default localhost
+    llmModel = config['general'].get('ollamaModel', 'gemma3:270m') # default gemma3:270m
+    rawLLMQuery = config['general'].getboolean('rawLLMQuery', True) #default True
     llmReplyToNonCommands = config['general'].getboolean('llmReplyToNonCommands', True)
     dont_retry_disconnect = config['general'].getboolean('dont_retry_disconnect', False) # default False, retry on disconnect
     # emergency response