diff --git a/default.nix b/default.nix
index ed421bf..672ab13 100644
--- a/default.nix
+++ b/default.nix
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 { mkDerivation, aeson, annotated-exception, async, base, bytestring
 , cereal, cereal-conduit, conduit, containers, directory, ekg-core
-, exceptions, filepath, hedgehog, hspec, hspec-hedgehog, http-types
-, katip, lens, lens-aeson, lib, network, process, retry, scotty
-, servant, servant-server, stm, text, time, unliftio
+, exceptions, filepath, hedgehog, hspec, hspec-hedgehog, http-media
+, http-types, katip, lens, lens-aeson, lib, network, process, retry
+, servant, servant-server, stm, temporary, text, time, unliftio
 , unordered-containers, uuid, wai, warp, websockets
 }:
 mkDerivation {
@@ -14,15 +14,15 @@ mkDerivation {
   libraryHaskellDepends = [
     aeson annotated-exception async base bytestring cereal
     cereal-conduit conduit containers directory ekg-core exceptions
-    filepath http-types katip lens lens-aeson network process retry
-    scotty servant servant-server stm text time unliftio
+    filepath http-media http-types katip lens lens-aeson network
+    process retry servant servant-server stm text time unliftio
     unordered-containers uuid wai warp websockets
   ];
   executableHaskellDepends = [ base ];
   testHaskellDepends = [
     aeson annotated-exception async base bytestring cereal containers
-    directory ekg-core hedgehog hspec hspec-hedgehog katip process stm
-    text time unordered-containers uuid
+    directory ekg-core hedgehog hspec hspec-hedgehog katip process
+    servant stm temporary text time unordered-containers uuid
   ];
   license = lib.meta.getLicenseFromSpdxId "BSD-3-Clause";
   mainProgram = "home-assistant-controller";
diff --git a/home-assistant-controller.cabal b/home-assistant-controller.cabal
index a655a1b..d0e333e 100644
--- a/home-assistant-controller.cabal
+++ b/home-assistant-controller.cabal
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ library
                     , HomeAssistant.Runtime
                     , HomeAssistant.Runtime.Bus
                     , HomeAssistant.Runtime.Connection
+                    , HomeAssistant.Runtime.Flags
                     , HomeAssistant.Runtime.Graphing
                     , HomeAssistant.Runtime.Metrics
                     , HomeAssistant.Runtime.Supervisor
@@ -161,6 +162,7 @@ test-suite home-assistant-controller-test
                     , BedroomSpec
                     , BusSpec
                     , ConnectionSpec
+                    , FlagsSpec
                     , GraphingSpec
                     , MetricsSpec
                     , RuntimeSpec
@@ -200,4 +202,5 @@ test-suite home-assistant-controller-test
         ekg-core,
         unordered-containers,
         process,
-        directory
+        directory,
+        temporary
diff --git a/src/HomeAssistant/Runtime/Flags.hs b/src/HomeAssistant/Runtime/Flags.hs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..876a3a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/HomeAssistant/Runtime/Flags.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
+
+module HomeAssistant.Runtime.Flags
+  ( Name
+  , Flags(..)
+  , loadFlags
+  , isEnabled
+  , setEnabled
+  , allFlags
+  , validNames
+  ) where
+
+import Control.Concurrent.MVar (MVar, newMVar, withMVar)
+import Control.Concurrent.STM (TVar, atomically, newTVarIO, readTVarIO, stateTVar)
+import Control.Exception (IOException, handle)
+import Control.Monad.IO.Class (MonadIO, liftIO)
+import qualified Conduit as C
+import Conduit ((.|))
+import Data.Aeson (decodeFileStrict', encode)
+import qualified Data.ByteString.Lazy as BL
+import Data.Map.Strict (Map)
+import qualified Data.Map.Strict as M
+import Data.Set (Set)
+import qualified Data.Set as S
+import Data.Text (Text)
+import System.FilePath ((</>))
+import System.IO.Error (isDoesNotExistError)
+
+type Name = Text
+
+data Flags = Flags
+  { flagsState     :: TVar (Map Name Bool)
+  , flagsLock      :: MVar ()
+  , flagsPath      :: FilePath
+  , flagsValidNames :: Set Text
+  }
+
+loadFlags :: MonadIO m => FilePath -> [Name] -> m Flags
+loadFlags rootPath allNames = liftIO $ do
+  let path = rootPath </> "handlers.json"
+  fileMap <- readFlagsFile path
+  let defaults = M.fromList [(n, True) | n <- allNames]
+      initial = M.unionWith (\fileVal _default -> fileVal) fileMap defaults
+  tv <- newTVarIO initial
+  lock <- newMVar ()
+  pure Flags
+    { flagsState = tv
+    , flagsLock = lock
+    , flagsPath = path
+    , flagsValidNames = S.fromList allNames
+    }
+
+readFlagsFile :: FilePath -> IO (Map Name Bool)
+readFlagsFile path =
+  handle onMissingOrUnreadable $ do
+    decoded <- decodeFileStrict' path
+    case decoded of
+      Nothing -> do
+        putStrLn ("handlers.json is unparseable; treating all handlers as enabled: " <> path)
+        pure mempty
+      Just m -> pure (maybe mempty id m)
+  where
+    onMissingOrUnreadable :: IOException -> IO (Map Name Bool)
+    onMissingOrUnreadable e
+      | isDoesNotExistError e = pure mempty
+      | otherwise = do
+          putStrLn ("could not read handlers.json (" <> show e <> "); treating all handlers as enabled")
+          pure mempty
+
+isEnabled :: MonadIO m => Flags -> Name -> m Bool
+isEnabled flags name = liftIO $
+  M.findWithDefault True name <$> readTVarIO (flagsState flags)
+
+allFlags :: MonadIO m => Flags -> m (Map Name Bool)
+allFlags flags = liftIO $ readTVarIO (flagsState flags)
+
+setEnabled :: MonadIO m => Flags -> Name -> Bool -> m ()
+setEnabled Flags{flagsState, flagsLock, flagsPath} name val =
+  liftIO $ withMVar flagsLock $ \_ -> do
+    m <- atomically $ stateTVar flagsState $ \cur ->
+      let next = M.insert name val cur in (next, next)
+    safeWrite flagsPath m
+
+validNames :: Flags -> Set Text
+validNames = flagsValidNames
+
+safeWrite :: FilePath -> Map Name Bool -> IO ()
+safeWrite path m = C.runResourceT $ C.runConduit $
+  C.yieldMany [BL.toStrict (encode m)] .| C.sinkFileCautious path
diff --git a/test/FlagsSpec.hs b/test/FlagsSpec.hs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..73fa0fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/FlagsSpec.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+{-# LANGUAGE OverloadedStrings #-}
+
+module FlagsSpec (spec) where
+
+import Control.Concurrent.Async (mapConcurrently_)
+import Control.Monad.IO.Class (liftIO)
+import Data.Aeson (decodeFileStrict)
+import Data.Map.Strict (Map)
+import qualified Data.Map.Strict as M
+import Data.Text (Text)
+import qualified Hedgehog.Gen as Gen
+import qualified Hedgehog.Range as Range
+import System.IO.Temp (withTempDirectory)
+import Test.Hspec
+import Test.Hspec.Hedgehog
+
+import HomeAssistant.Runtime.Flags
+
+spec :: Spec
+spec = describe "Flags" $ do
+  describe "loadFlags" $ do
+    it "defaults all names to True when the file is missing (opt-out)" $
+      withTempDirectory "/tmp" "flags-spec" $ \dir -> do
+        flags <- loadFlags dir ["a", "b"]
+        m <- allFlags flags
+        m `shouldBe` M.fromList [("a" :: Text, True), ("b", True)]
+
+    it "lets the file override the True default, missing keys stay True" $
+      withTempDirectory "/tmp" "flags-spec" $ \dir -> do
+        let path = dir <> "/handlers.json"
+        writeFile path "{\"b\": false}"
+        flags <- loadFlags dir ["a", "b"]
+        m <- allFlags flags
+        m `shouldBe` M.fromList [("a" :: Text, True), ("b" :: Text, False)]
+
+    it "treats a corrupt file as empty (all-enabled) without throwing" $
+      withTempDirectory "/tmp" "flags-spec" $ \dir -> do
+        let path = dir <> "/handlers.json"
+        writeFile path "not json at all"
+        flags <- loadFlags dir ["a"]
+        m <- allFlags flags
+        m `shouldBe` M.fromList [("a" :: Text, True)]
+
+  describe "isEnabled" $ do
+    it "returns the stored value" $
+      withTempDirectory "/tmp" "flags-spec" $ \dir -> do
+        let path = dir <> "/handlers.json"
+        writeFile path "{\"a\": false}"
+        flags <- loadFlags dir ["a"]
+        isEnabled flags "a" `shouldReturn` False
+
+    it "defaults unknown names to True" $
+      withTempDirectory "/tmp" "flags-spec" $ \dir -> do
+        flags <- loadFlags dir []
+        isEnabled flags "unknown" `shouldReturn` True
+
+  describe "setEnabled" $ do
+    it "updates the in-memory map and persists to disk" $
+      withTempDirectory "/tmp" "flags-spec" $ \dir -> do
+        flags <- loadFlags dir ["a"]
+        setEnabled flags "a" False
+        isEnabled flags "a" `shouldReturn` False
+        -- reload from disk to confirm persistence
+        flags' <- loadFlags dir ["a"]
+        isEnabled flags' "a" `shouldReturn` False
+
+    it "concurrent writes leave the file consistent with the TVar" $
+      hedgehog $ do
+        n <- forAll $ Gen.int (Range.linear 1 50)
+        liftIO $ withTempDirectory "/tmp" "flags-spec" $ \dir -> do
+          flags <- loadFlags dir ["x"]
+          mapConcurrently_ (\i -> setEnabled flags "x" (even i)) [1 .. n]
+          m <- allFlags flags
+          decoded <- decodeFileStrict (dir <> "/handlers.json")
+          (decoded :: Maybe (Map Text Bool)) `shouldBe` Just m
diff --git a/test/Main.hs b/test/Main.hs
index fdd0264..a783121 100644
--- a/test/Main.hs
+++ b/test/Main.hs
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import qualified AFRPSpec
 import qualified BedroomSpec
 import qualified BusSpec
 import qualified ConnectionSpec
+import qualified FlagsSpec
 import qualified GraphingSpec
 import qualified MetricsSpec
 import qualified RuntimeSpec
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ main = hspec $ do
   BedroomSpec.spec
   BusSpec.spec
   ConnectionSpec.spec
+  FlagsSpec.spec
   GraphingSpec.spec
   MetricsSpec.spec
   RuntimeSpec.spec