diff --git a/src/authorization.rs b/src/authorization.rs
index 3bbcb7d..0eb3ff1 100644
--- a/src/authorization.rs
+++ b/src/authorization.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use crate::matching::OnAbsentValue;
 use crate::matching::permissive_match;
 use crate::request_metadata::RequestMetadata;
 
@@ -22,12 +23,13 @@ impl Authorization {
             .map(|ua| ua.normalized.as_str());
 
         self.rules.iter().any(|rule| {
-            permissive_match(&rule.providers, Some(provider))
+            permissive_match(&rule.providers, Some(provider), OnAbsentValue::Check)
                 && permissive_match(
                     &rule.model_patterns,
                     request_metadata.inspected.model.as_deref(),
+                    OnAbsentValue::Allow,
                 )
-                && permissive_match(&rule.user_agents, user_agent)
+                && permissive_match(&rule.user_agents, user_agent, OnAbsentValue::Check)
         })
     }
 
@@ -103,7 +105,7 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(auth.is_allowed(&metadata("provider-a", Some("claude-sonnet-4-20250514"))));
         assert!(auth.is_allowed(&metadata("provider-a", Some("gpt-4o"))));
         assert!(!auth.is_allowed(&metadata("provider-a", Some("gpt-3.5-turbo"))));
-        assert!(!auth.is_allowed(&metadata("provider-a", None)));
+        assert!(auth.is_allowed(&metadata("provider-a", None)));
 
         // Wildcard provider with Some model
         assert!(auth.is_allowed(&metadata("provider-a-1", Some("claude-opus-4-20250514"))));
@@ -116,6 +118,23 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(!auth.is_allowed(&metadata("other", Some("claude-sonnet-4-20250514"))));
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_is_allowed_without_model_skips_model_patterns() {
+        let auth = Authorization {
+            rules: vec![rule(&["provider-a"], &["claude-*"])],
+        };
+
+        // A request that carries no model is not filtered on model.
+        assert!(auth.is_allowed(&metadata("provider-a", None)));
+
+        // A model that is present must still match.
+        assert!(auth.is_allowed(&metadata("provider-a", Some("claude-opus-5"))));
+        assert!(!auth.is_allowed(&metadata("provider-a", Some("gpt-4o"))));
+
+        // Other attributes still apply when no model is present.
+        assert!(!auth.is_allowed(&metadata("provider-b", None)));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_is_allowed_empty_list_allows_any() {
         // Empty models list means "all allowed"
diff --git a/src/capabilities.rs b/src/capabilities.rs
index c9148d1..fe6fd7e 100644
--- a/src/capabilities.rs
+++ b/src/capabilities.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+use crate::matching::OnAbsentValue;
 use crate::matching::permissive_match;
 use crate::model_rules::ModelRule;
 use serde::Deserialize;
@@ -43,8 +44,8 @@ impl Grant {
         provider_key: &str,
         user_agent: Option<&str>,
     ) -> bool {
-        permissive_match(&self.providers, Some(provider_key))
-            && permissive_match(&self.user_agents, user_agent)
+        permissive_match(&self.providers, Some(provider_key), OnAbsentValue::Check)
+            && permissive_match(&self.user_agents, user_agent, OnAbsentValue::Check)
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/matching.rs b/src/matching.rs
index ede5e26..dc3ecde 100644
--- a/src/matching.rs
+++ b/src/matching.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,22 @@
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq)]
+pub enum OnAbsentValue {
+    Allow,
+    Check,
+}
+
 /// Returns true if `value` matches any of `patterns`
 /// Empty pattern list is treated as a permissive match-all.
-pub fn permissive_match(patterns: &[glob::Pattern], value: Option<&str>) -> bool {
+pub fn permissive_match(
+    patterns: &[glob::Pattern],
+    value: Option<&str>,
+    on_absent_value: OnAbsentValue,
+) -> bool {
     patterns.is_empty()
         || match value {
-            None => patterns.iter().any(|p| p.matches("")),
+            None => match on_absent_value {
+                OnAbsentValue::Allow => true,
+                OnAbsentValue::Check => patterns.iter().any(|p| p.matches("")),
+            },
             Some(v) => patterns.iter().any(|p| p.matches(v)),
         }
 }
@@ -66,6 +79,36 @@ mod tests {
         most_specific_match(patterns, value, |p| p).map(|p| p.as_str())
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn absent_value_is_allowed_or_checked() {
+        let patterns = vec![pattern("claude-*")];
+
+        assert!(permissive_match(&patterns, None, OnAbsentValue::Allow));
+        assert!(!permissive_match(&patterns, None, OnAbsentValue::Check));
+
+        // A present value is unaffected by the argument.
+        assert!(permissive_match(
+            &patterns,
+            Some("claude-opus-5"),
+            OnAbsentValue::Check
+        ));
+        assert!(!permissive_match(
+            &patterns,
+            Some("gpt-4o"),
+            OnAbsentValue::Allow
+        ));
+        // An empty pattern list stays permissive either way.
+        assert!(permissive_match(&[], None, OnAbsentValue::Check));
+
+        // `Check` matches an absent value as the empty string, so a wildcard
+        // still accepts it.
+        assert!(permissive_match(
+            &[pattern("*")],
+            None,
+            OnAbsentValue::Check
+        ));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn wildcard_position_does_not_matter_when_matching_most_specific_pattern() {
         // For "claude-opus-4-8", literal counts: claude-* (7), *-opus-4-8 (9),