diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/_components/index.test.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/_components/index.test.tsx
index 7137da201d8..3224496b13a 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/_components/index.test.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/_components/index.test.tsx
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ describe("VectorStoreManagement loading state", () => {
 
   it("should resolve the loading state when accessToken is null instead of showing the skeleton forever", async () => {
     const user = userEvent.setup();
-    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken={null} userID={null} userRole={null} />);
+    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken={null} userID={null} userRole={null} isViewOnly={false} />);
     await openManageTab(user);
     expect(await screen.findByText("table-loaded")).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(mockVectorStoreListCall).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ describe("VectorStoreManagement loading state", () => {
         resolveFetch = resolve;
       }),
     );
-    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" />);
+    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" isViewOnly={false} />);
     await openManageTab(user);
     expect(screen.getByText("table-loading")).toBeInTheDocument();
 
@@ -69,6 +69,43 @@ describe("VectorStoreManagement loading state", () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe("VectorStoreManagement create flow visibility", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks();
+    mockVectorStoreListCall.mockResolvedValue({ data: [] });
+    mockCredentialListCall.mockResolvedValue({ credentials: [] });
+  });
+
+  it.each([
+    { label: "Internal User", userRole: "Internal User", isViewOnly: false },
+    { label: "Internal Viewer", userRole: "Internal Viewer", isViewOnly: true },
+    { label: "proxy_admin_viewer session (userRole Admin, isViewOnly)", userRole: "Admin", isViewOnly: true },
+    { label: "Org Admin", userRole: "Org Admin", isViewOnly: false },
+  ])(
+    "should hide the Create Vector Store tab and button and skip /credentials for $label",
+    async ({ userRole, isViewOnly }) => {
+      render(
+        <VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole={userRole} isViewOnly={isViewOnly} />,
+      );
+      await waitFor(() => expect(mockVectorStoreListCall).toHaveBeenCalledWith("sk-test"));
+      expect(screen.queryByRole("tab", { name: "Create Vector Store" })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Manage Vector Stores" })).toHaveAttribute("aria-selected", "true");
+      expect(await screen.findByText("table-loaded")).toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(screen.queryByRole("button", { name: "+ Add Vector Store" })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
+      expect(mockCredentialListCall).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    },
+  );
+
+  it("should keep the Create Vector Store tab and button and fetch /credentials for a proxy admin", async () => {
+    const user = userEvent.setup();
+    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" isViewOnly={false} />);
+    await waitFor(() => expect(mockCredentialListCall).toHaveBeenCalledWith("sk-test"));
+    expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Create Vector Store" })).toHaveAttribute("aria-selected", "true");
+    await openManageTab(user);
+    expect(screen.getByRole("button", { name: "+ Add Vector Store" })).toBeInTheDocument();
+  });
+});
+
 describe("VectorStoreManagement Indexes tab", () => {
   beforeEach(() => {
     vi.clearAllMocks();
@@ -88,7 +125,7 @@ describe("VectorStoreManagement Indexes tab", () => {
         },
       ],
     });
-    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" />);
+    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" isViewOnly={false} />);
     await user.click(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Indexes" }));
     expect(await screen.findByText("support-docs-index")).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(screen.getByText("support-docs-store")).toBeInTheDocument();
@@ -96,7 +133,7 @@ describe("VectorStoreManagement Indexes tab", () => {
   });
 
   it("should not render the Indexes tab for an Admin Viewer", async () => {
-    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin Viewer" />);
+    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin Viewer" isViewOnly={true} />);
     await waitFor(() => expect(mockVectorStoreListCall).toHaveBeenCalledWith("sk-test"));
     expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Manage Vector Stores" })).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(screen.queryByRole("tab", { name: "Indexes" })).not.toBeInTheDocument();
@@ -125,7 +162,7 @@ describe("VectorStoreManagement Indexes tab", () => {
         },
       ],
     });
-    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" />);
+    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" isViewOnly={false} />);
     await user.click(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Indexes" }));
     await user.click(await screen.findByRole("button", { name: "support-docs-store" }));
     expect(await screen.findByTestId("vector-store-info-view")).toHaveTextContent("vs-1");
@@ -135,7 +172,7 @@ describe("VectorStoreManagement Indexes tab", () => {
   it("should link to the feature docs and a GitHub issue for unsupported providers on the Indexes tab", async () => {
     const user = userEvent.setup();
     mockIndexesListCall.mockResolvedValue({ object: "list", data: [] });
-    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" />);
+    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" isViewOnly={false} />);
     await user.click(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Indexes" }));
     expect(screen.getByRole("link", { name: "vector store index docs" })).toHaveAttribute(
       "href",
@@ -149,7 +186,7 @@ describe("VectorStoreManagement Indexes tab", () => {
   });
 
   it("should not call indexesListCall until the Indexes tab is clicked", async () => {
-    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" />);
+    render(<VectorStoreManagement accessToken="sk-test" userID="user-1" userRole="Admin" isViewOnly={false} />);
     await waitFor(() => expect(mockVectorStoreListCall).toHaveBeenCalledWith("sk-test"));
     expect(screen.getByRole("tab", { name: "Indexes" })).toBeInTheDocument();
     expect(mockIndexesListCall).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/_components/index.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/_components/index.tsx
index 1745c710c51..285a96520bd 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/_components/index.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/_components/index.tsx
@@ -24,9 +24,10 @@ interface VectorStoreProps {
   accessToken: string | null;
   userID: string | null;
   userRole: string | null;
+  isViewOnly: boolean;
 }
 
-const VectorStoreManagement: React.FC<VectorStoreProps> = ({ accessToken, userID, userRole }) => {
+const VectorStoreManagement: React.FC<VectorStoreProps> = ({ accessToken, userID, userRole, isViewOnly }) => {
   const [vectorStores, setVectorStores] = useState<VectorStore[]>([]);
   const [isLoadingVectorStores, setIsLoadingVectorStores] = useState(true);
   const [isCreateModalVisible, setIsCreateModalVisible] = useState(false);
@@ -37,7 +38,9 @@ const VectorStoreManagement: React.FC<VectorStoreProps> = ({ accessToken, userID
   const [selectedVectorStoreId, setSelectedVectorStoreId] = useState<string | null>(null);
   const [editVectorStore, setEditVectorStore] = useState(false);
   const [isDeleting, setIsDeleting] = useState(false);
-  const { onTabChange, hasVisited } = useVisitedTabs("create");
+  const canCreateVectorStores = isProxyAdminRole(userRole || "") && !isViewOnly;
+  const defaultTab = canCreateVectorStores ? "create" : "manage";
+  const { onTabChange, hasVisited } = useVisitedTabs(defaultTab);
 
   const fetchVectorStores = async () => {
     if (!accessToken) {
@@ -56,7 +59,7 @@ const VectorStoreManagement: React.FC<VectorStoreProps> = ({ accessToken, userID
   };
 
   const fetchCredentials = async () => {
-    if (!accessToken) return;
+    if (!accessToken || !canCreateVectorStores) return;
     try {
       const response = await credentialListCall(accessToken);
       setCredentials(response.credentials || []);
@@ -153,11 +156,13 @@ const VectorStoreManagement: React.FC<VectorStoreProps> = ({ accessToken, userID
           You can use vector stores to store and retrieve LLM embeddings.
         </p>
 
-        <Tabs defaultValue="create" onValueChange={onTabChange}>
+        <Tabs defaultValue={defaultTab} onValueChange={onTabChange}>
           <TabsList variant="line" className="mb-6 h-auto w-full justify-start rounded-none p-0">
-            <TabsTrigger value="create" className="flex-none rounded-none px-4 py-2">
-              Create Vector Store
-            </TabsTrigger>
+            {canCreateVectorStores && (
+              <TabsTrigger value="create" className="flex-none rounded-none px-4 py-2">
+                Create Vector Store
+              </TabsTrigger>
+            )}
             <TabsTrigger value="manage" className="flex-none rounded-none px-4 py-2">
               Manage Vector Stores
             </TabsTrigger>
@@ -171,14 +176,18 @@ const VectorStoreManagement: React.FC<VectorStoreProps> = ({ accessToken, userID
             )}
           </TabsList>
 
-          <TabsContent keepMounted={hasVisited("create")} value="create">
-            <CreateVectorStore accessToken={accessToken} onSuccess={handleVectorStoreCreated} />
-          </TabsContent>
+          {canCreateVectorStores && (
+            <TabsContent keepMounted={hasVisited("create")} value="create">
+              <CreateVectorStore accessToken={accessToken} onSuccess={handleVectorStoreCreated} />
+            </TabsContent>
+          )}
 
           <TabsContent keepMounted={hasVisited("manage")} value="manage">
-            <Button className="mb-4" onClick={() => setIsCreateModalVisible(true)}>
-              + Add Vector Store
-            </Button>
+            {canCreateVectorStores && (
+              <Button className="mb-4" onClick={() => setIsCreateModalVisible(true)}>
+                + Add Vector Store
+              </Button>
+            )}
 
             <div className="grid grid-cols-1 gap-2 pt-2 pb-2 w-full mt-2">
               <VectorStoreTable
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/page.tsx b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/page.tsx
index 34759152d11..94fedb557a7 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/page.tsx
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/app/(dashboard)/vector-stores/page.tsx
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import VectorStoreManagement from "./_components";
 import useAuthorized from "@/app/(dashboard)/hooks/useAuthorized";
 
 export default function VectorStores() {
-  const { accessToken, userRole, userId } = useAuthorized();
-  return <VectorStoreManagement accessToken={accessToken} userRole={userRole} userID={userId} />;
+  const { accessToken, userRole, userId, isViewOnly } = useAuthorized();
+  return (
+    <VectorStoreManagement accessToken={accessToken} userRole={userRole} userID={userId} isViewOnly={isViewOnly} />
+  );
 }