diff --git a/image/app/download.py b/image/app/download.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b861561
--- /dev/null
+++ b/image/app/download.py
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+"""Drive `./hf-download.sh <repo>` on Spark 1 via SSH and stream progress.
+
+Parses `huggingface-hub` tqdm-style progress lines like:
+
+    Downloading (incomplete total...):   8%|▏  | 2.06G/25.1G [03:20<18:35, 20.6MB/s]
+
+into a structured percent + bytes done / total + ETA payload that the
+front-end can render as a clean progress bar.
+"""
+from __future__ import annotations
+import asyncio
+import re
+import uuid
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
+from typing import Literal, Optional
+
+from .config import Settings
+from .ssh import ssh_stream, StreamHandle
+
+
+Mode = Literal["solo", "cluster"]
+
+
+_TQDM_RE = re.compile(
+    r"(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*%\s*\|.*?\|\s*"
+    r"([\d.]+[KMG]?B?)\s*/\s*([\d.]+[KMG]?B?)\s*"
+    r"\[(\d+:\d+:?\d*)\s*<\s*(\d+:\d+:?\d*),?\s*"
+    r"([\d.]+\s*\w+/s)?",
+    re.IGNORECASE,
+)
+
+# huggingface_hub also emits "Fetching N files: pct%|..."
+_FETCHING_RE = re.compile(
+    r"Fetching\s+(\d+)\s+files:\s+(\d+(?:\.\d+)?)\s*%",
+    re.IGNORECASE,
+)
+
+
+@dataclass
+class DownloadProgress:
+    percent: float = 0.0
+    downloaded: str = ""
+    total: str = ""
+    elapsed: str = ""
+    eta: str = ""
+    rate: str = ""
+    phase: str = "Starting…"
+
+
+@dataclass
+class DownloadJob:
+    id: str
+    repo: str
+    mode: Mode
+    started_at: str
+    state: str = "starting"   # starting | downloading | copying | done | failed
+    lines: list[str] = field(default_factory=list)
+    progress: DownloadProgress = field(default_factory=DownloadProgress)
+    returncode: Optional[int] = None
+    finished_at: Optional[str] = None
+
+    def append(self, line: str) -> None:
+        self.lines.append(line)
+        if len(self.lines) > 800:
+            del self.lines[: len(self.lines) - 800]
+
+
+class DownloadManager:
+    def __init__(self, settings: Settings) -> None:
+        self.settings = settings
+        self.lock = asyncio.Lock()
+        self.jobs: dict[str, DownloadJob] = {}
+        self.current_job_id: Optional[str] = None
+
+    def get(self, job_id: str) -> DownloadJob | None:
+        return self.jobs.get(job_id)
+
+    async def trigger(self, repo: str, mode: Mode) -> DownloadJob:
+        if not repo or "/" not in repo:
+            raise ValueError("repo must be in 'org/name' form")
+        if self.lock.locked():
+            raise RuntimeError("A download is already in progress")
+        job = DownloadJob(
+            id=uuid.uuid4().hex[:8],
+            repo=repo,
+            mode=mode,
+            started_at=datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),
+        )
+        self.jobs[job.id] = job
+        self.current_job_id = job.id
+        asyncio.create_task(self._run(job))
+        return job
+
+    async def _run(self, job: DownloadJob) -> None:
+        async with self.lock:
+            try:
+                await self._do(job)
+                if job.state != "failed":
+                    job.state = "done"
+                    job.returncode = 0
+                    job.progress.percent = 100.0
+                    job.progress.phase = "Done"
+            except Exception as e:
+                job.append(f"[error] {type(e).__name__}: {e}")
+                job.state = "failed"
+                if job.returncode is None:
+                    job.returncode = 1
+            finally:
+                job.finished_at = datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
+                if self.current_job_id == job.id:
+                    self.current_job_id = None
+
+    async def _do(self, job: DownloadJob) -> None:
+        s = self.settings
+        if not s.spark1_host or not s.spark1_user:
+            raise RuntimeError("spark1 not configured")
+
+        flags = "-c --copy-parallel" if job.mode == "cluster" else ""
+        cmd = f"cd ~/spark-vllm-docker && ./hf-download.sh {job.repo} {flags}".strip()
+        job.append(f"$ {cmd}")
+        job.state = "downloading"
+        job.progress.phase = "Connecting to Hugging Face…"
+
+        handle = StreamHandle()
+        async for line in ssh_stream(s.spark1_host, s.spark1_user, cmd, s, handle=handle):
+            job.append(line)
+            self._update_progress(job, line)
+
+        rc = handle.returncode or 0
+        if rc != 0:
+            job.state = "failed"
+            job.returncode = rc
+
+    def _update_progress(self, job: DownloadJob, line: str) -> None:
+        p = job.progress
+        # Phase transitions from log content
+        if "Copying model" in line or "Parallel copy enabled" in line:
+            job.state = "copying"
+            p.phase = "Copying to peer Sparks…"
+        elif "Download completed" in line:
+            p.phase = "Download complete, finalizing…"
+        elif "Copy complete" in line:
+            p.phase = "Copy complete"
+        elif "Still waiting to acquire lock" in line:
+            p.phase = "Waiting for lock (another download in progress)…"
+
+        # Check the "Fetching N files" pattern first (it could match TQDM_RE otherwise).
+        m2 = _FETCHING_RE.search(line)
+        if m2:
+            p.percent = float(m2.group(2))
+            p.phase = f"Fetching {m2.group(1)} files"
+            return
+
+        m = _TQDM_RE.search(line)
+        if m:
+            p.percent = float(m.group(1))
+            p.downloaded = m.group(2)
+            p.total = m.group(3)
+            p.elapsed = m.group(4)
+            p.eta = m.group(5)
+            p.rate = m.group(6) or p.rate
+            if job.state != "copying":
+                p.phase = "Downloading"
+            return
diff --git a/image/app/server.py b/image/app/server.py
index e838e13..ef73b30 100644
--- a/image/app/server.py
+++ b/image/app/server.py
@@ -7,8 +7,10 @@ from fastapi import FastAPI, HTTPException
 from fastapi.responses import FileResponse, JSONResponse, StreamingResponse
 from fastapi.staticfiles import StaticFiles
 from pydantic import BaseModel
+from typing import Literal
 
 from .config import Settings
+from .download import DownloadManager
 from .health import check_magpie, check_parakeet, check_vllm
 from .models import load_catalog
 from .services import docker_state, run_action, services_from_settings
@@ -19,6 +21,7 @@ from .swap import SwapManager
 settings = Settings.from_env()
 catalog = load_catalog(settings.models_yaml)
 swap_manager = SwapManager(settings, catalog)
+download_manager = DownloadManager(settings)
 
 app = FastAPI(title="spark-control", version="0.1.0")
 
@@ -228,6 +231,82 @@ async def stream_swap(job_id: str):
     return StreamingResponse(gen(), media_type="text/event-stream")
 
 
+class DownloadRequest(BaseModel):
+    repo: str
+    mode: Literal["solo", "cluster"] = "solo"
+
+
+@app.post("/api/download")
+async def post_download(req: DownloadRequest) -> dict:
+    if not settings.configured:
+        raise HTTPException(503, "spark1 not configured")
+    try:
+        job = await download_manager.trigger(req.repo, req.mode)
+    except ValueError as e:
+        raise HTTPException(400, str(e))
+    except RuntimeError as e:
+        raise HTTPException(409, str(e))
+    return {"job_id": job.id, "repo": job.repo, "mode": job.mode, "state": job.state}
+
+
+@app.get("/api/download/{job_id}")
+async def get_download(job_id: str) -> dict:
+    job = download_manager.get(job_id)
+    if job is None:
+        raise HTTPException(404, "no such job")
+    return _serialize_download(job)
+
+
+def _serialize_download(job) -> dict:
+    return {
+        "id": job.id,
+        "repo": job.repo,
+        "mode": job.mode,
+        "state": job.state,
+        "started_at": job.started_at,
+        "finished_at": job.finished_at,
+        "returncode": job.returncode,
+        "progress": {
+            "percent": job.progress.percent,
+            "downloaded": job.progress.downloaded,
+            "total": job.progress.total,
+            "elapsed": job.progress.elapsed,
+            "eta": job.progress.eta,
+            "rate": job.progress.rate,
+            "phase": job.progress.phase,
+        },
+        "lines": job.lines,
+    }
+
+
+@app.get("/api/download/{job_id}/stream")
+async def stream_download(job_id: str):
+    job = download_manager.get(job_id)
+    if job is None:
+        raise HTTPException(404, "no such job")
+
+    async def gen():
+        sent = 0
+        last_progress = None
+        while True:
+            n = len(job.lines)
+            if n > sent:
+                for line in job.lines[sent:n]:
+                    yield f"data: {json.dumps({'line': line})}\n\n"
+                sent = n
+            # progress is small; emit on change
+            prog = (job.progress.percent, job.progress.phase, job.progress.downloaded, job.progress.eta, job.progress.rate)
+            if prog != last_progress:
+                yield f"event: progress\ndata: {json.dumps({'state': job.state, **_serialize_download(job)['progress']})}\n\n"
+                last_progress = prog
+            if job.returncode is not None and sent >= len(job.lines):
+                yield f"event: done\ndata: {json.dumps({'state': job.state, 'returncode': job.returncode, 'finished_at': job.finished_at})}\n\n"
+                return
+            await asyncio.sleep(0.5)
+
+    return StreamingResponse(gen(), media_type="text/event-stream")
+
+
 @app.post("/api/test-connection")
 async def test_connection() -> dict:
     """Probe both Sparks with a `hostname` command. Useful for the StartOS setup flow."""
diff --git a/image/app/static/app.js b/image/app/static/app.js
index bc44c01..8efc98f 100644
--- a/image/app/static/app.js
+++ b/image/app/static/app.js
@@ -496,8 +496,145 @@ function appendLog(line) {
   log.scrollTop = log.scrollHeight;
 }
 
+// ===================== model downloads =====================
+
+const dlState = {
+  job_id: null,
+  eventsource: null,
+  started_at: null,
+  timer_handle: null,
+};
+
+function openDownloadForm() {
+  el('#download-panel').classList.remove('hidden');
+  el('#download-form').classList.remove('hidden');
+  el('#download-progress').classList.add('hidden');
+  el('#dl-repo').focus();
+}
+
+function closeDownloadPanel() {
+  el('#download-panel').classList.add('hidden');
+  el('#download-form').classList.remove('hidden');
+  el('#download-progress').classList.add('hidden');
+  el('#dl-repo').value = '';
+}
+
+function dlTimerStart(startedAt) {
+  dlState.started_at = startedAt;
+  if (dlState.timer_handle) clearInterval(dlState.timer_handle);
+  const tick = () => {
+    if (!dlState.started_at) return;
+    const sec = Math.max(0, Math.floor((Date.now() - dlState.started_at) / 1000));
+    const m = Math.floor(sec / 60);
+    const s = sec % 60;
+    el('#dl-elapsed').textContent = `${m}:${s.toString().padStart(2, '0')}`;
+  };
+  tick();
+  dlState.timer_handle = setInterval(tick, 500);
+}
+
+function dlTimerStop() {
+  if (dlState.timer_handle) { clearInterval(dlState.timer_handle); dlState.timer_handle = null; }
+}
+
+async function startDownload() {
+  const repo = el('#dl-repo').value.trim();
+  const mode = document.querySelector('input[name="dl-mode"]:checked').value;
+  if (!repo || !repo.includes('/')) {
+    alert('Enter a HuggingFace repo in the form "org/name", e.g. RedHatAI/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4');
+    return;
+  }
+  try {
+    const r = await fetchJSON('/api/download', {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ repo, mode }),
+    });
+    attachToDownload(r.job_id);
+  } catch (e) {
+    alert('Failed to start download: ' + e.message);
+  }
+}
+
+function renderDownloadProgress(p) {
+  el('#dl-phase').textContent = p.phase || 'Working…';
+  const statsParts = [];
+  if (p.downloaded && p.total) statsParts.push(`${p.downloaded} / ${p.total}`);
+  if (p.rate) statsParts.push(p.rate);
+  if (p.eta) statsParts.push(`ETA ${p.eta}`);
+  el('#dl-stats').textContent = statsParts.join('  ·  ');
+  const pct = Math.max(2, Math.min(100, p.percent || 2));
+  el('#dl-progress-fill').style.width = `${pct}%`;
+  el('#dl-phase-detail').textContent = p.percent > 0 ? `${p.percent.toFixed(1)}%` : '';
+}
+
+function dlAppendLog(line) {
+  const log = el('#dl-log');
+  log.textContent += line + '\n';
+  log.scrollTop = log.scrollHeight;
+}
+
+async function attachToDownload(jobId) {
+  if (dlState.eventsource) { dlState.eventsource.close(); dlState.eventsource = null; }
+  dlState.job_id = jobId;
+  el('#download-form').classList.add('hidden');
+  el('#download-progress').classList.remove('hidden');
+  el('#dl-log').textContent = '';
+  el('#dl-title').textContent = 'Downloading…';
+
+  try {
+    const snap = await fetchJSON(`/api/download/${jobId}`);
+    dlTimerStart(Date.parse(snap.started_at));
+    for (const line of snap.lines || []) dlAppendLog(line);
+    renderDownloadProgress(snap.progress);
+    if (snap.returncode !== null && snap.returncode !== undefined) {
+      handleDownloadDone(snap);
+      return;
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.warn('download backfill failed', e);
+    dlTimerStart(Date.now());
+  }
+
+  const es = new EventSource(`/api/download/${jobId}/stream`);
+  dlState.eventsource = es;
+  es.onmessage = (ev) => {
+    try {
+      const d = JSON.parse(ev.data);
+      if (d.line !== undefined) dlAppendLog(d.line);
+    } catch {}
+  };
+  es.addEventListener('progress', (ev) => {
+    try { renderDownloadProgress(JSON.parse(ev.data)); } catch {}
+  });
+  es.addEventListener('done', (ev) => {
+    let d = {};
+    try { d = JSON.parse(ev.data); } catch {}
+    handleDownloadDone(d);
+  });
+  es.onerror = () => { es.close(); dlState.eventsource = null; };
+}
+
+function handleDownloadDone(d) {
+  if (dlState.eventsource) { dlState.eventsource.close(); dlState.eventsource = null; }
+  dlTimerStop();
+  if (d.state === 'failed') {
+    el('#dl-title').textContent = `Failed (rc=${d.returncode})`;
+    el('#dl-phase').textContent = 'Failed';
+  } else {
+    el('#dl-title').textContent = 'Done';
+    el('#dl-phase').textContent = 'Done ✓ — you can now add this model to the catalog and swap to it.';
+    el('#dl-progress-fill').style.width = '100%';
+  }
+  dlState.job_id = null;
+}
+
 async function init() {
   setupCopyButtons();
+  el('#open-download').addEventListener('click', openDownloadForm);
+  el('#dl-cancel').addEventListener('click', closeDownloadPanel);
+  el('#dl-start').addEventListener('click', startDownload);
+  el('#dl-repo').addEventListener('keydown', (e) => { if (e.key === 'Enter') startDownload(); });
   await loadModels();
   await pollStatus();
   await renderServices();
diff --git a/image/app/static/index.html b/image/app/static/index.html
index 7fa3ba4..4f5dc18 100644
--- a/image/app/static/index.html
+++ b/image/app/static/index.html
@@ -69,7 +69,50 @@
     </section>
 
     <section id="models-section">
-      <h2 class="section-title">LLM swap</h2>
+      <div class="section-header">
+        <h2 class="section-title">LLM swap</h2>
+        <button id="open-download" class="btn small-btn">+ Download a new model</button>
+      </div>
+
+      <section id="download-panel" class="download-panel hidden">
+        <div class="download-form" id="download-form">
+          <label class="dl-row">
+            <span class="dl-label">HuggingFace repo</span>
+            <input type="text" id="dl-repo" placeholder="e.g. RedHatAI/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4" autocomplete="off">
+          </label>
+          <div class="dl-row">
+            <span class="dl-label">Where</span>
+            <label class="radio"><input type="radio" name="dl-mode" value="solo" checked> Spark 1 only (solo)</label>
+            <label class="radio"><input type="radio" name="dl-mode" value="cluster"> Both Sparks (cluster, copy in parallel)</label>
+          </div>
+          <div class="dl-actions">
+            <button id="dl-cancel" class="btn">Cancel</button>
+            <button id="dl-start" class="btn primary">Start download</button>
+          </div>
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="download-progress hidden" id="download-progress">
+          <div class="dl-header">
+            <span class="spinner"></span>
+            <span id="dl-title">Downloading…</span>
+            <span class="spacer"></span>
+            <span class="timer" id="dl-elapsed">0:00</span>
+          </div>
+          <div class="phase-row">
+            <div class="phase" id="dl-phase">Connecting…</div>
+            <div class="phase-detail muted small" id="dl-phase-detail"></div>
+          </div>
+          <div class="phase-track">
+            <div class="phase-fill" id="dl-progress-fill"></div>
+          </div>
+          <div class="dl-stats muted small" id="dl-stats"></div>
+          <details id="dl-log-details">
+            <summary class="muted small">Show technical logs</summary>
+            <pre id="dl-log" class="log"></pre>
+          </details>
+        </div>
+      </section>
+
       <section id="cards" class="cards"></section>
     </section>
 
diff --git a/image/app/static/style.css b/image/app/static/style.css
index dcecde4..9751856 100644
--- a/image/app/static/style.css
+++ b/image/app/static/style.css
@@ -217,6 +217,70 @@ main {
   word-break: break-word;
 }
 
+/* ===== Section header (title + action button) ===== */
+
+.section-header {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 12px;
+  margin: 24px 0 12px;
+}
+.section-header .section-title { margin: 0; }
+.section-header .spacer { flex: 1; }
+.section-header .small-btn,
+.btn.small-btn {
+  margin-left: auto;
+  padding: 5px 12px;
+  font-size: 12px;
+}
+
+/* ===== Download panel ===== */
+
+.download-panel {
+  background: var(--surface);
+  border: 1px solid var(--info);
+  border-radius: var(--radius);
+  padding: 14px 16px;
+  margin-bottom: 16px;
+}
+.download-form .dl-row {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 12px;
+  padding: 6px 0;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+}
+.dl-label {
+  color: var(--muted);
+  font-size: 12px;
+  min-width: 110px;
+  flex-shrink: 0;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+  letter-spacing: 0.05em;
+}
+.dl-row input[type='text'] {
+  flex: 1;
+  background: var(--surface-2);
+  border: 1px solid var(--border);
+  color: var(--text);
+  padding: 7px 10px;
+  border-radius: 6px;
+  font: 13px ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, "SF Mono", Menlo, monospace;
+  min-width: 200px;
+}
+.dl-row input[type='text']:focus { outline: 1px solid var(--info); border-color: var(--info); }
+.radio { display: inline-flex; align-items: center; gap: 6px; font-size: 13px; color: var(--text); cursor: pointer; }
+.radio input { accent-color: var(--accent); }
+.dl-actions { display: flex; gap: 8px; justify-content: flex-end; margin-top: 10px; }
+.dl-stats {
+  margin-top: 8px;
+  font-family: ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, "SF Mono", Menlo, monospace;
+}
+.dl-header { display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 12px; }
+.dl-header #dl-title { font-weight: 600; color: var(--info); }
+#dl-log-details { margin-top: 12px; }
+#dl-log-details summary { cursor: pointer; padding: 4px 0; }
+
 /* ===== Section titles ===== */
 
 .section-title {
diff --git a/package/startos/versions/v0_1_0.ts b/package/startos/versions/v0_1_0.ts
index b1bbe22..edeb142 100644
--- a/package/startos/versions/v0_1_0.ts
+++ b/package/startos/versions/v0_1_0.ts
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 import { VersionInfo, IMPOSSIBLE } from '@start9labs/start-sdk'
 
 export const v0_1_0 = VersionInfo.of({
-  version: '0.2.0:0',
+  version: '0.2.1:0',
   releaseNotes: {
     en_US:
-      'Always-on services panel: dashboard now has cards for Parakeet and Magpie with Start/Stop/Restart buttons and live container state (uptime, restart count). Configure Sparks adds optional per-service host/container fields so Parakeet or Magpie can live on Spark 1 (or anywhere) instead of being hard-wired to Spark 2.',
+      'Model download from the dashboard. Click "+ Download a new model", paste a Hugging Face repo (e.g. RedHatAI/...), choose solo or cluster, and watch %% progress with bytes, rate, and ETA. Drives ./hf-download.sh on Spark 1 over SSH and parses the tqdm output.',
   },
   migrations: {
     up: async ({ effects }) => {},