diff --git a/src-tauri/src/tagger.rs b/src-tauri/src/tagger.rs
index af1771e..9cac6a3 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/tagger.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/tagger.rs
@@ -466,7 +466,8 @@ pub fn probe_tagger_runtime(app_data_dir: &Path) -> Result<TaggerRuntimeProbe> {
     let status = tagger_model_status(app_data_dir);
     if !status.ready {
         anyhow::bail!(
-            "WD Tagger model is missing {} required file(s): {}",
+            "{} is missing {} required file(s): {}",
+            status.model_name,
             status.missing_files.len(),
             status.missing_files.join(", ")
         );
diff --git a/src/App.tsx b/src/App.tsx
index 61945f4..1986c0c 100644
--- a/src/App.tsx
+++ b/src/App.tsx
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ export default function App() {
   const loadBackgroundJobProgress = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadBackgroundJobProgress);
   const loadImages = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadImages);
   const loadCaptionModelStatus = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadCaptionModelStatus);
+  const loadTaggerModelStatus = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadTaggerModelStatus);
+  const loadTaggerModel = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadTaggerModel);
   const loadDuplicateScanCache = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadDuplicateScanCache);
   const loadAlbums = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadAlbums);
   const loadMutedFolderIds = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadMutedFolderIds);
@@ -53,6 +55,8 @@ export default function App() {
     loadFolders().then(async () => {
       void loadBackgroundJobProgress();
       void loadCaptionModelStatus();
+      void loadTaggerModel();
+      void loadTaggerModelStatus();
       void loadDuplicateScanCache();
       await loadAlbums();
       await loadImages(true);
diff --git a/src/components/Lightbox.tsx b/src/components/Lightbox.tsx
index bedb93f..22c4730 100644
--- a/src/components/Lightbox.tsx
+++ b/src/components/Lightbox.tsx
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ export function Lightbox() {
   const addUserTag = useGalleryStore((state) => state.addUserTag);
   const removeTag = useGalleryStore((state) => state.removeTag);
   const taggerModelStatus = useGalleryStore((state) => state.taggerModelStatus);
+  const loadTaggerModelStatus = useGalleryStore((state) => state.loadTaggerModelStatus);
   const queueTaggingForImage = useGalleryStore((state) => state.queueTaggingForImage);
   const albums = useGalleryStore((state) => state.albums);
   const addToAlbum = useGalleryStore((state) => state.addToAlbum);
@@ -254,6 +255,13 @@ export function Lightbox() {
   const canStartSlideshow = slideshowImages.length > 0;
   const canFindSimilar = selectedImage?.embedding_status === "ready";
   const canSearchRegion = canFindSimilar && selectedImage?.media_kind === "image";
+  const taggerReady = taggerModelStatus?.ready ?? false;
+  const taggerStatusKnown = taggerModelStatus !== null;
+  const taggerButtonTooltip = !taggerStatusKnown
+    ? "Checking AI tagger model..."
+    : taggerReady
+      ? "Queue AI tagging for this image"
+      : "AI tagger model not installed";
 
   const goPrev = useCallback(() => {
     if (currentIndex > 0) openImage(images[currentIndex - 1]);
@@ -421,6 +429,11 @@ export function Lightbox() {
     return () => { cancelled = true; };
   }, [selectedImage?.id, selectedImage?.media_kind, getImageExif]);
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (selectedImage?.media_kind !== "image" || taggerStatusKnown) return;
+    void loadTaggerModelStatus();
+  }, [loadTaggerModelStatus, selectedImage?.media_kind, taggerStatusKnown]);
+
   // Reset the queued state once the worker finishes so the button is usable again
   useEffect(() => {
     if (selectedImage?.ai_tagged_at) setTaggingQueued(false);
@@ -1156,10 +1169,10 @@ export function Lightbox() {
                           </span>
                         ) : null}
                         {selectedImage.media_kind === "image" ? (
-                          <Tooltip label={!(taggerModelStatus?.ready ?? false) ? "WD Tagger model not downloaded" : "Queue AI tagging for this image"} followCursor>
+                          <Tooltip label={taggerButtonTooltip} followCursor>
                           <button
                             className="rounded-md border border-white/10 bg-white/5 px-2 py-0.5 text-[10px] text-gray-400 transition-colors hover:bg-white/10 hover:text-white disabled:cursor-not-allowed disabled:opacity-40"
-                            disabled={!(taggerModelStatus?.ready ?? false) || taggingQueued}
+                            disabled={!taggerReady || taggingQueued}
                             onClick={() => {
                               setTaggingQueued(true);
                               void queueTaggingForImage(selectedImage.id).catch(() => undefined);
diff --git a/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx b/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx
index 60df8f1..f6ea576 100644
--- a/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx
+++ b/src/components/SettingsModal.tsx
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ export function SettingsModal() {
     : taggerModelProgress
       ? `Downloading ${taggerModelProgress.completed_files}/${taggerModelProgress.total_files}`
       : taggerModelPreparing
-        ? "Preparing WD Tagger..."
+        ? "Preparing AI tagger..."
         : taggerReady
           ? "Installed"
           : "Install model";
diff --git a/src/components/onboarding/StepAiFeatures.tsx b/src/components/onboarding/StepAiFeatures.tsx
index f6adaa5..049bf25 100644
--- a/src/components/onboarding/StepAiFeatures.tsx
+++ b/src/components/onboarding/StepAiFeatures.tsx
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ export function StepAiFeatures() {
             <div className="min-w-0">
               <p className="text-sm text-white">Automatic tags for every image</p>
               <p className="mt-1 text-xs leading-relaxed text-gray-500">
-                The WD tagger model (~1.3 GB download) labels images so you can search with{" "}
+                The AI tagger model labels images so you can search with{" "}
                 <code className="rounded bg-gray-900 px-1 py-0.5 text-[11px] text-gray-200 light-theme:bg-gray-800 light-theme:text-gray-100">/t</code> — tags look like:
               </p>
               <span className="mt-2 flex flex-wrap gap-1.5">
diff --git a/src/store.ts b/src/store.ts
index ea3b32e..9f0933b 100644
--- a/src/store.ts
+++ b/src/store.ts
@@ -3010,6 +3010,9 @@ export const useGalleryStore = create<GalleryState>((set, get) => ({
         taggerModelProgress: event.payload.done ? null : event.payload,
         taggerModelPreparing: !event.payload.done,
       });
+      if (event.payload.done) {
+        void get().loadTaggerModelStatus();
+      }
     });
 
     const unlistenImages = await listen<IndexedImagesBatch>("indexed-images", (event) => {