Improve dev startup: model download script, loading state in health check, faster polling

Agent-Logs-Url: https://github.com/JezzWTF/vibepod/sessions/3c05c740-b0a3-497d-88f1-dfa63121424d

Co-authored-by: LyAhn <27559362+LyAhn@users.noreply.github.com>

podcast-forge/app/api/health/route.ts

@@ -8,13 +8,28 @@ export async function GET() {
     const res = await fetch(`${pythonServerUrl}/health`, {
       method: "GET",
       signal: AbortSignal.timeout(4000),
+      // Don't cache health checks
+      cache: "no-store",
     });
 
     if (res.ok) {
-      return NextResponse.json({ status: "online" });
+      const data = await res.json().catch(() => ({}));
+      // Pass through the exact status the Python server reports:
+      // "online" | "loading" | "error"
+      const status: string = data.status ?? "online";
+      return NextResponse.json(
+        { status, message: data.message },
+        { headers: { "Cache-Control": "no-store" } }
+      );
     }
-    return NextResponse.json({ status: "offline" });
+    return NextResponse.json(
+      { status: "offline" },
+      { headers: { "Cache-Control": "no-store" } }
+    );
   } catch {
-    return NextResponse.json({ status: "offline" });
+    return NextResponse.json(
+      { status: "offline" },
+      { headers: { "Cache-Control": "no-store" } }
+    );
   }
 }