diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/App.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/App.tsx
index 110add25..231bc33d 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/App.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/App.tsx
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { openSharedSessionFromDeepLink } from './sessionLinks';
 import { type SharedSessionDetails } from './sharedSessions';
 import { ErrorUI } from './components/ErrorBoundary';
 import { ExtensionInstallModal } from './components/ExtensionInstallModal';
-import { ToastContainer } from 'react-toastify';
+import { toast, ToastContainer } from 'react-toastify';
 import AnnouncementModal from './components/AnnouncementModal';
 import TelemetryConsentPrompt from './components/TelemetryConsentPrompt';
 import OnboardingGuard from './components/onboarding/OnboardingGuard';
@@ -455,6 +455,18 @@ export function AppInner() {
     };
   }, []);
 
+  // Show a toast if mesh is the configured provider but isn't running.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    const handler = () => {
+      toast.warn('Inference Mesh is set as your provider but isn\'t running. Open Settings → Mesh to start it. Keep goose running to stay connected.', {
+        autoClose: false,
+        toastId: 'mesh-not-running',
+      });
+    };
+    window.electron.on('mesh-not-running', handler);
+    return () => { window.electron.off('mesh-not-running', handler); };
+  }, []);
+
   // Prevent default drag and drop behavior globally to avoid opening files in new windows
   // but allow our React components to handle drops in designated areas
   useEffect(() => {
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/mesh/MeshSettings.tsx b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/mesh/MeshSettings.tsx
index ce60edba..4f30ecfb 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/mesh/MeshSettings.tsx
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/components/settings/mesh/MeshSettings.tsx
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import {
   Check,
   ChevronDown,
   ChevronRight,
-  Download,
 } from 'lucide-react';
 import { Button } from '../../ui/button';
 import { Input } from '../../ui/input';
@@ -47,7 +46,7 @@ interface MeshStatusInfo {
 
 export const MeshSettings = () => {
   const { refreshCurrentModelAndProvider } = useModelAndProvider();
-  const canAutoDownload = window.electron.platform === 'darwin' && window.electron.arch === 'arm64';
+  const isMacOS = window.electron.platform === 'darwin' && window.electron.arch === 'arm64';
   const [status, setStatus] = useState<MeshStatus>('unknown');
   const [statusInfo, setStatusInfo] = useState<MeshStatusInfo>({
     running: false,
@@ -57,7 +56,7 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
   const [mode, setMode] = useState<MeshMode>('auto');
   const [selectedModel, setSelectedModel] = useState(MESH_DEFAULT_MODEL);
   const [joinToken, setJoinToken] = useState('');
-  const [contributeGpu, setContributeGpu] = useState(true);
+  const [contributeGpu, setContributeGpu] = useState(false);
   const [copiedToken, setCopiedToken] = useState(false);
   const [showAdvanced, setShowAdvanced] = useState(false);
   const [saving, setSaving] = useState(false);
@@ -80,10 +79,12 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
       if (result.running) {
         setStatus('running');
         setStatusInfo(result);
-      } else if (!result.installed) {
+      } else if (!result.installed && !isMacOS) {
+        // On non-macOS, binary must be manually installed.
         setStatus((prev) => (prev === 'downloading' ? prev : 'not-installed'));
         setStatusInfo({ running: false, installed: false, models: [] });
       } else {
+        // On macOS, start-mesh handles downloading, so treat not-installed as stopped.
         setStatus((prev) => (prev === 'starting' || prev === 'downloading' ? prev : 'stopped'));
         setStatusInfo({ ...result, models: [] });
       }
@@ -92,7 +93,7 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
     } finally {
       setChecking(false);
     }
-  }, []);
+  }, [isMacOS]);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     checkStatus();
@@ -165,7 +166,8 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
 
   const startMesh = async () => {
     setError(null);
-    setStatus('starting');
+    // On macOS, start-mesh downloads the latest binary first.
+    setStatus(isMacOS ? 'downloading' : 'starting');
     try {
       const args: string[] = [];
 
@@ -195,6 +197,7 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
         setStatus('stopped');
         return;
       }
+      setStatus('starting');
       // Polling will pick up when it's ready. Timeout after 5 min so
       // the UI doesn't get stuck in "starting" if the daemon crashes.
       if (startTimeoutRef.current) {
@@ -230,28 +233,6 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
     }
   };
 
-  const downloadMesh = async () => {
-    setError(null);
-    setStatus('downloading');
-    try {
-      const result = await window.electron.downloadMesh();
-      if (result.downloaded) {
-        setStatusInfo((prev) => ({
-          ...prev,
-          installed: true,
-          binaryPath: result.binaryPath,
-        }));
-        setStatus('stopped');
-      } else {
-        setError(result.error || 'Download failed');
-        setStatus('not-installed');
-      }
-    } catch (err) {
-      setError(`Download failed: ${err}`);
-      setStatus('not-installed');
-    }
-  };
-
   const copyToken = () => {
     if (statusInfo.token) {
       navigator.clipboard.writeText(statusInfo.token);
@@ -286,7 +267,7 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
         return (
           <span className="flex items-center gap-1.5 text-xs text-yellow-500">
             <RefreshCw className="w-3 h-3 animate-spin" />
-            Downloading mesh-llm (~19 MB)...
+            Downloading latest mesh-llm (~19 MB)...
           </span>
         );
       case 'not-installed':
@@ -352,21 +333,15 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
         {error && <p className="text-xs text-red-400 mt-1">{error}</p>}
       </div>
 
-      {/* Not installed — offer download or install link */}
+      {/* Not installed — non-macOS only; on macOS start-mesh handles the download */}
       {status === 'not-installed' && (
         <div className="border border-border-subtle rounded-xl p-4 bg-background-default">
           <p className="text-sm font-medium text-text-default">Get started</p>
           <p className="text-xs text-text-muted mt-1">
-            mesh-llm is a small download (~19 MB) that manages local inference and mesh networking.
-            Models are downloaded separately when you start a mesh.
+            mesh-llm is not installed. Follow the install guide to set it up, or connect to
+            a mesh already running on this machine.
           </p>
           <div className="flex items-center gap-2 mt-3">
-            {canAutoDownload && (
-              <Button size="sm" onClick={downloadMesh}>
-                <Download className="w-3 h-3 mr-1" />
-                Download mesh-llm
-              </Button>
-            )}
             <a href="https://docs.anarchai.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">
               <Button variant="outline" size="sm">
                 <ExternalLink className="w-3 h-3 mr-1" />
@@ -384,9 +359,9 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
       {/* Downloading */}
       {status === 'downloading' && (
         <div className="border border-yellow-500/30 rounded-xl p-4 bg-yellow-500/5">
-          <p className="text-sm font-medium text-text-default">Downloading mesh-llm...</p>
+          <p className="text-sm font-medium text-text-default">Downloading latest mesh-llm...</p>
           <p className="text-xs text-text-muted mt-1">
-            Downloading and installing to ~/.mesh-llm/. This should only take a moment.
+            Fetching the latest version to ~/.mesh-llm/. This should only take a moment.
           </p>
         </div>
       )}
@@ -504,6 +479,10 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
             <Play className="w-3 h-3 mr-1" />
             Start Mesh
           </Button>
+
+          <p className="text-xs text-text-muted">
+            When you start the mesh, keep goose running to stay connected.
+          </p>
         </div>
       )}
 
@@ -605,6 +584,10 @@ export const MeshSettings = () => {
             </p>
           )}
 
+          <p className="text-xs text-text-muted">
+            Keep goose running to stay connected to the mesh.
+          </p>
+
           {/* Actions row */}
           <div className="flex items-center gap-2">
             <Button variant="outline" size="sm" onClick={stopMesh}>
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/main.ts b/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
index e9de61e9..3fdf3a97 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/main.ts
@@ -23,8 +23,7 @@ import fsSync from 'node:fs';
 import started from 'electron-squirrel-startup';
 import path from 'node:path';
 import os from 'node:os';
-import { execFile, execFileSync, execSync, spawn } from 'child_process';
-import http from 'node:http';
+import { spawn } from 'child_process';
 import 'dotenv/config';
 import { checkServerStatus } from './goosed';
 import { startGoosed } from './goosed';
@@ -50,6 +49,7 @@ import { UPDATES_ENABLED } from './updates';
 import './utils/recipeHash';
 import { Client } from './api/client';
 import { GooseApp } from './api';
+import * as mesh from './mesh';
 import installExtension, { REACT_DEVELOPER_TOOLS } from 'electron-devtools-installer';
 import { BLOCKED_PROTOCOLS, WEB_PROTOCOLS } from './utils/urlSecurity';
 import { buildCSP } from './utils/csp';
@@ -712,6 +712,16 @@ const createChat = async (app: App, options: CreateChatOptions = {}) => {
   stopErrorLogCollection();
   errorLog.length = 0;
 
+  // Nudge the user if mesh is their provider but isn't running.
+  // Delay to let the renderer mount before sending the IPC event.
+  setTimeout(() => {
+    mesh.checkProviderRunning(goosedClient).then((ok) => {
+      if (!ok && !mainWindow.isDestroyed()) {
+        mainWindow.webContents.send('mesh-not-running');
+      }
+    }).catch(() => {});
+  }, 5000);
+
   // Let windowStateKeeper manage the window
   mainWindowState.manage(mainWindow);
 
@@ -1565,247 +1575,11 @@ ipcMain.handle('select-file-or-directory', async (_event, defaultPath?: string)
   return null;
 });
 
-// ── Mesh-LLM lifecycle ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+// ── Mesh-LLM lifecycle (see mesh.ts) ────────────────────────────────
 
-const MESH_API_PORT = 9337;
-const MESH_CONSOLE_PORT = 3131;
-const MESH_DOWNLOAD_URL =
-  'https://github.com/michaelneale/mesh-llm/releases/latest/download/mesh-bundle.tar.gz';
-
-async function findMeshBinary(): Promise<string | null> {
-  // 1. PATH
-  try {
-    const binPath = execSync('which mesh-llm 2>/dev/null || echo ""', { encoding: 'utf8' }).trim();
-    if (binPath) return binPath;
-  } catch {
-    // ignore
-  }
-
-  // 2. ~/.mesh-llm/ (our download location)
-  const meshDir = path.join(os.homedir(), '.mesh-llm', 'mesh-llm');
-  if (fsSync.existsSync(meshDir)) return meshDir;
-
-  // 3. ~/.local/bin/
-  const localBin = path.join(os.homedir(), '.local', 'bin', 'mesh-llm');
-  if (fsSync.existsSync(localBin)) return localBin;
-
-  return null;
-}
-
-ipcMain.handle('check-mesh', async () => {
-  const result: {
-    running: boolean;
-    installed: boolean;
-    models: string[];
-    token?: string;
-    peerCount?: number;
-    nodeStatus?: string;
-    binaryPath?: string;
-  } = { running: false, installed: true, models: [] };
-
-  // Check if mesh-llm binary exists
-  const binary = await findMeshBinary();
-  if (binary) {
-    result.binaryPath = binary;
-  } else {
-    result.installed = false;
-    // Still probe the API — maybe it's running from somewhere unexpected
-  }
-
-  // Probe the API
-  try {
-    const modelsData: { running: boolean; models: string[] } = await new Promise((resolve) => {
-      const req = http.get(`http://localhost:${MESH_API_PORT}/v1/models`, { timeout: 3000 }, (res) => {
-        let body = '';
-        res.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => {
-          body += chunk.toString();
-        });
-        res.on('end', () => {
-          try {
-            if (res.statusCode !== 200) {
-              resolve({ running: false, models: [] });
-              return;
-            }
-            const data = JSON.parse(body);
-            if (!Array.isArray(data.data)) {
-              resolve({ running: false, models: [] });
-              return;
-            }
-            const models = data.data
-              .filter((m: { id?: unknown }) => typeof m.id === 'string')
-              .map((m: { id: string }) => m.id);
-            resolve({ running: true, models });
-          } catch {
-            resolve({ running: false, models: [] });
-          }
-        });
-      });
-      req.on('error', () => resolve({ running: false, models: [] }));
-      req.on('timeout', () => {
-        req.destroy();
-        resolve({ running: false, models: [] });
-      });
-    });
-
-    result.running = modelsData.running;
-    result.models = modelsData.models;
-  } catch {
-    // API not reachable
-  }
-
-  // If running, also grab console status for invite token + peer info
-  if (result.running) {
-    try {
-      const statusData: { token?: string; peerCount?: number; nodeStatus?: string } =
-        await new Promise((resolve) => {
-          const req = http.get(
-            `http://localhost:${MESH_CONSOLE_PORT}/api/status`,
-            { timeout: 3000 },
-            (res) => {
-              let body = '';
-              res.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => {
-                body += chunk.toString();
-              });
-              res.on('end', () => {
-                try {
-                  const data = JSON.parse(body);
-                  resolve({
-                    token: data.token,
-                    peerCount: Array.isArray(data.peers) ? data.peers.length : undefined,
-                    nodeStatus: data.node_status,
-                  });
-                } catch {
-                  resolve({});
-                }
-              });
-            }
-          );
-          req.on('error', () => resolve({}));
-          req.on('timeout', () => {
-            req.destroy();
-            resolve({});
-          });
-        });
-      result.token = statusData.token;
-      result.peerCount = statusData.peerCount;
-      result.nodeStatus = statusData.nodeStatus;
-    } catch {
-      // console not available — that's fine
-    }
-  }
-
-  return result;
-});
-
-ipcMain.handle('start-mesh', async (_event, args: string[]) => {
-  const binary = await findMeshBinary();
-  if (!binary) {
-    return {
-      started: false,
-      error: 'mesh-llm not found. Download it first from the Mesh settings tab.',
-    };
-  }
-
-  // Log to ~/.mesh-llm/mesh-llm.log
-  const logDir = path.join(os.homedir(), '.mesh-llm');
-  if (!fsSync.existsSync(logDir)) {
-    fsSync.mkdirSync(logDir, { recursive: true });
-  }
-  const logPath = path.join(logDir, 'mesh-llm.log');
-  const out = fsSync.openSync(logPath, 'a');
-
-  // Spawn detached — mesh-llm outlives Goose.
-  // Wait briefly for early spawn errors (bad permissions, missing binary, etc.)
-  const child = spawn(binary, args, {
-    detached: true,
-    stdio: ['ignore', out, out],
-  });
-
-  const result = await new Promise<{ started: boolean; error?: string; pid?: number }>(
-    (resolve) => {
-      const timeout = setTimeout(() => {
-        child.removeAllListeners('error');
-        child.unref();
-        resolve({ started: true, pid: child.pid });
-      }, 500);
-
-      child.once('error', (err) => {
-        clearTimeout(timeout);
-        resolve({ started: false, error: `Failed to spawn mesh-llm: ${err.message}` });
-      });
-    }
-  );
-
-  fsSync.closeSync(out);
-  return result;
-});
-
-ipcMain.handle('stop-mesh', async () => {
-  try {
-    const binary = await findMeshBinary();
-    if (!binary) {
-      return { stopped: false };
-    }
-    execFileSync(binary, ['stop'], { timeout: 5000, encoding: 'utf8' });
-    return { stopped: true };
-  } catch {
-    return { stopped: false };
-  }
-});
-
-function execFileP(cmd: string, args: string[], opts: { timeout: number }): Promise<void> {
-  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    execFile(cmd, args, opts, (err) => (err ? reject(err) : resolve()));
-  });
-}
-
-ipcMain.handle('download-mesh', async () => {
-  if (process.platform !== 'darwin' || process.arch !== 'arm64') {
-    return { downloaded: false, error: 'Auto-download is only available on macOS (Apple Silicon)' };
-  }
-
-  const installDir = path.join(os.homedir(), '.mesh-llm');
-  if (!fsSync.existsSync(installDir)) {
-    fsSync.mkdirSync(installDir, { recursive: true });
-  }
-
-  const tarball = path.join(installDir, 'mesh-bundle.tar.gz');
-  try {
-    // Download and extract — mesh-bundle.tar.gz contains mesh-bundle/{mesh-llm,rpc-server,llama-server}
-    await execFileP('curl', ['-fsSL', '-o', tarball, MESH_DOWNLOAD_URL], { timeout: 120000 });
-    await execFileP('tar', ['xz', '--strip-components=1', '-C', installDir, '-f', tarball], { timeout: 30000 });
-
-    const binary = path.join(installDir, 'mesh-llm');
-    if (!fsSync.existsSync(binary)) {
-      return { downloaded: false, error: 'Download succeeded but mesh-llm binary not found' };
-    }
-
-    // macOS: ad-hoc codesign + clear quarantine to avoid Gatekeeper prompts
-    if (process.platform === 'darwin') {
-      for (const name of ['mesh-llm', 'rpc-server', 'llama-server']) {
-        const bin = path.join(installDir, name);
-        if (fsSync.existsSync(bin)) {
-          try {
-            await execFileP('codesign', ['-s', '-', bin], { timeout: 10000 });
-          } catch {
-            // codesign may fail if already signed
-          }
-          try {
-            await execFileP('xattr', ['-cr', bin], { timeout: 10000 });
-          } catch {
-            // xattr may fail
-          }
-        }
-      }
-    }
-
-    return { downloaded: true, binaryPath: binary };
-  } catch (err) {
-    return { downloaded: false, error: `Download failed: ${err}` };
-  } finally {
-    try { fsSync.unlinkSync(tarball); } catch { /* ignore */ }
-  }
-});
+ipcMain.handle('check-mesh', () => mesh.check());
+ipcMain.handle('start-mesh', (_event, args: string[]) => mesh.start(args));
+ipcMain.handle('stop-mesh', () => mesh.stop());
 
 ipcMain.handle('check-ollama', async () => {
   try {
@@ -2716,6 +2490,9 @@ async function getAllowList(): Promise<string[]> {
 }
 
 app.on('will-quit', async () => {
+  // Stop the mesh child process if we spawned one.
+  mesh.cleanup();
+
   for (const [windowId, blockerId] of windowPowerSaveBlockers.entries()) {
     try {
       powerSaveBlocker.stop(blockerId);
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/mesh.ts b/ui/desktop/src/mesh.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d45a204e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/mesh.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,319 @@
+/**
+ * mesh-llm process lifecycle — download, start, stop, auto-start.
+ *
+ * macOS (Apple Silicon) only for download/spawn; other platforms can still
+ * probe the API port to detect an externally-running mesh.
+ */
+
+import { execFile, execFileSync, spawn } from 'child_process';
+import path from 'node:path';
+import os from 'node:os';
+import fsSync from 'node:fs';
+import http from 'node:http';
+import { Buffer } from 'node:buffer';
+import log from './utils/logger';
+import { Client } from './api/client';
+import { readConfig } from './api/sdk.gen';
+
+const API_PORT = 9337;
+const CONSOLE_PORT = 3131;
+const DOWNLOAD_URL =
+  'https://github.com/michaelneale/mesh-llm/releases/latest/download/mesh-bundle.tar.gz';
+
+let childProcess: ReturnType<typeof spawn> | null = null;
+
+function execFileP(cmd: string, args: string[], opts: { timeout: number }): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    execFile(cmd, args, opts, (err) => (err ? reject(err) : resolve()));
+  });
+}
+
+// ── Binary discovery ────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+export async function findBinary(): Promise<string | null> {
+  try {
+    const binPath = execFileSync('which', ['mesh-llm'], { encoding: 'utf8', stdio: ['pipe', 'pipe', 'pipe'] }).trim();
+    if (binPath) return binPath;
+  } catch {
+    // ignore — which returns non-zero if not found
+  }
+
+  const meshDir = path.join(os.homedir(), '.mesh-llm', 'mesh-llm');
+  if (fsSync.existsSync(meshDir)) return meshDir;
+
+  const localBin = path.join(os.homedir(), '.local', 'bin', 'mesh-llm');
+  if (fsSync.existsSync(localBin)) return localBin;
+
+  return null;
+}
+
+export async function downloadBinary(): Promise<{ binary: string } | { error: string }> {
+  if (process.platform !== 'darwin' || process.arch !== 'arm64') {
+    return { error: 'Auto-download is only available on macOS (Apple Silicon)' };
+  }
+
+  const installDir = path.join(os.homedir(), '.mesh-llm');
+  if (!fsSync.existsSync(installDir)) {
+    fsSync.mkdirSync(installDir, { recursive: true });
+  }
+
+  const tarball = path.join(installDir, 'mesh-bundle.tar.gz');
+  try {
+    await execFileP('curl', ['-fsSL', '-o', tarball, DOWNLOAD_URL], { timeout: 120000 });
+    await execFileP('tar', ['xz', '--strip-components=1', '-C', installDir, '-f', tarball], {
+      timeout: 30000,
+    });
+
+    const binary = path.join(installDir, 'mesh-llm');
+    if (!fsSync.existsSync(binary)) {
+      return { error: 'Download succeeded but mesh-llm binary not found' };
+    }
+
+    for (const name of ['mesh-llm', 'rpc-server', 'llama-server']) {
+      const bin = path.join(installDir, name);
+      if (fsSync.existsSync(bin)) {
+        try {
+          await execFileP('codesign', ['-s', '-', bin], { timeout: 10000 });
+        } catch {
+          /* codesign may fail if already signed */
+        }
+        try {
+          await execFileP('xattr', ['-cr', bin], { timeout: 10000 });
+        } catch {
+          /* xattr may fail */
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    return { binary };
+  } catch (err) {
+    return { error: `Download failed: ${err}` };
+  } finally {
+    try {
+      fsSync.unlinkSync(tarball);
+    } catch {
+      /* ignore */
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+// ── Port probing ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+export function isRunning(): Promise<boolean> {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const req = http.get(`http://localhost:${API_PORT}/v1/models`, { timeout: 2000 }, (res) => {
+      res.resume();
+      resolve(res.statusCode === 200);
+    });
+    req.on('error', () => resolve(false));
+    req.on('timeout', () => {
+      req.destroy();
+      resolve(false);
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+// ── Status check (used by check-mesh IPC) ───────────────────────────
+
+export interface MeshStatus {
+  running: boolean;
+  installed: boolean;
+  models: string[];
+  token?: string;
+  peerCount?: number;
+  nodeStatus?: string;
+  binaryPath?: string;
+}
+
+export async function check(): Promise<MeshStatus> {
+  const result: MeshStatus = { running: false, installed: true, models: [] };
+
+  const binary = await findBinary();
+  if (binary) {
+    result.binaryPath = binary;
+  } else {
+    result.installed = false;
+  }
+
+  // Probe the API
+  try {
+    const modelsData = await new Promise<{ running: boolean; models: string[] }>((resolve) => {
+      const req = http.get(`http://localhost:${API_PORT}/v1/models`, { timeout: 3000 }, (res) => {
+        let body = '';
+        res.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => {
+          body += chunk.toString();
+        });
+        res.on('end', () => {
+          try {
+            if (res.statusCode !== 200) {
+              resolve({ running: false, models: [] });
+              return;
+            }
+            const data = JSON.parse(body);
+            if (!Array.isArray(data.data)) {
+              resolve({ running: false, models: [] });
+              return;
+            }
+            const models = data.data
+              .filter((m: { id?: unknown }) => typeof m.id === 'string')
+              .map((m: { id: string }) => m.id);
+            resolve({ running: true, models });
+          } catch {
+            resolve({ running: false, models: [] });
+          }
+        });
+      });
+      req.on('error', () => resolve({ running: false, models: [] }));
+      req.on('timeout', () => {
+        req.destroy();
+        resolve({ running: false, models: [] });
+      });
+    });
+
+    result.running = modelsData.running;
+    result.models = modelsData.models;
+  } catch {
+    // API not reachable
+  }
+
+  if (result.running) {
+    try {
+      const statusData = await new Promise<{
+        token?: string;
+        peerCount?: number;
+        nodeStatus?: string;
+      }>((resolve) => {
+        const req = http.get(
+          `http://localhost:${CONSOLE_PORT}/api/status`,
+          { timeout: 3000 },
+          (res) => {
+            let body = '';
+            res.on('data', (chunk: Buffer) => {
+              body += chunk.toString();
+            });
+            res.on('end', () => {
+              try {
+                const data = JSON.parse(body);
+                resolve({
+                  token: data.token,
+                  peerCount: Array.isArray(data.peers) ? data.peers.length : undefined,
+                  nodeStatus: data.node_status,
+                });
+              } catch {
+                resolve({});
+              }
+            });
+          }
+        );
+        req.on('error', () => resolve({}));
+        req.on('timeout', () => {
+          req.destroy();
+          resolve({});
+        });
+      });
+      result.token = statusData.token;
+      result.peerCount = statusData.peerCount;
+      result.nodeStatus = statusData.nodeStatus;
+    } catch {
+      // console not available
+    }
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
+
+// ── Start / stop ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+function spawnAttached(
+  binary: string,
+  args: string[]
+): Promise<{ started: boolean; error?: string; pid?: number }> {
+  const logDir = path.join(os.homedir(), '.mesh-llm');
+  if (!fsSync.existsSync(logDir)) fsSync.mkdirSync(logDir, { recursive: true });
+  const logPath = path.join(logDir, 'mesh-llm.log');
+  const out = fsSync.openSync(logPath, 'a');
+
+  const child = spawn(binary, args, { stdio: ['ignore', out, out] });
+  childProcess = child;
+  child.on('exit', () => {
+    if (childProcess === child) childProcess = null;
+  });
+
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    const timeout = setTimeout(() => {
+      child.removeAllListeners('error');
+      resolve({ started: true, pid: child.pid });
+    }, 500);
+
+    child.once('error', (err) => {
+      clearTimeout(timeout);
+      childProcess = null;
+      resolve({ started: false, error: `Failed to spawn mesh-llm: ${err.message}` });
+    });
+  }).then((result) => {
+    fsSync.closeSync(out);
+    return result as { started: boolean; error?: string; pid?: number };
+  });
+}
+
+export async function start(
+  args: string[]
+): Promise<{ started: boolean; error?: string; pid?: number; alreadyRunning?: boolean }> {
+  if (await isRunning()) {
+    return { started: true, alreadyRunning: true };
+  }
+
+  const dlResult = await downloadBinary();
+  let binary: string;
+  if ('error' in dlResult) {
+    const existing = await findBinary();
+    if (!existing) {
+      return { started: false, error: dlResult.error };
+    }
+    binary = existing;
+  } else {
+    binary = dlResult.binary;
+  }
+
+  return spawnAttached(binary, args);
+}
+
+export async function stop(): Promise<{ stopped: boolean }> {
+  if (childProcess) {
+    cleanup();
+    return { stopped: true };
+  }
+  try {
+    const binary = await findBinary();
+    if (!binary) return { stopped: false };
+    execFileSync(binary, ['stop'], { timeout: 5000, encoding: 'utf8' });
+    return { stopped: true };
+  } catch {
+    return { stopped: false };
+  }
+}
+
+export function cleanup(): void {
+  if (!childProcess) return;
+  try {
+    childProcess.kill('SIGTERM');
+  } catch {
+    /* already dead */
+  }
+  childProcess = null;
+}
+
+// ── Startup check ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
+
+export async function checkProviderRunning(goosedClient: Client): Promise<boolean> {
+  const res = await readConfig({
+    body: { key: 'GOOSE_PROVIDER', is_secret: false },
+    client: goosedClient,
+  });
+  const provider = typeof res.data === 'string' ? res.data : String(res.data ?? '');
+  if (!provider.includes('mesh')) return true;
+  if (await isRunning()) return true;
+
+  log.info('Mesh provider configured but not running');
+  return false;
+}
diff --git a/ui/desktop/src/preload.ts b/ui/desktop/src/preload.ts
index 269a1e40..97334ef8 100644
--- a/ui/desktop/src/preload.ts
+++ b/ui/desktop/src/preload.ts
@@ -126,7 +126,6 @@ type ElectronAPI = {
   }>;
   startMesh: (args: string[]) => Promise<{ started: boolean; error?: string; pid?: number }>;
   stopMesh: () => Promise<{ stopped: boolean }>;
-  downloadMesh: () => Promise<{ downloaded: boolean; error?: string; binaryPath?: string }>;
   selectFileOrDirectory: (defaultPath?: string) => Promise<string | null>;
   getBinaryPath: (binaryName: string) => Promise<string>;
   readFile: (directory: string) => Promise<FileResponse>;
@@ -218,7 +217,7 @@ const electronAPI: ElectronAPI = {
   checkMesh: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('check-mesh'),
   startMesh: (args: string[]) => ipcRenderer.invoke('start-mesh', args),
   stopMesh: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('stop-mesh'),
-  downloadMesh: () => ipcRenderer.invoke('download-mesh'),
+
   selectFileOrDirectory: (defaultPath?: string) =>
     ipcRenderer.invoke('select-file-or-directory', defaultPath),
   getBinaryPath: (binaryName: string) => ipcRenderer.invoke('get-binary-path', binaryName),