diff --git a/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue b/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue
index 4c7c998..6c5a707 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue
@@ -14,18 +14,31 @@ const chatStore = useChatStore();
 const router = useRouter();
 const mobileMenuOpen = ref(false);
 
+const statusShortLabel = computed(() => {
+  if (chatStore.ollamaStatus === "unavailable") return "Offline";
+  if (chatStore.ollamaStatus === "checking") return "Checking";
+  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "not_found") return "No model";
+  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "cold") return "Cold";
+  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "loaded") return "Ready";
+  return "Checking";
+});
+
 const statusLabel = computed(() => {
   if (chatStore.ollamaStatus === "unavailable") return "Ollama unavailable";
-  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "not_found") return "Model downloading...";
-  if (chatStore.chatReady) return "Connected";
+  if (chatStore.ollamaStatus === "checking") return "Checking...";
+  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "not_found") return "Model not installed";
+  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "cold") return "Model cold — first response may be slow";
+  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "loaded") return "Model loaded · ready";
   return "Checking...";
 });
 
 const statusClass = computed(() => {
   if (chatStore.ollamaStatus === "unavailable") return "status-red";
-  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "not_found") return "status-yellow";
-  if (chatStore.chatReady) return "status-green";
-  return "status-yellow";
+  if (chatStore.ollamaStatus === "checking") return "status-gray";
+  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "not_found") return "status-orange";
+  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "cold") return "status-yellow";
+  if (chatStore.modelStatus === "loaded") return "status-green";
+  return "status-gray";
 });
 
 function toggleMobileMenu() {
@@ -67,6 +80,7 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
         <router-link v-if="authStore.isAdmin" to="/admin/logs" class="nav-link">Logs</router-link>
         <span class="status-indicator" :class="statusClass" :title="statusLabel">
           <span class="status-dot"></span>
+          <span class="status-text">{{ statusShortLabel }}</span>
         </span>
         <button class="btn-shortcuts" @click="toggleShortcuts" title="Keyboard shortcuts (?)">
           ?
@@ -147,7 +161,9 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
 .status-indicator {
   display: flex;
   align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.3rem;
   margin-left: 0.5rem;
+  cursor: default;
 }
 .status-dot {
   width: 8px;
@@ -155,19 +171,31 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
   border-radius: 50%;
   flex-shrink: 0;
 }
+.status-text {
+  font-size: 0.75rem;
+  font-weight: 500;
+  color: var(--color-text-muted);
+}
 .status-green .status-dot {
-  background: var(--color-success);
+  background: var(--color-success, #2ecc71);
 }
 .status-yellow .status-dot {
-  background: var(--color-warning);
+  background: var(--color-warning, #f59e0b);
   animation: pulse-dot 2s infinite;
 }
+.status-orange .status-dot {
+  background: #f97316;
+}
 .status-red .status-dot {
-  background: var(--color-danger);
+  background: var(--color-danger, #e74c3c);
+}
+.status-gray .status-dot {
+  background: var(--color-text-muted);
+  animation: pulse-dot 2s infinite;
 }
 @keyframes pulse-dot {
   0%, 100% { opacity: 1; }
-  50% { opacity: 0.4; }
+  50% { opacity: 0.3; }
 }
 .btn-shortcuts {
   background: none;
diff --git a/frontend/src/stores/chat.ts b/frontend/src/stores/chat.ts
index 6bbe65f..66dfc11 100644
--- a/frontend/src/stores/chat.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/stores/chat.ts
@@ -26,14 +26,16 @@ export const useChatStore = defineStore("chat", () => {
   const streaming = ref(false);
   const streamingContent = ref("");
   const streamingToolCalls = ref<ToolCallRecord[]>([]);
+  const streamingStatus = ref("");
   const lastContextMeta = ref<ContextMeta | null>(null);
   const ollamaStatus = ref<"checking" | "available" | "unavailable">("checking");
-  const modelStatus = ref<"checking" | "ready" | "not_found">("checking");
+  const modelStatus = ref<"checking" | "loaded" | "cold" | "not_found">("checking");
   const defaultModel = ref("");
   let statusPollTimer: ReturnType<typeof setInterval> | null = null;
 
+  // Chat is usable when Ollama is up and model is at least installed (cold starts still work)
   const chatReady = computed(
-    () => ollamaStatus.value === "available" && modelStatus.value === "ready"
+    () => ollamaStatus.value === "available" && (modelStatus.value === "loaded" || modelStatus.value === "cold")
   );
 
   async function fetchConversations(limit = 50, offset = 0) {
@@ -178,8 +180,12 @@ export const useChatStore = defineStore("chat", () => {
           case "context":
             lastContextMeta.value = event.data.context as ContextMeta;
             break;
+          case "status":
+            streamingStatus.value = event.data.status as string;
+            break;
           case "chunk":
             streamingContent.value += event.data.chunk as string;
+            streamingStatus.value = "";
             break;
           case "tool_call":
             streamingToolCalls.value = [
@@ -206,6 +212,7 @@ export const useChatStore = defineStore("chat", () => {
               }
               streamingContent.value = "";
               streamingToolCalls.value = [];
+              streamingStatus.value = "";
               streaming.value = false;
 
               // Update conversation in list
@@ -221,6 +228,7 @@ export const useChatStore = defineStore("chat", () => {
             streaming.value = false;
             streamingContent.value = "";
             streamingToolCalls.value = [];
+            streamingStatus.value = "";
             useToastStore().show(
               "Chat error: " + (event.data.error as string),
               "error",
@@ -258,6 +266,7 @@ export const useChatStore = defineStore("chat", () => {
     streaming.value = false;
     streamingContent.value = "";
     streamingToolCalls.value = [];
+    streamingStatus.value = "";
   }
 
   async function cancelGeneration() {
@@ -314,11 +323,25 @@ export const useChatStore = defineStore("chat", () => {
   async function warmModel(model: string) {
     try {
       await apiPost("/api/chat/warm", { model });
+      // Poll faster after a warm request so the indicator updates promptly
+      _pollUntilLoaded();
     } catch {
       // Warming is best-effort
     }
   }
 
+  function _pollUntilLoaded() {
+    let attempts = 0;
+    const MAX = 12; // up to ~60s of fast polling
+    const timer = setInterval(async () => {
+      await fetchStatus();
+      attempts++;
+      if (modelStatus.value === "loaded" || attempts >= MAX) {
+        clearInterval(timer);
+      }
+    }, 5_000);
+  }
+
   return {
     conversations,
     currentConversation,
@@ -327,6 +350,7 @@ export const useChatStore = defineStore("chat", () => {
     streaming,
     streamingContent,
     streamingToolCalls,
+    streamingStatus,
     lastContextMeta,
     ollamaStatus,
     modelStatus,
diff --git a/frontend/src/types/chat.ts b/frontend/src/types/chat.ts
index 02011df..beb15f9 100644
--- a/frontend/src/types/chat.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/types/chat.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,6 @@ export interface ContextMeta {
 
 export interface OllamaStatus {
   ollama: "available" | "unavailable";
-  model: "ready" | "not_found";
+  model: "loaded" | "cold" | "not_found";
   default_model: string;
 }
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/ChatView.vue b/frontend/src/views/ChatView.vue
index f0f8b55..512e3f7 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/ChatView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/ChatView.vue
@@ -402,8 +402,12 @@ onUnmounted(() => {
                     :tool-call="tc"
                   />
                 </div>
+                <div v-if="store.streamingStatus" class="streaming-status-line">
+                  <span class="streaming-status-dot"></span>
+                  {{ store.streamingStatus }}
+                </div>
                 <div class="message-content prose" v-html="streamingRendered"></div>
-                <span class="typing-indicator"></span>
+                <span v-if="!store.streamingStatus" class="typing-indicator"></span>
               </div>
             </div>
 
@@ -698,6 +702,24 @@ onUnmounted(() => {
   gap: 0.3rem;
   margin-bottom: 0.4rem;
 }
+.streaming-status-line {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.4rem;
+  font-size: 0.8rem;
+  color: var(--color-text-muted);
+  font-style: italic;
+  margin-bottom: 0.3rem;
+}
+.streaming-status-dot {
+  display: inline-block;
+  width: 6px;
+  height: 6px;
+  border-radius: 50%;
+  background: var(--color-primary);
+  animation: blink 1s infinite;
+  flex-shrink: 0;
+}
 .typing-indicator {
   display: inline-block;
   width: 6px;
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/HomeView.vue b/frontend/src/views/HomeView.vue
index b45b0b7..c94eb18 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/HomeView.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/HomeView.vue
@@ -360,7 +360,11 @@ function clearDashboardResponse() {
 
           <!-- Streaming text -->
           <div v-if="chatStore.streaming" class="dashboard-response-text streaming">
-            <span v-if="chatStore.streamingContent">{{ chatStore.streamingContent }}</span>
+            <div v-if="chatStore.streamingStatus && !chatStore.streamingContent" class="dashboard-status-line">
+              <span class="dashboard-status-dot"></span>
+              {{ chatStore.streamingStatus }}
+            </div>
+            <span v-else-if="chatStore.streamingContent">{{ chatStore.streamingContent }}</span>
             <span v-else class="thinking-dots">...</span>
           </div>
           <!-- Final text -->
@@ -553,6 +557,21 @@ function clearDashboardResponse() {
   display: inline-block;
   animation: blink 1.2s infinite;
 }
+.dashboard-status-line {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.4rem;
+  font-style: italic;
+}
+.dashboard-status-dot {
+  display: inline-block;
+  width: 6px;
+  height: 6px;
+  border-radius: 50%;
+  background: var(--color-primary);
+  animation: blink 1.2s infinite;
+  flex-shrink: 0;
+}
 @keyframes blink {
   0%, 100% { opacity: 1; }
   50% { opacity: 0.3; }
diff --git a/src/fabledassistant/routes/chat.py b/src/fabledassistant/routes/chat.py
index 63321af..5bf781c 100644
--- a/src/fabledassistant/routes/chat.py
+++ b/src/fabledassistant/routes/chat.py
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ async def warm_model_route():
 @chat_bp.route("/status", methods=["GET"])
 @login_required
 async def chat_status_route():
-    """Check Ollama availability and model readiness."""
+    """Check Ollama availability, model installation, and model load state."""
     uid = get_current_user_id()
     default_model = await get_setting(uid, "default_model", Config.OLLAMA_MODEL)
     result = {
@@ -295,14 +295,26 @@ async def chat_status_route():
     }
     try:
         async with httpx.AsyncClient(timeout=5.0) as client:
-            resp = await client.get(f"{Config.OLLAMA_URL}/api/tags")
-            resp.raise_for_status()
-            result["ollama"] = "available"
-            data = resp.json()
-            model_names = {m["name"] for m in data.get("models", [])}
-            # Match with or without :latest tag
-            if default_model in model_names or f"{default_model}:latest" in model_names:
-                result["model"] = "ready"
+            # Query installed models and loaded models in parallel
+            tags_task = asyncio.create_task(client.get(f"{Config.OLLAMA_URL}/api/tags"))
+            ps_task = asyncio.create_task(client.get(f"{Config.OLLAMA_URL}/api/ps"))
+            tags_resp, ps_resp = await asyncio.gather(tags_task, ps_task, return_exceptions=True)
+
+            if isinstance(tags_resp, Exception):
+                logger.debug("Ollama /api/tags failed: %s", tags_resp)
+            else:
+                tags_resp.raise_for_status()
+                result["ollama"] = "available"
+                model_names = {m["name"] for m in tags_resp.json().get("models", [])}
+                base = default_model.removesuffix(":latest")
+                if default_model in model_names or f"{base}:latest" in model_names:
+                    # Installed — now check if currently loaded in memory
+                    result["model"] = "cold"
+                    if not isinstance(ps_resp, Exception):
+                        ps_resp.raise_for_status()
+                        loaded_names = {m["name"] for m in ps_resp.json().get("models", [])}
+                        if default_model in loaded_names or f"{base}:latest" in loaded_names:
+                            result["model"] = "loaded"
     except Exception:
         logger.debug("Ollama status check failed", exc_info=True)
     return jsonify(result)
diff --git a/src/fabledassistant/services/generation_task.py b/src/fabledassistant/services/generation_task.py
index 5744f10..ed6710f 100644
--- a/src/fabledassistant/services/generation_task.py
+++ b/src/fabledassistant/services/generation_task.py
@@ -29,6 +29,26 @@ _TOOL_CALL_MARKER = re.compile(r"^\s*\[TOOL_CALLS\]\s*", re.IGNORECASE)
 
 DB_FLUSH_INTERVAL = 5.0  # seconds between partial DB flushes
 
+# Human-readable labels for each tool, shown in the status indicator
+_TOOL_LABELS: dict[str, str] = {
+    "create_task": "Creating task",
+    "create_note": "Creating note",
+    "update_note": "Updating note",
+    "list_tasks": "Searching tasks",
+    "search_notes": "Searching notes",
+    "create_event": "Creating calendar event",
+    "list_events": "Searching calendar",
+    "search_events": "Searching calendar",
+    "update_event": "Updating calendar event",
+    "delete_event": "Removing calendar event",
+    "list_calendars": "Listing calendars",
+    "create_todo": "Creating todo",
+    "list_todos": "Listing todos",
+    "update_todo": "Updating todo",
+    "complete_todo": "Completing todo",
+    "delete_todo": "Removing todo",
+}
+
 
 async def _generate_title(messages: list[dict], model: str) -> str:
     """Ask the LLM for a concise conversation title."""
@@ -121,6 +141,7 @@ async def run_generation(
                     m for m in messages[1:-1]
                     if m.get("role") in ("user", "assistant") and m.get("content")
                 ][-6:]
+                buf.append_event("status", {"status": "Analyzing your request..."})
                 intent = await classify_intent(user_content, tools, intent_model, history=intent_history)
                 if intent.should_execute:
                     logger.info(
@@ -133,6 +154,7 @@ async def run_generation(
                         intent.confidence, intent.tool_name,
                     )
                 if intent.should_execute:
+                    buf.append_event("status", {"status": f"{_TOOL_LABELS.get(intent.tool_name, 'Working')}..."})
                     result = await execute_tool(user_id, intent.tool_name, intent.arguments)
                     logger.info("Intent-routed tool %s result: success=%s", intent.tool_name, result.get("success"))
 
@@ -159,6 +181,7 @@ async def run_generation(
                     })
                     continue  # Next round: LLM streams response incorporating result
 
+            buf.append_event("status", {"status": "Generating response..." if _round == 0 else "Composing response..."})
             async for chunk in stream_chat_with_tools(messages, model, tools=tools):
                 if buf.cancel_event.is_set():
                     cancelled = True
@@ -188,6 +211,7 @@ async def run_generation(
                         tool_name = fn.get("name", "")
                         arguments = fn.get("arguments", {})
                         logger.info("Executing tool: %s(%s)", tool_name, json.dumps(arguments)[:200])
+                        buf.append_event("status", {"status": f"{_TOOL_LABELS.get(tool_name, 'Working')}..."})
 
                         result = await execute_tool(user_id, tool_name, arguments)
                         logger.info("Tool %s result: success=%s", tool_name, result.get("success"))
diff --git a/summary.md b/summary.md
index 99d83c7..af1f59a 100644
--- a/summary.md
+++ b/summary.md
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 >    Include file-level details in the commit body when the change is non-trivial.
 
 ## Last Updated
-2026-02-18 — Phase 10 cont.: update_note task fields, list_tasks tool, update_todo CalDAV tool
+2026-02-18 — Phase 11: streaming status transparency UX + model load state indicator
 
 ## Project Overview
 Fabled Assistant is a self-hosted note-taking and task-tracking application with
@@ -550,6 +550,15 @@ When adding a new migration, follow these conventions:
 - Per-conversation model selection via ModelSelector dropdown in chat header (persisted via PATCH)
 - Dashboard inline chat input: model selector + note picker + textarea; creates conversation and navigates
 - Model warming: default model pre-loaded into Ollama on dashboard mount via fire-and-forget POST
+- **Model load state indicator:** `GET /api/chat/status` now queries `/api/tags` and `/api/ps` in
+  parallel. Model status has three values: `"not_found"` (not installed), `"cold"` (installed but
+  not in VRAM — first response will be slow), `"loaded"` (hot in VRAM, fast response).
+  `chatReady` is true for both `"cold"` and `"loaded"` since cold models still work.
+  AppHeader shows five distinct visual states: gray pulse (checking), red (Ollama down), orange
+  (model not installed), yellow pulse (cold), green (loaded). Each state has a short inline text
+  label ("Cold", "Ready", "Offline", etc.) visible without hovering, plus a tooltip with detail.
+  After `warmModel()` is called, a fast 5s polling loop runs for up to 60s until the indicator
+  transitions to green (instead of waiting for the 30s poll cycle).
 - Hot/cold model indicators: `/api/chat/ps` proxies Ollama `/api/ps`; ModelSelector shows green/red emoji circles
 - Ollama configured with `OLLAMA_MAX_LOADED_MODELS=2` and `OLLAMA_KEEP_ALIVE=30m`
 - Timeout tuning: connect timeout 30s (cold model loading), warm timeout 300s, pull timeout 1800s
@@ -570,6 +579,15 @@ When adding a new migration, follow these conventions:
   - `search_notes` — keyword search across notes and tasks
   - Full CalDAV suite: `create_event`, `list_events`, `search_events`, `update_event`, `delete_event`,
     `list_calendars`, `create_todo`, `list_todos`, `update_todo`, `complete_todo`, `delete_todo`
+- **Streaming status transparency:** The backend emits `status` SSE events at each pipeline stage
+  so the user always sees what's happening instead of a blank progress dot. Stages:
+  (1) `"Analyzing your request..."` before intent classification; (2) human-readable tool label
+  (e.g. `"Creating calendar event..."`) before each tool executes (both intent-routed and native);
+  (3) `"Generating response..."` / `"Composing response..."` before each LLM streaming round.
+  Frontend: `chat.ts` stores `streamingStatus` ref, cleared on first content chunk or on done/error.
+  `ChatView.vue` shows a pulsing dot + italic label above the content while status is active, then
+  falls back to the blinking cursor when content streams in. `HomeView.vue` dashboard panel shows
+  the status label in place of `...` before any content arrives.
 - **Intent routing:** Before streaming, a fast non-streaming LLM call classifies user intent and
   extracts tool parameters (`services/intent.py`). If a tool call is detected, it executes directly
   — bypassing the model's native (sometimes unreliable) tool calling API. Falls through to normal