diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 573d4b0..6884ea5 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ Hotkey notes:
 
 AI cleanup is always enabled and uses the locked local Llama-3.2-3B GGUF model
 downloaded to `~/.cache/aman/models/` during daemon initialization.
+Model downloads use a network timeout and SHA256 verification before activation.
 
 Use `-v/--verbose` to enable DEBUG logs, including recognized/processed
 transcript text and llama.cpp logs (`llama::` prefix). Without `-v`, logs are
diff --git a/src/aiprocess.py b/src/aiprocess.py
index 11a92ba..2c9a129 100644
--- a/src/aiprocess.py
+++ b/src/aiprocess.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import ctypes
+import hashlib
 import inspect
 import json
 import logging
@@ -9,7 +10,14 @@ import sys
 import urllib.request
 from typing import Any, Callable, cast
 
-from constants import MODEL_DIR, MODEL_NAME, MODEL_PATH, MODEL_URL
+from constants import (
+    MODEL_DIR,
+    MODEL_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_SEC,
+    MODEL_NAME,
+    MODEL_PATH,
+    MODEL_SHA256,
+    MODEL_URL,
+)
 
 
 SYSTEM_PROMPT = (
@@ -90,17 +98,19 @@ def ensure_model():
     tmp_path = MODEL_PATH.with_suffix(MODEL_PATH.suffix + ".tmp")
     logging.info("downloading model: %s", MODEL_NAME)
     try:
-        with urllib.request.urlopen(MODEL_URL) as resp:
+        with urllib.request.urlopen(MODEL_URL, timeout=MODEL_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_SEC) as resp:
             total = resp.getheader("Content-Length")
             total_size = int(total) if total else None
             downloaded = 0
             next_log = 0
+            digest = hashlib.sha256()
             with open(tmp_path, "wb") as handle:
                 while True:
                     chunk = resp.read(1024 * 1024)
                     if not chunk:
                         break
                     handle.write(chunk)
+                    digest.update(chunk)
                     downloaded += len(chunk)
                     if total_size:
                         progress = downloaded / total_size
@@ -109,7 +119,9 @@ def ensure_model():
                             next_log += 0.1
                     elif downloaded // (50 * 1024 * 1024) > (downloaded - len(chunk)) // (50 * 1024 * 1024):
                         logging.info("model download %d MB", downloaded // (1024 * 1024))
+        _assert_expected_model_checksum(digest.hexdigest())
         os.replace(tmp_path, MODEL_PATH)
+        logging.info("model checksum verified")
     except Exception:
         try:
             if tmp_path.exists():
@@ -117,6 +129,16 @@ def ensure_model():
         except Exception:
             pass
         raise
+    return MODEL_PATH
+
+
+def _assert_expected_model_checksum(checksum: str) -> None:
+    if checksum.casefold() == MODEL_SHA256.casefold():
+        return
+    raise RuntimeError(
+        "downloaded model checksum mismatch "
+        f"(expected {MODEL_SHA256}, got {checksum})"
+    )
 
 
 def _load_llama_bindings():
diff --git a/src/constants.py b/src/constants.py
index df06122..4566733 100644
--- a/src/constants.py
+++ b/src/constants.py
@@ -12,5 +12,7 @@ MODEL_URL = (
     "https://huggingface.co/bartowski/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct-GGUF/resolve/main/"
     "Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf"
 )
+MODEL_SHA256 = "6c1a2b41161032677be168d354123594c0e6e67d2b9227c84f296ad037c728ff"
+MODEL_DOWNLOAD_TIMEOUT_SEC = 60
 MODEL_DIR = Path.home() / ".cache" / "aman" / "models"
 MODEL_PATH = MODEL_DIR / MODEL_NAME
diff --git a/tests/test_aiprocess.py b/tests/test_aiprocess.py
index 1724d00..51d28c8 100644
--- a/tests/test_aiprocess.py
+++ b/tests/test_aiprocess.py
@@ -7,7 +7,12 @@ SRC = ROOT / "src"
 if str(SRC) not in sys.path:
     sys.path.insert(0, str(SRC))
 
-from aiprocess import _extract_cleaned_text, _supports_response_format
+from aiprocess import (
+    _assert_expected_model_checksum,
+    _extract_cleaned_text,
+    _supports_response_format,
+)
+from constants import MODEL_SHA256
 
 
 class ExtractCleanedTextTests(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -84,5 +89,14 @@ class SupportsResponseFormatTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertFalse(_supports_response_format(chat_completion))
 
 
+class ModelChecksumTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_accepts_expected_checksum_case_insensitive(self):
+        _assert_expected_model_checksum(MODEL_SHA256.upper())
+
+    def test_rejects_unexpected_checksum(self):
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(RuntimeError, "checksum mismatch"):
+            _assert_expected_model_checksum("0" * 64)
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()