diff --git a/electron/bundledModel.test.js b/electron/bundledModel.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2f922fb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/electron/bundledModel.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+// Dictation has to work the instant the app opens: press fn, talk, done. The model is 190MB and
+// lived only as a runtime download, so a fresh install (or anyone offline, or on slow wifi) pressed
+// fn into silence while it fetched. It is now staged into Resources/whisper at build time.
+//
+// resolveModelFile already prefers a bundled model over userData, so these pin the two halves that
+// can silently drift: the build must stage it, and the resolver must look for the one we staged.
+const test = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert');
+const fs = require('fs');
+const path = require('path');
+
+const SH = path.join(__dirname, 'scripts', 'build-whisper.sh');
+const MODELS = require('./voice/whisperModels.js');
+
+test('the build stages the DEFAULT model, the same one the resolver looks for', () => {
+  const sh = fs.readFileSync(SH, 'utf-8');
+  const wanted = MODELS.modelById(MODELS.DEFAULT_MODEL_ID).file;
+  assert.ok(sh.includes(wanted),
+    `build-whisper.sh must stage ${wanted}; the resolver checks resourceDir for exactly that name`);
+});
+
+test('a corrupt model is refused at build time rather than shipped', () => {
+  const sh = fs.readFileSync(SH, 'utf-8');
+  const expected = MODELS.modelById(MODELS.DEFAULT_MODEL_ID).sha256;
+  assert.ok(sh.includes(expected), 'the staged checksum must match the catalog');
+  assert.ok(sh.includes('checksum mismatch') && sh.includes('exit 1'),
+    'a truncated model ships silently and dies at the first press, so it must fail the build');
+});
+
+test('a build without the model warns instead of passing quietly', () => {
+  const sh = fs.readFileSync(SH, 'utf-8');
+  assert.ok(sh.includes('WARNING') && sh.includes('WITHOUT a bundled model'),
+    'silently dropping the model reintroduces the first-press wait with nothing saying so');
+});
+
+test('the bundled model is NOT swept into app.asar', () => {
+  // It belongs in extraResources. Inside the asar it would cost every user the 181MB twice over,
+  // which is the regression removed on 2026-08-25.
+  const pkg = require('./package.json');
+  assert.ok(pkg.build.files.includes('!whisper') && pkg.build.files.includes('!whisper/**'));
+  // Platform-scoped: the entry lives under build.mac.extraResources, not build.extraResources.
+  const extra = JSON.stringify(pkg.build.mac.extraResources);
+  assert.ok(extra.includes('build-staging/whisper'), 'it reaches Resources via extraResources only');
+  assert.ok(extra.includes('"to":"whisper"') || extra.includes('"to": "whisper"'),
+    'and lands at Resources/whisper, which is what voiceResourceDir() resolves');
+});
diff --git a/electron/scripts/build-whisper.sh b/electron/scripts/build-whisper.sh
index 4a2a7c1b..7217f463 100755
--- a/electron/scripts/build-whisper.sh
+++ b/electron/scripts/build-whisper.sh
@@ -59,3 +59,25 @@ file "$OUT/whisper-server"
 if otool -L "$OUT/whisper-server" | grep -qE "/opt/homebrew|/usr/local"; then
     echo "[whisper] ERROR: binary links non-system libraries"; otool -L "$OUT/whisper-server"; exit 1
 fi
+
+# Bundle the default dictation model so fn works the instant the app opens, with no network at all.
+# resolveModelFile (voice/whisperModels.js) already looks for DEFAULT_MODEL_ID here in resourceDir
+# before anything in userData, so staging the file is the whole change. Costs ~181MB in the DMG;
+# the alternative is a user pressing fn into silence while 190MB downloads behind them.
+MODEL_FILE="ggml-small.en-q5_1.bin"
+MODEL_SHA="bfdff4894dcb76bbf647d56263ea2a96645423f1669176f4844a1bf8e478ad30"
+MODEL_SRC="$(cd "$(dirname "$0")/.." && pwd)/whisper/$MODEL_FILE"
+if [[ -f "$MODEL_SRC" ]]; then
+    # Verify BEFORE copying: a truncated model ships silently and dies at the first press.
+    GOT="$(shasum -a 256 "$MODEL_SRC" | cut -d' ' -f1)"
+    if [[ "$GOT" != "$MODEL_SHA" ]]; then
+        echo "[whisper] ERROR: $MODEL_FILE checksum mismatch (got $GOT); refusing to bundle a corrupt model"
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    cp "$MODEL_SRC" "$OUT/$MODEL_FILE"
+    echo "[whisper] bundled model -> $OUT/$MODEL_FILE ($(du -h "$OUT/$MODEL_FILE" | cut -f1))"
+else
+    # Not fatal: the app still prefetches at boot. But say it, because a build without the model
+    # silently reintroduces the first-press wait this was added to remove.
+    echo "[whisper] WARNING: $MODEL_SRC missing; shipping WITHOUT a bundled model (first fn press will wait on a 190MB download)"
+fi