diff --git a/src/app_controller.py b/src/app_controller.py
index e7b7bbf..1fed016 100644
--- a/src/app_controller.py
+++ b/src/app_controller.py
@@ -1983,9 +1983,11 @@ class AppController:
     if self.current_model not in models_list and models_list:
      self.current_model = models_list[0]
      ai_client.set_provider(self._current_provider, self.current_model)
-    self.ai_status = f"models loaded: {len(models_list)}"
+    if self.ai_status == "fetching models...":
+     self.ai_status = f"models loaded: {len(models_list)}"
    except Exception as e:
-    self.ai_status = f"model fetch error: {e}"
+    if self.ai_status == "fetching models...":
+     self.ai_status = f"model fetch error: {e}"
   self.models_thread = threading.Thread(target=do_fetch, daemon=True)
   self.models_thread.start()
 
diff --git a/tests/test_rag_engine.py b/tests/test_rag_engine.py
index 34f28f7..04797ca 100644
--- a/tests/test_rag_engine.py
+++ b/tests/test_rag_engine.py
@@ -19,23 +19,26 @@ def test_rag_engine_init_mock(mock_rag_config):
  assert engine.collection == "mock"
 
 @patch('src.rag_engine.LocalEmbeddingProvider.embed')
-@patch('src.rag_engine.chromadb.PersistentClient')
-def test_rag_engine_chroma(mock_chroma, mock_embed):
+@patch('src.rag_engine._get_chromadb')
+def test_rag_engine_chroma(mock_get_chroma, mock_embed):
+ mock_chroma = MagicMock()
+ mock_settings = MagicMock()
+ mock_get_chroma.return_value = (mock_chroma, mock_settings)
+
  mock_embed.return_value = [[0.1, 0.2, 0.3]]
- 
  mock_collection = MagicMock()
  mock_client = MagicMock()
  mock_client.get_or_create_collection.return_value = mock_collection
- mock_chroma.return_value = mock_client
- 
+ mock_chroma.PersistentClient.return_value = mock_client
+
  vs_config = models.VectorStoreConfig(provider='chroma', collection_name='test')
  config = models.RAGConfig(enabled=True, vector_store=vs_config, embedding_provider='local')
- 
+
  with patch('src.rag_engine._get_sentence_transformers') as mock_st:
   mock_st.return_value = MagicMock()
   engine = RAGEngine(config)
   assert engine.collection == mock_collection
-  
+
   engine.add_documents(["doc1"], ["hello world"])
   mock_collection.upsert.assert_called_once()
   
diff --git a/tests/test_rag_visual_sim.py b/tests/test_rag_visual_sim.py
index f46e3df..3d780ab 100644
--- a/tests/test_rag_visual_sim.py
+++ b/tests/test_rag_visual_sim.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ def test_rag_full_lifecycle_sim(live_gui):
   
   # 3. Verify initial status
   status = client.get_value('rag_status')
-  assert status in ['idle', 'ready'], f"Unexpected initial status: {status}"
+  assert status in ['idle', 'ready', 'initializing...'], f"Unexpected initial status: {status}"
   
   # 4. Trigger Rebuild Index
   print("[SIM] Triggering index rebuild...")