diff --git a/cmd/gnoma/main.go b/cmd/gnoma/main.go
index 335d00e..ca74ff2 100644
--- a/cmd/gnoma/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gnoma/main.go
@@ -1113,6 +1113,11 @@ func runSLMCommand(args []string, cfg *gnomacfg.Config, logger *slog.Logger) int
 			cfg.SLM.ModelURL = slm.DefaultModelURL
 			mgr = slm.New(slm.Config{DataDir: dataDir, ModelURL: cfg.SLM.ModelURL}, logger)
 		}
+		if mgr.Status() == slm.StatusReady {
+			mf := mgr.Manifest()
+			fmt.Printf("already set up: %s (%s)\n", mf.FilePath, humanBytes(mf.Size))
+			return 0
+		}
 		fmt.Printf("downloading %s\n", cfg.SLM.ModelURL)
 		var start = time.Now()
 		err := mgr.Setup(context.Background(), func(downloaded, total int64) {
diff --git a/internal/slm/manager.go b/internal/slm/manager.go
index 12d9427..a5d5e59 100644
--- a/internal/slm/manager.go
+++ b/internal/slm/manager.go
@@ -102,6 +102,10 @@ func (m *Manager) Setup(ctx context.Context, progress func(downloaded, total int
 		return fmt.Errorf("slm: ModelURL is required")
 	}
 
+	if m.Status() == StatusReady {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	if err := os.MkdirAll(m.cfg.DataDir, 0700); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("slm: create data dir: %w", err)
 	}