What causes "An error occurred while downloading the model" in Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm?

Enable/start Model Runner in Docker Desktop settings and confirm `docker model` CLI works, then retry

Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm · error · Error

An error occurred while downloading the model

Error message

An error occurred while downloading the model

What it means

Docker Model Runner (DMR) model download UI. After a size confirmation dialog, DMRUtils.downloadModel(modelId, basePath, progressCallback) drives the pull; when it resolves success:false the component throws the util's error text, or this generic fallback when error is empty. The catch shows a toast and the console gets the full error.

Solutions

Enable/start Model Runner in Docker Desktop settings and confirm `docker model` CLI works, then retry
Inspect the browser console and Docker daemon logs for the underlying pull error
Free disk space and confirm the model's shown file size fits
Retry after verifying the model id still appears in the DMR catalog list

Defensive patterns

Strategy: try-catch

Validate before calling

const dmrOnline = await DMRUtils.pingDaemon?.(); // or GET /_ping on the DMR socket
if (!dmrOnline) return showToast("Start Docker Model Runner first", "error");

Try / catch

catch (e) {
  console.error("Error downloading model:", e);
  showToast(e.message, "error", { clear: true });
  if (/daemon|not running|enable/i.test(e.message)) openDockerSettingsHint();
}

Prevention

Verify Docker Desktop with Model Runner enabled is running before opening the model list
Check disk headroom against the displayed model size before confirming the dialog
Keep the progress callback attached so failures surface mid-stream instead of at the end

When it happens

Trigger: Model Runner backend not enabled in Docker Desktop; daemon unreachable or API version mismatch; invalid modelId/basePath; disk space exhausted; registry rate-limited or network blocked mid-pull.

Common situations: Model Runner feature not enabled on the Docker Desktop install; unsupported OS/daemon version; low disk on the Docker VM; corporate proxy/VPN blocking the model registry; model id no longer in the registry.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Mintplex-Labs/anything-llm@3aec848f28 (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b362c4fc727a2b96. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at frontend/src/components/LLMSelection/DockerModelRunnerOptions/index.jsx:256

    setFilteredModels(Array.from(filteredModels.values()));
  }, [searchQuery]);

  async function downloadModel(modelId, fileSize, progressCallback) {
    try {
      if (
        !window.confirm(
          `Are you sure you want to download this model? It is ${fileSize} in size and may take a while to download.`
        )
      )
        return;
      const { success, error } = await DMRUtils.downloadModel(
        modelId,
        basePath,
        progressCallback
      );
      if (!success)
        throw new Error(
          error || "An error occurred while downloading the model"
        );
      progressCallback(100);
      handleSetActiveModel(modelId);

      const existingModels = [...customModels];
      const newModel = existingModels.find((model) => model.id === modelId);
      if (newModel) {
        newModel.downloaded = true;
        setCustomModels(existingModels);
        setFilteredModels(existingModels);
        setSearchQuery("");
      }
    } catch (e) {
      console.error("Error downloading model:", e);
      showToast(
        e.message || "An error occurred while downloading the model",
        "error",

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