diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index d77a05e..065df50 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1,23 +1,32 @@
-# python
+# ---- Python ---------------------------------------------------------------
 __pycache__/
 .venv/
 *.pyc
 
-# data + tokenizers (regenerate with data/prepare.py)
+# ---- Dataset + tokenizer (downloaded / trained by data/prepare.py) --------
+# The TinyStories slice is ~300MB and the BPE tokenizer + uint16 token bins are
+# regenerable, so none of these are committed. Reproduce with:
+#   uv run python data/prepare.py
 data/*.bin
 data/*.txt
 data/*.json
 
-# training outputs
+# ---- Training checkpoints (created by src/train.py) ------------------------
+# Large and machine-specific; reproduce with src/train.py.
 runs/
 
-# generated firmware artifacts (regenerate with src/export.py, src/gen_assets.py)
+# ---- Generated firmware artifacts ------------------------------------------
+# model.bin and golden.* are produced by src/export.py from a checkpoint in
+# runs/. They are excluded to keep the repo small; the trained weights are also
+# published separately so nobody has to train to reproduce the demo -- see
+# tools/fetch_model.py and firmware/esp32_llm/README.md. vocab.h is produced by
+# src/gen_assets.py from the tokenizer JSON above.
 firmware/model/model.bin
 firmware/model/golden.npz
 firmware/model/golden.txt
 firmware/esp32_llm/vocab.h
 
-# raw video / recordings (demo footage — keep out of the repo)
+# ---- Raw video / recordings (demo footage -- keep out of the repo) ---------
 video/
 videos/
 *.mp4
diff --git a/firmware/esp32_llm/README.md b/firmware/esp32_llm/README.md
index 42024ba..65ea916 100644
--- a/firmware/esp32_llm/README.md
+++ b/firmware/esp32_llm/README.md
@@ -6,6 +6,17 @@ embedding/output head is staged in PSRAM at boot.
 
 ## Build and verify
 
+Get the trained `model.bin` first. It is not committed (see `.gitignore`) -- once
+the weights are released it can be fetched with `tools/fetch_model.py`, which
+verifies the SHA-256 below:
+
+```bash
+python tools/fetch_model.py        # after the model is published (issue #7)
+python tools/fetch_model.py --check-only
+```
+
+Alternatively, export it yourself from a trained checkpoint with `src/export.py`.
+
 Export the group-128 ragged-int4 model and verify the portable C runtime first:
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/tools/fetch_model.py b/tools/fetch_model.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc6ea6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/fetch_model.py
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+"""Fetch the published model artifacts for the ESP32 firmware.
+
+The trained 28.9M-parameter checkpoint is not committed (see .gitignore) and
+reproducing it requires training. The released weights are hosted at
+MODEL_URL once published (tracked in issues #5 and #7); this script downloads
+model.bin, verifies its SHA-256 against the hash documented in
+firmware/esp32_llm/README.md, and writes it into firmware/model/ next to the
+golden files the host verifier needs.
+
+Usage:
+    python tools/fetch_model.py [--url URL] [--sha HEX]
+    python tools/fetch_model.py --check-only
+
+Stdlib only, so it runs anywhere.
+"""
+
+import argparse
+import hashlib
+import os
+import shutil
+import sys
+import tempfile
+import urllib.request
+
+HERE = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
+OUT = os.path.join(HERE, "..", "firmware", "model")
+MODEL_BIN = os.path.join(OUT, "model.bin")
+
+# Fill this in once the weights are released (issue #5). Keep in sync with the
+# SHA-256 printed in firmware/esp32_llm/README.md.
+MODEL_URL = ""
+
+# SHA-256 of the artifact used for the on-device measurements, from
+# firmware/esp32_llm/README.md.
+EXPECTED_SHA = "21067f5d78113f6c64a8720b05ff7e5c774dab0276797a522f81a6797253d97c"
+
+
+def sha256_of(path, chunk=1 << 20):
+    h = hashlib.sha256()
+    with open(path, "rb") as f:
+        while True:
+            block = f.read(chunk)
+            if not block:
+                break
+            h.update(block)
+    return h.hexdigest()
+
+
+def check_only():
+    if not os.path.exists(MODEL_BIN):
+        print(f"not present: {MODEL_BIN}")
+        return 1
+    got = sha256_of(MODEL_BIN)
+    ok = got == EXPECTED_SHA
+    print(f"{MODEL_BIN}")
+    print(f"  expected {EXPECTED_SHA}")
+    print(f"  got      {got}  {'OK' if ok else 'MISMATCH'}")
+    return 0 if ok else 1
+
+
+def main():
+    ap = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    ap.add_argument("--url", default=MODEL_URL, help="direct URL to model.bin")
+    ap.add_argument("--sha", default=EXPECTED_SHA, help="expected SHA-256")
+    ap.add_argument("--check-only", action="store_true",
+                    help="verify an already-downloaded model.bin and exit")
+    args = ap.parse_args()
+
+    if args.check_only:
+        return check_only()
+
+    if not args.url:
+        print("MODEL_URL is not set yet -- the trained weights are not published.")
+        print("Track issue #7 (https://github.com/slvDev/esp32-ai/issues/7) and")
+        print("issue #5 for the release. Once available, set MODEL_URL or pass --url.")
+        return 1
+
+    os.makedirs(OUT, exist_ok=True)
+    tmp = os.path.join(tempfile.gettempdir(), "model.bin.download")
+    print(f"downloading {args.url}")
+    urllib.request.urlretrieve(args.url, tmp)
+    got = sha256_of(tmp)
+    if got != args.sha:
+        print(f"SHA-256 mismatch: expected {args.sha}, got {got}")
+        return 1
+    shutil.move(tmp, MODEL_BIN)
+    print(f"verified + saved {MODEL_BIN} ({os.path.getsize(MODEL_BIN) / 1e6:.2f} MB)")
+    return 0
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(main())