feat: add OpenVINO NPU worker support and frontend UI components for model management and image generation

README.md

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 1. **Check compatibility:** Prebuilt Linux backends are built on Ubuntu 24.04 and require **glibc 2.38+**. Run `ldd --version` to verify.
 2. **Launch:** Open a terminal in the project folder and run **`./linux.sh`** (downloads portable Node.js and pre-compiled GPU backend binaries on first run).
    - For maximum AMD GPU performance, use **`./linux.sh --max-perf`** on first setup (adds the ROCm backend).
+   - For Intel Core Ultra NPU support, install the Intel Linux NPU driver, then run **`./linux.sh --setup-openvino`**.
 3. **Add Models:** Drop `.safetensors`, `.gguf`, or `.ckpt` weights into `app/models/` (or download them via the **Model Manager** tab in the UI).
 4. **Generate:** Open `http://localhost:1420` in your browser, select your model, and write a prompt.
 
@@ -100,6 +101,7 @@ local-ai-image-generator/
 | **NVIDIA** | Vulkan | CPU | No reliable prebuilt Linux CUDA binary is currently available. NVIDIA GPUs use Vulkan. |
 | **AMD Radeon** | ROCm | Vulkan | ROCm provides best AMD performance when host ROCm drivers are available. |
 | **Intel Arc / integrated** | Vulkan | CPU | Cross-vendor Vulkan support. |
+| **Intel Core Ultra NPU** | OpenVINO NPU | CPU | Requires the Intel Linux NPU driver, kernel 6.6+, Python 3, and `./linux.sh --setup-openvino`. |
 | **Integrated / None** | CPU | — | Runs on logical CPU threads (slow). |
 
 ### macOS
@@ -110,13 +112,16 @@ local-ai-image-generator/
 | **Intel Mac** | Source build required | CPU | Official prebuilt macOS backend is Apple Silicon only. |
 
 **System requirements:**
+- **64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11** is required for the portable Node.js 22 runtime used by the Windows launcher.
 - **glibc 2.38 or newer** is required for the prebuilt Linux backends (Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora 40+, etc.).
 - The setup script will warn you if your glibc is older. You can still run setup, but the prebuilt backends will not start.
+- **Linux OpenVINO NPU:** Intel Core Ultra, x86_64 Linux, kernel 6.6+, a working `/dev/accel/accel0` device, Python 3 with `venv`, and the Intel Linux NPU driver are required.
 - **Apple Silicon (M1 or newer)** is required for the prebuilt macOS Metal backend.
 
 **Linux setup modes:**
 - **Default (`./linux.sh`)**: Downloads CPU + Vulkan backends (~120–150 MB).
 - **Maximum Performance (`./linux.sh --max-perf`)**: Also downloads the ROCm backend. Total download ~1.3 GB.
+- **Intel NPU (`./linux.sh --setup-openvino`)**: Creates a local OpenVINO Python environment and verifies that the Intel NPU driver exposes an `NPU` device.
 
 ---
 

app/frontend/src/App.jsx

@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ function App() {
     width: 1024,
     height: 1024,
     steps: 4,          // Recommended default steps for Flux.1 Schnell/Lightning
+    npuSteps: 4,
+    standardSteps: 20,
     cfgScale: 1.0,     // Recommended default CFG for Flux.1 Schnell
     sampler: "euler_a",
     seed: -1,
@@ -277,10 +279,22 @@ function App() {
   useEffect(() => {
     if (activeModel) {
       const name = activeModel.toLowerCase();
-      if (name.includes("flux") || name.includes("schnell")) {
+      if (name.includes("lcm-dreamshaper-v7-fp16")) {
         setConstraints((prev) => ({
           ...prev,
           steps: 4,
+          npuSteps: 4,
+          cfgScale: 1.0,
+          width: 512,
+          height: 512,
+          backendType: "openvino-npu",
+          useGpu: true,
+        }));
+      } else if (name.includes("flux") || name.includes("schnell")) {
+        setConstraints((prev) => ({
+          ...prev,
+          steps: 4,
+          standardSteps: 4,
           cfgScale: 1.0,
           width: 1024,
           height: 1024,
@@ -289,6 +303,7 @@ function App() {
         setConstraints((prev) => ({
           ...prev,
           steps: 4,
+          standardSteps: 4,
           cfgScale: 1.5,
           width: 1024,
           height: 1024,
@@ -297,6 +312,7 @@ function App() {
         setConstraints((prev) => ({
           ...prev,
           steps: 25,
+          standardSteps: 25,
           cfgScale: 7.0,
           width: 512,
           height: 512,
@@ -305,6 +321,7 @@ function App() {
         setConstraints((prev) => ({
           ...prev,
           steps: 20,
+          standardSteps: 20,
           cfgScale: 4.5,
           width: 1024,
           height: 1024,
@@ -314,6 +331,7 @@ function App() {
         setConstraints((prev) => ({
           ...prev,
           steps: 20,
+          standardSteps: 20,
           cfgScale: 7.0,
           width: 512,
           height: 512,
@@ -353,6 +371,7 @@ function App() {
             serverRunning={serverRunning}
             setServerRunning={setServerRunning}
             constraints={constraints}
+            backendOptions={backendOptions}
             showAlert={showAlert}
             showConfirm={showConfirm}
           />
@@ -365,6 +384,11 @@ function App() {
             activeModel={activeModel}
             specs={specs}
             backendOptions={backendOptions}
+            serverRunning={serverRunning}
+            setServerRunning={setServerRunning}
+            setActiveModel={setActiveModel}
+            showAlert={showAlert}
+            showConfirm={showConfirm}
           />
         );
       default:

app/frontend/src/components/Generator.jsx

@@ -98,6 +98,8 @@ function Generator({
             settings.sampler !== constraints.sampler ||
             parseInt(settings.threads) !== parseInt(constraints.threads) ||
             Boolean(settings.useGpu) !== (constraints.useGpu !== false) ||
+            parseInt(settings.width || 512) !== parseInt(constraints.width || 512) ||
+            parseInt(settings.height || 512) !== parseInt(constraints.height || 512) ||
             (settings.backendType || (settings.useGpu === false ? "cpu" : "auto")) !== (constraints.backendType || (constraints.useGpu === false ? "cpu" : "auto"))) {
           needsRestart = true;
         }
@@ -115,7 +117,8 @@ function Generator({
         
         let isReady = false;
         let crashError = null;
-        for (let i = 0; i < 240; i++) { // Poll for up to 120 seconds (240 * 500ms)
+        const maxStartupPolls = constraints.backendType === "openvino-npu" ? 1200 : 240;
+        for (let i = 0; i < maxStartupPolls; i++) {
           const status = await getBackendStatus();
           if (status.loading) {
             setRestartLoadProgress({

app/frontend/src/components/ImageConstraints.jsx

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
-import React, { memo } from "react";
+import React, { memo, useEffect } from "react";
 import { Crop, Sliders, Cpu, Info } from "lucide-react";
+import { stopServer } from "../services/api";
 
 const ASPECT_RATIOS = [
   { id: "1:1", label: "1:1 Square", width: 512, height: 512, sdxl_width: 1024, sdxl_height: 1024, desc: "Social posts & avatars" },
@@ -17,26 +18,55 @@ const isSD15OrCustomModel = (modelName) => {
   return true;
 };
 
-function ImageConstraints({ constraints, setConstraints, activeModel, specs, backendOptions }) {
+function ImageConstraints({
+  constraints,
+  setConstraints,
+  activeModel,
+  specs,
+  backendOptions,
+  serverRunning,
+  setServerRunning,
+  setActiveModel,
+  showAlert = async ({ message }) => window.alert(message),
+  showConfirm = async ({ message }) => window.confirm(message),
+}) {
   const isSD15OrCustom = activeModel ? isSD15OrCustomModel(activeModel) : false;
+  const isOpenVinoNpu = constraints.backendType === "openvino-npu";
+  const forceStandardMode = isSD15OrCustom && !isOpenVinoNpu;
   const availableBackends = backendOptions?.options?.length
     ? backendOptions.options
     : [{ id: "cpu", label: "CPU", available: true }];
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (isOpenVinoNpu && constraints.steps > 8) {
+      setConstraints((prev) => ({ ...prev, steps: 8, npuSteps: 8 }));
+    }
+  }, [constraints.steps, isOpenVinoNpu, setConstraints]);
+
   const updateConstraint = (key, value) => {
     setConstraints((prev) => ({
       ...prev,
-      [key]: value
+      [key]: value,
+      ...(key === "steps"
+        ? isOpenVinoNpu
+          ? { npuSteps: value }
+          : { standardSteps: value }
+        : {}),
     }));
   };
 
   const handleAspectRatioChange = (ratio, sizeType) => {
+    if (isOpenVinoNpu && ratio !== "1:1") return;
     const isSDXL = sizeType === "sdxl" && !isSD15OrCustom;
     const selected = ASPECT_RATIOS.find((r) => r.id === ratio);
     if (selected) {
       let w = isSDXL ? selected.sdxl_width : selected.width;
       let h = isSDXL ? selected.sdxl_height : selected.height;
-      if (isSD15OrCustom) {
+      if (isOpenVinoNpu) {
+        const size = constraints.width >= 1024 ? 1024 : 512;
+        w = size;
+        h = size;
+      } else if (isSD15OrCustom) {
         if (w > h) {
           h = Math.round((h * 512) / w);
           w = 512;
@@ -52,11 +82,55 @@ function ImageConstraints({ constraints, setConstraints, activeModel, specs, bac
     }
   };
 
-  const handleBackendChange = (backendType) => {
+  const handleBackendChange = async (backendType) => {
+    const currentBackend = constraints.backendType || "cpu";
+    if (backendType === currentBackend) return;
+
+    const isGpuBackend = (type) => !["cpu", "openvino-npu"].includes(type);
+    const switchesAccelerator =
+      (currentBackend === "openvino-npu" && isGpuBackend(backendType)) ||
+      (isGpuBackend(currentBackend) && backendType === "openvino-npu");
+
+    if (serverRunning && switchesAccelerator) {
+      const leavingNpu = currentBackend === "openvino-npu";
+      const confirmed = await showConfirm({
+        title: leavingNpu ? "Unload NPU Model?" : "Unload GPU Model?",
+        message: leavingNpu
+          ? "The OpenVINO NPU model must be unloaded before switching to the GPU backend."
+          : "The GPU model must be unloaded before switching to the OpenVINO NPU backend.",
+        confirmLabel: "Unload",
+        cancelLabel: "Cancel",
+        danger: true,
+      });
+      if (!confirmed) return;
+
+      try {
+        await stopServer();
+        setServerRunning(false);
+        setActiveModel(null);
+      } catch (err) {
+        await showAlert({
+          title: "Unload Failed",
+          message: err.message || String(err),
+          danger: true,
+        });
+        return;
+      }
+    }
+
     setConstraints((prev) => ({
       ...prev,
       backendType,
       useGpu: backendType !== "cpu",
+      steps: backendType === "openvino-npu"
+        ? Math.max(1, Math.min(8, prev.npuSteps || 4))
+        : Math.max(1, Math.min(60, prev.standardSteps || 20)),
+      ...(backendType === "openvino-npu"
+        ? {
+            width: prev.width >= 1024 ? 1024 : 512,
+            height: prev.width >= 1024 ? 1024 : 512,
+          }
+        : {}),
     }));
   };
 
@@ -79,7 +153,25 @@ function ImageConstraints({ constraints, setConstraints, activeModel, specs, bac
               1. Picture Size & Shape
             </h3>
             
-            {isSD15OrCustom && (
+            {isOpenVinoNpu ? (
+              <div style={{
+                background: "rgba(99, 102, 241, 0.1)",
+                border: "1px solid var(--md-sys-color-primary)",
+                color: "var(--md-sys-color-on-surface)",
+                padding: "12px",
+                borderRadius: "8px",
+                marginBottom: "16px",
+                fontSize: "0.85rem",
+                display: "flex",
+                gap: "8px",
+                alignItems: "flex-start"
+              }}>
+                <Info size={16} style={{ color: "var(--md-sys-color-primary)", flexShrink: 0, marginTop: "2px" }} />
+                <div>
+                  <strong>OpenVINO NPU Resolution:</strong> The NPU generates at its stable 512x512 resolution. HD mode produces a 1024x1024 output using high-quality Lanczos upscaling without recompiling the model.
+                </div>
+              </div>
+            ) : isSD15OrCustom && (
               <div style={{
                 background: "rgba(251, 191, 36, 0.1)",
                 border: "1px solid rgb(251, 191, 36)",
@@ -104,7 +196,7 @@ function ImageConstraints({ constraints, setConstraints, activeModel, specs, bac
               <div className="m3-text-field">
                 <label className="m3-text-field-label">AI Generation Engine Optimization</label>
                 <div className="m3-segmented-button">
-                  {isSD15OrCustom ? (
+                  {forceStandardMode ? (
                     <div
                       className="m3-segment-item disabled"
                       style={{
@@ -115,7 +207,7 @@ function ImageConstraints({ constraints, setConstraints, activeModel, specs, bac
                       }}
                       title="High Quality Mode is disabled for SD 1.x models."
                     >
-                      High Quality Mode (1024px)
+                      {isOpenVinoNpu ? "HD Upscale (1024px)" : "High Quality Mode (1024px)"}
                     </div>
                   ) : (
                     <div
@@ -125,11 +217,11 @@ function ImageConstraints({ constraints, setConstraints, activeModel, specs, bac
                         updateConstraint("height", 1024);
                       }}
                     >
-                      High Quality Mode (1024px)
+                      {isOpenVinoNpu ? "HD Upscale (1024px)" : "High Quality Mode (1024px)"}
                     </div>
                   )}
                   <div
-                    className={`m3-segment-item ${constraints.width < 1024 || isSD15OrCustom ? "active" : ""}`}
+                    className={`m3-segment-item ${constraints.width < 1024 ? "active" : ""}`}
                     onClick={() => {
                       updateConstraint("width", 512);
                       updateConstraint("height", 512);
@@ -139,7 +231,9 @@ function ImageConstraints({ constraints, setConstraints, activeModel, specs, bac
                   </div>
                 </div>
                 <span style={{ fontSize: "0.75rem", color: "var(--md-sys-color-outline)", marginTop: "4px" }}>
-                  {isSD15OrCustom 
+                  {isOpenVinoNpu
+                    ? "*HD mode generates at 512x512 on the NPU, then upscales to 1024x1024. It improves output size, but does not add native diffusion detail."
+                    : isSD15OrCustom
                     ? "*Standard Speed Mode (512px) is forced for SD 1.5 / custom models to ensure stable local generations." 
                     : "*Use High Quality (1024px) for Flux or SDXL models. Use Standard (512px) for SD 1.5."}
                 </span>
@@ -151,10 +245,12 @@ function ImageConstraints({ constraints, setConstraints, activeModel, specs, bac
                 <div style={{ display: "grid", gridTemplateColumns: "1fr 1fr", gap: "8px" }}>
                   {ASPECT_RATIOS.map((ratio) => {
                     const isActive = Math.abs((constraints.width / constraints.height) - (ratio.width / ratio.height)) < 0.1;
+                    const isUnsupportedOpenVinoShape = isOpenVinoNpu && ratio.id !== "1:1";
                     return (
                       <button
                         key={ratio.id}
                         className={`m3-btn m3-btn-outlined aspect-ratio-btn ${isActive ? "active" : ""}`}
+                        disabled={isUnsupportedOpenVinoShape}
                         style={{
                           height: "86px",
                           display: "flex",
@@ -165,12 +261,14 @@ function ImageConstraints({ constraints, setConstraints, activeModel, specs, bac
                           borderRadius: "var(--md-shape-corner-medium)",
                           borderColor: "var(--md-sys-color-outline-variant)"
                         }}
-                        onClick={() => handleAspectRatioChange(ratio.id, isSD15OrCustom ? "sd15" : (constraints.width >= 1024 ? "sdxl" : "sd15"))}
+                        onClick={() => handleAspectRatioChange(ratio.id, forceStandardMode ? "sd15" : (constraints.width >= 1024 ? "sdxl" : "sd15"))}
                       >
                         <div className={`aspect-ratio-preview ratio-${ratio.id.replace(":", "-")}`}></div>
                         <span style={{ fontWeight: 600, fontSize: "0.85rem", marginTop: "2px" }}>{ratio.label}</span>
                         <span style={{ fontSize: "0.68rem", opacity: 0.7 }}>
-                          {isSD15OrCustom
+                          {isUnsupportedOpenVinoShape
+                            ? "Not yet supported on NPU"
+                            : forceStandardMode
                             ? `Max: ${ratio.id === "1:1" ? "512x512" : ratio.id === "4:3" ? "512x384" : ratio.id === "16:9" ? "512x288" : "288x512"}`
                             : ratio.desc}
                         </span>
@@ -202,10 +300,12 @@ function ImageConstraints({ constraints, setConstraints, activeModel, specs, bac
                   value={constraints.steps}
                   onChange={(e) => updateConstraint("steps", parseInt(e.target.value))}
                   min="1"
-                  max="60"
+                  max={isOpenVinoNpu ? "8" : "60"}
                 />
                 <span style={{ fontSize: "0.75rem", color: "var(--md-sys-color-outline)", lineHeight: "1.3" }}>
-                  The number of times the AI cleans up the image. More steps = sharper details, but takes longer.
+                  {isOpenVinoNpu
+                    ? "LCM OpenVINO uses 1-8 fast inference steps. Progress is reported after each completed NPU step."
+                    : "The number of times the AI cleans up the image. More steps = sharper details, but takes longer."}
                 </span>
               </div>
 

app/frontend/src/components/ModelManager.jsx

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import React, { memo, useState, useEffect } from "react";
 import { FolderOpen, DownloadCloud, RefreshCw, Database, Trash2, Square, HardDrive, Library, AlertTriangle } from "lucide-react";
-import { listLocalModels, startServer, stopServer, importModelFile, deleteModel, downloadModel, cancelModelDownload, getDownloadProgress, getBackendStatus, pingServer, formatBytes, normalizeModel } from "../services/api";
+import { listLocalModels, startServer, stopServer, importModelFile, deleteModel, downloadModel, downloadOpenVinoModel, cancelModelDownload, getDownloadProgress, getBackendStatus, pingServer, formatBytes, normalizeModel } from "../services/api";
 
 const MODEL_LIBRARY = [
   {
@@ -60,7 +60,26 @@ const MODEL_LIBRARY = [
   },
 ];
 
-function ModelManager({ activeModel, setActiveModel, serverRunning, setServerRunning, constraints, showAlert = async ({ message }) => window.alert(message), showConfirm = async ({ message }) => window.confirm(message) }) {
+const OPENVINO_MODEL_LIBRARY = [
+  {
+    group: "Intel NPU - OpenVINO Test",
+    items: [
+      {
+        id: "lcm-dreamshaper-v7-fp16",
+        name: "LCM DreamShaper v7 FP16",
+        filename: "lcm-dreamshaper-v7-fp16",
+        format: "OpenVINO",
+        backendType: "openvino-npu",
+        approxSize: "2.0 GB",
+        resolution: "512x512",
+        notes: "NPU test model for Windows and Linux. Runs the text encoder on CPU, UNet on Intel NPU, and VAE decoder on Intel GPU or CPU fallback.",
+        url: "https://huggingface.co/OpenVINO/LCM_Dreamshaper_v7-fp16-ov",
+      },
+    ],
+  },
+];
+
+function ModelManager({ activeModel, setActiveModel, serverRunning, setServerRunning, constraints, backendOptions, showAlert = async ({ message }) => window.alert(message), showConfirm = async ({ message }) => window.confirm(message) }) {
   const [localModels, setLocalModels] = useState([]);
   const [downloadingModelId, setDownloadingModelId] = useState(null);
   const [downloadProgress, setDownloadProgress] = useState(0);
@@ -78,6 +97,9 @@ function ModelManager({ activeModel, setActiveModel, serverRunning, setServerRun
 
   const modelNames = localModels.map((model) => normalizeModel(model).filename);
   const isBusy = loadingModelId !== null || isUnloading;
+  const openvinoSupported = Boolean(backendOptions?.openvinoNpu?.supported);
+  const visibleModelLibrary = openvinoSupported ? [...MODEL_LIBRARY, ...OPENVINO_MODEL_LIBRARY] : MODEL_LIBRARY;
+  const getLocalModelInfo = (modelId) => localModels.map(normalizeModel).find((model) => model.filename === modelId);
 
   useEffect(() => {
     fetchModels();
@@ -217,7 +239,21 @@ function ModelManager({ activeModel, setActiveModel, serverRunning, setServerRun
     setDownloadUrl("");
   };
 
-  const handleLibraryDownload = (model) => {
+  const handleLibraryDownload = async (model) => {
+    if (model.backendType === "openvino-npu") {
+      if (downloadingModelId) return;
+      try {
+        const res = await downloadOpenVinoModel(model.id);
+        if (res.ok) {
+          startProgressPolling(model.filename);
+        } else {
+          showAlert({ title: "Download Failed", message: res.error || "Unknown error", danger: true });
+        }
+      } catch (err) {
+        showAlert({ title: "Download Error", message: err.message, danger: true });
+      }
+      return;
+    }
     downloadByUrl(model.url, model.filename);
   };
 
@@ -246,7 +282,11 @@ function ModelManager({ activeModel, setActiveModel, serverRunning, setServerRun
     
     if (!isTauriDesktop && !isLocalServerMode) {
       const isAlreadyRunning = await pingServer();
-      const cmd = `.\\backend\\win\\vulkan\\sd-vulkan.exe --listen-port ${backendPort} --model .\\models\\${modelId} --threads 8`;
+      const modelInfo = getLocalModelInfo(modelId);
+      const isOpenVinoModel = modelInfo?.backendType === "openvino-npu";
+      const cmd = isOpenVinoModel
+        ? `Run the platform launcher and load "${modelId}" from Model Manager on a configured Intel NPU machine.`
+        : `.\\backend\\win\\vulkan\\sd-vulkan.exe --listen-port ${backendPort} --model .\\models\\${modelId} --threads 8`;
       
       if (isAlreadyRunning) {
         if (await showConfirm({ title: "Web Browser Mode", message: `To load "${modelId}" on the active GPU server, restart your terminal backend with:\n\n${cmd}\n\nUpdate the UI status anyway?`, confirmLabel: "Update UI" })) {
@@ -275,7 +315,19 @@ function ModelManager({ activeModel, setActiveModel, serverRunning, setServerRun
       device: "",
     });
     try {
-      const response = await startServer(modelId, constraints);
+      const modelInfo = getLocalModelInfo(modelId);
+      const loadConstraints = modelInfo?.backendType === "openvino-npu"
+        ? {
+            ...constraints,
+            backendType: "openvino-npu",
+            useGpu: true,
+            width: constraints.width >= 1024 ? 1024 : 512,
+            height: constraints.height >= 1024 ? 1024 : 512,
+            steps: Math.max(1, Math.min(8, constraints.steps || 4)),
+            cfgScale: constraints.cfgScale || 1,
+          }
+        : constraints;
+      const response = await startServer(modelId, loadConstraints);
       console.log(response);
       
       let isReady = false;
@@ -601,7 +653,7 @@ function ModelManager({ activeModel, setActiveModel, serverRunning, setServerRun
                   <div style={{ display: "flex", flexDirection: "column", gap: "2px" }}>
                     <span style={{ fontWeight: 600, fontSize: "0.95rem" }}>{filename}</span>
                     <span style={{ fontSize: "0.75rem", opacity: 0.8 }}>
-                      Local Weights File • {model.size || formatBytes(model.sizeBytes)}
+                      {model.backendType === "openvino-npu" ? "OpenVINO NPU Model" : model.format || "Local Weights File"} • {model.size || formatBytes(model.sizeBytes)}
                     </span>
                   </div>
                   
@@ -654,7 +706,7 @@ function ModelManager({ activeModel, setActiveModel, serverRunning, setServerRun
       </div>
 
       <div style={{ display: "flex", flexDirection: "column", gap: "16px" }}>
-        {MODEL_LIBRARY.map((section) => (
+        {visibleModelLibrary.map((section) => (
           <div key={section.group} className="m3-card" style={{ margin: 0 }}>
             <h4 style={{ fontWeight: 700, marginBottom: "12px" }}>{section.group}</h4>
             <div style={{ display: "grid", gridTemplateColumns: "repeat(auto-fit, minmax(280px, 1fr))", gap: "12px" }}>

app/frontend/src/services/api.js

@@ -48,8 +48,12 @@ export function normalizeModel(model) {
   }
   return {
     filename: model?.filename || model?.name || "",
+    name: model?.name || model?.filename || "",
     sizeBytes: Number(model?.sizeBytes || 0),
     size: model?.size || (model?.sizeBytes ? formatBytes(model.sizeBytes) : "Unknown"),
+    format: model?.format || "Local Weights File",
+    backendType: model?.backendType || "",
+    resolution: model?.resolution || "",
   };
 }
 
@@ -254,6 +258,8 @@ export async function startServer(modelPath, constraints) {
         threads:  constraints.threads  || 8,
         use_gpu:  constraints.useGpu !== false,
         backend_type: constraints.backendType || (constraints.useGpu === false ? "cpu" : "auto"),
+        width: constraints.width || 512,
+        height: constraints.height || 512,
         vae_tiling: constraints.vaeTiling !== false,
         vae_on_cpu: constraints.vaeOnCpu === true,
       }),
@@ -330,14 +336,34 @@ export async function deleteGeneratedOutputs(outputs) {
 // List model files from the models folder (via management API in web mode)
 export async function listModelsFromDisk() {
   try {
-    const r = await fetch("/api/models");
-    const data = await r.json();
-    return (data.models || []).map(normalizeModel);
+    const [modelRes, openvino] = await Promise.all([
+      fetch("/api/models"),
+      listOpenVinoModels().catch(() => ({ supported: false, models: [] })),
+    ]);
+    const data = await modelRes.json();
+    const normalModels = (data.models || []).map(normalizeModel);
+    const openvinoModels = openvino.supported
+      ? (openvino.models || []).filter((model) => model.installed).map((model) => normalizeModel({
+          filename: model.id,
+          name: model.name,
+          sizeBytes: model.sizeBytes,
+          size: model.size,
+          format: "OpenVINO",
+          backendType: "openvino-npu",
+          resolution: model.resolution,
+        }))
+      : [];
+    return [...normalModels, ...openvinoModels];
   } catch (_) {
     return [];
   }
 }
 
+export async function listOpenVinoModels() {
+  const res = await fetch("/api/openvino-models");
+  return await readJsonResponse(res, "The local server returned invalid OpenVINO model data.");
+}
+
 // Generate image (T2I / I2I)
 // Handles API calls to sd-server. If the server is unreachable or returns an error,
 // we surface that error to the UI instead of silently returning a fake placeholder.
@@ -345,8 +371,6 @@ export async function generateImage(prompt, negativePrompt, constraints, activeM
   console.log("Initiating image generation:", { prompt, negativePrompt, constraints, activeModelName });
   const startTime = Date.now();
 
-  const baseUrl = await getBackendBaseUrl();
-  
   // Prepare payload based on standard stable-diffusion.cpp REST endpoint schemas
   const payload = {
     prompt: prompt,
@@ -361,6 +385,45 @@ export async function generateImage(prompt, negativePrompt, constraints, activeM
     denoising_strength: constraints.denoisingStrength || 0.7,
   };
 
+  if (constraints.backendType === "openvino-npu") {
+    if (inputImageBase64) {
+      throw new Error("OpenVINO NPU test mode currently supports text-to-image only.");
+    }
+    const response = await fetch("/api/openvino-generate", {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+      signal,
+      body: JSON.stringify({
+        prompt: payload.prompt,
+        negative_prompt: payload.negative_prompt,
+        steps: payload.steps,
+        cfg_scale: payload.cfg_scale,
+        seed: payload.seed,
+        width: payload.width,
+        height: payload.height,
+      }),
+    });
+    const data = await readJsonResponse(response, "The local server returned an invalid OpenVINO generation response.");
+    const imgB64 = data?.data?.[0]?.b64_json;
+    if (!imgB64) throw new Error("OpenVINO generation did not return an image.");
+    const normalizedB64 = String(imgB64).replace(/^data:[^;]+;base64,/, "");
+    const header = atob(normalizedB64.slice(0, 24));
+    const isPng = header.charCodeAt(0) === 0x89 && header.slice(1, 4) === "PNG";
+    const isJpeg = header.charCodeAt(0) === 0xff && header.charCodeAt(1) === 0xd8 && header.charCodeAt(2) === 0xff;
+    const isWebp = header.slice(0, 4) === "RIFF" && header.slice(8, 12) === "WEBP";
+    if (!isPng && !isJpeg && !isWebp) {
+      throw new Error("OpenVINO generation returned an invalid image payload instead of a real PNG/JPEG/WebP.");
+    }
+    const durationSec = Number(data.duration_sec) || parseFloat(((Date.now() - startTime) / 1000).toFixed(1));
+    return {
+      image: `data:image/png;base64,${normalizedB64}`,
+      seed: data.data?.[0]?.seed ?? payload.seed,
+      duration_sec: durationSec,
+    };
+  }
+
+  const baseUrl = await getBackendBaseUrl();
+
 
   // txt2img uses /v1/images/generations; img2img uses /sdapi/v1/img2img.
   const isImg2Img = !!payload.image;
@@ -416,9 +479,17 @@ export async function generateImage(prompt, negativePrompt, constraints, activeM
       // Response: { data: [{ b64_json: "..." }] }
       const imgB64 = data?.data?.[0]?.b64_json ?? data?.images?.[0];
       if (imgB64) {
+        const normalizedB64 = String(imgB64).replace(/^data:[^;]+;base64,/, "");
+        const header = atob(normalizedB64.slice(0, 24));
+        const isPng = header.charCodeAt(0) === 0x89 && header.slice(1, 4) === "PNG";
+        const isJpeg = header.charCodeAt(0) === 0xff && header.charCodeAt(1) === 0xd8 && header.charCodeAt(2) === 0xff;
+        const isWebp = header.slice(0, 4) === "RIFF" && header.slice(8, 12) === "WEBP";
+        if (!isPng && !isJpeg && !isWebp) {
+          throw new Error("Generation returned an invalid image payload instead of a real PNG/JPEG/WebP.");
+        }
         const durationSec = parseFloat(((Date.now() - startTime) / 1000).toFixed(1));
         return {
-          image:        `data:image/png;base64,${imgB64}`,
+          image:        `data:image/png;base64,${normalizedB64}`,
           seed:         data.data?.[0]?.seed ?? payload.seed,
           duration_sec: durationSec,
         };
@@ -654,6 +725,20 @@ export async function downloadModel(url) {
   }
 }
 
+export async function downloadOpenVinoModel(modelId) {
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch("/api/download-openvino-model", {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers: { "Content-Type": "application/json" },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ model_id: modelId })
+    });
+    return await readJsonResponse(res, "The local server returned an invalid OpenVINO download response.");
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.error("Failed to start OpenVINO model download:", e);
+    return { ok: false, error: e.message };
+  }
+}
+
 export async function cancelModelDownload() {
   try {
     const res = await fetch("/api/cancel-download", { method: "POST" });

linux.sh

@@ -30,10 +30,27 @@ FRONTEND_PORT="${FRONTEND_PORT:-1420}"
 SETUP_REASON=""
 SETUP_MODE="Repair"
 MAX_PERF_FLAG=""
+SETUP_OPENVINO=0
 
 # Parse args
-if [[ "${1:-}" == "--max-perf" ]]; then
-  MAX_PERF_FLAG="--max-perf"
+for arg in "$@"; do
+  case "$arg" in
+    --max-perf)
+      MAX_PERF_FLAG="--max-perf"
+      ;;
+    --setup-openvino)
+      SETUP_OPENVINO=1
+      ;;
+    *)
+      echo "[ERROR] Unknown option: $arg" >&2
+      echo "Usage: ./linux.sh [--max-perf] [--setup-openvino]" >&2
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+done
+
+if [[ $SETUP_OPENVINO -eq 1 ]]; then
+  bash "$SCRIPT_DIR/scripts/setup-openvino-npu.sh"
 fi
 
 # ── Symlink node_modules to avoid OS conflicts ──────────────────────────────

scripts/openvino_npu_worker.py

@@ -0,0 +1,187 @@
+import argparse
+import base64
+import json
+import sys
+import time
+from http.server import BaseHTTPRequestHandler, ThreadingHTTPServer
+from io import BytesIO
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import openvino as ov
+import openvino_genai as genai
+from PIL import Image
+
+
+class WorkerState:
+    def __init__(self, model_dir: Path, width: int, height: int, cache_dir: Path):
+        self.model_dir = model_dir
+        self.width = width
+        self.height = height
+        self.cache_dir = cache_dir
+        self.ready = False
+        self.error = None
+        self.pipeline = None
+        self.devices = {}
+        self.started_at = time.time()
+
+    def load(self) -> None:
+        try:
+            available_devices = ov.Core().available_devices
+            if "NPU" not in available_devices:
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    f"Intel NPU is not available to OpenVINO. Devices: {', '.join(available_devices)}"
+                )
+            vae_device = "GPU" if "GPU" in available_devices else "CPU"
+            self.devices = {
+                "text_encoder": "CPU",
+                "unet": "NPU",
+                "vae_decoder": vae_device,
+            }
+            print(f"[openvino-npu] Loading model: {self.model_dir}", flush=True)
+            print(
+                "[openvino-npu] Devices: "
+                f"text_encoder=CPU, unet=NPU, vae_decoder={vae_device}",
+                flush=True,
+            )
+            self.cache_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+            pipe = genai.Text2ImagePipeline(str(self.model_dir))
+            pipe.reshape(1, self.height, self.width, 1.0)
+            pipe.compile(
+                "CPU",
+                "NPU",
+                vae_device,
+                config={"CACHE_DIR": str(self.cache_dir)},
+            )
+            self.pipeline = pipe
+            self.ready = True
+            print("[openvino-npu] READY", flush=True)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            self.error = str(exc)
+            print(f"[openvino-npu] ERROR: {self.error}", file=sys.stderr, flush=True)
+            raise
+
+
+def make_handler(state: WorkerState):
+    class Handler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
+        def _json(self, code: int, payload: dict) -> None:
+            body = json.dumps(payload).encode("utf-8")
+            self.send_response(code)
+            self.send_header("Content-Type", "application/json")
+            self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*")
+            self.send_header("Content-Length", str(len(body)))
+            self.end_headers()
+            self.wfile.write(body)
+
+        def do_OPTIONS(self) -> None:
+            self.send_response(204)
+            self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*")
+            self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "Content-Type")
+            self.send_header("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "GET,POST,OPTIONS")
+            self.end_headers()
+
+        def do_GET(self) -> None:
+            if self.path == "/health":
+                self._json(200, {
+                    "ok": state.ready and not state.error,
+                    "ready": state.ready,
+                    "error": state.error,
+                    "model": str(state.model_dir),
+                    "devices": state.devices,
+                    "uptime_sec": round(time.time() - state.started_at, 1),
+                })
+                return
+            self._json(404, {"ok": False, "error": "Unknown endpoint"})
+
+        def do_POST(self) -> None:
+            if self.path != "/generate":
+                self._json(404, {"ok": False, "error": "Unknown endpoint"})
+                return
+            if not state.ready or state.pipeline is None:
+                self._json(503, {"ok": False, "error": state.error or "OpenVINO NPU worker is not ready"})
+                return
+
+            length = int(self.headers.get("Content-Length", "0") or "0")
+            try:
+                request = json.loads(self.rfile.read(length).decode("utf-8") or "{}")
+                prompt = str(request.get("prompt") or "").strip()
+                if not prompt:
+                    raise ValueError("Prompt is required")
+                steps = max(1, min(8, int(request.get("steps") or 4)))
+                guidance_scale = float(request.get("guidance_scale") or request.get("cfg_scale") or 1.0)
+                width = int(request.get("width") or state.width)
+                height = int(request.get("height") or state.height)
+                if (width, height) not in ((512, 512), (1024, 1024)):
+                    raise ValueError("OpenVINO NPU supports 512x512 generation or 1024x1024 HD upscale.")
+
+                started = time.time()
+                last_step_at = started
+
+                def progress_callback(step: int, num_steps: int, _latent) -> bool:
+                    nonlocal last_step_at
+                    now = time.time()
+                    step_duration = max(0.001, now - last_step_at)
+                    last_step_at = now
+                    print(
+                        f"[openvino-npu] PROGRESS {step + 1}/{num_steps} {1.0 / step_duration:.2f} it/s",
+                        flush=True,
+                    )
+                    return False
+
+                generate_args = {
+                    "width": state.width,
+                    "height": state.height,
+                    "num_inference_steps": steps,
+                    "guidance_scale": guidance_scale,
+                    "rng_seed": int(request.get("seed")) if request.get("seed") not in (None, -1) else int(time.time_ns() % (2**32)),
+                    "callback": progress_callback,
+                }
+                negative_prompt = str(request.get("negative_prompt") or "").strip()
+                if negative_prompt and guidance_scale > 1.0:
+                    generate_args["negative_prompt"] = negative_prompt
+                image_tensor = state.pipeline.generate(prompt, **generate_args)
+                print("[openvino-npu] DECODING", flush=True)
+                image = Image.fromarray(image_tensor.data[0])
+                upscaled = width != state.width or height != state.height
+                if upscaled:
+                    image = image.resize((width, height), Image.Resampling.LANCZOS)
+                buf = BytesIO()
+                image.save(buf, format="PNG")
+                encoded = base64.b64encode(buf.getvalue()).decode("ascii")
+                self._json(200, {
+                    "ok": True,
+                    "data": [{
+                        "b64_json": encoded,
+                        "seed": request.get("seed"),
+                    }],
+                    "generated_size": f"{state.width}x{state.height}",
+                    "output_size": f"{width}x{height}",
+                    "upscaled": upscaled,
+                    "duration_sec": round(time.time() - started, 2),
+                })
+            except Exception as exc:
+                self._json(500, {"ok": False, "error": str(exc)})
+
+        def log_message(self, fmt: str, *args) -> None:
+            print(f"[openvino-npu-http] {fmt % args}", flush=True)
+
+    return Handler
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()
+    parser.add_argument("--model-dir", required=True, type=Path)
+    parser.add_argument("--port", required=True, type=int)
+    parser.add_argument("--width", type=int, default=512)
+    parser.add_argument("--height", type=int, default=512)
+    parser.add_argument("--cache-dir", type=Path, default=Path("app/tools/openvino-cache"))
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    state = WorkerState(args.model_dir, args.width, args.height, args.cache_dir)
+    state.load()
+    server = ThreadingHTTPServer(("127.0.0.1", args.port), make_handler(state))
+    print(f"[openvino-npu] Listening on http://127.0.0.1:{args.port}", flush=True)
+    server.serve_forever()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

scripts/serve.cjs

@@ -68,15 +68,38 @@ const MODELS  = path.join(ROOT, "app", "models");
 if (!fs.existsSync(MODELS)) {
   fs.mkdirSync(MODELS, { recursive: true });
 }
+const OPENVINO_MODELS = path.join(ROOT, "app", "openvino-models");
+if (!fs.existsSync(OPENVINO_MODELS)) {
+  fs.mkdirSync(OPENVINO_MODELS, { recursive: true });
+}
 const OUTPUTS = path.join(ROOT, "app", "outputs");
 if (!fs.existsSync(OUTPUTS)) {
   fs.mkdirSync(OUTPUTS, { recursive: true });
 }
 
+const OPENVINO_NPU_MODELS = [
+  {
+    id: "lcm-dreamshaper-v7-fp16",
+    name: "LCM DreamShaper v7 FP16",
+    repo: "OpenVINO/LCM_Dreamshaper_v7-fp16-ov",
+    folder: "LCM_Dreamshaper_v7-fp16-ov",
+    approxSize: "2.0 GB",
+    resolution: "512x512",
+    notes: "OpenVINO LCM image model. Uses CPU text encoder, NPU UNet, and GPU or CPU VAE decoder.",
+  },
+];
+
 // ── Backend process state ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 let backendProc  = null;
 let backendReady = false;
 let backendError = null;
+let openvinoProc = null;
+let openvinoReady = false;
+let openvinoError = null;
+let openvinoPort = null;
+let openvinoModel = null;
+let openvinoWidth = null;
+let openvinoHeight = null;
 let backendLoadState = {
   active: false,
   phase: "",
@@ -104,6 +127,8 @@ let currentSettings = {
   backendType: "auto",
   vaeTiling: true,
   vaeOnCpu:  false,
+  width: 512,
+  height: 512,
 };
 
 let lastCpuSample = null;
@@ -360,6 +385,98 @@ function getPathSize(targetPath) {
   }
 }
 
+function getOpenVinoPythonCandidates() {
+  const candidates = [];
+  if (process.env.OPENVINO_PYTHON) candidates.push(process.env.OPENVINO_PYTHON);
+  if (osPlatform === "win32") {
+    candidates.push(path.join(ROOT, "app", "tools", "openvino-venv", "Scripts", "python.exe"));
+    candidates.push("C:\\tmp\\npu-test-venv\\Scripts\\python.exe");
+    candidates.push("python");
+  } else {
+    candidates.push(path.join(ROOT, "app", "tools", "openvino-venv", "bin", "python"));
+    candidates.push("python3");
+    candidates.push("python");
+  }
+  return [...new Set(candidates)];
+}
+
+function getOpenVinoPython() {
+  for (const candidate of getOpenVinoPythonCandidates()) {
+    try {
+      const result = spawnSync(candidate, [
+        "-c",
+        "import openvino, openvino_genai, PIL; print(openvino.__version__)",
+      ], { encoding: "utf8", timeout: 10000, stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"] });
+      if (result.status === 0) return candidate;
+    } catch (_) {}
+  }
+  return null;
+}
+
+function getOpenVinoNpuInfo() {
+  if (osPlatform !== "win32" && osPlatform !== "linux") {
+    return { supported: false, reason: "OpenVINO NPU backend is supported on Windows and Linux Intel Core Ultra systems." };
+  }
+  const python = getOpenVinoPython();
+  if (!python) {
+    const setupScript = osPlatform === "win32"
+      ? "scripts/setup-openvino-npu.ps1"
+      : "bash scripts/setup-openvino-npu.sh";
+    return {
+      supported: false,
+      reason: `OpenVINO GenAI runtime is not installed. Run ${setupScript} first.`,
+    };
+  }
+  try {
+    const script = [
+      "import json, openvino as ov",
+      "core=ov.Core()",
+      "devices=core.available_devices",
+      "info={'devices':devices,'npu':None}",
+      "if 'NPU' in devices:",
+      "    info['npu']={'name':core.get_property('NPU','FULL_DEVICE_NAME'),'capabilities':core.get_property('NPU','OPTIMIZATION_CAPABILITIES')}",
+      "print(json.dumps(info))",
+    ].join("\n");
+    const result = spawnSync(python, ["-c", script], { encoding: "utf8", timeout: 15000, stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"] });
+    if (result.status !== 0) {
+      return { supported: false, python, reason: result.stderr.trim() || "OpenVINO NPU probe failed." };
+    }
+    const info = JSON.parse(result.stdout.trim());
+    if (!info.devices.includes("NPU")) {
+      return { supported: false, python, reason: `OpenVINO is installed, but NPU is not available. Devices: ${info.devices.join(", ")}` };
+    }
+    return { supported: true, platform: osPlatform, python, devices: info.devices, npu: info.npu };
+  } catch (err) {
+    return { supported: false, python, reason: err.message || String(err) };
+  }
+}
+
+function getOpenVinoModelInfo() {
+  return OPENVINO_NPU_MODELS.map((model) => {
+    const modelPath = path.join(OPENVINO_MODELS, model.folder);
+    const requiredFiles = [
+      path.join(modelPath, "model_index.json"),
+      path.join(modelPath, "text_encoder", "openvino_model.xml"),
+      path.join(modelPath, "unet", "openvino_model.xml"),
+      path.join(modelPath, "vae_decoder", "openvino_model.xml"),
+    ];
+    const installed = requiredFiles.every((file) => fs.existsSync(file));
+    return {
+      ...model,
+      filename: model.id,
+      path: modelPath,
+      installed,
+      sizeBytes: getPathSize(modelPath),
+      size: formatBytes(getPathSize(modelPath)),
+      format: "OpenVINO",
+    };
+  });
+}
+
+function findOpenVinoModel(modelId) {
+  return getOpenVinoModelInfo().find((model) => model.id === modelId || model.folder === modelId || model.name === modelId);
+}
+
 function pathInside(childPath, parentPath) {
   const relative = path.relative(path.resolve(parentPath), path.resolve(childPath));
   return relative === "" || (!!relative && !relative.startsWith("..") && !path.isAbsolute(relative));
@@ -468,7 +585,7 @@ async function getHealth() {
 
   const ports = {
     frontend: { ...(await checkPort(PORT_FRONTEND)), expectedInUse: true },
-    backend: { ...(await checkPort(PORT_BACKEND)), expectedInUse: backendProc !== null },
+    backend: { ...(await checkPort(PORT_BACKEND)), expectedInUse: backendProc !== null || openvinoProc !== null },
   };
   ports.frontend.ok = !ports.frontend.available;
   ports.backend.preferred = PREFERRED_BACKEND_PORT;
@@ -489,8 +606,8 @@ async function getHealth() {
     checks,
     ports,
     backend: {
-      ready: backendReady,
-      running: backendProc !== null,
+      ready: backendReady || openvinoReady,
+      running: backendProc !== null || openvinoProc !== null,
       error: backendError,
       settings: currentSettings,
       options: getBackendOptions(),
@@ -609,12 +726,16 @@ function getBackendOptions() {
   // as Metal-capable so the UI does not default to CPU if a probe flag changes
   // upstream.
   const metalAvailable = metalInstalled;
+  const openvinoNpu = getOpenVinoNpuInfo();
+  const openvinoModels = getOpenVinoModelInfo();
+  const openvinoNpuAvailable = openvinoNpu.supported && openvinoModels.some((model) => model.installed);
 
   const options = [{ id: "cpu", label: "CPU", available: true }];
   if (metalAvailable) options.push({ id: "metal", label: "Metal GPU", available: true });
   if (vulkanAvailable) options.push({ id: "vulkan", label: "Vulkan GPU", available: true });
   if (rocmAvailable) options.push({ id: "rocm", label: "ROCm GPU (AMD)", available: true });
   if (cudaAvailable) options.push({ id: "cuda", label: "CUDA GPU", available: true });
+  if (openvinoNpuAvailable) options.push({ id: "openvino-npu", label: "NPU (OpenVINO)", available: true });
 
   const unavailable = [];
   if (vulkanInstalled && !vulkanAvailable) {
@@ -629,6 +750,11 @@ function getBackendOptions() {
   if (metalInstalled && !metalAvailable) {
     unavailable.push({ id: "metal", label: "Metal GPU", reason: "Installed, but Metal backend validation failed." });
   }
+  if (openvinoNpu.supported && !openvinoNpuAvailable) {
+    unavailable.push({ id: "openvino-npu", label: "NPU (OpenVINO)", reason: "Runtime is ready, but no OpenVINO NPU model is downloaded." });
+  } else if (!openvinoNpu.supported && (osPlatform === "win32" || osPlatform === "linux")) {
+    unavailable.push({ id: "openvino-npu", label: "NPU (OpenVINO)", reason: openvinoNpu.reason });
+  }
 
   let defaultBackend = "cpu";
   if (metalAvailable) {
@@ -654,6 +780,9 @@ function getBackendOptions() {
     vulkanAvailable,
     rocmAvailable,
     metalAvailable,
+    openvinoNpuAvailable,
+    openvinoNpu,
+    openvinoModels,
     defaultBackendType: defaultBackend,
   };
   return cachedBackendOptions;
@@ -795,6 +924,208 @@ function pingBackendReady() {
   });
 }
 
+function requestJson(url, payload = null, timeoutMs = 120000) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    const parsed = new URL(url);
+    const data = payload ? Buffer.from(JSON.stringify(payload), "utf8") : null;
+    const req = http.request({
+      hostname: parsed.hostname,
+      port: parsed.port,
+      path: parsed.pathname + parsed.search,
+      method: data ? "POST" : "GET",
+      headers: data ? {
+        "Content-Type": "application/json",
+        "Content-Length": data.length,
+      } : {},
+      timeout: timeoutMs,
+    }, (res) => {
+      let body = "";
+      res.setEncoding("utf8");
+      res.on("data", (chunk) => { body += chunk; });
+      res.on("end", () => {
+        try {
+          const jsonBody = JSON.parse(body || "{}");
+          if (res.statusCode < 200 || res.statusCode >= 300 || jsonBody.ok === false) {
+            reject(new Error(jsonBody.error || `HTTP ${res.statusCode}`));
+            return;
+          }
+          resolve(jsonBody);
+        } catch (err) {
+          reject(err);
+        }
+      });
+    });
+    req.on("error", reject);
+    req.on("timeout", () => req.destroy(new Error("Request timed out")));
+    if (data) req.write(data);
+    req.end();
+  });
+}
+
+async function killOpenVinoWorker() {
+  if (!openvinoProc) {
+    openvinoReady = false;
+    return;
+  }
+  console.log("  [openvino-npu] Stopping worker...");
+  try { openvinoProc.kill("SIGTERM"); } catch (_) {}
+  await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 800));
+  try { openvinoProc.kill("SIGKILL"); } catch (_) {}
+  openvinoProc = null;
+  openvinoReady = false;
+}
+
+function getOpenVinoResolution(settings = {}) {
+  const width = Number(settings.width) || 512;
+  const height = Number(settings.height) || 512;
+  const supported = (width === 512 && height === 512) || (width === 1024 && height === 1024);
+  if (!supported) {
+    throw new Error("OpenVINO NPU supports 512x512 generation or 1024x1024 HD upscale.");
+  }
+  return { width, height };
+}
+
+async function startOpenVinoWorker(settings = {}) {
+  const npuInfo = getOpenVinoNpuInfo();
+  if (!npuInfo.supported) throw new Error(npuInfo.reason || "OpenVINO NPU is not available.");
+  const model = findOpenVinoModel(settings.model) || getOpenVinoModelInfo().find((item) => item.installed);
+  if (!model || !model.installed) {
+    throw new Error("OpenVINO NPU model is not downloaded. Download an OpenVINO NPU model from Model Manager first.");
+  }
+  const { width, height } = getOpenVinoResolution(settings);
+  if (openvinoProc &&
+      openvinoReady &&
+      openvinoModel === model.id) {
+    currentSettings = { ...currentSettings, ...settings, model: model.id, width, height };
+    return;
+  }
+
+  await killBackend();
+  await killOpenVinoWorker();
+  openvinoError = null;
+  openvinoReady = false;
+  openvinoModel = model.id;
+  openvinoWidth = 512;
+  openvinoHeight = 512;
+  openvinoPort = await findAvailableBackendPort();
+  PORT_BACKEND = openvinoPort;
+
+  currentSettings = { ...currentSettings, ...settings };
+  currentSettings.backendType = "openvino-npu";
+  currentSettings.useGpu = true;
+  currentSettings.backendMode = "NPU (OpenVINO)";
+  currentSettings.backendBinary = "openvino_npu_worker.py";
+  currentSettings.backendDevice = npuInfo.npu?.name || "Intel AI Boost";
+  currentSettings.model = model.id;
+  currentSettings.width = width;
+  currentSettings.height = height;
+
+  backendError = null;
+  backendLoadState = {
+    active: true,
+    phase: "Compiling OpenVINO NPU pipeline (512x512)...",
+    progress: 5,
+    current: 0,
+    total: 0,
+    speed: "",
+    model: model.name,
+    backendMode: "NPU (OpenVINO)",
+    backendBinary: "openvino_npu_worker.py",
+    device: currentSettings.backendDevice,
+  };
+
+  const workerPath = path.join(ROOT, "scripts", "openvino_npu_worker.py");
+  const cacheDir = path.join(ROOT, "app", "tools", "openvino-cache", "512x512");
+  console.log(`  [openvino-npu] Starting 512x512 worker on port ${openvinoPort}`);
+  openvinoProc = spawn(npuInfo.python, [
+    workerPath,
+    "--model-dir", model.path,
+    "--port", String(openvinoPort),
+    "--width", "512",
+    "--height", "512",
+    "--cache-dir", cacheDir,
+  ], { stdio: "pipe" });
+
+  let openvinoStdoutBuffer = "";
+  openvinoProc.stdout.on("data", (data) => {
+    const text = data.toString();
+    process.stdout.write("  " + text);
+    openvinoStdoutBuffer += text;
+    const lines = openvinoStdoutBuffer.split(/\r?\n/);
+    openvinoStdoutBuffer = lines.pop() || "";
+    for (const line of lines) {
+      if (line.includes("READY")) {
+        openvinoReady = true;
+        backendReady = true;
+        backendLoadState = { ...backendLoadState, active: false, phase: "OpenVINO NPU model ready", progress: 100 };
+      }
+      const progressMatch = line.match(/PROGRESS\s+(\d+)\/(\d+)\s+(.+)$/);
+      if (progressMatch) {
+        generationState.active = true;
+        generationState.step = Number(progressMatch[1]);
+        generationState.steps = Number(progressMatch[2]);
+        generationState.speed = progressMatch[3].trim();
+        generationState.decoding = false;
+      } else if (line.includes("DECODING") && generationState.active) {
+        generationState.step = generationState.steps;
+        generationState.decoding = true;
+        generationState.speed = "";
+      }
+    }
+  });
+  openvinoProc.stderr.on("data", (data) => {
+    const text = data.toString();
+    process.stderr.write("  " + text);
+    const cleanText = stripAnsi(text).trim();
+    if (cleanText && (cleanText.includes("ERROR") || cleanText.includes("Traceback") || cleanText.includes("Exception"))) {
+      openvinoError = cleanText;
+      backendError = openvinoError;
+    }
+  });
+  openvinoProc.on("exit", (code) => {
+    console.log("  [openvino-npu] worker exited with code", code);
+    openvinoProc = null;
+    openvinoReady = false;
+    backendReady = false;
+    if (code !== 0 && code !== null && !backendError) backendError = `OpenVINO NPU worker exited with code ${code}`;
+    backendLoadState.active = false;
+  });
+
+  const startedAt = Date.now();
+  while (Date.now() - startedAt < 360000) {
+    if (openvinoReady) return;
+    if (backendError) throw new Error(backendError);
+    if (!openvinoProc) throw new Error("OpenVINO NPU worker exited during startup.");
+    const elapsed = Math.round((Date.now() - startedAt) / 1000);
+    backendLoadState.progress = Math.min(95, 5 + Math.round(elapsed / 2));
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 1000));
+  }
+  await killOpenVinoWorker();
+  throw new Error("OpenVINO NPU 512x512 compile timed out after 6 minutes.");
+}
+
+async function generateWithOpenVino(body) {
+  if (!openvinoReady || !openvinoPort) throw new Error("OpenVINO NPU worker is not ready. Load an OpenVINO NPU model first.");
+  const steps = Math.max(1, Math.min(8, Number(body.steps) || 4));
+  generationState = { active: true, step: 0, steps, speed: "", decoding: false };
+  try {
+    const result = await requestJson(`http://127.0.0.1:${openvinoPort}/generate`, {
+      prompt: body.prompt,
+      negative_prompt: body.negative_prompt || "",
+      width: Number(body.width) || currentSettings.width || 512,
+      height: Number(body.height) || currentSettings.height || 512,
+      steps,
+      cfg_scale: Number(body.cfg_scale) || 1.0,
+      seed: body.seed,
+    }, 300000);
+    resetGenerationState();
+    return result;
+  } catch (err) {
+    resetGenerationState();
+    throw err;
+  }
+}
+
 function startBackendReadyPoll() {
   let attempts = 0;
   const interval = setInterval(async () => {
@@ -839,6 +1170,11 @@ function killBackend() {
 }
 
 async function startBackend(settings = {}) {
+  if (settings.backendType === "openvino-npu") {
+    await startOpenVinoWorker(settings);
+    return;
+  }
+  await killOpenVinoWorker();
   backendError = null;
   currentSettings = { ...currentSettings, ...settings };
   if (!currentSettings.model) currentSettings.model = getDefaultModel();
@@ -1118,6 +1454,54 @@ let downloadState = {
 };
 let activeDownload = null;
 
+function startOpenVinoModelDownload(modelId) {
+  if (downloadState.active) return;
+  const npuInfo = getOpenVinoNpuInfo();
+  if (!npuInfo.supported) throw new Error(npuInfo.reason || "OpenVINO NPU runtime is not available.");
+  const model = OPENVINO_NPU_MODELS.find((item) => item.id === modelId);
+  if (!model) throw new Error("Unknown OpenVINO model.");
+
+  const destDir = path.join(OPENVINO_MODELS, model.folder);
+  fs.mkdirSync(destDir, { recursive: true });
+  downloadState = {
+    active: true,
+    filename: model.name,
+    progress: -1,
+    speed: "Downloading snapshot",
+    eta: 0,
+    totalBytes: 0,
+    downloadedBytes: 0,
+    error: null,
+  };
+
+  const script = [
+    "from huggingface_hub import snapshot_download",
+    `snapshot_download(repo_id=${JSON.stringify(model.repo)}, local_dir=${JSON.stringify(destDir)}, ignore_patterns=['safety_checker/*','feature_extractor/*','*.safetensors'])`,
+    "print('DONE')",
+  ].join("\n");
+  console.log(`  [openvino-download] Downloading ${model.repo} -> ${destDir}`);
+  const proc = spawn(npuInfo.python, ["-c", script], { stdio: "pipe" });
+  activeDownload = { process: proc, destPath: destDir, openvino: true };
+  proc.stdout.on("data", (data) => process.stdout.write("  [openvino-download] " + data.toString()));
+  proc.stderr.on("data", (data) => process.stderr.write("  [openvino-download] " + data.toString()));
+  proc.on("exit", (code) => {
+    activeDownload = null;
+    if (String(downloadState.error || "").toLowerCase().includes("cancelled")) {
+      return;
+    }
+    downloadState.active = false;
+    if (code === 0) {
+      downloadState.progress = 100;
+      downloadState.downloadedBytes = getPathSize(destDir);
+      downloadState.totalBytes = downloadState.downloadedBytes;
+      downloadState.speed = "Complete";
+      cachedBackendOptions = null;
+    } else {
+      downloadState.error = `OpenVINO model download failed with code ${code}`;
+    }
+  });
+}
+
 // ── Generation State (Real-time progress parser) ─────────────────────────────
 let generationState = {
   active: false,
@@ -1342,9 +1726,14 @@ function cancelModelDownload() {
   }
   const filename = downloadState.filename;
   if (activeDownload) {
-    try { activeDownload.request.destroy(new Error("Download cancelled by user")); } catch (_) {}
-    try { activeDownload.fileStream.destroy(); } catch (_) {}
-    try { fs.unlinkSync(activeDownload.tempPath || activeDownload.destPath); } catch (_) {}
+    if (activeDownload.process) {
+      try { activeDownload.process.kill("SIGTERM"); } catch (_) {}
+      setTimeout(() => { try { activeDownload?.process?.kill("SIGKILL"); } catch (_) {} }, 1000);
+    } else {
+      try { activeDownload.request.destroy(new Error("Download cancelled by user")); } catch (_) {}
+      try { activeDownload.fileStream.destroy(); } catch (_) {}
+      try { fs.unlinkSync(activeDownload.tempPath || activeDownload.destPath); } catch (_) {}
+    }
   } else if (filename) {
     try { fs.unlinkSync(`${path.join(MODELS, filename)}.part`); } catch (_) {}
   }
@@ -1514,9 +1903,9 @@ function safeOutputName(value) {
 }
 
 function saveGeneratedOutput(imageDataUrl, metadata = {}) {
-  const match = String(imageDataUrl || "").match(/^data:(image\/(?:png|jpeg|jpg|webp|svg\+xml));base64,(.+)$/);
+  const match = String(imageDataUrl || "").match(/^data:(image\/(?:png|jpeg|jpg|webp));base64,(.+)$/);
   if (!match) {
-    throw new Error("Expected a base64 image data URL");
+    throw new Error("Expected a real base64 PNG, JPEG, or WebP image data URL");
   }
 
   const mime = match[1];
@@ -1525,9 +1914,26 @@ function saveGeneratedOutput(imageDataUrl, metadata = {}) {
     "image/jpeg": ".jpg",
     "image/jpg": ".jpg",
     "image/webp": ".webp",
-    "image/svg+xml": ".svg",
   };
   const ext = extByMime[mime] || ".png";
+  const imageBuffer = Buffer.from(match[2], "base64");
+  const isPng = imageBuffer.length > 8 &&
+    imageBuffer[0] === 0x89 &&
+    imageBuffer[1] === 0x50 &&
+    imageBuffer[2] === 0x4e &&
+    imageBuffer[3] === 0x47;
+  const isJpeg = imageBuffer.length > 3 &&
+    imageBuffer[0] === 0xff &&
+    imageBuffer[1] === 0xd8 &&
+    imageBuffer[2] === 0xff;
+  const isWebp = imageBuffer.length > 12 &&
+    imageBuffer.toString("ascii", 0, 4) === "RIFF" &&
+    imageBuffer.toString("ascii", 8, 12) === "WEBP";
+  if ((mime === "image/png" && !isPng) ||
+      ((mime === "image/jpeg" || mime === "image/jpg") && !isJpeg) ||
+      (mime === "image/webp" && !isWebp)) {
+    throw new Error("Generated image payload did not match its declared image format.");
+  }
   const createdAt = new Date().toISOString();
   const stamp = createdAt.replace(/[:.]/g, "-");
   const seed = metadata.seed !== undefined && metadata.seed !== null ? `-${safeOutputName(metadata.seed)}` : "";
@@ -1537,7 +1943,7 @@ function saveGeneratedOutput(imageDataUrl, metadata = {}) {
   const imagePath = path.join(OUTPUTS, imageFilename);
   const metadataPath = path.join(OUTPUTS, metadataFilename);
 
-  fs.writeFileSync(imagePath, Buffer.from(match[2], "base64"));
+  fs.writeFileSync(imagePath, imageBuffer);
   const savedMetadata = {
     ...metadata,
     createdAt,
@@ -1703,9 +2109,9 @@ const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
 
   // GET /api/backend-status
   if (req.url === "/api/backend-status" && req.method === "GET") {
-    return json(res, 200, { 
-      ready: backendReady, 
-      running: backendProc !== null,
+    return json(res, 200, {
+      ready: backendReady || openvinoReady,
+      running: backendProc !== null || openvinoProc !== null,
       port: PORT_BACKEND,
       preferredPort: PREFERRED_BACKEND_PORT,
       error: backendError,
@@ -1742,6 +2148,17 @@ const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
     } catch (_) { return json(res, 200, { models: [] }); }
   }
 
+  if (req.url === "/api/openvino-models" && req.method === "GET") {
+    const npuInfo = getOpenVinoNpuInfo();
+    return json(res, 200, {
+      supported: npuInfo.supported,
+      reason: npuInfo.reason || "",
+      npu: npuInfo.npu || null,
+      python: npuInfo.python || "",
+      models: npuInfo.supported ? getOpenVinoModelInfo() : [],
+    });
+  }
+
   // POST /api/restart-backend — restart with new settings
   if (req.url === "/api/restart-backend" && req.method === "POST") {
     const body = await readJsonBody(req, res);
@@ -1750,11 +2167,13 @@ const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
     await killBackend();
     await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, 500));
     const newSettings = {};
-    if (body.model)    newSettings.model    = path.join(MODELS, body.model);
+    if (body.model)    newSettings.model    = body.backend_type === "openvino-npu" ? String(body.model) : path.join(MODELS, body.model);
     if (body.steps)    newSettings.steps    = parseInt(body.steps);
     if (body.cfgScale) newSettings.cfgScale = parseFloat(body.cfgScale);
     if (body.sampler)  newSettings.sampler  = body.sampler;
     if (body.threads)  newSettings.threads  = parseInt(body.threads);
+    if (body.width)    newSettings.width    = parseInt(body.width);
+    if (body.height)   newSettings.height   = parseInt(body.height);
     if (typeof body.use_gpu === "boolean") newSettings.useGpu = body.use_gpu;
     if (body.backend_type) {
       newSettings.backendType = String(body.backend_type);
@@ -1763,6 +2182,18 @@ const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
     if (typeof body.vae_tiling === "boolean") newSettings.vaeTiling = body.vae_tiling;
     if (typeof body.vae_on_cpu === "boolean") newSettings.vaeOnCpu = body.vae_on_cpu;
     try {
+      if (newSettings.backendType === "openvino-npu") {
+        startBackend(newSettings).catch((err) => {
+          backendError = err.message || String(err);
+          backendLoadState = {
+            ...backendLoadState,
+            active: false,
+            phase: "OpenVINO NPU model load failed",
+          };
+          console.error("  [openvino-npu] Startup failed:", backendError);
+        });
+        return json(res, 200, { ok: true, message: "OpenVINO NPU backend starting...", settings: currentSettings, port: PORT_BACKEND });
+      }
       await startBackend(newSettings);
       return json(res, 200, { ok: true, message: "Backend restarting...", settings: currentSettings, port: PORT_BACKEND });
     } catch (err) {
@@ -1774,6 +2205,7 @@ const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
   // POST /api/stop-backend
   if (req.url === "/api/stop-backend" && req.method === "POST") {
     await killBackend();
+    await killOpenVinoWorker();
     return json(res, 200, { ok: true });
   }
 
@@ -1788,6 +2220,19 @@ const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
     return json(res, 200, { ok: true, message: "Download started" });
   }
 
+  if (req.url === "/api/download-openvino-model" && req.method === "POST") {
+    const body = await readJsonBody(req, res);
+    if (!body) return;
+    const modelId = String(body.model_id || body.modelId || "");
+    if (!modelId) return json(res, 400, { ok: false, error: "model_id is required" });
+    try {
+      startOpenVinoModelDownload(modelId);
+      return json(res, 200, { ok: true, message: "OpenVINO model download started" });
+    } catch (err) {
+      return json(res, 500, { ok: false, error: err.message || String(err) });
+    }
+  }
+
   // GET /api/download-progress
   if (req.url === "/api/download-progress" && req.method === "GET") {
     return json(res, 200, downloadState);
@@ -1804,6 +2249,16 @@ const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
     return json(res, 200, generationState);
   }
 
+  if (req.url === "/api/openvino-generate" && req.method === "POST") {
+    const body = await readJsonBody(req, res);
+    if (!body) return;
+    try {
+      return json(res, 200, await generateWithOpenVino(body));
+    } catch (err) {
+      return json(res, 500, { ok: false, error: err.message || String(err) });
+    }
+  }
+
   // GET /api/outputs
   if (req.url === "/api/outputs" && req.method === "GET") {
     return json(res, 200, { outputs: listGeneratedOutputs() });
@@ -1871,11 +2326,17 @@ const server = http.createServer(async (req, res) => {
     const { filename } = body;
     if (!filename) return json(res, 400, { error: "Filename is required" });
     
+    const openvinoModel = findOpenVinoModel(filename);
     const safeFilename = path.basename(filename);
     const modelPath = path.join(MODELS, safeFilename);
     
     try {
-      if (fs.existsSync(modelPath)) {
+      if (openvinoModel?.installed && openvinoModel.path && pathInside(openvinoModel.path, OPENVINO_MODELS)) {
+        fs.rmSync(openvinoModel.path, { recursive: true, force: true });
+        cachedBackendOptions = null;
+        console.log(`  [api] Deleted OpenVINO model: ${openvinoModel.id}`);
+        return json(res, 200, { ok: true, message: `Deleted ${openvinoModel.name}` });
+      } else if (fs.existsSync(modelPath)) {
         fs.unlinkSync(modelPath);
         console.log(`  [api] Deleted model file: ${safeFilename}`);
         return json(res, 200, { ok: true, message: `Deleted ${safeFilename}` });

scripts/setup-openvino-npu.ps1

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# Optional OpenVINO NPU setup for Intel AI Boost systems.
+# This does not modify the existing stable-diffusion.cpp backends.
+
+$ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
+
+$scriptDir = Split-Path -Parent $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path
+$rootDir = Split-Path -Parent $scriptDir
+$venvDir = Join-Path $rootDir "app\tools\openvino-venv"
+$pythonExe = Join-Path $venvDir "Scripts\python.exe"
+
+Write-Host ""
+Write-Host "  ============================================================"
+Write-Host "   Local AI Image Generator - OpenVINO NPU Setup"
+Write-Host "  ============================================================"
+Write-Host ""
+
+$npu = Get-CimInstance Win32_PnPEntity -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue |
+  Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*Intel(R) AI Boost*" -or ($_.Name -match "NPU" -and $_.PNPClass -eq "ComputeAccelerator") } |
+  Select-Object -First 1
+
+if (-not $npu) {
+  Write-Host "  [ERROR] Intel AI Boost NPU was not detected on this system." -ForegroundColor Red
+  exit 1
+}
+
+Write-Host "  Detected: $($npu.Name)"
+
+if (-not (Test-Path $pythonExe)) {
+  Write-Host "  Creating Python environment: $venvDir"
+  python -m venv $venvDir
+}
+
+Write-Host "  Installing OpenVINO GenAI runtime..."
+& $pythonExe -m pip install --upgrade pip
+& $pythonExe -m pip install openvino openvino-genai pillow huggingface-hub
+
+Write-Host ""
+Write-Host "  Verifying OpenVINO NPU device..."
+& $pythonExe -c "import openvino as ov; core=ov.Core(); print('Available devices:', core.available_devices); raise SystemExit(0 if 'NPU' in core.available_devices else 2)"
+
+Write-Host ""
+Write-Host "  ============================================================"
+Write-Host "   OpenVINO NPU setup complete."
+Write-Host "   Restart windows.bat, then download an OpenVINO NPU model."
+Write-Host "  ============================================================"
+Write-Host ""

scripts/setup-openvino-npu.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Optional OpenVINO NPU setup for Linux Intel Core Ultra systems.
+# The Intel NPU kernel/user-mode driver must already be installed.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+ROOT_DIR="$(dirname "$SCRIPT_DIR")"
+VENV_DIR="$ROOT_DIR/app/tools/openvino-venv"
+PYTHON_BIN="$VENV_DIR/bin/python"
+
+echo ""
+echo "  ============================================================"
+echo "   Local AI Image Generator - Linux OpenVINO NPU Setup"
+echo "  ============================================================"
+echo ""
+
+if [[ "$(uname -s)" != "Linux" ]]; then
+  echo "  [ERROR] This setup script is for Linux only." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ "$(uname -m)" != "x86_64" ]]; then
+  echo "  [ERROR] OpenVINO NPU support requires x86_64 Linux." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! command -v python3 >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "  [ERROR] python3 is required. Install Python 3 and the venv module." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+KERNEL_VERSION="$(uname -r)"
+KERNEL_MAJOR="${KERNEL_VERSION%%.*}"
+KERNEL_REST="${KERNEL_VERSION#*.}"
+KERNEL_MINOR="${KERNEL_REST%%.*}"
+if (( KERNEL_MAJOR < 6 || (KERNEL_MAJOR == 6 && KERNEL_MINOR < 6) )); then
+  echo "  [ERROR] Intel NPU support requires Linux kernel 6.6 or newer."
+  echo "          Current kernel: $KERNEL_VERSION"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ ! -e /dev/accel/accel0 ]]; then
+  echo "  [ERROR] Intel NPU device /dev/accel/accel0 was not found."
+  echo "          Install the Intel Linux NPU driver and reboot first."
+  echo "          Driver: https://github.com/intel/linux-npu-driver"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ ! -x "$PYTHON_BIN" ]]; then
+  echo "  Creating Python environment: $VENV_DIR"
+  if ! python3 -m venv "$VENV_DIR"; then
+    echo "  [ERROR] Could not create the virtual environment."
+    echo "          On Ubuntu, install python3-venv and retry."
+    exit 1
+  fi
+fi
+
+echo "  Installing OpenVINO GenAI runtime..."
+"$PYTHON_BIN" -m pip install --upgrade pip
+"$PYTHON_BIN" -m pip install openvino openvino-genai pillow huggingface-hub
+
+echo ""
+echo "  Verifying OpenVINO NPU device..."
+"$PYTHON_BIN" - <<'PY'
+import openvino as ov
+
+core = ov.Core()
+devices = core.available_devices
+print("  Available devices:", ", ".join(devices))
+if "NPU" not in devices:
+    raise SystemExit(
+        "  [ERROR] OpenVINO is installed, but NPU is unavailable. "
+        "Verify the Intel NPU driver and device permissions."
+    )
+print("  NPU:", core.get_property("NPU", "FULL_DEVICE_NAME"))
+PY
+
+echo ""
+echo "  ============================================================"
+echo "   OpenVINO NPU setup complete."
+echo "   Run ./linux.sh, then download an OpenVINO NPU model."
+echo "  ============================================================"
+echo ""

scripts/setup.ps1

@@ -47,6 +47,18 @@ function Format-Speed {
     return "{0:N0} KB/s" -f ($bps / 1KB)
 }
 
+function Enable-Tls12 {
+    try {
+        # Use the protocol's numeric value because older .NET enum definitions
+        # do not expose the Tls12 member even when Windows supports TLS 1.2.
+        $tls12 = [Enum]::ToObject([Net.SecurityProtocolType], 3072)
+        [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol =
+            [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor $tls12
+    } catch {
+        throw "TLS 1.2 could not be enabled. This setup requires 64-bit Windows 10 or Windows 11 with current system updates. $($_.Exception.Message)"
+    }
+}
+
 function Invoke-RichDownload {
     param([string]$Url, [string]$Dest, [string]$Label)
     Print-Info "Downloading: $Label"
@@ -57,7 +69,7 @@ function Invoke-RichDownload {
     $lastTime  = [DateTime]::Now
 
     try {
-        [Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
+        Enable-Tls12
         $req    = [System.Net.HttpWebRequest]::Create($Url)
         $req.UserAgent = "Mozilla/5.0"
         $resp   = $req.GetResponse()