diff --git a/tests/test-models.ts b/tests/test-models.ts
index aed6dfe..8bbad9f 100644
--- a/tests/test-models.ts
+++ b/tests/test-models.ts
@@ -136,6 +136,29 @@ describe("loadCommandCodeModels()", () => {
     })
   })
 
+  it("recovers live models after an empty offline start", async () => {
+    await withTemporaryCache(async ({ cachePath }) => {
+      const empty = await loadCommandCodeModels({
+        cachePath,
+        fetchImpl: failingFetch(),
+      })
+
+      assert.equal(empty.source, "empty")
+      assert.deepEqual(empty.models, [])
+
+      const recovered = await loadCommandCodeModels({
+        cachePath,
+        fetchImpl: successfulFetch(),
+      })
+
+      assert.deepEqual(recovered, { models: EXPECTED_MODELS, source: "live" })
+      assert.deepEqual(
+        commandCodeModelsFromCache(JSON.parse(await readFile(cachePath, "utf-8"))),
+        EXPECTED_MODELS,
+      )
+    })
+  })
+
   it("ignores a corrupt cache after a failed refresh", async () => {
     await withTemporaryCache(async ({ cachePath }) => {
       await writeFile(cachePath, "not json", "utf-8")
diff --git a/tests/test-pi-local.mjs b/tests/test-pi-local.mjs
index 18a8dd5..8423158 100644
--- a/tests/test-pi-local.mjs
+++ b/tests/test-pi-local.mjs
@@ -279,7 +279,25 @@ try {
   assert.doesNotMatch(firstOfflineList.stderr, /Failed to load extension/)
   assert.match(firstOfflineList.stdout || firstOfflineList.stderr, /No models matching/)
   assert.match(firstOfflineList.stderr, /no valid cached catalog/)
+  assert.match(firstOfflineList.stderr, /until \/reload succeeds/)
+  assert.throws(() => accessSync(modelsCachePath, constants.R_OK), /ENOENT|no such file/i)
+
+  // A fresh process re-runs the extension entrypoint, which is the same path /reload uses.
+  console.log("[pi-local] recover models after empty offline start")
   env.COMMANDCODE_MODELS_URL = onlineModelsUrl
+  modelListRequestCount = 0
+  const recoveryList = await runPi(
+    ["--no-extensions", "-e", EXT_PATH, "--list-models", "commandcode"],
+    20_000,
+  )
+  assert.equal(recoveryList.code, 0, recoveryList.stderr)
+  const recoveryOutput = recoveryList.stdout || recoveryList.stderr
+  assert.match(recoveryOutput, /cc-offline-cache-model/)
+  assert.match(recoveryOutput, /cc-second-model/)
+  assert.doesNotMatch(recoveryList.stderr, /no valid cached catalog/)
+  assert.doesNotMatch(recoveryList.stderr, /Failed to load extension/)
+  assert.equal(modelListRequestCount, 1)
+  assert.doesNotThrow(() => accessSync(modelsCachePath, constants.R_OK))
 
   console.log("[pi-local] list models through real extension")
   modelListRequestCount = 0