diff --git a/extensions/llamacpp-extension/src/index.ts b/extensions/llamacpp-extension/src/index.ts
index 7681c967a..3d124b37b 100644
--- a/extensions/llamacpp-extension/src/index.ts
+++ b/extensions/llamacpp-extension/src/index.ts
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ type LlamacppConfig = {
   auto_unload: boolean
   chat_template: string
   n_gpu_layers: number
+  offload_mmproj: boolean
   override_tensor_buffer_t: string
   ctx_size: number
   threads: number
@@ -1221,6 +1222,10 @@ export default class llamacpp_extension extends AIEngine {
     // Takes a regex with matching tensor name as input
     if (cfg.override_tensor_buffer_t)
       args.push('--override-tensor', cfg.override_tensor_buffer_t)
+    // offload multimodal projector model to the GPU by default. if there is not enough memory
+    // turn this setting off will keep the projector model on the CPU but the image processing can
+    // take longer
+    if (cfg.offload_mmproj === false) args.push('--no-mmproj-offload')
     args.push('-a', modelId)
     args.push('--port', String(port))
     if (modelConfig.mmproj_path) {
@@ -1645,4 +1650,18 @@ export default class llamacpp_extension extends AIEngine {
       'tokenizer.chat_template'
     ]?.includes('tools')
   }
+
+  private async loadMetadata(path: string): Promise<GgufMetadata> {
+    try {
+      const data = await invoke<GgufMetadata>(
+        'plugin:llamacpp|read_gguf_metadata',
+        {
+          path: path,
+        }
+      )
+      return data
+    } catch (err) {
+      throw err
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
index fc6bfd301..32638bc56 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
@@ -854,8 +854,18 @@ version = "0.20.11"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "fc7f46116c46ff9ab3eb1597a45688b6715c6e628b5c133e288e709a29bcb4ee"
 dependencies = [
- "darling_core",
- "darling_macro",
+ "darling_core 0.20.11",
+ "darling_macro 0.20.11",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "darling"
+version = "0.21.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "08440b3dd222c3d0433e63e097463969485f112baff337dfdaca043a0d760570"
+dependencies = [
+ "darling_core 0.21.2",
+ "darling_macro 0.21.2",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -872,13 +882,38 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.104",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "darling_core"
+version = "0.21.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "d25b7912bc28a04ab1b7715a68ea03aaa15662b43a1a4b2c480531fd19f8bf7e"
+dependencies = [
+ "fnv",
+ "ident_case",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "strsim",
+ "syn 2.0.104",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "darling_macro"
 version = "0.20.11"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "fc34b93ccb385b40dc71c6fceac4b2ad23662c7eeb248cf10d529b7e055b6ead"
 dependencies = [
- "darling_core",
+ "darling_core 0.20.11",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.104",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "darling_macro"
+version = "0.21.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ce154b9bea7fb0c8e8326e62d00354000c36e79770ff21b8c84e3aa267d9d531"
+dependencies = [
+ "darling_core 0.21.2",
  "quote",
  "syn 2.0.104",
 ]
@@ -3984,8 +4019,8 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rmcp"
-version = "0.2.1"
-source = "git+https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/rust-sdk?rev=3196c95f1dfafbffbdcdd6d365c94969ac975e6a#3196c95f1dfafbffbdcdd6d365c94969ac975e6a"
+version = "0.5.0"
+source = "git+https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/rust-sdk?rev=209dbac50f51737ad953c3a2c8e28f3619b6c277#209dbac50f51737ad953c3a2c8e28f3619b6c277"
 dependencies = [
  "base64 0.22.1",
  "chrono",
@@ -4010,10 +4045,10 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "rmcp-macros"
-version = "0.2.1"
-source = "git+https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/rust-sdk?rev=3196c95f1dfafbffbdcdd6d365c94969ac975e6a#3196c95f1dfafbffbdcdd6d365c94969ac975e6a"
+version = "0.5.0"
+source = "git+https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/rust-sdk?rev=209dbac50f51737ad953c3a2c8e28f3619b6c277#209dbac50f51737ad953c3a2c8e28f3619b6c277"
 dependencies = [
- "darling",
+ "darling 0.21.2",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
  "serde_json",
@@ -4408,7 +4443,7 @@ version = "3.14.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "de90945e6565ce0d9a25098082ed4ee4002e047cb59892c318d66821e14bb30f"
 dependencies = [
- "darling",
+ "darling 0.20.11",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
  "syn 2.0.104",
@@ -6868,7 +6903,7 @@ version = "0.4.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a76ff259533532054cfbaefb115c613203c73707017459206380f03b3b3f266e"
 dependencies = [
- "darling",
+ "darling 0.20.11",
  "proc-macro2",
  "quote",
  "syn 2.0.104",
diff --git a/src-tauri/plugins/tauri-plugin-llamacpp/src/commands.rs b/src-tauri/plugins/tauri-plugin-llamacpp/src/commands.rs
index a2592f345..bc9a7213c 100644
--- a/src-tauri/plugins/tauri-plugin-llamacpp/src/commands.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/plugins/tauri-plugin-llamacpp/src/commands.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ use tokio::time::Instant;
 
 use crate::device::{get_devices_from_backend, DeviceInfo};
 use crate::error::{ErrorCode, LlamacppError, ServerError, ServerResult};
-use crate::path::{validate_binary_path, validate_model_path};
+use crate::path::{validate_binary_path, validate_model_path, validate_mmproj_path};
 use crate::process::{
     find_session_by_model_id, get_all_active_sessions, get_all_loaded_model_ids,
     get_random_available_port, is_process_running_by_pid,
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ pub async fn load_llama_model<R: Runtime>(
 
     let port = parse_port_from_args(&args);
     let model_path_pb = validate_model_path(&mut args)?;
+    let _mmproj_path_pb = validate_mmproj_path(&mut args)?;
 
     let api_key = extract_arg_value(&args, "--api-key");
     let model_id = extract_arg_value(&args, "-a");
diff --git a/src-tauri/plugins/tauri-plugin-llamacpp/src/path.rs b/src-tauri/plugins/tauri-plugin-llamacpp/src/path.rs
index 44ed00109..a62fb069a 100644
--- a/src-tauri/plugins/tauri-plugin-llamacpp/src/path.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/plugins/tauri-plugin-llamacpp/src/path.rs
@@ -98,3 +98,50 @@ pub fn validate_model_path(args: &mut Vec<String>) -> ServerResult<PathBuf> {
 
     Ok(model_path_pb)
 }
+
+/// Validate mmproj path exists and update args with platform-appropriate path format
+pub fn validate_mmproj_path(args: &mut Vec<String>) -> ServerResult<Option<PathBuf>> {
+   let mmproj_path_index = match args.iter().position(|arg| arg == "--mmproj") {
+       Some(index) => index,
+       None => return Ok(None), // mmproj is optional
+   };
+
+   let mmproj_path = args.get(mmproj_path_index + 1).cloned().ok_or_else(|| {
+       LlamacppError::new(
+           ErrorCode::ModelLoadFailed,
+           "Mmproj path was not provided after '--mmproj' flag.".into(),
+           None,
+       )
+   })?;
+
+   let mmproj_path_pb = PathBuf::from(&mmproj_path);
+   if !mmproj_path_pb.exists() {
+       let err_msg = format!(
+           "Invalid or inaccessible mmproj path: {}",
+           mmproj_path_pb.display()
+       );
+       log::error!("{}", &err_msg);
+       return Err(LlamacppError::new(
+           ErrorCode::ModelFileNotFound,
+           "The specified mmproj file does not exist or is not accessible.".into(),
+           Some(err_msg),
+       )
+       .into());
+   }
+
+   #[cfg(windows)]
+   {
+       // use short path on Windows
+       if let Some(short) = get_short_path(&mmproj_path_pb) {
+           args[mmproj_path_index + 1] = short;
+       } else {
+           args[mmproj_path_index + 1] = mmproj_path_pb.display().to_string();
+       }
+   }
+   #[cfg(not(windows))]
+   {
+       args[mmproj_path_index + 1] = mmproj_path_pb.display().to_string();
+   }
+
+   Ok(Some(mmproj_path_pb))
+}