diff --git a/tools/server/README.md b/tools/server/README.md
index eb730e713a..5efdad0954 100644
--- a/tools/server/README.md
+++ b/tools/server/README.md
@@ -1859,9 +1859,33 @@ Example events:
 
 {
   "model": "...",
-  "event": "download_finished",
+  "event": "model_status",
   "data": {
-    "status": "loading"
+    "status": "loading",
+    "progress": {
+      "stage": "fit_params",
+      "value": 0.5 // from 0.0 to 1.0 ; note: not all stages have this "value"
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+{
+  "model": "...",
+  "event": "model_status",
+  "data": {
+    "status": "loaded",
+    "info": {
+      // note: only include info on first load
+      // waking up from sleep doesn't have this
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+{
+  "model": "...",
+  "event": "model_status",
+  "data": {
+    "status": "sleeping"
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/server/server-context.cpp b/tools/server/server-context.cpp
index 3de1335ec2..531b106e55 100644
--- a/tools/server/server-context.cpp
+++ b/tools/server/server-context.cpp
@@ -833,6 +833,8 @@ private:
 
     bool sleeping = false;
 
+    int64_t t_last_load_progress_ms = 0;
+
     void destroy() {
         spec.reset();
         ctx_dft.reset();
@@ -863,6 +865,30 @@ private:
         sleeping = new_state;
     }
 
+    static bool load_progress_callback(float progress, void * user_data) {
+        auto * ctx = static_cast<server_context_impl *>(user_data);
+        GGML_ASSERT(ctx);
+        // always emit the first and final sample; throttle the rest to one per 200ms
+        {
+            auto & t_last = ctx->t_last_load_progress_ms;
+            const int64_t t_now = ggml_time_ms();
+            const bool first = t_last == 0;
+            const bool done  = progress >= 1.0f;
+            const bool throttled = !first && !done && (t_now - t_last) < 200;
+            if (throttled) {
+                return true;
+            }
+            t_last = t_now;
+        }
+        if (ctx->callback_state) {
+            ctx->callback_state(SERVER_STATE_LOADING, {
+                {"stage", "text_model"},
+                {"value", progress},
+            });
+        }
+        return true;
+    }
+
     // load the model and initialize llama_context
     // this may also be called to resume from sleeping state
     bool load_model(common_params & params) {
@@ -916,6 +942,10 @@ private:
 
         // optionally reserve VRAM for the draft / MTP context before fitting the target model
         if (params_base.fit_params) {
+            if (callback_state) {
+                callback_state(SERVER_STATE_LOADING, {{"stage", "fit_params"}});
+            }
+
             const bool spec_mtp = std::find(params_base.speculative.types.begin(),
                                             params_base.speculative.types.end(),
                                             COMMON_SPECULATIVE_TYPE_DRAFT_MTP) != params_base.speculative.types.end();
@@ -991,6 +1021,13 @@ private:
             }
         }
 
+        // attach a progress callback
+        {
+            t_last_load_progress_ms = 0;
+            params_base.load_progress_callback = load_progress_callback;
+            params_base.load_progress_callback_user_data = this;
+        }
+
         llama_init = common_init_from_params(params_base);
 
         model_tgt = llama_init->model();
@@ -1008,6 +1045,10 @@ private:
         add_bos_token = llama_vocab_get_add_bos(vocab);
 
         if (params_base.speculative.has_dft()) {
+            if (callback_state) {
+                callback_state(SERVER_STATE_LOADING, {{"stage", "spec_model"}});
+            }
+
             // TODO speculative: move to common/speculative.cpp?
             const auto & params_spec = params_base.speculative.draft;
 
@@ -1079,6 +1120,10 @@ private:
         }
 
         if (has_mmproj) {
+            if (callback_state) {
+                callback_state(SERVER_STATE_LOADING, {{"stage", "mmproj_model"}});
+            }
+
             if (!is_resume) {
                 mtmd_helper_log_set(common_log_default_callback, nullptr);
             }
@@ -1259,6 +1304,10 @@ private:
             return init();
         }
 
+        if (callback_state) {
+            callback_state(SERVER_STATE_READY, {});
+        }
+
         return true;
     }
 
@@ -1335,6 +1384,9 @@ private:
             const bool enable_thinking = params_base.enable_reasoning != 0 && template_supports_thinking;
             SRV_INF("%s: chat template, thinking = %d\n", __func__, enable_thinking);
 
+            // IMPORTANT: chat_params is reused across sleeping / resuming states,
+            //            never store llama_context/llama_model pointers in chat_params,
+            //            as they may be invalidated after sleeping
             chat_params = {
                 /* use_jinja             */ params_base.use_jinja,
                 /* prefill_assistant     */ params_base.prefill_assistant,
@@ -3734,7 +3786,10 @@ struct server_res_generator : server_http_res {
 void server_context::set_state_callback(server_state_callback_t callback) {
     impl->callback_state = std::move(callback);
     impl->queue_tasks.on_sleeping_state([this](bool sleeping) {
-        impl->callback_state(sleeping ? SERVER_STATE_SLEEPING : SERVER_STATE_READY, {});
+        if (sleeping) {
+            impl->callback_state(SERVER_STATE_SLEEPING, {});
+        }
+        // for sleeping == false, event is emitted by load_model()
     });
 }
 
diff --git a/tools/server/server-models.cpp b/tools/server/server-models.cpp
index a569c8be3c..68eefdffac 100644
--- a/tools/server/server-models.cpp
+++ b/tools/server/server-models.cpp
@@ -442,6 +442,7 @@ void server_models::load_models() {
                 /* last_used     */ 0,
                 /* args          */ std::vector<std::string>(),
                 /* loaded_info   */ {},
+                /* progress      */ {},
                 /* exit_code     */ 0,
                 /* stop_timeout  */ DEFAULT_STOP_TIMEOUT,
                 /* multimodal    */ mtmd_caps{false, false},
@@ -608,6 +609,7 @@ void server_models::load_models() {
                     /* last_used     */ 0,
                     /* args          */ std::vector<std::string>(),
                     /* loaded_info   */ {},
+                    /* progress      */ {},
                     /* exit_code     */ 0,
                     /* stop_timeout  */ DEFAULT_STOP_TIMEOUT,
                     /* multimodal    */ mtmd_caps{false, false},
@@ -1140,6 +1142,9 @@ void server_models::update_status(const std::string & name, const update_status_
         if (!args.loaded_info.is_null()) {
             meta.loaded_info = args.loaded_info;
         }
+        if (!args.progress.is_null()) {
+            meta.progress = args.progress;
+        }
     }
     // broadcast status change to SSE
     {
@@ -1152,6 +1157,9 @@ void server_models::update_status(const std::string & name, const update_status_
         if (!args.loaded_info.is_null()) {
             data["info"] = args.loaded_info;
         }
+        if (!args.progress.is_null()) {
+            data["progress"] = args.progress;
+        }
         // note: notify_sse doesn't acquire the lock, so no deadlock here
         notify_sse("status_change", name, data);
     }
@@ -1322,8 +1330,12 @@ void server_models::handle_child_state(const std::string & name, const std::stri
     switch (state) {
         case SERVER_STATE_LOADING:
             {
-                // do nothing for now
-                // TODO: report loading progress for first load and wakeup from sleep
+                update_status(name, {
+                    SERVER_MODEL_STATUS_LOADING,
+                    0,
+                    nullptr, // no loaded_info yet
+                    payload,
+                });
             } break;
         case SERVER_STATE_READY:
             {
@@ -1331,7 +1343,8 @@ void server_models::handle_child_state(const std::string & name, const std::stri
                     SERVER_MODEL_STATUS_LOADED,
                     0,
                     // note: payload can be empty if this is a wakeup from sleep
-                    payload.size() > 0 ? payload : nullptr
+                    payload.size() > 0 ? payload : nullptr,
+                    {}, // reset progress info
                 });
             } break;
         case SERVER_STATE_SLEEPING:
@@ -1384,6 +1397,7 @@ void server_child::notify_to_router(const std::string & state, const json & payl
         {"state", state},
         {"payload", payload},
     };
+    std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lk(mtx_stdout);
     common_log_pause(common_log_main());
     fflush(stdout);
     fprintf(stdout, "%s%s\n", CMD_CHILD_TO_ROUTER_STATE, safe_json_to_str(data).c_str());
diff --git a/tools/server/server-models.h b/tools/server/server-models.h
index 40a0e078c6..17759b00a5 100644
--- a/tools/server/server-models.h
+++ b/tools/server/server-models.h
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ struct server_model_meta {
     int64_t last_used = 0; // for LRU unloading
     std::vector<std::string> args; // args passed to the model instance, will be populated by render_args()
     json loaded_info; // info to be reflected via /v1/models endpoint ; if in DOWNLOADING state, it should contain download progress info
+    json progress; // reflect load or download progress info, if any
     int exit_code = 0; // exit code of the model instance process (only valid if status == FAILED)
     int stop_timeout = 0; // seconds to wait before force-killing the model instance during shutdown
     mtmd_caps multimodal; // multimodal capabilities
@@ -170,12 +171,14 @@ public:
     // to stop the download, call unload()
     void download(common_params_model && model, common_download_opts && opts);
 
-    // update the status of a model instance (thread-safe)
     struct update_status_args {
         server_model_status status;
         int exit_code = 0; // only valid if status == UNLOADED
         json loaded_info = nullptr;
+        json progress = nullptr;
     };
+    // update the status of a model instance (thread-safe)
+    // also send SSE notification to /models/sse endpoint
     void update_status(const std::string & name, const update_status_args & args);
     void update_download_progress(const std::string & name, const common_download_progress & progress, bool done, bool ok = true);
 
@@ -208,6 +211,9 @@ public:
 };
 
 struct server_child {
+    // serializes the notify_to_router writes
+    std::mutex mtx_stdout;
+
     // return true if the current process is a child server instance
     bool is_child();