diff --git a/.github/workflows/studio-api-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/studio-api-smoke.yml
index 4e8cc5c9c3..742cba9ed9 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/studio-api-smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/studio-api-smoke.yml
@@ -80,6 +80,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
diff --git a/.github/workflows/studio-inference-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/studio-inference-smoke.yml
index a1b54d6e65..19e1ab9cc5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/studio-inference-smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/studio-inference-smoke.yml
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
@@ -331,6 +333,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Download GGUF if cache miss
         if: steps.cache-gguf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p gguf-cache
@@ -637,6 +641,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF + mmproj
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
diff --git a/.github/workflows/studio-mac-api-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/studio-mac-api-smoke.yml
index 28a491840b..98596f374a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/studio-mac-api-smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/studio-mac-api-smoke.yml
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
diff --git a/.github/workflows/studio-mac-inference-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/studio-mac-inference-smoke.yml
index 066ddf87b8..97efe3e74d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/studio-mac-inference-smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/studio-mac-inference-smoke.yml
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
@@ -325,6 +327,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Download GGUF if cache miss
         if: steps.cache-gguf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p gguf-cache
@@ -679,13 +683,24 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF + mmproj
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        # Authenticated + parallel: shared macos-14 NAT egress stalls
+        # multi-GB anonymous downloads.
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
           HF_HUB_ENABLE_HF_TRANSFER=1 \
-            hf download "$GGUF_REPO" "$GGUF_FILE"
+            hf download "$GGUF_REPO" "$GGUF_FILE" &
+          MODEL_PID=$!
           HF_HUB_ENABLE_HF_TRANSFER=1 \
-            hf download "$GGUF_REPO" "$MMPROJ_FILE"
+            hf download "$GGUF_REPO" "$MMPROJ_FILE" &
+          MMPROJ_PID=$!
+          wait "$MODEL_PID"
+          wait "$MMPROJ_PID"
+          # Fail loud on a partial download instead of in the next step.
+          find hf-cache -name "$GGUF_FILE" -o -name "$MMPROJ_FILE" \
+            | xargs -I{} ls -lhL {}
 
       - name: Install Studio (--local, --no-torch)
         env:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/studio-mac-ui-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/studio-mac-ui-smoke.yml
index 75e958e023..c921ddf63e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/studio-mac-ui-smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/studio-mac-ui-smoke.yml
@@ -65,6 +65,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
diff --git a/.github/workflows/studio-ui-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/studio-ui-smoke.yml
index 6c4c66acd3..756eea64b2 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/studio-ui-smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/studio-ui-smoke.yml
@@ -79,6 +79,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
diff --git a/.github/workflows/studio-windows-api-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/studio-windows-api-smoke.yml
index db2e8a26a0..d9ed5d5594 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/studio-windows-api-smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/studio-windows-api-smoke.yml
@@ -72,6 +72,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
diff --git a/.github/workflows/studio-windows-inference-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/studio-windows-inference-smoke.yml
index e1406b7f45..b33b6f9563 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/studio-windows-inference-smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/studio-windows-inference-smoke.yml
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
@@ -382,6 +384,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Download GGUF if cache miss
         if: steps.cache-gguf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p gguf-cache
@@ -776,6 +780,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF + mmproj
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache
diff --git a/.github/workflows/studio-windows-ui-smoke.yml b/.github/workflows/studio-windows-ui-smoke.yml
index c550f04827..a5a4753ba5 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/studio-windows-ui-smoke.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/studio-windows-ui-smoke.yml
@@ -81,6 +81,8 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Prime HF_HOME with the GGUF
         if: steps.cache-hf.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        env:
+          HF_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.HF_TOKEN }}
         run: |
           python -m pip install --upgrade huggingface_hub hf_transfer
           mkdir -p hf-cache