diff --git a/tooling/pipeline/runpod/start.sh b/tooling/pipeline/runpod/start.sh
index 5a59d8e..8deabaa 100644
--- a/tooling/pipeline/runpod/start.sh
+++ b/tooling/pipeline/runpod/start.sh
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 set -e
 
-# Configuration / Defaults
 MODEL_PATH="${BIERGARTEN_MODEL_PATH:-/workspace/models/google_gemma-4-E4B-it-Q6_K.gguf}"
 OUTPUT_DIR="${BIERGARTEN_OUTPUT_DIR:-/workspace/output}"
 LOG_PATH="${BIERGARTEN_LOG_PATH:-/workspace/logs/pipeline.log}"
@@ -10,50 +9,50 @@ PROMPT_DIR="/app/prompts"
 
 echo "--- Starting Biergarten Pipeline Environment Check ---"
 
-# 1. Ensure volume mount directories exist
+# Ensure directories exist
 mkdir -p "$OUTPUT_DIR"
 mkdir -p "$(dirname "$LOG_PATH")"
-
-# 3. Build the command arguments
-ARGS=(
-    "--model"      "$MODEL_PATH"
-    "--prompt-dir" "$PROMPT_DIR"
-    "--output"     "$OUTPUT_DIR"
-    "--log-path"   "$LOG_PATH"
-)
-
-# Optional hyperparameters
-[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_TEMPERATURE" ]] && ARGS+=("--temperature"  "$BIERGARTEN_TEMPERATURE")
-[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_TOP_P" ]]       && ARGS+=("--top-p"        "$BIERGARTEN_TOP_P")
-[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_TOP_K" ]]       && ARGS+=("--top-k"        "$BIERGARTEN_TOP_K")
-[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_N_CTX" ]]       && ARGS+=("--n-ctx"        "$BIERGARTEN_N_CTX")
-[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_SEED" ]]        && ARGS+=("--seed"         "$BIERGARTEN_SEED")
-[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_GL_LAYERS" ]]   && ARGS+=("--n-gpu-layers" "$BIERGARTEN_GL_LAYERS")
-
-# Append any extra custom args
-if [[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_EXTRA_ARGS" ]]; then
-    ARGS+=($BIERGARTEN_EXTRA_ARGS)
-fi
-
-echo "--- Executing: $EXECUTABLE ${ARGS[*]} ---"
-# 2. Ensure model directory exists
 mkdir -p "$(dirname "$MODEL_PATH")"
 
-# 3. Download model if missing
+# Download model if missing
 if [ ! -f "$MODEL_PATH" ]; then
-    echo "Model not found. Downloading..."
+    echo "Model not found. Downloading (this may take a while)..."
 
-    curl -L \
+    curl -L -C - \
       -o "$MODEL_PATH" \
       "https://huggingface.co/bartowski/google_gemma-4-E4B-it-GGUF/resolve/main/google_gemma-4-E4B-it-Q6_K.gguf?download=true"
 
     echo "Download complete."
 fi
 
-# 4. Verify model exists
+# Verify model exists
 if [ ! -f "$MODEL_PATH" ]; then
     echo "ERROR: Model still not found after download attempt."
     exit 1
 fi
-# Execute the binary directly, replacing the shell process
+
+# Default GPU layers
+GL_LAYERS="${BIERGARTEN_GL_LAYERS:-40}"
+
+# Build args
+ARGS=(
+    "--model"      "$MODEL_PATH"
+    "--prompt-dir" "$PROMPT_DIR"
+    "--output"     "$OUTPUT_DIR"
+    "--log-path"   "$LOG_PATH"
+    "--n-gpu-layers" "$GL_LAYERS"
+)
+
+# Optional params
+[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_TEMPERATURE" ]] && ARGS+=("--temperature"  "$BIERGARTEN_TEMPERATURE")
+[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_TOP_P" ]]       && ARGS+=("--top-p"        "$BIERGARTEN_TOP_P")
+[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_TOP_K" ]]       && ARGS+=("--top-k"        "$BIERGARTEN_TOP_K")
+[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_N_CTX" ]]       && ARGS+=("--n-ctx"        "$BIERGARTEN_N_CTX")
+[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_SEED" ]]        && ARGS+=("--seed"         "$BIERGARTEN_SEED")
+
+# Extra args
+[[ -n "$BIERGARTEN_EXTRA_ARGS" ]] && ARGS+=($BIERGARTEN_EXTRA_ARGS)
+
+echo "--- Executing: $EXECUTABLE ${ARGS[*]} ---"
+
 exec "$EXECUTABLE" "${ARGS[@]}"