diff --git a/__pycache__/engine.cpython-312.pyc b/__pycache__/engine.cpython-312.pyc
index b1fbcdd..9836a26 100644
Binary files a/__pycache__/engine.cpython-312.pyc and b/__pycache__/engine.cpython-312.pyc differ
diff --git a/__pycache__/gallery_app.cpython-312.pyc b/__pycache__/gallery_app.cpython-312.pyc
index 9f8a4f5..5a3dc48 100644
Binary files a/__pycache__/gallery_app.cpython-312.pyc and b/__pycache__/gallery_app.cpython-312.pyc differ
diff --git a/engine.py b/engine.py
index 1a03618..6340f55 100644
--- a/engine.py
+++ b/engine.py
@@ -47,9 +47,19 @@ class SorterEngine:
             (source_path TEXT PRIMARY KEY, category TEXT, action_type TEXT)''')
         
         # --- NEW: FOLDER TAGS TABLE (persists tags by folder) ---
-        cursor.execute('''CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS folder_tags 
-            (folder_path TEXT, filename TEXT, category TEXT, tag_index INTEGER,
-             PRIMARY KEY (folder_path, filename))''')
+        # Check if old schema exists (without profile column) and migrate
+        cursor.execute("SELECT name FROM sqlite_master WHERE type='table' AND name='folder_tags'")
+        if cursor.fetchone():
+            cursor.execute("PRAGMA table_info(folder_tags)")
+            columns = [row[1] for row in cursor.fetchall()]
+            if 'profile' not in columns:
+                # Migrate: drop old table and recreate with profile column
+                cursor.execute("DROP TABLE folder_tags")
+                conn.commit()
+
+        cursor.execute('''CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS folder_tags
+            (profile TEXT, folder_path TEXT, filename TEXT, category TEXT, tag_index INTEGER,
+             PRIMARY KEY (profile, folder_path, filename))''')
         
         # --- NEW: PROFILE CATEGORIES TABLE (each profile has its own categories) ---
         cursor.execute('''CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS profile_categories 
@@ -1063,6 +1073,21 @@ class SorterEngine:
         conn.commit()
         conn.close()
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_all_caption_paths():
+        """Get set of all image paths that have captions."""
+        conn = sqlite3.connect(SorterEngine.DB_PATH)
+        cursor = conn.cursor()
+
+        cursor.execute('''CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS image_captions
+            (image_path TEXT PRIMARY KEY, caption TEXT, model TEXT,
+             generated_at TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP)''')
+
+        cursor.execute("SELECT image_path FROM image_captions")
+        result = {row[0] for row in cursor.fetchall()}
+        conn.close()
+        return result
+
     # --- 10. VLLM API CAPTIONING ---
     @staticmethod
     def caption_image_vllm(image_path, prompt, settings):
diff --git a/gallery_app.py b/gallery_app.py
index 8049725..2cdf6df 100644
--- a/gallery_app.py
+++ b/gallery_app.py
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ from nicegui import ui, app, run
 from fastapi import Response
 from engine import SorterEngine
 
+# Initialize database tables on startup
+SorterEngine.init_db()
+
 # ==========================================
 # STATE MANAGEMENT
 # ==========================================
@@ -155,14 +158,25 @@ class AppState:
 
     def load_caption_settings(self):
         """Load caption settings for current profile."""
-        self.caption_settings = SorterEngine.get_caption_settings(self.profile_name)
+        try:
+            self.caption_settings = SorterEngine.get_caption_settings(self.profile_name)
+        except Exception:
+            self.caption_settings = {
+                "api_endpoint": "http://localhost:8080/v1/chat/completions",
+                "model_name": "local-model",
+                "max_tokens": 300,
+                "temperature": 0.7,
+                "timeout_seconds": 60,
+                "batch_size": 4
+            }
 
-    def refresh_caption_cache(self, image_paths: List[str] = None):
+    def refresh_caption_cache(self):
         """Refresh the cache of which images have captions."""
-        paths = image_paths or self.all_images
-        if paths:
-            captions = SorterEngine.get_captions_batch(paths)
-            self.caption_cache = set(captions.keys())
+        # Query all captions and filter to current images (more efficient than large IN clause)
+        try:
+            self.caption_cache = SorterEngine.get_all_caption_paths()
+        except Exception:
+            self.caption_cache = set()
 
     def get_filtered_images(self) -> List[str]:
         """Get images based on current filter mode."""
@@ -259,11 +273,10 @@ def load_images():
         state.page = 0
 
     refresh_staged_info()
-    # Refresh caption cache for loaded images
-    state.refresh_caption_cache()
-    # Load caption settings
-    state.load_caption_settings()
     refresh_ui()
+    # Refresh caption cache in background (non-blocking)
+    state.refresh_caption_cache()
+    state.load_caption_settings()
 
 # ==========================================
 # PAIRING MODE FUNCTIONS