diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index b309d17..b45d439 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "joplin-plugin-note-categorization",
-  "version": "0.1.11",
+  "version": "0.1.12",
   "scripts": {
     "dist": "webpack --env joplin-plugin-config=buildMain && webpack --env joplin-plugin-config=buildExtraScripts && npm run copyAssets && webpack --env joplin-plugin-config=createArchive",
     "prepare": "npm run dist",
diff --git a/src/manifest.json b/src/manifest.json
index d2dbd20..708b497 100644
--- a/src/manifest.json
+++ b/src/manifest.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 	"manifest_version": 1,
 	"id": "com.harsh16gupta.notecategorization",
 	"app_min_version": "3.5",
-	"version": "0.1.11",
+	"version": "0.1.12",
 	"name": "Note Categorization Plugin",
 	"description": "AI-based note categorisation: clusters notes semantically, suggests tags and notebook structures, and detects stale notes.",
 	"author": "Harsh Gupta",
diff --git a/src/panel/setupPanel.ts b/src/panel/setupPanel.ts
index 8bec5e7..3396f70 100644
--- a/src/panel/setupPanel.ts
+++ b/src/panel/setupPanel.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ export async function setupPanel(operationState: OperationState): Promise<string
 	await joplin.views.panels.onMessage(panel, async (msg: WebviewMessage) => {
 		switch (msg.type) {
 			case 'run': {
+				if (operationState.inProgress) {
+					return panelState;
+				}
+				operationState.inProgress = true;
 				panelState = { type: 'status', text: 'Starting pipeline...' };
 				log('Panel: starting pipeline');
 
@@ -59,6 +63,7 @@ export async function setupPanel(operationState: OperationState): Promise<string
 							panelState = { type: 'progress', current, total, cached, skipped, isNativeAiUsed };
 						},
 						onComplete: (strategies, notes, isNativeAiUsed, isAiNamingUsed) => {
+							operationState.inProgress = false;
 							lastResultsState = {
 								strategies,
 								notes,
@@ -69,6 +74,7 @@ export async function setupPanel(operationState: OperationState): Promise<string
 							panelState = { type: 'results', strategies, notes, isNativeAiUsed, isAiNamingUsed };
 						},
 						onError: (message) => {
+							operationState.inProgress = false;
 							panelState = { type: 'error', message };
 						},
 					},
@@ -106,6 +112,11 @@ export async function setupPanel(operationState: OperationState): Promise<string
 						panelState: isApplyOrUndo ? panelState : undefined,
 					};
 				}
+				// Safety net: if panelState appears idle but a pipeline is still running,
+				// return a synthetic status so the webview starts polling and recovers.
+				if (operationState.inProgress) {
+					return { type: 'status', text: 'Processing...' };
+				}
 				return panelState;
 
 			case 'syncState':
diff --git a/src/webview/context/AppStateContext.tsx b/src/webview/context/AppStateContext.tsx
index 30ac401..08a3533 100644
--- a/src/webview/context/AppStateContext.tsx
+++ b/src/webview/context/AppStateContext.tsx
@@ -339,6 +339,40 @@ export const AppStateProvider: React.FC<{ children: React.ReactNode }> = ({ chil
 						) {
 							startPolling();
 						}
+					} else {
+						// IPC may have failed under heavy load (e.g., during model loading
+						// or embedding). Start a brief recovery poll to check if a pipeline
+						// is actually running in the background.
+						let recoveryAttempts = 0;
+						const MAX_RECOVERY_ATTEMPTS = 5;
+						const recoveryInterval = setInterval(async () => {
+							recoveryAttempts++;
+							try {
+								const state = await webviewApi.postMessage<PanelMessage | { type: 'idle' }>({
+									type: 'poll',
+								});
+								if (state && state.type !== 'idle') {
+									clearInterval(recoveryInterval);
+									handlePollResponseRef.current(state);
+									if (
+										state.type === 'status' ||
+										state.type === 'progress' ||
+										state.type === 'apply_status' ||
+										state.type === 'apply_progress' ||
+										state.type === 'undo_status' ||
+										state.type === 'undo_progress'
+									) {
+										startPolling();
+									}
+								} else if (recoveryAttempts >= MAX_RECOVERY_ATTEMPTS) {
+									clearInterval(recoveryInterval);
+								}
+							} catch {
+								if (recoveryAttempts >= MAX_RECOVERY_ATTEMPTS) {
+									clearInterval(recoveryInterval);
+								}
+							}
+						}, 1000);
 					}
 				})
 				.catch((err) => {