Image Lab UNET not Found

[Iron3eagle]

What happened?

When activating Image Lab, application reports Missing UNET, behavior occurs with all Local options (Flux Kontext, Qwen Image Edit, Flux.2 Klien).

I expected Image Lab to find the previously downloaded SAFETENSOR files.

When redownloading the missing UNET files, logs and notifications show successful download, files can be located in explorer.

For now, I can only keep it working by reinstalling Stability Matrix, ComfyUI, and using only Image Lab. Adding additional packages and/or models appear to cause the issue. I have not been able to pin point the exact point it breaks.

Issue possibly relates to issue 1661.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install Stability Matrix
2. Install ComfyUI package
3. Activate Image Lab and download packages
4. Initial use works
5. Install SwarmUI package
6. Activate Image Lab
7. Second use works
8. Install LoRAs and Additional models.
9. Shutdown and restart Stability Matrix
10. Activate Image Lab
11. Missing UNET loop begins

Relevant logs

2026-09-25 09:37:26.7970|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Showing missing models dialog for Qwen Image Edit with 1 models
2026-09-25 09:37:42.6548|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.Dialogs.DownloadMissingModelsViewModel|Queueing download of 1 models
2026-09-25 09:37:42.6548|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.Dialogs.DownloadMissingModelsViewModel|Queueing download: qwen_image_edit_2511_fp8mixed.safetensors to D:\Tools\StabilityMatrix-win-x64\Data\Models\DiffusionModels\qwen_image_edit_2511_fp8mixed.safetensors
2026-09-25 09:37:42.6548|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.TrackedDownloadService|Download added: (22951697-602b-40f3-aebf-511edeacc76f, Inactive)
2026-09-25 09:37:42.6716|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.TrackedDownloadService|Starting download qwen_image_edit_2511_fp8mixed.safetensors
2026-09-25 09:37:42.6716|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Models.TrackedDownload|Starting download "qwen_image_edit_2511_fp8mixed.safetensors"
2026-09-25 09:37:42.6716|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Models.TrackedDownload|Download "qwen_image_edit_2511_fp8mixed.safetensors": State changing to Working
2026-09-25 09:37:42.6716|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Models.TrackedDownload|Download "qwen_image_edit_2511_fp8mixed.safetensors": State changed to Working
2026-09-25 09:37:42.6716|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.TrackedDownloadService|Download started: (22951697-602b-40f3-aebf-511edeacc76f, Working)
2026-09-25 09:37:42.9580|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.DownloadService|Resume file doesn't exist, creating file D:\Tools\StabilityMatrix-win-x64\Data\Models\DiffusionModels\Unconfirmed 5477317.smdownload
2026-09-25 09:39:56.3831|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.CheckpointBrowser.CivitAiBrowserViewModel|Using cached query for "" [23574602] (in 0.0 s)
2026-09-25 09:39:56.4123|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.CheckpointBrowser.CivitAiBrowserViewModel|Cached query was more than 2 minutes ago (41062 s), updating cache with remote query
2026-09-25 09:39:56.5895|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.CheckpointBrowser.CivitAiBrowserViewModel|CivitAI Query "" returned 50 results (in 0.2 s)
2026-09-25 09:41:30.2872|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Models.TrackedDownload|Download "qwen_image_edit_2511_fp8mixed.safetensors": State changing to Success
2026-09-25 09:41:30.2872|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Models.TrackedDownload|Download "qwen_image_edit_2511_fp8mixed.safetensors": State changed to Success
2026-09-25 09:41:30.2872|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.TrackedDownloadService|Removed download qwen_image_edit_2511_fp8mixed.safetensors
2026-09-25 09:41:30.2872|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.TrackedDownloadService|Running context action for qwen_image_edit_2511_fp8mixed.safetensors
2026-09-25 09:41:30.2872|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.ModelIndexService|Refreshing model index...
2026-09-25 09:41:30.2872|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Helper.LinkSafeFileSystem|Skipping "D:\Tools\StabilityMatrix-win-x64\Data\Models\DiffusionModels": already visited as "D:\Tools\StabilityMatrix-win-x64\Data\Models\DiffusionModels"
2026-09-25 09:41:30.2984|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Model downloads completed: 1 succeeded, 0 failed
2026-09-25 09:41:30.2984|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.ModelIndexService|Refreshing model index...
2026-09-25 09:41:30.2984|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Helper.LinkSafeFileSystem|Skipping "D:\Tools\StabilityMatrix-win-x64\Data\Models\DiffusionModels": already visited as "D:\Tools\StabilityMatrix-win-x64\Data\Models\DiffusionModels"
2026-09-25 09:41:30.4891|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.ModelIndexService|Model index refreshed with 99 entries, took 159.25ms (31.31ms db)
2026-09-25 09:41:30.4891|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.Services.InferenceClientManager|Model index changed, reloading shared properties for Inference
2026-09-25 09:41:30.5054|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loaded 0 Flux models and 0 LoRAs from local index
2026-09-25 09:41:30.5054|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loaded 0 Qwen models and 3 LoRAs from local index
2026-09-25 09:41:30.5054|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loaded 0 Klein models and 0 LoRAs from local index
2026-09-25 09:41:30.5131|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.ModelIndexService|Model index refreshed with 99 entries, took 170.06ms (56.40ms db)
2026-09-25 09:41:30.5131|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.Services.InferenceClientManager|Model index changed, reloading shared properties for Inference
2026-09-25 09:42:47.0172|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|BananaVisionPage loaded, initializing...
2026-09-25 09:42:47.0172|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loading conversations from database...
2026-09-25 09:42:47.0172|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.ImageGeneration.ImageGenerationChatService|Querying conversations from database...
2026-09-25 09:42:47.0172|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.ImageGeneration.ImageGenerationChatService|Retrieved 1 conversations from database
2026-09-25 09:42:47.0172|WARN|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Current conversation set to null
2026-09-25 09:42:47.0172|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Current conversation changed to: a7e89508-af8c-4399-93e3-9d85e4aa4630 - New Conversation (provider: qwen-image-edit)
2026-09-25 09:42:47.0172|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loaded 1 conversations
2026-09-25 09:42:47.0172|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loading most recent conversation: a7e89508-af8c-4399-93e3-9d85e4aa4630
2026-09-25 09:42:47.0172|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loaded 0 messages for conversation a7e89508-af8c-4399-93e3-9d85e4aa4630
2026-09-25 09:44:17.1477|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Processes.ProcessRunner|Opening URL 'http://localhost:7861'
2026-09-25 09:44:35.3328|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Processes.ProcessRunner|Opening URL 'http://localhost:7801'
2026-09-25 09:46:28.0079|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Processes.ProcessRunner|Opening URL 'http://127.0.0.1:7860'
2026-09-25 09:46:39.1248|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|BananaVisionPage loaded, initializing...
2026-09-25 09:46:39.1248|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loading conversations from database...
2026-09-25 09:46:39.1248|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.ImageGeneration.ImageGenerationChatService|Querying conversations from database...
2026-09-25 09:46:39.1248|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Core.Services.ImageGeneration.ImageGenerationChatService|Retrieved 1 conversations from database
2026-09-25 09:46:39.1248|WARN|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Current conversation set to null
2026-09-25 09:46:39.1248|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Current conversation changed to: a7e89508-af8c-4399-93e3-9d85e4aa4630 - New Conversation (provider: qwen-image-edit)
2026-09-25 09:46:39.1248|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loaded 1 conversations
2026-09-25 09:46:39.1248|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loading most recent conversation: a7e89508-af8c-4399-93e3-9d85e4aa4630
2026-09-25 09:46:39.1248|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Loaded 0 messages for conversation a7e89508-af8c-4399-93e3-9d85e4aa4630
2026-09-24 21:57:26.8780|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Attempting to connect to ComfyUI (attempt 1/5)...
2026-09-24 21:57:26.8780|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.Services.InferenceClientManager|Connecting to "http://127.0.0.1:8188/"...
2026-09-24 21:57:26.8959|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Core.Inference.ComfyClient|Websocket Reconnected, (Initial)
2026-09-24 21:57:26.8959|DEBUG|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.Services.InferenceClientManager|Connected to "http://127.0.0.1:8188/"
2026-09-24 21:57:27.4001|INFO|StabilityMatrix.Avalonia.ViewModels.BananaVisionPageViewModel|Showing missing models dialog for Qwen Image Edit with 1 models

Version

2.16.4

What Operating System are you using?

Windows

File in unet folder was manually placed there in an attempt to get the file picked up by the application.

[NeuralFault]

If there is a diffusion_models link in the Models folder (It links to DiffusionModels, used by SwarmUI), delete it.

A bug was introduced with the LinkSafeFileSystem function added in 2.16.4, and is causing models in DiffusionModels to not be properly indexed due to diffusion_models claiming the key for it instead of the actual model folder.

My PR #1743 fixes it for future update release.