diff --git a/samples/rust/hello-foundry-local/README.md b/samples/rust/hello-foundry-local/README.md
index 888f1769..49d27d48 100644
--- a/samples/rust/hello-foundry-local/README.md
+++ b/samples/rust/hello-foundry-local/README.md
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ cargo run
 
 1. Creates a FoundryLocalManager instance
 2. Starts the Foundry Local service if it's not already running
-3. Downloads and loads the phi-3.5-mini model
+3. Downloads and loads the phi-3-mini-4k model
 4. Sends a prompt to the model using the OpenAI-compatible API
 5. Displays the response from the model
 
diff --git a/samples/rust/hello-foundry-local/src/main.rs b/samples/rust/hello-foundry-local/src/main.rs
index b93993f2..7320a2db 100644
--- a/samples/rust/hello-foundry-local/src/main.rs
+++ b/samples/rust/hello-foundry-local/src/main.rs
@@ -11,9 +11,14 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
     println!("Hello Foundry Local!");
     println!("===================");
 
+    // For this example, we will use the "phi-3-mini-4k" model which is 2.181 GB in size.
+    let model_to_use: &str = "phi-3-mini-4k";
+
     // Create a FoundryLocalManager instance using the builder pattern
     println!("\nInitializing Foundry Local manager...");
     let mut manager = FoundryLocalManager::builder()
+        // Alternatively to the checks below, you can specify the model to use directly during bootstrapping
+        // .alias_or_model_id(model_to_use)
         .bootstrap(true) // Start the service if not running
         .build()
         .await?;
@@ -21,19 +26,35 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
     // List all the models in the catalog
     println!("\nAvailable models in catalog:");
     let models = manager.list_catalog_models().await?;
+    let model_in_catalog = models.iter().any(|m| m.alias == model_to_use);
     for model in models {
         println!("- {model}");
     }
+    // Check if the model is in the catalog
+    if !model_in_catalog {
+        println!("Model '{model_to_use}' not found in catalog. Exiting.");
+        return Ok(());
+    }
 
     // List available models in the local cache
     println!("\nAvailable models in local cache:");
     let models = manager.list_cached_models().await?;
+    let model_in_cache = models.iter().any(|m| m.alias == model_to_use);
     for model in models {
         println!("- {model}");
     }
 
+    // Check if the model is already cached and download if not
+    if !model_in_cache {
+        println!("Model '{model_to_use}' not found in local cache. Downloading...");
+        // Download the model if not in cache
+        // NOTE if you've bootstrapped with `alias_or_model_id`, you can use that directly and skip this check
+        manager.download_model(model_to_use, None, false).await?;
+        println!("Model '{model_to_use}' downloaded successfully.");
+    }
+
     // Get the model information
-    let model_info = manager.get_model_info("phi-4-mini", true).await?;
+    let model_info = manager.get_model_info(model_to_use, true).await?;
     println!("\nUsing model: {model_info}");
 
     // Build the prompt