fix(recipes): show initialization screen and auto-reload during first scan

The recipes page always rendered with is_initializing=False, so a cold
start displayed an empty grid that never updated until a manual refresh.
Mirror the model pages: gate render_page on the scanner state, broadcast
init progress from RecipeScanner (including a completion message, and a
failure fallback so the page never stalls), and teach initialization.js
to detect the /loras/recipes page before the generic /loras match.

py/routes/handlers/recipe_handlers.py

@@ -176,11 +176,19 @@ class RecipePageView:
             user_language = self._settings.get("language", "en")
             self._server_i18n.set_locale(user_language)
 
+            # While the initial scan is running, show the initialization
+            # screen (same as the model pages) instead of an empty grid; the
+            # page reloads itself when the scanner broadcasts completion.
+            is_initializing = (
+                recipe_scanner._cache is None or recipe_scanner.is_initializing()
+            )
+
             try:
-                await recipe_scanner.get_cached_data(force_refresh=False)
+                if not is_initializing:
+                    await recipe_scanner.get_cached_data(force_refresh=False)
                 rendered = self._template_env.get_template(self._template_name).render(
                     recipes=[],
-                    is_initializing=False,
+                    is_initializing=is_initializing,
                     settings=self._settings,
                     request=request,
                     t=self._server_i18n.get_translation,

py/services/recipe_scanner.py

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ from ..utils.recipe_open_stats import RecipeOpenStats
 from .model_scanner import WEIGHT_FILE_EXTENSIONS
 from .recipe_cache import RecipeCache
 from .recipes.errors import RecipeNotFoundError, RecipePersistenceError
+from .websocket_manager import ws_manager
 from natsort import natsorted
 import sys
 import re
@@ -481,6 +482,10 @@ class RecipeScanner:
                 return str(value)
         return "unknown"
 
+    def is_initializing(self) -> bool:
+        """Check if the scanner is currently initializing"""
+        return self._is_initializing
+
     def on_library_changed(self) -> None:
         """Reset cached state when the active library changes."""
 
@@ -1410,6 +1415,14 @@ class RecipeScanner:
         self._is_initializing = True
         self._initialization_task = asyncio.current_task()
         try:
+            await ws_manager.broadcast_init_progress({
+                'stage': 'loading_cache',
+                'progress': 0,
+                'details': 'Loading recipe cache...',
+                'scanner_type': 'recipe',
+                'pageType': 'recipes',
+            })
+
             await self._wait_for_lora_scanner()
 
             # Set initial empty cache to avoid None reference errors
@@ -1442,11 +1455,38 @@ class RecipeScanner:
             logger.info(
                 f"Recipe cache initialized in {elapsed_time:.2f} seconds. Found {recipe_count} recipes"
             )
+            await ws_manager.broadcast_init_progress({
+                'stage': 'finalizing',
+                'progress': 100,
+                'status': 'complete',
+                'details': f'Found {recipe_count} recipes.',
+                'scanner_type': 'recipe',
+                'pageType': 'recipes',
+            })
             self._schedule_post_scan_enrichment()
             # Schedule FTS index build in background (non-blocking)
             self._schedule_fts_index_build()
         except Exception as e:
             logger.error(f"Recipe Scanner: Error initializing cache in background: {e}")
+            # Ensure the cache is never None so the page stops showing the
+            # initialization screen, and let waiting clients reload into the
+            # regular (possibly empty) view instead of stalling.
+            if self._cache is None:
+                self._cache = RecipeCache(
+                    raw_data=[],
+                    sorted_by_name=[],
+                    sorted_by_date=[],
+                    folders=[],
+                    folder_tree={},
+                )
+            await ws_manager.broadcast_init_progress({
+                'stage': 'finalizing',
+                'progress': 100,
+                'status': 'complete',
+                'details': 'Recipe cache initialization failed.',
+                'scanner_type': 'recipe',
+                'pageType': 'recipes',
+            })
         finally:
             # Mark initialization as complete regardless of outcome
             self._is_initializing = False

static/js/components/initialization.js

@@ -52,7 +52,11 @@ class InitializationManager {
     detectPageType() {
         // Get the current page type from URL or data attribute
         const path = window.location.pathname;
-        if (path.includes('/checkpoints')) {
+        // The recipes page lives at /loras/recipes, so it must be matched
+        // before the generic '/loras' check.
+        if (path.includes('/recipes')) {
+            this.pageType = 'recipes';
+        } else if (path.includes('/checkpoints')) {
             this.pageType = 'checkpoints';
         } else if (path.includes('/loras')) {
             this.pageType = 'loras';
@@ -216,7 +220,8 @@ class InitializationManager {
             const scannerTypeToPageType = {
                 'lora': 'loras',
                 'checkpoint': 'checkpoints',
-                'embedding': 'embeddings'
+                'embedding': 'embeddings',
+                'recipe': 'recipes'
             };
             
             if (scannerTypeToPageType[data.scanner_type] !== this.pageType) {