diff --git a/routes/cookbook_helpers.py b/routes/cookbook_helpers.py
index a450278be..709245287 100644
--- a/routes/cookbook_helpers.py
+++ b/routes/cookbook_helpers.py
@@ -42,9 +42,16 @@ _SESSION_ID_RE = re.compile(r"^[A-Za-z0-9_-]{1,64}$")
 _SSH_PORT_RE = re.compile(r"^\d{1,5}$")
 _GPU_LIST_RE = re.compile(r"^\d+(?:,\d+)*$")
 # A download target directory. Absolute or ~-relative path; safe path glyphs
-# only (no quotes, shell metacharacters, or spaces) since it lands in a shell
-# command. A leading ~ is expanded to $HOME at command-build time.
-_LOCAL_DIR_RE = re.compile(r"^~?/[A-Za-z0-9._/-]*$|^~$")
+# only (no quotes or shell metacharacters). Spaces are allowed because command
+# builders pass the value through quoted shell/Python contexts. The character
+# class uses ``\w`` — Unicode word characters under Python 3's default str
+# matching — so non-ASCII folder names pass validation too: Cyrillic, accented
+# Latin, CJK, e.g. ``/Volumes/Модели`` or ``D:\AI Models\Модели``. This stays
+# shell-safe: none of ``; & | ` $ '' "" () {}`` newlines etc. are in ``[\w. -]``,
+# so injection vectors remain rejected. A leading ~ is expanded to $HOME at
+# command-build time. (Drive letters stay ASCII: ``[A-Za-z]:``.)
+_LOCAL_DIR_RE = re.compile(r"^~?(?:/[\w. -]*)+$|^~$")
+_WINDOWS_LOCAL_DIR_RE = re.compile(r"^[A-Za-z]:[\\/](?:[\w. -]+(?:[\\/][\w. -]+)*[\\/]?)?$")
 _WINDOWS_DRIVE_PATH_RE = re.compile(r"^[A-Za-z]:[\\/]")
 
 
@@ -97,9 +104,19 @@ def _validate_token(v: str | None) -> str | None:
 def _validate_local_dir(v: str | None) -> str | None:
     if v is None or v == "":
         return None
+    if len(v) >= 2 and v[0] == v[-1] and v[0] in {"'", '"'}:
+        v = v[1:-1]
     v = v.rstrip("/") or "/"
-    if not _LOCAL_DIR_RE.match(v):
-        raise HTTPException(400, "Invalid local_dir — must be an absolute or ~ path with no spaces or shell metacharacters")
+    if not (_LOCAL_DIR_RE.match(v) or _WINDOWS_LOCAL_DIR_RE.match(v)):
+        raise HTTPException(400, "Invalid local_dir — must be an absolute or ~ path with no shell metacharacters")
+    # Reject path segments that start with '-' (option injection). '-' is in the
+    # allowlist, so a dir like ``/models/-rf`` or ``D:\models\-rf`` could be read
+    # as a CLI flag by hf/etc. — and quoting does NOT stop a value from being
+    # parsed as an option. This is the one residual that command-build-time
+    # quoting can't cover, so the guard lives here, keeping the safety wholly
+    # inside the validator rather than relying on consumers.
+    if any(seg.startswith("-") for seg in re.split(r"[\\/]", v) if seg):
+        raise HTTPException(400, "Invalid local_dir — path segments cannot start with '-'")
     return v
 
 
@@ -125,7 +142,7 @@ def _validate_gpus(v: str | None) -> str | None:
 def _shell_path(p: str) -> str:
     """Render a validated path for a double-quoted shell context, expanding a
     leading ~ to $HOME (single quotes wouldn't expand it). Safe because
-    _validate_local_dir already restricts the charset."""
+    _validate_local_dir already rejects quotes and shell metacharacters."""
     if p == "~":
         return '"$HOME"'
     if p.startswith("~/"):
@@ -386,6 +403,7 @@ def _cached_model_scan_script(model_dirs: list[str] | None = None, add_hf_cache:
         "    for root, dirs, fns in safe_walk(base):",
         "        for fn in sorted(fns):",
         "            if not fn.lower().endswith('.gguf'): continue",
+        "            if fn.startswith('._'): continue  # macOS AppleDouble sidecar, not a real GGUF",
         "            fp = os.path.join(root, fn)",
         "            try: size = os.path.getsize(fp)",
         "            except Exception: size = 0",
diff --git a/tests/test_cookbook_helpers.py b/tests/test_cookbook_helpers.py
index 2a5f4b715..acc001812 100644
--- a/tests/test_cookbook_helpers.py
+++ b/tests/test_cookbook_helpers.py
@@ -22,10 +22,12 @@ from routes.cookbook_helpers import (
     _user_shell_path_bootstrap,
     _venv_safe_local_pip_install_cmd,
     _validate_gpus,
+    _validate_local_dir,
     _validate_repo_id,
     _validate_serve_cmd,
     _validate_serve_model_id,
     _validate_ssh_port,
+    _shell_path,
     run_ssh_command_async,
 )
 
@@ -110,6 +112,89 @@ def test_validate_ssh_port_rejects_shell_payload():
     assert _validate_ssh_port("2222") == "2222"
 
 
+def test_validate_local_dir_accepts_external_drive_paths_with_spaces():
+    path = "/Volumes/T7 2TB/AI Models/llamacpp"
+
+    assert _validate_local_dir(path) == path
+    assert _validate_local_dir(f'"{path}"') == path
+    assert _shell_path(f"{path}/Qwen3-8B") == '"/Volumes/T7 2TB/AI Models/llamacpp/Qwen3-8B"'
+
+
+def test_validate_local_dir_accepts_windows_drive_paths_with_spaces():
+    backslash_path = r"D:\AI Models\llamacpp"
+    slash_path = "D:/AI Models/llamacpp"
+
+    assert _validate_local_dir(backslash_path) == backslash_path
+    assert _validate_local_dir(f"'{backslash_path}'") == backslash_path
+    assert _validate_local_dir(slash_path) == slash_path
+    assert _shell_path(backslash_path + r"\Qwen3-8B") == '"D:\\AI Models\\llamacpp\\Qwen3-8B"'
+
+
+def test_validate_local_dir_still_rejects_shell_metacharacters():
+    for path in [
+        "/Volumes/T7 2TB/AI Models; touch /tmp/pwned",
+        "/Volumes/T7 2TB/AI Models/$(touch pwned)",
+        "/Volumes/T7 2TB/AI Models/`touch pwned`",
+        "/Volumes/T7 2TB/AI Models/model\nnext",
+    ]:
+        with pytest.raises(HTTPException):
+            _validate_local_dir(path)
+
+
+def test_validate_local_dir_rejects_windows_shell_metacharacters():
+    for path in [
+        r"D:\AI Models\llamacpp; touch C:\pwned",
+        r"D:\AI Models\llamacpp\$(touch pwned)",
+        r"D:\AI Models\llamacpp\`touch pwned`",
+        "D:\\AI Models\\llamacpp\nnext",
+    ]:
+        with pytest.raises(HTTPException):
+            _validate_local_dir(path)
+
+
+def test_validate_local_dir_accepts_non_ascii_unicode_paths():
+    # Folder names are routinely non-ASCII on localized systems; the validator
+    # must accept them the same way it accepts spaces (see issue: spaces AND
+    # non-ASCII chars were both rejected by the old ASCII-only allowlist).
+    for path in [
+        "/Volumes/Модели/llamacpp",   # Cyrillic (POSIX / external drive)
+        "/home/josé/models",          # accented Latin
+        "/Volumes/モデル/llm",         # CJK
+        r"D:\AI Models\Модели",       # Cyrillic (Windows drive path)
+    ]:
+        assert _validate_local_dir(path) == path
+
+
+def test_validate_local_dir_rejects_metacharacters_in_unicode_paths():
+    # Widening the allowlist to Unicode must not reopen the injection surface:
+    # shell metacharacters stay rejected even alongside non-ASCII segments.
+    for path in [
+        "/Volumes/Модели; touch /tmp/pwned",
+        "/Volumes/Модели/$(touch pwned)",
+        "/Volumes/Модели/`touch pwned`",
+        "/Volumes/Модели/a|b",
+        "/Volumes/Модели\nnext",
+        r"D:\Модели\llamacpp & calc.exe",
+    ]:
+        with pytest.raises(HTTPException):
+            _validate_local_dir(path)
+
+
+def test_validate_local_dir_rejects_leading_dash_segments():
+    # A path segment starting with '-' could be parsed as a CLI option by hf/etc.
+    # (option injection) even when quoted, since quoting doesn't stop a value from
+    # being read as a flag. The validator must reject it on every platform.
+    for path in [
+        "/models/-rf",
+        "/models/-rf/llamacpp",
+        "/-oStrictHostKeyChecking=no",
+        r"D:\models\-rf",
+        "D:/models/-rf",
+    ]:
+        with pytest.raises(HTTPException):
+            _validate_local_dir(path)
+
+
 def test_validate_gpus_accepts_indexes_only():
     assert _validate_gpus("0,1,2") == "0,1,2"
     with pytest.raises(HTTPException):