diff --git a/internal/web/handlers.go b/internal/web/handlers.go
index b9b1ed2..3867181 100644
--- a/internal/web/handlers.go
+++ b/internal/web/handlers.go
@@ -117,6 +117,11 @@ type App struct {
 	// recording. The caption default (18,000 chars, ~22 minutes of speech) would
 	// keep only the first third of an hour-long meeting.
 	UploadChatMaxChars int
+	// UploadChatModel is the model chat over an uploaded recording opens with. Empty
+	// means the Chatter's own default. It exists because that default is the
+	// summarizer's (koala/phi4-mini, 8,192-token context) and cannot hold an hour of
+	// speech.
+	UploadChatModel string
 	// Processing tracks in-flight immediate summarizations so the status endpoint
 	// shows the animation until the summary lands. The zero value is ready to use.
 	Processing ProcessingSet
diff --git a/internal/web/uploads.go b/internal/web/uploads.go
index 295ced5..bd65624 100644
--- a/internal/web/uploads.go
+++ b/internal/web/uploads.go
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ func (a *App) handleUploadChat(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		http.Redirect(w, r, "/uploads/"+u.ID, http.StatusSeeOther)
 		return
 	}
-	a.render(w, r, UploadChatPage(*u, a.uploadChatView(*u, a.Chat.DefaultModel(""), nil, false, "")))
+	a.render(w, r, UploadChatPage(*u, a.uploadChatView(*u, a.Chat.DefaultModel(a.UploadChatModel), nil, false, "")))
 }
 
 // handleUploadChatMessage answers one question against the owner's uploaded
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ func (a *App) handleUploadChatMessage(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		http.Error(w, "bad form", http.StatusBadRequest)
 		return
 	}
-	model := a.resolveModel(r.FormValue("model"), "")
+	model := a.resolveModel(r.FormValue("model"), a.UploadChatModel)
 	history := parseHistory(r.Form["hq"], r.Form["ha"])
 	question := strings.TrimSpace(r.FormValue("question"))