diff --git a/helm/hindsight/templates/api-deployment.yaml b/helm/hindsight/templates/api-deployment.yaml
index 1255f6cb..36b37f35 100644
--- a/helm/hindsight/templates/api-deployment.yaml
+++ b/helm/hindsight/templates/api-deployment.yaml
@@ -95,6 +95,27 @@ spec:
           {{- toYaml .Values.api.readinessProbe | nindent 10 }}
         resources:
           {{- toYaml .Values.api.resources | nindent 10 }}
+        {{- if or .Values.api.persistence.modelCache.enabled .Values.api.extraVolumeMounts }}
+        volumeMounts:
+        {{- if .Values.api.persistence.modelCache.enabled }}
+        - name: model-cache
+          mountPath: /home/hindsight/.cache
+        {{- end }}
+        {{- with .Values.api.extraVolumeMounts }}
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+        {{- end }}
+        {{- end }}
+      {{- if or .Values.api.persistence.modelCache.enabled .Values.api.extraVolumes }}
+      volumes:
+      {{- if .Values.api.persistence.modelCache.enabled }}
+      - name: model-cache
+        persistentVolumeClaim:
+          claimName: {{ include "hindsight.fullname" . }}-api-model-cache
+      {{- end }}
+      {{- with .Values.api.extraVolumes }}
+      {{- toYaml . | nindent 6 }}
+      {{- end }}
+      {{- end }}
       {{- with .Values.nodeSelector }}
       nodeSelector:
         {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
diff --git a/helm/hindsight/templates/api-model-cache-pvc.yaml b/helm/hindsight/templates/api-model-cache-pvc.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4e83e397
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helm/hindsight/templates/api-model-cache-pvc.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+{{- if and .Values.api.enabled .Values.api.persistence.modelCache.enabled }}
+apiVersion: v1
+kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
+metadata:
+  name: {{ include "hindsight.fullname" . }}-api-model-cache
+  labels:
+    {{- include "hindsight.api.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
+  {{- with .Values.api.persistence.modelCache.annotations }}
+  annotations:
+    {{- toYaml . | nindent 4 }}
+  {{- end }}
+spec:
+  accessModes:
+    {{- toYaml .Values.api.persistence.modelCache.accessModes | nindent 4 }}
+  {{- if .Values.api.persistence.modelCache.storageClass }}
+  storageClassName: {{ .Values.api.persistence.modelCache.storageClass }}
+  {{- end }}
+  resources:
+    requests:
+      storage: {{ .Values.api.persistence.modelCache.size }}
+{{- end }}
diff --git a/helm/hindsight/templates/worker-statefulset.yaml b/helm/hindsight/templates/worker-statefulset.yaml
index 85cff9f6..d0c1d211 100644
--- a/helm/hindsight/templates/worker-statefulset.yaml
+++ b/helm/hindsight/templates/worker-statefulset.yaml
@@ -95,6 +95,16 @@ spec:
           {{- toYaml .Values.worker.readinessProbe | nindent 10 }}
         resources:
           {{- toYaml .Values.worker.resources | nindent 10 }}
+        {{- if or .Values.worker.persistence.modelCache.enabled .Values.worker.extraVolumeMounts }}
+        volumeMounts:
+        {{- if .Values.worker.persistence.modelCache.enabled }}
+        - name: model-cache
+          mountPath: /home/hindsight/.cache
+        {{- end }}
+        {{- with .Values.worker.extraVolumeMounts }}
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+        {{- end }}
+        {{- end }}
       {{- with .Values.nodeSelector }}
       nodeSelector:
         {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
@@ -107,4 +117,26 @@ spec:
       tolerations:
         {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
       {{- end }}
+      {{- with .Values.worker.extraVolumes }}
+      volumes:
+      {{- toYaml . | nindent 6 }}
+      {{- end }}
+  {{- if .Values.worker.persistence.modelCache.enabled }}
+  volumeClaimTemplates:
+  - metadata:
+      name: model-cache
+      {{- with .Values.worker.persistence.modelCache.annotations }}
+      annotations:
+        {{- toYaml . | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- end }}
+    spec:
+      accessModes:
+        {{- toYaml .Values.worker.persistence.modelCache.accessModes | nindent 8 }}
+      {{- if .Values.worker.persistence.modelCache.storageClass }}
+      storageClassName: {{ .Values.worker.persistence.modelCache.storageClass }}
+      {{- end }}
+      resources:
+        requests:
+          storage: {{ .Values.worker.persistence.modelCache.size }}
+  {{- end }}
 {{- end }}
diff --git a/helm/hindsight/values.yaml b/helm/hindsight/values.yaml
index 8dc6eb70..29c1ff99 100644
--- a/helm/hindsight/values.yaml
+++ b/helm/hindsight/values.yaml
@@ -67,6 +67,33 @@ api:
   # Pod affinity/anti-affinity (overrides global affinity for this component)
   # affinity: {}
 
+  # Persistent volume for local model cache (reranker, embeddings)
+  # Models are downloaded to /home/hindsight/.cache on first use.
+  # Without persistence, models are re-downloaded on every pod restart.
+  persistence:
+    modelCache:
+      enabled: false
+      size: 5Gi
+      storageClass: ""
+      accessModes:
+        - ReadWriteOnce
+      annotations: {}
+
+  # Extra volume mounts for the api container
+  # e.g.
+  # extraVolumeMounts:
+  #   - name: my-volume
+  #     mountPath: /mnt/my-volume
+  extraVolumeMounts: []
+
+  # Extra volumes for the api pod
+  # e.g.
+  # extraVolumes:
+  #   - name: my-volume
+  #     configMap:
+  #       name: my-configmap
+  extraVolumes: []
+
   # Environment variables
   env:
     #HINDSIGHT_API_LLM_PROVIDER: "groq"
@@ -140,6 +167,32 @@ worker:
   # Pod affinity/anti-affinity (overrides global affinity for this component)
   # affinity: {}
 
+  # Persistent volume for local model cache (reranker, embeddings)
+  # Uses volumeClaimTemplates since worker is a StatefulSet.
+  persistence:
+    modelCache:
+      enabled: false
+      size: 5Gi
+      storageClass: ""
+      accessModes:
+        - ReadWriteOnce
+      annotations: {}
+
+  # Extra volume mounts for the worker container
+  # e.g.
+  # extraVolumeMounts:
+  #   - name: my-volume
+  #     mountPath: /mnt/my-volume
+  extraVolumeMounts: []
+
+  # Extra volumes for the worker pod
+  # e.g.
+  # extraVolumes:
+  #   - name: my-volume
+  #     configMap:
+  #       name: my-configmap
+  extraVolumes: []
+
   # Secret environment variables (inherited from api.secrets if not specified)
   secrets: {}