diff --git a/config/sample.config.toml b/config/sample.config.toml
index 4f71e25a..1e7e03cd 100644
--- a/config/sample.config.toml
+++ b/config/sample.config.toml
@@ -7,3 +7,7 @@ wms-url = "https://maps.heigit.org/osm-carto/service?SERVICE=WMS&VERSION=1.1.1"
 wms-layers = "heigit:osm-carto@2xx"
 wms-read-timeout = 600
 max-nr-simultaneous-uploads = 100
+neptune_api_token = "h0dHBzOi8aHR06E0Z...jMifQ"
+neptune_project = "HeiGIT/SketchMapTool"
+neptune_model_id_yolo = "SMT-OSM-1"
+neptune_model_id_sam = "SMT-SAM-1"
diff --git a/docs/configuration.md b/docs/configuration.md
index bbc01cdf..e5838a63 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.md
+++ b/docs/configuration.md
@@ -15,3 +15,7 @@ To create a new configuration file simply copy the sample configuration file and
 ```
 cp sample.config.toml config.toml
 ```
+
+## Required Configuration
+
+Except of the API token (`SMT-NEPTUNE-API-TOKEN`) for neptune.ai all configuration values come with defaults for development purposes. Please make sure to configure the API token for your environment.
diff --git a/docs/development-setup.md b/docs/development-setup.md
index 88902cde..6f6c060f 100644
--- a/docs/development-setup.md
+++ b/docs/development-setup.md
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ npm run build  # build/bundle JS and CSS
 
 Please refer to the [configuration documentation](/docs/configuration.md).
 
+> TL;DR: Except of the API token (`SMT-NEPTUNE-API-TOKEN`) for neptune.ai all configuration values come with defaults for development purposes. Please make sure to configure the API token for your environment.
+
 ## Usage
 
 ### 1. Start Celery (Task Queue)
@@ -104,3 +106,7 @@ If you setup sketch-map-tool in an IDE like PyCharm please make sure that your I
 Go thought the setup steps above in the terminal and change interpreter settings in the IDE to point to the mamba/conda environment.
 
 Also make sure the environment variable `PROJ_LIB` to point to the `proj` directory of the mamba/conda environment.
+
+## Troubleshooting
+
+Make sure that Poetry does not try to manage the virtual environment. Check with `poetry env list`. If any environment are listed remove them: `poetry env remove ...`
diff --git a/sketch_map_tool/config.py b/sketch_map_tool/config.py
index 5f357709..80e2cc0c 100644
--- a/sketch_map_tool/config.py
+++ b/sketch_map_tool/config.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ def get_config_path() -> str:
     return os.getenv("SMT-CONFIG", default=default)
 
 
-def load_config_default() -> Dict[str, str]:
+def load_config_default() -> Dict[str, str | int | float]:
     return {
         "data-dir": get_default_data_dir(),
         "user-agent": "sketch-map-tool",
@@ -29,6 +29,10 @@ def load_config_default() -> Dict[str, str]:
         "wms-read-timeout": 600,
         "max-nr-simultaneous-uploads": 100,
         "max_pixel_per_image": 10e8,  # 10.000*10.000
+        "neptune_project": "HeiGIT/SketchMapTool",
+        "neptune_api_token": "",
+        "neptune_model_id_yolo": "SMT-OSM-1",
+        "neptune_model_id_sam": "SMT-SAM-1",
     }
 
 
@@ -53,6 +57,10 @@ def load_config_from_env() -> Dict[str, str]:
         "wms-read-timeout": os.getenv("SMT-WMS-READ-TIMEOUT"),
         "max-nr-simultaneous-uploads": os.getenv("SMT-MAX-NR-SIM-UPLOADS"),
         "max_pixel_per_image": os.getenv("MAX-PIXEL-PER-IMAGE"),
+        "neptune_project": os.getenv("SMT-NEPTUNE-PROJECT"),
+        "neptune_api_token": os.getenv("SMT-NEPTUNE-API-TOKEN"),
+        "neptune_model_id_yolo": os.getenv("SMT-NEPTUNE-MODEL-ID-YOLO"),
+        "neptune_model_id_sam": os.getenv("SMT-NEPTUNE-MODEL-ID-SAM"),
     }
     return {k: v for k, v in cfg.items() if v is not None}
 
diff --git a/sketch_map_tool/upload_processing/ml_models.py b/sketch_map_tool/upload_processing/ml_models.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..82522a1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sketch_map_tool/upload_processing/ml_models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+import logging
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import neptune
+
+from sketch_map_tool.config import get_config_value
+
+PROJECT = get_config_value("neptune_project")
+API_TOKEN = get_config_value("neptune_api_token")
+
+
+def init_model(id: str) -> Path:
+    """Initilaze model. Download model to data dir if not present."""
+    # TODO:
+    # _check_id(id)
+
+    data_dir = Path(get_config_value("data-dir"))
+    model = neptune.init_model_version(
+        with_id=id,
+        project=PROJECT,
+        api_token=API_TOKEN,
+        mode="read-only",
+    )
+
+    raw = data_dir / id
+    path = raw.with_suffix(_get_file_suffix(id))
+    if not path.is_file():
+        logging.info(f"Downloading model {id} from neptune.ai to {path}.")
+        model["model"].download(str(path))
+
+    # TODO: check if model is valid/working
+    logging.info("Model available model from neptune.ai: " + id)
+    return path
+
+
+def _check_id(id: str):
+    # TODO:
+    project = neptune.init_project(
+        project=PROJECT,
+        api_token=API_TOKEN,
+        mode="read-only",
+    )
+
+    if not project.exists("models/" + id):
+        raise ValueError("Invalid model ID: " + id)
+
+
+def _get_file_suffix(id: str) -> str:
+    if "SAM" in id:
+        return ".pth"
+    elif "OSM" in id:
+        return ".pt"
+    else:
+        raise ValueError("Unexpected model ID: " + id)
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_config.py b/tests/unit/test_config.py
index a45125df..4681fea8 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_config.py
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ def config_keys():
         "wms-read-timeout",
         "max-nr-simultaneous-uploads",
         "max_pixel_per_image",
+        "neptune_project",
+        "neptune_api_token",
+        "neptune_model_id_yolo",
+        "neptune_model_id_sam",
     )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_ml_models.py b/tests/unit/test_ml_models.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..387d285a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_ml_models.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import pytest
+from hypothesis import example, given
+from hypothesis.strategies import text
+
+from sketch_map_tool.config import get_config_value
+from sketch_map_tool.upload_processing import ml_models
+from tests import vcr_app as vcr
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "id",
+    (
+        get_config_value("neptune_model_id_yolo"),
+        get_config_value("neptune_model_id_sam"),
+    ),
+)
+@pytest.mark.skip("longrunning tests. downloads ml-models from neptunge.ai")
+def test_init_model(id, monkeypatch, tmpdir):
+    monkeypatch.setenv("SMT-DATA-DIR", tmpdir)
+    path = ml_models.init_model(id)
+    assert path.is_file()
+
+
+@given(text())
+@example("")
+@pytest.mark.skip(reason="not implemented yet")
+@vcr.use_cassette
+def test_init_model_unexpected_id(id):
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        ml_models.init_model(id)