diff --git a/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/advanced.tsx b/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/advanced.tsx
index bb0089d5..9b562314 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/advanced.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/advanced.tsx
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ export function AdvancedOnboarding({
             <LabelWrapper
               label="Embedding model"
               description="It’s recommended that you use XYZ, ABC, or DEF models for best performance."
-              helperText="The embedding model for your Ollama server."
+              helperText="Model used for knowledge ingest and retrieval"
               id="embedding-model"
               required={true}
             >
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ export function AdvancedOnboarding({
             <LabelWrapper
               label="Language model"
               description="It’s recommended that you use XYZ, ABC, or DEF models for best performance."
-              helperText="The embedding model for your Ollama server."
+              helperText="Model used for chat"
               id="embedding-model"
               required={true}
             >
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ export function AdvancedOnboarding({
           {(hasLanguageModels || hasEmbeddingModels) && <Separator />}
           <LabelWrapper
             label="Sample dataset"
-            description="Ingest two small PDFs"
+            description="Load 2 sample PDFs to chat with data immediately."
             id="sample-dataset"
             flex
           >
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/ibm-onboarding.tsx b/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/ibm-onboarding.tsx
index 6571ab27..63e3fe6a 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/ibm-onboarding.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/ibm-onboarding.tsx
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export function IBMOnboarding({
       <div className="space-y-4">
         <LabelWrapper
           label="watsonx.ai API Endpoint"
-          helperText="The API endpoint for your watsonx.ai account."
+          helperText="Base URL of the API"
           id="api-endpoint"
           required
         >
@@ -143,16 +143,9 @@ export function IBMOnboarding({
         )}
         {modelsError && (
           <p className="text-mmd text-accent-amber-foreground">
-            Invalid configuration or connection failed
+            Connection failed. Check your configuration.
           </p>
         )}
-        {modelsData &&
-          (modelsData.language_models?.length > 0 ||
-            modelsData.embedding_models?.length > 0) && (
-            <p className="text-mmd text-accent-emerald-foreground">
-              Configuration is valid
-            </p>
-          )}
       </div>
       <AdvancedOnboarding
         icon={<IBMLogo className="w-4 h-4" />}
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/ollama-onboarding.tsx b/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/ollama-onboarding.tsx
index 4103e51c..93f9234c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/ollama-onboarding.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/ollama-onboarding.tsx
@@ -73,8 +73,8 @@ export function OllamaOnboarding({
       <div className="space-y-4">
         <div className="space-y-1">
           <LabelInput
-            label="Ollama Endpoint"
-            helperText="The endpoint for your Ollama server."
+            label="Ollama Base URL"
+            helperText="Base URL of your Ollama server"
             id="api-endpoint"
             required
             placeholder="http://localhost:11434"
@@ -88,43 +88,41 @@ export function OllamaOnboarding({
           )}
           {hasConnectionError && (
             <p className="text-mmd text-accent-amber-foreground">
-              Can’t reach Ollama at {debouncedEndpoint}. Update the endpoint or
+              Can’t reach Ollama at {debouncedEndpoint}. Update the base URL or
               start the server.
             </p>
           )}
           {hasNoModels && (
             <p className="text-mmd text-accent-amber-foreground">
-              No models found. Please install some models on your Ollama server.
-            </p>
-          )}
-          {isValidConnection && (
-            <p className="text-mmd text-accent-emerald-foreground">
-              Connected successfully
+              No models found. Install embedding and agent models on your Ollama
+              server.
             </p>
           )}
         </div>
         <LabelWrapper
           label="Embedding model"
-          helperText="The embedding model for your Ollama server."
+          helperText="Model used for knowledge ingest and retrieval"
           id="embedding-model"
           required={true}
         >
           <ModelSelector
             options={embeddingModels}
             icon={<OllamaLogo className="w-4 h-4" />}
+            noOptionsPlaceholder="No embedding models detected. Install an embedding model to continue."
             value={embeddingModel}
             onValueChange={setEmbeddingModel}
           />
         </LabelWrapper>
         <LabelWrapper
           label="Language model"
-          helperText="The embedding model for your Ollama server."
+          helperText="Model used for chat"
           id="embedding-model"
           required={true}
         >
           <ModelSelector
             options={languageModels}
             icon={<OllamaLogo className="w-4 h-4" />}
+            noOptionsPlaceholder="No language models detected. Install a language model to continue."
             value={languageModel}
             onValueChange={setLanguageModel}
           />
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/openai-onboarding.tsx b/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/openai-onboarding.tsx
index e94c1c17..33a08e56 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/openai-onboarding.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/onboarding/components/openai-onboarding.tsx
@@ -71,16 +71,9 @@ export function OpenAIOnboarding({
         )}
         {modelsError && (
           <p className="text-mmd text-accent-amber-foreground">
-            Invalid API key
+            Invalid OpenAI API key. Verify or replace the key.
           </p>
         )}
-        {modelsData &&
-          (modelsData.language_models?.length > 0 ||
-            modelsData.embedding_models?.length > 0) && (
-            <p className="text-mmd text-accent-emerald-foreground">
-              API Key is valid
-            </p>
-          )}
       </div>
       <AdvancedOnboarding
         icon={<OpenAILogo className="w-4 h-4" />}
diff --git a/frontend/src/app/onboarding/page.tsx b/frontend/src/app/onboarding/page.tsx
index ec3c1a10..5b0137aa 100644
--- a/frontend/src/app/onboarding/page.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/app/onboarding/page.tsx
@@ -186,18 +186,22 @@ function OnboardingPage() {
           <CardFooter className="flex justify-end">
             <Tooltip>
               <TooltipTrigger asChild>
-                <Button
-                  size="sm"
-                  onClick={handleComplete}
-                  disabled={!isComplete}
-                  loading={onboardingMutation.isPending}
-                >
-                  Complete
-                </Button>
+                <div>
+                  <Button
+                    size="sm"
+                    onClick={handleComplete}
+                    disabled={!isComplete}
+                    loading={onboardingMutation.isPending}
+                  >
+                    Complete
+                  </Button>
+                </div>
               </TooltipTrigger>
-              <TooltipContent>
-                {!isComplete ? "Please fill in all required fields" : ""}
-              </TooltipContent>
+              {!isComplete && (
+                <TooltipContent>
+                  Please fill in all required fields
+                </TooltipContent>
+              )}
             </Tooltip>
           </CardFooter>
         </Card>