diff --git a/src/lang_main/model_loader.py b/src/lang_main/model_loader.py
index 7dc0cf6..99e9dc1 100644
--- a/src/lang_main/model_loader.py
+++ b/src/lang_main/model_loader.py
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ from lang_main.types import (
     SpacyModel,
     STFRBackends,
     STFRDeviceTypes,
+    STFRModelArgs,
 )
 
 
@@ -78,9 +79,9 @@ def load_sentence_transformer(
     similarity_func: SimilarityFunction = SimilarityFunction.COSINE,
     backend: STFRBackends = STFRBackends.TORCH,
     device: STFRDeviceTypes = STFRDeviceTypes.CPU,
-    local_files_only: bool = False,
+    local_files_only: bool = True,
     model_save_folder: str | None = None,
-    model_kwargs: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
+    model_kwargs: STFRModelArgs | dict[str, Any] | None = None,
 ) -> SentenceTransformer:
     return SentenceTransformer(
         model_name_or_path=model_name,
@@ -89,7 +90,7 @@ def load_sentence_transformer(
         device=device,
         cache_folder=model_save_folder,
         local_files_only=local_files_only,
-        model_kwargs=model_kwargs,
+        model_kwargs=model_kwargs,  # type: ignore
     )
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_model_loader.py b/tests/test_model_loader.py
index 914b67c..1127383 100644
--- a/tests/test_model_loader.py
+++ b/tests/test_model_loader.py
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ def test_load_sentence_transformer(
         backend=STFRBackends.TORCH,
         device=STFRDeviceTypes.CPU,
         model_kwargs=None,
+        local_files_only=False,
     )
     assert isinstance(model, SentenceTransformer)
 
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@ def test_load_sentence_transformer_onnx(model_name, similarity_func) -> None:
         backend=STFRBackends.ONNX,
         device=STFRDeviceTypes.CPU,
         model_kwargs=stfr_model_args_onnx,  # type: ignore
+        local_files_only=False,
     )
     assert isinstance(model, SentenceTransformer)