diff --git a/src/platform/assets/services/assetService.test.ts b/src/platform/assets/services/assetService.test.ts
index ead7902ff..91240a25e 100644
--- a/src/platform/assets/services/assetService.test.ts
+++ b/src/platform/assets/services/assetService.test.ts
@@ -231,9 +231,9 @@ describe('assetService', () => {
       )
       expect(result).toEqual(testAssets)
 
-      // Verify API call includes correct category
+      // Verify API call includes correct category (comma is URL-encoded by URLSearchParams)
       expect(api.fetchApi).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-        '/assets?include_tags=models,checkpoints&limit=500'
+        '/assets?include_tags=models%2Ccheckpoints&limit=500'
       )
     })
 
diff --git a/src/renderer/extensions/vueNodes/widgets/composables/useAssetWidgetData.ts b/src/renderer/extensions/vueNodes/widgets/composables/useAssetWidgetData.ts
index 6f2618b25..25b6de1ce 100644
--- a/src/renderer/extensions/vueNodes/widgets/composables/useAssetWidgetData.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/extensions/vueNodes/widgets/composables/useAssetWidgetData.ts
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ export function useAssetWidgetData(
     })
 
     const dropdownItems = computed<DropdownItem[]>(() => {
-      return assets.value.map((asset) => ({
+      return (assets.value ?? []).map((asset) => ({
         id: asset.id,
         name:
           (asset.user_metadata?.filename as string | undefined) ?? asset.name,
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ export function useAssetWidgetData(
           return
         }
 
-        const hasData = assetsStore.getAssets(currentNodeType).length > 0
+        const existingAssets = assetsStore.getAssets(currentNodeType) ?? []
+        const hasData = existingAssets.length > 0
 
         if (!hasData) {
           await assetsStore.updateModelsForNodeType(currentNodeType)