diff --git a/src/eynollah/cli.py b/src/eynollah/cli.py
index 9ae909f..bd2d807 100644
--- a/src/eynollah/cli.py
+++ b/src/eynollah/cli.py
@@ -1,9 +1,11 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass
+import os
 import sys
 import click
 import logging
 from ocrd_utils import initLogging, getLevelName, getLogger
-from eynollah.model_zoo import EynollahModelZoo
+
+from .model_zoo import EynollahModelZoo
 
 from .cli_models import models_cli
 
@@ -11,15 +13,13 @@ from .cli_models import models_cli
 class EynollahCliCtx:
     model_zoo: EynollahModelZoo
 
-
 @click.group()
 @click.option(
     "--model-basedir",
     "-m",
     help="directory of models",
     type=click.Path(exists=True, file_okay=False),
-    # default=f"{os.environ['HOME']}/.local/share/ocrd-resources/ocrd-eynollah-segment",
-    required=True,
+    default=f'{os.getcwd()}/models_eynollah',
 )
 @click.option(
     "--model-overrides",
diff --git a/src/eynollah/cli_models.py b/src/eynollah/cli_models.py
index 2f6eded..f3de596 100644
--- a/src/eynollah/cli_models.py
+++ b/src/eynollah/cli_models.py
@@ -1,16 +1,13 @@
-from dataclasses import dataclass
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import List, Set, Tuple
+from typing import Set, Tuple
 import click
 
 from eynollah.model_zoo.default_specs import MODELS_VERSION
-from .model_zoo import EynollahModelZoo
 
 @click.group()
+@click.pass_context
 def models_cli(
     ctx,
-    model_basedir: str,
-    model_overrides: List[Tuple[str, str, str]],
 ):
     """
     Organize models for the various runners in eynollah.
@@ -26,6 +23,8 @@ def list_models(
     """
     List all the models in the zoo
     """
+    print(f"Model basedir: {ctx.obj.model_zoo.model_basedir}")
+    print(f"Model overrides: {ctx.obj.model_zoo.model_overrides}")
     print(ctx.obj.model_zoo)
 
 
diff --git a/src/eynollah/model_zoo/default_specs.py b/src/eynollah/model_zoo/default_specs.py
index fa67393..8daa270 100644
--- a/src/eynollah/model_zoo/default_specs.py
+++ b/src/eynollah/model_zoo/default_specs.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from .specs import EynollahModelSpec, EynollahModelSpecSet
-from .types import KerasModel, TrOCRProcessor, List
+from .types import KerasModel
 
 # NOTE: This needs to change whenever models/versions change
 ZENODO = "https://zenodo.org/records/17295988/files"
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-enhancement_20210425",
         dists=['enhancement', 'layout', 'ci'],
         dist_url=dist_url("enhancement"),
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-binarization-hybrid_20230504/model_bin_hybrid_trans_cnn_sbb_ens",
         dists=['layout', 'binarization', ],
         dist_url=dist_url("binarization"),
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
     
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-binarization_20210309",
         dists=['binarization'],
         dist_url=dist_url("binarization"),
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
     
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-binarization_20210425",
         dists=['binarization'],
         dist_url=dist_url("binarization"),
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-binarization-multi_2020_01_16/model_bin1",
         dist_url=dist_url("binarization"),
         dists=['binarization'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-binarization-multi_2020_01_16/model_bin2",
         dist_url=dist_url("binarization"),
         dists=['binarization'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-binarization-multi_2020_01_16/model_bin3",
         dist_url=dist_url("binarization"),
         dists=['binarization'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-binarization-multi_2020_01_16/model_bin4",
         dist_url=dist_url("binarization"),
         dists=['binarization'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-column-classifier_20210425",
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/model_eynollah_page_extraction_20250915",
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-main-regions-ensembled_20210425",
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-main-regions_20231127_672_org_ens_11_13_16_17_18",
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         help="early layout",
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         help="early layout, non-light, 2nd part",
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         dists=['layout'],
         help="early layout, light, 1-or-2-column",
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         help="full layout / no patches",
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     # FIXME: Why is region_fl and region_fl_np the same model?
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         help="full layout / with patches",
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/model_eynollah_reading_order_20250824",
         dist_url=dist_url("reading_order"),
         dists=['layout', 'reading_order'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/modelens_textline_0_1__2_4_16092024",
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/modelens_textline_0_1__2_4_16092024",
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/eynollah-tables_20210319",
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/modelens_table_0t4_201124",
         dist_url=dist_url("layout"),
         dists=['layout'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/model_eynollah_ocr_cnnrnn_20250930",
         dist_url=dist_url("ocr"),
         dists=['layout', 'ocr'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -262,7 +262,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         help="slightly better at degraded Fraktur",
         dist_url=dist_url("ocr"),
         dists=['ocr'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="characters_org.txt",
         dist_url=dist_url("ocr"),
         dists=['ocr'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='decoder',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="characters_org.txt",
         dist_url=dist_url("ocr"),
         dists=['ocr'],
-        type=list,
+        type='List[str]',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         dist_url=dist_url("trocr"),
         help='much slower transformer-based',
         dists=['trocr'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='Keras',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/microsoft/trocr-base-printed",
         dist_url=dist_url("trocr"),
         dists=['trocr'],
-        type=KerasModel,
+        type='TrOCRProcessor',
     ),
 
     EynollahModelSpec(
@@ -308,7 +308,7 @@ DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS = EynollahModelSpecSet([
         filename="models_eynollah/microsoft/trocr-base-handwritten",
         dist_url=dist_url("trocr"),
         dists=['trocr'],
-        type=TrOCRProcessor,
+        type='TrOCRProcessor',
     ),
 
 ])
diff --git a/src/eynollah/model_zoo/model_zoo.py b/src/eynollah/model_zoo/model_zoo.py
index 40e979f..512bf1a 100644
--- a/src/eynollah/model_zoo/model_zoo.py
+++ b/src/eynollah/model_zoo/model_zoo.py
@@ -32,11 +32,18 @@ class EynollahModelZoo:
     ) -> None:
         self.model_basedir = Path(basedir)
         self.logger = logging.getLogger('eynollah.model_zoo')
+        if not self.model_basedir.exists():
+            self.logger.warning(f"Model basedir does not exist: {basedir}. Set eynollah --model-basedir to the correct directory.")
         self.specs = deepcopy(DEFAULT_MODEL_SPECS)
+        self._overrides = []
         if model_overrides:
             self.override_models(*model_overrides)
         self._loaded: Dict[str, AnyModel] = {}
 
+    @property
+    def model_overrides(self):
+        return self._overrides
+
     def override_models(
         self,
         *model_overrides: Tuple[str, str, str],
@@ -48,6 +55,7 @@ class EynollahModelZoo:
             spec = self.specs.get(model_category, model_variant)
             self.logger.warning("Overriding filename for model spec %s to %s", spec, model_filename)
             self.specs.get(model_category, model_variant).filename = model_filename
+        self._overrides += model_overrides
 
     def model_path(
         self,
@@ -164,7 +172,7 @@ class EynollahModelZoo:
         return tabulate(
             [
                 [
-                    spec.type.__name__,
+                    spec.type,
                     spec.category,
                     spec.variant,
                     spec.help,
diff --git a/src/eynollah/model_zoo/specs.py b/src/eynollah/model_zoo/specs.py
index 322afa4..415e55d 100644
--- a/src/eynollah/model_zoo/specs.py
+++ b/src/eynollah/model_zoo/specs.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class EynollahModelSpec():
     dists: List[str]
     # URL to the smallest model distribution containing this model (link to Zenodo)
     dist_url: str
-    type: Type[AnyModel]
+    type: str
     variant: str = ''
     help: str = ''
 
diff --git a/tests/test_model_zoo.py b/tests/test_model_zoo.py
index 81e84f6..2042b28 100644
--- a/tests/test_model_zoo.py
+++ b/tests/test_model_zoo.py
@@ -1,19 +1,16 @@
-from pathlib import Path
+from eynollah.model_zoo import EynollahModelZoo
 
-from eynollah.model_zoo import EynollahModelZoo, TrOCRProcessor, VisionEncoderDecoderModel
-
-testdir = Path(__file__).parent.resolve()
-MODELS_DIR = testdir.parent
-
-def test_trocr1():
-    model_zoo = EynollahModelZoo(str(MODELS_DIR))
-    model_zoo.load_model('trocr_processor')
-    proc = model_zoo.get('trocr_processor', TrOCRProcessor)
-    assert isinstance(proc, TrOCRProcessor)
-
-    model_zoo.load_model('ocr', 'tr')
-    model = model_zoo.get('ocr')
-    assert isinstance(model, VisionEncoderDecoderModel)
-    print(proc)
-
-test_trocr1()
+def test_trocr1(
+    model_dir,
+):
+    model_zoo = EynollahModelZoo(model_dir)
+    try:
+        from transformers import TrOCRProcessor, VisionEncoderDecoderModel
+        model_zoo.load_model('trocr_processor')
+        proc = model_zoo.get('trocr_processor', TrOCRProcessor)
+        assert isinstance(proc, TrOCRProcessor)
+        model_zoo.load_model('ocr', 'tr')
+        model = model_zoo.get('ocr', VisionEncoderDecoderModel)
+        assert isinstance(model, VisionEncoderDecoderModel)
+    except ImportError:
+        pass