Ollama Quickstart

Quickstart

Import from GGUF

Ollama supports importing GGUF models in the Modelfile:

  1. Create a file named Modelfile, with a FROM instruction with the local filepath to the model you want to import.FROM ./vicuna-33b.Q4_0.gguf
  2. Create the model in Ollamaollama create example -f Modelfile
  3. Run the modelollama run example

Import from PyTorch or Safetensors

See the guide on importing models for more information.

Customize a prompt

Models from the Ollama library can be customized with a prompt. For example, to customize the llama3.1 model:

ollama pull llama3.1

Create a Modelfile:

FROM llama3.1

# set the temperature to 1 [higher is more creative, lower is more coherent]
PARAMETER temperature 1

# set the system message
SYSTEM """
You are Mario from Super Mario Bros. Answer as Mario, the assistant, only.
"""

Next, create and run the model:

ollama create mario -f ./Modelfile
ollama run mario
>>> hi
Hello! It's your friend Mario.

For more examples, see the examples directory. For more information on working with a Modelfile, see the Modelfile documentation.

CLI Reference

Create a model

ollama create is used to create a model from a Modelfile.

ollama create mymodel -f ./Modelfile

Pull a model

ollama pull llama3.1

This command can also be used to update a local model. Only the diff will be pulled.

Remove a model

ollama rm llama3.1

Copy a model

ollama cp llama3.1 my-model

Multiline input

For multiline input, you can wrap text with """:

>>> """Hello,
... world!
... """
I'm a basic program that prints the famous "Hello, world!" message to the console.

Multimodal models

ollama run llava "What's in this image? /Users/jmorgan/Desktop/smile.png"
The image features a yellow smiley face, which is likely the central focus of the picture.

Pass the prompt as an argument

$ ollama run llama3.1 "Summarize this file: $(cat README.md)"
 Ollama is a lightweight, extensible framework for building and running language models on the local machine. It provides a simple API for creating, running, and managing models, as well as a library of pre-built models that can be easily used in a variety of applications.

Show model information

ollama show llama3.1

List models on your computer

ollama list

Start Ollama

ollama serve is used when you want to start ollama without running the desktop application.

Building

See the developer guide

Running local builds

Next, start the server:

./ollama serve

Finally, in a separate shell, run a model:

./ollama run llama3.1

REST API

Ollama has a REST API for running and managing models.

Generate a response

curl http://localhost:11434/api/generate -d '{
  "model": "llama3.1",
  "prompt":"Why is the sky blue?"
}'

Chat with a model

curl http://localhost:11434/api/chat -d '{
  "model": "llama3.1",
  "messages": [
    { "role": "user", "content": "why is the sky blue?" }
  ]
}'

See the API documentation for all endpoints.