# Ollama and Local Models > Ollama is a provider of the AgentsRoom catalogue: pick it on an agent and type the model you want to run, local or hosted on Ollama Cloud. - Area: Desktop app - Plans: All plans - Last checked against the product: 2026-09-08 - Web page: https://agentsroom.dev/docs/ollama-models ## What it does Ollama is a provider of the AgentsRoom catalogue: pick it on an agent and type the model you want to run, local or hosted on Ollama Cloud. By default the Ollama provider starts the **Claude Code CLI on top of an Ollama model** (`ollama launch claude`), so you keep a real coding agent, with tools and the AgentsRoom MCP, while the model runs on your machine or on your Ollama Cloud subscription. A second variant, **Ollama - Chat**, opens Ollama's bare chat instead. The same free-text model field exists for every catalogue provider, so any model id your CLI accepts can be launched without waiting for it to appear in a picker. ## Where to find it - **Provider** picker of the Add agent / Edit agent dialogs: the **Ollama** card, with its variants listed under the name (Claude Code, Chat). Selecting the card shows a chip per variant. - **Model** field of the same dialogs: preset buttons from the catalogue plus a free-text field ("e.g. gemma3, qwen3-coder, glm-4.6:cloud"). - Switch Provider window (pill in the terminal header) to move a running agent onto Ollama. ## How to use it 1. Install Ollama and, for the default variant, the Claude Code CLI as well (`ollama launch claude` starts Claude Code with an Ollama backend). 2. Create or edit an agent, select the **Ollama** card, then the variant: **Claude Code** for a coding agent, **Chat** for the raw Ollama REPL. 3. In **Model**, click a preset or type any id. No suffix means the model runs locally (`gemma3`, `qwen3-coder`); a `:cloud` suffix (`glm-4.6:cloud`, `qwen3-coder:480b-cloud`) runs it through your Ollama Cloud subscription after `ollama signin`. Hosting is encoded in the model id, there is no separate switch. 4. Launch. The model you typed is substituted into the provider's launch command; the agent header shows the provider and model. Other local backends: OpenCode can be configured with an OpenAI-compatible `baseURL` (LM Studio, Ollama, llama.cpp), and its model picker in AgentsRoom then lists the ids your OpenCode installation reports, including two-slash ids such as `lmstudio/qwen/qwen3-coder-30b`. oh-my-pi accepts any `backend/model` id typed by hand. ## Settings None specific. The provider tab in Settings > AI providers & accounts only adds launch flags; the model and the hosting are chosen on the agent. ## Agent tools (MCP) - `agents_save`: create or update a saved agent with `provider` `ollama` (or the composite `ollama:claude` / `ollama:chat`) and a free `model` id. - `settings_set` with `scope: "agent"`: change the model of an existing agent. ## Providers Ollama itself is provider-agnostic on the model side: any id `ollama` knows can be typed. The **Claude Code** variant inherits Claude's status detection (busy, needs input) because it really runs the `claude` binary; the **Chat** variant shows no such statuses. The free-text model field and the `{model}` substitution work for every catalogue-only provider, not only Ollama. ## Mobile Present for selection: the Add agent sheet and the Switch Provider sheet show the Ollama card with its variants and the model presets, and the choice is executed by the desktop. Typing a custom model id is a desktop-only field. ## Limits - The default variant needs both `ollama` and `claude` installed; if Claude Code is missing, the agent fails on `claude` and the CLI-missing banner points at that binary. - No usage or quota meter for Ollama: the footer usage panel covers the CLIs that publish a quota. - The model list is curated in the catalogue and can lag behind Ollama's library; the free-text field is the intended path for anything newer. - An agent created before the variants existed keeps launching with the base command (Claude Code) until a variant is chosen on it. - Agents started from the phone use the model id as typed, with no correction against the catalogue. ## Common questions - **Does "Ollama" give me a coding agent or just a chat?** Both, by variant. **Ollama - Claude Code** is Claude Code driving an Ollama model, with file edits, tools and the AgentsRoom MCP; **Ollama - Chat** is `ollama run`, a plain chat with no repository access. - **How do I run a cloud model instead of a local one?** Add `:cloud` to the model id, for example `glm-4.6:cloud`, after signing in with `ollama signin`. Without the suffix the model is pulled and run locally. - **My Ollama agent says Claude is not found.** The default variant launches Claude Code; install the Claude Code CLI, or switch the agent to the Chat variant. - **Can I use a model that is not in the presets?** Yes, type it in the model field. Anything `ollama run ` accepts works. - **Is my code sent anywhere?** With a local model, nothing leaves the machine. With a `:cloud` model, the conversation goes to Ollama Cloud under your own account. ## Related - [Multi-Provider Support](https://agentsroom.dev/docs/multi-provider.md): the 14 CLIs and how the model picker works for each. - [Bring Your Own OpenAI Key](https://agentsroom.dev/docs/bring-your-own-openai-key.md): AgentsRoom's own AI helpers on your key, unrelated to the agents' models. - [CLI Doctor](https://agentsroom.dev/docs/cli-doctor.md): the banner shown when `ollama` or `claude` is missing.