- [Changelog for `libllama` API](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/issues/9289)
- [Changelog for `llama-server` REST API](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/issues/9291)
## Hot topics
- **Hugging Face cache migration: models downloaded with `-hf` are now stored in the standard Hugging Face cache directory, enabling sharing with other HF tools.**
- **[guide : using the new WebUI of llama.cpp](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/16938)**
- [guide : running gpt-oss with llama.cpp](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/15396)
- [[FEEDBACK] Better packaging for llama.cpp to support downstream consumers 🤗](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/15313)
- Support for the `gpt-oss` model with native MXFP4 format has been added | [PR](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/15091) | [Collaboration with NVIDIA](https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/rtx-ai-garage-openai-oss) | [Comment](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/15095)
- Multimodal support arrived in `llama-server`: [#12898](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/12898) | [documentation](./docs/multimodal.md)
- VS Code extension for FIM completions: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.vscode
- Vim/Neovim plugin for FIM completions: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.vim
- Hugging Face Inference Endpoints now support GGUF out of the box! https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/9669
- Hugging Face GGUF editor: [discussion](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/9268) | [tool](https://huggingface.co/spaces/CISCai/gguf-editor)
- WebGPU support is now available in the browser, see a blog/demo introducing it [here](https://reeselevine.github.io/llamas-on-the-web/).
----
</div>
## Quick start
Getting started with llama.cpp is straightforward. Here are several ways to install it on your machine:
A few options to get `llama.cpp` installed on your machine:
-Install `llama.cpp` using [brew, nix, winget, or conda-forge](docs/install.md)
-Visit https://llama.app and follow the instructions
- Run with Docker - see our [Docker documentation](docs/docker.md)
- Download pre-built binaries from the [releases page](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/releases)
- Build from source by cloning this repository - check out [our build guide](docs/build.md)
Once installed, you'll need a model to work with. Head to the [Obtaining and quantizing models](#obtaining-and-quantizing-models) section to learn more.
Example command:
Once installed:
```sh
# Use a local model file
llama-cli -m my_model.gguf
# Or download and run a model directly from Hugging Face
llama-cli -hf ggml-org/gemma-3-1b-it-GGUF
# Download and run a model directly from Hugging Face
llamacli -hf ggml-org/Qwen3.5-0.8B-GGUF
# Launch OpenAI-compatible API server
llama-server -hf ggml-org/gemma-3-1b-it-GGUF
llamaserve -hf ggml-org/Qwen3.5-0.8B-GGUF
```
<table align="center">
<tr>
<td align="center" width=50%>
<img width="1310" height="888" alt="VLM session with `llama cli`" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/88726b48-1713-48aa-a525-95a02e78afc4" />
<i>VLM session with <b>llama cli</b></i>
</td>
<td align="center">
<img width="1392" height="958" alt="Built-in web UI against `llama serve` running Qwen 3.6" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b402f972-2e32-4def-8771-8d849f08cf2e" />
<i>Built-in web UI against <b>llama serve</b></i>
</td>
</tr>
<table>
## Description
The main goal of `llama.cpp` is to enable LLM inference with minimal setup and state-of-the-art performance on a wide
range of hardware - locally and in the cloud.
The main goal of `llama.cpp` is to enable LLM (and VLM) inference with minimal setup and state-of-the-art performance on
a wide range of hardware - locally and in the cloud.
- Plain C/C++ implementation without any dependencies
- Apple silicon is a first-class citizen - optimized via ARM NEON, Accelerate and Metal frameworks
@@ -71,467 +62,40 @@ range of hardware - locally and in the cloud.
- Vulkan and SYCL backend support
- CPU+GPU hybrid inference to partially accelerate models larger than the total VRAM capacity
The `llama.cpp` project is the main playground for developing new features for the [ggml](https://github.com/ggml-org/ggml) library.
<details>
<summary>Models</summary>
Typically finetunes of the base models below are supported as well.
Instructions for adding support for new models: [HOWTO-add-model.md](docs/development/HOWTO-add-model.md)
- PHP (API bindings and features built on top of llama.cpp): [distantmagic/resonance](https://github.com/distantmagic/resonance) [(more info)](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/pull/6326)
- [akx/ggify](https://github.com/akx/ggify) – download PyTorch models from Hugging Face Hub and convert them to GGML
- [akx/ollama-dl](https://github.com/akx/ollama-dl) – download models from the Ollama library to be used directly with llama.cpp
- [crashr/gppm](https://github.com/crashr/gppm) – launch llama.cpp instances utilizing NVIDIA Tesla P40 or P100 GPUs with reduced idle power consumption
- [gpustack/gguf-parser](https://github.com/gpustack/gguf-parser-go/tree/main/cmd/gguf-parser) - review/check the GGUF file and estimate the memory usage
- [Styled Lines](https://marketplace.unity.com/packages/tools/generative-ai/styled-lines-llama-cpp-model-292902) (proprietary licensed, async wrapper of inference part for game development in Unity3d with pre-built Mobile and Web platform wrappers and a model example)
- [unslothai/unsloth](https://github.com/unslothai/unsloth) – 🦥 exports/saves fine-tuned and trained models to GGUF (Apache-2.0)
</details>
<details>
<summary>Infrastructure</summary>
- [Paddler](https://github.com/intentee/paddler) - Open-source LLMOps platform for hosting and scaling AI in your own infrastructure
- [GPUStack](https://github.com/gpustack/gpustack) - Manage GPU clusters for running LLMs
- [llama_cpp_canister](https://github.com/onicai/llama_cpp_canister) - llama.cpp as a smart contract on the Internet Computer, using WebAssembly
- [llama-swap](https://github.com/mostlygeek/llama-swap) - transparent proxy that adds automatic model switching with llama-server
- [Kalavai](https://github.com/kalavai-net/kalavai-client) - Crowdsource end to end LLM deployment at any scale
- [llmaz](https://github.com/InftyAI/llmaz) - ☸️ Easy, advanced inference platform for large language models on Kubernetes.
- [LLMKube](https://github.com/defilantech/llmkube) - Kubernetes operator for llama.cpp with multi-GPU and Apple Silicon Metal
support"
</details>
<details>
<summary>Games</summary>
- [Lucy's Labyrinth](https://github.com/MorganRO8/Lucys_Labyrinth) - A simple maze game where agents controlled by an AI model will try to trick you.
</details>
The `llama.cpp` project is build on top of the [ggml](https://github.com/ggml-org/ggml) library.
## Supported backends
| Backend | Target devices |
| --- | --- |
| [Metal](docs/build.md#metal-build) | Apple Silicon |
The [Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co) platform hosts a [number of LLMs](https://huggingface.co/models?library=gguf&sort=trending) compatible with `llama.cpp`:
You can either manually download the GGUF file or directly use any `llama.cpp`-compatible models from [Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/) or other model hosting sites, by using this CLI argument: `-hf <user>/<model>[:quant]`. For example:
```sh
llama-cli -hf ggml-org/gemma-3-1b-it-GGUF
```
By default, the CLI would download from Hugging Face, you can switch to other options with the environment variable `MODEL_ENDPOINT`. The `MODEL_ENDPOINT` must point to a Hugging Face compatible API endpoint.
After downloading a model, use the CLI tools to run it locally - see below.
`llama.cpp` requires the model to be stored in the [GGUF](https://github.com/ggml-org/ggml/blob/master/docs/gguf.md) file format. Models in other data formats can be converted to GGUF using the `convert_*.py` Python scripts in this repo.
The Hugging Face platform provides a variety of online tools for converting, quantizing and hosting models with `llama.cpp`:
- Use the [GGUF-my-repo space](https://huggingface.co/spaces/ggml-org/gguf-my-repo) to convert to GGUF format and quantize model weights to smaller sizes
- Use the [GGUF-my-LoRA space](https://huggingface.co/spaces/ggml-org/gguf-my-lora) to convert LoRA adapters to GGUF format (more info: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/10123)
- Use the [GGUF-editor space](https://huggingface.co/spaces/CISCai/gguf-editor) to edit GGUF meta data in the browser (more info: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/9268)
- Use the [Inference Endpoints](https://ui.endpoints.huggingface.co/) to directly host `llama.cpp` in the cloud (more info: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/9669)
To learn more about model quantization, [read this documentation](tools/quantize/README.md)
## [`llama-cli`](tools/cli)
#### A CLI tool for accessing and experimenting with most of `llama.cpp`'s functionality.
- <details open>
<summary>Run in conversation mode</summary>
Models with a built-in chat template will automatically activate conversation mode. If this doesn't occur, you can manually enable it by adding `-cnv` and specifying a suitable chat template with `--chat-template NAME`
```bash
llama-cli -m model.gguf
# > hi, who are you?
# Hi there! I'm your helpful assistant! I'm an AI-powered chatbot designed to assist and provide information to users like you. I'm here to help answer your questions, provide guidance, and offer support on a wide range of topics. I'm a friendly and knowledgeable AI, and I'm always happy to help with anything you need. What's on your mind, and how can I assist you today?
#
# > what is 1+1?
# Easy peasy! The answer to 1+1 is... 2!
```
</details>
- <details>
<summary>Run in conversation mode with custom chat template</summary>
```bash
# use the "chatml" template (use -h to see the list of supported templates)
#### A minimal example for implementing apps with `llama.cpp`. Useful for developers.
- <details>
<summary>Basic text completion</summary>
```bash
llama-simple -m model.gguf
# Hello my name is Kaitlyn and I am a 16 year old girl. I am a junior in high school and I am currently taking a class called "The Art of
```
</details>
## Contributing
- Contributors can open PRs
- Collaborators will be invited based on contributions
- Maintainers can push to branches in the `llama.cpp` repo and merge PRs into the `master` branch
- Any help with managing issues, PRs and projects is very appreciated!
- See [good first issues](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3A%22good+first+issue%22) for tasks suitable for first contributions
- Read the [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for more information
- Make sure to read this: [Inference at the edge](https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/205)
- A bit of backstory for those who are interested: [Changelog podcast](https://changelog.com/podcast/532)
## Other documentation
#### Tools
- [cli](tools/cli/README.md)
- [completion](tools/completion/README.md)
- [server](tools/server/README.md)
- [GBNF grammars](grammars/README.md)
#### Development documentation
#### Development
- [How to build](docs/build.md)
- [Running on Docker](docs/docker.md)
@@ -539,63 +103,19 @@ To learn more about model quantization, [read this documentation](tools/quantize
If your issue is with model generation quality, then please at least scan the following links and papers to understand the limitations of LLaMA models. This is especially important when choosing an appropriate model size and appreciating both the significant and subtle differences between LLaMA models and ChatGPT:
- LLaMA:
- [Introducing LLaMA: A foundational, 65-billion-parameter large language model](https://ai.facebook.com/blog/large-language-model-llama-meta-ai/)
- [LLaMA: Open and Efficient Foundation Language Models](https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.13971)
- GPT-3
- [Language Models are Few-Shot Learners](https://arxiv.org/abs/2005.14165)
- GPT-3.5 / InstructGPT / ChatGPT:
- [Aligning language models to follow instructions](https://openai.com/research/instruction-following)
- [Training language models to follow instructions with human feedback](https://arxiv.org/abs/2203.02155)
- Contributors can open PRs
- Collaborators will be invited based on contributions
- Maintainers can push to branches in the `llama.cpp` repo and merge PRs into the `master` branch
- Any help with managing issues, PRs and projects is very appreciated!
- Read the [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for more information
## XCFramework
The XCFramework is a precompiled version of the library for iOS, visionOS, tvOS,
and macOS. It can be used in Swift projects without the need to compile the
library from source. For example:
```swift
// swift-tools-version: 5.10
// The swift-tools-version declares the minimum version of Swift required to build this package.
fprintf(stderr,"\033[33mWARNING: No model file provided. Skipping this test. Set LLAMACPP_TEST_MODELFILE=<gguf_model_path> to silence this warning and run this test.\n\033[0m");
The [Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co) platform hosts [thousands of models](https://huggingface.co/models?library=gguf&sort=trending) compatible with `llama.cpp`:
You can use any `llama.cpp`-compatible model from [Hugging Face](https://huggingface.co/) using this CLI argument: `-hf <user>/<model>[:quant]`. For example:
```sh
llama cli -hf ggml-org/gemma-3-1b-it-GGUF
```
You can use the same CLI invocation to download from other sites, by pointing the `MODEL_ENDPOINT` environment variable to an endpoint compatible with the Hugging Face API.
`llama.cpp` can also run models you have downloaded locally to your filesystem.
After downloading a model, use the CLI tools to run it locally - see below.
`llama.cpp` requires the model to be stored in the [GGUF](https://github.com/ggml-org/ggml/blob/master/docs/gguf.md) file format. Models in other data formats can be converted to GGUF using the `convert_*.py` Python scripts in this repo.
To learn more about model quantization, [read this documentation](../tools/quantize/README.md)
The Hugging Face platform provides a variety of online tools for converting, quantizing and hosting models with `llama.cpp`:
- Use the [GGUF-my-repo space](https://huggingface.co/spaces/ggml-org/gguf-my-repo) to convert to GGUF format and quantize model weights to smaller sizes
- Use the [GGUF-my-LoRA space](https://huggingface.co/spaces/ggml-org/gguf-my-lora) to convert LoRA adapters to GGUF format (more info: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/10123)
- Use the [GGUF-editor space](https://huggingface.co/spaces/CISCai/gguf-editor) to edit GGUF meta data in the browser (more info: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/9268)
- Use the [Inference Endpoints](https://ui.endpoints.huggingface.co/) to directly host `llama.cpp` in the cloud (more info: https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp/discussions/9669)
fprintf(stderr,"\033[33mWARNING: No model file provided. Skipping this test. Set LLAMACPP_TEST_MODELFILE=<gguf_model_path> to silence this warning and run this test.\n\033[0m");
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