Modelfile
A Modelfile is Ollama’s declarative configuration file for specifying a model’s base, prompts, parameters, and other settings.
Build Applications with Local AI Models on a Mac
A Modelfile is Ollama's declarative file format for specifying the base model, prompts, parameters, and other settings of a custom model.
- How it is used
- Bundles a base model, system prompt, and parameters into a reusable Ollama model that can be run by name.
- How deep it goes
- Works through required and optional instructions, then shows creation and running commands; defers prompt-template customization as advanced.
- Examples
- Uses study-assistant, pirate-tutor, and code-reviewer configurations, plus Ollama commands to create and run named models.
- What you can do after
- Build it from scratch with a plain-text Modelfile, then create and run the named model using Ollama.
Read how Build Applications with Local AI Models on a Mac explains Modelfile →
Domain-Specific Small Language Models
An Ollama configuration file that specifies how to package and serve a converted model, including template and generation parameters.
- How it is used
- Defines the packaging and serving settings for a converted Ollama model.
- How deep it goes
- Defines the core commands and parameters, but stops short of full syntax coverage or broader model conversion details.
- Examples
- Uses a StarCoder2 GGUF conversion, a sample Modelfile, and ollama create/run commands.
- What you can do after
- Operate a converted model locally by packaging it with templates, stop tokens, and generation parameters.
Read how Domain-Specific Small Language Models explains Modelfile →
Related concepts
- custom modelproduces · A custom model is a machine-learning model trained, adapted, or configured for a particular domain, task, or set of requirements.
- GGUFconfigures · GGUF is a binary file format for storing machine-learning model tensors and associated metadata, designed to support efficient model loading and inference.
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