Ollama CLI Cheatsheet - Local LLM Runtime Full Reference

All Ollama local-model commands in one place — from pull/run to custom Modelfiles, serve, and multi-model management — organized by scenario. Copy and go.

AI CLI·25 commands·Last updated 2026-08-21

Run & Chat 5

ollama run llama3.1

Pull and enter interactive chat

ollama run llama3.1 "summarize in one line"

Single prompt then exit

ollama run -m

Set run parameters (e.g. context)

ollama serve

Start the local inference server (default 11434)

ollama ps

Show models currently running

Model Management 5

ollama pull <model>

Pull a model locally

ollama push <model>

Push a model to the registry

ollama list

List installed models

ollama rm <model>

Remove a local model

ollama cp <src> <dst>

Copy a model (rename/branch)

Modelfile 5

FROM llama3.1

Base model in a Modelfile

PARAMETER temperature 0.7

Set sampling temperature

SYSTEM "You are a rigorous assistant"

Set the system prompt

TEMPLATE """{{ .Prompt }}"""

Custom chat template

ollama create mymodel -f Modelfile

Build a model from a Modelfile

Serve & Port 5

ollama serve

Start the inference server in foreground

OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0 ollama serve

Allow LAN access

curl http://localhost:11434/api/generate

Call the generate API

ollama show <model>

Inspect model metadata/template

ollama embeddings

Generate text embeddings

Tips 5

ollama run llama3.1 -c 4096

Cap context to save VRAM

ollama list | head

Quick peek at installed models

ollama run --verbose

Show token-speed diagnostics

ollama ps to watch VRAM

Monitor VRAM with ollama ps

ollama run <m> "translate..."

Use a local model as an offline translator

Tips

Ollama is the de-facto local runtime; a "local model" entry covers privacy/offline/zero-API-cost cases that complement cloud CLIs.
Bake behavior into a Modelfile SYSTEM/PARAMETER — more stable and versionable than repeating system instructions in prompts.
Tight on VRAM? Cap context with `-c` or watch parallel usage with `ollama ps` to avoid OOM.
For programmatic use run `ollama serve` + the REST API instead of interactive mode.

Official References

Commands are compiled from the official docs below. Click to verify the latest usage.

Maintained by LaoHand

Publicly updated on Aug 21, 2026, continuously proofread against official docs.

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