Providers
Ollama
OpenClaw talks to Ollama's native API (/api/chat), not the OpenAI-compatible
/v1 endpoint. Three modes are supported:
| Mode | What it uses |
|---|---|
| Cloud + Local | A reachable Ollama host, serving local models and (if signed in) :cloud models |
| Cloud only | https://ollama.com directly, no local daemon |
| Local only | A reachable Ollama host, local models only |
For cloud-only setup with the dedicated ollama-cloud provider id, see
Ollama Cloud. Use ollama-cloud/<model> refs when
you want cloud routing kept separate from a local ollama provider.
The canonical config key is baseUrl. baseURL is also accepted for
OpenAI-SDK-style examples, but new config should use baseUrl.
This page is an index. Ollama is documented on nine pages, one per reader job. Open the page that matches your task.
| Page | Read it when |
|---|---|
| Ollama setup | You are connecting an account: auth rules per host type, onboarding and manual setup, and the hybrid cloud-plus-local flow. |
| Ollama model discovery | You want to know how models are found: the implicit-discovery table, capability detection, and smoke-test probes. |
| Ollama node-local inference | You are running models on a paired node: setup steps, model filtering, and direct verification commands. |
| Ollama vision and image description | You are describing or understanding images through a local or hosted Ollama vision model. |
| Ollama configuration | You are writing the provider entry: implicit discovery, an explicit model list, or a custom base URL. |
| Ollama config recipes | You want a working config to copy: per-scenario recipes, model selection, and quick verification. |
| Ollama Web Search | You are using Ollama as the web_search provider: host, auth, and requirement rules. |
| Ollama advanced configuration | You are tuning behavior: context windows, thinking control, reasoning, costs, embeddings, and streaming. |
| Ollama troubleshooting | Something is broken: detection, connection, tool-JSON, garbled output, timeouts, and WSL2 crash loops. |
Where each section moved
Every anchor the single-page version published still resolves here, so an
existing link such as /providers/ollama#node-local-inference keeps working.
Each entry points at the page that now holds the content.
- Auth rules
- Getting started
- Cloud models through a local host
- Local and LAN hosts
- Remote and Ollama Cloud hosts
- Custom provider ids
- Auth profiles
- Memory embedding scope
- Onboarding (recommended)
- Run onboarding
- Select a model
- Verify
- Manual setup
- Install and start Ollama
- Set a credential
- Select the model
Ollama vision and image description
- Common recipes
- Model selection
- Quick verification
- Local model with auto-discovery
- LAN Ollama host with manual models
- Ollama Cloud only
- Cloud plus local through a signed-in daemon
- Multiple Ollama hosts
- Small local model profile
- Advanced configuration
- Legacy OpenAI-compatible mode
- Context windows
- Thinking control
- Reasoning models
- Model costs
- Memory embeddings
- Streaming configuration
- Troubleshooting
- WSL2 crash loop (repeated reboots)
- Ollama not detected
- No models available
- Connection refused
- Remote host works with curl but not OpenClaw
- Model outputs tool JSON as text
- Kimi or GLM returns garbled symbols
- Cold local model times out
- Large-context model is too slow or runs out of memory
Related
Cloud-only setup with the dedicated ollama-cloud provider.
Overview of all providers, model refs, and failover behavior.
How to choose and configure models.
Full setup and behavior details for Ollama-powered web search.
Full config reference.
