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Using Ollama with Continue: A Developer's Guide

This comprehensive guide will walk you through setting up Ollama with Continue for powerful local AI development. Ollama allows you to run large language models locally on your machine, providing privacy, control, and offline capabilities for AI-assisted coding.

Prerequisites​

Before getting started, ensure your system meets these requirements:

  • Operating System: macOS, Linux, or Windows
  • RAM: Minimum 8GB (16GB+ recommended)
  • Storage: At least 10GB free space
  • Continue extension installed

Installation Steps​

Step 1: Install Ollama​

Choose the installation method for your operating system:

# macOS
brew install ollama

# Linux
curl -fsSL https://ollama.ai/install.sh | sh

# Windows
# Download from ollama.ai

Step 2: Download Models​

After installing Ollama, download the models you want to use. Here are some popular options:

# Popular models for development
ollama pull llama2
ollama pull codellama
ollama pull mistral

Configuration​

Configure Continue to work with your local Ollama instance:

Continue Configuration​

{
  "models": [
    {
      "title": "Ollama",
      "provider": "ollama",
      "model": "llama2",
      "apiBase": "http://localhost:11434"
    }
  ]
}

Advanced Settings​

For optimal performance, consider these advanced configuration options:

  • Memory optimization
  • GPU acceleration
  • Custom model parameters
  • Performance tuning

Best Practices​

Model Selection​

Choose models based on your specific needs:

  1. Code Generation: Use CodeLlama or Mistral
  2. Chat: Llama2 or Mistral
  3. Specialized Tasks: Domain-specific models

Performance Optimization​

To get the best performance from Ollama:

  • Monitor system resources
  • Adjust context window size
  • Use appropriate model sizes
  • Enable GPU acceleration when available

Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

Here are solutions to common problems you might encounter:

Connection Problems​

  • Check Ollama service status
  • Verify port availability
  • Review firewall settings

Performance Issues​

  • Insufficient RAM
  • Model too large for system
  • GPU compatibility

Solutions​

Try these solutions in order:

  1. Restart Ollama service
  2. Clear model cache
  3. Update to latest version
  4. Check system requirements

Example Workflows​

Code Generation​

# Example: Generate a FastAPI endpoint
def create_user_endpoint():
    # Continue will help generate the implementation
    pass

Code Review​

Use Continue with Ollama to:

  • Analyze code quality
  • Suggest improvements
  • Identify potential bugs
  • Generate documentation

Conclusion​

Ollama with Continue provides a powerful local development environment for AI-assisted coding. You now have complete control over your AI models, ensuring privacy and enabling offline development workflows.

This guide is based on Ollama v0.1.x and Continue v0.8.x. Please check for updates regularly.