Local Providers

Use Ollama or LM Studio to run an AI model on your own computer instead of a hosted service. Local models do not use your included Ziva usage and do not need provider API keys.

How It Works

Install one of the apps below and download a chat model in it.
Start the app’s local server.
Open Godot and select the local model in Ziva’s model picker.

Models appear only while the provider is running and reachable.

Ollama

Install and start Ollama, then make sure you have at least one model installed.

LM Studio

Install LM Studio, download a model, and start the local server from its developer or local server panel.

Troubleshooting

If local models do not appear in the model picker:

Make sure Ollama or LM Studio is running.
Make sure at least one chat model is downloaded or loaded.
Refresh the model list from Ziva’s model picker.
If you changed environment variables, restart Godot.
If you use a custom address, check that Godot can reach it using the reference below.

If Ziva says a local model ran out of context or truncated the prompt, the model’s context length is too small for Ziva’s instructions and tools:

For Ollama, quit Ollama and start it again with the OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH value the error suggests, such as OLLAMA_CONTEXT_LENGTH=65536.
For LM Studio, reload the model with at least the context length the error suggests.
A larger context length uses more memory. If the model no longer fits, pick a smaller model.

Optional: local addresses and connecting to another computer

Ziva uses these default addresses:

Provider	Address
Ollama	`http://localhost:11434`
LM Studio	`http://localhost:1234`

Ollama Environment Variables

To override Ollama’s host or port, set these environment variables in the shell you launch Godot from:


export OLLAMA_HOST=127.0.0.1
export OLLAMA_PORT=11434

If only one value is set, Ziva keeps the default for the other. For example, OLLAMA_PORT=11435 makes Ziva use http://localhost:11435.

LM Studio Environment Variables

To override LM Studio’s host or port, set these environment variables in the shell you launch Godot from:


export LMSTUDIO_HOST=127.0.0.1
export LMSTUDIO_PORT=1234

If only one value is set, Ziva keeps the default for the other. For example, LMSTUDIO_HOST=192.168.1.10 makes Ziva use http://192.168.1.10:1234.

For a provider on another computer, use that computer’s address. The provider must listen on a network-accessible host, and its firewall must allow the connection.