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Claude Code

Claude Code reads your codebase, edits files, and runs commands.

Ollama connects Claude Code to local and cloud models through its Anthropic-compatible API.

Get started

Launch Claude Code with Ollama:

ollama launch claude

Capabilities

Chat

Ask questions about a repository or task

Command line

Run commands with Claude Code's permission flow

Tool calling

Use tools with compatible models

File edits

Read and edit files in your project

Subagents

Split work across tasks

Web search

Search the web through Ollama

Web fetch

Fetch and summarize web pages

Vision

Send images and screenshots

Thinking

Use thinking controls with compatible models

Models

Choose a model with enough context for your repository.

Cloud models

Use larger models without downloading them.

Local models

Choose a model and set a 64k+ context window.

Note

For larger repositories, set the context length to 64k or higher.

More features

Run without interaction

Use --yes for scripts, Docker, or CI:

ollama launch claude --model gemma4:cloud --yes -- -p "how does this repository work?"

The --yes flag skips selectors, pulls the model when needed, and requires --model. Arguments after -- are passed directly to Claude Code.

Web search

Use Ollama's web search API from Claude Code.

See Web search for setup and usage.

Scheduled tasks with /loop

Use /loop inside Claude Code to run a prompt or slash command on a schedule:

/loop <interval> <prompt or /command>

Examples:

/loop 30m Check my open PRs and summarize their status
/loop 1h Research the latest AI news and summarize key developments
/loop 15m Check for new GitHub issues and triage by priority

Telegram

Connect a Telegram bot to your Claude Code session. Install the Telegram plugin, create a bot with @BotFather, then launch Claude Code:

ollama launch claude -- --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official

Claude Code prompts for permission on most actions. To allow the bot to work autonomously, configure permission rules or pass --dangerously-skip-permissions in an isolated environment.

See the plugin README for setup instructions.

Connect directly to Ollama's cloud

Install Claude Code, then set your API key in OLLAMA_API_KEY. No Ollama installation required.

In Bash or Zsh, run:

ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://ollama.com \
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN="$OLLAMA_API_KEY" \
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="" \
claude --model glm-5.3-flash

Use ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN for bearer authentication. Claude settings can override shell variables. Update any base URL or credentials in those settings, then run /status to check the connection.

Choose a cloud model that supports tools. Basic chat and file edits work with compatible models. Hosted WebSearch and advanced tool controls are not fully supported. See Anthropic compatibility.

Manual setup

1. Install Claude Code

macOS / LinuxWindows

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

2. Set the environment variables

export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=ollama
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=""
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434

3. Run Claude Code

claude --model qwen3.5

Or run with environment variables inline:

ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=ollama ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434 ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="" claude --model kimi-k2.7-code:cloud
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