Ollama for VS Code

Use Ollama models in VS Code Chat.

The Ollama extension adds models from your running Ollama server to the VS Code model picker.

Requirements

• Visual Studio Code 1.120 or newer.
• Ollama installed and running.
• At least one local or cloud model available in Ollama.

Ollama 0.17.6 or newer is recommended for cloud model sign-in and richer model metadata. Older Ollama versions may still work for local models.

# Pull a local model
ollama pull qwen3.6

# Pull a cloud model
ollama pull kimi-k2.6:cloud

# Sign in for cloud models
ollama signin

Local models do not require sign-in. Run ollama signin to use cloud models.

Get started

1. Install the Ollama extension from the VS Code Marketplace.
2. Start Ollama.
3. Open Chat in VS Code.
4. Open the model picker at the bottom of the chat input.
5. Choose a model from the Ollama section.

The extension discovers models from http://127.0.0.1:11434 by default.

Commands

The extension adds these commands to the Command Palette:

• Ollama: Refresh Models: reload the list of Ollama models shown in VS Code.
• Ollama: Diagnose Models: print model discovery information to the Ollama output channel for troubleshooting.

Use Diagnose Models if models are available in Ollama but do not appear in the VS Code model picker.

Troubleshooting

If Ollama models do not appear:

1. Make sure Ollama is running.
2. Run ollama list and confirm models are available.
3. Run Ollama: Refresh Models from the Command Palette.
4. Run Ollama: Diagnose Models and check the Ollama output channel.

If a cloud model asks you to sign in, run ollama signin.