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

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    <div className="capability-list-heading">Command line</div>
    <div className="capability-list-copy">Run commands with Claude Code's permission flow</div>
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  <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="code" /></div>
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    <div className="capability-list-heading">Tool calling</div>
    <div className="capability-list-copy">Use tools with compatible models</div>
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  <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="file-pen" /></div>
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    <div className="capability-list-heading">File edits</div>
    <div className="capability-list-copy">Read and edit files in your project</div>
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  <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="users" /></div>
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    <div className="capability-list-heading">Subagents</div>
    <div className="capability-list-copy">Split work across tasks</div>
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  <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="globe" /></div>
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    <div className="capability-list-heading">Web search</div>
    <div className="capability-list-copy">Search the web through Ollama</div>
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  <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="file-text" /></div>
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    <div className="capability-list-heading">Web fetch</div>
    <div className="capability-list-copy">Fetch and summarize web pages</div>
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  <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="image" /></div>
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    <div className="capability-list-heading">Vision</div>
    <div className="capability-list-copy">Send images and screenshots</div>
  </div>
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  <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="brain" /></div>
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    <div className="capability-list-heading">Thinking</div>
    <div className="capability-list-copy">Use thinking controls with compatible models</div>
  </div>
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Models

Choose a model with enough context for your repository.

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

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

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

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