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Installation

This guide will walk you through installing Llamactl on your system.

Prerequisites

Backend Dependencies

llamactl supports multiple backends. Install at least one:

For llama.cpp backend (all platforms):

You need llama-server from llama.cpp installed:

# Homebrew (macOS/Linux)
brew install llama.cpp
# Winget (Windows)
winget install llama.cpp

Or build from source - see llama.cpp docs

For MLX backend (macOS only):

MLX provides optimized inference on Apple Silicon. Install MLX-LM:

# Install via pip (requires Python 3.8+)
pip install mlx-lm

# Or in a virtual environment (recommended)
python -m venv mlx-env
source mlx-env/bin/activate
pip install mlx-lm

Note: MLX backend is only available on macOS with Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, etc.)

For vLLM backend:

vLLM provides high-throughput distributed serving for LLMs. Install vLLM:

# Install via pip (requires Python 3.8+, GPU required)
pip install vllm

# Or in a virtual environment (recommended)
python -m venv vllm-env
source vllm-env/bin/activate
pip install vllm

# For production deployments, consider container-based installation

Installation Methods

Download the latest release from the GitHub releases page:

# Linux/macOS - Get latest version and download
LATEST_VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/lordmathis/llamactl/releases/latest | grep '"tag_name":' | sed -E 's/.*"([^"]+)".*/\1/')
curl -L https://github.com/lordmathis/llamactl/releases/download/${LATEST_VERSION}/llamactl-${LATEST_VERSION}-$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')-$(uname -m).tar.gz | tar -xz
sudo mv llamactl /usr/local/bin/

# Or download manually from:
# https://github.com/lordmathis/llamactl/releases/latest

# Windows - Download from releases page

Option 2: Build from Source

Requirements: - Go 1.24 or later - Node.js 22 or later - Git

If you prefer to build from source:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/lordmathis/llamactl.git
cd llamactl

# Build the web UI
cd webui && npm ci && npm run build && cd ..

# Build the application
go build -o llamactl ./cmd/server

Verification

Verify your installation by checking the version:

llamactl --version

Next Steps

Now that Llamactl is installed, continue to the Quick Start guide to get your first instance running!