LPractice & Learn AI
models · beginner · 15 min

Run a model on your laptop

Run a small open model on your own machine and call it two ways: from the terminal and over HTTP.

Start step 1 ↓
HANDS-ON LAB · YOU RUN IT ON YOUR MACHINE · 3 STEPS
  1. Step 1 of 3

    Install Ollama and pull a small model

    Everything in this course can start on a model this size. Bigger models come later, when you can measure whether they are worth it.

    Run this to check

    ollama pull llama3.2 && ollama list

    You pass when

    The list shows llama3.2 with a size of about 2 GB.

  2. Step 2 of 3

    Ask it one question from the terminal

    Run this to check

    ollama run llama3.2 "In one sentence, what is a token?"

    You pass when

    One sentence prints and you get your prompt back.

  3. Step 3 of 3

    Call the same model over HTTP

    This is the same request shape most hosted models accept. Every later lab is this call with more around it.

    Run this to check

    curl -s http://localhost:11434/v1/chat/completions -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"model":"llama3.2","messages":[{"role":"user","content":"Say hi in three words."}]}'

    You pass when

    JSON comes back with the answer under choices[0].message.content and a usage block that counts prompt and completion tokens.

No transcript here on purpose. This page does not show terminal output, because model answers differ from run to run. Each step says what a pass looks like; your own terminal is the proof.