Personal Ollama Terminal AI

A Zsh-based CLI for talking to local Ollama models from the terminal. Includes context management, persistent sessions, and configurable system behavior.

Features

• Streaming output: token-by-token responses from local Ollama models.
• Global session management: one shared conversation context across all terminal instances, with automatic token-limit handling.
• Global persistent memory: a system-wide notes file (~/.config/ollama/ai_persistent_notes.txt) the model can read across sessions.
• Customizable system prompt: edit the model's behavior and parameters in ~/.config/ollama/ai_system_prompt.txt.
• Configurable settings: model, API endpoint, and context limits in ~/.config/ollama/ai_settings.conf.
• Multi-line input for longer prompts.
• Session controls:
  • Edit notes, system prompt, and settings via ai subcommands (e.g. ai --edit-notes).
  • Reset context with ai --reset.
  • Inspect context state with ai --info context.
• Installer script for first-time setup.

Prerequisites

1. Ollama running with at least one model pulled (e.g. ollama pull gemma3:4b-it-qat). See ollama.com.
2. jq: JSON processor (brew install jq or apt-get install jq).
3. curl: usually pre-installed.
4. zsh: the Z shell.

Installation

1. Clone or download:

   git clone <your_repository_url>
   cd personal_ollama_cli

2. Run the installer:

   ./install.sh

   The installer will:

   • Create config and cache directories (~/.config/ollama, ~/.config/zsh, ~/.cache).
   • Copy ollama_ai.zsh and default configs into place.
   • Add a source line to ~/.zshrc.

3. Reload your shell:

   source ~/.zshrc

Usage

Talk to the model with ai:

Basic prompt:

ai Tell me a joke

Multi-line input (end with """ on its own line):

ai """
What are good practices
for writing a README?
"""

Management commands

• Settings:

  • ai --show-settings: view current settings.
  • ai --edit-settings: open settings in your editor.

• Persistent notes:

  • ai --view-notes: show notes.
  • ai --edit-notes: edit notes.

• System prompt:

  • ai --view-system: display the system prompt.
  • ai --edit-system: edit the system prompt.

• Conversation context:

  • ai --info context: show context token count and limit.
  • ai --reset: clear context.
  • ai -r "New prompt": reset context, then send a new prompt.

• Temporary overrides:

  • ai -m <model_name> "Your prompt": use a different model for this query.
  • ai -s "New system prompt" "Your prompt": use a different system prompt (resets context).

• Help:

  • ai --help or ai -h: list all commands and options.

Customization

• ~/.config/ollama/ai_settings.conf: default model (AI_OLLAMA_MODEL), API URL (AI_OLLAMA_API_URL), max context tokens (AI_MAX_CONTEXT_TOKENS).
• ~/.config/ollama/ai_persistent_notes.txt: shared note store the model can read across sessions.
• ~/.config/ollama/ai_system_prompt.txt: system prompt and default behavior.

Uninstall

1. Remove files from ~/.config/ollama/, ~/.config/zsh/ollama_ai.zsh, and ~/.cache/ollama_ai_context.json.
2. Remove the source line from ~/.zshrc.

Developer

By Soroush Yousefpour

© All rights reserved.

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