# How to Translate with a Local LLM (Ollama, LM Studio, Jan)

> Run AI translation entirely on your machine. Configure Local LLM (OpenAI-compatible) in Settings → AI Providers and point StringLane at any local OpenAI-compatible runner.

Source: https://stringlane.app/docs/use-local-llm
Last updated: 2026-08-19

StringLane's **Local LLM (OpenAI-compatible)** provider lets you translate without sending data to any cloud. It works with any inference runner that exposes an OpenAI-compatible HTTP API: Ollama, LM Studio, Jan, llama.cpp, vLLM.

## Why local

- **No API key, no per-token billing.**
- **No network egress**. Your strings stay on the machine.
- **No rate limits beyond your hardware.**
- Smaller models (Llama 3.2, Qwen 2.5, Mistral 7B) are good enough for translation tasks when paired with StringLane's locale-aware prompts.

## Step 1: Run a local model server

Pick whichever runner you already have:

| Runner | Default base URL | How to install |
|---|---|---|
| [Ollama](https://ollama.com) | `http://localhost:11434/v1` | `brew install ollama && ollama pull llama3.2` |
| [LM Studio](https://lmstudio.ai) | `http://localhost:1234/v1` | Download the desktop app, load a model, click "Start Server" |
| [Jan](https://jan.ai) | `http://localhost:1337/v1` | Download the desktop app, enable the "Local API Server" |
| llama.cpp | varies | `./llama-server -m model.gguf --port 8080` |

Start the server, pull/load a model, and confirm you can `curl` the `/v1/models` endpoint.

## Step 2: Configure StringLane

Open **Settings → App → AI Providers** (or run "Open Settings" from the Command Palette).

1. **Provider**: pick **Local LLM (OpenAI-compatible)**.
2. **Base URL**: enter your runner's URL. Default is `http://localhost:11434/v1` (Ollama). Adjust per the table above.
3. **Model**: type the exact model name your runner has loaded (e.g. `llama3.2`, `qwen2.5:14b`, `mistral`).
4. No API key field appears: local runners typically don't authenticate.

![Settings → App → AI Providers with the Local LLM (OpenAI-compatible) provider selected, a model name, and the Local Server Base URL pointing at http://localhost:11434/v1](/docs-screenshots/settings-ai-providers.webp)

Save and close Settings.

## Step 3: Translate

Use the same flows you would with a cloud provider:

- Per-cell **✨** button on a Missing or Same row.
- **⌘T**: translate the active key into every non-base locale.
- **⌘⇧T**: translate (or re-translate) only the focused locale's field, leaving the key's other locales untouched.
- **Translate all missing with AI** from the Command Palette: sweeps every gap across every locale.
- **Fix all with AI** in the Issues Panel: repairs ICU and placeholder errors in place.

StringLane's prompts already include CLDR plural rules, locale formality / honorifics, format-specific placeholder dialects, and a glossary of recurring terms. Those are sent regardless of provider, so a local model gets the same context a cloud model does.

## What to expect

- **Latency.** A local 7B model on a Mac M-series will produce a translation in 1-3 seconds per key. Bulk operations are sequential per locale, parallel per chunk; expect ~30 seconds per 50 keys on a single locale.
- **Quality.** Larger models (14B+) match cloud quality on common locale pairs. Smaller models (3B-7B) are adequate for short UI strings; quality drops on complex ICU plurals or rare locale pairs.
- **Memory.** Plan for the runner to hold the model in VRAM/unified memory while StringLane is open. Quit the runner when you're done if you need the RAM back.

## Troubleshooting

- **"Could not reach the model server" error**: confirm the runner is up (`curl http://localhost:11434/v1/models`) and the URL in Settings exactly matches.
- **Translation comes back as a code block or refusal**: the model is misinterpreting the system prompt. Try a different model; instruction-tuned `*-instruct` variants behave best.
- **Empty translations**: the runner returned non-JSON. StringLane's parser logs a `TranslationParseError` and skips that key. Check the runner's console for the raw response.

## Related

- [Set Up AI Translation in 5 Minutes](/docs/set-up-ai-translation): cloud providers (BYOK).
- [How to Translate All Missing Cells at Once](/docs/translate-all-missing): bulk flow that works with any provider.
- [How to Use the Issues Panel](/docs/use-issues-panel): Fix-with-AI also runs against your configured provider.