This chapter is for everyone.

Model Management via TUI

The Model Management screen allows you to download, load, unload, and delete LLMs directly from the terminal.

Access

Press F2 from any screen to access Model Management.

Layout

The screen is organized into three zones that you can navigate between using Tab or Shift+Tab:

  1. Installed Models list (top zone): A scrollable list of models currently on your system.
  2. Browse Catalog button (middle zone): Opens a popup to browse the Ollama library.
  3. Pull by name (bottom zone): A text input field and a Pull button for direct model downloads.

Installed Models List

Each model in the list displays its details in a columnar format. A legend header with / separators appears above the list: Model name | Params | Quant | Disk | VRAM | Status

  • Model name: The name of the model (e.g., llama3:8b).
  • Params: Parameter count of the model.
  • Quant: Quantization level.
  • Disk: Space occupied on disk.
  • VRAM: Measured or cached VRAM usage (e.g., "6.2 GB" or "~6.2 GB").
  • Status: Current state of the model ("loaded (GPU)", "loaded (CPU)", or "ready").
  • Tab / Shift+Tab: Cycle focus between the three zones (models → browse → pull-input → pull-btn).
  • Up / Down arrows: Navigate through the installed model list. The view scrolls automatically to follow your focus.
  • Left / Right arrows: Navigate between the action buttons (Load/Unload/Delete) for the currently selected model. The cursor automatically skips disabled buttons.
  • Enter: Activate the focused button or zone.
  • PageUp / PageDown: Fast scroll through the model list.

Model Actions

Each model has specific action buttons:

  • Load: Loads the model into VRAM for inference. The status will show "Loading..." while in progress. Loaded models use a keep_alive: -1 setting for infinite retention.
  • Unload: Removes the model from VRAM. The system polls the engine until the unload is confirmed.
  • Delete: Permanently removes the model from disk. A confirmation prompt will appear before deletion.

Downloading Models

Browse Catalog

Selecting the Browse Catalog button opens a scrollable popup listing popular models from the Ollama library. Select a model from the list and confirm to start the download.

Pull by Name

To download a specific model, type its name (e.g., llama3:8b) into the text input field in the bottom zone and press Enter or click the Pull button.

A progress bar will show the download status. You can press Escape or the Cancel button to abort an active download.

VRAM Management

VRAM usage values are measured during operation or retrieved from a cache stored in /var/lib/neuraldrive/config/.

Multiple models can be installed and loaded simultaneously. The underlying engine manages VRAM using an LRU (Least Recently Used) eviction policy when the OLLAMA_MAX_LOADED_MODELS setting is set to auto.