---
title: Claude Code
---

[Claude Code](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/overview) is an agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files, and runs commands.

Ollama connects Claude Code to local and cloud models through its Anthropic-compatible API.

## Get started

Launch Claude Code with Ollama:

```shell
ollama launch claude
```

## Capabilities

<div className="capability-list capability-list-full">
  <div className="capability-list-grid">
    <div className="capability-list-item">
      <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="comment" /></div>
      <div>
        <div className="capability-list-heading">Chat</div>
        <div className="capability-list-copy">Ask questions about a repository or task</div>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div className="capability-list-item">
      <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="terminal" /></div>
      <div>
        <div className="capability-list-heading">Command line</div>
        <div className="capability-list-copy">Run commands with Claude Code's permission flow</div>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div className="capability-list-item">
      <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="code" /></div>
      <div>
        <div className="capability-list-heading">Tool calling</div>
        <div className="capability-list-copy">Use tools with compatible models</div>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div className="capability-list-item">
      <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="file-pen" /></div>
      <div>
        <div className="capability-list-heading">File edits</div>
        <div className="capability-list-copy">Read and edit files in your project</div>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div className="capability-list-item">
      <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="users" /></div>
      <div>
        <div className="capability-list-heading">Subagents</div>
        <div className="capability-list-copy">Split work across tasks</div>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div className="capability-list-item">
      <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="globe" /></div>
      <div>
        <div className="capability-list-heading">Web search</div>
        <div className="capability-list-copy">Search the web through Ollama</div>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div className="capability-list-item">
      <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="file-text" /></div>
      <div>
        <div className="capability-list-heading">Web fetch</div>
        <div className="capability-list-copy">Fetch and summarize web pages</div>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div className="capability-list-item">
      <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="image" /></div>
      <div>
        <div className="capability-list-heading">Vision</div>
        <div className="capability-list-copy">Send images and screenshots</div>
      </div>
    </div>

    <div className="capability-list-item">
      <div className="capability-list-icon"><Icon icon="brain" /></div>
      <div>
        <div className="capability-list-heading">Thinking</div>
        <div className="capability-list-copy">Use thinking controls with compatible models</div>
      </div>
    </div>

  </div>
</div>

## Models

Choose a model with enough context for your repository.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Cloud models" icon="cloud" href="https://ollama.com/search?c=cloud">
    Use larger models without downloading them.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Local models" icon="hard-drive" href="https://ollama.com/search?c=tools">
    Choose a model and set a 64k+ context window.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Note>For larger repositories, set the [context length](/context-length) to 64k or higher.</Note>

## More features

### Run without interaction

Use `--yes` for scripts, Docker, or CI:

```shell
ollama launch claude --model gemma4:cloud --yes -- -p "how does this repository work?"
```

The `--yes` flag skips selectors, pulls the model when needed, and requires `--model`. Arguments after `--` are passed directly to Claude Code.

### Web search

Use Ollama's web search API from Claude Code.

See [Web search](/capabilities/web-search) for setup and usage.

### Scheduled tasks with `/loop`

Use `/loop` inside Claude Code to run a prompt or slash command on a schedule:

```text
/loop <interval> <prompt or /command>
```

Examples:

```text
/loop 30m Check my open PRs and summarize their status
/loop 1h Research the latest AI news and summarize key developments
/loop 15m Check for new GitHub issues and triage by priority
```

### Telegram

Connect a Telegram bot to your Claude Code session. Install the [Telegram plugin](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official), create a bot with [@BotFather](https://t.me/BotFather), then launch Claude Code:

```shell
ollama launch claude -- --channels plugin:telegram@claude-plugins-official
```

Claude Code prompts for permission on most actions. To allow the bot to work autonomously, configure [permission rules](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/permissions) or pass `--dangerously-skip-permissions` in an isolated environment.

See the [plugin README](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official/tree/main/external_plugins/telegram) for setup instructions.

## Manual setup

<p className="manual-step-title">1. Install Claude Code</p>

<CodeGroup>

```shell macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
```

```powershell Windows
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex
```

</CodeGroup>

<p className="manual-step-title">2. Set the environment variables</p>

```shell
export ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=ollama
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=""
export ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434
```

<p className="manual-step-title">3. Run Claude Code</p>

```shell
claude --model qwen3.5
```

Or run with environment variables inline:

```shell
ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN=ollama ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=http://localhost:11434 ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="" claude --model kimi-k2.7-code:cloud
```