LM Studio - profClaw

LM Studio provides a user-friendly desktop application for downloading and running local AI models. Its built-in server exposes an OpenAI-compatible API that profClaw connects to.

Overview

LM Studio is a GUI application for macOS, Windows, and Linux that:

Downloads models from HuggingFace with one click
Provides hardware-accelerated inference (Metal, CUDA, CPU)
Runs a local OpenAI-compatible API server
Works without an internet connection after model download

Setup

Download LM Studio

Download from lmstudio.ai and install.

Download a model

Open LM Studio, search for a model (e.g., lmstudio-community/Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct-GGUF), and download it.

Start the local server

In LM Studio: go to Local Server tab, select a model, and click Start Server.The server runs at http://localhost:1234 by default.

Configure profClaw

export LM_STUDIO_BASE_URL=http://localhost:1234/v1
# Or configure as an OpenAI-compatible endpoint:
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://localhost:1234/v1
export OPENAI_API_KEY=lm-studio

Verify

profclaw doctor --provider openai

Environment Variables

LM_STUDIO_BASE_URL

string

LM Studio server URL. Defaults to http://localhost:1234/v1. Configure via OPENAI_BASE_URL.

Configuration Example

.env
settings.yml
Remote LM Studio

# LM Studio uses the OpenAI provider with a local base URL
OPENAI_API_KEY=lm-studio
OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://localhost:1234/v1

providers:
  openai:
    api_key: "lm-studio"
    base_url: "http://localhost:1234/v1"
    default_model: "local-model"

# Access LM Studio on another machine
OPENAI_API_KEY=lm-studio
OPENAI_BASE_URL=http://192.168.1.100:1234/v1

Usage Examples

# Use whatever model is loaded in LM Studio
profclaw chat --model local-model "Explain dependency injection"

# Reference LM Studio model by name
profclaw chat --model "Meta-Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct-Q4_K_M" "Quick question"

Differences from Ollama

Feature	LM Studio	Ollama
Interface	GUI desktop app	CLI/headless
Model format	GGUF	GGUF
API	OpenAI-compatible	Custom + OpenAI-compatible
Best for	Desktop users	Servers, Docker
Auto-start	No (manual)	Yes (systemd/launchd)

Notes

LM Studio’s API key field accepts any non-empty string - use lm-studio as a placeholder.
Tool calling support depends on the loaded model - check the model’s capabilities.
LM Studio supports Metal (Apple Silicon), CUDA, and Vulkan acceleration.
For headless/server deployments, Ollama is recommended over LM Studio.

AI Providers Overview - Compare all 37 supported providers
Ollama - Recommended local provider for headless deployments
Local LLM Guide - Run profClaw fully offline with local models
profclaw provider - Add and test providers from the CLI

AI Providers

​Overview

​Setup

​Environment Variables

​Configuration Example

​Usage Examples

​Differences from Ollama

​Notes

​Related