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MCP Ollama Manager Extension

A VS Code extension for managing the MCP Ollama Python server — start, stop, configure and monitor your Ollama MCP server directly from Visual Studio Code.

Resource Link
GitHub (this extension) pblagoje/mcp-ollama-extension
Marketplace MCP Ollama Manager
Required MCP server mcp-ollama-python · docs · PyPI

Ecosystem

This extension (VS Code UI)
        │  stdio / MCP
        ▼
mcp-ollama-python
        │  HTTP :11434
        ▼
Ollama

See Companion MCP Server for how the two repositories fit together.

Features

  • Server Management — Start, stop, and restart the MCP Ollama server with simple commands
  • Status Monitoring — Real-time server status in the status bar with health checks
  • Configuration Management — Easy configuration of server settings through VS Code settings
  • Log Viewing — Built-in output channel for server logs and monitoring
  • Ollama Models Sidebar — Browse all locally installed models in a dedicated Explorer tree view; visible when the server is running with a refresh button in the view title
  • Model Management — Pull, delete, list running models, and view detailed model information
  • AI Tools — Chat with models, generate text, create embeddings, explain code, write docstrings
  • Auto-start Option — Configure the server to start automatically with VS Code

Requirements

Automatic dependency check: On every VS Code startup the extension silently verifies that mcp-ollama-python is installed. If it is missing a warning notification appears with an Install Now button that runs pip install mcp-ollama-python and streams output to the MCP Ollama Server output channel.

Quick Start

  1. Install the extension from the VS Code Marketplace (search MCP Ollama Manager)
  2. Install the server: pip install mcp-ollama-python — installation guide
  3. Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P) and run MCP Ollama: Configure Server
  4. Set your mcp-ollama.serverHost if Ollama is not on localhost
  5. Run MCP Ollama: Start Server

Configuration

Open VS Code Settings (Ctrl+,) and search for MCP Ollama.

Setting Type Default Description
mcp-ollama.serverHost string localhost Hostname where Ollama is running. When empty, falls back to the OLLAMA_HOST environment variable, then localhost. Examples: localhost, ai, 192.168.1.100
mcp-ollama.pythonPath string (auto) Path to Python executable; auto-detected if empty
mcp-ollama.autoStart boolean false Automatically start the server when VS Code starts
mcp-ollama.logLevel string info Log level for the MCP Ollama server (debug, info, warning, error)
mcp-ollama.extensionLogLevel string info Log level for the VS Code extension itself (debug, info, warning, error)

See Security for host validation, MCP allowlists, and the child-process trust model.

Commands

All commands are available via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):

Command Description
MCP Ollama: Start Server Start the MCP Ollama server
MCP Ollama: Stop Server Stop the MCP Ollama server
MCP Ollama: Restart Server Restart the MCP Ollama server
MCP Ollama: Show Server Status Display current server status and configuration
MCP Ollama: Configure Server Open configuration options
MCP Ollama: View Server Logs Show the server output channel
MCP Ollama: Open Log File Open the extension log file in the editor
MCP Ollama: Clear Logs Clear both output channel and log file
MCP Ollama: List Available Models Browse models with size and modification date
MCP Ollama: Refresh Models Refresh the Ollama Models sidebar tree
MCP Ollama: Chat with Model Start a chat session with a model
MCP Ollama: Generate Text Generate text using a model
MCP Ollama: Create Embedding Create text embeddings
MCP Ollama: Show Model Details Show details for a specific model
MCP Ollama: Pull Model Download a model from Ollama
MCP Ollama: Delete Model Remove an installed model
MCP Ollama: List Running Models Show currently loaded models
MCP Ollama: Explain Code Use AI to explain selected code
MCP Ollama: Write Docstring Generate a docstring for selected code

Ollama Models Sidebar

The Ollama Models view appears in the Explorer sidebar whenever the server is running.

  • Each entry shows the model name and size on disk
  • Hover over an entry for the full digest and last-modified date
  • Click the Refresh icon in the view title to reload the list
  • The list clears automatically when the server stops
  • The sidebar refreshes automatically after a Pull or Delete operation

Architecture

The extension communicates with the MCP Ollama Python server over stdio/JSON-RPC (Model Context Protocol). It does not query Ollama's HTTP API directly — all Ollama access goes through the MCP server.

VS Code Extension (TypeScript)
    │  stdio / JSON-RPC (MCP Protocol)
    ▼
MCP Ollama Python Server
    │  HTTP REST API (port 11434)
    ▼
Ollama Native Server

For full architecture details see ARCHITECTURE.md.
For the server side see mcp-ollama-python architecture.

Logging

See LOGGING.md for detailed logging documentation including log file locations, log levels, and debugging tips.

Use mcp-ollama.extensionLogLevel: info (default) for normal use; set debug only when troubleshooting (health checks log every few seconds at DEBUG).

Installation from Source

git clone https://github.com/pblagoje/mcp-ollama-extension.git
cd mcp-ollama-extension
npm install
npm run build:prod
npm run package
code --install-extension mcp-ollama-extension-*.vsix

Support

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.