## 👋 Welcome to Foundry Local
Foundry Local brings the power of Azure AI Foundry to your local device **without requiring an Azure subscription**. It allows you to:
- Run Generative AI models directly on your local hardware - no sign-up required.
- Keep all data processing on-device for enhanced privacy and security
- Integrate models with your applications through an OpenAI-compatible API
- Optimize performance using ONNX Runtime and hardware acceleration
## 🚀 Quickstart
1. **Install Foundry Local:**
- **Windows**: Install Foundry Local for your architecture (x64 or arm64):
```bash
winget install Microsoft.FoundryLocal
```
- **MacOS**: Open a terminal and run the following command:
`bash
brew install microsoft/foundrylocal/foundrylocal
`
Alternatively, you can download the installers from the [releases page](https://github.com/microsoft/Foundry-Local/releases) and follow the on-screen installation instructions.
> [!TIP]
> For any issues, refer to the [Installation section](#installing) below.
2. **Run your first model**: Open a terminal and run the following command to run a model:
```bash
foundry model run phi-3.5-mini
```
> [!NOTE]
> The `foundry model run ` command will automatically download the model if it's not already cached on your local machine, and then start an interactive chat session with the model.
Foundry Local will automatically select and download a model _variant_ with the best performance for your hardware. For example:
- if you have an Nvidia CUDA GPU, it will download the CUDA-optimized model.
- if you have a Qualcomm NPU, it will download the NPU-optimized model.
- if you don't have a GPU or NPU, Foundry local will download the CPU-optimized model.
### 🔍 Explore available models
You can list all available models by running the following command:
```bash
foundry model ls
```
This will show you a list of all models that can be run locally, including their names, sizes, and other details.
## 🧑💻 Integrate with your applications using the SDK
Foundry Local has an easy-to-use SDK (C#, Python, JavaScript) to get you started with existing applications:
> [!IMPORTANT]
> Foundry Local assigns a **dynamic port** each time the service starts -- do not hardcode `localhost:5272` or any other port. Use the SDK's `manager.endpoint` property to obtain the correct URL at runtime. For CLI or `curl` usage, run `foundry service status` to discover the current endpoint.
### C#
The C# SDK is available as a package on NuGet. You can install it using the .NET CLI:
```bash
dotnet add package Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local.WinML
```
> [!TIP]
> The C# SDK does not require end users to have Foundry Local CLI installed. It is a completely self-contained SDK that will does not depend on any external services. Also, the C# SDK has native in-process Chat Completions and Audio Transcription APIs that do not require HTTP calls to the local Foundry service.
Here is an example of using the C# SDK to run a model and generate a chat completion:
```csharp
using Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local;
using Betalgo.Ranul.OpenAI.ObjectModels.RequestModels;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
CancellationToken ct = new CancellationToken();
var config = new Configuration
{
AppName = "my-app-name",
LogLevel = Microsoft.AI.Foundry.Local.LogLevel.Debug
};
using var loggerFactory = LoggerFactory.Create(builder =>
{
builder.SetMinimumLevel(Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.LogLevel.Debug);
});
var logger = loggerFactory.CreateLogger();
// Initialize the singleton instance.
await FoundryLocalManager.CreateAsync(config, logger);
var mgr = FoundryLocalManager.Instance;
// Get the model catalog
var catalog = await mgr.GetCatalogAsync();
// List available models
Console.WriteLine("Available models for your hardware:");
var models = await catalog.ListModelsAsync();
foreach (var availableModel in models)
{
foreach (var variant in availableModel.Variants)
{
Console.WriteLine($" - Alias: {variant.Alias} (Id: {string.Join(", ", variant.Id)})");
}
}
// Get a model using an alias
var model = await catalog.GetModelAsync("qwen2.5-0.5b") ?? throw new Exception("Model not found");
// is model cached
Console.WriteLine($"Is model cached: {await model.IsCachedAsync()}");
// print out cached models
var cachedModels = await catalog.GetCachedModelsAsync();
Console.WriteLine("Cached models:");
foreach (var cachedModel in cachedModels)
{
Console.WriteLine($"- {cachedModel.Alias} ({cachedModel.Id})");
}
// Download the model (the method skips download if already cached)
await model.DownloadAsync(progress =>
{
Console.Write($"\rDownloading model: {progress:F2}%");
if (progress >= 100f)
{
Console.WriteLine();
}
});
// Load the model
await model.LoadAsync();
// Get a chat client
var chatClient = await model.GetChatClientAsync();
// Create a chat message
List messages = new()
{
new ChatMessage { Role = "user", Content = "Why is the sky blue?" }
};
var streamingResponse = chatClient.CompleteChatStreamingAsync(messages, ct);
await foreach (var chunk in streamingResponse)
{
Console.Write(chunk.Choices[0].Message.Content);
Console.Out.Flush();
}
Console.WriteLine();
// Tidy up - unload the model
await model.UnloadAsync();
```
### Python
The Python SDK is available as a package on PyPI. You can install it using pip:
```bash
pip install foundry-local-sdk
pip install openai
```
> [!TIP]
> We recommend using a virtual environment such as `conda` or `venv` to avoid conflicts with other packages.
Foundry Local provides an OpenAI-compatible API that you can call from any application:
```python
import openai
from foundry_local import FoundryLocalManager
# By using an alias, the most suitable model will be downloaded
# to your end-user's device.
alias = "phi-3.5-mini"
# Create a FoundryLocalManager instance. This will start the Foundry
# Local service if it is not already running and load the specified model.
manager = FoundryLocalManager(alias)
# The remaining code us es the OpenAI Python SDK to interact with the local model.
# Configure the client to use the local Foundry service
client = openai.OpenAI(
base_url=manager.endpoint,
api_key=manager.api_key # API key is not required for local usage
)
# Set the model to use and generate a streaming response
stream = client.chat.completions.create(
model=manager.get_model_info(alias).id,
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "What is the golden ratio?"}],
stream=True
)
# Print the streaming response
for chunk in stream:
if chunk.choices[0].delta.content is not None:
print(chunk.choices[0].delta.content, end="", flush=True)
```
### JavaScript
The JavaScript SDK is available as a package on npm. You can install it using npm:
```bash
npm install foundry-local-sdk
npm install openai
```
```javascript
import { OpenAI } from "openai";
import { FoundryLocalManager } from "foundry-local-sdk";
// By using an alias, the most suitable model will be downloaded
// to your end-user's device.
// TIP: You can find a list of available models by running the
// following command in your terminal: `foundry model list`.
const alias = "phi-3.5-mini";
// Create a FoundryLocalManager instance. This will start the Foundry
// Local service if it is not already running.
const foundryLocalManager = new FoundryLocalManager();
// Initialize the manager with a model. This will download the model
// if it is not already present on the user's device.
const modelInfo = await foundryLocalManager.init(alias);
console.log("Model Info:", modelInfo);
const openai = new OpenAI({
baseURL: foundryLocalManager.endpoint,
apiKey: foundryLocalManager.apiKey,
});
async function streamCompletion() {
const stream = await openai.chat.completions.create({
model: modelInfo.id,
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "What is the golden ratio?" }],
stream: true,
});
for await (const chunk of stream) {
if (chunk.choices[0]?.delta?.content) {
process.stdout.write(chunk.choices[0].delta.content);
}
}
}
streamCompletion();
```
## Manage
This section provides an overview of how to manage Foundry Local, including installation, upgrading, and removing the application.
### Installing
Foundry Local is available for Windows and macOS (Apple silicon only). You can install it using package managers or manually download the installer.
#### Windows
You can install Foundry Local using the following command in a Windows console (PowerShell, cmd, etc.):
```bash
winget install Microsoft.FoundryLocal
```
Alternatively, you can also manually download and install the packages. On [the releases page](https://github.com/microsoft/Foundry-Local/releases)
select a release and expand the Artifacts list. Copy the artifact full URI (for example: `https://github.com/microsoft/Foundry-Local/releases/download/v0.3.9267/FoundryLocal-x64-0.3.9267.43123.msix`)
to use in the below PowerShell steps. Replace `x64` with `arm64` as needed.
```powershell
# Download the package and its dependency
$releaseUri = "https://github.com/microsoft/Foundry-Local/releases/download/v0.3.9267/FoundryLocal-x64-0.3.9267.43123.msix"
Invoke-WebRequest -Method Get -Uri $releaseUri -OutFile .\FoundryLocal.msix
$crtUri = "https://aka.ms/Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx"
Invoke-WebRequest -Method Get -Uri $crtUri -OutFile .\VcLibs.appx
# Install the Foundry Local package
Add-AppxPackage .\FoundryLocal.msix -DependencyPath .\VcLibs.appx
```
If you're having problems installing Foundry, please [file an issue](https://github.com/microsoft/foundry-local/issues)
and include logs using one of these methods:
- For WinGet - use `winget install Microsoft.FoundryLocal --logs --verbose` - select the most-recently-dated log file
and attach it to the issue.
- For `Add-AppxPackage` - immediately after it indicates an error, in an elevated PowerShell instance, use
`Get-MsixLogs | Out-File MsixLogs.txt` and attach it to the issue.
- Use [Windows Feedback Hub](feedback-hub:) and create a Problem in the "Apps > All other apps" category. Use the
"Add More Details > Recreate my problem" and re-run the failing commands to collect more data. Once your feedback
is submitted, use the "Share" option to generate a link and put that into the filed issue.
> [!NOTE]
> Log files may contain information like user names, IP addresses, file paths, etc. Be sure to remove those
> before sharing here.
#### macOS
Install Foundry Local using the following command in your terminal:
```bash
brew install microsoft/foundrylocal/foundrylocal
```
Alternatively, you can also manually download and install the packages by following these steps:
1. Download the latest release from [the releases page](https://github.com/microsoft/Foundry-Local/releases).
1. Unzip the downloaded file.
1. Open a terminal and navigate to the unzipped folder, run the following command to install Foundry Local:
```bash
./install-foundry.command
```
### Upgrading
To upgrade Foundry Local, run the following command in your terminal:
- **Windows**
```bash
winget upgrade --id Microsoft.FoundryLocal
```
- **macOS**:
If you installed Foundry Local using Homebrew, you can upgrade it with the following command:
```
brew upgrade foundrylocal
```
If you installed Foundry Local manually, you'll first need to uninstall the current version using:
```bash
uninstall-foundry
```
Then, follow the [installation instructions](#installing) to install the latest version.
### Uninstalling
To uninstall Foundry Local, run the following command in your terminal:
- **Windows**: You can uninstall Foundry Local using `winget` in a Windows console (PowerShell, cmd, etc.):
```bash
winget uninstall Microsoft.FoundryLocal
```
Alternatively, you can also uninstall Foundry Local by navigating to **Settings > Apps > Apps & features** in Windows, finding "Foundry Local" in the list, and selecting the ellipsis (`...`) followed by **Uninstall**.
- **macOS**: If you installed Foundry Local using Homebrew, you can uninstall it with the following command:
```bash
brew rm foundrylocal
brew untap microsoft/foundrylocal
brew cleanup --scrub
```
If you installed Foundry Local manually, you can uninstall it by running the following command in your terminal:
```bash
uninstall-foundry
```
## Features & Use Cases
- **On-device inference** - Process sensitive data locally for privacy, reduced latency, and no cloud costs
- **OpenAI-compatible API** - Seamlessly integrate with applications using familiar SDKs
- **High performance** - Optimized execution with ONNX Runtime and hardware acceleration
- **Flexible deployment** - Ideal for edge computing scenarios with limited connectivity
- **Development friendly** - Perfect for prototyping AI features before production deployment
- **Model versatility** - Use pre-compiled models or [convert your own](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/how-to/how-to-compile-hugging-face-models?view=foundry-classic&tabs=Bash).
## Reporting Issues
We're actively looking for feedback during this preview phase. Please report issues or suggest improvements in the [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/microsoft/Foundry-Local/issues) section.
## 🎓 Learn
- [Foundry Local Documentation on Microsoft Learn](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/?view=foundry-classic)
- [Troubleshooting guide](https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/reference/reference-best-practice?view=foundry-classic)
## ⚖️ License
Foundry Local is licensed under the Microsoft Software License Terms. For more details, read the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file.
