What problem does it solve?
Simplifies the complex, multi-step process of building, quantizing, and deploying llama.cpp so teams can run high-performance local LLMs without guesswork. It consolidates C/C++ integration patterns, GPU backend builds, model conversion, server deployment, and engine-specific embedding guidance into a single practical reference.
Core Features & Use Cases
- C API & C++ wrappers: Complete reference for llama.h and llama-cpp.h usage, context creation, tokenization, batching, and sampler workflows for embedding the library directly into applications.
- Builds & GPU backends: Detailed CMake options and recipes for CUDA, Vulkan, Metal, HIP/ROCm, SYCL, and dynamic backend loading to maximize performance on diverse hardware.
- GGUF & Quantization: End-to-end instructions for converting HuggingFace models to GGUF, quantizing (Q4_K_M, Q8_0, IQ4_XS, etc.), and generating importance matrices for IQ quant types.
- Server & API: How to run the built-in OpenAI-compatible llama-server, use its endpoints (chat, completions, embeddings), enable streaming, function calling, grammar/JSON constraints, and speculative decoding.
- Integration examples: CMake add_subdirectory and find_package patterns, Docker images, static-library builds for plugin systems, and an extensive Unreal Engine integration guide for in-game inference.
Quick Start
Start the built-in llama-server with a GGUF model, enable the appropriate GPU backend, and query the OpenAI-compatible /v1/chat/completions endpoint to verify local inference.