/add-ollama-tool

name: add-ollama-tool
description: Add Ollama MCP server so the container agent can call local models for cheaper/faster tasks like summarization, translation, or general queries.

Add Ollama Integration

This skill adds a stdio-based MCP server that exposes local Ollama models as tools for the container agent. Claude remains the orchestrator but can offload work to local models.

Tools added:

• `ollama_list_models` — lists installed Ollama models
• `ollama_generate` — sends a prompt to a specified model and returns the response

Phase 1: Pre-flight

Check if already applied

Check if `agent/runner/src/ollama-mcp-stdio.ts` exists. If it does, skip to Phase 3 (Configure).

Check prerequisites

Verify Ollama is installed and running on the host:

ollama list

If Ollama is not installed, direct the user to https://ollama.com/download.

If no models are installed, suggest pulling one:

> You need at least one model. I recommend: > > ```bash > ollama pull gemma3:1b # Small, fast (1GB) > ollama pull llama3.2 # Good general purpose (2GB) > ollama pull qwen3-coder:30b # Best for code tasks (18GB) > ```

Phase 2: Apply Code Changes

Ensure upstream remote

git remote -v

If `upstream` is missing, add it:

git remote add upstream https://github.com/sbusso/claudeclaw.git

Merge the skill branch

git fetch upstream skill/ollama-tool
git merge upstream/skill/ollama-tool

This merges in:

• `agent/runner/src/ollama-mcp-stdio.ts` (Ollama MCP server)
• `scripts/ollama-watch.sh` (macOS notification watcher)
• Ollama MCP config in `agent/runner/src/index.ts` (allowedTools + mcpServers)
• `[OLLAMA]` log surfacing in `src/orchestrator/container-runner.ts`
• `OLLAMA_HOST` in `.env.example`

If the merge reports conflicts, resolve them by reading the conflicted files and understanding the intent of both sides.

Copy to per-group agent-runner

Existing groups have a cached copy of the agent-runner source. Copy the new files:

for dir in data/sessions/*/agent-runner-src; do
  cp agent/runner/src/ollama-mcp-stdio.ts "$dir/"
  cp agent/runner/src/index.ts "$dir/"
done

Validate code changes

npm run build
./src/runtimes/docker/build.sh

Build must be clean before proceeding.

Phase 3: Configure

Set Ollama host (optional)

By default, the MCP server connects to `http://host.docker.internal:11434` (Docker Desktop) with a fallback to `localhost`. To use a custom Ollama host, add to `.env`:

OLLAMA_HOST=http://your-ollama-host:11434

> **Service name:** Derived from the directory name: `com.claudeclaw.<dirname>` (macOS) / `claudeclaw-<dirname>` (Linux). For example, if cwd is `my-assistant`, the service is `com.claudeclaw.my-assistant`. Determine the correct service name before running service commands below.

Restart the service

launchctl kickstart -k gui/$(id -u)/com.claudeclaw  # macOS
# Linux: systemctl --user restart claudeclaw

Phase 4: Verify

Test via WhatsApp

Tell the user:

> Send a message like: "use ollama to tell me the capital of France" > > The agent should use `ollama_list_models` to find available models, then `ollama_generate` to get a response.

Monitor activity (optional)

Run the watcher script for macOS notifications when Ollama is used:

./scripts/ollama-watch.sh

Check logs if needed

tail -f logs/claudeclaw.log | grep -i ollama

Look for:

• `Agent output: ... Ollama ...` — agent used Ollama successfully
• `[OLLAMA] >>> Generating` — generation started (if log surfacing works)
• `[OLLAMA] <<< Done` — generation completed

Troubleshooting

Agent says "Ollama is not installed"

The agent is trying to run `ollama` CLI inside the container instead of using the MCP tools. This means: 1. The MCP server wasn't registered — check `agent/runner/src/index.ts` has the `ollama` entry in `mcpServers` 2. The per-group source wasn't updated — re-copy files (see Phase 2) 3. The container wasn't rebuilt — run `./src/runtimes/docker/build.sh`

"Failed to connect to Ollama"

1. Verify Ollama is running: `ollama list` 2. Check Docker can reach the host: `docker run --rm curlimages/curl curl -s http://host.docker.internal:11434/api/tags` 3. If using a custom host, check `OLLAMA_HOST` in `.env`

Agent doesn't use Ollama tools

The agent may not know about the tools. Try being explicit: "use the ollama_generate tool with gemma3:1b to answer: ..."