chat-ui

# Chat UI

![Chat UI repository thumbnail](https://huggingface.co/datasets/huggingface/documentation-images/resolve/main/chat-ui/chat-ui-2026.png)

A chat interface for LLMs. It is a SvelteKit app and it powers the [HuggingChat app on hf.co/chat](https://huggingface.co/chat).

0. [Quickstart](#quickstart)
1. [Database Options](#database-options)
2. [Launch](#launch)
3. [Optional Docker Image](#optional-docker-image)
4. [Extra parameters](#extra-parameters)
5. [ML Intern](#ml-intern)
6. [Building](#building)

> [!NOTE]
> Chat UI only supports OpenAI-compatible APIs via `OPENAI_BASE_URL` and the `/models` endpoint. Provider-specific integrations (legacy `MODELS` env var, GGUF discovery, embeddings, web-search helpers, etc.) are removed, but any service that speaks the OpenAI protocol (llama.cpp server, Ollama, OpenRouter, etc.) will work by default.

> [!NOTE]
> The old version is still available on the [legacy branch](https://github.com/huggingface/chat-ui/tree/legacy)

## Quickstart

Chat UI speaks to OpenAI-compatible APIs only. The fastest way to get running is with the Hugging Face Inference Providers router plus your personal Hugging Face access token.

**Step 1 – Create `.env.local`:**

```env
OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://router.huggingface.co/v1
OPENAI_API_KEY=hf_************************
```

`OPENAI_API_KEY` can come from any OpenAI-compatible endpoint you plan to call. Pick the combo that matches your setup and drop the values into `.env.local`:

| Provider                                      | Example `OPENAI_BASE_URL`          | Example key env                                                         |
| --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Hugging Face Inference Providers router       | `https://router.huggingface.co/v1` | `OPENAI_API_KEY=hf_xxx` (or `HF_TOKEN` legacy alias)                    |
| llama.cpp server (`llama.cpp --server --api`) | `http://127.0.0.1:8080/v1`         | `OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-local-demo` (any string works; llama.cpp ignores it) |
| Ollama (with OpenAI-compatible bridge)        | `http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1`        | `OPENAI_API_KEY=ollama`                                                 |
| OpenRouter                                    | `https://openrouter.ai/api/v1`     | `OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-or-v1-...`                                           |
| Poe                                           | `https://api.poe.com/v1`           | `OPENAI_API_KEY=pk_...`                                                 |

Check the root [`.env` template](./.env) for the full list of optional variables you can override.

**Step 2 – Install and launch the dev server:**

```bash
git clone https://github.com/huggingface/chat-ui
cd chat-ui
npm install
npm run dev -- --open
```

You now have Chat UI running locally. Open the browser and start chatting.

## Database Options

Chat history, users, settings, files, and sta