Local AI: pick a runtime
New in v1.19.0: Use Claude from Anthropic or OpenAI as your AI provider with a curated model list, alongside Ollama and LM Studio. Everything local keeps working exactly as before, and the app asks before anything leaves your device. — all changes
This is the local path, and it is the default: the model runs on your own hardware, through one of two runtimes — Ollama or LM Studio — and nothing you write leaves your machine. Both give you the same features and the same curated models; pick whichever you already have, or whichever setup you prefer.
MindMap Chat can also talk to Claude (Anthropic) or OpenAI if you want a more capable model, but that is a deliberate choice you make and the app asks before a single word is sent — see how to set up Claude or OpenAI, and what it means for your data. If a map must never leave your device, everything on this page is the answer, and nothing here changes.
| Ollama | LM Studio | |
|---|---|---|
| Set up for you | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS — on Linux it is a short manual setup |
| Fetches models for you | Yes, including to a server elsewhere on your network | Yes, on the machine running it |
| Has a desktop UI of its own | No — it is a background service | Yes, with a model browser and chat |
| Default address | http://localhost:11434/v1 |
http://localhost:1234/v1 |
| Guide | Set up Ollama | Set up LM Studio |
Not sure?
Choose Ollama if you want the app to handle everything, on any desktop OS, with nothing else to learn. Choose LM Studio if you already use it, or if you want a graphical model browser and a place to try models outside the app.
You can switch at any time in Settings → AI: pick the other provider and the app re-points itself at that runtime's address and shows its own model list.
On a phone or tablet
Neither runtime runs on Android or iOS. The app shows just the server address, so run Ollama or LM Studio on a desktop on the same Wi-Fi and point your phone at it — both guides cover sharing one server across your network.
Whichever you pick, the map content in a prompt goes only to that server. See the privacy page for exactly what is sent where.