---
title: "Self-hosted AI"
description: "Architecture and configuration details for the self-hosted AI environment including Ollama, Continue, and Open WebUI."
draft: false
author: "wompmacho"
date: '2026-04-08T01:00:00-04:00'
lastmod: '2026-04-08'
tags: ["ai", "ollama", "continue.dev", "open-webui", "self-hosted", "gemma"]
---

# Homelab AI Infrastructure Overview

This document outlines the current self-hosted Artificial Intelligence infrastructure, detailing how models are hosted, accessed, and utilized across different interfaces within the homelab environment.

## Core Inference Engine: Ollama

The backbone of the AI setup is driven by **Ollama**, which handles the actual model inference and API routing.

*   **Host Environment:** Dedicated Gaming PC. This machine provides the necessary GPU compute power and VRAM to run large language models efficiently.
*   **Network Address:** `http://10.0.0.109:11434`
*   **Active Models:**
    *   `gemma4:26b` (Heavy): The primary model used for complex reasoning, comprehensive chat, and applying structural code edits.
    *   `gemma4:e4b` (Fast): A smaller, optimized model specifically dedicated to low-latency tasks like real-time code autocomplete.

## Developer Integration: Continue.dev

For software development, the AI is integrated directly into the coding environment, turning the IDE into an AI-powered workspace.

*   **Environment:** VS Code running via `code-server` on the Linux host.
*   **Extension:** Continue.dev
*   **Routing:** The extension is configured via `~/.continue/config.yaml` to offload all inference to the remote Ollama instance on the Gaming PC.
*   **Autonomous Capabilities:** 
    *   The setup is enhanced with the Model Context Protocol (MCP).
    *   A local `shell-mcp-server` runs on the `code-server` host, exposing the `execute_shell_command` tool.
    *   Combined with aggressive system prompting, this allows the `gemma4:26b` model to autonomously execute Linux commands, read outputs, and debug the local workspace without requiring the developer to manually run commands.

## General User Interface: Open WebUI

For general-purpose queries, document analysis, and conversational AI outside of the IDE, a dedicated web interface is utilized.

*   **Hosting:** Deployed as a Docker container within the homelab server infrastructure (data stored in `/srv/open-webui`).
*   **Integration:** Natively connected to the Ollama API on the Gaming PC over the local network (`10.0.0.109`).
*   **Features:** 
    *   Provides a polished, ChatGPT-like experience.
    *   Allows users to interact seamlessly with the Gemma models.
    *   Supports persistent chat histories and file uploads (via the `/srv/open-webui/uploads` and `vector_db` volumes) for Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) capabilities.
