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mozilla-ai
llamafile
C++2023–2026
mozilla-ai / llamafile

llamafile

Distribute and run LLMs with a single file.

82Distinct people
112Mentions
3Explicit recommenders
26.6KGitHub stars
REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

Distribute and run LLMs with a single file.

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use was verified in the last source check.

What people are saying

Handy is an awesome project, highly recommended - many of our engineers and PMs use it! CJ, Handy's creator, recently joined us as a Builder in Residence at Mozilla.ai. So for…

JohnPDickerson used a recommendation phrase. 3 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.

No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.

Also in these discussions

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 PM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year112 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2023-11-29 19:29:49 UTC to 2026-10-27 20:17:14 UTC.

02040602023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 26 mentions; 2 submissions, 24 comments20232024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 62 mentions; 5 submissions, 57 comments20242025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 19 mentions; 3 submissions, 16 comments2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC to 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC (exclusive): 5 mentions; 0 submissions, 5 comments. Incomplete calendar period.2026*

* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges
UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
PeriodStart (UTC)End (exclusive, UTC)MentionsSubmissionsComments
20232023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC26224
20242024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC62557
20252025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC19316
2026 (partial)2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC505

From the project README

An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 12, 2026.

Read the project’s introduction
llamafile llamafile lets you distribute and run LLMs with a single file. llamafile is a Mozilla Builders project (see its announcement blog post), now revamped by Mozilla.ai. Our goal is to make open LLMs much more accessible to both developers and end users. We're doing that by combining llama.cpp with Cosmopolitan Libc into one framework that collapses all the complexity of LLMs down to a single-file executable (called a "llamafile") that runs locally on most operating systems and CPU architectures, with no installation. llamafile also includes whisperfile, a single-file speech-to-text tool built on whisper.cpp and the same Cosmopolitan packaging. It supports transcription and translation of audio files across all the same platforms, with no installation required. v0.10.* llamafile versions starting from 0.10.0 use a new build system, aimed at keeping our code more easily aligned with the latest versions of llama.cpp. This means they support more recent models and functionalities, but at the same time they might be missing some of the features you were accustomed to (check out this doc for a high-level description of what has been done). If you liked the "classic experience" more, you will always be able to access the previous versions from our releases page. Our pre-built llamafiles always show which version of the server they have been bundled with (0.9.* example, 0.10.* example), so you will always know which version of the software you are downloading. We want to hear from you! Whether you are a new user or a long-time fan, please share what you find most valuable about llamafile and what would make it more useful for you. Read more via the blog and add your voice to the discussion here. Quick Start Download and run your first llamafile in minutes: # Download an example model (Qwen3.5 0.8B) curl -LO https://huggingface.co/mozilla-ai/llamafile_0.10/resolve/main/Qwen3.5-0.8B-Q8_0.llamafile # Make it executable (macOS/Linux/BSD) chmod +x Qwen3.5-0.8B-Q8_0.llamafile # Run it ./Qwen3.5-0.8B-Q8_0.llamafile We chose this model because that's the smallest one we have built a llamafile for, so most likely to work out-of-the-box for you. If you have powerful hardware and/or GPUs, feel free to choose larger and more expressive models which should provide more accurate responses. Windows users: Rename the file to add .exe extension before running. Note - Only executables under 4GB can run on Windows, so any llamafile above 4GB won't work. Download the llamafile binary and run it with any external weights/models(GGUF). Documentation Check the full documentation at docs.mozilla.ai/llamafile, or directly jump into one of the following subsections: Quickstart Pre-built llamafiles Running a llamafile Creating llamafiles Source installation Technical details Supported Systems Troubleshooting Whisperfile Licensing While the llamafile project is Apache 2.0-licensed, our changes to llama.cpp and whisper.cpp are licensed under MIT (just like the projects themselves) so as to remain compatible and upstreamable in the future, should that be desired. The llamafile logo on this page was generated with the assistance of DALL·E 3.
Read the full README on GitHub

What Hacker News says

112 sources
Thanks for writing this, I hope people here will actually read this and not assume this is some unfounded hit piece. I was involved a little bit in llama.cpp and knew most of what you wrote and it’s just disgusting how ollama founders behaved! For people looking for alternatives, I would also recommend llama-file, it’s a one file executable for any OS that includes your chosen model: https://github.com/mozilla-ai/llamafile?tab=readme-ov-file It’s truly open source, backed by Mozilla, openly uses llama.cpp and was created by wizard Justine Tunney of CosmopolitanC fame.
In The local LLM ecosystem doesn’t need Ollama
JohnPDickerson·Apr 6, 2026Recommendation phrase
Handy is an awesome project, highly recommended - many of our engineers and PMs use it! CJ, Handy's creator, recently joined us as a Builder in Residence at Mozilla.ai. So for those interested in deploying a more raw/lightweight approach to local speech-to-text (or other multimodal) models, feel free to check out llamafile - which includes whisperfile, a single-file whisper.cpp + cosmopolitan framework-based executable. We're hoping to build some bridges between the two projects as well. https://github.com/mozilla-ai/llamafile
In Show HN: Ghost Pepper – Local hold-to-talk speech-to-text for macOS
> # Avoid issues when wine is installed. > sudo su -c 'echo 0 > /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc/status' Please don’t recommend this. If binfmt_misc is enabled, it’s probably for a reason, and disabling it will break things. I have a .NET/Mono app installed that it would break, for example—it’s definitely not just Wine. If binfmt_misc is causing problems, the proper solution is to register the executable type. https://github.com/mozilla-ai/llamafile#linux describes steps. I made myself a package containing /usr/bin/ape and the following /usr/lib/binfmt.d/ape.conf: :APE:M::MZqFpD::/usr/bin/ape: :APE-jart:M::jartsr::/usr/bin/ape:
In Llamafile Returns
> As the local and open LLM ecosystem has evolved over the years, time has come for llamafile to evolve too. It needs refactoring and upgrades to incorporate newer features available in llama.cpp and develop a refined understanding of the most valuable features for its users. It seems people have moved on from Llamafile. I doubt Mozilla AI is going to bring it back. This announcement didn't even come with a new code commit, just a wish. https://github.com/mozilla-ai/llamafile/commits/main/
In Llamafile Returns
ive approached the same thing but slightly differently. i can run it on consumer hardware for vastly cheaper than the cloud and don't have to worry about image sizes at all. (bare metal is 'faster') offering 20,000 minutes of transcription for free up to the rate limit (1 Request Every 5 Seconds) https://geppetto.app I contributed "whisperfile" as a result of this work: * https://github.com/Mozilla-Ocho/llamafile/tree/main/whisper.... * https://github.com/cjpais/whisperfile if you ever want to chat about making transcription virtually free or so cheap for everyone let me know. I've been working on various projects related to it for a while. including open source/cross-platform superwhisper alternative https://handy.computer
In Fast
Seconded for Llamafile, here is a link for references https://github.com/Mozilla-Ocho/llamafile . It indeed is working on all major platforms and its tooling allows easy creating of new llamafiles with new models. The only caveat is Windows where there is a limit 4Gb for executable files so just a llamafile launcher and the gguf file itself must be used. But this approach will work anywhere anyway.
In Show HN: Local LLM Notepad – run a GPT-style model from a USB stick
https://github.com/Mozilla-Ocho/llamafile not working ;( gemma-3n-E4B-it-Q8_0 import_cuda_impl: initializing gpu module... get_rocm_bin_path: note: hipcc not found on $PATH [...] llama_model_load: error loading model: error loading model architecture: unknown model architecture: 'gemma3n' llama_load_model_from_file: failed to load model llama_init_from_gpt_params: error: failed to load model 'gemma-3n-E4B-it-Q8_0.gguf' main: error: unable to load model
In Introducing Gemma 3n

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