Foundry Local brings the power of Azure AI Foundry to your local device without requiring an Azure subscription. It allows you to:
- Run Generative AI models directly on your local hardware - no sign-up required.
- Keep all data processing on-device for enhanced privacy and security
- Integrate models with your applications through an OpenAI-compatible API
- Optimize performance using ONNX Runtime and hardware acceleration
-
Install Foundry Local:
- Windows: Open a terminal and run the following command:
For any issues, refer to the Installation section below.
winget install Microsoft.FoundryLocal
- MacOS: Open a terminal and run the following command:
brew tap microsoft/foundrylocal brew install foundrylocal
Alternatively, you can download the installer from the releases page and follow the on-screen installation instructions.
- Windows: Open a terminal and run the following command:
-
Run your first model: Open a terminal and run the following command to run a model:
foundry model run phi-3.5-mini
Note
The foundry model run <model> command will automatically download the model if it's not already cached on your local machine, and then start an interactive chat session with the model.
Foundry Local will automatically select and download a model variant with the best performance for your hardware. For example:
- if you have an Nvidia CUDA GPU, it will download the CUDA-optimized model.
- if you have a Qualcomm NPU, it will download the NPU-optimized model.
- if you don't have a GPU or NPU, Foundry local will download the CPU-optimized model.
You can list all available models by running the following command:
foundry model lsThis will show you a list of all models that can be run locally, including their names, sizes, and other details.
Foundry Local has an easy-to-use SDK (Python, JavaScript) to get you started with existing applications:
The Python SDK is available as a package on PyPI. You can install it using pip:
pip install foundry-local-sdk
pip install openaiTip
We recommend using a virtual environment such as conda or venv to avoid conflicts with other packages.
Foundry Local provides an OpenAI-compatible API that you can call from any application:
import openai
from foundry_local import FoundryLocalManager
# By using an alias, the most suitable model will be downloaded
# to your end-user's device.
alias = "phi-3.5-mini"
# Create a FoundryLocalManager instance. This will start the Foundry
# Local service if it is not already running and load the specified model.
manager = FoundryLocalManager(alias)
# The remaining code us es the OpenAI Python SDK to interact with the local model.
# Configure the client to use the local Foundry service
client = openai.OpenAI(
base_url=manager.endpoint,
api_key=manager.api_key # API key is not required for local usage
)
# Set the model to use and generate a streaming response
stream = client.chat.completions.create(
model=manager.get_model_info(alias).id,
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "What is the golden ratio?"}],
stream=True
)
# Print the streaming response
for chunk in stream:
if chunk.choices[0].delta.content is not None:
print(chunk.choices[0].delta.content, end="", flush=True)The JavaScript SDK is available as a package on npm. You can install it using npm:
npm install foundry-local-sdk
npm install openaiimport { OpenAI } from "openai";
import { FoundryLocalManager } from "foundry-local-sdk";
// By using an alias, the most suitable model will be downloaded
// to your end-user's device.
// TIP: You can find a list of available models by running the
// following command in your terminal: `foundry model list`.
const alias = "phi-3.5-mini";
// Create a FoundryLocalManager instance. This will start the Foundry
// Local service if it is not already running.
const foundryLocalManager = new FoundryLocalManager()
// Initialize the manager with a model. This will download the model
// if it is not already present on the user's device.
const modelInfo = await foundryLocalManager.init(alias)
console.log("Model Info:", modelInfo)
const openai = new OpenAI({
baseURL: foundryLocalManager.endpoint,
apiKey: foundryLocalManager.apiKey,
});
async function streamCompletion() {
const stream = await openai.chat.completions.create({
model: modelInfo.id,
messages: [{ role: "user", content: "What is the golden ratio?" }],
stream: true,
});
for await (const chunk of stream) {
if (chunk.choices[0]?.delta?.content) {
process.stdout.write(chunk.choices[0].delta.content);
}
}
}
streamCompletion();Install Foundry Local using winget install Microsoft.FoundryLocal in a Windows console (PowerShell, cmd, etc.)
You can also manually download and install the packages. On the releases page
select a release and expand the Artifacts list. Copy the artifact full URI (like https://github.com/microsoft/Foundry-Local/releases/download/v0.3.9267/FoundryLocal-x64-0.3.9267.43123.msix)
to use in the below PowerShell steps. (Replace x64 with arm64 as needed.)
# Download the package and its dependency
$releaseUri = "https://github.com/microsoft/Foundry-Local/releases/download/v0.3.9267/FoundryLocal-x64-0.3.9267.43123.msix"
Invoke-WebRequest -Method Get -Uri $releaseUri -OutFile .\FoundryLocal.msix
$crtUri = "https://aka.ms/Microsoft.VCLibs.x64.14.00.Desktop.appx"
Invoke-WebRequest -Method Get -Uri $crtUri -OutFile .\VcLibs.appx
# Install the Foundry Local package
Add-AppxPackage .\FoundryLocal.msix -DependencyPath .\VcLibs.appxIf you're having problems installing Foundry, please file an issue and include logs using one of these methods:
- For WinGet - use
winget install Microsoft.FoundryLocal --logs --verbose- select the most-recently-dated log file and attach it to the issue. - For
Add-AppxPackage- immediately after it indicates an error, in an elevated PowerShell instance, useGet-MsixLogs | Out-File MsixLogs.txtand attach it to the issue. - Use Windows Feedback Hub and create a Problem in the "Apps > All other apps" category. Use the "Add More Details > Recreate my problem" and re-run the failing commands to collect more data. Once your feedback is submitted, use the "Share" option to generate a link and put that into the filed issue.
Note
Log files may contain information like user names, IP addresses, file paths, etc. Be sure to remove those before sharing here.
- On-device inference - Process sensitive data locally for privacy, reduced latency, and no cloud costs
- OpenAI-compatible API - Seamlessly integrate with applications using familiar SDKs
- High performance - Optimized execution with ONNX Runtime and hardware acceleration
- Flexible deployment - Ideal for edge computing scenarios with limited connectivity
- Development friendly - Perfect for prototyping AI features before production deployment
- Model versatility - Use pre-compiled models or convert your own.
We're actively looking for feedback during this preview phase. Please report issues or suggest improvements in the GitHub Issues section.
Foundry Local is licensed under the Microsoft Software License Terms. For more details, read the LICENSE file.