Set Up Claude Code with Local Inference

Symptom	Cause	Fix
`ollama: command not found`	Ollama not installed or PATH not updated	Rerun `curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh \| sh` and open a new shell
`ollama launch` reports unknown command	`ollama launch` not available in this install	Install or reinstall Ollama from ollama.com/download: `curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh \| sh`
Model load fails with version error	Installed Ollama does not accept the recommended model tag	Install or reinstall Ollama from ollama.com/download: `curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh \| sh`
`model not found` in Claude Code	Model was not pulled	Run `ollama pull qwen3.6:27b` and retry with `ollama launch claude --model qwen3.6:27b`
`connection refused` to localhost:11434	Ollama service not running	Start with `ollama serve` or `sudo systemctl start ollama`
Sharded GGUF model pull fails with HTTP 400	The selected model tag is not supported by Ollama	Use the documented `qwen3.6:27b` model instead: `ollama pull qwen3.6:27b`
`CUDA error: context is destroyed` on a multi-GPU system	Ollama is initializing across a mixed-GPU topology	Pin Ollama to one GPU. For a foreground test, run `CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=0 ollama serve`; for a system service, add `Environment="CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=0"` (or another GPU index) to an Ollama systemd drop-in and restart Ollama
Claude Code edit task fails through a direct Ollama endpoint	Direct endpoint wiring can fail with some Ollama/model combinations	Launch Claude Code through Ollama instead: `ollama launch claude --model qwen3.6:27b`
`externally-managed-environment` or Python package install fails	System Python blocks direct package installs	Create and activate a virtual environment, then install pytest inside it: `python3 -m venv .venv`, `source .venv/bin/activate`, `python3 -m pip install -U pytest`
Slow responses or OOM	Insufficient GPU memory or fragmentation	Ensure no other heavy GPU workloads. If OOM persists, unload other models or set `OLLAMA_MAX_LOADED_MODELS=1`
`claude: command not found` after install	CLI not on PATH or install script did not complete	Restart the terminal or run `source ~/.bashrc` (or your shell profile). Check the install script output for the install path and add it to PATH
Claude Code install fails (Node.js / network)	Node.js missing or install script cannot download	Ensure Node.js is installed (`node --version`). Run the installer with Bash: `curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh \| bash`. If the install script fails with a network error, retry from a stable connection. See Claude Code documentation for alternatives

NOTE

The recommended qwen3.6:27b workflow fits the Supported hardware platforms matrix defaults. Use OLLAMA_MAX_LOADED_MODELS=1 if you hit memory limits with multiple models.

For latest known issues, see the documentation linked under Resources for your hardware platform.