Install and Use NVIDIA PAIR

Basic idea

NVIDIA Personal AI Router (PAIR) connects computers on your local network and presents Ollama-compatible and OpenAI-compatible proxy endpoints to applications and agents. It automatically routes each independent AI inference request to an eligible computer according to engine availability, model availability, and current workload. Run PAIR on one computer for local inference, or run it on several computers to handle more requests.

PAIR is useful for workloads such as multi-agent applications that make several requests at once. PAIR is designed to keep prompts and responses on your local network when the application, model source, engine, and paired computers are all local.

What you'll accomplish

You'll install PAIR, prepare an engine and model, and send a test request through PAIR's local endpoint.

You can also pair trusted systems and route independent requests to systems that have the requested model.

What to know before starting

Required:

• One compatible system on which to install PAIR.
• Ollama or LM Studio, plus a model, on at least one system that will serve requests.
• A trusted local network when you pair systems. The six-digit PIN is a short-lived setup code, not a long-term credential.

Optional:

• Two or more systems to route requests across a local cluster.
• A graphical desktop. Use the terminal interface on a headless system or over SSH.

Use one PAIR interface at a time. Do not run the desktop application and the terminal interface on the same system. They start competing services and can conflict over ports, engines, and settings.

PAIR accepts requests only from the local system. Install PAIR on the system where your application runs. That system can use an engine on another cluster node, so it does not need its own GPU or inference engine.

Read the PAIR security policy before you use PAIR on a shared or untrusted network.

Supported hardware platforms

Use the matrix below to confirm your hardware platform, operating system, memory, and whether you can use it in a PAIR cluster.

NVIDIA RTX Spark, DGX Spark, GeForce RTX, and RTX PRO are the hardware platforms covered by this playbook. GeForce RTX requires a 20 Series or newer GPU, and RTX PRO requires a Turing or newer GPU. PAIR can also pair compatible systems that run the supported operating systems below.

Check the PAIR releases page for a package for your operating system and architecture.

Prerequisites

Hardware requirements

• One compatible system for local inference.
• Two or more compatible systems on the same trusted local network for cluster routing.

Software requirements

• The appropriate PAIR package on each participating system.
• Ollama, LM Studio, or both, running on each system that will serve requests.
• A model downloaded on at least one system that will serve requests.

PAIR can run on a supported system even when an engine cannot. Each engine has its own requirements for the operating system, GPU, and drivers. Each model also needs enough memory to load. Check the engine documentation before you expect a system to serve a model.

Ancillary files

No extra files are required.

Time & risk

• Estimated time: About 10 minutes, plus engine and model download time.
• Risk level: Low to medium. PAIR installs software, downloads models, and enables communication between trusted local systems.
• Rollback: Remove paired systems, uninstall PAIR, and remove engines or models you no longer need.
• Last updated: 08/17/2026.

For a graphical setup, open Set Up the PAIR App. For a headless or SSH setup, open Set up PAIR with Terminal.