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Synopsis

ramalama chat [options] [arg…] positional arguments: ARGS overrides the default prompt, and the output is returned without entering the chatbot

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Description

Chat with an OpenAI Rest API

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Options

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—api-key

OpenAI-compatible API key. Can also be set via the RAMALAMA_API_KEY environment variable.

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—color

Indicate whether or not to use color in the chat. Possible values are “never”, “always” and “auto”. (default: auto)

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—help, -h

Show this help message and exit

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—list

List the available models at an endpoint

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—mcp=SERVER_URL

MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers to use for enhanced tool calling capabilities. Can be specified multiple times to connect to multiple MCP servers. Each server provides tools that can be automatically invoked during chat conversations.

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—model=MODEL

Model for inferencing (may not be required for endpoints that only serve one model)

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—prefix

Prefix for the user prompt (default: 🦭 > )

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—rag=path

A file or directory of files to be loaded and provided as local context in the chat history.

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—url=URL

The host to send requests to (default: http://127.0.0.1:8080)

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Examples

Communicate with the default local OpenAI REST API. (http://127.0.0.1:8080) With Podman containers. 
$ ramalama chat
🦭 >

Communicate with an alternative OpenAI REST API URL. With Docker containers.
$ ramalama chat --url http://localhost:1234
🐋 >

Send multiple lines at once
$ ramalama chat
🦭 > Hi \
🦭 > tell me a funny story \
🦭 > please

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See Also

ramalama(1)
Jun 2025, Originally compiled by Dan Walsh <dwalsh@redhat.com>