studiolink 0.1.0

Sync Ollama-downloaded GGUF models into LM Studio.

StudioLink

Sync Ollama-downloaded GGUF models into LM Studio.

StudioLink is a Python CLI tool that bridges Ollama and LM Studio. It treats Ollama as the source of truth, discovers GGUF-backed models from Ollama manifests, and imports them into LM Studio via the lms CLI—using hard links by default to save disk space.

Features

• 🔍 Scan - Discover all GGUF models available in your Ollama library
• 🔄 Sync - Import models into LM Studio with one command
• 📊 Status - Track which models are synced and their current state
• 🩺 Doctor - Verify prerequisites and diagnose issues
• 🔗 Smart linking - Uses hard links by default, falls back to copy when needed
• 💾 State tracking - Remembers what's been synced to avoid re-importing

Prerequisites

Before using StudioLink, ensure you have:

1. Ollama installed and available at ~/.ollama/models/
2. LM Studio with the lms CLI installed at ~/.lmstudio/bin/lms.exe
3. Python 3.12+

Installation

PyPI install coming soon! For now, install from source:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/MananJK/StudioLink.git
cd StudioLink

# Install in editable mode
pip install -e .

Quick Start

# Scan for available models
sdl scan

# Import a specific model
sdl sync <modelname>

# Import all discovered models
sdl sync --all

# Check sync status
sdl status

# Verify everything is set up correctly
sdl doctor

Commands

sdl scan

Discover all GGUF-backed Ollama models available for import.

# Basic scan
sdl scan

# Output as JSON
sdl scan --json

# Verbose output (debug logging)
sdl -v scan

Output:

Discovered 3 model(s):
- <modelname> [ready]
  blob: C:\Users\...\ollama\models\blobs\sha256-...
- <modelname2> [stale]
  blob: C:\Users\...\ollama\models\blobs\sha256-...
  issues: model blob is missing from the Ollama blob store

sdl sync

Import one or more models into LM Studio.

# Import specific model(s)
sdl sync <modelname>
sdl sync <model1> <model2> <model3>

# Import all discovered models
sdl sync --all

# Preview without making changes (dry run)
sdl sync <modelname> --dry-run

# Use a specific link mode
sdl sync <modelname> --hard-link
sdl sync <modelname> --copy
sdl sync <modelname> --symbolic-link

# Verbose output
sdl -v sync --all

Options:

• --all - Sync every discovered model
• --dry-run - Preview the import without making changes
• --copy - Use copy mode instead of hard links
• --hard-link - Force hard link mode (default)
• --symbolic-link - Use symbolic links

sdl status

Show discovered models and their sync state.

sdl status
sdl status --json
sdl -v status

Output:

Discovered 3 model(s); 1 tracked as synced.
- <modelname>: synced
  imported: 2026-04-12T10:30:00+00:00
- <modelname2>: stale
  issues: model blob is missing from the Ollama blob store
- <modelname3>: pending

sdl doctor

Check local StudioLink prerequisites and diagnose issues.

sdl doctor
sdl doctor --json

Checks include:

• Ollama executable exists
• LM Studio CLI (lms) exists
• Ollama manifests and blobs directories exist
• LM Studio models directory exists
• Hard-link volume compatibility (same drive)
• Discovered Ollama models
• Blob presence validation
• GGUF header validation

sdl help

Show all available commands and their descriptions.

sdl help

Global Options

All commands support these global options:

• -v, --verbose - Enable verbose output (debug logging)
• --version - Show version information
• --help - Show help for the specific command

# Examples
sdl -v scan              # Scan with debug logging
sdl sync --help          # Show help for sync command
sdl --version            # Show version

Model Readiness States

When scanning or checking status, models can have these states:

State	Description	Action Required
ready	Model blob exists and has valid GGUF header	Ready to sync
stale	Manifest exists but blob is missing	Run ollama pull <model> to restore
invalid	Blob exists but missing GGUF magic bytes	Model may be corrupted
synced	Already imported into LM Studio	No action needed
pending	Ready but not yet synced	Run sdl sync

Configuration

StudioLink uses the following default paths (Windows):

Setting	Default Path	Environment Variable
Ollama executable	~\AppData\Local\Programs\Ollama\ollama.exe	STUDIOLINK_OLLAMA_EXE
LM Studio CLI	~\.lmstudio\bin\lms.exe	STUDIOLINK_LMS_EXE
Ollama models	~\.ollama\models	STUDIOLINK_OLLAMA_MODELS_DIR
LM Studio models	~\.lmstudio\models	STUDIOLINK_LMSTUDIO_MODELS_DIR
State directory	~\.sdl	STUDIOLINK_STATE_DIR

How It Works

1. Scanning - Reads Ollama manifest files from ~/.ollama/models/manifests/ to discover models
2. Blob Resolution - Locates GGUF blobs in ~/.ollama/models/blobs/ by digest
3. Validation - Verifies blobs start with GGUF magic bytes
4. Import Aliases - Creates human-readable .gguf aliases in ~/.sdl/imports/
5. LM Studio Import - Uses lms import CLI to import models
6. State Tracking - Saves sync records to ~/.sdl/state.json

Troubleshooting

"model blob is missing from the Ollama blob store"

The model manifest exists but the actual blob file has been deleted or purged by Ollama. Re-download it:

ollama pull <model-name>

Hard link fails (cross-volume)

StudioLink automatically falls back to copy mode if hard links fail (e.g., Ollama and StudioLink state are on different drives). Use --verbose to see the fallback in action.

LM Studio import fails

Run sdl doctor to verify:

• LM Studio is installed
• lms CLI is in PATH
• Import directories are writable

Design Notes

• Ollama as source of truth - StudioLink never modifies Ollama's model store
• Hard links by default - Space-efficient, creates references rather than copies
• Cross-volume fallback - Automatically copies when hard links aren't possible
• State persistence - Tracks imports to avoid redundant operations
• CLI-only - No GUI, designed for automation and scripting

License

MIT License - See LICENSE for details.