Ollama

Ollama is experimental. Review quality is significantly lower than Claude or GPT-4o. Use only if your environment cannot make external API calls.

Ollama lets you run open-source models locally. This provider is designed for air-gapped environments where no external API access is possible.

When to use Ollama

Your network has no outbound internet access
Security policy prohibits sending code to external LLM APIs
You want to evaluate MergeWatch without any API keys

Configuration

Set these environment variables in your .env file or container environment:

Variable	Required	Value
`LLM_PROVIDER`	Yes	`ollama`
`LLM_MODEL`	Yes	Ollama model tag (e.g., `qwen2.5-coder:7b`, `llama3`). The Ollama provider has no built-in default — you must pick a model that you’ve pulled into the Ollama server.
`OLLAMA_BASE_URL`	No	Ollama API endpoint (default: `http://localhost:11434`)

Picking a model

You must set LLM_MODEL to a model tag that you’ve pulled into your Ollama server. There is no built-in default. Suggested starting points:

Model	Best for	Approx VRAM
`qwen2.5-coder:7b`	Code-focused reviews on an 8 GB GPU	~6–8 GB
`qwen2.5-coder:14b`	Better review quality if you have 16 GB VRAM	~12–16 GB
`llama3`	General-purpose baseline for quick smoke tests	~4–8 GB

Setup

Pull the model before starting MergeWatch — MergeWatch will not pull it for you:

ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:7b

Verify the model is available:

ollama list

Docker Compose setup

Run Ollama as a sidecar alongside MergeWatch:

docker-compose.yml

services:
  mergewatch:
    image: ghcr.io/mergewatch/mergewatch:latest
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"
    env_file: .env
    environment:
      LLM_PROVIDER: ollama
      LLM_MODEL: qwen2.5-coder:7b
      OLLAMA_BASE_URL: http://ollama:11434
    depends_on:
      - ollama

  ollama:
    image: ollama/ollama:latest
    ports:
      - "11434:11434"
    volumes:
      - ollama-data:/root/.ollama
    deploy:
      resources:
        reservations:
          devices:
            - driver: nvidia
              count: 1
              capabilities: [gpu]

volumes:
  ollama-data:

After starting the stack for the first time, exec into the Ollama container to pull the model:

docker compose exec ollama ollama pull qwen2.5-coder:7b

Hardware requirements

Component	Minimum	Recommended
GPU VRAM	8 GB	16 GB
System RAM	16 GB	32 GB
Disk	10 GB free	20 GB free

Larger models like qwen2.5-coder:14b produce better reviews but require 16 GB VRAM. If you have the hardware, set LLM_MODEL=qwen2.5-coder:14b for improved quality.

Next steps

Air-gapped deployment

Full guide for deploying MergeWatch without internet access.

Anthropic (direct)

The recommended provider for the best review quality.

Configure review behavior

Tune sensitivity, ignored paths, and review focus areas.

Environment variables

Full list of supported environment variables.

Overview

Self-Hosting

LLM Providers

Platform Guides

Configuration

GitHub App

Deployment

Dashboard

Managed SaaS

Reference

When to use Ollama

Configuration

Picking a model

Setup

Docker Compose setup

Hardware requirements

Next steps

Air-gapped deployment

Anthropic (direct)

Configure review behavior

Environment variables

​When to use Ollama

​Configuration

​Picking a model

​Setup

​Docker Compose setup

​Hardware requirements

​Next steps

Air-gapped deployment

Anthropic (direct)

Configure review behavior

Environment variables

When to use Ollama

Configuration

Picking a model

Setup

Docker Compose setup

Hardware requirements

Next steps