Local AI Chat App

A full-stack application that uses a React frontend and an Express.js backend to interact with a local language model, DeepSeek-R1:1.5b, running through Ollama. This setup keeps your data private and eliminates API costs.

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Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have the following installed on your machine:

• Node.js & npm: https://nodejs.org/
• Ollama: Download and install Ollama for your operating system from the official website: https://ollama.com/.

After installing Ollama, you must download the specific model used by this application. Open your terminal or command prompt and run the following command to pull the DeepSeek-R1:1.5b model:

ollama pull deepseek-r1:1.5b

This command downloads the model to your local machine, allowing the backend to access it.

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Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone <repository_url>
   cd <repository_name>

2. Install dependencies: The project is split into a client (React) and a server (Express) directory.

• Navigate to the client directory and install dependencies:

  cd frontend
  npm install

• Navigate back to the root directory and then into the server directory to install backend dependencies:

  cd ..
  cd backend
  npm install

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Running the App

The application requires two separate processes to run simultaneously: one for the backend and one for the frontend.

1. Start the Ollama server: Before running the app, ensure the Ollama server is running in the background. If you're on a headless Linux server, you'll need to run this command. If you're using the Ollama desktop app, it should be running automatically.

   ollama serve

   This command starts the local API server that your Express backend will communicate with. It runs on http://localhost:11434.

2. Start the backend (Express.js):

• Open a new terminal window.
• Navigate to the backend directory.
• Run the server:

  npm start

The server will run on http://localhost:3001 (or the port specified in your configuration).

3. Start the frontend (React):

• Open another new terminal window.

• Navigate to the frontend directory.

• Run the frontend:

  npm start

  This will open the application in your web browser at http://localhost:3000. If it doesn't open automatically, navigate there manually.

You can now interact with the local AI model through the web interface.