Vessel

Vessel

A modern, feature-rich web interface for local LLMs

Features • Quick Start • Documentation • Contributing

SvelteKit 5 Go 1.24 Docker License GPL-3.0

--- ## Why Vessel **Vessel** is intentionally focused on: - A clean, local-first UI for **local LLMs** - **Multiple backends**: Ollama, llama.cpp, LM Studio - Minimal configuration - Low visual and cognitive overhead - Doing a small set of things well If you want a **universal, highly configurable platform** → [open-webui](https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui) is a great choice. If you want a **small, focused UI for local LLM usage** → Vessel is built for that. --- ## Features ### Chat - Real-time streaming responses with token metrics - **Message branching** — edit any message to create alternative conversation paths - Markdown rendering with syntax highlighting - **Thinking mode** — native support for reasoning models (DeepSeek-R1, etc.) - Dark/Light themes ### Projects & Organization - **Projects** — group related conversations together - Pin and archive conversations - Smart title generation from conversation content - **Global search** — semantic, title, and content search across all chats ### Knowledge Base (RAG) - Upload documents (text, markdown, PDF) to build a knowledge base - **Semantic search** using embeddings for context-aware retrieval - Project-specific or global knowledge bases - Automatic context injection into conversations ### Tools - **5 built-in tools**: web search, URL fetching, calculator, location, time - **Custom tools**: Create your own in JavaScript, Python, or HTTP - Agentic tool calling with chain-of-thought reasoning - Test tools before saving with the built-in testing panel ### LLM Backends - **Ollama** — Full model management, pull/delete/create custom models - **llama.cpp** — High-performance inference with GGUF models - **LM Studio** — Desktop app integration - Switch backends without restart, auto-detection of available backends ### Models (Ollama) - Browse and pull models from ollama.com - Create custom models with embedded system prompts - **Per-model parameters** — customize temperature, context size, top_k/top_p - Track model updates and capability detection (vision, tools, code) ### Prompts - Save and organize system prompts - Assign default prompts to specific models - Capability-based auto-selection (vision, code, tools, thinking) 📖 **[Full documentation on the Wiki →](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki)** --- ## Screenshots
Chat Interface
Clean chat interface 		Code Generation
Syntax-highlighted code
Web Search
Integrated web search 		Model Browser
Model browser
--- ## Quick Start ### Prerequisites - [Docker](https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/) and Docker Compose - An LLM backend (at least one): - [Ollama](https://ollama.com/download) (recommended) - [llama.cpp](https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp) - [LM Studio](https://lmstudio.ai/) ### Configure Ollama Ollama must listen on all interfaces for Docker to connect: ```bash # Option A: systemd (Linux) sudo systemctl edit ollama # Add: Environment="OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0" sudo systemctl restart ollama # Option B: Manual OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0 ollama serve ``` ### Install ```bash # One-line install curl -fsSL https://somegit.dev/vikingowl/vessel/raw/main/install.sh | bash # Or clone and run git clone https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel.git cd vessel ./install.sh ``` Open **http://localhost:7842** in your browser. ### Update / Uninstall ```bash ./install.sh --update # Update to latest ./install.sh --uninstall # Remove ``` 📖 **[Detailed installation guide →](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Getting-Started)** --- ## Documentation Full documentation is available on the **[GitHub Wiki](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki)**: | Guide | Description | |-------|-------------| | [Getting Started](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Getting-Started) | Installation and configuration | | [LLM Backends](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/LLM-Backends) | Configure Ollama, llama.cpp, or LM Studio | | [Projects](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Projects) | Organize conversations into projects | | [Knowledge Base](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Knowledge-Base) | RAG with document upload and semantic search | | [Search](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Search) | Semantic and content search across chats | | [Custom Tools](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Custom-Tools) | Create JavaScript, Python, or HTTP tools | | [System Prompts](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/System-Prompts) | Manage prompts with model defaults | | [Custom Models](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Custom-Models) | Create models with embedded prompts | | [Built-in Tools](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Built-in-Tools) | Reference for web search, calculator, etc. | | [API Reference](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/API-Reference) | Backend endpoints | | [Development](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Development) | Contributing and architecture | | [Troubleshooting](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Troubleshooting) | Common issues and solutions | --- ## Roadmap Vessel prioritizes **usability and simplicity** over feature breadth. **Completed:** - [x] Multi-backend support (Ollama, llama.cpp, LM Studio) - [x] Model browser with filtering and update detection - [x] Custom tools (JavaScript, Python, HTTP) - [x] System prompt library with model-specific defaults - [x] Custom model creation with embedded prompts - [x] Projects for conversation organization - [x] Knowledge base with RAG (semantic retrieval) - [x] Global search (semantic, title, content) - [x] Thinking mode for reasoning models - [x] Message branching and conversation trees **Planned:** - [ ] Keyboard-first workflows - [ ] UX polish and stability improvements - [ ] Optional voice input/output **Non-Goals:** - Multi-user systems - Cloud sync - Plugin ecosystems - Cloud/API-based LLM providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) > *Do one thing well. Keep the UI out of the way.* --- ## Contributing Contributions are welcome! 1. Fork the repository 2. Create your feature branch (`git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature`) 3. Commit your changes 4. Push and open a Pull Request 📖 **[Development guide →](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/wiki/Development)** **Issues:** [github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/issues](https://github.com/VikingOwl91/vessel/issues) --- ## License GPL-3.0 — See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for details.

Made with Svelte • Supports Ollama, llama.cpp, and LM Studio