Ollama-Buddy 0.9.8: Transient Menu, Model Managing, GGUF Import, fabric Prompts and History Editing

Wed, Mar 19, 2025

This week in ollama-buddy updates, I have been continuing on the busy bee side of things.

The headlines are :

Transient menu - yes, I know I said I would never do it, but, well I did and as it turns out I kinda quite like it and works especially well when setting parameters.
Support for fabric prompts presets - mainly as I thought generally user curated prompts was a pretty cool idea, and now I have system prompts implemented it seemed like a perfect fit. All I needed to do was to pull the patterns directory and then parse accordingly, of course Emacs is good at this.
GGUF import - I don’t always pull from ollama’s command line, sometimes I download a GGUF file, it is a bit of a process to import to ollama, create a model file, run a command, e.t.c, but now you can import from within dired!
More support for the ollama API - includes model management, so pulling, stopping, deleting and more!
Conversation history editing - as I store the history in a hash table, I can easily just display an alist, and editing can leverage the sexp usual keybindings and then load back in to the variable.
Parameter profiles - When implementing the transient menu I thought it might be fun to try parameter profiles where a set of parameters can be applied in a block for each preset.

And now for the detail, version by version…

<2025-03-19 Wed> 0.9.8

Added model management interface to pull and delete models

Introduced `ollama-buddy-manage-models` to list and manage models.
Added actions for selecting, pulling, stopping, and deleting models.

You can now manage your Ollama models directly within Emacs with ollama-buddy

With this update, you can now:

Browse Available Models – See all installed models at a glance.
Select Models Easily – Set your active AI model with a single click.
Pull Models from Ollama Hub – Download new models or update existing ones.
Stop Running Models – Halt background processes when necessary.
Delete Unused Models – Clean up your workspace with ease.
Open the Model Management Interface Press C-c W to launch the new Model Management buffer or through the transient menu.
Manage Your Models
- Click on a model to select it.
- Use “Pull” to fetch models from the Ollama Hub.
- Click “Stop” to halt active models.
- Use “Delete” to remove unwanted models.
Perform Quick Actions
- g → Refresh the model list.
- i → Import a GGUF model file.
- p → Pull a new model from the Ollama Hub.

When you open the management interface, you get a structured list like this:

Ollama Models Management
=======================

Current Model: mistral:7b
Default Model: mistral:7b

Available Models:
  [ ] llama3.2:1b  Info  Pull  Delete
  [ ] starcoder2:3b  Info  Pull  Delete
  [ ] codellama:7b  Info  Pull  Delete
  [ ] phi3:3.8b  Info  Pull  Delete
  [x] llama3.2:3b  Info  Pull  Delete Stop

Actions:
[Import GGUF File]  [Refresh List]  [Pull Model from Hub]

Previously, managing Ollama models required manually running shell commands. With this update, you can now do it all from Emacs, keeping your workflow smooth and efficient!

<2025-03-19 Wed> 0.9.7

Added GGUF file import and Dired integration

Import GGUF Models into Ollama from dired with the new ollama-buddy-import-gguf-file function. In dired just navigate to your file and press C-c i or M-x ollama-buddy-import-gguf-file to start the import process. This eliminates the need to manually input file paths, making the workflow smoother and faster.

The model will then be immediately available in the ollama-buddy chat interface.

<2025-03-18 Tue> 0.9.6

Added a transient menu containing all commands currently presented in the chat buffer
Added fabric prompting support, see https://github.com/danielmiessler/fabric
Moved the presets to the top level so they will be present in the package folder

Ollama Buddy now includes a transient-based menu system to improve usability and streamline interactions. Yes, I originally stated that I would never do it, but I think it compliments my crafted simple textual menu and the fact that I have now defaulted the main chat interface to a simple menu.

This can give the user more options for configuration, they can use the chat in advanced mode where the keybindings are presented in situ, or a more minimal basic setup where the transient menu can be activated. For my use-package definition I current have the following set up, with the two styles of menus sitting alongside each other :

  :bind
  ("C-c o" . ollama-buddy-menu)
  ("C-c O" . ollama-buddy-transient-menu)

The new menu provides an organized interface for accessing the assistant’s core functions, including chat, model management, roles, and Fabric patterns. This post provides an overview of the features available in the Ollama Buddy transient menus.

Yes that’s right also fabric patterns!, I have decided to add in auto syncing of the patterns directory in https://github.com/danielmiessler/fabric

Simply I pull the patterns directory which contain prompt guidance for a range of different topics and then push them through a completing read to set the ollama-buddy system prompt, so a special set of curated prompts can now be applied right in the ollama-buddy chat!

Anyways, here is a description of the transient menu system.

The transient menu in Ollama Buddy leverages Emacs’ transient.el package (the same technology behind Magit’s popular interface) to create a hierarchical, discoverable menu system. This approach transforms the user experience from memorizing numerous keybindings to navigating through logical groups of commands with clear descriptions.

The main transient menu can be accessed with the keybinding C-c O when in an Ollama Buddy chat buffer. You can also call it via M-x ollama-buddy-transient-menu from anywhere in Emacs.

When called, the main transient menu appears at the bottom of your Emacs frame, organized into logical sections with descriptive prefixes. Here’s what you’ll see:

|o(Y)o| Ollama Buddy
[Chat]             [Prompts]            [Model]               [Roles & Patterns]
o  Open Chat       l  Send Region       m  Switch Model       R  Switch Roles
O  Commands        s  Set System Prompt v  View Model Status  E  Create New Role
RET Send Prompt    C-s Show System      i  Show Model Info    D  Open Roles Directory
h  Help/Menu       r  Reset System      M  Multishot          f  Fabric Patterns
k  Kill/Cancel     b  Ollama Buddy Menu

[Display Options]          [History]              [Sessions]             [Parameters]
A  Toggle Interface Level  H  Toggle History      N  New Session         P  Edit Parameter
B  Toggle Debug Mode       X  Clear History       L  Load Session        G  Display Parameters
T  Toggle Token Display    V  Display History     S  Save Session        I  Parameter Help
U  Display Token Stats     J  Edit History        Q  List Sessions       K  Reset Parameters
C-o Toggle Markdown->Org                          Z  Delete Session      F  Toggle Params in Header
c  Toggle Model Colors                                                   p  Parameter Profiles
g  Token Usage Graph

This visual layout makes it easy to discover and access the full range of Ollama Buddy’s functionality. Let’s explore each section in detail.

Chat Section

This section contains the core interaction commands:

Open Chat (o): Opens the Ollama Buddy chat buffer
Commands (O): Opens a submenu with specialized commands
Send Prompt (RET): Sends the current prompt to the model
Help/Menu (h): Displays the help assistant with usage tips
Kill/Cancel Request (k): Cancels the current ongoing request

Prompts Section

These commands help you manage and send prompts:

Send Region (l): Sends the selected region as a prompt
Set System Prompt (s): Sets the current prompt as a system prompt
Show System Prompt (C-s): Displays the current system prompt
Reset System Prompt (r): Resets the system prompt to default
Ollama Buddy Menu (b): Opens the classic menu interface

Model Section

Commands for model management:

Switch Model (m): Changes the active LLM
View Model Status (v): Shows status of all available models
Show Model Info (i): Displays detailed information about the current model
Multishot (M): Sends the same prompt to multiple models

Roles & Patterns Section

These commands help manage roles and use fabric patterns:

Switch Roles (R): Switch to a different predefined role
Create New Role (E): Create a new role interactively
Open Roles Directory (D): Open the directory containing role definitions
Fabric Patterns (f): Opens the submenu for Fabric patterns

When you select the Fabric Patterns option, you’ll see a submenu like this:

Fabric Patterns (42 available, last synced: 2025-03-18 14:30)
[Actions]             [Sync]              [Categories]          [Navigation]
s  Send with Pattern  S  Sync Latest      u  Universal Patterns q  Back to Main Menu
p  Set as System      P  Populate Cache   c  Code Patterns
l  List All Patterns  I  Initial Setup    w  Writing Patterns
v  View Pattern Details                   a  Analysis Patterns

Display Options Section

Commands to customize the display:

Toggle Interface Level (A): Switch between basic and advanced interfaces
Toggle Debug Mode (B): Enable/disable JSON debug information
Toggle Token Display (T): Show/hide token usage statistics
Display Token Stats (U): Show detailed token usage information
Toggle Markdown->Org (C-o): Enable/disable conversion to Org format
Toggle Model Colors (c): Enable/disable model-specific colors
Token Usage Graph (g): Display a visual graph of token usage

History Section

Commands for managing conversation history:

Toggle History (H): Enable/disable conversation history
Clear History (X): Clear the current history
Display History (V): Show the conversation history
Edit History (J): Edit the history in a buffer

Sessions Section

Commands for session management:

New Session (N): Start a new session
Load Session (L): Load a saved session
Save Session (S): Save the current session
List Sessions (Q): List all available sessions
Delete Session (Z): Delete a saved session

Parameters Section

Commands for managing model parameters:

Edit Parameter (P): Opens a submenu to edit specific parameters
Display Parameters (G): Show current parameter settings
Parameter Help (I): Display help information about parameters
Reset Parameters (K): Reset parameters to defaults
Toggle Params in Header (F): Show/hide parameters in header
Parameter Profiles (p): Opens the parameter profiles submenu

When you select the Edit Parameter option, you’ll see a comprehensive submenu of all available parameters:

Parameters
[Generation]                [More Generation]          [Mirostat]
t  Temperature              f  Frequency Penalty       M  Mirostat Mode
k  Top K                    s  Presence Penalty        T  Mirostat Tau
p  Top P                    n  Repeat Last N           E  Mirostat Eta
m  Min P                    x  Stop Sequences
y  Typical P                l  Penalize Newline
r  Repeat Penalty

[Resource]                  [More Resource]            [Memory]
c  Num Ctx                  P  Num Predict             m  Use MMAP
b  Num Batch                S  Seed                    L  Use MLOCK
g  Num GPU                  N  NUMA                    C  Num Thread
G  Main GPU                 V  Low VRAM
K  Num Keep                 o  Vocab Only

[Profiles]                  [Actions]
d  Default Profile          D  Display All
a  Creative Profile         R  Reset All
e  Precise Profile          H  Help
A  All Profiles             F  Toggle Display in Header
                            q  Back to Main Menu

Parameter Profiles

Ollama Buddy includes predefined parameter profiles that can be applied with a single command. When you select “Parameter Profiles” from the main menu, you’ll see:

Parameter Profiles
Current modified parameters: temperature, top_k, top_p
[Available Profiles]
d  Default
c  Creative
p  Precise

[Actions]
q  Back to Main Menu

Commands Submenu

The Commands submenu provides quick access to specialized operations:

Ollama Buddy Commands
[Code Operations]       [Language Operations]    [Pattern-based]         [Custom]
r  Refactor Code        l  Dictionary Lookup     f  Fabric Patterns      C  Custom Prompt
d  Describe Code        s  Synonym Lookup        u  Universal Patterns   m  Minibuffer Prompt
g  Git Commit Message   p  Proofread Text        c  Code Patterns

[Actions]
q  Back to Main Menu

Direct Keybindings

For experienced users who prefer direct keybindings, all transient menu functions can also be accessed through keybindings with the prefix of your choice (or C-c O when in the chat minibuffer) followed by the key shown in the menu. For example:

C-c O s - Set system prompt
C-c O m - Switch model
C-c O P - Open parameter menu

Customization

The transient menu can be customized by modifying the transient-define-prefix definitions in the package. You can add, remove, or rearrange commands to suit your workflow.

<2025-03-17 Mon> 0.9.5

Added conversation history editing

Added functions to edit conversation history (ollama-buddy-history-edit, ollama-buddy-history-save, etc.).
Updated ollama-buddy-display-history to support history editing.
Added keybinding C-c E for history editing.

Introducing conversation history editing!!

Key Features

Now, you can directly modify past interactions, making it easier to refine and manage your ollama-buddy chat history.

Previously, conversation history was static, you could view it but not change it. With this update, you can now:

Edit conversation history directly in a buffer.
Modify past interactions for accuracy or clarity.
Save or discard changes with intuitive keybindings (C-c C-c to save, C-c C-k to cancel).
Edit the history of all models or a specific one.

Simply use the new command C-c E to open the conversation history editor. This will display your past interactions in an editable format (alist). Once you’ve made your changes, press C-c C-c to save them back into Ollama Buddy’s memory.

and with a universal argument you can leverage C-c E to edit an individual model.

<2025-03-17 Mon> 0.9.1

New simple basic interface is available.

As this package becomes more advanced, I’ve been adding more to the intro message, making it increasingly cluttered. This could be off-putting for users who just want a simple interface to a local LLM via Ollama.

Therefore I have decided to add a customization option to simplify the menu.

Note: all functionality will still be available through keybindings, so just like Emacs then! :)

Note: some could see this initially as a breaking change as the intro message will look different, but rest assured all the functionality is still there (just to re-emphasize), so if you have been using it before and want the original functionality/intro message, just set :

(setq ollama-buddy-interface-level 'advanced)

(defcustom ollama-buddy-interface-level 'basic
  "Level of interface complexity to display.
'basic shows minimal commands for new users.
'advanced shows all available commands and features."
  :type '(choice (const :tag "Basic (for beginners)" basic)
                (const :tag "Advanced (full features)" advanced))
  :group 'ollama-buddy)

By default the menu will be set to Basic, unless obviously set explictly in an init file. Here is an example of the basic menu:

*** Welcome to OLLAMA BUDDY

#+begin_example
 ___ _ _      n _ n      ___       _   _ _ _
|   | | |__._|o(Y)o|__._| . |_ _ _| |_| | | |
| | | | | .  |     | .  | . | | | . | . |__ |
|___|_|_|__/_|_|_|_|__/_|___|___|___|___|___|
#+end_example

**** Available Models

  (a) another:latest     (d) jamesio:latest
  (b) funnyname2:latest  (e) tinyllama:latest
  (c) funnyname:latest   (f) llama:latest

**** Quick Tips

- Ask me anything!                    C-c C-c
- Change model                        C-c m
- Cancel request                      C-c k
- Browse prompt history               M-p/M-n
- Advanced interface (show all tips)  C-c A

and of the more advanced version

*** Welcome to OLLAMA BUDDY

#+begin_example
 ___ _ _      n _ n      ___       _   _ _ _
|   | | |__._|o(Y)o|__._| . |_ _ _| |_| | | |
| | | | | .  |     | .  | . | | | . | . |__ |
|___|_|_|__/_|_|_|_|__/_|___|___|___|___|___|
#+end_example

**** Available Models

  (a) another:latest     (d) jamesio:latest
  (b) funnyname2:latest  (e) tinyllama:latest
  (c) funnyname:latest   (f) llama:latest

**** Quick Tips

- Ask me anything!                    C-c C-c
- Show Help/Token-usage/System-prompt C-c h/U/C-s
- Model Change/Info/Cancel            C-c m/i/k
- Prompt history                      M-p/M-n
- Session New/Load/Save/List/Delete   C-c N/L/S/Y/W
- History Toggle/Clear/Show           C-c H/X/V
- Prompt to multiple models           C-c l
- Parameter Edit/Show/Help/Reset      C-c P/G/I/K
- System Prompt/Clear   C-u/+C-u +C-u C-c C-c
- Toggle JSON/Token/Params/Format     C-c D/T/Z/C-o
- Basic interface (simpler display)   C-c A
- In another buffer? M-x ollama-buddy-menu

<2025-03-17 Mon> 0.9.0

Added command-specific parameter customization

Added :parameters property to command definitions for granular control
Implemented functions to apply and restore parameter settings
Added example configuration to refactor-code command

With the latest update, you can now define specific parameter sets for each command in the menu, enabling you to optimize each AI interaction for its particular use case.

Different AI tasks benefit from different parameter settings. When refactoring code, you might want a more deterministic, precise response (lower temperature, higher repetition penalty), but when generating creative content, you might prefer more variation and randomness (higher temperature, lower repetition penalty). Previously, you had to manually adjust these parameters each time you switched between different types of tasks.

The new command-specific parameters feature lets you pre-configure the optimal settings for each use case. Here’s how it works:

Key Features

Per-Command Parameter Sets: Define custom parameter values for each command in your menu
Automatic Application: Parameters are applied when running a command and restored afterward
Non-Destructive: Your global parameter settings remain untouched
Easy Configuration: Simple interface for adding or updating parameters

Example Configuration

;; Define a command with specific parameters
(refactor-code
 :key ?r
 :description "Refactor code"
 :prompt "refactor the following code:"
 :system "You are an expert software engineer..."
 :parameters ((temperature . 0.2) (top_p . 0.7) (repeat_penalty . 1.3))
 :action (lambda () (ollama-buddy--send-with-command 'refactor-code)))

;; Add parameters to an existing command
(ollama-buddy-add-parameters-to-command 'git-commit
 :temperature 0.4
 :top_p 0.9
 :repeat_penalty 1.1)

;; Update properties and parameters at once
(ollama-buddy-update-command-with-params 'describe-code
 :model "codellama:latest"
 :parameters '((temperature . 0.3) (top_p . 0.8)))

This feature is particularly useful for:

Code-related tasks: Lower temperature for more deterministic code generation
Creative writing: Higher temperature for more varied and creative outputs
Technical explanations: Balanced settings for clear, accurate explanations
Summarization tasks: Custom parameters to control verbosity and focus

<2025-03-16 Sun> 0.8.5

Added system prompt support for commands

Introduced `:system` field to command definitions.
Added `ollama-buddy-show-system-prompt` to view active system prompt.
Updated UI elements to reflect system prompt status.

Previously, individual menu commands in ollama-buddy only included a user prompt. Now, each command can define a system prompt, which provides background context to guide the AI’s responses. This makes interactions more precise and tailored.