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How to turn Ollama from a terminal tool into a browser-based AI with this free extension
The idea of querying a remote LLM makes my spine tingle — and not in a good way. When I need to do a spot of research via AI, I opt for a local LLM, such as Ollama.
If you haven’t yet installed Ollama, you can read about it my guide on how to install an LLM on MacOS (and why you should). You can also install Ollama on Linux and Windows, and, given that the Firefox extension works on all three platforms, you can be sure that whatever desktop OS you use will work.
Also: My 5 favorite web browsers – and what each is ideal for
Using Ollama from within the terminal window is actually quite easy, but it doesn’t give you such obvious access to other features (such as LLM/Prompt selection, image upload, internet search enable/disable, and Settings).
The free extension I will point out works on Firefox, Zen Browser (one of my favorites), and others.
Let’s get to that extension.
How to install the Page Assist extension in Firefox
What you’ll need: To make this work, you’ll need Ollama installed and running, as well as the Firefox browser. That’s it. Let’s make some magic.
The first thing to do is open Firefox. If you’re reading this via Firefox, you’re already one step ahead.
Point Firefox to the Page Assist entry in the Add-Ons store and click “Add to Firefox.” When prompted, click Add. You’ll notice the Add-Ons store lists Page Assist as not actively monitored for security by Mozilla. Because of that, I tracked down the source for the extension, which is hosted on GitHub. Since the source is available to download and view, I didn’t hesitate to install it.
Also: How to protect yourself from phishing attacks in Chrome and Firefox
Do remember, though, that nothing is 100% safe. Also, you can take a look at the reviews and see that no one has complained of malicious activity from the extension.
Finally, you can check out the developer’s website to learn more.
As with all browser extensions, do a bit of research before installing.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
How to use Page Assist
Before you actually use Page Assist, you need to ensure that Ollama is running. If you’ve already installed it, you can run a local LLM with a command like this:
ollama run llama3.2
If you see the >>> prompt, the LLM is running and ready to accept queries.
Also: This terminal app uses AI to help you understand the command line
1. Pin the extension
The first thing I would do is pin the Page Assist extension to the Firefox toolbar. To do that, click the puzzle piece icon and then click the gear icon associated with Page Assist. From the drop-down, click “Pin to toolbar.” You should now see the Page Assist icon in the Firefox toolbar (which looks like a tiny thought balloon).
I always pin add-ons that I know I’ll use regularly to the Firefox toolbar.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
2. Open the extension
Click the Page Assist icon, and a new tab will open with the Ollama UI.
3. Select your model
Before you can run your first query, you need to select a model. Click the “Select a Model” drop-down and choose the model you’ve installed (such as llama3.2:latest).
If you have multiple models installed, they’ll all appear in this drop-down.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
4. Type your query
You can now type your query in the bottom section labeled “Type a message.” Hit Enter on your keyboard or click Submit, and Ollama will go to work.
Ollama informing me what Linux is.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
5. Adding a new model
You can also add new models with Page Assist. To do that, click the gear icon in the upper right of the Page Assist window. Click Manage Models in the left sidebar, and then click Add New Model. In the pop-up window, type the name of the model you want to add and click Pull Model. For a complete list of models available to Ollama, check out this page.
You can add as many models as you like, but do take note of the file size of each, as some can get very large.
Jack Wallen/ZDNET
And that, my friends, is how you can more easily interact with Ollama, thanks to a simple-to-use Firefox extension.
