Ollama Console Markdown Display

Chat with Ollama models in your terminal with beautifully rendered markdown output and clipboard-copyable code blocks. Powered by Bun v1.3.12's Bun.markdown.ansi() API.

Requirements

• macOS (ARM or Intel)
• Bun v1.3.12+
• Ollama running locally

Usage

One-liner mode

# Basic question
bun run index.ts "explain closures in JavaScript"

# Specify a model
bun run index.ts -m qwen3.5:4b "write fizzbuzz in python"

# Save response to a file
bun run index.ts -o response.md "create a REST API in Node.js"

# Enable thinking/reasoning mode
bun run index.ts -t "why is the sky blue"

# Combine flags: custom model + thinking + save output
bun run index.ts -m qwen3.5:27b -t -o answer.md "explain monads"

Interactive chat mode

# Start chat with default model
bun run index.ts

# Start chat with a specific model
bun run index.ts -m qwen3.5:27b

# Start chat with thinking mode enabled
bun run index.ts -t

# Start chat with auto-save to file
bun run index.ts -o session.md

# Combine: specific model + thinking + output
bun run index.ts -m qwen3.5:4b -t -o log.md

Read a markdown file

# Auto-detect .md file
bun run index.ts README.md

# Explicit flag
bun run index.ts -r notes.md

Show help

bun run index.ts -h

Options

| Flag | Description | | --------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | | -m, --model <name> | Model to use (default: qwen3.5:latest) | | -o, --output <file> | Save response markdown to a file | | -r, --read <file> | Render a markdown file in the terminal | | -t, --think | Enable thinking/reasoning mode | | -h, --help | Show help |

Chat commands

| Command | Action | | --------------- | --------------------------------- | | copy <n> | Copy code block #n to clipboard | | copy all | Copy all code blocks to clipboard | | save <file> | Save last response to a file | | model <name> | Switch to a different model | | models | List available Ollama models | | think | Toggle thinking mode on/off | | think on/off | Set thinking mode explicitly | | exit / quit | End the chat |

Features

• Streaming — tokens appear in real-time, then get replaced with formatted markdown
• Rendered markdown — headings, lists, bold, italic, code blocks with language labels
• Read .md files — render any markdown file in the terminal with syntax coloring
• Code block clipboard — numbered code blocks with copy <n> to pbcopy
• Save output — save responses to markdown files with -o flag or save command
• Model switching — switch models mid-chat with model <name>, list with models
• Thinking mode — enable chain-of-thought reasoning with -t flag or think command
• Conversation memory — chat mode maintains full message history

Compile to Executable

Build a standalone binary with no runtime dependencies using bun build --compile:

bun build --compile index.ts --outfile ollama-chat

Then run it directly:

./ollama-chat "explain async/await in JavaScript"
./ollama-chat -t -m qwen3.5:27b
./ollama-chat README.md

Optionally move it to your PATH:

mv ollama-chat /usr/local/bin/