LM Studio

LM Studio is a desktop application for discovering, downloading, and running large language models locally. It provides a polished graphical interface for chatting with models, a built-in model search engine that connects to Hugging Face, and a local server mode that exposes an OpenAI-compatible API. LM Studio makes local LLM experimentation accessible without requiring any command-line knowledge.

Prerequisites

Before installing LM Studio, make sure your system meets these requirements:

Debian 12 (Bookworm) or later -- 64-bit x86_64
8 GB RAM minimum -- 16 GB or more recommended
libfuse2 -- Required for running AppImage applications
GPU (optional) -- NVIDIA GPU with CUDA support for accelerated inference

TIP

LM Studio bundles its own inference engine, so you do not need to install llama.cpp or any other backend separately.

Installation

Step 1: Install libfuse2

LM Studio is distributed as an AppImage, which requires libfuse2 to run.

bash

# Install the FUSE library required for AppImage
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y libfuse2

Step 2: Download LM Studio

Download the latest AppImage from the official website.

bash

# Create a directory for the application
mkdir -p ~/Applications

# Download LM Studio AppImage (visit lmstudio.ai for the latest URL)
wget -O ~/Applications/LMStudio.AppImage "https://lmstudio.ai/download/linux"

# Make the AppImage executable
chmod +x ~/Applications/LMStudio.AppImage

Step 3: Launch LM Studio

bash

# Run LM Studio
~/Applications/LMStudio.AppImage

Optional: Create a Desktop Shortcut

Create a .desktop file so LM Studio appears in your application menu.

bash

# Create a desktop entry
cat << 'EOF' > ~/.local/share/applications/lm-studio.desktop
[Desktop Entry]
Name=LM Studio
Comment=Discover, download, and run local LLMs
Exec=$HOME/Applications/LMStudio.AppImage
Icon=lm-studio
Type=Application
Categories=Development;Science;
Terminal=false
EOF

# Update the desktop database
update-desktop-database ~/.local/share/applications/

Configuration

Model Storage Location

By default, LM Studio stores downloaded models in ~/.cache/lm-studio/models. You can change this in the application settings:

Open LM Studio
Click the gear icon (Settings) in the bottom-left corner
Under "Models Directory", click "Change" and select your preferred location

bash

# Check how much space your models are using
du -sh ~/.cache/lm-studio/models/

# If you want to move models to a larger drive, create a symlink
# (Stop LM Studio first)
mv ~/.cache/lm-studio/models /mnt/large-drive/lm-studio-models
ln -s /mnt/large-drive/lm-studio-models ~/.cache/lm-studio/models

GPU Acceleration

If you have an NVIDIA GPU, LM Studio will automatically detect and use it. Make sure your NVIDIA drivers are installed:

bash

# Install NVIDIA drivers (non-free repos must be enabled)
sudo apt install -y nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree

# Reboot to load the driver
sudo reboot

# Verify the GPU is recognized after reboot
nvidia-smi

Usage

Discovering and Downloading Models

Launch LM Studio and click the Search tab (magnifying glass icon)
Search for a model by name, such as "llama 3.2" or "mistral"
Browse the results and select a quantization level (Q4_K_M is a good balance of quality and size)
Click Download to fetch the model

TIP

Quantization levels affect both quality and file size. Common options:

Q4_K_M -- Good balance, recommended for most users
Q5_K_M -- Higher quality, uses more RAM
Q8_0 -- Near-original quality, large file size
Q3_K_S -- Smallest, lower quality, for limited hardware

Chatting with Models

Click the Chat tab (speech bubble icon)
Select a downloaded model from the dropdown at the top
Type your message and press Enter to chat
Adjust parameters like temperature, top-p, and system prompt in the right panel

Local Server Mode

LM Studio can run as a local server, exposing an OpenAI-compatible API that other tools can connect to.

Click the Server tab (network icon)
Select a model to serve
Click Start Server
The server runs on http://localhost:1234 by default

bash

# Test the local server with curl
curl http://localhost:1234/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "loaded-model-name",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "What is Debian?"}
    ]
  }'

# List available models on the server
curl http://localhost:1234/v1/models

LM Studio CLI (lms)

LM Studio includes a command-line tool called lms for advanced users.

bash

# Bootstrap the CLI (run this once after installing LM Studio)
~/.cache/lm-studio/bin/lms bootstrap

# After bootstrapping, restart your shell or source your profile
source ~/.bashrc

# Check the CLI version
lms version

# List downloaded models
lms ls

# Load a model into memory
lms load llama-3.2-1b

# Start the local server from the CLI
lms server start

# Stop the local server
lms server stop

# Get server status
lms status

# Unload all models from memory
lms unload --all

Update

LM Studio checks for updates automatically when launched. You can also update manually:

bash

# Download the latest version (visit lmstudio.ai for the current URL)
wget -O ~/Applications/LMStudio.AppImage "https://lmstudio.ai/download/linux"

# Make it executable
chmod +x ~/Applications/LMStudio.AppImage

Troubleshooting

AppImage fails to launch

bash

# Verify libfuse2 is installed
dpkg -l | grep libfuse2

# If not installed, install it
sudo apt install -y libfuse2

# Try running from the terminal to see error messages
~/Applications/LMStudio.AppImage --verbose

"FUSE not found" error

bash

# Install FUSE and related packages
sudo apt install -y libfuse2 fuse

# If the issue persists, try extracting the AppImage instead
cd ~/Applications
./LMStudio.AppImage --appimage-extract
# Run the extracted version
./squashfs-root/AppRun

Model loading fails with out-of-memory error

If a model fails to load, it may be too large for your available RAM or VRAM.

Try a smaller quantization (e.g., Q3_K_S instead of Q5_K_M)
Try a smaller model (e.g., 1B or 3B parameter versions)
Close other applications to free up RAM
In settings, reduce the context length (lower values use less memory)

GPU not detected in LM Studio

bash

# Verify NVIDIA drivers are working
nvidia-smi

# Check that the CUDA libraries are available
ldconfig -p | grep libcuda

# Reinstall drivers if needed
sudo apt install -y nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
sudo reboot

Server mode connection refused

bash

# Check if the server is running
curl http://localhost:1234/v1/models

# Make sure no other service is using port 1234
ss -tlnp | grep 1234

# Restart the server from the CLI
lms server stop
lms server start

AI Tools Overview -- Overview of all AI tools on Debian
Ollama -- CLI-based alternative for local LLM inference
llama.cpp -- The underlying inference engine
LM Studio Website -- Official download and documentation

LM Studio ​

Prerequisites ​

Installation ​

Step 1: Install libfuse2 ​

Step 2: Download LM Studio ​

Step 3: Launch LM Studio ​

Optional: Create a Desktop Shortcut ​

Configuration ​

Model Storage Location ​

GPU Acceleration ​

Usage ​

Discovering and Downloading Models ​

Chatting with Models ​

Local Server Mode ​

LM Studio CLI (lms) ​

Update ​

Troubleshooting ​

AppImage fails to launch ​

"FUSE not found" error ​

Model loading fails with out-of-memory error ​

GPU not detected in LM Studio ​

Server mode connection refused ​

Related Resources ​

LM Studio

Prerequisites

Installation

Step 1: Install libfuse2

Step 2: Download LM Studio

Step 3: Launch LM Studio

Optional: Create a Desktop Shortcut

Configuration

Model Storage Location

GPU Acceleration

Usage

Discovering and Downloading Models

Chatting with Models

Local Server Mode

LM Studio CLI (lms)

Update

Troubleshooting

AppImage fails to launch

"FUSE not found" error

Model loading fails with out-of-memory error

GPU not detected in LM Studio

Server mode connection refused

Related Resources