--- title: "Ollama for C# and .NET in Visual Studio 2026 | iolys" description: "Use Ollama in Visual Studio 2026. Install models, tune context and reasoning, send images, manage RAM / VRAM, and track generation speed with iolys." url: "https://getiolys.com/providers/ollama" language: "en" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # Use Ollama for C# and .NET in Visual Studio 2026. Connect your Ollama server to your C# and .NET solution. Install and search models, tune their context, choose supported reasoning effort, and send images with vision models. Manage local model memory and follow generation performance without leaving Visual Studio. - Provider: Ollama - Connection type: Local endpoint - Access: No mandatory per-token cloud bill - Who pays for the AI usage: No AI provider bills this usage. Any cost is the infrastructure you already run. - Where the model runs: The model runs on your own machine or private network, so requests stay on infrastructure you control. - Best for: Private codebases, offline-capable workflows, experimentation with open models, and teams that want infrastructure control. - Official site: https://ollama.com/ Run a compatible model locally through Ollama and use your own hardware. This route does not require a cloud AI subscription or a pay-as-you-go provider API for each prompt. ## How to connect Ollama in Visual Studio 2026 1. Install and start Ollama on your machine or network. 2. In the composer's model configuration menu, open Manage Providers, choose Add Provider, then Ollama. Enter the server URL, such as http://localhost:11434, and choose Add. 3. Enter an exact model name and tag under Add model. Wait for download, context detection, and catalog refresh, then select the installed model from the chat picker. ## What you get - **Keep work local** — Use models hosted on infrastructure you control when privacy or connectivity matters. - **Install and find models** — Download models from Manage Providers with visible progress, then search the chat picker by model or provider name. Installation errors retain the entered name for correction and retry. - **Tune context to your hardware** — Choose Fast, Balanced, Max, or a custom token count for local models. Detect preset suggests a setting for available memory; larger context windows use more RAM / VRAM. - **Use supported reasoning, tools, and images** — Choose named reasoning levels when the model exposes them. Follow expandable thoughts and tool activity, use permitted iolys tools with a capable model, and attach images with a Vision model. - **Manage local model memory** — Open the Ollama icon in the chat header to see loaded models, memory, VRAM, context, and expiration. Load an installed model or unload it to free memory while keeping its files. Local loads and chat requests keep models resident for two hours after the last request. - **Read generation performance** — See available tokens per second beside elapsed time. Hover for input/output tokens, model calls, and loading, context-processing, and generation times. Missing metrics are hidden; reported performance is retained in session history. ## Requirements iolys targets the Visual Studio 2026 IDE on 64-bit Windows. It requires access to a supported AI provider or a local Ollama instance. Git is required for isolated parallel workspaces. Visual Studio Code is a separate editor; iolys is an extension for the Visual Studio IDE. ## Price All currently available iolys features are free for personal and commercial use. AI provider subscriptions, API usage, and infrastructure costs remain separate. iolys does not include a bundled model allowance. ## Ollama questions ### How can I use Ollama in Visual Studio for C#? Install the iolys extension for Visual Studio 2026 and open your C# solution. Install and start Ollama on your machine or network. In the composer's model configuration menu, open Manage Providers, choose Add Provider, then Ollama. Enter the server URL, such as http://localhost:11434, and choose Add. Enter an exact model name and tag under Add model. Wait for download, context detection, and catalog refresh, then select the installed model from the chat picker. You can then ask Ollama to help with your C# and .NET code from the iolys workspace. ### Is there a VSIX extension to use Ollama in Visual Studio? Yes. iolys is a VSIX extension for Visual Studio 2026, and Ollama is one of the provider connections it ships with. Install the iolys VSIX once from the Visual Studio Marketplace, then add Ollama from the Manage Providers panel; there is no separate VSIX per provider. ### Can Visual Studio 2026 use Ollama? Yes, with the iolys extension. It connects an Ollama endpoint on your machine or network to your C# or .NET solution in Visual Studio 2026. ### Does Ollama require an API subscription? No. A local Ollama deployment uses your own hardware and does not require a metered cloud-model API. ### Can I use my Ollama Pro, Max, or Team subscription in iolys? Not yet. iolys connects the local Ollama route, where the model runs on your own machine or network with no provider bill and unlimited usage. Ollama's paid plans are usage-credit allowances for models hosted in Ollama's cloud: Pro at 20 USD per month includes 60 USD of credits and 3 concurrent requests, Max at 100 USD includes 300 USD of credits and 10 concurrent requests, and Team at 500 USD includes 1,000 USD of credits shared across the team. Running models on your own hardware stays unlimited on every plan, including Free. iolys does not connect the cloud route today. Ollama plans verified 18 September 2026 on https://ollama.com/pricing. ### Can Ollama run completely offline? Ollama can run local models without a cloud inference connection once the required software and model files are available. ### Can I install models directly from iolys? Yes. In Manage Providers, enter the exact model name and tag under Add model. iolys shows download progress, then detects context and refreshes the installed catalog. Reaching 100% download does not mean these final stages have finished. ### Do all models support reasoning, tools, and images? No. The model list shows available Tools, Thinking, and Vision capabilities. Named reasoning effort levels appear only when supported; a Thinking badge alone does not guarantee an effort selector. Attach images with a Vision model and use chat tools with a model that supports function calls. ### What is the difference between Unload and Delete? Unload releases a local model from RAM / VRAM and keeps its installed files. Delete in Manage Providers removes the model from the Ollama server. The memory popup also lets you load installed local models and refresh their current status. ### How is generation speed calculated? iolys divides reported output tokens by generation time across completed model calls in the turn, including tool continuations. Tool execution time belongs to elapsed turn time. The displayed examples are demonstration data, not hardware benchmarks; unavailable metrics are hidden. ### Do cloud models use local context and memory controls? No. Cloud models and detected remote aliases have context managed by Ollama. They have no local presets or detection controls, do not appear in the local memory panel, and do not receive the local load and unload tools. ## Related pages - [Bring Your Own AI Subscription to Visual Studio 2026 | iolys](https://getiolys.com/) - [Bring Your Own Model (BYOM) in Visual Studio 2026 | iolys](https://getiolys.com/byom) - [AI coding agent capabilities for Visual Studio | iolys](https://getiolys.com/capabilities) - [Visual Studio integrations for C# and .NET | iolys](https://getiolys.com/integrations) - [GitHub Copilot alternative for Visual Studio and C# | iolys](https://getiolys.com/copilot-alternative-visual-studio) - [AI providers and BYOS for Visual Studio 2026 | iolys](https://getiolys.com/providers) - [What is iolys? AI coding agent harness for Visual Studio | iolys](https://getiolys.com/what-is-iolys) - [The story behind iolys | From iolite to AI in Visual Studio](https://getiolys.com/our-story) - [Install iolys from the Visual Studio Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=iolys.iolys-visual-studio) - [iolys blog](https://getiolys.com/blog)