Why it matters

llama.cpp is foundational local LLM. Understanding shapes local ops.

Advertisement

The architecture

C++ core.

Backends: CPU (AVX / NEON), CUDA, Metal, ROCm, Vulkan, SYCL.

GGUF format.

llama.cpp stackC++ corecross-platformBackendsCPU / CUDA / Metal / VulkanGGUF formatquantizedFoundation of Ollama, LM Studio, Text Gen WebUI; wide platform support
llama.cpp.
Advertisement

How it works end to end

Server mode: OpenAI-compatible.

Fine control via flags.

Speculative decoding + grammar constraints supported.