mirror of
https://github.com/cloudstack-llc/mlx-knife.git
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The BROKE Cluster Team
ce46601d9d
• MXFP4 Quantization Support (MLX ≥0.29.0, MLX-LM ≥0.27.0) • GPT-OSS Reasoning Models with --hide-reasoning flag • Enhanced Show Command with improved quantization display • Documentation updates (README.md, TESTING.md) See CHANGELOG.md for complete technical details. Partial Issue #32 (GPT-OSS only, other reasoning models remain open).
361 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
361 lines
12 KiB
Markdown
# <img src="https://github.com/mzau/mlx-knife/raw/main/broke-logo.png" alt="BROKE Logo" width="60" style="vertical-align: middle;"> MLX Knife
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<p align="center">
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<img src="https://github.com/mzau/mlx-knife/raw/main/mlxk-demo.gif" alt="MLX Knife Demo" width="1000">
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</p>
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A lightweight, ollama-like CLI for managing and running MLX models on Apple Silicon. **CLI-only tool designed for personal, local use** - perfect for individual developers and researchers working with MLX models.
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> **Note**: MLX Knife is designed as a command-line interface tool only. While some internal functions are accessible via Python imports, only CLI usage is officially supported.
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**Current Version**: 1.1.0 (August 2025) - **STABLE RELEASE** 🚀
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- Pre-release: 1.1.1-beta.3 — MXFP4 support and GPT-OSS reasoning models:
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- Full MXFP4 quantization support (MLX ≥0.29.0, MLX-LM ≥0.27.0),
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- GPT-OSS reasoning model formatting with `--hide-reasoning` flag,
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- Enhanced quantization display in `show` command,
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- Tested with `gpt-oss-20b-MXFP4-Q8` from mlx-community.
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- Details: see CHANGELOG.md. Install with `pip install --pre mlx-knife`.
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- **Reliable Test System**: 166/166 tests passing across Python 3.9–3.13
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- **Python 3.9-3.13**: Full compatibility verified across all Python versions
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- **Key Issues Resolved**: Issues #21, #22, #23 fixed and thoroughly tested
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[](https://github.com/mzau/mlx-knife/releases)
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[](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
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[](https://www.python.org/downloads/)
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[](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211814)
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[](https://github.com/ml-explore/mlx)
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[](#testing)
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## Features
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### Core Functionality
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- **List & Manage Models**: Browse your HuggingFace cache with MLX-specific filtering
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- **Model Information**: Detailed model metadata including quantization info
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- **Download Models**: Pull models from HuggingFace with progress tracking
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- **Run Models**: Native MLX execution with streaming and chat modes
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- **Health Checks**: Verify model integrity and completeness
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- **Cache Management**: Clean up and organize your model storage
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### Local Server & Web Interface
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- **OpenAI-Compatible API**: Local REST API with `/v1/chat/completions`, `/v1/completions`, `/v1/models`
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- **Web Chat Interface**: Built-in HTML chat interface with markdown rendering
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- **Single-User Design**: Optimized for personal use, not multi-user production environments
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- **Conversation Context**: Full chat history maintained for follow-up questions
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- **Streaming Support**: Real-time token streaming via Server-Sent Events
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- **Configurable Limits**: Set default max tokens via `--max-tokens` parameter
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- **Model Hot-Swapping**: Switch between models per conversation
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- **Tool Integration**: Compatible with OpenAI-compatible clients (Cursor IDE, etc.)
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### Run Experience
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- **Direct MLX Integration**: Models load and run natively without subprocess overhead
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- **Real-time Streaming**: Watch tokens generate with proper spacing and formatting
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- **Interactive Chat**: Full conversational mode with history tracking
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- **Memory Insights**: See GPU memory usage after model loading and generation
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- **Dynamic Stop Tokens**: Automatic detection and filtering of model-specific stop tokens
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- **Customizable Generation**: Control temperature, max_tokens, top_p, and repetition penalty
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- **Context-Managed Memory**: Context manager pattern ensures automatic cleanup and prevents memory leaks
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- **Exception-Safe**: Robust error handling with guaranteed resource cleanup
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## Installation
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### Via PyPI (Recommended)
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```bash
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pip install mlx-knife
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```
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### Requirements
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- macOS with Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)
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- Python 3.9+ (native macOS version or newer)
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- 8GB+ RAM recommended + RAM to run LLM
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### Python Compatibility
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MLX Knife has been comprehensively tested and verified on:
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✅ **Python 3.9.6** (native macOS) - Primary target
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✅ **Python 3.10-3.13** - Fully compatible
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All versions include full MLX model execution testing with real models.
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### Install from Source
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```bash
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# Clone the repository
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git clone https://github.com/mzau/mlx-knife.git
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cd mlx-knife
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# Install in development mode
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pip install -e .
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# Or install normally
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pip install .
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# Install with development tools (ruff, mypy, tests)
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pip install -e ".[dev,test]"
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```
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### Install Dependencies Only
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```bash
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pip install -r requirements.txt
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```
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## Quick Start
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### CLI Usage
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```bash
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# List all MLX models in your cache
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mlxk list
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# Show detailed info about a model
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mlxk show Phi-3-mini-4k-instruct-4bit
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# Download a new model
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mlxk pull mlx-community/Mistral-7B-Instruct-v0.3-4bit
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# Run a model with a prompt
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mlxk run Phi-3-mini "What is the capital of France?"
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# GPT-OSS reasoning model with formatted output
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mlxk run gpt-oss-20b-MXFP4-Q8 "Explain quantum computing"
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# Hide reasoning steps, show only final answer (GPT-OSS models)
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mlxk run gpt-oss-20b-MXFP4-Q8 "What is 2+2?" --hide-reasoning
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# Start interactive chat
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mlxk run Phi-3-mini
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# Check model health
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mlxk health
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```
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### Web Chat Interface
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MLX Knife includes a built-in web interface for easy model interaction:
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```bash
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# Start the OpenAI-compatible API server
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mlxk server --port 8000 --max-tokens 4000
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# Get web chat interface from GitHub
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curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mzau/mlx-knife/main/simple_chat.html
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# Open web chat interface in your browser
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open simple_chat.html
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```
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**Features:**
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- **No installation required** - Pure HTML/CSS/JS
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- **Real-time streaming** - Watch tokens appear as they're generated
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- **Model selection** - Choose any MLX model from your cache
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- **Conversation history** - Full context for follow-up questions
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- **Markdown rendering** - Proper formatting for code, lists, tables
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- **Mobile-friendly** - Responsive design works on all devices
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### Local API Server Integration
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The MLX Knife server provides OpenAI-compatible endpoints for **local development and personal use**:
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```bash
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# Start local server (single-user, no authentication)
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mlxk server --host 127.0.0.1 --port 8000
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# Test with curl
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curl -X POST "http://localhost:8000/v1/chat/completions" \
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-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
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-d '{"model": "Phi-3-mini-4k-instruct-4bit", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello!"}]}'
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# Integration with development tools (community-tested):
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# - Cursor IDE: Set API URL to http://localhost:8000/v1
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# - LibreChat: Configure as custom OpenAI endpoint
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# - Open WebUI: Add as local OpenAI-compatible API
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# - SillyTavern: Add as OpenAI API with custom URL
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```
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**Note**: Tool integrations are community-tested. Some tools may require specific configuration or have compatibility limitations. Please report issues via GitHub.
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## Command Reference
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### Available Commands
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#### `list` - Browse Models
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```bash
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mlxk list # Show chat-capable MLX models (strict view)
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mlxk list --verbose # Show MLX models with full paths
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mlxk list --all # Show all models with framework and TYPE
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mlxk list --all --verbose # All models with full paths
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mlxk list --health # Include health status
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mlxk list Phi-3 # Filter by model name
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mlxk list --verbose Phi-3 # Show detailed info (same as show)
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```
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#### `show` - Model Details
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```bash
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mlxk show <model> # Display model information
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mlxk show <model> --files # Include file listing
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mlxk show <model> --config # Show config.json content
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```
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#### `pull` - Download Models
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```bash
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mlxk pull <model> # Download from HuggingFace
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mlxk pull <org>/<model> # Full model path
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```
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#### `run` - Execute Models
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```bash
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mlxk run <model> "prompt" # Single prompt (minimal output)
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mlxk run <model> "prompt" --verbose # Show loading, memory, and stats
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mlxk run <model> # Interactive chat
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mlxk run <model> "prompt" --no-stream # Batch output
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mlxk run <model> --max-tokens 1000 # Custom length
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mlxk run <model> --temperature 0.9 # Higher creativity
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mlxk run <model> --no-chat-template # Raw completion mode
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mlxk run <model> --hide-reasoning # Hide reasoning (GPT-OSS models only)
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```
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#### `rm` - Remove Models
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```bash
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mlxk rm <model> # Delete model with cache cleanup confirmation
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mlxk rm <model>@<hash> # Delete specific version (removes entire model)
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mlxk rm <model> --force # Skip confirmations, auto-cleanup cache files
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```
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**Features:**
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- Removes entire model directory (not just snapshots)
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- Cleans up orphaned HuggingFace lock files
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- Handles corrupted models gracefully
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- Smart prompting (only asks about cache cleanup if needed)
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#### `health` - Check Integrity
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```bash
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mlxk health # Check all models
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mlxk health <model> # Check specific model
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```
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#### `server` - Start API Server
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```bash
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mlxk server # Start on localhost:8000
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mlxk server --port 8001 # Custom port
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mlxk server --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000 # Allow external access
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mlxk server --max-tokens 4000 # Set default max tokens (default: 2000)
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mlxk server --reload # Development mode with auto-reload
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```
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### Command Aliases
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After installation, these commands are equivalent:
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- `mlxk` (recommended)
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- `mlx-knife`
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- `mlx_knife`
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## Configuration
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### Cache Location
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By default, models are stored in `~/.cache/huggingface/hub`. Configure with:
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```bash
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# Set custom cache location
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export HF_HOME="/path/to/your/cache"
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# Example: External SSD
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export HF_HOME="/Volumes/ExternalSSD/models"
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```
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### Model Name Expansion
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Short names are automatically expanded for MLX models:
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- `Phi-3-mini-4k-instruct-4bit` → `mlx-community/Phi-3-mini-4k-instruct-4bit`
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- Models already containing `/` are used as-is
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## Advanced Usage
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### Generation Parameters
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```bash
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# Creative writing (high temperature, diverse output)
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mlxk run Mistral-7B "Write a story" --temperature 0.9 --top-p 0.95
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# Precise tasks (low temperature, focused output)
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mlxk run Phi-3-mini "Extract key points" --temperature 0.3 --top-p 0.9
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# Long-form generation
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mlxk run Mixtral-8x7B "Explain quantum computing" --max-tokens 2000
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# Reduce repetition
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mlxk run model "prompt" --repetition-penalty 1.2
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```
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### Working with Specific Commits
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```bash
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# Use specific model version
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mlxk show model@commit_hash
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mlxk run model@commit_hash "prompt"
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```
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### Non-MLX Model Handling
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The tool automatically detects framework compatibility:
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```bash
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# Attempting to run PyTorch model
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mlxk run bert-base-uncased
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# Error: Model bert-base-uncased is not MLX-compatible (Framework: PyTorch)!
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# Use MLX-Community models: https://huggingface.co/mlx-community
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```
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## Troubleshooting
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### Model Not Found
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```bash
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# If model isn't found, try full path
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mlxk pull mlx-community/Model-Name-4bit
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# List available models
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mlxk list --all
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```
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### Performance Issues
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- Ensure sufficient RAM for model size
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- Close other applications to free memory
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- Use smaller quantized models (4-bit recommended)
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### Streaming Issues
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- Some models may have spacing issues - this is handled automatically
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- Use `--no-stream` for batch output if needed
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## Contributing
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Contributions are welcome! Please see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for development setup and guidelines.
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## Security
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For security concerns, please see [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md) or contact us at broke@gmx.eu.
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MLX Knife runs entirely locally - no data is sent to external servers except when downloading models from HuggingFace.
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## License
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MIT License - see [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details
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Copyright (c) 2025 The BROKE team 🦫
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## Sponsors
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<div align="left" style="display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 8px; align-items: center;">
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<a href="https://github.com/tileslauncher" title="Tiles Launcher">
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<img src="https://github.com/tileslauncher.png" alt="Tiles Launcher" width="48" style="width:48px; height:auto; max-width:100%;">
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</a>
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</div>
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## Acknowledgments
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- Built for Apple Silicon using the [MLX framework](https://github.com/ml-explore/mlx)
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- Models hosted by the [MLX Community](https://huggingface.co/mlx-community) on HuggingFace
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- Inspired by [ollama](https://ollama.ai)'s user experience
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---
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<p align="center">
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<b>Made with ❤️ by The BROKE team <img src="broke-logo.png" alt="BROKE Logo" width="30" style="vertical-align: middle;"></b><br>
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<i>Version 1.1.0 | August 2025</i><br>
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<a href="https://github.com/mzau/broke-cluster">🔮 Next: BROKE Cluster for multi-node deployments</a>
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</p>
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