Foundry Local on Windows & Mac

This guide helps you install, run, and integrate Microsoft Foundry Local on Windows and Mac. All steps and commands are validated against Microsoft Learn docs.

• Get Started: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/get-started
• Architecture: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/concepts/foundry-local-architecture
• CLI Reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/reference/reference-cli
• Integrate SDKs: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/how-to/how-to-integrate-with-inference-sdks
• Compile HF Models (BYOM): https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/how-to/how-to-compile-hugging-face-models
• Windows AI: Local vs Cloud: https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/ai/cloud-ai#key-decision-factors-for-app-developers

1) Install / Upgrade on Windows

• Install:

winget install Microsoft.FoundryLocal

• Upgrade:

winget upgrade --id Microsoft.FoundryLocal

• Version check:

foundry --version

Install / Mac

MacOS: Open a terminal and run the following command:

   brew tap microsoft/foundrylocal
   brew install foundrylocal

2) CLI Basics (Three Categories)

• Model:

foundry model --help
foundry model list
foundry model run gpt-oss-20b

• Service:

foundry service --help
foundry service status
foundry service ps

• Cache:

foundry cache --help
foundry cache list

Notes:

• The service exposes an OpenAI-compatible REST API. The endpoint port is dynamically allocated; use foundry service status to discover it.
• Use the SDKs for convenience; they handle endpoint discovery automatically where supported.

3) Discover the Local Endpoint (Dynamic Port)

Foundry Local assigns a dynamic port each time the service starts:

foundry service status

Use the reported http://localhost:<PORT> as your base_url with OpenAI-compatible paths (for example, /v1/chat/completions).

4) Quick Test via OpenAI Python SDK

set BASE_URL=http://localhost:PORT
python - <<PY
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(base_url="%BASE_URL%/v1", api_key="")
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gpt-oss-20b",
    messages=[{"role":"user","content":"Say hello from Foundry Local."}],
    max_tokens=64,
)
print(resp.choices[0].message.content)
PY

References:

• SDK Integration: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/how-to/how-to-integrate-with-inference-sdks

5) Bring Your Own Model (Compile with Olive)

If you need a model not in the catalog, compile it to ONNX for Foundry Local using Olive.

High-level flow (see docs for steps):

foundry cache cd models
foundry cache list
foundry model run llama-3.2 --verbose

Docs:

• BYOM compile: https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/how-to/how-to-compile-hugging-face-models

6) Troubleshooting

• Check service status and logs:

foundry service status
foundry service diag

• Clear or move cache:

foundry cache list
foundry cache remove <model>
foundry cache cd <path>

• Update to latest preview:

winget upgrade --id Microsoft.FoundryLocal

7) Related Windows Developer Experience

• Windows local vs cloud AI choices, including Foundry Local and Windows ML: https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/ai/cloud-ai#key-decision-factors-for-app-developers
• VS Code AI Toolkit with Foundry Local (use foundry service status to get the chat endpoint URL): https://learn.microsoft.com/azure/ai-foundry/foundry-local/concepts/foundry-local-architecture#key-components

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