Content
# Where On-Device and Cloud LLMs Meet
[](https://discord.gg/jfJyxXwFVa)
_What is this?_ Minions is a communication protocol that enables small on-device models to collaborate with frontier models in the cloud. By only reading long contexts locally, we can reduce cloud costs with minimal or no quality degradation. This repository provides a demonstration of the protocol. Get started below or see our paper and blogpost below for more information.
Paper: [Minions: Cost-efficient Collaboration Between On-device and Cloud
Language Models](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2502.15964)
Minions Blogpost: https://hazyresearch.stanford.edu/blog/2025-02-24-minions
Secure Minions Chat Blogpost: https://hazyresearch.stanford.edu/blog/2025-05-12-security
## Table of Contents
> **Looking for Secure Minions Chat?** If you're interested in our end-to-end encrypted and chat system, please see the [Secure Minions Chat README](secure/README.md) for detailed setup and usage instructions.
- [Setup](#setup)
- [Step 1: Clone and Install](#step-1-clone-the-repository-and-install-the-python-package)
- [Step 2: Install a Local Model Server](#step-2-install-a-server-for-running-the-local-model)
- [Step 3: Set Cloud LLM API Keys](#step-3-set-your-api-key-for-at-least-one-of-the-following-cloud-llm-providers)
- [Minions Demo Application](#minions-demo-application)
- [Minions WebGPU App](#minions-webgpu-app)
- [Example Code](#example-code-minion-singular)
- [Minion (Singular)](#example-code-minion-singular)
- [Minions (Plural)](#example-code-minions-plural)
- [Python Notebook](#python-notebook)
- [Docker Support](#docker-support)
- [Command Line Interface](#cli)
- [Secure Minions Local-Remote Protocol](#secure-minions-local-remote-protocol)
- [Secure Minions Chat](#secure-minions-chat)
- [Apps](#apps)
- [Inference Estimator](#inference-estimator)
- [Command Line Usage](#command-line-usage)
- [Python API Usage](#python-api-usage)
- [Miscellaneous Setup](#miscellaneous-setup)
- [Using Azure OpenAI](#using-azure-openai-with-minions)
- [Maintainers](#maintainers)
## Setup
_We have tested the following setup on Mac and Ubuntu with Python 3.10-3.11_ (Note: Python 3.13 is not supported)
<details>
<summary>Optional: Create a virtual environment with your favorite package manager (e.g. conda, venv, uv)</summary>
```python
conda create -n minions python=3.11
```
</details><br>
**Step 1:** Clone the repository and install the Python package.
```bash
git clone https://github.com/HazyResearch/minions.git
cd minions
pip install -e . # installs the minions package in editable mode
```
_note_: for optional MLX-LM install the package with the following command:
```bash
pip install -e ".[mlx]"
```
_note_: for secure minions chat, install the package with the following command:
```bash
pip install -e ".[secure]"
```
_note_: for optional Cartesia-MLX install, pip install the basic package and then follow the instructions below.
**Step 2:** Install a server for running the local model.
We support three servers for running local models: `lemonade`, `ollama`, and `tokasaurus`. You need to install at least one of these.
- You should use `ollama` if you do not have access to NVIDIA/AMD GPUs. Install `ollama` following the instructions [here](https://ollama.com/download). To enable Flash Attention, run
`launchctl setenv OLLAMA_FLASH_ATTENTION 1` and, if on a mac, restart the ollama app.
- You should use `lemonade` if you have access to local AMD CPUs/GPUs/NPUs. Install `lemonade` following the instructions [here](https://lemonade-server.ai/).
- See the following for supported APU configurations: https://ryzenai.docs.amd.com/en/latest/llm/overview.html#supported-configurations
- After installing `lemonade` make sure to launch the lemonade server. This can be done via the [one-click Windows GUI](https://lemonade-server.ai/) installer which installs the Lemonade Server as a standalone tool.
- Note: Lemonade does not support the Minion-CUA protocol at this time.
- You should use `tokasaurus` if you have access to NVIDIA GPUs and you are running the Minions protocol, which benefits from the high-throughput of `tokasaurus`. Install `tokasaurus` with the following command:
```
pip install tokasaurus
```
<details>
<summary>Optional: Install Cartesia-MLX (only available on Apple Silicon)</summary>
1. Download XCode
2. Install the command line tools by running `xcode-select --install`
3. Install the Nanobind🧮
```
pip install nanobind@git+https://github.com/wjakob/nanobind.git@2f04eac452a6d9142dedb957701bdb20125561e4
```
4. Install the Cartesia Metal backend by running the following command:
```
pip install git+https://github.com/cartesia-ai/edge.git#subdirectory=cartesia-metal
```
5. Install the Cartesia-MLX package by running the following command:
```
pip install git+https://github.com/cartesia-ai/edge.git#subdirectory=cartesia-mlx
```
</details><br>
<details>
<summary>Optional: Install llama-cpp-python</summary>
# Installation
First, install the llama-cpp-python package:
```bash
# CPU-only installation
pip install llama-cpp-python
# For Metal on Mac (Apple Silicon/Intel)
CMAKE_ARGS="-DGGML_METAL=on" pip install llama-cpp-python
# For CUDA on NVIDIA GPUs
CMAKE_ARGS="-DGGML_CUDA=on" pip install llama-cpp-python
# For OpenBLAS CPU optimizations
CMAKE_ARGS="-DGGML_BLAS=ON -DGGML_BLAS_VENDOR=OpenBLAS" pip install llama-cpp-python
```
For more installation options, see the [llama-cpp-python documentation](https://llama-cpp-python.readthedocs.io/en/latest/).
## Basic Usage
The client follows the basic pattern from the llama-cpp-python library:
```python
from minions.clients import LlamaCppClient
# Initialize the client with a local model
client = LlamaCppClient(
model_path="/path/to/model.gguf",
chat_format="chatml", # Most modern models use "chatml" format
n_gpu_layers=35 # Set to 0 for CPU-only inference
)
# Run a chat completion
messages = [
{"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
{"role": "user", "content": "What's the capital of France?"}
]
responses, usage, done_reasons = client.chat(messages)
print(responses[0]) # The generated response
```
## Loading Models from Hugging Face
You can easily load models directly from Hugging Face:
```python
client = LlamaCppClient(
model_path="dummy", # Will be replaced by downloaded model
model_repo_id="TheBloke/Mistral-7B-Instruct-v0.2-GGUF",
model_file_pattern="*Q4_K_M.gguf", # Optional - specify quantization
chat_format="chatml",
n_gpu_layers=35 # Offload 35 layers to GPU
)
```
</details><br>
**Step 3:** Set your API key for at least one of the following cloud LLM providers.
_If needed, create an [OpenAI API Key](https://platform.openai.com/docs/overview) or [TogetherAI API key](https://docs.together.ai/docs/quickstart) or [DeepSeek API key](https://platform.deepseek.com/api_keys) for the cloud model._
```bash
# OpenAI
export OPENAI_API_KEY=<your-openai-api-key>
export OPENAI_BASE_URL=<your-openai-base-url> # Optional: Use a different OpenAI API endpoint
# Together AI
export TOGETHER_API_KEY=<your-together-api-key>
# OpenRouter
export OPENROUTER_API_KEY=<your-openrouter-api-key>
export OPENROUTER_BASE_URL=<your-openrouter-base-url> # Optional: Use a different OpenRouter API endpoint
# Perplexity
export PERPLEXITY_API_KEY=<your-perplexity-api-key>
export PERPLEXITY_BASE_URL=<your-perplexity-base-url> # Optional: Use a different Perplexity API endpoint
# Tokasaurus
export TOKASAURUS_BASE_URL=<your-tokasaurus-base-url> # Optional: Use a different Tokasaurus API endpoint
# DeepSeek
export DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=<your-deepseek-api-key>
# Anthropic
export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=<your-anthropic-api-key>
# Mistral AI
export MISTRAL_API_KEY=<your-mistral-api-key>
```
## Minions Demo Application
[](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Kot0_DFNs)
To try the Minion or Minions protocol, run the following commands:
```bash
pip install torch transformers
streamlit run app.py
```
If you are seeing an error about the `ollama` client,
```
An error occurred: Failed to connect to Ollama. Please check that Ollama is downloaded, running and accessible. https://ollama.com/download
```
try running the following command:
```bash
OLLAMA_FLASH_ATTENTION=1 ollama serve
```
## Minions WebGPU App
The Minions WebGPU app demonstrates the Minions protocol running entirely in the browser using WebGPU for local model inference and cloud APIs for supervision. This approach eliminates the need for local server setup while providing a user-friendly web interface.
### Features
- **Browser-based**: Runs entirely in your web browser with no local server required
- **WebGPU acceleration**: Uses WebGPU for fast local model inference
- **Model selection**: Choose from multiple pre-optimized models from [MLC AI](https://mlc.ai/models)
- **Real-time progress**: See model loading progress and conversation logs in real-time
- **Privacy-focused**: Your API key and data never leave your browser
### Quick Start
1. **Navigate to the WebGPU app directory:**
```bash
cd apps/minions-webgpu
```
2. **Install dependencies:**
```bash
npm install
```
3. **Start the development server:**
```bash
npm start
```
4. **Open your browser** and navigate to the URL shown in the terminal (typically `http://localhost:5173`)
## Example code: Minion (singular)
The following example is for an `ollama` local client and an `openai` remote client.
The protocol is `minion`.
```python
from minions.clients.ollama import OllamaClient
from minions.clients.openai import OpenAIClient
from minions.minion import Minion
local_client = OllamaClient(
model_name="llama3.2",
)
remote_client = OpenAIClient(
model_name="gpt-4o",
)
# Instantiate the Minion object with both clients
minion = Minion(local_client, remote_client)
context = """
Patient John Doe is a 60-year-old male with a history of hypertension. In his latest checkup, his blood pressure was recorded at 160/100 mmHg, and he reported occasional chest discomfort during physical activity.
Recent laboratory results show that his LDL cholesterol level is elevated at 170 mg/dL, while his HDL remains within the normal range at 45 mg/dL. Other metabolic indicators, including fasting glucose and renal function, are unremarkable.
"""
task = "Based on the patient's blood pressure and LDL cholesterol readings in the context, evaluate whether these factors together suggest an increased risk for cardiovascular complications."
# Execute the minion protocol for up to two communication rounds
output = minion(
task=task,
context=[context],
max_rounds=2
)
```
## Example Code: Minions (plural)
The following example is for an `ollama` local client and an `openai` remote client.
The protocol is `minions`.
```python
from minions.clients.ollama import OllamaClient
from minions.clients.openai import OpenAIClient
from minions.minions import Minions
from pydantic import BaseModel
class StructuredLocalOutput(BaseModel):
explanation: str
citation: str | None
answer: str | None
local_client = OllamaClient(
model_name="llama3.2",
temperature=0.0,
structured_output_schema=StructuredLocalOutput
)
remote_client = OpenAIClient(
model_name="gpt-4o",
)
# Instantiate the Minion object with both clients
minion = Minions(local_client, remote_client)
context = """
Patient John Doe is a 60-year-old male with a history of hypertension. In his latest checkup, his blood pressure was recorded at 160/100 mmHg, and he reported occasional chest discomfort during physical activity.
Recent laboratory results show that his LDL cholesterol level is elevated at 170 mg/dL, while his HDL remains within the normal range at 45 mg/dL. Other metabolic indicators, including fasting glucose and renal function, are unremarkable.
"""
task = "Based on the patient's blood pressure and LDL cholesterol readings in the context, evaluate whether these factors together suggest an increased risk for cardiovascular complications."
# Execute the minion protocol for up to two communication rounds
output = minion(
task=task,
doc_metadata="Medical Report",
context=[context],
max_rounds=2
)
```
## Python Notebook
To run Minion/Minions in a notebook, checkout `minions.ipynb`.
## Docker support
### Build the Docker Image
```bash
docker build -t minions-docker .
```
### Run the Container
**Note:** The container automatically starts an Ollama service in the background for local model inference. This allows you to use models like `llama3.2:3b` without additional setup.
```bash
# Basic usage (includes Ollama service)
docker run -i minions-docker
# With Docker socket mounted (for Docker Model Runner)
docker run -i -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock minions-docker
# With API keys for remote models
docker run -i -e OPENAI_API_KEY=your_key -e ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=your_key minions-docker
# With custom Ollama host
docker run -i -e OLLAMA_HOST=0.0.0.0:11434 minions-docker
# For Streamlit app (legacy usage)
docker run -p 8501:8501 --env OPENAI_API_KEY=<your-openai-api-key> --env DEEPSEEK_API_KEY=<your-deepseek-api-key> minions-docker
```
### Docker Minion Protocol Usage
The Docker container supports a stdin/stdout interface for running various minion protocols. It expects JSON input with the following structure:
```json
{
"local_client": {
"type": "ollama",
"model_name": "llama3.2:3b",
"port": 11434,
"kwargs": {}
},
"remote_client": {
"type": "openai",
"model_name": "gpt-4o",
"kwargs": {
"api_key": "your_openai_key"
}
},
"protocol": {
"type": "minion",
"max_rounds": 3,
"log_dir": "minion_logs",
"kwargs": {}
},
"call_params": {
"task": "Your task here",
"context": ["Context string 1", "Context string 2"],
"max_rounds": 2
}
}
```
#### Usage Examples
**Basic Minion Protocol:**
```bash
echo '{
"local_client": {
"type": "ollama",
"model_name": "llama3.2:3b"
},
"remote_client": {
"type": "openai",
"model_name": "gpt-4o"
},
"protocol": {
"type": "minion",
"max_rounds": 3
},
"call_params": {
"task": "Analyze the patient data and provide a diagnosis",
"context": ["Patient John Doe is a 60-year-old male with hypertension. Blood pressure: 160/100 mmHg. LDL cholesterol: 170 mg/dL."]
}
}' | docker run -i -e OPENAI_API_KEY=$OPENAI_API_KEY minions-docker
```
**Minions (Parallel) Protocol:**
```bash
echo '{
"local_client": {
"type": "ollama",
"model_name": "llama3.2:3b"
},
"remote_client": {
"type": "openai",
"model_name": "gpt-4o"
},
"protocol": {
"type": "minions"
},
"call_params": {
"task": "Analyze the financial data and extract key insights",
"doc_metadata": "Financial report",
"context": ["Revenue increased by 15% year-over-year. Operating expenses rose by 8%. Net profit margin improved to 12%."]
}
}' | docker run -i -e OPENAI_API_KEY=$OPENAI_API_KEY minions-docker
```
#### Supported Client Types
**Local Clients:**
- `ollama`: Uses Ollama for local inference (included in container)
- `docker_model_runner`: Uses Docker Model Runner for local inference
**Remote Clients:**
- `openai`: OpenAI API
- `anthropic`: Anthropic API
#### Supported Protocol Types
- `minion`: Single conversation protocol
- `minions`: Parallel processing protocol
#### Output Format
The container outputs JSON with the following structure:
```json
{
"success": true,
"result": {
"final_answer": "The analysis result...",
"supervisor_messages": [...],
"worker_messages": [...],
"remote_usage": {...},
"local_usage": {...}
},
"error": null
}
```
Or on error:
```json
{
"success": false,
"result": null,
"error": "Error message"
}
```
#### Environment Variables
- `OPENAI_API_KEY`: OpenAI API key
- `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`: Anthropic API key
- `OLLAMA_HOST`: Ollama service host (set to 0.0.0.0:11434 by default)
- `PYTHONPATH`: Python path (set to /app by default)
- `PYTHONUNBUFFERED`: Unbuffered output (set to 1 by default)
#### Tips and Advanced Usage
1. **Ollama Models**: The container will automatically pull models on first use (e.g., `llama3.2:3b`)
2. **Docker Model Runner**: Ensure Docker is running and accessible from within the container
3. **API Keys**: Pass API keys as environment variables for security
4. **Volumes**: Mount volumes for persistent workspaces or logs
5. **Networking**: Use `--network host` if you need to access local services
**With Custom Volumes:**
```bash
docker run -i \
-v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
-v $(pwd)/logs:/app/minion_logs \
-v $(pwd)/workspace:/app/workspace \
-e OPENAI_API_KEY=$OPENAI_API_KEY \
minions-docker
```
**Interactive Mode:**
```bash
docker run -it \
-e OPENAI_API_KEY=$OPENAI_API_KEY \
minions-docker bash
```
Then you can run the interface manually:
```bash
python minion_stdin_interface.py
```
#### Persistent Container Usage
For running multiple queries without restarting the container and Ollama service each time:
**1. Start a persistent container:**
```bash
docker run -d --name minions-container -e OPENAI_API_KEY="$OPENAI_API_KEY" minions-docker
```
**2. Send queries to the running container:**
```bash
echo '{
"local_client": {"type": "ollama", "model_name": "llama3.2:3b"},
"remote_client": {"type": "openai", "model_name": "gpt-4o"},
"protocol": {"type": "minion", "max_rounds": 1},
"call_params": {"task": "How many times did Roger Federer end the year as No.1?"}
}' | docker exec -i minions-container /app/start_minion.sh
```
**3. Send additional queries (fast, no restart delay):**
```bash
echo '{
"local_client": {"type": "ollama", "model_name": "llama3.2:3b"},
"remote_client": {"type": "openai", "model_name": "gpt-4o"},
"protocol": {"type": "minion", "max_rounds": 1},
"call_params": {"task": "What is the capital of France?"}
}' | docker exec -i minions-container /app/start_minion.sh
```
**4. Clean up when done:**
```bash
docker stop minions-container
docker rm minions-container
```
**Advantages of persistent containers:**
- ✅ **Ollama stays running** - no restart delays between queries
- ✅ **Models stay loaded** - faster subsequent queries
- ✅ **Resource efficient** - one container handles multiple queries
- ✅ **Automatic model pulling** - models are downloaded on first use
## CLI
To run Minion/Minions in a CLI, checkout `minions_cli.py`.
Set your choice of local and remote models by running the following command. The format is `<provider>/<model_name>`. Choice of providers are `ollama`, `openai`, `anthropic`, `together`, `perplexity`, `openrouter`, `groq`, and `mlx`.
```bash
export MINIONS_LOCAL=ollama/llama3.2
export MINIONS_REMOTE=openai/gpt-4o
```
```bash
minions --help
```
```bash
minions --context <path_to_context> --protocol <minion|minions>
```
## Secure Minions Local-Remote Protocol
The Secure Minions Local-Remote Protocol (`secure/minions_secure.py`) provides an end-to-end encrypted implementation of the Minions protocol that enables secure communication between a local worker model and a remote supervisor server. This protocol includes attestation verification, perfect forward secrecy, and replay protection.
### Prerequisites
Install the secure dependencies:
```bash
pip install -e ".[secure]"
```
### Basic Usage
#### Python API
```python
from minions.clients import OllamaClient
from secure.minions_secure import SecureMinionProtocol
# Initialize local client
local_client = OllamaClient(model_name="llama3.2")
# Create secure protocol instance
protocol = SecureMinionProtocol(
supervisor_url="https://your-supervisor-server.com",
local_client=local_client,
max_rounds=3,
system_prompt="You are a helpful AI assistant."
)
# Run a secure task
result = protocol(
task="Analyze this document for key insights",
context=["Your document content here"],
max_rounds=2
)
print(f"Final Answer: {result['final_answer']}")
print(f"Session ID: {result['session_id']}")
print(f"Log saved to: {result['log_file']}")
# Clean up the session
protocol.end_session()
```
#### Command Line Interfacec
```bash
python secure/minions_secure.py \
--supervisor_url https://your-supervisor-server.com \
--local_client_type ollama \
--local_model llama3.2 \
--max_rounds 3
```
## Secure Minions Chat
To install secure minions chat, install the package with the following command:
```bash
pip install -e ".[secure]"
```
See the [Secure Minions Chat README](secure/README.md) for additional details on how to setup clients and run the secure chat protocol.
## Apps
The `apps/` directory contains specialized applications demonstrating various use cases:
- 📊 **[A2A-Minions](apps/minions-a2a/)** - Agent-to-Agent integration server
- 🎭 **[Character Chat](apps/minions-character-chat/)** - Role-playing with AI personas
- 🔍 **[Document Search](apps/minions-doc-search/)** - Multi-method document retrieval
- 📚 **[Story Teller](apps/minions-story-teller/)** - Creative storytelling with illustrations
- 🛠️ **[Tools Comparison](apps/minions-tools/)** - MCP tools performance comparison
- 🌐 **[WebGPU App](apps/minions-webgpu/)** - Browser-based Minions protocol
## Inference Estimator
Minions provides a utility to estimate LLM inference speed on your hardware. The inference estimator helps you:
1. Analyze your hardware capabilities (GPU, MPS, or CPU)
2. Calculate peak performance for your models
3. Estimate tokens per second and completion time
### Command Line Usage
Run the estimator directly from the command line to check how fast a model will run:
```bash
python -m minions.utils.inference_estimator --model llama3.2 --tokens 1000 --describe
```
Arguments:
- `--model`: Model name from the supported model list (e.g., llama3.2, mistral7b)
- `--tokens`: Number of tokens to estimate generation time for
- `--describe`: Show detailed hardware and model performance statistics
- `--quantized`: Specify that the model is quantized
- `--quant-bits`: Quantization bit-width (4, 8, or 16)
### Python API Usage
You can also use the inference estimator in your Python code:
```python
from minions.utils.inference_estimator import InferenceEstimator
# Initialize the estimator for a specific model
estimator = InferenceEstimator(
model_name="llama3.2", # Model name
is_quant=True, # Is model quantized?
quant_bits=4 # Quantization level (4, 8, 16)
)
# Estimate performance for 1000 tokens
tokens_per_second, estimated_time = estimator.estimate(1000)
print(f"Estimated speed: {tokens_per_second:.1f} tokens/sec")
print(f"Estimated time: {estimated_time:.2f} seconds")
# Get detailed stats
detailed_info = estimator.describe(1000)
print(detailed_info)
# Calibrate with your actual model client for better accuracy
# (requires a model client that implements a chat() method)
estimator.calibrate(my_model_client, sample_tokens=32, prompt="Hello")
```
The estimator uses a roofline model that considers both compute and memory bandwidth limitations and applies empirical calibration to improve accuracy. The calibration data is cached at `~/.cache/ie_calib.json` for future use.
## Miscellaneous Setup
### Using Azure OpenAI with Minions
#### Set Environment Variables
```bash
export AZURE_OPENAI_API_KEY=your-api-key
export AZURE_OPENAI_ENDPOINT=https://your-resource-name.openai.azure.com/
export AZURE_OPENAI_API_VERSION=2024-02-15-preview
```
#### Example Code
Here's an example of how to use Azure OpenAI with the Minions protocol in your own code:
```python
from minions.clients.ollama import OllamaClient
from minions.clients.azure_openai import AzureOpenAIClient
from minions.minion import Minion
local_client = OllamaClient(
model_name="llama3.2",
)
remote_client = AzureOpenAIClient(
model_name="gpt-4o", # This should match your deployment name
api_key="your-api-key",
azure_endpoint="https://your-resource-name.openai.azure.com/",
api_version="2024-02-15-preview",
)
# Instantiate the Minion object with both clients
minion = Minion(local_client, remote_client)
```
## Maintainers
- Avanika Narayan (contact: avanika@cs.stanford.edu)
- Dan Biderman (contact: biderman@stanford.edu)
- Sabri Eyuboglu (contact: eyuboglu@cs.stanford.edu)
