Model Selection

Switch between cloud and local models based on your needs. Use cloud models (Claude, GPT, Gemini) for faster responses and advanced reasoning. Use local models for complete privacy and offline capability.

Click the `model button` in the *bottom toolbar* to open the model selector. You'll see Recent models you've used, Suggested models for your current task, or click `All Models` to see everything available. When you switch models, your chat history stays intact, and new messages will use the selected model. Model selector dropdown with recent, suggested, and all models options

Model selector dropdown

LLM Runtime Modal

Click the active model control (for example the model name in the bottom toolbar) to open the LLM runtime modal. There you can enter API keys if needed, switch models, and open the full catalog of local and cloud-hosted models served through Pieces.

LLM runtime modal listing cloud and local models in Conversational Search Some cloud models are available to Pieces Pro users only (for example: OpenAI GPT-5.2 Pro/GPT-5.2, Anthropic Claude 4.5 Opus, Google Gemini 3 Pro Preview). To unlock premium models, see [Pieces Pro](/paid-plans).

Cloud models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google (and others) are listed on the Cloud Models page. For on-device options and privacy, use local models; the full catalog for the Desktop App is in supported local and cloud models.

Browse and Download Local Models

Open the LLM runtime modal, open All Models, then scroll to find local models. Select a model to download it on demand through PiecesOS; once downloaded, you can run it entirely on your device.

Scrolling the All Models list to browse and download local models Local models run through PiecesOS on your device for privacy and offline use.

Chat Appearance and Defaults

In the LLM runtime area, open the Settings gear to set a chat accent color and choose whether LTM context is on by default for new chats.

Conversational Search appearance settings with accent color and LTM default toggle

You can also use cmd+shift+t (macOS) or ctrl+shift+t (Windows/Linux) to toggle the Desktop App Dark/Bright theme.

For detailed model configuration and management, see Configuration > Models.