---
title: "LM Studio — Serve on Local Network"
aliases: [lmstudio-network, lmstudio-lan-server]
tags: [lmstudio, networking, api-server, local-llm, lan]
sources: [raw/Serve on Local Network.md]
created: 2026-04-30
updated: 2026-04-30
---

# LM Studio — Serve on Local Network

Enabling **Serve on Local Network** makes the LM Studio API server accessible to other devices on the same LAN — not just `localhost`.

## How It Works

- By default the server binds to `127.0.0.1` (localhost only)
- With the option enabled it binds to your machine's **local network IP** (e.g. `192.168.x.x`)
- The API access URL shown in LM Studio updates to reflect the new binding
- All existing API endpoints stay the same — only the host changes

## Use Cases

| Scenario | Why useful |
|----------|-----------|
| Thin-client devices (laptop, tablet, phone) | Offload inference to a powerful desktop on the same network |
| Shared team access | Multiple people hit one LM Studio instance |
| IoT / edge devices | Raspberry Pi or similar calls the API over LAN |
| Local service mesh | Other self-hosted services (Home Assistant, scripts) consume the LLM |

## Setup Steps

1. Open LM Studio → **Local Server** tab
2. Toggle **Serve on Local Network** → ON
3. Note the updated **API access URL** displayed (e.g. `http://192.168.1.x:1234`)
4. On client devices, point `base_url` to that address instead of `http://localhost:1234`

## Key Takeaways

- One toggle — no firewall rule changes required on most home routers (LAN-to-LAN is open by default)
- The API surface is identical to localhost; only the bind address differs
- Useful when pairing a powerful homelab machine with weaker clients — see [[wiki/homelab/_index|homelab]] for server options
- Combine with [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-headless-service|lmstudio-headless-service]] to run the server without the GUI on a headless machine
- For redirecting Claude Code itself to the local server, see [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-anthropic-compat|lmstudio-anthropic-compat]]

## Related

- [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-rest-api|LM Studio REST API]] — full endpoint reference
- [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-headless-service|LM Studio Headless Service]] — run without GUI (daemon mode)
- [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-anthropic-compat|Anthropic Compat Endpoints]] — point Claude Code at local server
- [[wiki/homelab/_index|Homelab]] — self-hosted hardware for running LM Studio

## Sources

- `raw/Serve on Local Network.md` — clipped from lmstudio.ai/docs/developer/core/server/serve-on-network
