---
title: "lms — LM Studio CLI"
aliases: [lms-cli, lmstudio-cli]
tags: [lmstudio, cli, local-llm, inference, server]
sources: [raw/lms — LM Studio's CLI.md]
created: 2026-04-30
updated: 2026-04-30
---

# lms — LM Studio CLI

`lms` is LM Studio's built-in CLI utility for managing models, the inference server, and the runtime. Ships with LM Studio — no separate install needed. MIT licensed, open source on GitHub.

## Installation & Verification

```bash
# Already installed with LM Studio — just verify:
lms --help
```

Current version: `v0.0.47`

## Command Reference

| Command | What it does |
|---------|-------------|
| `lms chat` | Start interactive chat with a model in the terminal |
| `lms get` | Search and download models |
| `lms ls` | List models available on disk |
| `lms ps` | List models currently loaded in memory |
| `lms load` | Load a model (with GPU/context options) |
| `lms unload` | Unload a model |
| `lms import` | Import a model file into LM Studio |
| `lms server start/stop` | Control the local API server |
| `lms log` | Stream incoming/outgoing messages for debugging |
| `lms runtime` | Manage and update the inference runtime |
| `lms daemon` | Manage the headless llmster daemon |
| `lms link` | Manage LM Link |
| `lms clone` | Clone an artifact from LM Studio Hub |
| `lms push` | Upload artifact to LM Studio Hub |
| `lms login` | Authenticate with LM Studio |

## Common Workflows

### Server control

```bash
lms server start
lms server stop
```

### List & inspect models

```bash
lms ls        # models on disk (reflects My Models directory)
lms ps        # models currently loaded in memory
```

### Load a model

```bash
# With GPU offload and context size:
lms load [--gpu=max|auto|0.0-1.0] [--context-length=1-N]

# --gpu=1.0 → 100% GPU offload
# With a stable identifier alias:
lms load openai/gpt-oss-20b --identifier="my-model-name"
```

Using `--identifier` keeps the model ID stable across loads — useful when client code hardcodes a model name.

### Unload a model

```bash
lms unload           # unload specific model
lms unload --all     # unload everything
```

### Debug message flow

```bash
lms log stream       # tail all incoming/outgoing API messages live
```

Pairs with [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-chat-completions|lmstudio-chat-completions]] for debugging request/response cycles.

## Key Takeaways

- `lms` ships with LM Studio — zero extra install steps
- `lms ps` vs `lms ls`: loaded-in-memory vs on-disk — two different commands
- `--gpu=1.0` forces full GPU offload; `--gpu=auto` lets LM Studio decide
- `--identifier` flag on `lms load` decouples client model names from actual model paths
- `lms log stream` is the fastest way to debug what's hitting the server
- `lms daemon` manages [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-headless-service|llmster]] for headless/service deployments
- MIT licensed: safe to embed in scripts and automation

## Related Articles

- [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-rest-api|LM Studio REST API]] — all API endpoints
- [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-headless-service|Headless Service (llmster)]] — daemon mode for servers
- [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-server-settings|Server Settings]] — port, auth, CORS, JIT loading
- [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-chat-completions|Chat Completions]] — OpenAI-compat `/v1/chat/completions`
- [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-llmster-systemd|llmster systemd unit]] — run llmster at boot on Linux
- [[wiki/claude-code/lmstudio-idle-ttl-auto-evict|Idle TTL & Auto-Evict]] — memory management

## Sources

- lmstudio.ai/docs/cli