toonchat

Chat with your favourite cartoon characters, running on your own computer.

Looking for toonchat…

Checking this computer and your Wi-Fi.

Set it up

Five steps, about ten minutes. You only do this once. When you finish, this page notices and takes you straight to toonchat.

  1. Install Ollama

    Ollama runs the characters' brains on your own computer. No account needed. Download it, open it once, and a llama appears in the menu bar at the top of your screen.

    Download Ollama

  2. Download a model

    Open Terminal (press ⌘ Space and type Terminal), paste this in and press Return. It's about 2 GB.

    ollama pull llama3.2

    If your computer has 16 GB of memory or more, ollama pull qwen3:8b gives smarter characters, and it's better at games.

  3. Install Node.js

    toonchat is built with Node.js. Download the version marked LTS and install it. To check it worked, run this and you should see a number like v22:

    Download Node.js

    node --version

  4. Install toonchat

    npm install -g toonchat

    If you see an EACCES error, put sudo in front, run it again and type your Mac password.

  5. Start toonchat

    Run this, and keep the window open while you chat. To use toonchat on an iPad or phone too, use the second one instead.

    toonchat serve --open
    toonchat serve --host 0.0.0.0 --open

    Next time, you only need this step. This page will spot toonchat and take you there.

On an iPad or phone

Start toonchat on your computer with toonchat serve --host 0.0.0.0. Then open this page on the iPad or phone, on the same Wi-Fi. It finds the computer and takes you there by itself, with nothing to type.

Tip: on an iPad, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen, to get a toonchat button that opens straight to your computer.

If something goes wrong

"command not found: toonchat"

toonchat isn't installed yet, or Node.js isn't. Do steps 3 and 4 again, then close the Terminal window and open a new one.

"Ollama isn't running"

Open the Ollama app. You should see the llama icon. Then reload toonchat.

"The model isn't installed"

Run ollama pull llama3.2 from step 2 and wait for it to finish.

"Port 4747 is already in use"

toonchat is already running in another window. Use that one, or press Ctrl+C in it and start it again.

This page doesn't take me to toonchat

Some browsers, like Safari, don't let websites check your computer. Click open toonchat yourself, or go to http://localhost:4747.

The iPad doesn't find my computer

Make sure you started toonchat with --host 0.0.0.0, and that both are on the same Wi-Fi. Guest networks usually keep devices apart. It can take up to a minute after starting toonchat for the iPad to see it.