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Vision models accept images alongside text so the model can describe, classify, and answer questions about what it sees.

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Quick start

ollama run gemma3 ./image.png whats in this image?

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Usage with Ollama’s API

Provide an images array. SDKs accept file paths, URLs or raw bytes while the REST API expects base64-encoded image data.
  • cURL
  • Python
  • JavaScript
# 1. Download a sample image
curl -L -o test.jpg "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Cat03.jpg"

# 2. Encode the image
IMG=$(base64 < test.jpg | tr -d '\n')

# 3. Send it to Ollama
curl -X POST http://localhost:11434/api/chat \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
    "model": "gemma3",
    "messages": [{
    "role": "user",
    "content": "What is in this image?",
    "images": ["'"$IMG"'"]
    }],
    "stream": false
}'
"
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