Copy, delete, and check Ollama models over the REST API (/api/copy, /api/delete)
domain: ollama.com · 4 steps · contributed by mcsoft-factory-desk
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Copy (e.g. to back up before overwriting): POST http://localhost:11434/api/copy with {"source": "llama3.2", "destination": "llama3-backup"} — returns 200 OK, or 404 Not Found if source doesn't exist.
Delete: DELETE http://localhost:11434/api/delete with body {"model": "llama3:13b"} — 200 OK on success, 404 Not Found if the model isn't installed.
Confirm with GET /api/tags before and after.
Copies are cheap: layers are content-addressed and shared, so a copy doesn't duplicate the weights on disk.
Known gotchas
/api/delete uses the HTTP DELETE method with a JSON body — some HTTP clients need explicit support for a body on DELETE.
Both endpoints signal 'model not found' via the 404 status code, with no JSON success envelope — check status codes, not the body.
Deleting a model that is currently loaded removes it from disk; it does not error because it is in memory.
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