Unlocking Next-Gen Coding: Ollama Powers Up with GLM-4.6 and Qwen3-Coder for Seamless AI Development

The AI Co-Pilot Takes Flight: Ollama Welcomes Powerful New Coding Models

In the rapidly evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and software development, staying ahead means embracing the latest tools. For developers who rely on AI to accelerate their workflow, the news from Ollama on October 16, 2025, is a significant leap forward. The platform has just announced the seamless integration of two powerhouse coding models: GLM-4.6 and Qwen3-Coder-480B. This isn’t just about adding new names to a list; it’s about making cutting-edge AI capabilities more accessible, reliable, and deeply integrated into the tools developers use every single day.

A New Era of AI-Assisted Development with Ollama

Ollama has carved out a niche by making it incredibly easy to run large language models (LLMs) locally. This democratization of powerful AI is crucial for fostering innovation. Their latest update focuses on enhancing the developer experience by bringing advanced coding models into the fold, promising faster code generation, smarter suggestions, and more intuitive interactions.

The headline additions are GLM-4.6 and the colossal Qwen3-Coder-480B. These models are now readily available through Ollama’s cloud service, meaning you can start leveraging their advanced capabilities with minimal setup. For those who prefer to keep their AI processing on their own hardware, Qwen3-Coder-480B is also accessible locally, provided you have the substantial VRAM requirement of over 300GB – a testament to its immense power and complexity.

Furthermore, the platform is showcasing an updated Qwen3-Coder-30B model. This iteration has been specifically fine-tuned for enhanced speed and reliability in tool calling. In the world of AI development, "tool calling" is a critical function. It allows LLMs to interact with external applications, APIs, or functions, effectively turning them into versatile assistants that can perform actions beyond just generating text. A faster, more dependable tool-calling capability means your AI co-pilot can execute tasks more efficiently and accurately, reducing friction in your development process.

Getting Your Hands on the Latest AI Coding Power

Getting started with these new models is designed to be as straightforward as possible, a hallmark of Ollama’s user-centric approach. Here’s how you can begin:

For GLM-4.6 (Cloud):
```
ollama run glm-4.6:cloud
```
For Qwen3-Coder-480B (Cloud):
```
ollama run qwen3-coder:480b-cloud
```
For Qwen3-Coder-480B (Local – requires >300GB VRAM):
```
ollama run qwen3-coder:480b
```
For Qwen3-Coder-30B (Cloud):
```
ollama run qwen3-coder:30b
```

These commands are your gateway to exploring the generative and coding capabilities of these advanced AI models. The ollama run command is your primary tool for interacting with models directly from your terminal.

A Creative Spark: Generating a Full-Fledged Game with AI

To illustrate the creative and practical power of these models, consider an ambitious prompt that was successfully handled by GLM-4.6: the creation of a complete, single-page HTML game. The requirements were detailed and imaginative, showcasing the AI’s ability to grasp complex instructions and generate functional, engaging code.

The game, aptly named "Ollama’s Adventure," was envisioned as a survival game where the player’s goal is to jump over obstacles for as long as possible. Key features requested included:

Increasing Difficulty: The game’s speed should gradually increase, adding a challenge.
High Score Tracking: To foster competition and replayability.
Retry Button: Essential for the arcade-like experience.
Engaging Audio: Funny sounds for actions and events to enhance the user experience.
Vibrant Visuals: A colorful UI with parallax scrolling backgrounds for a dynamic look.
Charming Characters: Cartoonish, alpaca-themed characters designed to be fun and watchable.
Universal Appeal: The game should be enjoyable for everyone.

The fact that an LLM, with a single prompt, can generate the intricate code required for such a game – from game logic and physics to UI design and sound integration – is a testament to the maturity of these AI models and the effectiveness of platforms like Ollama in harnessing their potential. This is not just code generation; it’s AI-assisted game design and development at its finest.

Seamless Integration into Your Workflow: VS Code, Zed, and Droid

One of the most critical aspects of AI integration in development is how well it fits into existing workflows. Ollama excels here by providing straightforward integrations with popular developer tools. This means you don’t need to leave your familiar IDE or editor to leverage the power of GLM-4.6 and Qwen3-Coder.

Using Ollama with Visual Studio Code (VS Code)

For millions of developers, VS Code is their primary coding environment. Ollama ensures that the new coding models are easily accessible within this ecosystem.

Pull the Models: Before you can use them in VS Code, you need to pull the desired cloud models:
```
ollama pull glm-4.6:cloud
ollama pull qwen3-coder:480b-cloud
```
Access Copilot Chat: Open the Copilot chat sidebar in VS Code.
Select Your Provider: Navigate to the model dropdown menu, then select "Manage models." Under the "Provider Dropdown," choose "Ollama."
Choose Your Model: From the model dropdown, select the specific model you wish to use, such as glm-4.6 or qwen3-coder:480b-cloud.

This setup allows you to receive AI-powered code suggestions, ask coding questions, and even generate code snippets directly within your VS Code editor, powered by the advanced capabilities of GLM-4.6 and Qwen3-Coder.

Leveraging Ollama with Zed (Now on Windows!)

Zed, a high-performance, collaborative code editor, has recently expanded its reach by becoming available for Windows. Ollama’s integration with Zed further enhances its appeal to a broader developer audience.

Pull the Models: Similar to VS Code, ensure you have the cloud models downloaded:
```
ollama pull glm-4.6:cloud
ollama pull qwen3-coder:480b-cloud
```
Open Zed: Launch the Zed editor.
Access the Agent Panel: Click on the agent panel button, often represented by glittering stars.
Configure Your Model: In the agent panel, click on the model dropdown and select "Configure."
Select Ollama Provider: Choose "LLM providers" and then select "Ollama."
Connect to Ollama: Confirm that the "Host URL" is correctly set to http://localhost:11434, then click "Connect."
Choose Your Model: Finally, select your desired model from the Ollama options.

This integration transforms Zed into an even more powerful coding environment, enabling AI-assisted development powered by the latest Ollama models.

Integrating Ollama with Droid

Droid, a project by Factory AI, aims to bring AI assistance to your command line. The integration with Ollama is designed to be equally seamless.

Install Droid: If you haven’t already, install the Droid CLI:
```
curl -fsSL https://app.factory.ai/cli | sh
```

Configure Droid: Add the following configuration to your ~/.factory/config.json file. This tells Droid how to connect to Ollama and which models to recognize:

{
  "custom_models": [
    {
      "model_display_name": "GLM-4.6",
      "model": "glm-4.6:cloud",
      "base_url": "http://localhost:11434/v1",
      "api_key": "not-needed",
      "provider": "generic-chat-completion-api",
      "max_tokens": 16384
    },
    {
      "model_display_name": "Qwen3-Coder-480B",
      "model": "qwen3-coder:480b-cloud",
      "base_url": "http://localhost:11434/v1",
      "api_key": "not-needed",
      "provider": "generic-chat-completion-api",
      "max_tokens": 16384
    }
  ]
}

Run Droid and Select Model: Once configured, run Droid. You can then type /model to access the model selection menu and choose between GLM-4.6 and Qwen3-Coder-480B.

This allows you to interact with these powerful AI models directly from your terminal, enhancing your command-line development experience.

A Growing Ecosystem of Integrations

Ollama’s commitment to developer experience extends beyond these specific tools. Their documentation now features comprehensive guides on integrating with a wide array of popular coding tools, including:

Codex
Cline
VS Code
Zed
Droid
Roo code

This broad support ensures that developers can find an integration that fits their preferred development environment, making AI-assisted coding a ubiquitous part of the software development lifecycle.

Accessing Cloud Models via the Ollama Cloud API

For scenarios where direct local installation isn’t feasible or desirable, Ollama provides direct access to its cloud models via a dedicated API. This is particularly useful for integration into cloud-based applications or workflows.

Obtain an API Key: First, you’ll need to create an API key from your Ollama account on ollama.com.
Set the Environment Variable: Securely store your API key by setting it as an environment variable in your terminal:
```
export OLLAMA_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"
```
(Remember to replace "your_api_key_here" with your actual API key.)
Call the API: You can then interact with the cloud models using a simple curl command or through your preferred programming language’s HTTP client. For example, to generate a snake game in HTML using GLM-4.6:
```
curl https://ollama.com/api/chat \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $OLLAMA_API_KEY" \
  -d '{ "model": "glm-4.6", "messages": [{ "role": "user", "content": "Write a snake game in HTML." }] }'
```

This API access opens up a world of possibilities for integrating advanced AI coding assistance into your server-side applications, CI/CD pipelines, or any system that can make HTTP requests.

The Future of Development is Collaborative

The advancements introduced by Ollama with GLM-4.6 and Qwen3-Coder signify a pivotal moment in AI-powered software development. By making these powerful models easily accessible and deeply integrated into developer workflows, Ollama is not just providing tools; it’s fostering a more efficient, creative, and collaborative future for coding. Whether you’re a seasoned developer looking to supercharge your productivity or an aspiring coder exploring new possibilities, these updates offer compelling reasons to dive into the world of AI-assisted development with Ollama.