How to connect Ollama to Claude Cowork

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Claude Cowork logo
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Introduction

Cowork is Anthropic's AI agent for knowledge work. Think of it as Claude Code for everything else. It works autonomously with your computer, local files, and applications to accomplish complex tasks.

This guide walks you through the easiest and most secure way to connect your Ollama account to Cowork via Composio Connect, enabling it to run a custom prompt with llama2, get model info for all installed models, generate a text completion using mistral, and more such actions on your behalf without compromising your account security.

Also integrate Ollama with

Connecting Ollama to Claude Cowork

1. Open Customize

In Claude Desktop, click Customize in the left sidebar, then select Connectors and click the + icon at the top.

Claude Desktop connectors screen with Add custom connector selected

2. Add the Composio MCP server

Click Add custom connector and paste in the Composio MCP server URL:

bash
https://connect.composio.dev/mcp
Add custom connector dialog with Composio MCP server URL

3. Authorize in your browser

Click Connect. You'll be redirected to a browser window where you can authorize Composio to continue.

Composio authorization screen for Claude Cowork

4. Connect your Ollama account

Back in Cowork, ask the agent to connect to Ollama or give it any Ollama-related task.

For example, ask Cowork to:

  • "Run a custom prompt with llama2"
  • "Get model info for all installed models"
  • "Generate a text completion using mistral"

It will prompt you to authenticate and authorize access.

That's it. Composio's tools are now available in Cowork, and your Ollama account is ready to use.

What is Claude Cowork?

Claude Cowork is Anthropic's agent for general knowledge work. It can use your computer, files, and connected applications to complete longer-running tasks across your work tools.

With Composio Connect, Cowork can securely access apps like Ollama through MCP without you sharing account credentials directly with the agent.

What is the Ollama MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Ollama MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Ollama account. It provides structured and secure access so your agent can perform Ollama operations on your behalf.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Chat with Ollama modelTool to send a chat message with conversation history to Ollama.
Generate Text with OllamaTool to generate text responses from Ollama models with optional raw mode.
List ModelsTool to list all available Ollama models and their details.
OpenAI-Compatible Chat CompletionTool to create OpenAI-compatible chat completions using Ollama models.
OpenAI-Compatible Text CompletionTool to create OpenAI-compatible text completions using Ollama models.
List Models (OpenAI Compatible)Tool to list available models using OpenAI-compatible API format.
Show Model InformationTool to show comprehensive information about an Ollama model.
Get Ollama VersionTool to get the version of Ollama running locally.

Available tools and triggers

After setup, the supported Ollama tools and triggers listed on this page are available to Cowork through Composio Connect.

You can now ask Cowork to handle Ollama workflows in natural language, from quick summaries and drafting tasks to more complex multi-step work across connected apps.

How to build Ollama MCP Agent with another framework

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Ollama MCP?

With a standalone Ollama MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Ollama tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Ollama and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with Claude Cowork?

Yes, you can. Claude Cowork fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Ollama tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Ollama while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Ollama scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Ollama data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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