---
sidebar_position: 1
title: "Run DeepSeek R1 Dynamic 1.58-bit with Llama.cpp"
---

A huge shoutout to **UnslothAI** for their incredible efforts! Thanks to their hard work, we can now run the **full DeepSeek-R1** 671B parameter model in its dynamic 1.58-bit quantized form (compressed to just 131GB) on **Llama.cpp**! And the best part? You no longer have to despair about needing massive enterprise-class GPUs or servers — it’s possible to run this model on your personal machine (albeit slowly for most consumer hardware).

:::note

The only true **DeepSeek-R1** model on Ollama is the **671B version** available here: [https://ollama.com/library/deepseek-r1:671b](https://ollama.com/library/deepseek-r1:671b). Other versions are **distilled** models.

:::

This guide focuses on running the **full DeepSeek-R1 Dynamic 1.58-bit quantized model** using **Llama.cpp** integrated with **Open WebUI**. For this tutorial, we’ll demonstrate the steps with an **M4 Max + 128GB RAM** machine. You can adapt the settings to your own configuration.

---

## Step 1: Install Llama.cpp

You can either:

- [Download the prebuilt binaries](https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp/releases)
- **Or build it yourself**: Follow the instructions in the [Llama.cpp Build Guide](https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp/blob/master/docs/build.md)

## Step 2: Download the Model Provided by UnslothAI

Head over to [Unsloth’s Hugging Face page](https://huggingface.co/unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF) and download the appropriate **dynamic quantized version** of DeepSeek-R1. For this tutorial, we’ll use the **1.58-bit (131GB)** version, which is highly optimized yet remains surprisingly functional.

:::tip

Know your "working directory" — where your Python script or terminal session is running. The model files will download to a subfolder of that directory by default, so be sure you know its path! For example, if you're running the command below in `/Users/yourname/Documents/projects`, your downloaded model will be saved under `/Users/yourname/Documents/projects/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF`.

:::

To understand more about UnslothAI’s development process and why these dynamic quantized versions are so efficient, check out their blog post: [UnslothAI DeepSeek R1 Dynamic Quantization](https://unsloth.ai/blog/deepseekr1-dynamic).

Here’s how to download the model programmatically:

```python

# Install Hugging Face dependencies before running this:

# pip install huggingface_hub hf_transfer

from huggingface_hub import snapshot_download

snapshot_download(
    repo_id = "unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF",  # Specify the Hugging Face repo
    local_dir = "DeepSeek-R1-GGUF",         # Model will download into this directory
    allow_patterns = ["*UD-IQ1_S*"],        # Only download the 1.58-bit version
)
```

Once the download completes, you’ll find the model files in a directory structure like this:

```txt
DeepSeek-R1-GGUF/
├── DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S/
│   ├── DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S-00001-of-00003.gguf
│   ├── DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S-00002-of-00003.gguf
│   ├── DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S-00003-of-00003.gguf
```

:::info

🛠️ Update paths in the later steps to **match your specific directory structure**. For example, if your script was in `/Users/tim/Downloads`, the full path to the GGUF file would be:
`/Users/tim/Downloads/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF/DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S/DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S-00001-of-00003.gguf`.

:::

## Step 3: Make Sure Open WebUI is Installed and Running

If you don’t already have **Open WebUI** installed, no worries! It’s a simple setup. Just follow the [Open WebUI documentation](https://docs.openwebui.com/). Once installed, start the application — we’ll connect it in a later step to interact with the DeepSeek-R1 model.

## Step 4: Serve the Model Using Llama.cpp

Now that the model is downloaded, the next step is to run it using **Llama.cpp’s server mode**. Before you begin:

1. **Locate the `llama-server` binary.**
   If you built from source (as outlined in Step 1), the `llama-server` executable will be located in `llama.cpp/build/bin`. Navigate to this directory by using the `cd` command:

   ```bash
   cd [path-to-llama-cpp]/llama.cpp/build/bin
   ```

   Replace `[path-to-llama-cpp]` with the location where you cloned or built Llama.cpp. For example:

   ```bash
   cd ~/Documents/workspace/llama.cpp/build/bin
   ```

2. **Point to your model folder.**
   Use the full path to the downloaded GGUF files created in Step 2. When serving the model, specify the first part of the split GGUF files (e.g., `DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S-00001-of-00003.gguf`).

Here’s the command to start the server:

```bash
./llama-server \
    --model /[your-directory]/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF/DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S/DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S-00001-of-00003.gguf \
    --port 10000 \
    --ctx-size 1024 \
    --n-gpu-layers 40
```

:::tip

🔑 **Parameters to Customize Based on Your Machine:**

- **`--model`:** Replace `/[your-directory]/` with the path where the GGUF files were downloaded in Step 2.
- **`--port`:** The server default is `8080`, but feel free to change it based on your port availability.
- **`--ctx-size`:** Determines context length (number of tokens). You can increase it if your hardware allows, but be cautious of rising RAM/VRAM usage.
- **`--n-gpu-layers`:** Set the number of layers you want to offload to your GPU for faster inference. The exact number depends on your GPU’s memory capacity — reference Unsloth’s table for specific recommendations.

:::

For example, if your model was downloaded to `/Users/tim/Documents/workspace`, your command would look like this:

```bash
./llama-server \
    --model /Users/tim/Documents/workspace/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF/DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S/DeepSeek-R1-UD-IQ1_S-00001-of-00003.gguf \
    --port 10000 \
    --ctx-size 1024 \
    --n-gpu-layers 40
```

Once the server starts, it will host a **local OpenAI-compatible API** endpoint at:

```txt
http://127.0.0.1:10000
```

:::info

🖥️ **Llama.cpp Server Running**

![Server Screenshot](/images/tutorials/deepseek/serve.png)

After running the command, you should see a message confirming the server is active and listening on port 10000.

:::

Be sure to **keep this terminal session running**, as it serves the model for all subsequent steps.

## Step 5: Connect Llama.cpp to Open WebUI

1. Go to **Admin Settings** in Open WebUI.
2. Navigate to **Connections > OpenAI Connections.**
3. Add the following details for the new connection:
   - URL: `http://127.0.0.1:10000/v1` (or `http://host.docker.internal:10000/v1` when running Open WebUI in docker)
   - API Key: `none`

:::info

🖥️ **Adding Connection in Open WebUI**

![Connection Screenshot](/images/tutorials/deepseek/connection.png)

After running the command, you should see a message confirming the server is active and listening on port 10000.

:::

Once the connection is saved, you can start querying **DeepSeek-R1** directly from Open WebUI! 🎉

---

## Example: Generating Responses

You can now use Open WebUI’s chat interface to interact with the **DeepSeek-R1 Dynamic 1.58-bit model**.

![Response Screenshot](/images/tutorials/deepseek/response.png)

---

## Notes and Considerations

- **Performance:**
  Running a massive 131GB model like DeepSeek-R1 on personal hardware will be **slow**. Even with our M4 Max (128GB RAM), inference speeds were modest. But the fact that it works at all is a testament to UnslothAI’s optimizations.

- **VRAM/Memory Requirements:**
  Ensure sufficient VRAM and system RAM for optimal performance. With low-end GPUs or CPU-only setups, expect slower speeds (but it’s still doable!).

---

Thanks to **UnslothAI** and **Llama.cpp**, running one of the largest open-source reasoning models, **DeepSeek-R1** (1.58-bit version), is finally accessible to individuals. While it’s challenging to run such models on consumer hardware, the ability to do so without massive computational infrastructure is a significant technological milestone.

⭐ Big thanks to the community for pushing the boundaries of open AI research.

Happy experimenting! 🚀