GET /api/version

Get Ollama version

Retrieve the version of the Ollama server.

Request

Endpoint

GET /api/version

Headers

HEAD /api/version

Both GET and HEAD methods are supported.

Request Parameters

No parameters required.

Response

Response Fields

version · string

The version string of the Ollama server (e.g., "0.1.28", "0.2.0")

Examples

cURL

curl http://localhost:11434/api/version

Example Response

{
  "version": "0.1.28"
}

Check Version Compatibility

import requests
from packaging import version

def check_min_version(min_version):
    response = requests.get('http://localhost:11434/api/version')
    current = version.parse(response.json()['version'])
    required = version.parse(min_version)
    
    if current >= required:
        print(f"✓ Version {current} meets requirement {required}")
        return True
    else:
        print(f"✗ Version {current} below requirement {required}")
        return False

check_min_version('0.1.20')

Version Check in Application Startup

async function checkOllamaConnection() {
  try {
    const response = await fetch('http://localhost:11434/api/version', {
      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(5000) // 5 second timeout
    });
    
    if (response.ok) {
      const data = await response.json();
      console.log(`✓ Connected to Ollama ${data.version}`);
      return true;
    }
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('✗ Cannot connect to Ollama:', error.message);
    return false;
  }
}

// Check before starting application
if (await checkOllamaConnection()) {
  console.log('Starting application...');
} else {
  console.error('Please start Ollama server');
  process.exit(1);
}

Compare Versions

import requests

def compare_versions(v1, v2):
    """Compare two semantic versions"""
    v1_parts = [int(x) for x in v1.split('.')]
    v2_parts = [int(x) for x in v2.split('.')]
    
    # Pad with zeros if needed
    while len(v1_parts) < len(v2_parts):
        v1_parts.append(0)
    while len(v2_parts) < len(v1_parts):
        v2_parts.append(0)
    
    if v1_parts > v2_parts:
        return 1
    elif v1_parts < v2_parts:
        return -1
    else:
        return 0

response = requests.get('http://localhost:11434/api/version')
current_version = response.json()['version']
required_version = '0.1.20'

if compare_versions(current_version, required_version) >= 0:
    print(f"Version {current_version} is compatible")
else:
    print(f"Please upgrade to version {required_version} or later")

Health Check with Version

#!/bin/bash
# health-check.sh

VERSION=$(curl -s http://localhost:11434/api/version | jq -r '.version')

if [ -z "$VERSION" ]; then
  echo "ERROR: Ollama is not responding"
  exit 1
else
  echo "OK: Ollama version $VERSION is running"
  exit 0
fi

Use Cases

Application Compatibility Check

import requests
import sys

REQUIRED_VERSION = '0.1.25'

try:
    response = requests.get('http://localhost:11434/api/version', timeout=5)
    version = response.json()['version']
    
    if version < REQUIRED_VERSION:
        print(f"Warning: This application requires Ollama {REQUIRED_VERSION} or later.")
        print(f"Current version: {version}")
        print("Some features may not work correctly.")
        
        if input("Continue anyway? (y/n): ").lower() != 'y':
            sys.exit(1)
except requests.exceptions.RequestException:
    print("Error: Cannot connect to Ollama server.")
    print("Please ensure Ollama is running on http://localhost:11434")
    sys.exit(1)

Docker Health Check

# Dockerfile
FROM ollama/ollama

HEALTHCHECK --interval=30s --timeout=3s --start-period=5s --retries=3 \
  CMD curl -f http://localhost:11434/api/version || exit 1

Error Responses

Common Errors

• Connection Refused: Ollama server is not running
• Timeout: Server is not responding

This endpoint is useful for health checks and ensuring the Ollama service is running before making other API calls.

Version numbers follow semantic versioning (MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH). Check compatibility requirements for features that may not be available in older versions.