Module 3: LM Studio - Introduction
Chat Interface and Playground
Overview
You'll learn to use LM Studio's graphical interface to chat with your local model without writing code.
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Low
🎯 Objectives
- ✅ Use the Chat interface
- ✅ Adjust parameters (temperature, max tokens)
- ✅ Create custom system prompts
- ✅ Save conversations
💬 Chat Interface
Access:
- Model loaded (🟢 in the top bar)
- Click the 💬 Chat tab
System Prompt:
Defines the model's behavior:
You are a technical assistant specialized in Python.
Answer clearly and concisely.
Send messages:
Type in the input box and press Enter.
⚙️ Parameters Panel
Temperature (0.0-2.0):
- 0.0: Deterministic
- 0.7: Balanced (default)
- 2.0: Very creative
Max Tokens:
- Response limit
- Default: 512
- Range: 1-32768 (depending on the model)
Top-p (0.0-1.0):
- Alternative to temperature
- Default: 0.9
💾 Save Conversations
Export chat:
- Click the "Export" button
- Format: JSON or Markdown
- Saves to disk
📊 Comparison with OpenAI
| Feature | LM Studio | OpenAI Playground |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $0 | $$$ |
| Privacy | 100% local | Cloud |
| Speed | Variable (hardware) | Consistent (~1.5s) |
| Models | Open source | GPT-3.5/4 |
✅ Summary
- A simple interface for chatting
- Adjustable parameters (temperature, max_tokens)
- Customizable system prompts
- Conversation export
Next: 05-api-local.md