Principle:Ollama Ollama Manifest Resolution
| Knowledge Sources | |
|---|---|
| Domains | Storage, Model_Management |
| Last Updated | 2026-02-14 00:00 GMT |
Overview
A resolution mechanism that reads, parses, and fetches model manifests from both local storage and remote registries to determine model composition and layer digests.
Description
Manifest Resolution is the process of obtaining a model's manifest — the JSON document that describes which content-addressed blobs compose the model. Manifests can be resolved locally (from the filesystem) or remotely (from the Ollama registry via HTTP).
For push operations, the local manifest is read to determine which blobs need to be uploaded. For pull operations, the remote manifest is fetched to determine which blobs need to be downloaded. The resolution also handles model name parsing to construct the correct filesystem paths and registry URLs.
Usage
Use this principle when implementing model distribution operations that need to determine the composition of a model before transferring its components.
Theoretical Basis
Manifest resolution paths:
Local Resolution:
- Parse model name → filesystem path (~/.ollama/models/manifests/{host}/{namespace}/{model}/{tag})
- Read and parse JSON manifest file
- Return Manifest with Config layer and content Layers
Remote Resolution:
- Parse model name → registry URL (https://{host}/v2/{namespace}/{model}/manifests/{tag})
- Authenticate with registry
- Fetch manifest via HTTP GET
- Parse JSON response
Push Flow:
- Resolve local manifest
- For each layer, check if blob exists on remote (HEAD request)
- Upload missing blobs
- Push manifest