# Local vs on-chain models

Source: https://nodedocs.mor.org/concepts/local-vs-onchain-models

The single biggest source of confusion in Morpheus: **the bundled local model is not a Morpheus model.** Two things are easily conflated.

## TL;DR

| | Local model | On-chain (Morpheus) model |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Your machine, started automatically by the MorpheusUI desktop app | Some provider's host on the network |
| Cost | Free (your CPU/GPU) | MOR per second |
| Quality | Tiny demo (`tinyllama`) | Whatever the provider hosts (often production-grade) |
| Wallet needed | Optional | Required (MOR + ETH on BASE) |
| Session needed | No | Yes — `openSession` against a bid |
| Visible in MorpheusUI as | "Local model" | "Change Model → Remote model dropdown" |

## How to know which one you're using

### In MorpheusUI

Look at the model selector at the top of the **Chat** screen. If it says **"Local Model"** you are talking to the bundled `llama.cpp` server on `localhost:8080`. If it says a real model name like `LMR-OpenAI-GPT-4o`, you are spending MOR.

### Via the API

If you are sending prompts to `/v1/chat/completions` **without** a `session_id` header, you are routed to the local backend. **With** a `session_id` header, you are routed to the provider that opened that session. See [API direct](/reference/api-direct).

```bash
curl http://localhost:8082/v1/chat/completions \
  -H 'Authorization: Basic YWRtaW46YWRtaW4=' \
  -H 'session_id: 0x089111479fa2847106b4f7b17eace2e9b37e0d3c0db331b4e01a6e24de827477' \
  -d '{"messages":[{"role":"user","content":"hi"}],"stream":true}'
```

## Why the local model exists

It exists **only to prove the stack works end-to-end without spending money**. The bundled `tinyllama` is a 1B-parameter demonstration model — it will hallucinate, fail simple tasks, and produce inconsistent output. Comparing its quality to a real Morpheus provider is not a fair comparison.

## When to use what

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Use the local model" icon="circle-check">
    First-run validation. Smoke testing the pipeline. Demos without a wallet.
  </Card>
  <Card title="Use a Morpheus model" icon="globe">
    Anything you actually care about. Real workloads. Apps. Agents.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

See also [Why is my MOR locked?](/ai/why-locked-in-contract) and [Local vs blockchain models (anti-hallucination)](/ai/local-vs-blockchain-models) for an LLM-focused version of this page.