Importing a ModelKit from Hugging Face

You can automatically generate a ModelKit from a Hugging Face repository using the kit import command. This speeds and simplifies the job of getting started with ModelKits.

WARNING

Git LFS is required for importing from Hugging Face.

TIP

To customize the editor used for editing the Kitfile during import, set the EDITOR environment variable

You can read more about the import command in our CLI reference.

Importing a Hugging Face repository

1. Get the HF URL: On the Hugging Face site, copy the URL from the repository you want to create a ModelKit from (e.g., https://huggingface.co/HuggingFaceTB/SmolLM-135M-Instruct). You can also customize the name or add a tag name if desired.

2. Kit import: In a terminal window running Kit version 1.0.0 at least, type kit import https://huggingface.co/HuggingFaceTB/SmolLM-135M-Instruct. This will download and build a Kitfile based on the Hugging Face model and give you an opportunity to edit it before the ModelKit is packed.

3. Auto-generate the ModelKit: Once the Kitfile is accepted a ModelKit will be built and saved to your local registry using the name you selected. If you didn't specify a tag name the ModelKit will be tagged latest.

4. Admire your new ModelKit: Typing kit list will show you the list of ModelKits on your system and you'll see the newly imported tag (e.g., HuggingFaceTB/SmolLM-135M-Instruct:latest).

That's it! So easy! Now go out there and start sharing your favourite Hugging Face models through your OCI registry!