Welcome to your DIY AI app journey! In this post, we’ll build a local AI chatbot using Ollama, Flask, and basic web tech — and we’ll show you how to securely expose it online using Cloudflare, and later scale it into the cloud.
⚡️ Why Host Locally?
Self-hosting Ollama means:
- Full data control and no cloud costs
- Instant feedback for developers
- Integrations with other tools (e.g., sensors, databases, internal data)
It’s great for researchers, educators, tinkerers, and developers.
🚀 Tech Overview
We’re combining:
- 🧠 Ollama – LLM runtime
- 🐍 Flask – lightweight Python web server
- 🧪 JavaScript + HTML – simple, usable frontend
- 🌐 Cloudflare Tunnel – secure HTTPS access without network risk
- 🐳 Docker – scale-ready deployment format
🔧 Local Setup
Follow the full instructions in the README.md to get it running on localhost:5000.
You can also:
- Switch models (e.g. llama3, mistral)
- Customize responses
- Style the UI
🔐 Cloudflare Tunnel for Secure Access
Don’t want to open ports on your router? Use Cloudflare Tunnel:
cloudflared tunnel --url http://localhost:5000
Now anyone can access your app through HTTPS — and it’s still local!
🌍 Ready for the Cloud?
You can move this app to any cloud provider:
- Install Ollama on the VM
- Pull this repo
- Build Docker image and run container
- Use a reverse proxy like Nginx or Caddy for HTTPS
🧠 What’s Next?
This starter project can grow fast:
- Add Stable Diffusion for image generation
- Use voice input/output for hands-free AI
- Connect to a vector database for RAG
- Build a multi-user dashboard
- Turn it into a progressive web app or mobile experience
📎 Source Code
Everything is in this GitHub repo: https://github.com/CptNope/Ollama-Flask-Web-App
Need help expanding it? Contact me!
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