lm-studio-subagents
Offload tasks to local LLMs via LM Studio. Use when a user asks to run local models with LM Studio, save API costs by using local LLMs, create subagents with local models, offload summarization or classification to a local model, or use LM Studio's API for batch processing. Covers local model inference, task delegation, and cost optimization.
Usage
Getting Started
- Install the skill using the command above
- Open your AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, or Cursor)
- Reference the skill in your prompt
- The AI will use the skill's capabilities automatically
Example Prompts
- "Analyze the sales data in revenue.csv and identify trends"
- "Create a visualization comparing Q1 vs Q2 performance metrics"
Documentation
Overview
Offload LLM tasks to local models running in LM Studio to save API costs and maintain privacy. LM Studio provides an OpenAI-compatible API for local models, making it a drop-in replacement for cloud LLM calls. Use local models for high-volume, lower-complexity tasks like summarization, extraction, classification, and reformatting while reserving cloud APIs for complex reasoning.
Instructions
When a user wants to use local models via LM Studio, determine the task:
Task A: Set up LM Studio as a local API server
-
Download and install LM Studio from
https://lmstudio.ai/ -
Download a model through the LM Studio UI (recommended starting models):
lmstudio-community/Llama-3.1-8B-Instruct-GGUF(general purpose)lmstudio-community/Mistral-7B-Instruct-v0.3-GGUF(fast inference)lmstudio-community/Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct-GGUF(multilingual)
-
Start the local server:
- Open LM Studio, go to the "Developer" tab
- Load a model and click "Start Server"
- Server runs at
http://localhost:1234by default
-
Verify the server is running:
curl http://localhost:1234/v1/models
Task B: Call LM Studio from Python (OpenAI-compatible)
from openai import OpenAI
# Point to local LM Studio server
client = OpenAI(
base_url="http://localhost:1234/v1",
api_key="lm-studio", # Any string works
)
def ask_local(prompt: str, system: str = "You are a helpful assistant.") -> str:
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="loaded-model", # LM Studio ignores this, uses loaded model
messages=[
{"role": "system", "content": system},
{"role": "user", "content": prompt},
],
temperature=0.3,
max_tokens=1024,
)
return response.choices[0].message.content
# Example usage
result = ask_local("Summarize this text in 2 sentences: ...")
print(result)
Task C: Create task-specific subagents
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(base_url="http://localhost:1234/v1", api_key="lm-studio")
class LocalSubagent:
def __init__(self, system_prompt: str, temperature: float = 0.2):
self.system_prompt = system_prompt
self.temperature = temperature
def run(self, user_input: str) -> str:
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="loaded-model",
messages=[
{"role": "system", "content": self.system_prompt},
{"role": "user", "content": user_input},
],
temperature=self.temperature,
max_tokens=2048,
)
return response.choices[0].message.content
# Define specialized subagents
summarizer = LocalSubagent(
system_prompt="You are a summarization expert. Produce concise 2-3 sentence summaries."
)
classifier = LocalSubagent(
system_prompt="Classify the input into one of these categories: billing, technical, general, urgent. Respond with only the category name.",
temperature=0.0,
)
extractor = LocalSubagent(
system_prompt="Extract all named entities (people, organizations, dates, amounts) from the text. Return as JSON.",
temperature=0.0,
)
# Use the subagents
summary = summarizer.run("Long document text here...")
category = classifier.run("I can't log into my account and I need to submit a report by EOD")
entities = extractor.run("John Smith signed a $50,000 contract with Acme Corp on March 15, 2025")
Task D: Batch processing with local models
import asyncio
from openai import AsyncOpenAI
client = AsyncOpenAI(base_url="http://localhost:1234/v1", api_key="lm-studio")
async def process_batch(items: list[str], system_prompt: str, max_concurrent: int = 4) -> list[str]:
semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(max_concurrent)
async def process_one(text: str) -> str:
async with semaphore:
response = await client.chat.completions.create(
model="loaded-model",
messages=[
{"role": "system", "content": system_prompt},
{"role": "user", "content": text},
],
temperature=0.2,
max_tokens=512,
)
return response.choices[0].message.content
tasks = [process_one(item) for item in items]
return await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
# Batch summarize 100 documents
documents = ["doc1 text...", "doc2 text...", ...] # 100 documents
summaries = asyncio.run(process_batch(
documents,
system_prompt="Summarize in 2 sentences.",
max_concurrent=2, # LM Studio handles one request at a time by default
))
Task E: Cost comparison and routing strategy
Decide when to use local vs. cloud models:
| Task | Local Model | Cloud API | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summarization | Good | Better | Local (save cost) |
| Classification | Good | Good | Local (save cost) |
| Data extraction | Moderate | Good | Local for simple, cloud for complex |
| Code generation | Moderate | Better | Cloud |
| Complex reasoning | Weak | Strong | Cloud |
| Translation | Good | Better | Local for common languages |
def smart_route(task_type: str, text: str) -> str:
"""Route tasks between local and cloud models."""
local_tasks = {"summarize", "classify", "extract_simple", "reformat"}
if task_type in local_tasks:
return ask_local(text) # Free, local inference
else:
return ask_cloud(text) # Paid, cloud API
Examples
Example 1: Summarize 500 support tickets locally
User request: "Summarize all our support tickets from last month without API costs"
tickets = load_tickets_from_csv("tickets.csv")
summaries = asyncio.run(process_batch(
[t["description"] for t in tickets],
system_prompt="Summarize this support ticket in one sentence. Include the main issue and any resolution.",
max_concurrent=2,
))
# Cost: $0 (vs ~$15 with GPT-4)
Example 2: Classify incoming emails
User request: "Auto-classify emails into categories using a local model"
classifier = LocalSubagent(
system_prompt="Classify this email into exactly one category: sales, support, spam, internal. Reply with only the category.",
temperature=0.0,
)
for email in emails:
category = classifier.run(email["subject"] + "\n" + email["body"])
email["category"] = category.strip().lower()
Example 3: Extract structured data from documents
User request: "Extract names, dates, and amounts from these contracts"
extractor = LocalSubagent(
system_prompt='Extract fields from the contract as JSON: {"parties": [], "date": "", "amount": "", "term": ""}',
temperature=0.0,
)
for doc in contracts:
data = extractor.run(doc["text"])
print(f"{doc['filename']}: {data}")
Guidelines
- LM Studio processes one request at a time by default. Set
max_concurrent=1-2for batch jobs. - Use quantized models (Q4_K_M or Q5_K_M) for best speed-to-quality ratio on consumer hardware.
- 8B parameter models are the sweet spot for most extraction and classification tasks.
- Set
temperature=0.0for deterministic tasks like classification and extraction. - Test local model accuracy on a sample of 20-50 items before running full batches.
- For tasks where local models underperform, fall back to cloud APIs automatically.
- Keep LM Studio running as a background service for always-on local inference.
- Monitor RAM and VRAM usage; 7B models need ~6 GB RAM (quantized) or ~16 GB (full precision).
Information
- Version
- 1.0.1
- Author
- terminal-skills
- Category
- Data & AI
- License
- Apache-2.0