PrivyPDF — Support

Local PDF Q&A with Ollama. Your documents never leave your machine.

This document covers how to get help, frequently asked questions, and troubleshooting for PrivyPDF.

About PrivyPDF

PrivyPDF is a local-first macOS app that turns your PDFs into a searchable, question-answerable knowledge base. All processing runs on your Mac via Ollama. Your documents and embeddings stay in your App Sandbox.

Requirements

• macOS 14.6 or later
• Ollama installed and running on your Mac
  • Embedding model (e.g. nomic-embed-text, bge-m3)
  • Chat model (e.g. qwen2.5:7b-instruct, llama3.1:8b)

Quick Start

1. Install Ollama — ollama.com
2. Pull models in Terminal:

   ollama pull nomic-embed-text
   ollama pull qwen2.5:7b-instruct

3. Open PrivyPDF → Import a PDF → Parse & Index → Ask questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: "Cannot connect to Ollama" or indexing fails

A: Ensure Ollama is running:

ollama serve

Check that it listens on http://localhost:11434. If you use a custom URL, set it in PrivyPDF → Settings.

Q: Which models should I use?

A:

• Embedding: nomic-embed-text or bge-m3
• Chat: qwen2.5:7b-instruct, llama3.1:8b, or any Ollama-compatible instruct model

Configure both in PrivyPDF → Settings.

Q: Where are my PDFs stored?

A: PDFs and indexes are stored in the app sandbox:

~/Library/Containers/<BundleID>/Data/Library/Application Support/PrivyPDF/

Your documents never leave your Mac.

Q: Can I use a remote Ollama server?

A: The app is designed for local Ollama. For remote servers, you would need to configure your base URL (e.g. http://your-server:11434) in Settings. Network access must be allowed by the app.

Q: Answers are slow or inaccurate

A: Try a larger chat model (e.g. qwen2.5:14b or llama3.1:70b). Ensure your PDF has extractable text (not scanned images). For scanned PDFs, OCR support may be added in future versions.

Q: How do I export document content?

A: Use the Export buttons in the document list or chat view to export as Markdown or JSON.

Contact Us

For support, bug reports, or feature requests:

• Feedback & Issues: Submit Feedback or Report a Problem

Related Links

• Privacy Policy
• Ollama — Local AI models

PrivyPDF — Local PDF Q&A with Ollama. Your documents never leave your machine.