Run AI Models Locally Using Docker Model Runner and Spring AI

Developers building Java applications with Spring AI can run large language models locally using Docker Model Runner, eliminating the need for cloud-hosted AI services like OpenAI or AWS Bedrock. Docker Model Runner exposes an OpenAI-compatible API endpoint, allowing Spring Boot applications to communicate with local models through standard Spring AI abstractions such as ChatClient and ChatModel. Running models locally helps developers avoid API costs during experimentation, keep sensitive data on-device, and work without an active internet connection. The setup requires Docker Desktop and the Spring AI OpenAI starter dependency, which connects to the local runtime rather than OpenAI's cloud infrastructure. This approach lets developers test prompts, RAG pipelines, and tool-calling logic without configuring cloud credentials each time.