Build for macOS

Step-by-step instructions for enabling embedded inference on macOS with GenAI Llama.

Option A: Download Prebuilt Libraries (Easiest)

The llama.cpp project publishes prebuilt shared libraries for every release. No compilation required.

1. Download

Go to the llama.cpp GitHub Releases page and download:

Mac Type	Archive to Download
Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)	`llama-b*-bin-macos-arm64.zip`
Intel	`llama-b*-bin-macos-x64.zip`

2. Extract and Copy

Extract the archive and copy all .dylib files into:

<YourProject>/Plugins/GenAILlama/ThirdParty/LlamaCpp/lib/Mac/

3. Rebuild Your Unreal Project

Check the build log for:

GenAILlama: llama.cpp shared libraries found at <path>. Embedded inference enabled (dynamic loading).

The Apple Silicon builds include Metal support by default for hardware-accelerated inference.

Option B: Compile From Source (Advanced)

Compile llama.cpp yourself for maximum control over backends and optimizations.

Prerequisites

Xcode Command Line Tools (or full Xcode)
```
xcode-select --install
```
CMake 3.14 or later
```
brew install cmake
```
Git

Choose Your GPU Backend

Backend	Best For	Flag
Metal	All Apple Silicon Macs (recommended)	`-DGGML_METAL=ON`
CPU	Intel Macs, or testing	(no GPU flag)

Metal is hardware-accelerated on all Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and provides the best performance on macOS.

Build Steps

1. Clone llama.cpp

git clone https://github.com/ggml-org/llama.cpp.git
cd llama.cpp
git checkout b3600  # or any later release tag

2. Configure and Build

Metal (Recommended)

cmake -B build -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF -DGGML_METAL=ON
cmake --build build --config Release

CPU Only

cmake -B build -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF
cmake --build build --config Release

3. Copy Libraries

Copy all .a files from build/ (and its subdirectories) into your plugin directory:

<YourProject>/Plugins/GenAILlama/ThirdParty/LlamaCpp/lib/Mac/

Typical files include:

libllama.a
libggml.a
libggml-base.a
libggml-cpu.a
libggml-metal.a (Metal only)

You can use this command to find and copy all static libraries:

find build -name "*.a" -exec cp {} /path/to/ThirdParty/LlamaCpp/lib/Mac/ \;

4. Rebuild Your Unreal Project

After placing the files, rebuild your Unreal project. The plugin automatically links the required Apple frameworks (Accelerate, Metal, MetalKit, Foundation).