diff --git a/docs/source/distributions/self_hosted_distro/starter.md b/docs/source/distributions/self_hosted_distro/starter.md
index e9fdb6f8d..730ccf165 100644
--- a/docs/source/distributions/self_hosted_distro/starter.md
+++ b/docs/source/distributions/self_hosted_distro/starter.md
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ The `llamastack/distribution-starter` distribution is a comprehensive, multi-pro
 
 ## Provider Composition
 
-The starter distribution consists of the following provider configurations:
+The starter distribution consists of the following configurations:
 
 | API | Provider(s) |
 |-----|-------------|
@@ -23,8 +23,9 @@ The starter distribution consists of the following provider configurations:
 | datasetio | `remote::huggingface`, `inline::localfs` |
 | eval | `inline::meta-reference` |
 | files | `inline::localfs` |
-| inference | `remote::openai`, `remote::fireworks`, `remote::together`, `remote::ollama`, `remote::anthropic`, `remote::gemini`, `remote::groq`, `remote::sambanova`, `remote::vllm`, `remote::tgi`, `remote::cerebras`, `remote::llama-openai-compat`, `remote::nvidia`, `remote::hf::serverless`, `remote::hf::endpoint`, `inline::sentence-transformers` |
+| inference | `remote::openai`, `remote::fireworks`, `remote::together`, `remote::ollama`, `remote::anthropic`, `remote::gemini`, `remote::groq`, `remote::sambanova`, `remote::vllm`, `remote::tgi`, `remote::cerebras`, `remote::llama-openai-compat`, `remote::nvidia`, `remote::hf::serverless`, `remote::hf::endpoint`, `inline::sentence-transformers`, `remote::passthrough` |
 | safety | `inline::llama-guard` |
+| post_training | `inline::huggingface` |
 | scoring | `inline::basic`, `inline::llm-as-judge`, `inline::braintrust` |
 | telemetry | `inline::meta-reference` |
 | tool_runtime | `remote::brave-search`, `remote::tavily-search`, `inline::rag-runtime`, `remote::model-context-protocol` |
@@ -34,8 +35,8 @@ The starter distribution consists of the following provider configurations:
 
 The starter distribution includes a comprehensive set of inference providers:
 
-### Hosted Providers
-- **OpenAI**: GPT-4, GPT-3.5, O1, O3, O4 models and text embeddings
+- **OpenAI**: GPT-4, GPT-3.5, O1, O3, O4 models and text embeddings - point to the relevant provider
+  configuration documentation for more details
 - **Fireworks**: Llama 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4 Scout, 4 Maverick models and embeddings
 - **Together**: Llama 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 4 Scout, 4 Maverick models and embeddings
 - **Anthropic**: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude 3.7 Sonnet, Claude 3.5 Haiku, and Voyage embeddings
@@ -46,114 +47,40 @@ The starter distribution includes a comprehensive set of inference providers:
 - **NVIDIA**: NVIDIA NIM models
 - **HuggingFace**: Serverless and endpoint models
 - **Bedrock**: AWS Bedrock models
-
-### Local/Remote Providers
+- **Passthrough**: Passthrough provider - use this to connect to any other inference provider that is not supported by Llama Stack
 - **Ollama**: Local Ollama models
-- **vLLM**: Local or remote vLLM server
+- **vLLM**: remote vLLM server
 - **TGI**: Text Generation Inference server - Dell Enterprise Hub's custom TGI container too (use `DEH_URL`)
 - **Sentence Transformers**: Local embedding models
 
-All providers are disabled by default. So you need to enable them by setting the environment variables.
+All providers are **disabled** by default. So you need to enable them by setting the environment
+variables. See [Enabling Providers](#enabling-providers) for more details.
 
-## Environment Variables
+## Vector Providers
 
-The following environment variables can be configured:
+The starter distribution includes a comprehensive set of vector providers:
 
-### Server Configuration
-- `LLAMA_STACK_PORT`: Port for the Llama Stack distribution server (default: `8321`)
-
-### API Keys for Hosted Providers
-- `OPENAI_API_KEY`: OpenAI API key
-- `FIREWORKS_API_KEY`: Fireworks API key
-- `TOGETHER_API_KEY`: Together API key
-- `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY`: Anthropic API key
-- `GEMINI_API_KEY`: Google Gemini API key
-- `GROQ_API_KEY`: Groq API key
-- `SAMBANOVA_API_KEY`: SambaNova API key
-- `CEREBRAS_API_KEY`: Cerebras API key
-- `LLAMA_API_KEY`: Llama API key
-- `NVIDIA_API_KEY`: NVIDIA API key
-- `HF_API_TOKEN`: HuggingFace API token
-
-### Local Provider Configuration
-- `OLLAMA_URL`: Ollama server URL (default: `http://localhost:11434`)
-- `VLLM_URL`: vLLM server URL (default: `http://localhost:8000/v1`)
-- `VLLM_MAX_TOKENS`: vLLM max tokens (default: `4096`)
-- `VLLM_API_TOKEN`: vLLM API token (default: `fake`)
-- `VLLM_TLS_VERIFY`: vLLM TLS verification (default: `true`)
-- `TGI_URL`: TGI server URL
-
-### Model Configuration
-- `INFERENCE_MODEL`: HuggingFace model for serverless inference
-- `INFERENCE_ENDPOINT_NAME`: HuggingFace endpoint name
-- `OLLAMA_INFERENCE_MODEL`: Ollama model name
-- `OLLAMA_EMBEDDING_MODEL`: Ollama embedding model name
-- `OLLAMA_EMBEDDING_DIMENSION`: Ollama embedding dimension (default: `384`)
-- `VLLM_INFERENCE_MODEL`: vLLM model name
-
-### Vector Database Configuration
-- `SQLITE_STORE_DIR`: SQLite store directory (default: `~/.llama/distributions/starter`)
-- `ENABLE_SQLITE_VEC`: Enable SQLite vector provider
-- `ENABLE_CHROMADB`: Enable ChromaDB provider
-- `ENABLE_PGVECTOR`: Enable PGVector provider
-- `CHROMADB_URL`: ChromaDB server URL
-- `PGVECTOR_HOST`: PGVector host (default: `localhost`)
-- `PGVECTOR_PORT`: PGVector port (default: `5432`)
-- `PGVECTOR_DB`: PGVector database name
-- `PGVECTOR_USER`: PGVector username
-- `PGVECTOR_PASSWORD`: PGVector password
-
-### Tool Configuration
-- `BRAVE_SEARCH_API_KEY`: Brave Search API key
-- `TAVILY_SEARCH_API_KEY`: Tavily Search API key
-
-### Telemetry Configuration
-- `OTEL_SERVICE_NAME`: OpenTelemetry service name
-- `TELEMETRY_SINKS`: Telemetry sinks (default: `console,sqlite`)
+- **FAISS**: Local FAISS vector store - enabled by default
+- **SQLite**: Local SQLite vector store - disabled by default
+- **ChromaDB**: Remote ChromaDB server - disabled by default
+- **PGVector**: Remote PGVector server - disabled by default
 
 ## Enabling Providers
 
-You can enable specific providers by setting their provider ID to a valid value using environment variables. This is useful when you want to use certain providers or don't have the required API keys.
+You can enable specific providers by setting their provider ID to a string value using environment
+variables.
 
-### Examples of Enabling Providers
+For instance, to enable the Ollama provider, you can set the `ENABLE_OLLAMA` environment variable to `ollama`.
 
-#### Enable FAISS Vector Provider
-```bash
-export ENABLE_FAISS=faiss
-```
-
-#### Enable Ollama Models
 ```bash
 export ENABLE_OLLAMA=ollama
 ```
 
-#### Disable vLLM Models
-```bash
-export VLLM_INFERENCE_MODEL=__disabled__
-```
-
-#### Disable Optional Vector Providers
-```bash
-export ENABLE_SQLITE_VEC=__disabled__
-export ENABLE_CHROMADB=__disabled__
-export ENABLE_PGVECTOR=__disabled__
-```
-
-### Provider ID Patterns
-
-The starter distribution uses several patterns for provider IDs:
-
-1. **Direct provider IDs**: `faiss`, `ollama`, `vllm`
-2. **Environment-based provider IDs**: `${env.ENABLE_SQLITE_VEC+sqlite-vec}`
-3. **Model-based provider IDs**: `${env.OLLAMA_INFERENCE_MODEL:__disabled__}`
-
-When using the `+` pattern (like `${env.ENABLE_SQLITE_VEC+sqlite-vec}`), the provider is enabled by default and can be disabled by setting the environment variable to `__disabled__`.
-
-When using the `:` pattern (like `${env.OLLAMA_INFERENCE_MODEL:__disabled__}`), the provider is disabled by default and can be enabled by setting the environment variable to a valid value.
+To disable a provider, you can set the environment variable to `ENABLE_OLLAMA=__disabled__`.
 
 ## Running the Distribution
 
-You can run the starter distribution via Docker or Conda.
+You can run the starter distribution via Docker or directly using the Llama Stack CLI.
 
 ### Via Docker
 
@@ -165,57 +92,19 @@ docker run \
   -it \
   --pull always \
   -p $LLAMA_STACK_PORT:$LLAMA_STACK_PORT \
-  -e OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_key \
-  -e FIREWORKS_API_KEY=your_fireworks_key \
-  -e TOGETHER_API_KEY=your_together_key \
+  -e ENABLE_OLLAMA=ollama \
+  -e OLLAMA_INFERENCE_MODEL=meta-llama/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct \
   llamastack/distribution-starter \
   --port $LLAMA_STACK_PORT
 ```
 
-### Via Conda
-
-Make sure you have done `uv pip install llama-stack` and have the Llama Stack CLI available.
+You can also use the `llama stack run` command to run the distribution.
 
 ```bash
-llama stack build --template starter --image-type conda
 llama stack run distributions/starter/run.yaml \
   --port 8321 \
-  --env OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_key \
-  --env FIREWORKS_API_KEY=your_fireworks_key \
-  --env TOGETHER_API_KEY=your_together_key
-```
-
-## Example Usage
-
-Once the distribution is running, you can use any of the available models. Here are some examples:
-
-### Using OpenAI Models
-```bash
-llama-stack-client --endpoint http://localhost:8321 \
-inference chat-completion \
---model-id openai/gpt-4o \
---message "Hello, how are you?"
-```
-
-### Using Fireworks Models
-```bash
-llama-stack-client --endpoint http://localhost:8321 \
-inference chat-completion \
---model-id fireworks/meta-llama/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct \
---message "Write a short story about a robot."
-```
-
-### Using Local Ollama Models
-```bash
-# First, make sure Ollama is running and you have a model
-ollama run llama3.2:3b
-
-# Then use it through Llama Stack
-export OLLAMA_INFERENCE_MODEL=llama3.2:3b
-llama-stack-client --endpoint http://localhost:8321 \
-inference chat-completion \
---model-id ollama/llama3.2:3b \
---message "Explain quantum computing in simple terms."
+  --env ENABLE_OLLAMA=ollama \
+  --env OLLAMA_INFERENCE_MODEL=meta-llama/Llama-3.2-3B-Instruct
 ```
 
 ## Storage
diff --git a/llama_stack/templates/starter/run.yaml b/llama_stack/templates/starter/run.yaml
index c6aac5eae..fbc2c829a 100644
--- a/llama_stack/templates/starter/run.yaml
+++ b/llama_stack/templates/starter/run.yaml
@@ -106,11 +106,7 @@ providers:
         type: sqlite
         namespace: null
         db_path: ${env.SQLITE_STORE_DIR:=~/.llama/distributions/starter}/faiss_store.db
-<<<<<<< HEAD
-  - provider_id: ${env.ENABLE_SQLITE_VEC:+sqlite-vec}
-=======
   - provider_id: ${env.ENABLE_SQLITE_VEC:=__disabled__}
->>>>>>> fbcc565e (feat: consolidate most distros into "starter")
     provider_type: inline::sqlite-vec
     config:
       db_path: ${env.SQLITE_STORE_DIR:=~/.llama/distributions/starter}/sqlite_vec.db
@@ -597,6 +593,11 @@ models:
   provider_id: ${env.ENABLE_OLLAMA:=__disabled__}
   provider_model_id: ${env.OLLAMA_EMBEDDING_MODEL:=__disabled__}
   model_type: embedding
+- metadata: {}
+  model_id: ${env.ENABLE_OLLAMA:=__disabled__}/${env.OLLAMA_SAFETY_MODEL:=__disabled__}
+  provider_id: ${env.ENABLE_OLLAMA:=__disabled__}
+  provider_model_id: ${env.OLLAMA_SAFETY_MODEL:=__disabled__}
+  model_type: llm
 - metadata: {}
   model_id: ${env.ENABLE_ANTHROPIC:=__disabled__}/anthropic/claude-3-5-sonnet-latest
   provider_id: ${env.ENABLE_ANTHROPIC:=__disabled__}
diff --git a/llama_stack/templates/starter/starter.py b/llama_stack/templates/starter/starter.py
index 4f9bc55cf..bbeef6b72 100644
--- a/llama_stack/templates/starter/starter.py
+++ b/llama_stack/templates/starter/starter.py
@@ -110,6 +110,10 @@ def get_inference_providers() -> tuple[list[Provider], dict[str, list[ProviderMo
                         "embedding_dimension": "${env.OLLAMA_EMBEDDING_DIMENSION:=384}",
                     },
                 ),
+                ProviderModelEntry(
+                    provider_model_id="${env.OLLAMA_SAFETY_MODEL:=__disabled__}",
+                    model_type=ModelType.llm,
+                ),
             ],
             OllamaImplConfig.sample_run_config(
                 url="${env.OLLAMA_URL:=http://localhost:11434}", raise_on_connect_error=False