# Why Llama Stack?

Building production AI applications today requires solving multiple challenges:

**Infrastructure Complexity**
- Running large language models efficiently requires specialized infrastructure.
- Different deployment scenarios (local development, cloud, edge) need different solutions.
- Moving from development to production often requires significant rework.

**Essential Capabilities**
- Safety guardrails and content filtering are necessary in an enterprise setting.
- Just model inference is not enough - Knowledge retrieval and RAG capabilities are required.
- Nearly any application needs composable multi-step workflows.
- Finally, without monitoring, observability and evaluation, you end up operating in the dark.

**Lack of Flexibility and Choice**
- Directly integrating with multiple providers creates tight coupling.
- Different providers have different APIs and abstractions.
- Changing providers requires significant code changes.


### Our Solution: A Universal Stack

```{image} ../../_static/llama-stack.png
:alt: Llama Stack
:width: 400px
```

Llama Stack addresses these challenges through a service-oriented, API-first approach:

**Develop Anywhere, Deploy Everywhere**
- Start locally with CPU-only setups
- Move to GPU acceleration when needed
- Deploy to cloud or edge without code changes
- Same APIs and developer experience everywhere

**Production-Ready Building Blocks**
- Pre-built safety guardrails and content filtering
- Built-in RAG and agent capabilities
- Comprehensive evaluation toolkit
- Full observability and monitoring

**True Provider Independence**
- Swap providers without application changes
- Mix and match best-in-class implementations
- Federation and fallback support
- No vendor lock-in

**Robust Ecosystem**
- Llama Stack is already integrated with distribution partners (cloud providers, hardware vendors, and AI-focused companies).
- Ecosystem offers tailored infrastructure, software, and services for deploying Llama models.


### Our Philosophy

- **Service-Oriented**: REST APIs enforce clean interfaces and enable seamless transitions across different environments.
- **Composability**: Every component is independent but works together seamlessly
- **Production Ready**: Built for real-world applications, not just demos
- **Turnkey Solutions**: Easy to deploy built in solutions for popular deployment scenarios
- **Llama First**: Explicit focus on Meta's Llama models and partnering ecosystem


With Llama Stack, you can focus on building your application while we handle the infrastructure complexity, essential capabilities, and provider integrations.
