# NeuronDump: Open a local LLM as a 3D graph, cut parts, see what breaks > Source: > Published: 2026-10-25 19:45:09+00:00 Look inside any local LLM, find the parts it doesn't need, and make it smaller. NeuronDump reads **GGUF** model files (the format used by **Ollama** and **llama.cpp**) and shows what is inside: layers, attention heads, vocabulary, chat template, weight statistics. It can then remove unused parts and write a smaller GGUF that still runs in Ollama and llama.cpp. It works with any model. It reads each file's own metadata; nothing is hard-coded per model. **Download:** ready-made Windows and Linux builds are on the **[releases page](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/releases)**. Unzip and run `neurondump list`. Download steps and checks: **[install guide](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/install.md#download-a-ready-made-build)**. **Build from source:** you need [Git](https://git-scm.com) and [Rust](https://rustup.rs) 1.88 or newer. Step-by-step instructions: **[Windows and Linux install guide](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/install.md)**. **Windows** (PowerShell): ``` winget install Git.Git winget install Rustlang.Rustup # then reopen PowerShell git clone https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump cd NeuronDump cargo install --path crates/neurondump neurondump list ``` **Linux**: ``` sudo apt install build-essential git curl # or dnf / pacman curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh && source "$HOME/.cargo/env" git clone https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump cd NeuronDump cargo install --path crates/neurondump neurondump list ``` Add `--features trace` to `cargo install` to also run models and watch each layer. ``` neurondump list # every local model neurondump inspect llama3.2:1b # what's inside a model neurondump vocab llama3.2:1b --search hello neurondump template llama3.2:1b # the chat template as a tree neurondump analyze llama3.2:1b --out plan.json neurondump slim llama3.2:1b --plan plan.json --only vocab --out small.gguf neurondump web --open # the same, in your browser ``` Run `neurondump` with no arguments to choose between the interactive CLI and the web interface. The web interface draws the model as a graph you can open up, in 3D (tower, city or force layout) or 2D. Everything is bundled, so it works offline. - **Render inside any part:** - double-click a layer to see its attention and feed-forward blocks; - double-click attention to see its KV groups, then its individual heads; - feed-forward opens into neuron buckets, and MoE into experts. - **Inspect:** - hover any part for its size and flag; - click it for its path, contents, connections, weight statistics, activations, importance, and whether it can be removed (`safe` ,`risky` or`breaks_model` ) and why. - **Search inside:** type a tensor name like`blk.3.ffn_down` . Closed layers open to show it. - **Cut (edit):** press**Cut this** on any part (a layer, a block, a head, a token range) to add it to a cut selection. Cut parts get a red outline. - **Direct impact, instantly:** the panel shows: - parameters removed or zeroed, and the new file size; - what gets disconnected and what depends on the cut; - whether llama.cpp still loads the file; - a verdict. Dangerous cuts are refused unless you force them. - **Simulated impact** (`--features trace` ): the cut model runs in memory next to the original. You compare their next tokens, KL divergence, generated text, the logit lens per layer and perplexity. Nothing is written. - **Sweep:** cuts each layer (or head) in turn, ranks them by damage, and colors the graph with it. - **Save as plan → Slim:** writes the smaller GGUF and an Ollama Modelfile. The same works from the command line: ``` neurondump graph llama3.2:1b --expand layer.7.attn # inside a layer's attention neurondump node llama3.2:1b layer.7.attn.head.3 # inspect one head neurondump ablate llama3.2:1b --cut layer.7 --static # direct impact neurondump ablate llama3.2:1b --cut layer.7 --prompt "The capital of Italy is" # simulated impact neurondump sweep llama3.2:1b --corpus texts.txt --save-plan plan.json --top 2 neurondump slim llama3.2:1b --plan plan.json --out llama-14.gguf ``` Details: [Graph and ablation](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/graph-and-ablation.md). | Page | What it covers | |---|---| | [Install and run](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/install.md) | Windows and Linux, step by step | | [Getting started](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/getting-started.md) | find your models, first commands | | [How it works](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/internals.md) | what NeuronDump reads, and how | | [CLI reference](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/cli.md) | every command and flag, and the REPL | | [Web interface](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/web.md) | the browser UI and the HTTP API | | [Analyze and slim](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/analyze-and-slim.md) | making models smaller, safely | | [Trace](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/trace.md) | running a model and looking at each layer | | [Graph and ablation](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/graph-and-ablation.md) | the 3D / 2D graph: look inside layers, inspect, search, cut, direct and simulated impact | | [What's inside real models](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/models.md) | Qwen3 8B vs DeepSeek-R1, and Qwen 3.8 | | [Building](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/building.md) | build options and Windows notes | | [Manual test plan](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/TEST.md) | step-by-step checks | A short illustrated explanation is on the [website](https://aymen94.github.io/NeuronDump/) (source: [`docs/index.html`](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/docs/index.html)). Early version, tested on Windows with Ollama models. Known gaps are listed at the end of [TEST.md](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/TEST.md). Bug reports and ideas: [issues](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/issues). Licensed under the [MIT License](https://github.com/aymen94/NeuronDump/blob/main/LICENSE).