Move llama.cpp clone/build from in-tree to ~/.unsloth/llama.cpp

- setup.sh: builds at ~/.unsloth/llama.cpp instead of ./llama.cpp
- setup.ps1: builds at %USERPROFILE%/.unsloth/llama.cpp
- inference llama_cpp.py: searches ~/.unsloth/ first, in-tree as legacy
- export.py: updated comments (unsloth-zoo handles path natively)

setup.ps1

@@ -739,13 +739,16 @@ if ($OpenSslRoot) {
 # ==========================================================================
 #  PHASE 4: Build llama.cpp with CUDA for GGUF inference + export
 # ==========================================================================
-# Builds in-tree at $REPO/llama.cpp/ (same as setup.sh on Linux).
-# This directory is already in .gitignore.
+# Builds at ~/.unsloth/llama.cpp — a single shared location under the user's
+# home directory. This is used by both the inference server and the GGUF
+# export pipeline (unsloth-zoo).
 # We build:
-#   - llama-server:   for GGUF model inference (with HTTPS if vcpkg/curl available)
+#   - llama-server:   for GGUF model inference (with HTTPS if OpenSSL available)
 #   - llama-quantize: for GGUF export quantization
 # Prerequisites (git, cmake, VS Build Tools, CUDA Toolkit) already installed in Phase 1.
-$LlamaCppDir = Join-Path $PSScriptRoot "llama.cpp"
+$UnslothHome = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE ".unsloth"
+if (-not (Test-Path $UnslothHome)) { New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $UnslothHome | Out-Null }
+$LlamaCppDir = Join-Path $UnslothHome "llama.cpp"
 $BuildDir = Join-Path $LlamaCppDir "build"
 $LlamaServerBin = Join-Path $BuildDir "bin\Release\llama-server.exe"
 

setup.sh

@@ -197,11 +197,14 @@ else
 fi
 
 # ── 8. Build llama.cpp binaries for GGUF inference + export ──
-# Builds in-tree at $REPO/llama.cpp/. This directory is shared with
-# unsloth-zoo's GGUF export pipeline. We build:
+# Builds at ~/.unsloth/llama.cpp — a single shared location under the user's
+# home directory. This is used by both the inference server and the GGUF
+# export pipeline (unsloth-zoo).
 #   - llama-server: for GGUF model inference
 #   - llama-quantize: for GGUF export quantization (symlinked to root for check_llama_cpp())
-LLAMA_CPP_DIR="$SCRIPT_DIR/llama.cpp"
+UNSLOTH_HOME="$HOME/.unsloth"
+mkdir -p "$UNSLOTH_HOME"
+LLAMA_CPP_DIR="$UNSLOTH_HOME/llama.cpp"
 LLAMA_SERVER_BIN="$LLAMA_CPP_DIR/build/bin/llama-server"
 rm -rf "$LLAMA_CPP_DIR"
 {

studio/backend/core/export/export.py

@@ -418,9 +418,8 @@ class ExportBackend:
                 pre_existing_ggufs = set(glob.glob(os.path.join(cwd, "*.gguf")))
 
                 # Pass absolute path — no os.chdir needed.
-                # unsloth saves intermediate HF model files into model_save_path,
-                # while check_llama_cpp("llama.cpp") resolves against cwd (repo root)
-                # where setup.sh already built llama.cpp with quantizer.
+                # unsloth saves intermediate HF model files into model_save_path.
+                # unsloth-zoo's check_llama_cpp() uses ~/.unsloth/llama.cpp by default.
                 model_save_path = os.path.join(abs_save_dir, "model")
                 self.current_model.save_pretrained_gguf(
                     model_save_path,

studio/backend/core/inference/llama_cpp.py

@@ -77,10 +77,11 @@ class LlamaCppBackend:
 
         Search order:
         1. LLAMA_SERVER_PATH environment variable
-        2. ./llama.cpp/build/bin/llama-server  (built by setup.sh in-tree)
-        3. ~/.unsloth/llama.cpp/build/bin/Release/llama-server  (built by setup.ps1 on Windows)
-        4. llama-server on PATH  (system install)
-        5. ./bin/llama-server  (legacy: extracted binary)
+        2. ~/.unsloth/llama.cpp/build/bin/llama-server  (Linux, built by setup.sh)
+        3. ~/.unsloth/llama.cpp/build/bin/Release/llama-server.exe  (Windows, built by setup.ps1)
+        4. ./llama.cpp/build/bin/llama-server  (legacy: in-tree build)
+        5. llama-server on PATH  (system install)
+        6. ./bin/llama-server  (legacy: extracted binary)
         """
         import os
         import sys
@@ -92,31 +93,34 @@ class LlamaCppBackend:
         if env_path and Path(env_path).is_file():
             return env_path
 
-        # Project root: llama_cpp.py → inference/ → core/ → backend/ → studio/ → root
-        project_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[4]
+        # 2. ~/.unsloth/llama.cpp (primary — setup.sh / setup.ps1 build here)
+        unsloth_home = Path.home() / ".unsloth" / "llama.cpp"
+        home_linux = unsloth_home / "build" / "bin" / binary_name
+        if home_linux.is_file():
+            return str(home_linux)
 
-        # 2. In-tree llama.cpp build (setup.sh builds here on Linux)
+        # 3. Windows MSVC build has Release subdir
+        if sys.platform == "win32":
+            home_win = unsloth_home / "build" / "bin" / "Release" / binary_name
+            if home_win.is_file():
+                return str(home_win)
+
+        # 4. Legacy: in-tree build (older setup.sh / setup.ps1 versions)
+        project_root = Path(__file__).resolve().parents[4]
         build_path = project_root / "llama.cpp" / "build" / "bin" / binary_name
         if build_path.is_file():
             return str(build_path)
-
-        # 3. Windows MSVC build (Release config, in-tree — matches setup.ps1)
         if sys.platform == "win32":
-            # In-tree (primary — setup.ps1 now builds here)
             win_path = project_root / "llama.cpp" / "build" / "bin" / "Release" / binary_name
             if win_path.is_file():
                 return str(win_path)
-            # Legacy: ~/.unsloth (older setup.ps1 versions built here)
-            home_path = Path.home() / ".unsloth" / "llama.cpp" / "build" / "bin" / "Release" / binary_name
-            if home_path.is_file():
-                return str(home_path)
 
-        # 4. System PATH
+        # 5. System PATH
         system_path = shutil.which("llama-server")
         if system_path:
             return system_path
 
-        # 5. Legacy: extracted to bin/
+        # 6. Legacy: extracted to bin/
         bin_path = project_root / "bin" / binary_name
         if bin_path.is_file():
             return str(bin_path)