diff --git a/crates/tabby-common/src/registry.rs b/crates/tabby-common/src/registry.rs
index 81600592a150..7db5c913fc9e 100644
--- a/crates/tabby-common/src/registry.rs
+++ b/crates/tabby-common/src/registry.rs
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ impl ModelRegistry {
         models_dir()
             .join(&self.name)
             .join(name)
-            .join("ggml/q8_0.v2.gguf")
+            .join(GGML_MODEL_RELATIVE_PATH)
     }
 
     pub fn get_model_info(&self, name: &str) -> &ModelInfo {
@@ -81,3 +81,5 @@ pub fn parse_model_id(model_id: &str) -> (&str, &str) {
 
     (parts[0], parts[1])
 }
+
+pub static GGML_MODEL_RELATIVE_PATH: &str = "ggml/q8_0.v2.gguf";
diff --git a/crates/tabby-download/src/lib.rs b/crates/tabby-download/src/lib.rs
index 3dbd5b42ce9f..9f7b92cfd96c 100644
--- a/crates/tabby-download/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/tabby-download/src/lib.rs
@@ -89,11 +89,6 @@ async fn download_file(url: &str, path: &Path) -> Result<()> {
 }
 
 pub async fn download_model(model_id: &str, prefer_local_file: bool) {
-    // Local file path.
-    if fs::metadata(model_id).is_ok() {
-        return;
-    }
-
     let (registry, name) = parse_model_id(model_id);
 
     let registry = ModelRegistry::new(registry).await;
diff --git a/crates/tabby/src/serve/engine.rs b/crates/tabby/src/serve/engine.rs
index f24eff059bc5..7ee767960d7f 100644
--- a/crates/tabby/src/serve/engine.rs
+++ b/crates/tabby/src/serve/engine.rs
@@ -1,22 +1,23 @@
-use std::fs;
+use std::{fs, path::PathBuf};
 
-use tabby_common::registry::{parse_model_id, ModelRegistry};
+use serde::Deserialize;
+use tabby_common::registry::{parse_model_id, ModelRegistry, GGML_MODEL_RELATIVE_PATH};
 use tabby_inference::TextGeneration;
 
+use crate::fatal;
+
 pub async fn create_engine(
     model_id: &str,
     args: &crate::serve::ServeArgs,
 ) -> (Box<dyn TextGeneration>, EngineInfo) {
     if args.device != super::Device::ExperimentalHttp {
         if fs::metadata(model_id).is_ok() {
-            let engine = create_ggml_engine(&args.device, model_id);
-            (
-                engine,
-                EngineInfo {
-                    prompt_template: args.prompt_template.clone(),
-                    chat_template: args.chat_template.clone(),
-                },
-            )
+            let path = PathBuf::from(model_id);
+            let model_path = path.join(GGML_MODEL_RELATIVE_PATH);
+            let engine =
+                create_ggml_engine(&args.device, model_path.display().to_string().as_str());
+            let engine_info = EngineInfo::read(path.join("tabby.json"));
+            (engine, engine_info)
         } else {
             let (registry, name) = parse_model_id(model_id);
             let registry = ModelRegistry::new(registry).await;
@@ -43,11 +44,19 @@ pub async fn create_engine(
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Deserialize)]
 pub struct EngineInfo {
     pub prompt_template: Option<String>,
     pub chat_template: Option<String>,
 }
 
+impl EngineInfo {
+    fn read(filepath: PathBuf) -> EngineInfo {
+        serdeconv::from_json_file(&filepath)
+            .unwrap_or_else(|_| fatal!("Invalid metadata file: {}", filepath.display()))
+    }
+}
+
 fn create_ggml_engine(device: &super::Device, model_path: &str) -> Box<dyn TextGeneration> {
     let options = llama_cpp_bindings::LlamaTextGenerationOptionsBuilder::default()
         .model_path(model_path.to_owned())
diff --git a/crates/tabby/src/serve/mod.rs b/crates/tabby/src/serve/mod.rs
index b89980189c2c..c7db4e3ebb6f 100644
--- a/crates/tabby/src/serve/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/tabby/src/serve/mod.rs
@@ -109,18 +109,10 @@ pub struct ServeArgs {
     #[clap(long)]
     model: String,
 
-    /// Prompt template to be used when `--model` is a local file.
-    #[clap(long)]
-    prompt_template: Option<String>,
-
     /// Model id for `/chat/completions` API endpoints.
     #[clap(long)]
     chat_model: Option<String>,
 
-    /// Chat prompt template to be used when `--chat-model` is a local file.
-    #[clap(long)]
-    chat_template: Option<String>,
-
     #[clap(long, default_value_t = 8080)]
     port: u16,
 
@@ -138,9 +130,13 @@ pub async fn main(config: &Config, args: &ServeArgs) {
     valid_args(args);
 
     if args.device != Device::ExperimentalHttp {
-        download_model(&args.model, true).await;
-        if let Some(chat_model) = &args.chat_model {
-            download_model(chat_model, true).await;
+        if fs::metadata(&args.model).is_ok() {
+            info!("Loading model from local path {}", &args.model);
+        } else {
+            download_model(&args.model, true).await;
+            if let Some(chat_model) = &args.chat_model {
+                download_model(chat_model, true).await;
+            }
         }
     } else {
         warn!("HTTP device is unstable and does not comply with semver expectations.")
@@ -259,16 +255,6 @@ fn valid_args(args: &ServeArgs) {
     if !args.device_indices.is_empty() {
         warn!("--device-indices is deprecated and will be removed in future release.");
     }
-
-    if fs::metadata(&args.model).is_ok() && args.prompt_template.is_none() {
-        fatal!("When passing a local file to --model, --prompt-template is required to set.")
-    }
-
-    if let Some(chat_model) = &args.chat_model {
-        if fs::metadata(chat_model).is_ok() && args.chat_template.is_none() {
-            fatal!("When passing a local file to --chat-model, --chat-template is required to set.")
-        }
-    }
 }
 
 fn start_heartbeat(args: &ServeArgs) {