Local AI Glossary

What is Prefill?

Source: local-llm.net/glossary

The first phase of LLM inference where the model processes the entire input prompt in parallel, computing the initial KV-cache. Prefill is compute-intensive and benefits from GPU parallel processing power. Prefill time determines the time-to-first-token (TTFT) latency.

How Prefill fits in the local AI stack

Prefill is part of the broader local AI ecosystem. See the related guides, comparisons, and tools below to see how it applies in practice.

See also

Related terms