chore(deps): bump the pip group across 1 directory with 2 updates

Bumps the pip group with 2 updates in the /backend/python/coqui directory: [transformers](https://github.com/huggingface/transformers) and torch.


Updates `transformers` from 4.48.3 to 5.0.0rc3
- [Release notes](https://github.com/huggingface/transformers/releases)
- [Commits](https://github.com/huggingface/transformers/compare/v4.48.3...v5.0.0rc3)

Updates `torch` from 2.4.1 to 2.7.1+cpu

---
updated-dependencies:
- dependency-name: transformers
  dependency-version: 5.0.0rc3
  dependency-type: direct:production
  dependency-group: pip
- dependency-name: torch
  dependency-version: 2.7.1+cpu
  dependency-type: direct:production
  dependency-group: pip
...

Signed-off-by: dependabot[bot] <support@github.com>

.agents/building-and-testing.md

@@ -38,9 +38,12 @@ The React UI (`core/http/react-ui/`) has **no component/unit tests** — its onl
 - **Browser:** the flake dev shell ships `chromium` and exports `PLAYWRIGHT_CHROMIUM_PATH`; `playwright.config.js` uses it via `launchOptions.executablePath`, and the Makefile skips `playwright install` when it's set. This avoids Playwright's downloaded browser, which can't resolve system libs (`libglib-2.0`, …) on NixOS. In CI (no `PLAYWRIGHT_CHROMIUM_PATH`) the Makefile falls back to `playwright install --with-deps chromium`.
 - The app is a React SPA, so coverage accumulates across in-app navigation within a test; a full `page.goto`/reload resets it.
 - `.nycrc.json` uses `all: true`, so **every `src/**` file is in the report**, including 0%-coverage ones — that's how you spot features with no test at all (sort the HTML report or `coverage-summary.json` by line% ascending). 
-- **UI coverage gate:** `make test-ui-coverage-check` runs the suite then `scripts/ui-coverage-check.sh`, failing if total line coverage drops more than `UI_COVERAGE_TOLERANCE` (default **1.0pp**) below `core/http/react-ui/coverage-baseline.txt`. `make test-ui-coverage-baseline` regenerates the baseline. **Why a tolerance (unlike the strict Go gate):** UI e2e line coverage is *non-deterministic* — async/debounced paths (e.g. the VRAM estimate's 500ms debounce) make identical specs vary ~0.5pp run-to-run, so a zero-tolerance gate would flake. Keep the tolerance just above the observed jitter. Run in CI (`tests-ui-e2e.yml`) and pre-commit on `core/http/react-ui/` changes.
+- **UI coverage gate:** `make test-ui-coverage-check` runs the suite then `scripts/ui-coverage-check.sh`, failing if total line coverage drops more than `UI_COVERAGE_TOLERANCE` below `core/http/react-ui/coverage-baseline.txt`. `make test-ui-coverage-baseline` regenerates the baseline. Runs in CI (`tests-ui-e2e.yml`) and pre-commit on `core/http/react-ui/` changes.
+- **Why it has a tolerance (unlike the strict Go gate):** UI e2e coverage is *non-deterministic*. Specs that assert on state and end while async/lazy render work is still in flight collect those lines only when the render beats the coverage teardown — so the total drifts with machine speed/load (a fast local box reads higher than a slow CI runner), diffusely across many specs. The tolerance absorbs that drift, so set the baseline *below* the slow-CI floor, never to a fast-local `make test-ui-coverage-baseline` number, or CI flaps.
+- **Raising coverage is cheap:** a *render-smoke* spec (navigate to a route, assert its header renders) mounts a lazy page and runs its full render + initial effects, capturing most of its lines in a few lines of test — see `e2e/page-render-smoke.spec.js`. Auth is disabled in the test server (`isAdmin=true`), so `RequireAdmin`/`RequireFeature` routes render without a mock. The most *deterministic* win is removing a race: make a spec `await` a rendered element before ending (see `e2e/agents.spec.js` → AgentCreate) so its lines count every run.
 
-Rules:
-- The gate is **strict — there is no tolerance**. Any decrease fails, regardless of how many lines a PR adds or deletes. `covermode=atomic` makes line coverage deterministic, so there's no run-to-run jitter to excuse.
-- When a change legitimately **raises** coverage, run `make test-coverage-baseline` and **commit** the updated `coverage-baseline.txt` so the ratchet moves up. Never lower the baseline by hand.
-- If you can't get coverage back to baseline, the fix is to **add tests**, not to edit the baseline.
+Rules (both gates):
+- **Install the hooks:** `make install-hooks` once per clone so lint + coverage run pre-commit. Don't lean on CI for what the hook catches.
+- **Don't work around the gate:** never `git commit --no-verify`, and never hand-lower a baseline or widen a tolerance to turn a red gate green. The ratchet only moves up.
+- If a change drops coverage, **add tests** (sort `coverage-summary.json` by line% ascending to find untested code) rather than editing the baseline. When coverage legitimately rises, commit the regenerated baseline (`make test-coverage-baseline` / `test-ui-coverage-baseline`).
+- The Go gate is **strict — no tolerance**; `covermode=atomic` keeps it deterministic. The UI gate keeps a small tolerance only because its e2e coverage isn't.

.agents/coding-style.md

@@ -50,6 +50,17 @@ Do not mix styles within a package. If you are extending tests in a package that
 
 This is enforced by `golangci-lint` via the `forbidigo` linter (see `.golangci.yml`); calls like `t.Errorf` / `t.Fatalf` / `t.Run` / `t.Skip` / `t.Logf` are flagged. Run `make lint` locally before submitting; the same check runs in CI (`.github/workflows/lint.yml`).
 
+## Outbound HTTP
+
+All outbound HTTP must go through `github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/httpclient` rather than the standard library's default client. Use `httpclient.New(...)` (no body deadline — safe for streaming/SSE) or `httpclient.NewWithTimeout(d, ...)` (simple request/response). Both **refuse redirects by default** and set a TLS 1.2 floor.
+
+The reason is GHSA-3mj3-57v2-4636: the std default client follows redirects, and on a *cross-host* redirect Go forwards custom credential headers (e.g. Anthropic's `x-api-key`) to the redirect target, leaking the secret. `httpclient` fails closed instead.
+
+- Need to follow redirects (download CDNs, registry blobs, GitHub asset URLs)? Pass `httpclient.WithFollowRedirects()` — it still strips credential headers on any cross-host hop.
+- Have a custom transport (IP-pinned dialer, HTTP/2 tuning, a credential-injecting `RoundTripper`)? Pass `httpclient.WithTransport(rt)`, basing the transport on `httpclient.HardenedTransport()` to keep the TLS floor. Handed a `*http.Client` by a library? `httpclient.Harden(c)` applies the policy in place.
+
+This is enforced by `forbidigo` (see `.golangci.yml`): `http.DefaultClient` and `http.Get`/`Post`/`PostForm`/`Head` are flagged. The `&http.Client{}` composite literal can't be matched precisely by forbidigo without also flagging legitimate `*http.Client` type references, so that form is caught by review — don't construct raw clients.
+
 ## Documentation
 
 The project documentation is located in `docs/content`. When adding new features or changing existing functionality, it is crucial to update the documentation to reflect these changes. This helps users understand how to use the new capabilities and ensures the documentation stays relevant.

.agents/ds4-backend.md

@@ -68,6 +68,34 @@ go test -count=1 -timeout=30m -v ./tests/e2e-backends/...
 
 CI does not load the model; the suite is opt-in via env vars.
 
+## Distributed mode
+
+ds4 supports **layer-split** distributed inference (a model too big for one host,
+split by transformer layer; the GGUF must be present on every machine, each loads
+only its slice). Topology is **inverted** vs llama.cpp: the coordinator listens,
+workers dial in.
+
+- **`ds4-worker` binary**: built and packaged next to `grpc-server` (`package.sh`
+  copies it into `package/`). Links the same engine objects plus `ds4_distributed.o`;
+  **no gRPC/protobuf dependency** (speaks ds4's own TCP transport), so it builds
+  even where `grpc-server` can't. Runs the worker serving loop (`ds4_dist_run`).
+- **Coordinator wiring**: the ds4 `grpc-server` acts as coordinator when `LoadModel`
+  `ModelOptions.Options` (from model-YAML `options:`) carry:
+  - `ds4_role:coordinator` (enables distributed mode; absent → single-node, back-compat)
+  - `ds4_layers:0:19` (coordinator's own slice, inclusive; `N:output` includes the head)
+  - `ds4_listen:0.0.0.0:1234` (address workers dial into)
+  - `ds4_route_timeout:60` (optional; seconds Predict/PredictStream wait for the route
+    to form before returning gRPC `UNAVAILABLE`; default 60)
+- **Worker CLI**: `local-ai worker ds4-distributed -- <ds4-worker args>` resolves the
+  ds4 backend and execs the packaged `ds4-worker` (raw passthrough), e.g.
+  `--role worker --model /models/ds4flash.gguf --layers 20:output --coordinator <host> 1234`.
+
+Opt-in e2e in `tests/e2e-backends/backend_test.go`, gated by
+`BACKEND_TEST_DS4_DISTRIBUTED=1` (plus `BACKEND_TEST_DS4_WORKER_BINARY`,
+`BACKEND_TEST_DS4_WORKER_LAYERS`, `BACKEND_TEST_DS4_COORDINATOR_LAYERS`,
+`BACKEND_TEST_DS4_LISTEN`). Design spec:
+`docs/superpowers/specs/2026-05-30-ds4-distributed-inference-design.md`.
+
 ## Importer
 
 `core/gallery/importers/ds4.go` (`DS4Importer`) auto-detects ds4 weights by

.github/backend-matrix.yml

@@ -716,6 +716,32 @@ include:
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
     ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'cublas'
+    cuda-major-version: "12"
+    cuda-minor-version: "8"
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-crispasr'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'cublas'
+    cuda-major-version: "12"
+    cuda-minor-version: "8"
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-parakeet-cpp'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
   - build-type: 'cublas'
     cuda-major-version: "12"
     cuda-minor-version: "8"
@@ -1556,6 +1582,32 @@ include:
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
     ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'cublas'
+    cuda-major-version: "13"
+    cuda-minor-version: "0"
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-crispasr'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'cublas'
+    cuda-major-version: "13"
+    cuda-minor-version: "0"
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-parakeet-cpp'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
   - build-type: 'cublas'
     cuda-major-version: "13"
     cuda-minor-version: "0"
@@ -1569,6 +1621,32 @@ include:
     backend: "whisper"
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
+  - build-type: 'cublas'
+    cuda-major-version: "13"
+    cuda-minor-version: "0"
+    platforms: 'linux/arm64'
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-nvidia-l4t-cuda-13-arm64-crispasr'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-24.04-arm'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+  - build-type: 'cublas'
+    cuda-major-version: "13"
+    cuda-minor-version: "0"
+    platforms: 'linux/arm64'
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-nvidia-l4t-cuda-13-arm64-parakeet-cpp'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-24.04-arm'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
   - build-type: 'cublas'
     cuda-major-version: "13"
     cuda-minor-version: "0"
@@ -2850,6 +2928,20 @@ include:
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
     ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: ''
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    platform-tag: 'amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-cpu-crispasr'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
   - build-type: ''
     cuda-major-version: ""
     cuda-minor-version: ""
@@ -2864,6 +2956,20 @@ include:
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
     ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: ''
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/arm64'
+    platform-tag: 'arm64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-cpu-crispasr'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-24.04-arm'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
   - build-type: 'sycl_f32'
     cuda-major-version: ""
     cuda-minor-version: ""
@@ -2877,6 +2983,19 @@ include:
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
     ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'sycl_f32'
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-crispasr'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "intel/oneapi-basekit:2025.3.0-0-devel-ubuntu24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
   - build-type: 'sycl_f16'
     cuda-major-version: ""
     cuda-minor-version: ""
@@ -2890,6 +3009,19 @@ include:
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
     ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'sycl_f16'
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-intel-sycl-f16-crispasr'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "intel/oneapi-basekit:2025.3.0-0-devel-ubuntu24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
   - build-type: 'vulkan'
     cuda-major-version: ""
     cuda-minor-version: ""
@@ -2904,6 +3036,20 @@ include:
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
     ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'vulkan'
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    platform-tag: 'amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-vulkan-crispasr'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
   - build-type: 'vulkan'
     cuda-major-version: ""
     cuda-minor-version: ""
@@ -2918,6 +3064,20 @@ include:
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
     ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'vulkan'
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/arm64'
+    platform-tag: 'arm64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-vulkan-crispasr'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-24.04-arm'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
   - build-type: 'cublas'
     cuda-major-version: "12"
     cuda-minor-version: "0"
@@ -2931,6 +3091,19 @@ include:
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
     ubuntu-version: '2204'
+  - build-type: 'cublas'
+    cuda-major-version: "12"
+    cuda-minor-version: "0"
+    platforms: 'linux/arm64'
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr'
+    base-image: "nvcr.io/nvidia/l4t-jetpack:r36.4.0"
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-24.04-arm'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2204'
   - build-type: 'hipblas'
     cuda-major-version: ""
     cuda-minor-version: ""
@@ -2944,6 +3117,128 @@ include:
     dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
     context: "./"
     ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'hipblas'
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-rocm-hipblas-crispasr'
+    base-image: "rocm/dev-ubuntu-24.04:7.2.1"
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "crispasr"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  # parakeet-cpp
+  - build-type: ''
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    platform-tag: 'amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-cpu-parakeet-cpp'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: ''
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/arm64'
+    platform-tag: 'arm64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-cpu-parakeet-cpp'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-24.04-arm'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'sycl_f32'
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-parakeet-cpp'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "intel/oneapi-basekit:2025.3.0-0-devel-ubuntu24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'sycl_f16'
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-intel-sycl-f16-parakeet-cpp'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "intel/oneapi-basekit:2025.3.0-0-devel-ubuntu24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'vulkan'
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    platform-tag: 'amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-vulkan-parakeet-cpp'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'vulkan'
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/arm64'
+    platform-tag: 'arm64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-vulkan-parakeet-cpp'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-24.04-arm'
+    base-image: "ubuntu:24.04"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
+  - build-type: 'cublas'
+    cuda-major-version: "12"
+    cuda-minor-version: "0"
+    platforms: 'linux/arm64'
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp'
+    base-image: "nvcr.io/nvidia/l4t-jetpack:r36.4.0"
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-24.04-arm'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2204'
+  - build-type: 'hipblas'
+    cuda-major-version: ""
+    cuda-minor-version: ""
+    platforms: 'linux/amd64'
+    tag-latest: 'auto'
+    tag-suffix: '-gpu-rocm-hipblas-parakeet-cpp'
+    base-image: "rocm/dev-ubuntu-24.04:7.2.1"
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
   # acestep-cpp
   - build-type: ''
     cuda-major-version: ""
@@ -3976,6 +4271,14 @@ includeDarwin:
     tag-suffix: "-metal-darwin-arm64-whisper"
     build-type: "metal"
     lang: "go"
+  - backend: "crispasr"
+    tag-suffix: "-metal-darwin-arm64-crispasr"
+    build-type: "metal"
+    lang: "go"
+  - backend: "parakeet-cpp"
+    tag-suffix: "-metal-darwin-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+    build-type: "metal"
+    lang: "go"
   - backend: "acestep-cpp"
     tag-suffix: "-metal-darwin-arm64-acestep-cpp"
     build-type: "metal"

.github/gallery-agent/main.go

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strconv"
@@ -113,6 +114,17 @@ func main() {
 	fmt.Println("Searching for trending models on HuggingFace...")
 	rawModels, err := client.GetTrending(searchTerm, limit)
 	if err != nil {
+		if errors.Is(err, hfapi.ErrRateLimited) {
+			fmt.Printf("HuggingFace API is rate limited after retries, skipping this run: %v\n", err)
+			writeSummary(AddedModelSummary{
+				SearchTerm:     searchTerm,
+				TotalFound:     0,
+				ModelsAdded:    0,
+				Quantization:   quantization,
+				ProcessingTime: time.Since(startTime).String(),
+			})
+			return
+		}
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Error fetching models: %v\n", err)
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
@@ -277,4 +289,3 @@ func truncateString(s string, maxLen int) string {
 	}
 	return s[:maxLen] + "..."
 }
-

.github/workflows/bump_deps.yaml

@@ -30,6 +30,14 @@ jobs:
             variable: "WHISPER_CPP_VERSION"
             branch: "master"
             file: "backend/go/whisper/Makefile"
+          - repository: "CrispStrobe/CrispASR"
+            variable: "CRISPASR_VERSION"
+            branch: "main"
+            file: "backend/go/crispasr/Makefile"
+          - repository: "mudler/parakeet.cpp"
+            variable: "PARAKEET_VERSION"
+            branch: "master"
+            file: "backend/go/parakeet-cpp/Makefile"
           - repository: "leejet/stable-diffusion.cpp"
             variable: "STABLEDIFFUSION_GGML_VERSION"
             branch: "master"

.github/workflows/secscan.yaml

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ jobs:
         if: ${{ github.actor != 'dependabot[bot]' }}
       - name: Run Gosec Security Scanner
         if: ${{ github.actor != 'dependabot[bot]' }}
-        uses: securego/gosec@v2.22.9
+        uses: securego/gosec@v2.27.1
         with:
           # we let the report trigger content trigger a failure using the GitHub Security features.
           args: '-no-fail -fmt sarif -out results.sarif ./...'

.github/workflows/test-extra.yml

@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ jobs:
       speaker-recognition: ${{ steps.detect.outputs.speaker-recognition }}
       sherpa-onnx: ${{ steps.detect.outputs.sherpa-onnx }}
       whisper: ${{ steps.detect.outputs.whisper }}
+      parakeet-cpp: ${{ steps.detect.outputs.parakeet-cpp }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
@@ -633,6 +634,26 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build whisper backend image and run transcription gRPC e2e tests
         run: |
           make test-extra-backend-whisper-transcription
+  # Parakeet ASR via the parakeet-cpp backend (C++/ggml port of NeMo
+  # Parakeet). Drives AudioTranscription (offline, with word timestamps) on
+  # tdt_ctc-110m + the JFK 11s clip.
+  tests-parakeet-cpp-grpc-transcription:
+    needs: detect-changes
+    if: needs.detect-changes.outputs.parakeet-cpp == 'true' || needs.detect-changes.outputs.run-all == 'true'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 90
+    steps:
+      - name: Clone
+        uses: actions/checkout@v6
+        with:
+          submodules: true
+      - name: Setup Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@v5
+        with:
+          go-version: '1.25.4'
+      - name: Build parakeet-cpp backend image and run transcription gRPC e2e tests
+        run: |
+          make test-extra-backend-parakeet-cpp-transcription
   # VITS TTS via the sherpa-onnx backend. Drives both TTS (file write) and
   # TTSStream (PCM chunks) on the e2e-backends harness.
   tests-sherpa-onnx-grpc-tts:

.golangci.yml

@@ -56,6 +56,20 @@ linters:
         # are exempt — see linters.exclusions.rules below.
         - pattern: '^os\.(Getenv|LookupEnv|Environ)$'
           msg: 'Plumb config through ApplicationConfig (or the relevant CLI struct) instead of reading env directly. CLI entry points (core/cli/) bind env vars via kong''s `env:` tag — that is the only sanctioned env→struct boundary. See .agents/coding-style.md.'
+        # Outbound HTTP must go through pkg/httpclient, which refuses redirects
+        # by default and sets a TLS floor. The std-library default client and
+        # the http.Get/Post/... convenience helpers follow redirects (up to 10)
+        # and, on a cross-host redirect, forward custom credential headers such
+        # as Anthropic's x-api-key to the redirect target — leaking the secret
+        # (GHSA-3mj3-57v2-4636). forbidigo can't precisely match the
+        # `&http.Client{}` composite literal without also flagging legitimate
+        # `*http.Client` type references, so that form is enforced by
+        # convention + review; these two patterns catch the implicit-default
+        # client, which is the common footgun.
+        - pattern: '^http\.DefaultClient$'
+          msg: 'Use pkg/httpclient (httpclient.New / NewWithTimeout) instead of http.DefaultClient — the std client follows redirects and leaks credential headers cross-host (GHSA-3mj3-57v2-4636). See .agents/coding-style.md.'
+        - pattern: '^http\.(Get|Post|PostForm|Head)$'
+          msg: 'Use pkg/httpclient (httpclient.New / NewWithTimeout) instead of http.Get/Post/PostForm/Head — these use http.DefaultClient, which follows redirects and leaks credential headers cross-host (GHSA-3mj3-57v2-4636). See .agents/coding-style.md.'
   exclusions:
     paths:
       # Upstream whisper.cpp source tree fetched by the whisper backend Makefile.
@@ -95,3 +109,18 @@ linters:
       - path: _test\.go$
         text: 'os\.(Getenv|LookupEnv|Environ)'
         linters: [forbidigo]
+      # pkg/httpclient is the sanctioned home for outbound HTTP clients; it
+      # necessarily references net/http directly.
+      - path: ^pkg/httpclient/
+        text: 'http\.(DefaultClient|Get|Post|PostForm|Head)'
+        linters: [forbidigo]
+      # Tests drive local httptest servers where redirect/TLS hardening is
+      # irrelevant; the std client is fine there.
+      - path: _test\.go$
+        text: 'http\.(DefaultClient|Get|Post|PostForm|Head)'
+        linters: [forbidigo]
+      # Vendored upstream whisper.cpp Go bindings are a separate module and
+      # cannot import pkg/httpclient.
+      - path: ^backend/go/whisper/sources/
+        text: 'http\.(DefaultClient|Get|Post|PostForm|Head)'
+        linters: [forbidigo]

AGENTS.md

@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ LocalAI follows the Linux kernel project's [guidelines for AI coding assistants]
 
 ## Quick Reference
 
+- **Git hooks & coverage gates**: Run `make install-hooks` once per clone so the pre-commit lint + coverage gates run. **Never bypass them with `git commit --no-verify`, and never lower a coverage baseline or widen a gate's tolerance to turn a red gate green** — the coverage ratchet only moves up. If a change drops coverage, add tests to raise it (e.g. render-smoke specs). See [.agents/building-and-testing.md](.agents/building-and-testing.md).
 - **Logging**: Use `github.com/mudler/xlog` (same API as slog)
 - **Go style**: Prefer `any` over `interface{}`
 - **Comments**: Explain *why*, not *what*

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -266,6 +266,12 @@ The e2e tests run LocalAI in a Docker container and exercise the API:
 make test-e2e
 ```
 
+### React UI tests and coverage
+
+The React UI (`core/http/react-ui/`) is covered by Playwright e2e specs, gated by a **monotonic line-coverage ratchet** (`make test-ui-coverage-check`, run in CI and pre-commit). The metric is non-deterministic — a fast local box reads higher than a slow CI runner for the same code — so a small tolerance is unavoidable.
+
+**If your change lowers UI coverage, raise it back by adding specs — do not widen the tolerance or hand-lower the baseline.** A *render-smoke* spec (navigate to a page, assert its header is visible) cheaply covers an entire lazy page. See `core/http/react-ui/e2e/page-render-smoke.spec.js` and the full policy in [.agents/building-and-testing.md](.agents/building-and-testing.md#react-ui-coverage).
+
 ### Running E2E container tests
 
 These tests build a standard LocalAI Docker image and run it with pre-configured model configs to verify that most endpoints work correctly:

Makefile

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # Disable parallel execution for backend builds
-.NOTPARALLEL: backends/diffusers backends/llama-cpp backends/turboquant backends/outetts backends/piper backends/stablediffusion-ggml backends/whisper backends/faster-whisper backends/silero-vad backends/local-store backends/huggingface backends/rfdetr backends/rfdetr-cpp backends/insightface backends/speaker-recognition backends/kitten-tts backends/kokoro backends/chatterbox backends/llama-cpp-darwin backends/neutts build-darwin-python-backend build-darwin-go-backend backends/mlx backends/diffuser-darwin backends/mlx-vlm backends/mlx-audio backends/mlx-distributed backends/stablediffusion-ggml-darwin backends/vllm backends/vllm-omni backends/sglang backends/moonshine backends/pocket-tts backends/qwen-tts backends/faster-qwen3-tts backends/qwen-asr backends/nemo backends/voxcpm backends/whisperx backends/ace-step backends/acestep-cpp backends/fish-speech backends/voxtral backends/opus backends/trl backends/llama-cpp-quantization backends/kokoros backends/sam3-cpp backends/qwen3-tts-cpp backends/vibevoice-cpp backends/localvqe backends/tinygrad backends/sherpa-onnx backends/ds4 backends/ds4-darwin backends/liquid-audio
+.NOTPARALLEL: backends/diffusers backends/llama-cpp backends/turboquant backends/outetts backends/piper backends/stablediffusion-ggml backends/whisper backends/crispasr backends/parakeet-cpp backends/faster-whisper backends/silero-vad backends/local-store backends/huggingface backends/rfdetr backends/rfdetr-cpp backends/insightface backends/speaker-recognition backends/kitten-tts backends/kokoro backends/chatterbox backends/llama-cpp-darwin backends/neutts build-darwin-python-backend build-darwin-go-backend backends/mlx backends/diffuser-darwin backends/mlx-vlm backends/mlx-audio backends/mlx-distributed backends/stablediffusion-ggml-darwin backends/vllm backends/vllm-omni backends/sglang backends/moonshine backends/pocket-tts backends/qwen-tts backends/faster-qwen3-tts backends/qwen-asr backends/nemo backends/voxcpm backends/whisperx backends/ace-step backends/acestep-cpp backends/fish-speech backends/voxtral backends/opus backends/trl backends/llama-cpp-quantization backends/kokoros backends/sam3-cpp backends/qwen3-tts-cpp backends/vibevoice-cpp backends/localvqe backends/tinygrad backends/sherpa-onnx backends/ds4 backends/ds4-darwin backends/liquid-audio
 
 GOCMD=go
 GOTEST=$(GOCMD) test
@@ -309,13 +309,20 @@ run-e2e-aio: protogen-go
 	@echo 'Running e2e AIO tests'
 	$(GOCMD) run github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo --flake-attempts $(TEST_FLAKES) -v -r ./tests/e2e-aio
 
+# Distributed architecture e2e (PostgreSQL + NATS via testcontainers).
+# Includes NatsJWT specs (JWT-enabled NATS). Requires Docker.
+# VLLMMultinode is excluded here; use test-e2e-vllm-multinode for that.
+test-e2e-distributed: protogen-go
+	@echo 'Running distributed e2e tests (label Distributed, incl. NatsJWT)'
+	$(GOCMD) run github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo --label-filter='Distributed && !VLLMMultinode' --flake-attempts $(TEST_FLAKES) -v -r ./tests/e2e/distributed
+
 # vLLM multi-node DP smoke (CPU). Builds local-ai:tests and the
 # cpu-vllm backend from the current working tree, then drives a
 # head + headless follower via testcontainers-go and asserts a chat
 # completion. BuildKit caches both images, so re-runs only rebuild
 # what changed. The test lives under tests/e2e/distributed and is
 # selected by the VLLMMultinode label so it doesn't run alongside
-# the other distributed-suite tests by default.
+# test-e2e-distributed.
 test-e2e-vllm-multinode: docker-build-e2e extract-backend-vllm protogen-go
 	@echo 'Running e2e vLLM multi-node DP test'
 	LOCALAI_IMAGE=local-ai \
@@ -991,6 +998,19 @@ test-extra-backend-whisper-transcription: docker-build-whisper
 	BACKEND_TEST_CAPS=health,load,transcription \
 	$(MAKE) test-extra-backend
 
+## Audio transcription wrapper for the parakeet-cpp (parakeet.cpp ggml port)
+## backend. Mirrors test-extra-backend-whisper-transcription: drives the
+## AudioTranscription / AudioTranscriptionStream RPCs against a published
+## Parakeet GGUF using the JFK 11s clip from whisper.cpp's CI samples. Not
+## part of the default test suite - run explicitly once the pinned model URL
+## is reachable.
+test-extra-backend-parakeet-cpp-transcription: docker-build-parakeet-cpp
+	BACKEND_IMAGE=local-ai-backend:parakeet-cpp \
+	BACKEND_TEST_MODEL_URL=https://huggingface.co/mudler/parakeet-cpp-gguf/resolve/main/tdt_ctc-110m-f16.gguf \
+	BACKEND_TEST_AUDIO_URL=https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/raw/master/samples/jfk.wav \
+	BACKEND_TEST_CAPS=health,load,transcription \
+	$(MAKE) test-extra-backend
+
 ## LocalVQE audio transform (joint AEC + noise suppression + dereverb).
 ## Exercises the audio_transform capability end-to-end: batch transform
 ## of a real WAV fixture and bidi streaming of synthetic silent frames.
@@ -1149,6 +1169,8 @@ BACKEND_HUGGINGFACE = huggingface|golang|.|false|true
 BACKEND_SILERO_VAD = silero-vad|golang|.|false|true
 BACKEND_STABLEDIFFUSION_GGML = stablediffusion-ggml|golang|.|--progress=plain|true
 BACKEND_WHISPER = whisper|golang|.|false|true
+BACKEND_CRISPASR = crispasr|golang|.|false|true
+BACKEND_PARAKEET_CPP = parakeet-cpp|golang|.|false|true
 BACKEND_VOXTRAL = voxtral|golang|.|false|true
 BACKEND_ACESTEP_CPP = acestep-cpp|golang|.|false|true
 BACKEND_QWEN3_TTS_CPP = qwen3-tts-cpp|golang|.|false|true
@@ -1236,6 +1258,8 @@ $(eval $(call generate-docker-build-target,$(BACKEND_HUGGINGFACE)))
 $(eval $(call generate-docker-build-target,$(BACKEND_SILERO_VAD)))
 $(eval $(call generate-docker-build-target,$(BACKEND_STABLEDIFFUSION_GGML)))
 $(eval $(call generate-docker-build-target,$(BACKEND_WHISPER)))
+$(eval $(call generate-docker-build-target,$(BACKEND_CRISPASR)))
+$(eval $(call generate-docker-build-target,$(BACKEND_PARAKEET_CPP)))
 $(eval $(call generate-docker-build-target,$(BACKEND_VOXTRAL)))
 $(eval $(call generate-docker-build-target,$(BACKEND_OPUS)))
 $(eval $(call generate-docker-build-target,$(BACKEND_RERANKERS)))
@@ -1285,7 +1309,7 @@ $(eval $(call generate-docker-build-target,$(BACKEND_SHERPA_ONNX)))
 docker-save-%: backend-images
 	docker save local-ai-backend:$* -o backend-images/$*.tar
 
-docker-build-backends: docker-build-llama-cpp docker-build-ik-llama-cpp docker-build-turboquant docker-build-ds4 docker-build-rerankers docker-build-vllm docker-build-vllm-omni docker-build-sglang docker-build-transformers docker-build-outetts docker-build-diffusers docker-build-kokoro docker-build-faster-whisper docker-build-coqui docker-build-chatterbox docker-build-vibevoice docker-build-liquid-audio docker-build-moonshine docker-build-pocket-tts docker-build-qwen-tts docker-build-fish-speech docker-build-faster-qwen3-tts docker-build-qwen-asr docker-build-nemo docker-build-voxcpm docker-build-whisperx docker-build-ace-step docker-build-acestep-cpp docker-build-voxtral docker-build-mlx-distributed docker-build-trl docker-build-llama-cpp-quantization docker-build-tinygrad docker-build-kokoros docker-build-sam3-cpp docker-build-rfdetr-cpp docker-build-qwen3-tts-cpp docker-build-vibevoice-cpp docker-build-localvqe docker-build-insightface docker-build-speaker-recognition docker-build-sherpa-onnx docker-build-cloud-proxy
+docker-build-backends: docker-build-llama-cpp docker-build-ik-llama-cpp docker-build-turboquant docker-build-ds4 docker-build-rerankers docker-build-vllm docker-build-vllm-omni docker-build-sglang docker-build-transformers docker-build-outetts docker-build-diffusers docker-build-kokoro docker-build-faster-whisper docker-build-crispasr docker-build-coqui docker-build-chatterbox docker-build-vibevoice docker-build-liquid-audio docker-build-moonshine docker-build-pocket-tts docker-build-qwen-tts docker-build-fish-speech docker-build-faster-qwen3-tts docker-build-qwen-asr docker-build-nemo docker-build-voxcpm docker-build-whisperx docker-build-ace-step docker-build-acestep-cpp docker-build-voxtral docker-build-mlx-distributed docker-build-trl docker-build-llama-cpp-quantization docker-build-tinygrad docker-build-kokoros docker-build-sam3-cpp docker-build-rfdetr-cpp docker-build-qwen3-tts-cpp docker-build-vibevoice-cpp docker-build-localvqe docker-build-insightface docker-build-speaker-recognition docker-build-sherpa-onnx docker-build-cloud-proxy
 
 ########################################################
 ### Mock Backend for E2E Tests
@@ -1313,6 +1337,13 @@ build-ui-test-server: build-mock-backend react-ui protogen-go
 test-ui-e2e: build-ui-test-server
 	cd core/http/react-ui && npm install && npx playwright install --with-deps chromium && npx playwright test
 
+## Optional Playwright worker count for the UI e2e targets below. Pass
+## UI_TEST_WORKERS=N (e.g. `make test-ui-coverage UI_TEST_WORKERS=20`) to
+## override Playwright's default (cores/2). Empty by default so Playwright
+## picks its own worker count.
+UI_TEST_WORKERS ?=
+PLAYWRIGHT_WORKERS_FLAG = $(if $(UI_TEST_WORKERS),--workers=$(UI_TEST_WORKERS),)
+
 ## Fast Playwright e2e run used by the pre-commit hook on React UI changes.
 ## Force-rebuilds the (non-instrumented) dist so the suite tests the working
 ## tree — not a stale dist the `react-ui` skip-guard would leave — re-embeds
@@ -1322,22 +1353,24 @@ test-ui-e2e: build-ui-test-server
 test-ui: build-mock-backend protogen-go
 	cd core/http/react-ui && bun install && bun run build
 	$(GOCMD) build -o tests/e2e-ui/ui-test-server ./tests/e2e-ui
-	cd core/http/react-ui && sh $(CURDIR)/scripts/ensure-playwright-browser.sh && bunx playwright test
+	cd core/http/react-ui && sh $(CURDIR)/scripts/ensure-playwright-browser.sh && bunx playwright test $(PLAYWRIGHT_WORKERS_FLAG)
 
-## React UI code coverage from the Playwright e2e suite. Builds an
-## istanbul-instrumented bundle (COVERAGE=true), re-embeds it into the
-## ui-test-server (the dist is //go:embed'ed at compile time), runs the
-## Playwright specs — which harvest window.__coverage__ via the coverage
-## fixture — and writes an nyc report to core/http/react-ui/coverage/.
-## Removes the instrumented dist afterwards so normal builds aren't served
-## instrumented assets.
+## React UI code coverage from the Playwright e2e suite. Builds a
+## NON-instrumented bundle with source maps (COVERAGE_V8=true), re-embeds it
+## into the ui-test-server (the dist is //go:embed'ed at compile time), runs the
+## Playwright specs which collect native Chromium V8 coverage (PW_V8_COVERAGE=1)
+## — far cheaper than istanbul's build-time counters (~40% faster end-to-end) —
+## convert it to istanbul via v8-to-istanbul in the coverage fixture, and write
+## an nyc report to core/http/react-ui/coverage/. Removes the dist afterwards so
+## normal builds aren't served source-mapped assets. (The legacy istanbul path
+## still exists: `bun run build:coverage` + unset PW_V8_COVERAGE.)
 test-ui-coverage: build-mock-backend protogen-go
 	trap 'rm -rf "$(CURDIR)/core/http/react-ui/dist"' EXIT; \
-	( cd core/http/react-ui && bun install && bun run build:coverage ) && \
+	( cd core/http/react-ui && bun install && bun run build:coverage-v8 ) && \
 	$(GOCMD) build -o tests/e2e-ui/ui-test-server ./tests/e2e-ui && \
 	( cd core/http/react-ui && rm -rf .nyc_output coverage && \
 	    sh $(CURDIR)/scripts/ensure-playwright-browser.sh && \
-	    bunx playwright test && bun run coverage:report )
+	    PW_V8_COVERAGE=1 bunx playwright test $(PLAYWRIGHT_WORKERS_FLAG) && bun run coverage:report )
 
 ## UI coverage baseline (committed) and the strict gate that compares against
 ## it — the React mirror of test-coverage-baseline / test-coverage-check.

README.md

@@ -31,12 +31,18 @@
 
 **LocalAI** is the open-source AI engine. Run any model - LLMs, vision, voice, image, video - on any hardware. No GPU required.
 
-- **Drop-in API compatibility** — OpenAI, Anthropic, ElevenLabs APIs
-- **36+ backends** — llama.cpp, vLLM, transformers, whisper, diffusers, MLX...
-- **Any hardware** — NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Apple Silicon, Vulkan, or CPU-only
-- **Multi-user ready** — API key auth, user quotas, role-based access
-- **Built-in AI agents** — autonomous agents with tool use, RAG, MCP, and skills
-- **Privacy-first** — your data never leaves your infrastructure
+**A small core, not a bundle.** Each backend wraps a best-in-class engine (llama.cpp, vLLM, whisper.cpp, stable-diffusion, MLX...) in its own image, pulled only when a model needs it. You install nothing you don't use.
+
+- **Composable by design**: backends are separate and pulled on demand, so you install only what your model needs
+- **Open and extensible**: load any model, or build your own backend in any language against an open interface
+- **Drop-in API compatibility**: OpenAI, Anthropic, and ElevenLabs APIs across every backend
+- **Any model, any modality**: LLMs, vision, voice, image, and video behind one API
+- **Any hardware**: NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, Apple Silicon, Vulkan, or CPU-only
+- **Multi-user ready**: API key auth, user quotas, role-based access
+- **Built-in AI agents**: autonomous agents with tool use, RAG, MCP, and skills
+- **Privacy-first**: your data never leaves your infrastructure
+
+![A small LocalAI core with backends (llama.cpp, vLLM, MLX, whisper.cpp, stable-diffusion, kokoro, parakeet.cpp...) plugged in as separate on-demand images](docs/static/images/diagrams/composable-core.png)
 
 Created by [Ettore Di Giacinto](https://github.com/mudler) and maintained by the [LocalAI team](#team).
 

backend/backend.proto

@@ -537,6 +537,15 @@ message TTSRequest {
   string dst = 3;
   string voice = 4;
   optional string language = 5;
+  // instructions is a free-form, per-request style/voice description (maps to
+  // the OpenAI `instructions` field). Backends that support expressive synthesis
+  // (e.g. Qwen3-TTS CustomVoice/VoiceDesign) prefer this over the static YAML
+  // option when set; backends that don't simply ignore it.
+  optional string instructions = 6;
+  // params carries optional, backend-specific per-request generation parameters
+  // (e.g. Chatterbox exaggeration/cfg_weight/temperature). Values are strings and
+  // coerced by the backend; unset leaves the backend's configured defaults.
+  map<string, string> params = 7;
 }
 
 message VADRequest {

backend/cpp/ds4/.gitignore

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ ds4/
 build/
 package/
 grpc-server
+ds4-worker
 *.o
 backend.pb.cc
 backend.pb.h

backend/cpp/ds4/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@ elseif(DS4_GPU STREQUAL "cpu")
     set(DS4_OBJS "${DS4_DIR}/ds4_cpu.o")
 endif()
 
+# ds4.c now references ds4_distributed.c (distributed inference was split into
+# its own translation unit upstream). It is a single GPU-agnostic object shared
+# by every GPU mode, so link it in regardless of DS4_GPU.
+list(APPEND DS4_OBJS "${DS4_DIR}/ds4_distributed.o")
+
 add_executable(${TARGET}
     grpc-server.cpp
     dsml_parser.cpp
@@ -99,3 +104,36 @@ if(DS4_NATIVE)
         target_compile_options(${TARGET} PRIVATE -march=native)
     endif()
 endif()
+
+# ds4-worker: standalone distributed worker. Links the same ds4 engine objects
+# (including ds4_distributed.o) but has NO gRPC/protobuf dependency - it speaks
+# ds4's own TCP transport via ds4_dist_run(). Buildable wherever the engine
+# objects build, even on hosts without protobuf/grpc dev headers.
+add_executable(ds4-worker worker_main.c)
+target_include_directories(ds4-worker PRIVATE ${DS4_DIR})
+foreach(obj ${DS4_OBJS})
+    target_sources(ds4-worker PRIVATE ${obj})
+    set_source_files_properties(${obj} PROPERTIES EXTERNAL_OBJECT TRUE GENERATED TRUE)
+endforeach()
+# worker_main.c is C, but the engine objects built by nvcc (ds4_cuda.o) and the
+# Metal path (ds4_metal.o, Obj-C++) reference the C++ runtime (libstdc++). Force
+# the C++ linker driver so those symbols resolve; the C driver would not link
+# libstdc++ and the CUDA/Metal builds fail with undefined std:: references.
+set_target_properties(ds4-worker PROPERTIES LINKER_LANGUAGE CXX)
+target_link_libraries(ds4-worker PRIVATE Threads::Threads m)
+
+if(DS4_GPU STREQUAL "cuda")
+    target_link_libraries(ds4-worker PRIVATE CUDA::cudart CUDA::cublas)
+elseif(DS4_GPU STREQUAL "metal")
+    target_link_libraries(ds4-worker PRIVATE ${FOUNDATION_LIB} ${METAL_LIB})
+elseif(DS4_GPU STREQUAL "cpu")
+    target_compile_definitions(ds4-worker PRIVATE DS4_NO_GPU)
+endif()
+
+if(DS4_NATIVE)
+    if(APPLE)
+        target_compile_options(ds4-worker PRIVATE -mcpu=native)
+    else()
+        target_compile_options(ds4-worker PRIVATE -march=native)
+    endif()
+endif()

backend/cpp/ds4/Makefile

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 # ds4 backend Makefile.
 #
-# Upstream pin lives below as DS4_VERSION?=e8e8779b261c10f36ad6270ba732c8f0be5b62e3
+# Upstream pin lives below as DS4_VERSION?=477c0e82e2699b35a65fd0a1ed6fe66b41087dfe
 # (.github/bump_deps.sh) can find and update it - matches the
 # llama-cpp / ik-llama-cpp / turboquant convention.
 
-DS4_VERSION?=e8e8779b261c10f36ad6270ba732c8f0be5b62e3
+DS4_VERSION?=477c0e82e2699b35a65fd0a1ed6fe66b41087dfe
 DS4_REPO?=https://github.com/antirez/ds4
 
 CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR := $(dir $(abspath $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
@@ -18,16 +18,19 @@ UNAME_S := $(shell uname -s)
 
 CMAKE_ARGS ?= -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
 
+# ds4_distributed.o is a GPU-agnostic translation unit that ds4.c/ds4_cpu.o now
+# reference (upstream split distributed inference into its own .c). The same
+# object is shared by every GPU mode, so it is appended unconditionally below.
 ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),cublas)
     CMAKE_ARGS += -DDS4_GPU=cuda
-    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4.o ds4_cuda.o
+    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4.o ds4_cuda.o ds4_distributed.o
 else ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Darwin)
     CMAKE_ARGS += -DDS4_GPU=metal
-    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4.o ds4_metal.o
+    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4.o ds4_metal.o ds4_distributed.o
 else
     # CPU reference path (Linux only - macOS CPU path is broken by VM bug per ds4 README).
     CMAKE_ARGS += -DDS4_GPU=cpu
-    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4_cpu.o
+    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4_cpu.o ds4_distributed.o
 endif
 
 ifneq ($(NATIVE),true)
@@ -52,17 +55,18 @@ ds4:
 # the right per-platform compile flags (Objective-C/Metal on Darwin, nvcc on Linux+CUDA).
 ds4/ds4.o: ds4
 ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),cublas)
-	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4.o ds4_cuda.o
+	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4.o ds4_cuda.o ds4_distributed.o
 else ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Darwin)
-	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4.o ds4_metal.o
+	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4.o ds4_metal.o ds4_distributed.o
 else
-	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4_cpu.o
+	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4_cpu.o ds4_distributed.o
 endif
 
 grpc-server: ds4/ds4.o
 	mkdir -p $(BUILD_DIR)
 	cd $(BUILD_DIR) && cmake $(CMAKE_ARGS) $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR) && cmake --build . --config Release -j $(JOBS)
 	cp $(BUILD_DIR)/grpc-server grpc-server
+	cp $(BUILD_DIR)/ds4-worker ds4-worker
 
 package: grpc-server
 	bash package.sh
@@ -71,7 +75,7 @@ test:
 	@echo "ds4 backend: e2e coverage at tests/e2e-backends/ (BACKEND_BINARY mode)"
 
 clean:
-	rm -rf $(BUILD_DIR) grpc-server package
+	rm -rf $(BUILD_DIR) grpc-server ds4-worker package
 	if [ -d ds4 ]; then $(MAKE) -C ds4 clean; fi
 
 purge: clean

backend/cpp/ds4/grpc-server.cpp

@@ -23,8 +23,11 @@ extern "C" {
 
 #include <atomic>
 #include <chrono>
+#include <climits>
 #include <csignal>
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <cstring>
+#include <ctime>
 #include <iostream>
 #include <memory>
 #include <mutex>
@@ -51,6 +54,12 @@ ds4_session *g_session = nullptr;
 int g_ctx_size = 32768;
 std::string g_kv_cache_dir; // empty disables disk cache
 
+// Distributed coordinator state. g_distributed is set true when LoadModel is
+// given 'ds4_role:coordinator'; generation then waits for the worker route to
+// form before running. Single-node behavior is unchanged when unset.
+bool g_distributed = false;
+int g_route_timeout_sec = 60;
+
 std::atomic<Server *> g_server{nullptr};
 
 // Parse a "key:value" option string. Returns empty when no colon.
@@ -60,6 +69,77 @@ static std::pair<std::string, std::string> split_option(const std::string &opt)
     return {opt.substr(0, colon), opt.substr(colon + 1)};
 }
 
+// Parse a positive base-10 integer. Returns false (without throwing) on empty,
+// trailing garbage, non-positive, or overflow - unlike std::stoi.
+static bool parse_positive_int(const std::string &s, int *out) {
+    if (s.empty()) return false;
+    char *end = nullptr;
+    long v = std::strtol(s.c_str(), &end, 10);
+    if (!end || *end != '\0' || v <= 0 || v > INT_MAX) return false;
+    *out = static_cast<int>(v);
+    return true;
+}
+
+// Parse a ds4 layer spec "START:END" or "START:output" into the engine's
+// distributed layer fields. Returns false on malformed input.
+static bool parse_layers_spec(const std::string &spec, ds4_distributed_layers *out) {
+    auto colon = spec.find(':');
+    if (colon == std::string::npos) return false;
+    std::string lhs = spec.substr(0, colon);
+    std::string rhs = spec.substr(colon + 1);
+    if (lhs.empty() || rhs.empty()) return false;
+    char *end = nullptr;
+    long start = std::strtol(lhs.c_str(), &end, 10);
+    if (!end || *end != '\0' || start < 0) return false;
+    out->start = static_cast<uint32_t>(start);
+    out->has_output = false;
+    if (rhs == "output") {
+        out->has_output = true;
+        out->end = out->start; // engine treats has_output as "through final layer"
+    } else {
+        long e = std::strtol(rhs.c_str(), &end, 10);
+        if (!end || *end != '\0' || e < start) return false;
+        out->end = static_cast<uint32_t>(e);
+    }
+    out->set = true;
+    return true;
+}
+
+// When acting as a distributed coordinator, block until the worker route
+// covers all layers (ds4_session_distributed_route_ready == 1) or the timeout
+// elapses. Returns an empty string on success, or an error message to return
+// to the client. No-op when not distributed.
+//
+// Takes the g_engine_mu lock by reference and RELEASES it during each poll
+// sleep. The wait can span up to g_route_timeout_sec seconds while workers
+// connect; holding g_engine_mu the whole time would block the Status/Health
+// readiness probes (they also lock g_engine_mu), making LocalAI's loader treat
+// a still-starting worker as hung.
+static std::string wait_route_ready(std::unique_lock<std::mutex> &lock) {
+    if (!g_distributed) return "";
+    char err[256] = {0};
+    const int deadline_polls = g_route_timeout_sec * 10; // 100ms per poll
+    for (int i = 0; i <= deadline_polls; ++i) {
+        int ready = ds4_session_distributed_route_ready(g_session, err, sizeof(err));
+        if (ready == 1) return "";
+        if (ready < 0) {
+            return std::string("ds4 distributed route error: ") +
+                   (err[0] ? err : "unknown");
+        }
+        // Release the lock while sleeping so Status/Health and other RPCs can
+        // interleave during worker startup.
+        lock.unlock();
+        struct timespec ts = {0, 100L * 1000L * 1000L}; // 100ms
+        nanosleep(&ts, nullptr);
+        lock.lock();
+        // A concurrent Free() may have torn down the engine while we slept.
+        if (!g_engine || !g_session) {
+            return "ds4: model unloaded while waiting for distributed route";
+        }
+    }
+    return "ds4 distributed route incomplete: workers not connected (layers uncovered)";
+}
+
 static void append_token_text(ds4_engine *engine, int token, std::string &out) {
     size_t len = 0;
     const char *text = ds4_token_text(engine, token, &len);
@@ -377,6 +457,11 @@ public:
                      backend::Result *result) override {
         std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_engine_mu);
 
+        // Reset distributed state so a model swap (a second LoadModel without
+        // ds4_role) doesn't inherit a stale coordinator configuration.
+        g_distributed = false;
+        g_route_timeout_sec = 60;
+
         if (g_engine) {
             if (g_session) { ds4_session_free(g_session); g_session = nullptr; }
             ds4_engine_close(g_engine);
@@ -394,12 +479,23 @@ public:
         std::string mtp_path;
         int mtp_draft = 0;
         float mtp_margin = 3.0f;
+        std::string ds4_role, ds4_layers, ds4_listen;
         for (const auto &opt : request->options()) {
             auto [k, v] = split_option(opt);
             if (k == "mtp_path") mtp_path = v;
             else if (k == "mtp_draft") mtp_draft = std::stoi(v);
             else if (k == "mtp_margin") mtp_margin = std::stof(v);
             else if (k == "kv_cache_dir") g_kv_cache_dir = v;
+            else if (k == "ds4_role") ds4_role = v;
+            else if (k == "ds4_layers") ds4_layers = v;
+            else if (k == "ds4_listen") ds4_listen = v;
+            else if (k == "ds4_route_timeout") {
+                if (!parse_positive_int(v, &g_route_timeout_sec)) {
+                    result->set_success(false);
+                    result->set_message("ds4: ds4_route_timeout must be a positive integer");
+                    return GStatus::OK;
+                }
+            }
         }
 
         g_kv_cache.SetDir(g_kv_cache_dir);
@@ -422,6 +518,49 @@ public:
         opt.backend = DS4_BACKEND_CUDA;
 #endif
 
+        // Coordinator wiring. 'ds4_role:coordinator' enables layer-split
+        // distributed inference: this process listens on ds4_listen and owns
+        // the ds4_layers slice; workers dial in (see `local-ai worker
+        // ds4-distributed`). Absent ds4_role => unchanged single-node path.
+        // Must be static: opt.distributed.listen_host is a const char* the
+        // engine retains past this call, so it cannot point at a local that
+        // goes out of scope (otherwise a future "simplify to local" refactor
+        // reintroduces a dangling pointer).
+        static std::string s_listen_host;
+        if (ds4_role == "coordinator") {
+            if (ds4_layers.empty() || ds4_listen.empty()) {
+                result->set_success(false);
+                result->set_message("ds4: ds4_role:coordinator requires ds4_layers and ds4_listen");
+                return GStatus::OK;
+            }
+            // host:port for IPv4/hostname; IPv6 literals are unsupported (the
+            // first colon would split inside the address).
+            auto host_port = split_option(ds4_listen); // "host:port" -> {host, port}
+            if (host_port.second.empty()) {
+                result->set_success(false);
+                result->set_message("ds4: ds4_listen must be host:port");
+                return GStatus::OK;
+            }
+            int listen_port = 0;
+            if (!parse_positive_int(host_port.second, &listen_port)) {
+                result->set_success(false);
+                result->set_message("ds4: ds4_listen port must be a positive integer");
+                return GStatus::OK;
+            }
+            ds4_distributed_layers layers = {};
+            if (!parse_layers_spec(ds4_layers, &layers)) {
+                result->set_success(false);
+                result->set_message("ds4: invalid ds4_layers (want START:END or START:output)");
+                return GStatus::OK;
+            }
+            s_listen_host = host_port.first;
+            opt.distributed.role = DS4_DISTRIBUTED_COORDINATOR;
+            opt.distributed.layers = layers;
+            opt.distributed.listen_host = s_listen_host.c_str();
+            opt.distributed.listen_port = listen_port;
+            g_distributed = true;
+        }
+
         int rc = ds4_engine_open(&g_engine, &opt);
         if (rc != 0 || !g_engine) {
             result->set_success(false);
@@ -458,10 +597,13 @@ public:
 
     GStatus Predict(ServerContext *, const backend::PredictOptions *request,
                    backend::Reply *reply) override {
-        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_engine_mu);
+        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(g_engine_mu);
         if (!g_engine || !g_session) {
             return GStatus(StatusCode::FAILED_PRECONDITION, "ds4: model not loaded");
         }
+        if (std::string route_err = wait_route_ready(lock); !route_err.empty()) {
+            return GStatus(StatusCode::UNAVAILABLE, route_err);
+        }
         ds4_tokens prompt = {};
         build_prompt(g_engine, request, &prompt);
         int n_predict = request->tokens() > 0 ? request->tokens() : 256;
@@ -554,10 +696,13 @@ public:
 
     GStatus PredictStream(ServerContext *, const backend::PredictOptions *request,
                          ServerWriter<backend::Reply> *writer) override {
-        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(g_engine_mu);
+        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(g_engine_mu);
         if (!g_engine || !g_session) {
             return GStatus(StatusCode::FAILED_PRECONDITION, "ds4: model not loaded");
         }
+        if (std::string route_err = wait_route_ready(lock); !route_err.empty()) {
+            return GStatus(StatusCode::UNAVAILABLE, route_err);
+        }
         ds4_tokens prompt = {};
         build_prompt(g_engine, request, &prompt);
         int n_predict = request->tokens() > 0 ? request->tokens() : 256;

backend/cpp/ds4/package.sh

@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@ REPO_ROOT="${CURDIR}/../../.."
 
 mkdir -p "$CURDIR/package/lib"
 cp -avf "$CURDIR/grpc-server" "$CURDIR/package/"
-cp -rfv "$CURDIR/run.sh"     "$CURDIR/package/"
+cp -avf "$CURDIR/ds4-worker"  "$CURDIR/package/"
+cp -rfv "$CURDIR/run.sh"      "$CURDIR/package/"
 
 UNAME_S=$(uname -s)
 if [ "$UNAME_S" = "Darwin" ]; then

backend/cpp/ds4/worker_main.c

@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+// ds4-worker: standalone distributed worker for the LocalAI ds4 backend.
+//
+// A ds4 distributed worker owns a slice of the model's transformer layers,
+// dials the coordinator, and serves activations for its slice. It does NOT
+// speak backend.proto - it speaks ds4's own TCP transport via ds4_dist_run().
+// This binary is intentionally minimal (no HTTP/web/kvstore/linenoise): it
+// only needs the engine objects + ds4_distributed.o, which the backend already
+// builds. It is launched by `local-ai worker ds4-distributed`.
+//
+// Usage:
+//   ds4-worker --role worker --model <gguf> --layers 20:output \
+//              --coordinator <host> <port> [--cpu|--cuda|--metal] [-c CTX] [-t N]
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <signal.h>
+#include <limits.h>
+
+#include "ds4.h"
+#include "ds4_distributed.h"
+
+static const char *need_arg(int *i, int argc, char **argv, const char *flag) {
+    if (*i + 1 >= argc) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "ds4-worker: missing value for %s\n", flag);
+        exit(2);
+    }
+    return argv[++(*i)];
+}
+
+static int parse_int_arg(const char *s, const char *flag) {
+    char *end = NULL;
+    long v = strtol(s, &end, 10);
+    if (!s[0] || *end || v <= 0 || v > INT_MAX) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "ds4-worker: invalid value for %s: %s\n", flag, s);
+        exit(2);
+    }
+    return (int)v;
+}
+
+static ds4_backend default_backend(void) {
+#if defined(DS4_NO_GPU)
+    return DS4_BACKEND_CPU;
+#elif defined(__APPLE__)
+    return DS4_BACKEND_METAL;
+#else
+    return DS4_BACKEND_CUDA;
+#endif
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char **argv) {
+    signal(SIGPIPE, SIG_IGN);
+
+    ds4_engine_options opt = {0};
+    opt.backend = default_backend();
+    int ctx_size = 32768;
+
+    for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
+        const char *arg = argv[i];
+        if (!strcmp(arg, "-h") || !strcmp(arg, "--help")) {
+            fprintf(stdout, "ds4-worker: standalone ds4 distributed worker\n");
+            ds4_dist_usage(stdout);
+            fprintf(stdout, "  -m, --model PATH   model GGUF (the worker loads only its --layers slice)\n");
+            fprintf(stdout, "  -c, --ctx N        context size (default 32768)\n");
+            fprintf(stdout, "  -t, --threads N    CPU threads\n");
+            fprintf(stdout, "  --cpu|--cuda|--metal  backend override\n");
+            return 0;
+        }
+
+        char dist_err[256] = {0};
+        ds4_dist_cli_parse_result dist_parse =
+            ds4_dist_parse_cli_arg(arg, &i, argc, argv, &opt.distributed,
+                                   dist_err, sizeof(dist_err));
+        if (dist_parse == DS4_DIST_CLI_ERROR) {
+            fprintf(stderr, "ds4-worker: %s\n",
+                    dist_err[0] ? dist_err : "invalid distributed option");
+            return 2;
+        }
+        if (dist_parse == DS4_DIST_CLI_MATCHED) continue;
+
+        if (!strcmp(arg, "-m") || !strcmp(arg, "--model")) {
+            opt.model_path = need_arg(&i, argc, argv, arg);
+        } else if (!strcmp(arg, "-c") || !strcmp(arg, "--ctx")) {
+            ctx_size = parse_int_arg(need_arg(&i, argc, argv, arg), arg);
+        } else if (!strcmp(arg, "-t") || !strcmp(arg, "--threads")) {
+            opt.n_threads = parse_int_arg(need_arg(&i, argc, argv, arg), arg);
+        } else if (!strcmp(arg, "--cpu")) {
+            opt.backend = DS4_BACKEND_CPU;
+        } else if (!strcmp(arg, "--cuda")) {
+            opt.backend = DS4_BACKEND_CUDA;
+        } else if (!strcmp(arg, "--metal")) {
+            opt.backend = DS4_BACKEND_METAL;
+        } else {
+            fprintf(stderr, "ds4-worker: unknown option: %s\n", arg);
+            return 2;
+        }
+    }
+
+    if (opt.distributed.role != DS4_DISTRIBUTED_WORKER) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "ds4-worker: --role worker is required\n");
+        return 2;
+    }
+    if (!opt.model_path) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "ds4-worker: --model is required\n");
+        return 2;
+    }
+
+    char prep_err[256] = {0};
+    if (ds4_dist_prepare_engine_options(&opt.distributed, &opt,
+                                        prep_err, sizeof(prep_err)) != 0) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "ds4-worker: %s\n", prep_err);
+        return 2;
+    }
+
+    ds4_engine *engine = NULL;
+    if (ds4_engine_open(&engine, &opt) != 0 || !engine) {
+        fprintf(stderr, "ds4-worker: failed to open engine\n");
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    ds4_dist_generation_options gen = {0};
+    gen.ctx_size = ctx_size;
+    int rc = ds4_dist_run(engine, &opt.distributed, &gen);
+    ds4_engine_close(engine);
+    return rc;
+}

backend/cpp/ik-llama-cpp/Makefile

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-IK_LLAMA_VERSION?=d2da6da05c73aeb658a3d1751f386c24e6963856
+IK_LLAMA_VERSION?=1520eda980564241434b791ce2bbbd128c4be9ea
 LLAMA_REPO?=https://github.com/ikawrakow/ik_llama.cpp
 
 CMAKE_ARGS?=

backend/cpp/llama-cpp/Makefile

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-LLAMA_VERSION?=0d18aaa9d1a8af3df9abccd828e22eeaac7f840b
+LLAMA_VERSION?=7c158fbb4aec1bdc9c81d6ca0e785139f4826fae
 LLAMA_REPO?=https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp
 
 CMAKE_ARGS?=

backend/cpp/llama-cpp/grpc-server.cpp

@@ -573,8 +573,12 @@ static void params_parse(server_context& /*ctx_server*/, const backend::ModelOpt
     // checkpoint_min_step: minimum spacing between context checkpoints in
     // tokens (0 disables the minimum). Match upstream's default (256). This
     // field was renamed from `checkpoint_every_nt` in llama.cpp; the semantics
-    // also shifted from a fixed cadence to a minimum spacing.
+    // also shifted from a fixed cadence to a minimum spacing. The turboquant
+    // fork branched before the field existed, so skip it on the legacy path
+    // (LOCALAI_LEGACY_LLAMA_CPP_SPEC is injected by patch-grpc-server.sh).
+#ifndef LOCALAI_LEGACY_LLAMA_CPP_SPEC
     params.checkpoint_min_step = 256;
+#endif
 
      // decode options. Options are in form optname:optvale, or if booleans only optname.
     for (int i = 0; i < request->options_size(); i++) {
@@ -748,11 +752,18 @@ static void params_parse(server_context& /*ctx_server*/, const backend::ModelOpt
                 params.cache_idle_slots = false;
             }
 
+#ifndef LOCALAI_LEGACY_LLAMA_CPP_SPEC
         // --- minimum context-checkpoint spacing (upstream -cms / --checkpoint-min-step) ---
         // 0 disables the minimum-spacing gate. Old option names (`checkpoint_every_nt`,
         // `checkpoint_every_n_tokens`) are kept as aliases for backward compatibility
         // with existing user configs: upstream renamed the field and shifted its
         // semantics from a fixed cadence to a minimum spacing.
+        //
+        // Gated out for the turboquant fork, which lacks common_params::
+        // checkpoint_min_step. The leading `}` closing the cache_idle_slots
+        // branch is removed with this block; the next `} else if` (n_ubatch)
+        // then closes cache_idle_slots, so braces stay balanced under both
+        // preprocessor branches.
         } else if (!strcmp(optname, "checkpoint_min_step") || !strcmp(optname, "checkpoint_min_spacing") ||
                    !strcmp(optname, "checkpoint_every_nt") || !strcmp(optname, "checkpoint_every_n_tokens")) {
             if (optval != NULL) {
@@ -762,6 +773,7 @@ static void params_parse(server_context& /*ctx_server*/, const backend::ModelOpt
                     // If conversion fails, keep default value (256)
                 }
             }
+#endif
 
         // --- physical batch size (upstream -ub / --ubatch-size) ---
         // Note: line ~482 already aliases n_ubatch to n_batch as a default; this
@@ -1165,9 +1177,15 @@ static void params_parse(server_context& /*ctx_server*/, const backend::ModelOpt
             params.tensor_buft_overrides.push_back({nullptr, nullptr});
         }
     }
+    // The draft tensor_buft_overrides are only populated under the modern
+    // (post-#22838) layout, whose population code is itself gated by
+    // LOCALAI_LEGACY_LLAMA_CPP_SPEC above. The turboquant fork lacks
+    // common_params_speculative::draft entirely, so skip the sentinel there too.
+#ifndef LOCALAI_LEGACY_LLAMA_CPP_SPEC
     if (!params.speculative.draft.tensor_buft_overrides.empty()) {
         params.speculative.draft.tensor_buft_overrides.push_back({nullptr, nullptr});
     }
+#endif
 
     // TODO: Add yarn
 
@@ -1926,6 +1944,17 @@ public:
                     body_json["chat_template_kwargs"]["enable_thinking"] = (et_it->second == "true");
                 }
 
+                // Pass reasoning_effort via chat_template_kwargs too: the lever
+                // jinja templates like gpt-oss (Harmony) / LFM2.5 read, distinct
+                // from enable_thinking which those templates ignore.
+                auto re_it = metadata.find("reasoning_effort");
+                if (re_it != metadata.end() && !re_it->second.empty()) {
+                    if (!body_json.contains("chat_template_kwargs")) {
+                        body_json["chat_template_kwargs"] = json::object();
+                    }
+                    body_json["chat_template_kwargs"]["reasoning_effort"] = re_it->second;
+                }
+
                 // Debug: Print full body_json before template processing (includes messages, tools, tool_choice, etc.)
                 SRV_DBG("[CONVERSATION DEBUG] PredictStream: Full body_json before oaicompat_chat_params_parse:\n%s\n", body_json.dump(2).c_str());
 
@@ -2186,7 +2215,15 @@ public:
         // content element — attaching to both would duplicate the first
         // token since oaicompat_msg_diffs is the same for both.
         json first_res_json = first_result->to_json();
-        if (first_res_json.is_array()) {
+        // Upstream llama.cpp (ggml-org/llama.cpp#23884) now emits an initial
+        // "begin" partial whose to_json() returns null, used only to signal the
+        // HTTP layer to flush 200 status headers before any token. gRPC has no
+        // such concept, so there is nothing to emit — the real tokens arrive in
+        // the loop below. Feeding this null into build_reply_from_json would
+        // throw (uncaught) and surface as a generic RPC error.
+        if (first_res_json.is_null()) {
+            // skip the begin-of-stream marker
+        } else if (first_res_json.is_array()) {
             for (const auto & res : first_res_json) {
                 auto reply = build_reply_from_json(res, first_result.get());
                 // Skip chat deltas for role-init elements (have "role" in
@@ -2216,7 +2253,10 @@ public:
             }
 
             json res_json = result->to_json();
-            if (res_json.is_array()) {
+            if (res_json.is_null()) {
+                // begin-of-stream marker (see note above) — nothing to emit
+                continue;
+            } else if (res_json.is_array()) {
                 for (const auto & res : res_json) {
                     auto reply = build_reply_from_json(res, result.get());
                     bool is_role_init = res.contains("choices") && !res["choices"].empty() &&
@@ -2708,6 +2748,17 @@ public:
                     body_json["chat_template_kwargs"]["enable_thinking"] = (predict_et_it->second == "true");
                 }
 
+                // Pass reasoning_effort via chat_template_kwargs too: the lever
+                // jinja templates like gpt-oss (Harmony) / LFM2.5 read, distinct
+                // from enable_thinking which those templates ignore.
+                auto predict_re_it = predict_metadata.find("reasoning_effort");
+                if (predict_re_it != predict_metadata.end() && !predict_re_it->second.empty()) {
+                    if (!body_json.contains("chat_template_kwargs")) {
+                        body_json["chat_template_kwargs"] = json::object();
+                    }
+                    body_json["chat_template_kwargs"]["reasoning_effort"] = predict_re_it->second;
+                }
+
                 // Debug: Print full body_json before template processing (includes messages, tools, tool_choice, etc.)
                 SRV_DBG("[CONVERSATION DEBUG] Predict: Full body_json before oaicompat_chat_params_parse:\n%s\n", body_json.dump(2).c_str());
 

backend/cpp/turboquant/patch-grpc-server.sh

@@ -124,8 +124,11 @@ fi
 # 5. Define LOCALAI_LEGACY_LLAMA_CPP_SPEC at the top of the file so the
 #    grpc-server option parser skips the new option-handler blocks (ngram_mod,
 #    ngram_map_k, ngram_map_k4v, ngram_cache, draft.cache_type_*, draft.cpuparams*,
-#    draft.tensor_buft_overrides) introduced for the post-#22838 layout. Those
-#    blocks reference struct fields that simply do not exist in the fork.
+#    draft.tensor_buft_overrides) introduced for the post-#22838 layout, the
+#    draft.tensor_buft_overrides sentinel termination, and the
+#    common_params::checkpoint_min_step default/option (added with the
+#    35c9b1f3 bump). Those blocks reference struct fields that simply do not
+#    exist in the fork.
 if grep -q '^#define LOCALAI_LEGACY_LLAMA_CPP_SPEC' "$SRC"; then
     echo "==> $SRC already defines LOCALAI_LEGACY_LLAMA_CPP_SPEC, skipping"
 else

backend/go/cloud-proxy/passthrough_edge_test.go

@@ -192,6 +192,61 @@ var _ = Describe("Forward", func() {
 		Expect(<-gotAuth).To(Equal("Bearer sk-real"), "caller-supplied Basic header must be replaced")
 	})
 
+	It("refuses to follow upstream redirects and never leaks the key to the redirect target", func() {
+		// A 3xx from the configured upstream means misconfiguration or a
+		// hijacked/spoofed host. Following it would replay the request —
+		// and the injected API key — to the Location host. Anthropic's
+		// x-api-key is NOT stripped by Go on cross-host redirects, so this
+		// would be a credential leak. The proxy must refuse the redirect.
+		sinkHit := make(chan string, 1)
+		sink := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			sinkHit <- r.Header.Get("x-api-key")
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)
+		}))
+		defer sink.Close()
+
+		redirector := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+			http.Redirect(w, r, sink.URL, http.StatusFound)
+		}))
+		defer redirector.Close()
+
+		GinkgoT().Setenv("CLOUD_PROXY_REDIRECT_KEY", "ant-secret")
+
+		cp := NewCloudProxy()
+		Expect(cp.Load(&pb.ModelOptions{
+			Proxy: &pb.ProxyOptions{
+				UpstreamUrl: redirector.URL,
+				Mode:        modePassthrough,
+				Provider:    providerAnthropic,
+				ApiKeyEnv:   "CLOUD_PROXY_REDIRECT_KEY",
+			},
+		})).To(Succeed())
+
+		addr := "test://forward-no-redirect"
+		grpc.Provide(addr, cp)
+		c := grpc.NewClient(addr, true, nil, false)
+		stream, err := c.Forward(context.Background())
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(stream.Send(&pb.ForwardRequest{
+			Path:   "/v1/messages",
+			Method: "POST",
+		})).To(Succeed())
+		Expect(stream.CloseSend()).To(Succeed())
+
+		// Drain the stream; a refused redirect surfaces as a non-EOF error.
+		var streamErr error
+		for {
+			if _, err := stream.Recv(); err != nil {
+				if !errors.Is(err, io.EOF) {
+					streamErr = err
+				}
+				break
+			}
+		}
+		Expect(streamErr).To(HaveOccurred(), "refused redirect must surface as an error")
+		Expect(sinkHit).NotTo(Receive(), "the redirect target must never be contacted")
+	})
+
 	It("handles concurrent calls without interference", func() {
 		// CloudProxy explicitly omits base.SingleThread — independent
 		// Forward streams must not block each other or leak state.

backend/go/cloud-proxy/proxy.go

@@ -11,9 +11,12 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"sync/atomic"
 
-	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/base"
-	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
 	"github.com/mudler/xlog"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/base"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/grpcerrors"
+	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/httpclient"
 )
 
 // Mirror of core/config.Proxy{Mode,Provider}* — backends don't
@@ -48,10 +51,15 @@ type proxyConfig struct {
 }
 
 func NewCloudProxy() *CloudProxy {
-	// No Client-level Timeout — that would bound streaming SSE
-	// responses too, which can legitimately last minutes. Per-request
-	// deadlines come from the gRPC stream context.
-	return &CloudProxy{client: &http.Client{}}
+	// httpclient.New refuses redirects outright: the proxy talks to a
+	// single configured upstream API (OpenAI/Anthropic/...) that answers
+	// directly, so a 3xx means misconfiguration, a hijacked upstream, or
+	// DNS trickery — never normal operation. Following it would replay the
+	// request, including the operator's x-api-key (which Go does NOT strip
+	// on cross-host redirects), to an unvetted host and leak the key
+	// (GHSA-3mj3-57v2-4636). It also imposes no body deadline, so streaming
+	// SSE responses that legitimately last minutes are not truncated.
+	return &CloudProxy{client: httpclient.New()}
 }
 
 func (c *CloudProxy) Load(opts *pb.ModelOptions) error {
@@ -138,7 +146,7 @@ func resolveAPIKey(envName, filePath string) (string, error) {
 func (c *CloudProxy) PredictRich(opts *pb.PredictOptions) (reply *pb.Reply, err error) {
 	cfg := c.cfg.Load()
 	if cfg == nil {
-		return nil, errors.New("cloud-proxy: model not loaded")
+		return nil, grpcerrors.ModelNotLoaded("cloud-proxy")
 	}
 	if cfg.mode != modeTranslate {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cloud-proxy: Predict only valid in translate mode (have %s)", cfg.mode)
@@ -168,7 +176,7 @@ func (c *CloudProxy) PredictRich(opts *pb.PredictOptions) (reply *pb.Reply, err
 func (c *CloudProxy) PredictStreamRich(opts *pb.PredictOptions, results chan<- *pb.Reply) (err error) {
 	cfg := c.cfg.Load()
 	if cfg == nil {
-		return errors.New("cloud-proxy: model not loaded")
+		return grpcerrors.ModelNotLoaded("cloud-proxy")
 	}
 	if cfg.mode != modeTranslate {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cloud-proxy: PredictStream only valid in translate mode (have %s)", cfg.mode)
@@ -262,7 +270,7 @@ func (c *CloudProxy) Forward(ctx context.Context, in <-chan *pb.ForwardRequest,
 
 	cfg := c.cfg.Load()
 	if cfg == nil {
-		return errors.New("cloud-proxy: model not loaded")
+		return grpcerrors.ModelNotLoaded("cloud-proxy")
 	}
 	if cfg.mode != modePassthrough {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cloud-proxy: Forward only valid in passthrough mode (have %s)", cfg.mode)
@@ -426,4 +434,3 @@ func isHopByHopHeader(name string) bool {
 	}
 	return false
 }
-

backend/go/crispasr/.gitignore

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+sources
+build*
+libgocrispasr*.so
+crispasr
+package

backend/go/crispasr/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.12)
+project(gocrispasr LANGUAGES C CXX)
+set(CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
+set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS ON)
+
+add_subdirectory(./sources/CrispASR)
+
+add_library(gocrispasr MODULE cpp/crispasr_shim.cpp)
+target_include_directories(gocrispasr PRIVATE
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/sources/CrispASR/include
+    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/sources/CrispASR/ggml/include)
+# Link the same backend set as crispasr-cli (examples/cli/CMakeLists.txt) so
+# the session API can dispatch to every compiled-in architecture, not just
+# whisper. crispasr is the referencer; the backend static libs supply the
+# per-architecture symbols; ggml is the math/runtime base.
+target_link_libraries(gocrispasr PRIVATE
+    crispasr
+    parakeet canary canary_ctc cohere granite_speech granite_nle
+    voxtral voxtral4b qwen3_asr qwen3_tts orpheus chatterbox indextts
+    kokoro voxcpm2_tts m2m100 t5_translate wav2vec2-ggml vibevoice
+    silero-lid pyannote-seg funasr paraformer sensevoice
+    crisp_audio
+    ggml)
+
+if(CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID MATCHES "GNU" AND CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION VERSION_LESS 9.0)
+    target_link_libraries(gocrispasr PRIVATE stdc++fs)
+endif()
+
+set_property(TARGET gocrispasr PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 17)
+set_target_properties(gocrispasr PROPERTIES LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR})

backend/go/crispasr/Makefile

@@ -0,0 +1,132 @@
+CMAKE_ARGS?=
+BUILD_TYPE?=
+NATIVE?=false
+
+GOCMD?=go
+GO_TAGS?=
+JOBS?=$(shell nproc --ignore=1)
+
+# CrispASR version (release tag)
+CRISPASR_REPO?=https://github.com/CrispStrobe/CrispASR
+CRISPASR_VERSION?=13d54e110e1538e0f0bc3af0680b9ab246cfb48d
+SO_TARGET?=libgocrispasr.so
+
+CMAKE_ARGS+=-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF
+# Keep the build lean: no tests/examples/server/SDL2/curl/ffmpeg (the FROM scratch
+# image cannot satisfy those runtime deps). All ASR/TTS model backends stay enabled.
+CMAKE_ARGS+=-DCRISPASR_BUILD_TESTS=OFF -DCRISPASR_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF -DCRISPASR_BUILD_SERVER=OFF
+CMAKE_ARGS+=-DCRISPASR_SDL2=OFF -DCRISPASR_CURL=OFF -DCRISPASR_FFMPEG=OFF
+
+ifeq ($(NATIVE),false)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_NATIVE=OFF
+endif
+
+ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),cublas)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_CUDA=ON
+else ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),openblas)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_BLAS=ON -DGGML_BLAS_VENDOR=OpenBLAS
+else ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),clblas)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_CLBLAST=ON -DCLBlast_DIR=/some/path
+else ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),hipblas)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_HIPBLAS=ON
+else ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),vulkan)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_VULKAN=ON
+else ifeq ($(OS),Darwin)
+	ifneq ($(BUILD_TYPE),metal)
+		CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_METAL=OFF
+	else
+		CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_METAL=ON
+		CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_METAL_EMBED_LIBRARY=ON
+	endif
+endif
+
+ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),sycl_f16)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_SYCL=ON \
+		-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=icx \
+		-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=icpx \
+		-DGGML_SYCL_F16=ON
+endif
+
+ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),sycl_f32)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_SYCL=ON \
+		-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=icx \
+		-DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=icpx
+endif
+
+sources/CrispASR:
+	mkdir -p sources/CrispASR
+	cd sources/CrispASR && \
+	git init && \
+	git remote add origin $(CRISPASR_REPO) && \
+	git fetch origin && \
+	git checkout $(CRISPASR_VERSION) && \
+	git submodule update --init --recursive --depth 1 --single-branch
+	# CrispASR's src/CMakeLists.txt locates its vendored llama.cpp
+	# (crispasr-llama-core, used by the chat C-ABI) via ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR},
+	# which assumes CrispASR is the top-level CMake project. We add_subdirectory
+	# it, so ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR} is THIS backend dir and the talk-llama sources
+	# aren't found. Rewrite to ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR} (the crispasr project root),
+	# which is correct both standalone and as a subproject. Idempotent.
+	sed -i 's#\$${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/examples/talk-llama#\$${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/examples/talk-llama#' sources/CrispASR/src/CMakeLists.txt
+
+# Detect OS
+UNAME_S := $(shell uname -s)
+
+ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Linux)
+	VARIANT_TARGETS = libgocrispasr-avx.so libgocrispasr-avx2.so libgocrispasr-avx512.so libgocrispasr-fallback.so
+else
+	VARIANT_TARGETS = libgocrispasr-fallback.so
+endif
+
+crispasr: main.go gocrispasr.go $(VARIANT_TARGETS)
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 $(GOCMD) build -tags "$(GO_TAGS)" -o crispasr ./
+
+package: crispasr
+	bash package.sh
+
+build: package
+
+clean: purge
+	rm -rf libgocrispasr*.so package sources/CrispASR crispasr
+
+purge:
+	rm -rf build*
+
+ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Linux)
+libgocrispasr-avx.so: sources/CrispASR
+	$(MAKE) purge
+	$(info ${GREEN}I crispasr build info:avx${RESET})
+	SO_TARGET=libgocrispasr-avx.so CMAKE_ARGS="$(CMAKE_ARGS) -DGGML_AVX=on -DGGML_AVX2=off -DGGML_AVX512=off -DGGML_FMA=off -DGGML_F16C=off -DGGML_BMI2=off" $(MAKE) libgocrispasr-custom
+	rm -rfv build*
+
+libgocrispasr-avx2.so: sources/CrispASR
+	$(MAKE) purge
+	$(info ${GREEN}I crispasr build info:avx2${RESET})
+	SO_TARGET=libgocrispasr-avx2.so CMAKE_ARGS="$(CMAKE_ARGS) -DGGML_AVX=on -DGGML_AVX2=on -DGGML_AVX512=off -DGGML_FMA=on -DGGML_F16C=on -DGGML_BMI2=on" $(MAKE) libgocrispasr-custom
+	rm -rfv build*
+
+libgocrispasr-avx512.so: sources/CrispASR
+	$(MAKE) purge
+	$(info ${GREEN}I crispasr build info:avx512${RESET})
+	SO_TARGET=libgocrispasr-avx512.so CMAKE_ARGS="$(CMAKE_ARGS) -DGGML_AVX=on -DGGML_AVX2=on -DGGML_AVX512=on -DGGML_FMA=on -DGGML_F16C=on -DGGML_BMI2=on" $(MAKE) libgocrispasr-custom
+	rm -rfv build*
+endif
+
+libgocrispasr-fallback.so: sources/CrispASR
+	$(MAKE) purge
+	$(info ${GREEN}I crispasr build info:fallback${RESET})
+	SO_TARGET=libgocrispasr-fallback.so CMAKE_ARGS="$(CMAKE_ARGS) -DGGML_AVX=off -DGGML_AVX2=off -DGGML_AVX512=off -DGGML_FMA=off -DGGML_F16C=off -DGGML_BMI2=off" $(MAKE) libgocrispasr-custom
+	rm -rfv build*
+
+libgocrispasr-custom: CMakeLists.txt cpp/crispasr_shim.cpp cpp/crispasr_shim.h
+	mkdir -p build-$(SO_TARGET) && \
+	cd build-$(SO_TARGET) && \
+	cmake .. $(CMAKE_ARGS) && \
+	cmake --build . --config Release -j$(JOBS) && \
+	cd .. && \
+	mv build-$(SO_TARGET)/libgocrispasr.so ./$(SO_TARGET)
+
+test: crispasr
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 $(GOCMD) test -v ./...
+
+all: crispasr package

backend/go/crispasr/cpp/crispasr_shim.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,253 @@
+#include "crispasr_shim.h"
+#include "ggml-backend.h"
+#include "crispasr.h"
+#include <atomic>
+#include <vector>
+
+// Opaque session types. crispasr.h declares `struct crispasr_session;` but not
+// the result type nor the open/transcribe/result accessors — those are
+// CA_EXPORT extern "C" symbols in src/crispasr_c_api.cpp, so we forward-declare
+// exactly the ones we use. Signatures verified against
+// sources/CrispASR/src/crispasr_c_api.cpp.
+struct crispasr_session_result;
+extern "C" {
+crispasr_session *crispasr_session_open(const char *model_path, int n_threads);
+crispasr_session *crispasr_session_open_explicit(const char *model_path,
+                                                 const char *backend_name,
+                                                 int n_threads);
+int crispasr_session_set_codec_path(crispasr_session *s, const char *path);
+void crispasr_session_close(crispasr_session *s);
+const char *crispasr_session_backend(crispasr_session *s);
+int crispasr_session_set_translate(crispasr_session *s, int enable);
+crispasr_session_result *crispasr_session_transcribe_lang(
+    crispasr_session *s, const float *pcm, int n_samples, const char *language);
+int crispasr_session_result_n_segments(crispasr_session_result *r);
+const char *crispasr_session_result_segment_text(crispasr_session_result *r,
+                                                  int i);
+int64_t crispasr_session_result_segment_t0(crispasr_session_result *r, int i);
+int64_t crispasr_session_result_segment_t1(crispasr_session_result *r, int i);
+void crispasr_session_result_free(crispasr_session_result *r);
+float *crispasr_session_synthesize(crispasr_session *s, const char *text,
+                                   int *out_n_samples);
+void crispasr_pcm_free(float *pcm);
+int crispasr_session_set_speaker_name(crispasr_session *s, const char *name);
+int crispasr_session_set_voice(crispasr_session *s, const char *path,
+                               const char *ref_text_or_null);
+}
+
+static crispasr_session *g_session = nullptr;
+static crispasr_session_result *g_result = nullptr;
+
+static struct whisper_vad_context *vctx;
+static std::vector<float> flat_segs;
+
+static std::atomic<int> g_abort{0};
+
+extern "C" void set_abort(int v) {
+  g_abort.store(v, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+}
+
+static void ggml_log_cb(enum ggml_log_level level, const char *log,
+                        void *data) {
+  const char *level_str;
+
+  if (!log) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  switch (level) {
+  case GGML_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG:
+    level_str = "DEBUG";
+    break;
+  case GGML_LOG_LEVEL_INFO:
+    level_str = "INFO";
+    break;
+  case GGML_LOG_LEVEL_WARN:
+    level_str = "WARN";
+    break;
+  case GGML_LOG_LEVEL_ERROR:
+    level_str = "ERROR";
+    break;
+  default: /* Potential future-proofing */
+    level_str = "?????";
+    break;
+  }
+
+  fprintf(stderr, "[%-5s] ", level_str);
+  fputs(log, stderr);
+  fflush(stderr);
+}
+
+int load_model(const char *const model_path, int threads,
+               const char *backend_name) {
+  whisper_log_set(ggml_log_cb, nullptr);
+  ggml_backend_load_all();
+
+  if (backend_name && *backend_name) {
+    g_session =
+        crispasr_session_open_explicit(model_path, backend_name, threads);
+  } else {
+    g_session = crispasr_session_open(model_path, threads);
+  }
+  if (g_session == nullptr) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "error: failed to open CrispASR session for model\n");
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  fprintf(stderr, "info: CrispASR backend selected: %s\n",
+          crispasr_session_backend(g_session));
+  return 0;
+}
+
+// set_codec_path forwards a companion file (qwen3-tts codec, orpheus SNAC,
+// chatterbox s3gen, or mimo-asr tokenizer) to the active session. Returns 0 on
+// success or when the active backend needs no companion, negative on failure,
+// and -1 when no session is open.
+int set_codec_path(const char *path) {
+  return g_session ? crispasr_session_set_codec_path(g_session, path) : -1;
+}
+
+int load_model_vad(const char *const model_path) {
+  whisper_log_set(ggml_log_cb, nullptr);
+  ggml_backend_load_all();
+
+  struct whisper_vad_context_params vcparams =
+      whisper_vad_default_context_params();
+
+  // XXX: Overridden to false in upstream due to performance?
+  // vcparams.use_gpu = true;
+
+  vctx = whisper_vad_init_from_file_with_params(model_path, vcparams);
+  if (vctx == nullptr) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "error: Failed to init model as VAD\n");
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  return 0;
+}
+
+int vad(float pcmf32[], size_t pcmf32_len, float **segs_out,
+        size_t *segs_out_len) {
+  if (!whisper_vad_detect_speech(vctx, pcmf32, pcmf32_len)) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "error: failed to detect speech\n");
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  struct whisper_vad_params params = whisper_vad_default_params();
+  struct whisper_vad_segments *segs =
+      whisper_vad_segments_from_probs(vctx, params);
+  size_t segn = whisper_vad_segments_n_segments(segs);
+
+  // fprintf(stderr, "Got segments %zd\n", segn);
+
+  flat_segs.clear();
+
+  for (int i = 0; i < segn; i++) {
+    flat_segs.push_back(whisper_vad_segments_get_segment_t0(segs, i));
+    flat_segs.push_back(whisper_vad_segments_get_segment_t1(segs, i));
+  }
+
+  // fprintf(stderr, "setting out variables: %p=%p -> %p, %p=%zx -> %zx\n",
+  //         segs_out, *segs_out, flat_segs.data(), segs_out_len, *segs_out_len,
+  //         flat_segs.size());
+  *segs_out = flat_segs.data();
+  *segs_out_len = flat_segs.size();
+
+  // fprintf(stderr, "freeing segs\n");
+  whisper_vad_free_segments(segs);
+
+  // fprintf(stderr, "returning\n");
+  return 0;
+}
+
+// threads, diarize and prompt are accepted for Go-side API parity but unused
+// in Phase 1: the thread count is fixed at session open, and diarization and
+// the initial prompt are separate CrispASR features not yet wired through the
+// session ASR path.
+int transcribe(uint32_t threads, char *lang, bool translate, bool diarize,
+               float pcmf32[], size_t pcmf32_len, size_t *segs_out_len,
+               char *prompt) {
+  (void)threads;
+  (void)diarize;
+  (void)prompt;
+
+  if (!g_session) {
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  // Reset stale abort flag from any prior cancelled call. set_abort remains
+  // best-effort: the session transcribe call is blocking and exposes no abort
+  // hook, so a mid-decode abort cannot interrupt it.
+  g_abort.store(0, std::memory_order_relaxed);
+
+  crispasr_session_set_translate(g_session, translate ? 1 : 0);
+
+  if (g_result) {
+    crispasr_session_result_free(g_result);
+    g_result = nullptr;
+  }
+
+  const char *language = (lang && *lang) ? lang : nullptr;
+  g_result = crispasr_session_transcribe_lang(g_session, pcmf32, (int)pcmf32_len,
+                                              language);
+  if (!g_result) {
+    fprintf(stderr, "error: transcription failed\n");
+    return 1;
+  }
+
+  *segs_out_len = crispasr_session_result_n_segments(g_result);
+  return 0;
+}
+
+const char *get_segment_text(int i) {
+  if (!g_result) {
+    return "";
+  }
+  return crispasr_session_result_segment_text(g_result, i);
+}
+
+int64_t get_segment_t0(int i) {
+  if (!g_result) {
+    return 0;
+  }
+  return crispasr_session_result_segment_t0(g_result, i);
+}
+
+int64_t get_segment_t1(int i) {
+  if (!g_result) {
+    return 0;
+  }
+  return crispasr_session_result_segment_t1(g_result, i);
+}
+
+const char *get_backend(void) {
+  return g_session ? crispasr_session_backend(g_session) : "";
+}
+
+// TTS uses the already-open session (crispasr_session_open auto-detects a TTS
+// model). Output is 24 kHz mono float PCM (upstream CrispASR convention),
+// malloc'd by the C API; the caller must release it via tts_free.
+float *tts_synthesize(const char *text, int *out_n_samples) {
+  if (out_n_samples) *out_n_samples = 0;
+  if (!g_session || !text) return nullptr;
+  return crispasr_session_synthesize(g_session, text, out_n_samples);
+}
+
+void tts_free(float *pcm) {
+  if (pcm) crispasr_pcm_free(pcm);
+}
+
+int tts_set_voice(const char *name) {
+  if (!g_session || !name || !*name) return 0;
+  return crispasr_session_set_speaker_name(g_session, name);
+}
+
+// tts_set_voice_file loads a voice from a file: a .gguf path selects a voice
+// pack, a .wav path with a non-empty ref_text performs zero-shot voice cloning
+// (the C API returns -2 when ref_text is required but missing). Returns -1 when
+// no session is open or path is null.
+int tts_set_voice_file(const char *path, const char *ref_text) {
+  if (!g_session || !path) return -1;
+  const char *ref = (ref_text && *ref_text) ? ref_text : nullptr;
+  return crispasr_session_set_voice(g_session, path, ref);
+}

backend/go/crispasr/cpp/crispasr_shim.h

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#include <cstddef>
+#include <cstdint>
+
+extern "C" {
+int load_model(const char *const model_path, int threads,
+               const char *backend_name);
+int set_codec_path(const char *path);
+int load_model_vad(const char *const model_path);
+int vad(float pcmf32[], size_t pcmf32_size, float **segs_out,
+        size_t *segs_out_len);
+int transcribe(uint32_t threads, char *lang, bool translate, bool diarize,
+               float pcmf32[], size_t pcmf32_len, size_t *segs_out_len,
+               char *prompt);
+const char *get_segment_text(int i);
+int64_t get_segment_t0(int i);
+int64_t get_segment_t1(int i);
+const char *get_backend(void);
+void set_abort(int v);
+float *tts_synthesize(const char *text, int *out_n_samples); // 24kHz mono float, malloc'd; NULL on failure
+void tts_free(float *pcm);
+int tts_set_voice(const char *name); // best-effort speaker selection; 0 ok
+int tts_set_voice_file(const char *path, const char *ref_text); // load voice pack (.gguf) or zero-shot clone (.wav + ref_text)
+}

backend/go/crispasr/gocrispasr.go

@@ -0,0 +1,497 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"unsafe"
+
+	"github.com/go-audio/audio"
+	"github.com/go-audio/wav"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/base"
+	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/utils"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
+)
+
+var (
+	CppLoadModel       func(modelPath string, threads int, backendName string) int
+	CppSetCodecPath    func(path string) int
+	CppLoadModelVAD    func(modelPath string) int
+	CppVAD             func(pcmf32 []float32, pcmf32Size uintptr, segsOut unsafe.Pointer, segsOutLen unsafe.Pointer) int
+	CppTranscribe      func(threads uint32, lang string, translate bool, diarize bool, pcmf32 []float32, pcmf32Len uintptr, segsOutLen unsafe.Pointer, prompt string) int
+	CppGetSegmentText  func(i int) string
+	CppGetSegmentStart func(i int) int64
+	CppGetSegmentEnd   func(i int) int64
+	CppGetBackend      func() string
+	CppSetAbort        func(v int)
+	CppTTSSynthesize   func(text string, outNSamples unsafe.Pointer) uintptr
+	CppTTSFree         func(ptr uintptr)
+	CppTTSSetVoice     func(name string) int
+	CppTTSSetVoiceFile func(path string, refText string) int
+)
+
+type CrispASR struct {
+	base.SingleThread
+}
+
+// splitOption splits a "prefix:value" model option into its key and value,
+// matching the convention used by other backends (see sherpa-onnx). It returns
+// ok=false when the option carries no ':' separator.
+func splitOption(oo string) (key, value string, ok bool) {
+	parts := strings.SplitN(oo, ":", 2)
+	if len(parts) != 2 {
+		return "", "", false
+	}
+	return parts[0], parts[1], true
+}
+
+func (w *CrispASR) Load(opts *pb.ModelOptions) error {
+	vadOnly := false
+	backendName := ""
+	codecPath := ""
+	speakerName := ""
+	voicePath := ""
+	voiceRefText := ""
+
+	for _, oo := range opts.Options {
+		if oo == "vad_only" {
+			vadOnly = true
+			continue
+		}
+		switch key, value, ok := splitOption(oo); {
+		case ok && key == "backend":
+			backendName = value
+		case ok && key == "codec":
+			codecPath = value
+		case ok && key == "speaker":
+			speakerName = value
+		case ok && key == "voice":
+			voicePath = value
+		case ok && key == "voice_text":
+			voiceRefText = value
+		default:
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Unrecognized option: %v\n", oo)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if vadOnly {
+		if ret := CppLoadModelVAD(opts.ModelFile); ret != 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("Failed to load CrispASR VAD model")
+		}
+
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	// Resolve a relative companion path against the model directory so a config
+	// can reference a sibling codec/tokenizer file by name alone.
+	if codecPath != "" && !filepath.IsAbs(codecPath) {
+		codecPath = filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(opts.ModelFile), codecPath)
+	}
+
+	// A voice file (.gguf pack or .wav prompt) is resolved against the model
+	// directory just like the codec, so a config can reference a sibling file.
+	if voicePath != "" && !filepath.IsAbs(voicePath) {
+		voicePath = filepath.Join(filepath.Dir(opts.ModelFile), voicePath)
+	}
+
+	if ret := CppLoadModel(opts.ModelFile, int(opts.Threads), backendName); ret != 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Failed to load CrispASR transcription model")
+	}
+
+	// Load the companion file (codec/tokenizer/s3gen) after the session is open.
+	// rc==0 means success or "not applicable" for the active backend; only a
+	// negative code is fatal.
+	if codecPath != "" {
+		if rc := CppSetCodecPath(codecPath); rc < 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: failed to load companion file %q (rc=%d)", codecPath, rc)
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "CrispASR companion file loaded: %s\n", codecPath)
+	}
+
+	// Apply the Load-time default voice. A baked speaker (speaker:) is selected
+	// by name and is best-effort: a backend that can't honor it is logged, not
+	// fatal. A voice file (voice:) is a hard requirement once configured, so a
+	// negative rc fails Load.
+	if speakerName != "" {
+		if rc := CppTTSSetVoice(speakerName); rc != 0 {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "crispasr: speaker %q not applied (rc=%d)\n", speakerName, rc)
+		}
+	}
+	if voicePath != "" {
+		if rc := CppTTSSetVoiceFile(voicePath, voiceRefText); rc < 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: failed to load voice %q (rc=%d)", voicePath, rc)
+		}
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "CrispASR voice loaded: %s\n", voicePath)
+	}
+
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "CrispASR backend selected: %s\n", CppGetBackend())
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (w *CrispASR) VAD(req *pb.VADRequest) (pb.VADResponse, error) {
+	audio := req.Audio
+	// We expect 0xdeadbeef to be overwritten and if we see it in a stack trace we know it wasn't
+	segsPtr, segsLen := uintptr(0xdeadbeef), uintptr(0xdeadbeef)
+	segsPtrPtr, segsLenPtr := unsafe.Pointer(&segsPtr), unsafe.Pointer(&segsLen)
+
+	if ret := CppVAD(audio, uintptr(len(audio)), segsPtrPtr, segsLenPtr); ret != 0 {
+		return pb.VADResponse{}, fmt.Errorf("Failed VAD")
+	}
+
+	// Happens when CPP vector has not had any elements pushed to it
+	if segsPtr == 0 {
+		return pb.VADResponse{
+			Segments: []*pb.VADSegment{},
+		}, nil
+	}
+
+	// unsafeptr warning is caused by segsPtr being on the stack and therefor being subject to stack copying AFAICT
+	// however the stack shouldn't have grown between setting segsPtr and now, also the memory pointed to is allocated by C++
+	segs := unsafe.Slice((*float32)(unsafe.Pointer(segsPtr)), segsLen) //nolint:govet // segsPtr addresses C++-owned heap memory passed back through the cgo-free purego boundary; the uintptr->Pointer round-trip is intentional and the buffer outlives this read.
+
+	vadSegments := []*pb.VADSegment{}
+	for i := range len(segs) >> 1 {
+		s := segs[2*i] / 100
+		t := segs[2*i+1] / 100
+		vadSegments = append(vadSegments, &pb.VADSegment{
+			Start: s,
+			End:   t,
+		})
+	}
+
+	return pb.VADResponse{
+		Segments: vadSegments,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func (w *CrispASR) AudioTranscription(ctx context.Context, opts *pb.TranscriptRequest) (pb.TranscriptResult, error) {
+	if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, status.Error(codes.Canceled, "transcription cancelled")
+	}
+
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "crispasr")
+	if err != nil {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, err
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = os.RemoveAll(dir) }()
+
+	convertedPath := filepath.Join(dir, "converted.wav")
+
+	if err := utils.AudioToWav(opts.Dst, convertedPath); err != nil {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, err
+	}
+
+	fh, err := os.Open(convertedPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, err
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = fh.Close() }()
+
+	d := wav.NewDecoder(fh)
+	buf, err := d.FullPCMBuffer()
+	if err != nil {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, err
+	}
+
+	data := buf.AsFloat32Buffer().Data
+	var duration float32
+	if buf.Format != nil && buf.Format.SampleRate > 0 {
+		duration = float32(len(data)) / float32(buf.Format.SampleRate)
+	}
+	segsLen := uintptr(0xdeadbeef)
+	segsLenPtr := unsafe.Pointer(&segsLen)
+
+	// Watcher: flips the C-side abort flag when ctx is cancelled. The
+	// goroutine is joined synchronously (close(done) signals it to exit,
+	// wg.Wait() blocks until it has) so a late CppSetAbort(1) cannot fire
+	// after the function returns and corrupt the next transcription call.
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer wg.Done()
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			CppSetAbort(1)
+		case <-done:
+		}
+	}()
+	defer func() {
+		close(done)
+		wg.Wait()
+	}()
+
+	ret := CppTranscribe(opts.Threads, opts.Language, opts.Translate, opts.Diarize, data, uintptr(len(data)), segsLenPtr, opts.Prompt)
+	if ret == 2 {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, status.Error(codes.Canceled, "transcription cancelled")
+	}
+	if ret != 0 {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, fmt.Errorf("Failed Transcribe")
+	}
+
+	segments := []*pb.TranscriptSegment{}
+	text := ""
+	for i := range int(segsLen) {
+		// segment start/end conversion factor taken from https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp/blob/master/examples/cli/cli.cpp#L895
+		s := CppGetSegmentStart(i) * (10000000)
+		t := CppGetSegmentEnd(i) * (10000000)
+		// The session result can emit bytes that aren't valid UTF-8 (e.g. a
+		// multibyte codepoint split across token boundaries); protobuf string
+		// fields reject those at marshal time. Scrub before the value escapes
+		// cgo. The session result is segment+word based and exposes no token
+		// IDs, so Tokens is left empty.
+		txt := strings.ToValidUTF8(strings.Clone(CppGetSegmentText(i)), "<22>")
+
+		segment := &pb.TranscriptSegment{
+			Id:    int32(i),
+			Text:  txt,
+			Start: s, End: t,
+		}
+
+		segments = append(segments, segment)
+
+		text += " " + strings.TrimSpace(txt)
+	}
+
+	return pb.TranscriptResult{
+		Segments: segments,
+		Text:     strings.TrimSpace(text),
+		Language: opts.Language,
+		Duration: duration,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+// AudioTranscriptionStream runs the session transcribe to completion and then
+// emits one delta per non-empty segment, followed by a final TranscriptResult.
+// Progressive/real-time streaming isn't available via the session API (there
+// is no per-decode callback), so deltas are emitted per-segment after the
+// blocking decode returns rather than as segments are produced. The offline
+// AudioTranscription is unchanged; both paths share the session and the
+// SingleThread concurrency model.
+func (w *CrispASR) AudioTranscriptionStream(ctx context.Context, opts *pb.TranscriptRequest, results chan *pb.TranscriptStreamResponse) error {
+	defer close(results)
+
+	if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+		return status.Error(codes.Canceled, "transcription cancelled")
+	}
+
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "crispasr")
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = os.RemoveAll(dir) }()
+
+	convertedPath := filepath.Join(dir, "converted.wav")
+	if err := utils.AudioToWav(opts.Dst, convertedPath); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	fh, err := os.Open(convertedPath)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = fh.Close() }()
+
+	d := wav.NewDecoder(fh)
+	buf, err := d.FullPCMBuffer()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	data := buf.AsFloat32Buffer().Data
+	var duration float32
+	if buf.Format != nil && buf.Format.SampleRate > 0 {
+		duration = float32(len(data)) / float32(buf.Format.SampleRate)
+	}
+
+	// Same abort-watcher pattern as AudioTranscription. Joined synchronously
+	// so a late CppSetAbort(1) cannot fire after this function returns.
+	// Best-effort only: the session transcribe is blocking with no abort hook.
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer wg.Done()
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			CppSetAbort(1)
+		case <-done:
+		}
+	}()
+	defer func() {
+		close(done)
+		wg.Wait()
+	}()
+
+	segsLen := uintptr(0xdeadbeef)
+	segsLenPtr := unsafe.Pointer(&segsLen)
+	ret := CppTranscribe(opts.Threads, opts.Language, opts.Translate, opts.Diarize, data, uintptr(len(data)), segsLenPtr, opts.Prompt)
+	if ret == 2 {
+		return status.Error(codes.Canceled, "transcription cancelled")
+	}
+	if ret != 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("Failed Transcribe")
+	}
+
+	// Walk the segments once: emit a delta per non-empty segment and build the
+	// final TranscriptResult.Segments alongside. The first delta has no leading
+	// space and subsequent ones are prefixed with a single space, so
+	// concat(deltas) == final.Text exactly, matching the e2e contract.
+	segments := []*pb.TranscriptSegment{}
+	var assembled strings.Builder
+	for i := range int(segsLen) {
+		s := CppGetSegmentStart(i) * 10000000
+		t := CppGetSegmentEnd(i) * 10000000
+		txt := strings.ToValidUTF8(strings.Clone(CppGetSegmentText(i)), "<22>")
+		segments = append(segments, &pb.TranscriptSegment{
+			Id:    int32(i),
+			Text:  txt,
+			Start: s, End: t,
+		})
+
+		trimmed := strings.TrimSpace(txt)
+		if trimmed == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		var delta string
+		if assembled.Len() == 0 {
+			delta = trimmed
+		} else {
+			delta = " " + trimmed
+		}
+		results <- &pb.TranscriptStreamResponse{Delta: delta}
+		assembled.WriteString(delta)
+	}
+
+	final := &pb.TranscriptResult{
+		Segments: segments,
+		Text:     assembled.String(),
+		Language: opts.Language,
+		Duration: duration,
+	}
+	results <- &pb.TranscriptStreamResponse{FinalResult: final}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// synthesize returns 24 kHz mono float32 PCM for text via the open session.
+func (w *CrispASR) synthesize(text string) ([]float32, error) {
+	if text == "" {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("crispasr: TTS requires non-empty text")
+	}
+	var n int32
+	ptr := CppTTSSynthesize(text, unsafe.Pointer(&n))
+	if ptr == 0 || n <= 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("crispasr: synthesis failed (the loaded model may not be a supported TTS backend, or needs extra config e.g. orpheus SNAC codec)")
+	}
+	defer CppTTSFree(ptr)
+	src := unsafe.Slice((*float32)(unsafe.Pointer(ptr)), int(n)) //nolint:govet // ptr addresses C-allocated PCM returned across the purego boundary; copied out immediately below, before tts_free.
+	out := make([]float32, int(n)) // copy out of C memory before free
+	copy(out, src)
+	return out, nil
+}
+
+// setVoice applies a per-call speaker/voice override (best effort). CrispASR
+// returns a negative code when the active backend can't honor the name; we log
+// it rather than fail, so an unknown voice falls back to the default speaker.
+func setVoice(voice string) {
+	v := strings.TrimSpace(voice)
+	if v == "" {
+		return
+	}
+	if rc := CppTTSSetVoice(v); rc != 0 {
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "crispasr: voice %q not applied by the active TTS backend (rc=%d); using default\n", v, rc)
+	}
+}
+
+func (w *CrispASR) TTS(req *pb.TTSRequest) error {
+	if req.Dst == "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: TTS requires a destination path")
+	}
+	setVoice(req.Voice)
+	pcm, err := w.synthesize(req.Text)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	return writeWAV24k(req.Dst, pcm)
+}
+
+// TTSStream is the streaming counterpart to TTS. CrispASR has no progressive
+// (native streaming) synth, so we synthesize the whole utterance, encode it to
+// a 24 kHz WAV, and emit the encoded bytes as a single chunk. The gRPC server
+// wrapper (pkg/grpc/server.go:TTSStream) ranges over the channel until it is
+// closed, so this method owns the close - mirrors vibevoice-cpp's TTSStream.
+func (w *CrispASR) TTSStream(req *pb.TTSRequest, results chan []byte) error {
+	defer close(results)
+
+	if req.Text == "" {
+		return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: TTSStream requires text")
+	}
+	setVoice(req.Voice)
+	pcm, err := w.synthesize(req.Text)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	tmp, err := os.CreateTemp("", "crispasr-tts-stream-*.wav")
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: tempfile: %w", err)
+	}
+	dst := tmp.Name()
+	if err := tmp.Close(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: close tempfile: %w", err)
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = os.Remove(dst) }()
+
+	if err := writeWAV24k(dst, pcm); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	encoded, err := os.ReadFile(dst)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: read tempfile: %w", err)
+	}
+	results <- encoded
+	return nil
+}
+
+// writeWAV24k writes pcm as a 24000 Hz, mono, 16-bit PCM WAV at dst.
+func writeWAV24k(dst string, pcm []float32) error {
+	f, err := os.Create(dst)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: create %q: %w", dst, err)
+	}
+
+	enc := wav.NewEncoder(f, 24000, 16, 1, 1)
+	ints := make([]int, len(pcm))
+	for i, s := range pcm {
+		if s > 1 {
+			s = 1
+		} else if s < -1 {
+			s = -1
+		}
+		ints[i] = int(s * 32767)
+	}
+	buf := &audio.IntBuffer{
+		Format:         &audio.Format{NumChannels: 1, SampleRate: 24000},
+		Data:           ints,
+		SourceBitDepth: 16,
+	}
+	if err := enc.Write(buf); err != nil {
+		_ = enc.Close()
+		_ = f.Close()
+		return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: encode WAV: %w", err)
+	}
+	if err := enc.Close(); err != nil {
+		_ = f.Close()
+		return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: finalize WAV: %w", err)
+	}
+	if err := f.Close(); err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("crispasr: close %q: %w", dst, err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}

backend/go/crispasr/gocrispasr_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,193 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ebitengine/purego"
+	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
+)
+
+func TestCrispASR(t *testing.T) {
+	RegisterFailHandler(Fail)
+	RunSpecs(t, "CrispASR Backend Suite")
+}
+
+var (
+	libLoadOnce sync.Once
+	libLoadErr  error
+)
+
+// ensureLibLoaded mirrors main.go's bootstrap so a Go test can drive the
+// bridge without spinning up the gRPC server. Skips the current spec when the
+// shared library isn't present (e.g. running before `make backends/whisper`).
+func ensureLibLoaded() {
+	libLoadOnce.Do(func() {
+		libName := os.Getenv("CRISPASR_LIBRARY")
+		if libName == "" {
+			libName = "./libgocrispasr-fallback.so"
+		}
+		if _, err := os.Stat(libName); err != nil {
+			libLoadErr = err
+			return
+		}
+		gosd, err := purego.Dlopen(libName, purego.RTLD_NOW|purego.RTLD_GLOBAL)
+		if err != nil {
+			libLoadErr = err
+			return
+		}
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppLoadModel, gosd, "load_model")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppSetCodecPath, gosd, "set_codec_path")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppTranscribe, gosd, "transcribe")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppGetSegmentText, gosd, "get_segment_text")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppGetSegmentStart, gosd, "get_segment_t0")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppGetSegmentEnd, gosd, "get_segment_t1")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppGetBackend, gosd, "get_backend")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppSetAbort, gosd, "set_abort")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppTTSSynthesize, gosd, "tts_synthesize")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppTTSFree, gosd, "tts_free")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppTTSSetVoice, gosd, "tts_set_voice")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppTTSSetVoiceFile, gosd, "tts_set_voice_file")
+	})
+	if libLoadErr != nil {
+		Skip("whisper library not loadable: " + libLoadErr.Error())
+	}
+}
+
+// fixturesOrSkip returns the model + audio paths or skips the spec if either
+// env var is unset. The test never runs in default CI — it requires a real
+// whisper model and a long audio file (~3 minutes) on disk.
+func fixturesOrSkip() (string, string) {
+	modelPath := os.Getenv("CRISPASR_MODEL_PATH")
+	audioPath := os.Getenv("CRISPASR_AUDIO_PATH")
+	if modelPath == "" || audioPath == "" {
+		Skip("set CRISPASR_MODEL_PATH and CRISPASR_AUDIO_PATH to run this spec")
+	}
+	return modelPath, audioPath
+}
+
+// ttsModelOrSkip returns the TTS model path or skips the spec when the env var
+// is unset. Like the transcription fixtures, this never runs in default CI — it
+// needs a real TTS model (e.g. a vibevoice GGUF) on disk.
+func ttsModelOrSkip() string {
+	modelPath := os.Getenv("CRISPASR_TTS_MODEL_PATH")
+	if modelPath == "" {
+		Skip("set CRISPASR_TTS_MODEL_PATH to run this spec")
+	}
+	return modelPath
+}
+
+var _ = Describe("CrispASR", func() {
+	Context("AudioTranscription cancellation", func() {
+		It("returns codes.Canceled on a pre-cancelled context and still succeeds afterwards", func() {
+			modelPath, audioPath := fixturesOrSkip()
+			ensureLibLoaded()
+
+			w := &CrispASR{}
+			Expect(w.Load(&pb.ModelOptions{ModelFile: modelPath})).To(Succeed())
+
+			// The session transcribe is blocking and exposes no abort hook, so
+			// a mid-decode cancel can't interrupt it. The contract we can rely
+			// on is the pre-call ctx.Err() check: a context cancelled before
+			// the call must yield codes.Canceled without starting a decode.
+			ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+			cancel()
+
+			_, err := w.AudioTranscription(ctx, &pb.TranscriptRequest{
+				Dst:      audioPath,
+				Threads:  4,
+				Language: "en",
+			})
+			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred(), "expected pre-cancelled context to fail")
+			st, ok := status.FromError(err)
+			Expect(ok).To(BeTrue(), "expected gRPC status error, got %v", err)
+			Expect(st.Code()).To(Equal(codes.Canceled), "expected codes.Canceled, got %v", err)
+
+			// Subsequent transcription must succeed — proves g_abort reset.
+			res, err := w.AudioTranscription(context.Background(), &pb.TranscriptRequest{
+				Dst:      audioPath,
+				Threads:  4,
+				Language: "en",
+			})
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred(), "post-cancel transcription failed")
+			Expect(res.Text).ToNot(BeEmpty(), "post-cancel transcription returned empty text")
+		})
+	})
+
+	Context("AudioTranscriptionStream", func() {
+		It("emits multiple deltas progressively for a multi-segment clip", func() {
+			modelPath, audioPath := fixturesOrSkip()
+			ensureLibLoaded()
+
+			w := &CrispASR{}
+			Expect(w.Load(&pb.ModelOptions{ModelFile: modelPath})).To(Succeed())
+
+			results := make(chan *pb.TranscriptStreamResponse, 64)
+			done := make(chan error, 1)
+			go func() {
+				done <- w.AudioTranscriptionStream(context.Background(), &pb.TranscriptRequest{
+					Dst:      audioPath,
+					Threads:  4,
+					Language: "en",
+					Stream:   true,
+				}, results)
+			}()
+
+			var deltas []string
+			var assembled strings.Builder
+			var finalText string
+			var finalSegmentCount int
+			for chunk := range results {
+				if d := chunk.GetDelta(); d != "" {
+					deltas = append(deltas, d)
+					assembled.WriteString(d)
+				}
+				if final := chunk.GetFinalResult(); final != nil {
+					finalText = final.GetText()
+					finalSegmentCount = len(final.GetSegments())
+				}
+			}
+			Expect(<-done).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			// One delta per non-empty segment is emitted after the blocking
+			// decode returns (the session API has no per-decode callback), so a
+			// multi-segment clip MUST produce >=2 delta events, and
+			// concat(deltas) MUST equal final.Text exactly.
+			Expect(len(deltas)).To(BeNumerically(">=", 2),
+				"expected multiple deltas from a multi-segment clip, got %d (assembled=%q)",
+				len(deltas), assembled.String())
+			Expect(finalSegmentCount).To(BeNumerically(">=", 2),
+				"expected final to carry multiple segments")
+			Expect(assembled.String()).To(Equal(finalText),
+				"concat(deltas) must equal final.Text")
+		})
+	})
+
+	Context("TTS", func() {
+		It("synthesizes a non-empty WAV", func() {
+			ttsModel := ttsModelOrSkip()
+			ensureLibLoaded()
+
+			w := &CrispASR{}
+			Expect(w.Load(&pb.ModelOptions{ModelFile: ttsModel})).To(Succeed())
+
+			dst := filepath.Join(GinkgoT().TempDir(), "out.wav")
+			Expect(w.TTS(&pb.TTSRequest{Text: "Hello from CrispASR.", Dst: dst})).To(Succeed())
+
+			info, err := os.Stat(dst)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred(), "synthesized WAV should exist at %q", dst)
+			// A real 24 kHz mono WAV is a 44-byte header plus samples; anything
+			// this small would mean an empty/failed synth.
+			Expect(info.Size()).To(BeNumerically(">", 1024),
+				"expected a non-trivial WAV, got %d bytes", info.Size())
+		})
+	})
+})

backend/go/crispasr/main.go

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+package main
+
+// Note: this is started internally by LocalAI and a server is allocated for each model
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/ebitengine/purego"
+	grpc "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc"
+)
+
+var (
+	addr = flag.String("addr", "localhost:50051", "the address to connect to")
+)
+
+type LibFuncs struct {
+	FuncPtr any
+	Name    string
+}
+
+func main() {
+	libName := os.Getenv("CRISPASR_LIBRARY")
+	if libName == "" {
+		libName = "./libgocrispasr-fallback.so"
+	}
+
+	lib, err := purego.Dlopen(libName, purego.RTLD_NOW|purego.RTLD_GLOBAL)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	libFuncs := []LibFuncs{
+		{&CppLoadModel, "load_model"},
+		{&CppSetCodecPath, "set_codec_path"},
+		{&CppLoadModelVAD, "load_model_vad"},
+		{&CppVAD, "vad"},
+		{&CppTranscribe, "transcribe"},
+		{&CppGetSegmentText, "get_segment_text"},
+		{&CppGetSegmentStart, "get_segment_t0"},
+		{&CppGetSegmentEnd, "get_segment_t1"},
+		{&CppGetBackend, "get_backend"},
+		{&CppSetAbort, "set_abort"},
+		{&CppTTSSynthesize, "tts_synthesize"},
+		{&CppTTSFree, "tts_free"},
+		{&CppTTSSetVoice, "tts_set_voice"},
+		{&CppTTSSetVoiceFile, "tts_set_voice_file"},
+	}
+
+	for _, lf := range libFuncs {
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(lf.FuncPtr, lib, lf.Name)
+	}
+
+	flag.Parse()
+
+	if err := grpc.StartServer(*addr, &CrispASR{}); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+}

backend/go/crispasr/package.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# Script to copy the appropriate libraries based on architecture
+# This script is used in the final stage of the Dockerfile
+
+set -e
+
+CURDIR=$(dirname "$(realpath $0)")
+REPO_ROOT="${CURDIR}/../../.."
+
+# Create lib directory
+mkdir -p $CURDIR/package/lib
+
+cp -avf $CURDIR/crispasr $CURDIR/package/
+cp -fv $CURDIR/libgocrispasr-*.so $CURDIR/package/
+cp -fv $CURDIR/run.sh $CURDIR/package/
+
+# Detect architecture and copy appropriate libraries
+if [ -f "/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2" ]; then
+    # x86_64 architecture
+    echo "Detected x86_64 architecture, copying x86_64 libraries..."
+    cp -arfLv /lib64/ld-linux-x86-64.so.2 $CURDIR/package/lib/ld.so
+    cp -arfLv /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 $CURDIR/package/lib/libc.so.6
+    cp -arfLv /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1 $CURDIR/package/lib/libgcc_s.so.1
+    cp -arfLv /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 $CURDIR/package/lib/libstdc++.so.6
+    cp -arfLv /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6 $CURDIR/package/lib/libm.so.6
+    cp -arfLv /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgomp.so.1 $CURDIR/package/lib/libgomp.so.1
+    cp -arfLv /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1 $CURDIR/package/lib/libgcc_s.so.1
+    cp -arfLv /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 $CURDIR/package/lib/libstdc++.so.6
+    cp -arfLv /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2 $CURDIR/package/lib/libdl.so.2
+    cp -arfLv /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/librt.so.1 $CURDIR/package/lib/librt.so.1
+    cp -arfLv /lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0 $CURDIR/package/lib/libpthread.so.0
+elif [ -f "/lib/ld-linux-aarch64.so.1" ]; then
+    # ARM64 architecture
+    echo "Detected ARM64 architecture, copying ARM64 libraries..."
+    cp -arfLv /lib/ld-linux-aarch64.so.1 $CURDIR/package/lib/ld.so
+    cp -arfLv /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6 $CURDIR/package/lib/libc.so.6
+    cp -arfLv /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1 $CURDIR/package/lib/libgcc_s.so.1
+    cp -arfLv /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 $CURDIR/package/lib/libstdc++.so.6
+    cp -arfLv /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libm.so.6 $CURDIR/package/lib/libm.so.6
+    cp -arfLv /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libgomp.so.1 $CURDIR/package/lib/libgomp.so.1
+    cp -arfLv /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libgcc_s.so.1 $CURDIR/package/lib/libgcc_s.so.1
+    cp -arfLv /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libstdc++.so.6 $CURDIR/package/lib/libstdc++.so.6
+    cp -arfLv /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libdl.so.2 $CURDIR/package/lib/libdl.so.2
+    cp -arfLv /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/librt.so.1 $CURDIR/package/lib/librt.so.1
+    cp -arfLv /lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/libpthread.so.0 $CURDIR/package/lib/libpthread.so.0
+elif [ $(uname -s) = "Darwin" ]; then
+    echo "Detected Darwin"
+else
+    echo "Error: Could not detect architecture"
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+# Package GPU libraries based on BUILD_TYPE
+# The GPU library packaging script will detect BUILD_TYPE and copy appropriate GPU libraries
+GPU_LIB_SCRIPT="${REPO_ROOT}/scripts/build/package-gpu-libs.sh"
+if [ -f "$GPU_LIB_SCRIPT" ]; then
+    echo "Packaging GPU libraries for BUILD_TYPE=${BUILD_TYPE:-cpu}..."
+    source "$GPU_LIB_SCRIPT" "$CURDIR/package/lib"
+    package_gpu_libs
+fi
+
+echo "Packaging completed successfully"
+ls -liah $CURDIR/package/
+ls -liah $CURDIR/package/lib/

backend/go/crispasr/run.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -ex
+
+# Get the absolute current dir where the script is located
+CURDIR=$(dirname "$(realpath $0)")
+
+cd /
+
+echo "CPU info:"
+if [ "$(uname)" != "Darwin" ]; then
+	grep -e "model\sname" /proc/cpuinfo | head -1
+	grep -e "flags" /proc/cpuinfo | head -1
+fi
+
+LIBRARY="$CURDIR/libgocrispasr-fallback.so"
+
+if [ "$(uname)" != "Darwin" ]; then
+	if grep -q -e "\savx\s" /proc/cpuinfo ; then
+		echo "CPU:    AVX    found OK"
+		if [ -e $CURDIR/libgocrispasr-avx.so ]; then
+			LIBRARY="$CURDIR/libgocrispasr-avx.so"
+		fi
+	fi
+
+	if grep -q -e "\savx2\s" /proc/cpuinfo ; then
+		echo "CPU:    AVX2   found OK"
+		if [ -e $CURDIR/libgocrispasr-avx2.so ]; then
+			LIBRARY="$CURDIR/libgocrispasr-avx2.so"
+		fi
+	fi
+
+	# Check avx 512
+	if grep -q -e "\savx512f\s" /proc/cpuinfo ; then
+		echo "CPU:    AVX512F found OK"
+		if [ -e $CURDIR/libgocrispasr-avx512.so ]; then
+			LIBRARY="$CURDIR/libgocrispasr-avx512.so"
+		fi
+	fi
+fi
+
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$CURDIR/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
+export CRISPASR_LIBRARY=$LIBRARY
+
+# If there is a lib/ld.so, use it
+if [ -f $CURDIR/lib/ld.so ]; then
+	echo "Using lib/ld.so"
+	echo "Using library: $LIBRARY"
+	exec $CURDIR/lib/ld.so $CURDIR/crispasr "$@"
+fi
+
+echo "Using library: $LIBRARY"
+exec $CURDIR/crispasr "$@"

backend/go/localvqe/Makefile

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ JOBS?=$(shell nproc --ignore=1)
 # LocalVQE upstream version pin. Bump to a specific commit when picking up
 # a new release; `main` works for development but is not reproducible.
 LOCALVQE_REPO?=https://github.com/localai-org/LocalVQE
-LOCALVQE_VERSION?=72bfb4c6
+LOCALVQE_VERSION?=b0f0378a450e87c871b85689554801601ca56d98
 
 # LocalVQE handles CPU feature selection internally (it ships the multiple
 # libggml-cpu-*.so variants and its loader picks the best one at runtime
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ endif
 
 # LocalVQE upstream supports CPU + Vulkan only. Other BUILD_TYPE values
 # fall through to the default CPU build — Vulkan is already as fast as the
-# specialised GPU paths would be on this 1.3 M-parameter model.
+# specialised GPU paths would be on these small (1.3 M–4.8 M parameter)
+# models.
 ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),vulkan)
 	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_VULKAN=ON -DLOCALVQE_VULKAN=ON
 else ifeq ($(OS),Darwin)

backend/go/localvqe/golocalvqe.go

@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ package main
 import (
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"fmt"
-	"io"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"runtime"
@@ -11,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"unsafe"
 
+	"github.com/go-audio/wav"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/base"
 	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
 	"github.com/mudler/xlog"
@@ -46,24 +46,24 @@ const (
 // through the options builder (CppOptionsNew + setters + CppNewWithOptions)
 // — the bare localvqe_new path doesn't expose backend / device selection.
 var (
-	CppOptionsNew           func() uintptr
-	CppOptionsFree          func(opts uintptr)
-	CppOptionsSetModelPath  func(opts uintptr, modelPath string) int32
-	CppOptionsSetBackend    func(opts uintptr, backend string) int32
-	CppOptionsSetDevice     func(opts uintptr, device int32) int32
-	CppNewWithOptions       func(opts uintptr) uintptr
-	CppFree                 func(ctx uintptr)
-	CppProcessF32           func(ctx uintptr, mic, ref uintptr, nSamples int32, out uintptr) int32
-	CppProcessS16           func(ctx uintptr, mic, ref uintptr, nSamples int32, out uintptr) int32
-	CppProcessFrameF32      func(ctx uintptr, mic, ref uintptr, hopSamples int32, out uintptr) int32
-	CppProcessFrameS16      func(ctx uintptr, mic, ref uintptr, hopSamples int32, out uintptr) int32
-	CppReset                func(ctx uintptr)
-	CppLastError            func(ctx uintptr) string
-	CppSampleRate           func(ctx uintptr) int32
-	CppHopLength            func(ctx uintptr) int32
-	CppFFTSize              func(ctx uintptr) int32
-	CppSetNoiseGate         func(ctx uintptr, enabled int32, thresholdDBFS float32) int32
-	CppGetNoiseGate         func(ctx uintptr, enabledOut, thresholdDBFSOut uintptr) int32
+	CppOptionsNew          func() uintptr
+	CppOptionsFree         func(opts uintptr)
+	CppOptionsSetModelPath func(opts uintptr, modelPath string) int32
+	CppOptionsSetBackend   func(opts uintptr, backend string) int32
+	CppOptionsSetDevice    func(opts uintptr, device int32) int32
+	CppNewWithOptions      func(opts uintptr) uintptr
+	CppFree                func(ctx uintptr)
+	CppProcessF32          func(ctx uintptr, mic, ref uintptr, nSamples int32, out uintptr) int32
+	CppProcessS16          func(ctx uintptr, mic, ref uintptr, nSamples int32, out uintptr) int32
+	CppProcessFrameF32     func(ctx uintptr, mic, ref uintptr, hopSamples int32, out uintptr) int32
+	CppProcessFrameS16     func(ctx uintptr, mic, ref uintptr, hopSamples int32, out uintptr) int32
+	CppReset               func(ctx uintptr)
+	CppLastError           func(ctx uintptr) string
+	CppSampleRate          func(ctx uintptr) int32
+	CppHopLength           func(ctx uintptr) int32
+	CppFFTSize             func(ctx uintptr) int32
+	CppSetNoiseGate        func(ctx uintptr, enabled int32, thresholdDBFS float32) int32
+	CppGetNoiseGate        func(ctx uintptr, enabledOut, thresholdDBFSOut uintptr) int32
 )
 
 // LocalVQE speaks gRPC against LocalVQE's flat C ABI. The streaming
@@ -490,11 +490,14 @@ func (v *LocalVQE) applyStreamConfig(cfg *pb.AudioTransformStreamConfig) error {
 
 // ---- WAV I/O ----------------------------------------------------------
 //
-// Minimal mono PCM WAV reader/writer. Only handles the subset LocalVQE
-// cares about (mono, 16-bit signed, no extensible chunks). For broader
-// audio support the HTTP layer's `audio.NormalizeAudioFile` already
-// converts arbitrary input to a canonical WAV before we see it; this
-// reader just decodes the canonical shape.
+// Reader/writer for the mono 16-bit PCM shape LocalVQE works with. Decoding
+// goes through the shared go-audio/wav decoder (as the whisper and parakeet
+// backends do) so RIFF chunk walking is handled robustly — an 18/40-byte
+// extensible `fmt ` chunk, or JUNK/bext/LIST metadata before or after `data`
+// (e.g. ffmpeg's trailing "Lavf" tag), is skipped rather than spliced into
+// the PCM stream as an audible click. The HTTP layer normalises arbitrary
+// input to WAV before we see it, but that WAV is ffmpeg output and is not
+// guaranteed to be the canonical 44-byte layout.
 
 func readMonoWAVf32(path string) ([]float32, int, error) {
 	f, err := os.Open(path)
@@ -502,35 +505,26 @@ func readMonoWAVf32(path string) ([]float32, int, error) {
 		return nil, 0, err
 	}
 	defer func() { _ = f.Close() }()
-	header := make([]byte, 44)
-	if _, err := io.ReadFull(f, header); err != nil {
-		return nil, 0, err
+
+	buf, err := wav.NewDecoder(f).FullPCMBuffer()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("decode WAV: %w", err)
 	}
-	if string(header[0:4]) != "RIFF" || string(header[8:12]) != "WAVE" {
+	if buf == nil || buf.Format == nil {
 		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("not a WAV file")
 	}
-	channels := binary.LittleEndian.Uint16(header[22:24])
-	sampleRate := binary.LittleEndian.Uint32(header[24:28])
-	bitsPerSample := binary.LittleEndian.Uint16(header[34:36])
-
-	if channels != 1 {
-		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("only mono WAV supported (got %d channels)", channels)
+	if buf.Format.NumChannels != 1 {
+		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("only mono WAV supported (got %d channels)", buf.Format.NumChannels)
 	}
-	if bitsPerSample != 16 {
-		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("only 16-bit PCM supported (got %d bits)", bitsPerSample)
+	if buf.SourceBitDepth != 16 {
+		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("only 16-bit PCM supported (got %d bits)", buf.SourceBitDepth)
 	}
-
-	rest, err := io.ReadAll(f)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, 0, err
+	if len(buf.Data) == 0 {
+		return nil, 0, fmt.Errorf("WAV has no audio data")
 	}
-	n := len(rest) / 2
-	out := make([]float32, n)
-	for i := 0; i < n; i++ {
-		s := int16(binary.LittleEndian.Uint16(rest[i*2 : i*2+2]))
-		out[i] = float32(s) / 32768.0
-	}
-	return out, int(sampleRate), nil
+	// AsFloat32Buffer normalises by 2^(bitDepth-1) == /32768 for 16-bit,
+	// matching the model's expected [-1, 1) input range.
+	return buf.AsFloat32Buffer().Data, buf.Format.SampleRate, nil
 }
 
 func writeMonoWAVf32(path string, samples []float32, sampleRate int) error {
@@ -546,13 +540,13 @@ func writeMonoWAVf32(path string, samples []float32, sampleRate int) error {
 	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(header[4:8], 36+dataLen)
 	copy(header[8:12], []byte("WAVE"))
 	copy(header[12:16], []byte("fmt "))
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(header[16:20], 16)        // fmt chunk size
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(header[20:22], 1)         // PCM
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(header[22:24], 1)         // mono
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(header[16:20], 16) // fmt chunk size
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(header[20:22], 1)  // PCM
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(header[22:24], 1)  // mono
 	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(header[24:28], uint32(sampleRate))
 	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(header[28:32], uint32(sampleRate*2)) // byte rate
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(header[32:34], 2)         // block align
-	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(header[34:36], 16)        // bits per sample
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(header[32:34], 2)                    // block align
+	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(header[34:36], 16)                   // bits per sample
 	copy(header[36:40], []byte("data"))
 	binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(header[40:44], dataLen)
 	if _, err := f.Write(header); err != nil {

backend/go/localvqe/localvqe_test.go

@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"encoding/binary"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
 	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
@@ -92,6 +94,147 @@ var _ = Describe("LocalVQE-cpp", func() {
 		})
 	})
 
+	Context("readMonoWAVf32 chunk parsing", func() {
+		// chunk builds a word-aligned RIFF sub-chunk (id + size + body + pad).
+		chunk := func(id string, body []byte) []byte {
+			out := append([]byte(id), 0, 0, 0, 0)
+			binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(out[4:8], uint32(len(body)))
+			out = append(out, body...)
+			if len(body)&1 == 1 {
+				out = append(out, 0) // pad byte for odd-sized chunks
+			}
+			return out
+		}
+		// fmtBody returns a PCM `fmt ` chunk body. extra bytes simulate the
+		// 18/40-byte extensible form (cbSize + extension).
+		fmtBody := func(channels, bits uint16, rate uint32, extra int) []byte {
+			b := make([]byte, 16+extra)
+			binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(b[0:2], 1) // PCM
+			binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(b[2:4], channels)
+			binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(b[4:8], rate)
+			binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(b[8:12], rate*uint32(channels)*uint32(bits)/8)
+			binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(b[12:14], channels*bits/8)
+			binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(b[14:16], bits)
+			if extra >= 2 {
+				binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(b[16:18], uint16(extra-2)) // cbSize
+			}
+			return b
+		}
+		// pcm encodes int16 samples little-endian.
+		pcm := func(samples ...int16) []byte {
+			b := make([]byte, len(samples)*2)
+			for i, s := range samples {
+				binary.LittleEndian.PutUint16(b[i*2:i*2+2], uint16(s))
+			}
+			return b
+		}
+		riff := func(chunks ...[]byte) []byte {
+			body := []byte("WAVE")
+			for _, c := range chunks {
+				body = append(body, c...)
+			}
+			out := append([]byte("RIFF"), 0, 0, 0, 0)
+			binary.LittleEndian.PutUint32(out[4:8], uint32(len(body)))
+			return append(out, body...)
+		}
+		writeWAV := func(b []byte) string {
+			p := filepath.Join(GinkgoT().TempDir(), "in.wav")
+			Expect(os.WriteFile(p, b, 0o600)).To(Succeed())
+			return p
+		}
+		// A canonical sample run with distinct values so any off-by-one /
+		// misalignment shows up as wrong numbers, not just wrong length.
+		samples := []int16{1000, -2000, 3000, -4000, 5000, -6000}
+		expectSamples := func(got []float32) {
+			Expect(got).To(HaveLen(len(samples)))
+			for i, s := range samples {
+				Expect(got[i]).To(BeNumerically("~", float32(s)/32768.0, 1e-6))
+			}
+		}
+
+		It("reads a canonical 44-byte WAV", func() {
+			p := writeWAV(riff(chunk("fmt ", fmtBody(1, 16, 16000, 0)), chunk("data", pcm(samples...))))
+			out, sr, err := readMonoWAVf32(p)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(sr).To(Equal(16000))
+			expectSamples(out)
+		})
+
+		It("ignores a LIST/JUNK chunk placed before data (no leading-impulse splice)", func() {
+			p := writeWAV(riff(
+				chunk("fmt ", fmtBody(1, 16, 16000, 0)),
+				chunk("JUNK", []byte("padding-bytes-here!")), // odd length → exercises pad
+				chunk("LIST", []byte("INFOISFTLavf60.0")),
+				chunk("data", pcm(samples...)),
+			))
+			out, sr, err := readMonoWAVf32(p)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(sr).To(Equal(16000))
+			expectSamples(out) // not corrupted by the preceding chunks
+		})
+
+		It("honours the data chunk size and drops a trailing metadata chunk", func() {
+			p := writeWAV(riff(
+				chunk("fmt ", fmtBody(1, 16, 16000, 0)),
+				chunk("data", pcm(samples...)),
+				chunk("LIST", []byte("INFOISFTLavf60.16.100")), // ffmpeg trailer tag
+			))
+			out, _, err := readMonoWAVf32(p)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			expectSamples(out) // trailing LIST bytes not decoded as PCM
+		})
+
+		It("handles the 18-byte extensible fmt chunk", func() {
+			p := writeWAV(riff(chunk("fmt ", fmtBody(1, 16, 16000, 2)), chunk("data", pcm(samples...))))
+			out, sr, err := readMonoWAVf32(p)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(sr).To(Equal(16000))
+			expectSamples(out)
+		})
+
+		It("rejects non-mono input", func() {
+			p := writeWAV(riff(chunk("fmt ", fmtBody(2, 16, 16000, 0)), chunk("data", pcm(samples...))))
+			_, _, err := readMonoWAVf32(p)
+			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("mono"))
+		})
+
+		It("rejects non-16-bit input", func() {
+			p := writeWAV(riff(chunk("fmt ", fmtBody(1, 8, 16000, 0)), chunk("data", pcm(samples...))))
+			_, _, err := readMonoWAVf32(p)
+			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("16-bit"))
+		})
+
+		It("rejects a non-WAV file", func() {
+			p := writeWAV([]byte("not a riff file at all"))
+			_, _, err := readMonoWAVf32(p)
+			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+		})
+
+		It("errors when the data chunk is missing", func() {
+			// fmt but no data: the decoder must fail rather than return an
+			// empty (or garbage) sample slice. The exact message is the
+			// decoder's, so just assert it errors.
+			p := writeWAV(riff(chunk("fmt ", fmtBody(1, 16, 16000, 0))))
+			_, _, err := readMonoWAVf32(p)
+			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+		})
+
+		It("round-trips through writeMonoWAVf32", func() {
+			p := filepath.Join(GinkgoT().TempDir(), "rt.wav")
+			in := []float32{0.1, -0.2, 0.3, -0.4}
+			Expect(writeMonoWAVf32(p, in, 16000)).To(Succeed())
+			out, sr, err := readMonoWAVf32(p)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(sr).To(Equal(16000))
+			Expect(out).To(HaveLen(len(in)))
+			for i := range in {
+				Expect(out[i]).To(BeNumerically("~", in[i], 1e-4))
+			}
+		})
+	})
+
 	Context("model-gated integration (LOCALVQE_MODEL_PATH)", func() {
 		It("load + sample rate + hop + fft", func() {
 			path := modelPathOrSkip()

backend/go/parakeet-cpp/.gitignore

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+.cache/
+sources/
+build/
+package/
+parakeet-cpp-grpc
+# build artifacts staged in-tree by the Makefile (cp from sources/) or
+# symlinked for local dev; the real sources live in parakeet.cpp upstream.
+*.so
+*.so.*
+parakeet_capi.h
+compile_commands.json

backend/go/parakeet-cpp/Makefile

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+# parakeet-cpp backend Makefile.
+#
+# Upstream pin lives below as PARAKEET_VERSION?=b11fe5bca78ad8b342dd559a43d76df3984bb447
+# (.github/bump_deps.sh) can find and update it - matches the
+# whisper.cpp / ds4 / vibevoice-cpp convention.
+#
+# Local dev shortcut: if you already have an out-of-tree parakeet.cpp
+# build, you can symlink the .so + header into this directory and skip
+# the clone/cmake steps entirely, e.g.:
+#
+#   ln -sf /path/to/parakeet.cpp/build-shared/libparakeet.so .
+#   ln -sf /path/to/parakeet.cpp/include/parakeet_capi.h .
+#   go build -o parakeet-cpp-grpc .
+#
+# That's what the L0 smoke test uses. The default target below does the
+# proper clone-at-pin + cmake build so CI doesn't need a side-checkout.
+
+PARAKEET_VERSION?=b11fe5bca78ad8b342dd559a43d76df3984bb447
+PARAKEET_REPO?=https://github.com/mudler/parakeet.cpp
+
+GOCMD?=go
+GO_TAGS?=
+JOBS?=$(shell nproc 2>/dev/null || sysctl -n hw.ncpu 2>/dev/null || echo 4)
+
+BUILD_TYPE?=
+NATIVE?=false
+
+# Build ggml statically into libparakeet.so (PIC) so the shared lib is
+# self-contained: dlopen needs no libggml*.so alongside it, only system libs
+# (libstdc++/libgomp/libc) that the runtime image already provides.
+CMAKE_ARGS?=-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DPARAKEET_SHARED=ON -DPARAKEET_BUILD_CLI=OFF -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF -DCMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE=ON
+
+ifeq ($(NATIVE),false)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_NATIVE=OFF
+endif
+
+# parakeet.cpp gates its GGML backends behind PARAKEET_GGML_* options and does
+# set(GGML_CUDA ${PARAKEET_GGML_CUDA} CACHE BOOL "" FORCE), so a bare -DGGML_CUDA=ON
+# is overwritten back to OFF and the build silently falls back to CPU. Forward the
+# PARAKEET_GGML_* options instead. (openblas is not gated, so -DGGML_BLAS passes through.)
+ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),cublas)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DPARAKEET_GGML_CUDA=ON
+else ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),openblas)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_BLAS=ON -DGGML_BLAS_VENDOR=OpenBLAS
+else ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),hipblas)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DPARAKEET_GGML_HIP=ON
+else ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),vulkan)
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DPARAKEET_GGML_VULKAN=ON
+endif
+
+.PHONY: parakeet-cpp-grpc package build clean purge test all
+
+all: parakeet-cpp-grpc
+
+# Clone the upstream parakeet.cpp source at the pinned commit. Directory
+# acts as the target so make only re-clones when missing. After a
+# PARAKEET_VERSION bump, run 'make purge && make' to refetch.
+sources/parakeet.cpp:
+	mkdir -p sources/parakeet.cpp
+	cd sources/parakeet.cpp && \
+	git init -q && \
+	git remote add origin $(PARAKEET_REPO) && \
+	git fetch --depth 1 origin $(PARAKEET_VERSION) && \
+	git checkout FETCH_HEAD && \
+	git submodule update --init --recursive --depth 1 --single-branch
+
+# Build the shared lib + header out-of-tree, then stage them next to the
+# Go sources so purego.Dlopen("libparakeet.so") and the cgo-less build
+# both pick them up.
+libparakeet.so: sources/parakeet.cpp
+	cmake -B sources/parakeet.cpp/build-shared -S sources/parakeet.cpp $(CMAKE_ARGS)
+	cmake --build sources/parakeet.cpp/build-shared --config Release -j$(JOBS)
+	cp -fv sources/parakeet.cpp/build-shared/libparakeet.so* ./ 2>/dev/null || true
+	cp -fv sources/parakeet.cpp/include/parakeet_capi.h ./
+
+parakeet-cpp-grpc: libparakeet.so main.go goparakeetcpp.go
+	CGO_ENABLED=0 $(GOCMD) build -tags "$(GO_TAGS)" -o parakeet-cpp-grpc .
+
+package: parakeet-cpp-grpc
+	bash package.sh
+
+build: package
+
+# Test target. Smoke test is gated on PARAKEET_BACKEND_TEST_MODEL +
+# PARAKEET_BACKEND_TEST_WAV; without them the spec auto-skips.
+test:
+	LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$(CURDIR):$$LD_LIBRARY_PATH $(GOCMD) test ./... -count=1
+
+clean: purge
+	rm -rf libparakeet.so* parakeet_capi.h package parakeet-cpp-grpc
+
+purge:
+	rm -rf sources/parakeet.cpp

backend/go/parakeet-cpp/batcher.go

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+package main
+
+import "time"
+
+// batchRequest is one in-flight unary transcription waiting to be batched.
+// In production pcm/decoder are set; tag is an opaque marker used by tests.
+type batchRequest struct {
+	pcm     []float32
+	decoder int32
+	tag     string
+	reply   chan batchReply
+}
+
+// batchReply carries one per-item JSON object string (an element of the C-API's
+// JSON array) or an error back to the waiting handler goroutine.
+type batchReply struct {
+	json string
+	err  error
+}
+
+// batcher coalesces concurrent batchRequests into batched runBatch calls. A
+// single run() goroutine is the sole caller of runBatch, so runBatch (which in
+// production calls the thread-unsafe C engine) is never entered concurrently.
+type batcher struct {
+	submit   chan *batchRequest
+	maxSize  int
+	maxWait  time.Duration
+	runBatch func(reqs []*batchRequest) // must deliver a reply to every req
+}
+
+func newBatcher(maxSize int, maxWait time.Duration, runBatch func([]*batchRequest)) *batcher {
+	if maxSize < 1 {
+		maxSize = 1
+	}
+	return &batcher{
+		submit:   make(chan *batchRequest),
+		maxSize:  maxSize,
+		maxWait:  maxWait,
+		runBatch: runBatch,
+	}
+}
+
+// run is the dispatcher loop: accumulate submitted requests until either maxSize
+// is reached or maxWait elapses since the first queued request, then dispatch.
+// Exits when stop is closed (draining any partially-filled batch first).
+func (b *batcher) run(stop <-chan struct{}) {
+	for {
+		var first *batchRequest
+		select {
+		case first = <-b.submit:
+		case <-stop:
+			return
+		}
+		batch := []*batchRequest{first}
+
+		// maxSize==1 disables batching: dispatch immediately (passthrough).
+		if b.maxSize == 1 {
+			b.runBatch(batch)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		timer := time.NewTimer(b.maxWait)
+	fill:
+		for len(batch) < b.maxSize {
+			select {
+			case r := <-b.submit:
+				batch = append(batch, r)
+			case <-timer.C:
+				break fill
+			case <-stop:
+				timer.Stop()
+				b.runBatch(batch)
+				return
+			}
+		}
+		timer.Stop()
+		b.runBatch(batch)
+	}
+}

backend/go/parakeet-cpp/batcher_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("batcher", func() {
+	echoReply := func(reqs []*batchRequest) {
+		for _, r := range reqs {
+			r.reply <- batchReply{json: r.tag}
+		}
+	}
+
+	It("coalesces concurrent submits into batches", func() {
+		var mu sync.Mutex
+		var sizes []int
+		run := func(reqs []*batchRequest) {
+			mu.Lock()
+			sizes = append(sizes, len(reqs))
+			mu.Unlock()
+			echoReply(reqs)
+		}
+		b := newBatcher(4, 50*time.Millisecond, run)
+		stop := make(chan struct{})
+		go b.run(stop)
+		defer close(stop)
+
+		const N = 4
+		var wg sync.WaitGroup
+		got := make([]string, N)
+		for i := 0; i < N; i++ {
+			wg.Add(1)
+			go func(i int) {
+				defer wg.Done()
+				rep := make(chan batchReply, 1)
+				b.submit <- &batchRequest{tag: string(rune('a' + i)), reply: rep}
+				got[i] = (<-rep).json
+			}(i)
+		}
+		wg.Wait()
+
+		mu.Lock()
+		defer mu.Unlock()
+		total, maxBatch := 0, 0
+		for _, s := range sizes {
+			total += s
+			if s > maxBatch {
+				maxBatch = s
+			}
+		}
+		Expect(total).To(Equal(N))
+		Expect(maxBatch).To(BeNumerically(">=", 2), "expected at least one batch to coalesce >1 request")
+	})
+
+	It("dispatches when max size is reached", func() {
+		dispatched := make(chan int, 8)
+		run := func(reqs []*batchRequest) {
+			dispatched <- len(reqs)
+			echoReply(reqs)
+		}
+		b := newBatcher(2, time.Hour, run) // huge window: only size can trigger
+		stop := make(chan struct{})
+		go b.run(stop)
+		defer close(stop)
+		for i := 0; i < 2; i++ {
+			rep := make(chan batchReply, 1)
+			b.submit <- &batchRequest{tag: "x", reply: rep}
+			go func(rep chan batchReply) { <-rep }(rep)
+		}
+		Eventually(dispatched, "2s").Should(Receive(Equal(2)))
+	})
+
+	It("dispatches when the wait window elapses", func() {
+		dispatched := make(chan int, 8)
+		run := func(reqs []*batchRequest) {
+			dispatched <- len(reqs)
+			echoReply(reqs)
+		}
+		b := newBatcher(8, 20*time.Millisecond, run) // size unreachable; window fires
+		stop := make(chan struct{})
+		go b.run(stop)
+		defer close(stop)
+		rep := make(chan batchReply, 1)
+		b.submit <- &batchRequest{tag: "x", reply: rep}
+		go func() { <-rep }()
+		Eventually(dispatched, "2s").Should(Receive(Equal(1)))
+	})
+
+	It("bypasses batching when max size is 1", func() {
+		dispatched := make(chan int, 8)
+		run := func(reqs []*batchRequest) {
+			dispatched <- len(reqs)
+			echoReply(reqs)
+		}
+		b := newBatcher(1, time.Hour, run) // size 1 => immediate dispatch
+		stop := make(chan struct{})
+		go b.run(stop)
+		defer close(stop)
+		rep := make(chan batchReply, 1)
+		b.submit <- &batchRequest{tag: "x", reply: rep}
+		go func() { <-rep }()
+		Eventually(dispatched, "2s").Should(Receive(Equal(1)))
+	})
+})

backend/go/parakeet-cpp/goparakeetcpp.go

@@ -0,0 +1,556 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+	"unsafe"
+
+	"github.com/go-audio/wav"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/base"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/grpcerrors"
+	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/utils"
+	"github.com/mudler/xlog"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"
+)
+
+// purego-bound entry points from libparakeet.so. Names match
+// parakeet_capi.h exactly so a `nm libparakeet.so | grep parakeet_capi`
+// is enough to spot drift.
+//
+// Functions that return char* are declared as uintptr so we can call
+// parakeet_capi_free_string on the same pointer after copying, the
+// C-API contract is "caller owns and must free the returned buffer".
+var (
+	CppAbiVersion         func() int32
+	CppLoad               func(ggufPath string) uintptr
+	CppFree               func(ctx uintptr)
+	CppTranscribePath     func(ctx uintptr, wavPath string, decoder int32) uintptr
+	CppTranscribePathJSON func(ctx uintptr, wavPath string, decoder int32) uintptr
+	CppFreeString         func(s uintptr)
+	CppLastError          func(ctx uintptr) string
+
+	// Batched JSON transcription: takes a concatenated float buffer of clips
+	// plus their per-clip sample counts (sum(nSamples)==len(samplesConcat))
+	// and returns a malloc'd char* JSON ARRAY of per-clip {"text","words",
+	// "tokens"} objects (uintptr, freed via CppFreeString). purego passes the
+	// Go slices as the base pointer of their backing array (kept alive for the
+	// call), matching the CppStreamFeed pcm []float32 binding pattern; the C
+	// side reads them as const float*/const int*.
+	CppTranscribePcmBatchJSON func(ctx uintptr, samplesConcat []float32, nSamples []int32, nClips int32, sampleRate int32, decoder int32) uintptr
+
+	// Cache-aware streaming (RNN-T) entry points. stream_begin returns 0 for
+	// non-streaming models. feed/finalize return a malloc'd char* (uintptr,
+	// freed via CppFreeString); feed writes 1 to *eouOut on an <EOU>/<EOB>.
+	CppStreamBegin    func(ctx uintptr) uintptr
+	CppStreamFeed     func(s uintptr, pcm []float32, nSamples int32, eouOut unsafe.Pointer) uintptr
+	CppStreamFinalize func(s uintptr) uintptr
+	CppStreamFree     func(s uintptr)
+)
+
+// streamChunkSamples is how much 16 kHz mono PCM we hand to stream_feed per
+// call (1 s). The session buffers internally and decodes once a full
+// cache-aware encoder chunk is available, so this only bounds how often we
+// poll for newly-finalized text, not the model's actual chunk size.
+const streamChunkSamples = 16000
+
+// transcriptJSON mirrors the document returned by
+// parakeet_capi_transcribe_path_json (see parakeet_capi.h):
+//
+//	{"text":"...",
+//	 "words":[{"w":"...","start":0.480,"end":0.640,"conf":0.9100}, ...],
+//	 "tokens":[{"id":123,"t":0.480,"conf":0.9100}, ...]}
+//
+// "start"/"end"/"t" are seconds; "conf" is confidence in (0,1].
+type transcriptJSON struct {
+	Text   string            `json:"text"`
+	Words  []transcriptWord  `json:"words"`
+	Tokens []transcriptToken `json:"tokens"`
+}
+
+type transcriptWord struct {
+	W     string  `json:"w"`
+	Start float64 `json:"start"`
+	End   float64 `json:"end"`
+	Conf  float64 `json:"conf"`
+}
+
+type transcriptToken struct {
+	ID   int32   `json:"id"`
+	T    float64 `json:"t"`
+	Conf float64 `json:"conf"`
+}
+
+// ParakeetCpp owns a single loaded parakeet_ctx. The C engine is a
+// thread-unsafe singleton (mirrors whisper.cpp / vibevoice.cpp). Rather than
+// serialize every call through base.SingleThread, we route unary
+// transcription through an in-process batcher (its sole dispatcher goroutine
+// is the only caller of the engine on that path) and guard the shared engine
+// with engineMu so a streaming session and a batched-unary dispatch never
+// touch it concurrently.
+type ParakeetCpp struct {
+	base.Base
+	ctxPtr   uintptr
+	engineMu sync.Mutex // sole guard of the one C engine (dispatcher + streaming)
+	bat      *batcher
+	batStop  chan struct{}
+}
+
+// Load is the LocalAI gRPC entry point for LoadModel: it calls
+// parakeet_capi_load with the GGUF path and stashes the resulting
+// opaque context pointer for AudioTranscription.
+func (p *ParakeetCpp) Load(opts *pb.ModelOptions) error {
+	if opts.ModelFile == "" {
+		return errors.New("parakeet-cpp: ModelFile is required")
+	}
+
+	ctx := CppLoad(opts.ModelFile)
+	if ctx == 0 {
+		// No ctx to ask for last_error (the C-API's last-error buffer
+		// lives on the ctx that was never returned). Surface the path
+		// so the operator at least knows which load failed.
+		return fmt.Errorf("parakeet-cpp: parakeet_capi_load failed for %q", opts.ModelFile)
+	}
+	p.ctxPtr = ctx
+
+	// Dynamic batching knobs (model YAML options:, key:value form). Batching is
+	// OFF by default (batch_max_size:1): each request runs on its own. On GPU,
+	// raising batch_max_size coalesces concurrent requests into one batched
+	// engine call and improves throughput under load; leave it at 1 on CPU and
+	// for low-concurrency setups, where batching only adds latency.
+	maxSize := optInt(opts, "batch_max_size", 1)
+	maxWaitMs := optInt(opts, "batch_max_wait_ms", 15)
+	if maxWaitMs < 0 {
+		maxWaitMs = 0
+	}
+	if CppTranscribePcmBatchJSON != nil {
+		p.batStop = make(chan struct{})
+		p.bat = newBatcher(maxSize, time.Duration(maxWaitMs)*time.Millisecond, p.runBatch)
+		go p.bat.run(p.batStop) // dispatcher runs until Free closes batStop
+		if maxSize > 1 {
+			xlog.Info("parakeet-cpp: dynamic batching enabled",
+				"batch_max_size", maxSize, "batch_max_wait_ms", maxWaitMs)
+		} else {
+			xlog.Info("parakeet-cpp: dynamic batching off (batch_max_size=1); " +
+				"set batch_max_size>1 to coalesce concurrent requests on GPU")
+		}
+	} else {
+		xlog.Info("parakeet-cpp: batched C-API not present in libparakeet.so; " +
+			"batching disabled, using per-request transcription")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// optInt reads an integer model option (key:value form) from ModelOptions,
+// returning def when absent or unparseable. The options array carries the
+// model YAML's options: entries (see core/config; siblings such as
+// acestep-cpp parse the same key:value form via strings.Cut on ":").
+func optInt(opts *pb.ModelOptions, key string, def int) int {
+	for _, o := range opts.GetOptions() {
+		k, v, ok := strings.Cut(o, ":")
+		if ok && strings.TrimSpace(k) == key {
+			if n, err := strconv.Atoi(strings.TrimSpace(v)); err == nil {
+				return n
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return def
+}
+
+// runBatch is the dispatcher's batch handler and the ONLY caller of the C
+// engine on the unary path. It concatenates the batch PCM, calls the batched
+// JSON C-API under engineMu, splits the JSON array, and replies to each request.
+func (p *ParakeetCpp) runBatch(reqs []*batchRequest) {
+	// Observability: the actual coalesced batch size per engine call. Debug-level
+	// so it stays silent in normal operation but lets operators confirm/tune batching.
+	xlog.Debug("parakeet-cpp: dispatching batch", "size", len(reqs))
+	nSamples := make([]int32, len(reqs))
+	total := 0
+	for i, r := range reqs {
+		nSamples[i] = int32(len(r.pcm))
+		total += len(r.pcm)
+	}
+	concat := make([]float32, 0, total)
+	for _, r := range reqs {
+		concat = append(concat, r.pcm...)
+	}
+	var dec int32
+	if len(reqs) > 0 {
+		dec = reqs[0].decoder
+	}
+	p.engineMu.Lock()
+	cstr := CppTranscribePcmBatchJSON(p.ctxPtr, concat, nSamples, int32(len(reqs)), 16000, dec)
+	p.engineMu.Unlock()
+	if cstr == 0 {
+		err := fmt.Errorf("parakeet-cpp: batch transcribe failed: %s", CppLastError(p.ctxPtr))
+		for _, r := range reqs {
+			r.reply <- batchReply{err: err}
+		}
+		return
+	}
+	raw := goStringFromCPtr(cstr)
+	CppFreeString(cstr)
+	var docs []json.RawMessage
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(raw), &docs); err != nil || len(docs) != len(reqs) {
+		e := fmt.Errorf("parakeet-cpp: batch json: got %d results for %d reqs (%v)", len(docs), len(reqs), err)
+		for _, r := range reqs {
+			r.reply <- batchReply{err: e}
+		}
+		return
+	}
+	for i, r := range reqs {
+		r.reply <- batchReply{json: string(docs[i])}
+	}
+}
+
+// AudioTranscription decodes the wav at opts.Dst to 16 kHz mono PCM and
+// submits it to the in-process batcher, which coalesces concurrent requests
+// into a single batched engine call (parakeet_capi_transcribe_pcm_batch_json)
+// with the default decoder (decoder=0, which selects the right head per
+// architecture: transducer for tdt/rnnt/hybrid, CTC for ctc) and shapes the
+// per-word timestamps into a LocalAI TranscriptResult.
+//
+// Parakeet emits word- and token-level timestamps but no native segment
+// boundaries, so we synthesise a single whole-clip segment spanning the first
+// word start to the last word end. Word-level timings are attached only when
+// the caller opts in via timestamp_granularities=["word"] (matching the
+// OpenAI API, whose default is segment-level); token ids always populate
+// Segment.Tokens.
+//
+// translate/diarize/prompt/temperature/language/threads are not applicable to
+// parakeet and are ignored; streaming is handled by AudioTranscriptionStream
+// (L2).
+func (p *ParakeetCpp) AudioTranscription(ctx context.Context, opts *pb.TranscriptRequest) (pb.TranscriptResult, error) {
+	if p.ctxPtr == 0 {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, grpcerrors.ModelNotLoaded("parakeet-cpp")
+	}
+	if opts.Dst == "" {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, errors.New("parakeet-cpp: TranscriptRequest.dst (audio path) is required")
+	}
+
+	// Fallback when the batched C-API is unavailable: transcribe from a file
+	// path (original behavior, no batching). The C library's audio loader only
+	// understands 16 kHz mono WAV/PCM, so convert the input first - otherwise
+	// any non-WAV upload (MP3, etc.) fails with "failed to load audio". This
+	// mirrors what every other audio backend (whisper, crispasr) does via
+	// utils.AudioToWav before handing the file to the engine.
+	if p.bat == nil {
+		converted, cleanup, err := convertToWavMono16k(opts.Dst)
+		if err != nil {
+			return pb.TranscriptResult{}, err
+		}
+		defer cleanup()
+		cstr := CppTranscribePathJSON(p.ctxPtr, converted, 0)
+		if cstr == 0 {
+			return pb.TranscriptResult{}, fmt.Errorf("parakeet-cpp: transcribe_path_json failed: %s", CppLastError(p.ctxPtr))
+		}
+		raw := goStringFromCPtr(cstr)
+		CppFreeString(cstr)
+		var doc transcriptJSON
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(raw), &doc); err != nil {
+			return pb.TranscriptResult{}, fmt.Errorf("parakeet-cpp: decode transcript json: %w", err)
+		}
+		return transcriptResultFromDoc(doc, opts), nil
+	}
+
+	// Batched path: decode to PCM, submit to the batcher, wait for this request's
+	// JSON element. The dispatcher is the sole engine caller on this path; both
+	// sends honour ctx cancellation.
+	pcm, _, err := decodeWavMono16k(opts.Dst)
+	if err != nil {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, err
+	}
+	rep := make(chan batchReply, 1)
+	select {
+	case p.bat.submit <- &batchRequest{pcm: pcm, decoder: 0, reply: rep}:
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, status.Error(codes.Canceled, "transcription cancelled")
+	}
+	var res batchReply
+	select {
+	case res = <-rep:
+	case <-ctx.Done():
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, status.Error(codes.Canceled, "transcription cancelled")
+	}
+	if res.err != nil {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, res.err
+	}
+	var doc transcriptJSON
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(res.json), &doc); err != nil {
+		return pb.TranscriptResult{}, fmt.Errorf("parakeet-cpp: decode transcript json: %w", err)
+	}
+	return transcriptResultFromDoc(doc, opts), nil
+}
+
+// transcriptResultFromDoc maps a decoded transcriptJSON to a TranscriptResult,
+// synthesising a single whole-clip segment and attaching word timings only when
+// the caller requested word granularity. Shared by the batched and direct paths.
+func transcriptResultFromDoc(doc transcriptJSON, opts *pb.TranscriptRequest) pb.TranscriptResult {
+	text := strings.TrimSpace(doc.Text)
+	words := make([]*pb.TranscriptWord, 0, len(doc.Words))
+	for _, w := range doc.Words {
+		words = append(words, &pb.TranscriptWord{Start: secondsToNanos(w.Start), End: secondsToNanos(w.End), Text: w.W})
+	}
+	tokens := make([]int32, 0, len(doc.Tokens))
+	for _, t := range doc.Tokens {
+		tokens = append(tokens, t.ID)
+	}
+	var segStart, segEnd int64
+	if len(words) > 0 {
+		segStart = words[0].Start
+		segEnd = words[len(words)-1].End
+	}
+	seg := &pb.TranscriptSegment{Id: 0, Start: segStart, End: segEnd, Text: text, Tokens: tokens}
+	if wordsRequested(opts.TimestampGranularities) {
+		seg.Words = words
+	}
+	return pb.TranscriptResult{Text: text, Segments: []*pb.TranscriptSegment{seg}}
+}
+
+// wordsRequested reports whether the caller asked for word-level timestamps.
+// The OpenAI transcription API gates word timings behind
+// timestamp_granularities[] containing "word" and defaults to segment-level
+// otherwise; we follow that contract.
+func wordsRequested(granularities []string) bool {
+	for _, g := range granularities {
+		if strings.EqualFold(strings.TrimSpace(g), "word") {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+// secondsToNanos converts the C-API's fractional-second timestamps into the
+// int64 nanoseconds LocalAI carries on TranscriptSegment/TranscriptWord, the
+// same nanosecond convention the whisper backend uses.
+func secondsToNanos(sec float64) int64 {
+	return int64(sec * 1e9)
+}
+
+// AudioTranscriptionStream drives the cache-aware streaming RNN-T over the
+// audio at opts.Dst: it decodes the file to 16 kHz mono PCM, feeds it in
+// chunks to parakeet_capi_stream_feed, and emits each newly-finalized text
+// run as a TranscriptStreamResponse delta. <EOU>/<EOB> events close the
+// current segment; a closing FinalResult carries the full transcript and the
+// per-utterance segments.
+//
+// stream_begin returns 0 for models that are not cache-aware streaming models
+// (only e.g. nvidia/parakeet_realtime_eou_120m-v1 qualifies). For those we fall
+// back to a single offline transcription emitted as one delta plus a closing
+// FinalResult, matching LocalAI's non-streaming streaming contract (and the
+// whisper backend), so the streaming endpoint works for every model.
+func (p *ParakeetCpp) AudioTranscriptionStream(ctx context.Context, opts *pb.TranscriptRequest, results chan *pb.TranscriptStreamResponse) error {
+	defer close(results)
+
+	if p.ctxPtr == 0 {
+		return grpcerrors.ModelNotLoaded("parakeet-cpp")
+	}
+	if opts.Dst == "" {
+		return errors.New("parakeet-cpp: TranscriptRequest.dst (audio path) is required")
+	}
+	if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+		return status.Error(codes.Canceled, "transcription cancelled")
+	}
+
+	stream := CppStreamBegin(p.ctxPtr)
+	if stream == 0 {
+		// Not a cache-aware streaming model: run a normal offline
+		// transcription and emit it as one delta + a closing final result.
+		res, err := p.AudioTranscription(ctx, opts)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if t := strings.TrimSpace(res.Text); t != "" {
+			results <- &pb.TranscriptStreamResponse{Delta: t}
+		}
+		results <- &pb.TranscriptStreamResponse{FinalResult: &res}
+		return nil
+	}
+	defer CppStreamFree(stream)
+	// The C engine is a single shared context: a streaming session and a batched
+	// unary dispatch must never touch it at once, so hold engineMu for the whole
+	// stream. This lock is intentionally taken AFTER the non-streaming fallback
+	// above returns: that fallback goes through AudioTranscription -> the batcher
+	// -> runBatch, which itself acquires engineMu, so locking here first would
+	// deadlock. Do not hoist this lock above the fallback.
+	p.engineMu.Lock()
+	defer p.engineMu.Unlock()
+
+	data, duration, err := decodeWavMono16k(opts.Dst)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	var (
+		full     strings.Builder
+		segText  strings.Builder
+		segments []*pb.TranscriptSegment
+		segID    int32
+	)
+
+	flushSegment := func() {
+		t := strings.TrimSpace(segText.String())
+		segText.Reset()
+		if t == "" {
+			return
+		}
+		segments = append(segments, &pb.TranscriptSegment{Id: segID, Text: t})
+		segID++
+	}
+
+	// emitDelta consumes the malloc'd char* returned by feed/finalize: frees
+	// it, accumulates the text, and sends a delta when non-empty. A 0 return
+	// is an error (vs the "" empty-but-non-NULL no-new-text case).
+	emitDelta := func(ret uintptr) error {
+		if ret == 0 {
+			msg := CppLastError(p.ctxPtr)
+			if msg == "" {
+				msg = "unknown error"
+			}
+			return fmt.Errorf("parakeet-cpp: stream feed/finalize failed: %s", msg)
+		}
+		delta := goStringFromCPtr(ret)
+		CppFreeString(ret)
+		if delta == "" {
+			return nil
+		}
+		full.WriteString(delta)
+		segText.WriteString(delta)
+		results <- &pb.TranscriptStreamResponse{Delta: delta}
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	for off := 0; off < len(data); off += streamChunkSamples {
+		if err := ctx.Err(); err != nil {
+			return status.Error(codes.Canceled, "transcription cancelled")
+		}
+		end := min(off+streamChunkSamples, len(data))
+		chunk := data[off:end]
+
+		var eou int32
+		ret := CppStreamFeed(stream, chunk, int32(len(chunk)), unsafe.Pointer(&eou))
+		if err := emitDelta(ret); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		if eou != 0 {
+			flushSegment()
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Flush the streaming tail (final encoder chunk).
+	if err := emitDelta(CppStreamFinalize(stream)); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	flushSegment()
+
+	text := strings.TrimSpace(full.String())
+	if len(segments) == 0 && text != "" {
+		segments = append(segments, &pb.TranscriptSegment{Id: 0, Text: text})
+	}
+	results <- &pb.TranscriptStreamResponse{
+		FinalResult: &pb.TranscriptResult{
+			Text:     text,
+			Segments: segments,
+			Duration: duration,
+		},
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// decodeWavMono16k converts any input audio to 16 kHz mono PCM and returns the
+// float samples plus the clip duration in seconds. Mirrors the whisper
+// backend: utils.AudioToWav (ffmpeg) normalises rate/channels, go-audio
+// decodes the PCM.
+// convertToWavMono16k converts an arbitrary audio file to a 16 kHz mono WAV in
+// a fresh temp dir and returns the path together with a cleanup func the caller
+// must defer. WAV inputs already at 16 kHz/mono/16-bit are passed through by
+// utils.AudioToWav (hardlink/copy), everything else is transcoded via ffmpeg.
+// Used by the direct (non-batched) transcription path, which hands a file path
+// to the C library's WAV-only audio loader.
+func convertToWavMono16k(path string) (string, func(), error) {
+	dir, err := os.MkdirTemp("", "parakeet")
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", func() {}, err
+	}
+	cleanup := func() { _ = os.RemoveAll(dir) }
+
+	converted := filepath.Join(dir, "converted.wav")
+	if err := utils.AudioToWav(path, converted); err != nil {
+		cleanup()
+		return "", func() {}, err
+	}
+	return converted, cleanup, nil
+}
+
+func decodeWavMono16k(path string) ([]float32, float32, error) {
+	converted, cleanup, err := convertToWavMono16k(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, 0, err
+	}
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	fh, err := os.Open(converted)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, 0, err
+	}
+	defer func() { _ = fh.Close() }()
+
+	buf, err := wav.NewDecoder(fh).FullPCMBuffer()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, 0, err
+	}
+	data := buf.AsFloat32Buffer().Data
+	var duration float32
+	if buf.Format != nil && buf.Format.SampleRate > 0 {
+		duration = float32(len(data)) / float32(buf.Format.SampleRate)
+	}
+	return data, duration, nil
+}
+
+// Free releases the underlying parakeet_ctx. Called by LocalAI when the
+// model is unloaded.
+func (p *ParakeetCpp) Free() error {
+	// Stop the dispatcher before releasing the engine so no in-flight runBatch
+	// can touch a freed ctx (close leak / use-after-free on reload).
+	if p.batStop != nil {
+		close(p.batStop)
+		p.batStop = nil
+	}
+	if p.ctxPtr != 0 {
+		CppFree(p.ctxPtr)
+		p.ctxPtr = 0
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// goStringFromCPtr copies a NUL-terminated C string into Go memory.
+// cptr is the raw pointer returned by purego from the C-API (a malloc'd
+// buffer the caller owns); callers must free it via CppFreeString after
+// the copy lands.
+//
+// The uintptr->unsafe.Pointer conversion below trips go vet's unsafeptr
+// check, which can't distinguish a C-owned heap pointer from Go-managed
+// memory. It is safe here: the pointer addresses a malloc'd C buffer the
+// Go GC neither tracks nor moves, and we dereference it immediately to
+// copy the bytes out, the same pattern (and the same tolerated warning)
+// as the whisper backend's unsafe.Slice over segsPtr.
+func goStringFromCPtr(cptr uintptr) string {
+	if cptr == 0 {
+		return ""
+	}
+	p := unsafe.Pointer(cptr) //nolint:govet // C-owned malloc'd buffer, not Go-GC memory (see doc above)
+	n := 0
+	for *(*byte)(unsafe.Add(p, n)) != 0 {
+		n++
+	}
+	return string(unsafe.Slice((*byte)(p), n))
+}

backend/go/parakeet-cpp/goparakeetcpp_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,221 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/ebitengine/purego"
+	"github.com/go-audio/audio"
+	"github.com/go-audio/wav"
+	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+func TestParakeetCpp(t *testing.T) {
+	RegisterFailHandler(Fail)
+	RunSpecs(t, "parakeet-cpp Backend Suite")
+}
+
+var (
+	libLoadOnce sync.Once
+	libLoadErr  error
+)
+
+// ensureLibLoaded mirrors main.go's bootstrap so a Go test can drive
+// the C-API bridge without spinning up the gRPC server. Skips the
+// current spec when libparakeet.so isn't loadable from cwd
+// ($LD_LIBRARY_PATH or a symlink in ./).
+func ensureLibLoaded() {
+	libLoadOnce.Do(func() {
+		libName := os.Getenv("PARAKEET_LIBRARY")
+		if libName == "" {
+			libName = "libparakeet.so"
+		}
+		lib, err := purego.Dlopen(libName, purego.RTLD_NOW|purego.RTLD_GLOBAL)
+		if err != nil {
+			libLoadErr = err
+			return
+		}
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppAbiVersion, lib, "parakeet_capi_abi_version")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppLoad, lib, "parakeet_capi_load")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppFree, lib, "parakeet_capi_free")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppTranscribePath, lib, "parakeet_capi_transcribe_path")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppTranscribePathJSON, lib, "parakeet_capi_transcribe_path_json")
+		if sym, err := purego.Dlsym(lib, "parakeet_capi_transcribe_pcm_batch_json"); err == nil && sym != 0 {
+			purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppTranscribePcmBatchJSON, lib, "parakeet_capi_transcribe_pcm_batch_json")
+		}
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppStreamBegin, lib, "parakeet_capi_stream_begin")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppStreamFeed, lib, "parakeet_capi_stream_feed")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppStreamFinalize, lib, "parakeet_capi_stream_finalize")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppStreamFree, lib, "parakeet_capi_stream_free")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppFreeString, lib, "parakeet_capi_free_string")
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppLastError, lib, "parakeet_capi_last_error")
+	})
+	if libLoadErr != nil {
+		Skip("libparakeet.so not loadable: " + libLoadErr.Error())
+	}
+}
+
+// fixturesOrSkip returns the model + audio paths or skips the spec if
+// either env var is unset. The smoke test never runs in default CI; it
+// needs a real parakeet GGUF and a 16 kHz mono WAV on disk.
+func fixturesOrSkip() (string, string) {
+	modelPath := os.Getenv("PARAKEET_BACKEND_TEST_MODEL")
+	audioPath := os.Getenv("PARAKEET_BACKEND_TEST_WAV")
+	if modelPath == "" || audioPath == "" {
+		Skip("set PARAKEET_BACKEND_TEST_MODEL and PARAKEET_BACKEND_TEST_WAV to run this spec")
+	}
+	return modelPath, audioPath
+}
+
+// writeMono16kWav writes `samples` frames of 16 kHz mono 16-bit silence to
+// path. The result is already in AudioToWav's target format, so the conversion
+// helper copies it through without invoking ffmpeg.
+func writeMono16kWav(path string, samples int) {
+	GinkgoHelper()
+	f, err := os.Create(path)
+	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+	enc := wav.NewEncoder(f, 16000, 16, 1, 1)
+	buf := &audio.IntBuffer{
+		Format:         &audio.Format{NumChannels: 1, SampleRate: 16000},
+		SourceBitDepth: 16,
+		Data:           make([]int, samples),
+	}
+	Expect(enc.Write(buf)).To(Succeed())
+	Expect(enc.Close()).To(Succeed())
+	Expect(f.Close()).To(Succeed())
+}
+
+var _ = Describe("ParakeetCpp", func() {
+	Context("AudioTranscription", func() {
+		It("transcribes a WAV via the parakeet C-API", func() {
+			modelPath, audioPath := fixturesOrSkip()
+			ensureLibLoaded()
+
+			p := &ParakeetCpp{}
+			Expect(p.Load(&pb.ModelOptions{ModelFile: modelPath})).To(Succeed())
+			defer func() { _ = p.Free() }()
+
+			res, err := p.AudioTranscription(context.Background(), &pb.TranscriptRequest{
+				Dst: audioPath,
+			})
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(strings.TrimSpace(res.Text)).ToNot(BeEmpty(),
+				"expected non-empty transcript for %s", audioPath)
+			Expect(res.Segments).To(HaveLen(1),
+				"synthesises a single whole-clip segment")
+			Expect(res.Segments[0].Text).To(Equal(res.Text),
+				"single segment text must equal the top-level text")
+			// Default (no granularities) is segment-level: no per-word timings.
+			Expect(res.Segments[0].Words).To(BeEmpty(),
+				"word timings are opt-in via timestamp_granularities")
+		})
+
+		It("emits word-level timestamps when granularity=word", func() {
+			modelPath, audioPath := fixturesOrSkip()
+			ensureLibLoaded()
+
+			p := &ParakeetCpp{}
+			Expect(p.Load(&pb.ModelOptions{ModelFile: modelPath})).To(Succeed())
+			defer func() { _ = p.Free() }()
+
+			res, err := p.AudioTranscription(context.Background(), &pb.TranscriptRequest{
+				Dst:                    audioPath,
+				TimestampGranularities: []string{"word"},
+			})
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(res.Segments).To(HaveLen(1))
+			seg := res.Segments[0]
+			Expect(seg.Words).ToNot(BeEmpty(),
+				"expected per-word timestamps with granularity=word")
+			// Monotonic, non-negative timings spanning the segment.
+			Expect(seg.Words[0].Start).To(BeNumerically(">=", int64(0)))
+			Expect(seg.End).To(BeNumerically(">=", seg.Start))
+			Expect(seg.Words[len(seg.Words)-1].End).To(Equal(seg.End),
+				"segment end tracks the last word")
+		})
+	})
+
+	Context("convertToWavMono16k", func() {
+		// The non-batched transcription path hands a file path to the C
+		// library's WAV-only audio loader, so it must convert first.
+		// utils.AudioToWav passes an already-16kHz/mono/16-bit WAV through
+		// without ffmpeg, which lets us exercise the helper (and the
+		// regression: the direct path used to skip conversion entirely)
+		// without a model, the C library, or ffmpeg.
+		It("returns a decodable 16kHz mono WAV copy and cleans it up", func() {
+			dir := GinkgoT().TempDir()
+			src := filepath.Join(dir, "input.wav")
+			writeMono16kWav(src, 16000) // 1s of silence at 16 kHz
+
+			converted, cleanup, err := convertToWavMono16k(src)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			// It must produce a fresh temp file, not return the original path.
+			Expect(converted).ToNot(Equal(src))
+			Expect(converted).To(BeAnExistingFile())
+
+			pcm, _, err := decodeWavMono16k(converted)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(pcm).To(HaveLen(16000), "round-trips the sample count")
+
+			cleanup()
+			Expect(converted).ToNot(BeAnExistingFile(), "cleanup removes the temp dir")
+		})
+
+		It("errors on a non-existent input rather than passing the path through", func() {
+			_, _, err := convertToWavMono16k(filepath.Join(GinkgoT().TempDir(), "missing.mp3"))
+			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+		})
+	})
+
+	Context("AudioTranscriptionStream", func() {
+		It("streams deltas and a closing FinalResult from a cache-aware model", func() {
+			// Streaming needs a cache-aware streaming model (e.g.
+			// realtime_eou); the offline test model would fail stream_begin.
+			modelPath := os.Getenv("PARAKEET_BACKEND_TEST_STREAM_MODEL")
+			audioPath := os.Getenv("PARAKEET_BACKEND_TEST_WAV")
+			if modelPath == "" || audioPath == "" {
+				Skip("set PARAKEET_BACKEND_TEST_STREAM_MODEL (cache-aware streaming model) and PARAKEET_BACKEND_TEST_WAV")
+			}
+			ensureLibLoaded()
+
+			p := &ParakeetCpp{}
+			Expect(p.Load(&pb.ModelOptions{ModelFile: modelPath})).To(Succeed())
+			defer func() { _ = p.Free() }()
+
+			results := make(chan *pb.TranscriptStreamResponse, 64)
+			errCh := make(chan error, 1)
+			go func() {
+				errCh <- p.AudioTranscriptionStream(context.Background(),
+					&pb.TranscriptRequest{Dst: audioPath}, results)
+			}()
+
+			var deltas []string
+			var final *pb.TranscriptResult
+			for r := range results {
+				if r.Delta != "" {
+					deltas = append(deltas, r.Delta)
+				}
+				if r.FinalResult != nil {
+					final = r.FinalResult
+				}
+			}
+			Expect(<-errCh).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			Expect(final).ToNot(BeNil(), "expected a closing FinalResult")
+			Expect(strings.TrimSpace(final.Text)).ToNot(BeEmpty(),
+				"expected a non-empty streamed transcript")
+			Expect(final.Segments).ToNot(BeEmpty(),
+				"FinalResult always carries at least one segment")
+			// The concatenated deltas reconstruct the final transcript.
+			Expect(strings.TrimSpace(strings.Join(deltas, ""))).To(Equal(strings.TrimSpace(final.Text)),
+				"deltas should reconstruct the final text")
+		})
+	})
+})

backend/go/parakeet-cpp/main.go

@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+package main
+
+// Started internally by LocalAI - one gRPC server per loaded model.
+//
+// Loads libparakeet.so via purego and registers the flat C-API entry
+// points declared in parakeet_capi.h. The library name can be overridden
+// with PARAKEET_LIBRARY (mirrors the WHISPER_LIBRARY / VIBEVOICECPP_LIBRARY
+// convention in the sibling backends); the default looks for the .so next
+// to this binary.
+import (
+	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+
+	"github.com/ebitengine/purego"
+	grpc "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc"
+)
+
+var (
+	addr = flag.String("addr", "localhost:50051", "the address to connect to")
+)
+
+type LibFuncs struct {
+	FuncPtr any
+	Name    string
+}
+
+func main() {
+	libName := os.Getenv("PARAKEET_LIBRARY")
+	if libName == "" {
+		libName = "libparakeet.so"
+	}
+
+	lib, err := purego.Dlopen(libName, purego.RTLD_NOW|purego.RTLD_GLOBAL)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Errorf("parakeet-cpp: dlopen %q: %w", libName, err))
+	}
+
+	// Bound 1:1 to parakeet_capi.h. The C-API returns malloc'd char*
+	// buffers from transcribe_*; we register those as uintptr so we get
+	// the raw pointer back and can call parakeet_capi_free_string on it
+	// (purego's string return would copy and forget the original pointer,
+	// leaking it on every call).
+	libFuncs := []LibFuncs{
+		{&CppAbiVersion, "parakeet_capi_abi_version"},
+		{&CppLoad, "parakeet_capi_load"},
+		{&CppFree, "parakeet_capi_free"},
+		{&CppTranscribePath, "parakeet_capi_transcribe_path"},
+		{&CppTranscribePathJSON, "parakeet_capi_transcribe_path_json"},
+		{&CppStreamBegin, "parakeet_capi_stream_begin"},
+		{&CppStreamFeed, "parakeet_capi_stream_feed"},
+		{&CppStreamFinalize, "parakeet_capi_stream_finalize"},
+		{&CppStreamFree, "parakeet_capi_stream_free"},
+		{&CppFreeString, "parakeet_capi_free_string"},
+		{&CppLastError, "parakeet_capi_last_error"},
+	}
+	for _, lf := range libFuncs {
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(lf.FuncPtr, lib, lf.Name)
+	}
+
+	// The batched-JSON entry point exists only in newer libparakeet.so (ABI >= 2).
+	// Probe with Dlsym and register only if present, so the backend still loads
+	// against an older library (it falls back to per-request transcription).
+	if sym, err := purego.Dlsym(lib, "parakeet_capi_transcribe_pcm_batch_json"); err == nil && sym != 0 {
+		purego.RegisterLibFunc(&CppTranscribePcmBatchJSON, lib, "parakeet_capi_transcribe_pcm_batch_json")
+	}
+
+	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "[parakeet-cpp] ABI=%d\n", CppAbiVersion())
+
+	flag.Parse()
+
+	if err := grpc.StartServer(*addr, &ParakeetCpp{}); err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+}

backend/go/parakeet-cpp/package.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# L0 packaging stub: copy the binary, run.sh and libparakeet.so* into
+# package/. The full ldd walk (libc, libstdc++, libgomp, GPU runtimes,
+# arch detection) lands in L3, mirroring backend/go/whisper/package.sh.
+
+set -e
+
+CURDIR=$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")
+
+mkdir -p "$CURDIR/package/lib"
+
+cp -avf "$CURDIR/parakeet-cpp-grpc" "$CURDIR/package/"
+cp -avf "$CURDIR/run.sh" "$CURDIR/package/"
+
+# libparakeet.so + any soname symlinks (libparakeet.so.X, libparakeet.so.X.Y).
+cp -avf "$CURDIR"/libparakeet.so* "$CURDIR/package/lib/" 2>/dev/null || {
+	echo "ERROR: libparakeet.so not found in $CURDIR, run 'make' first" >&2
+	exit 1
+}
+
+echo "L0 package layout (full ldd walk lands in L3):"
+ls -liah "$CURDIR/package/" "$CURDIR/package/lib/"

backend/go/parakeet-cpp/run.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -e
+
+CURDIR=$(dirname "$(realpath "$0")")
+
+export LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$CURDIR/lib:$CURDIR:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:-}"
+
+# If a self-contained ld.so was packaged, route through it so the
+# packaged libc / libstdc++ are used instead of the host's (matches the
+# whisper backend's runtime layout).
+if [ -f "$CURDIR/lib/ld.so" ]; then
+	echo "Using lib/ld.so"
+	exec "$CURDIR/lib/ld.so" "$CURDIR/parakeet-cpp-grpc" "$@"
+fi
+
+exec "$CURDIR/parakeet-cpp-grpc" "$@"

backend/go/qwen3-tts-cpp/Makefile

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ JOBS?=$(shell nproc --ignore=1)
 
 # qwen3-tts.cpp version
 QWEN3TTS_REPO?=https://github.com/predict-woo/qwen3-tts.cpp
-QWEN3TTS_CPP_VERSION?=7a762e2ad4bacc6fdda81d81bf10a09ffb546f29
+QWEN3TTS_CPP_VERSION?=136e5d36c17083da0321fd96512dc7b263f94a44
 SO_TARGET?=libgoqwen3ttscpp.so
 
 CMAKE_ARGS+=-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF

backend/go/qwen3-tts-cpp/goqwen3ttscpp.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/base"
 	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
@@ -21,6 +22,43 @@ type Qwen3TtsCpp struct {
 	threads int
 }
 
+// languageNameAliases maps common full language names to the canonical
+// two-letter code understood by the C++ language_to_id table.
+var languageNameAliases = map[string]string{
+	"english":    "en",
+	"russian":    "ru",
+	"chinese":    "zh",
+	"japanese":   "ja",
+	"korean":     "ko",
+	"german":     "de",
+	"french":     "fr",
+	"spanish":    "es",
+	"italian":    "it",
+	"portuguese": "pt",
+}
+
+// normalizeLanguage coerces a caller-supplied language into the canonical code
+// the model expects. It lowercases, trims, strips any region/locale suffix
+// (en-US, en_US, ja.JP -> en/ja), and resolves common full names (english -> en).
+// An empty input stays empty so the C++ side applies its English default; an
+// unrecognized value is returned normalized so C++ can log it and default.
+func normalizeLanguage(lang string) string {
+	lang = strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(lang))
+	if lang == "" {
+		return ""
+	}
+
+	// Strip region/locale suffix: keep the segment before the first separator.
+	if i := strings.IndexAny(lang, "-_."); i >= 0 {
+		lang = lang[:i]
+	}
+
+	if code, ok := languageNameAliases[lang]; ok {
+		return code
+	}
+	return lang
+}
+
 func (q *Qwen3TtsCpp) Load(opts *pb.ModelOptions) error {
 	// ModelFile is the model directory path (containing GGUF files)
 	modelDir := opts.ModelFile
@@ -54,7 +92,7 @@ func (q *Qwen3TtsCpp) TTS(req *pb.TTSRequest) error {
 	dst := req.Dst
 	language := ""
 	if req.Language != nil {
-		language = *req.Language
+		language = normalizeLanguage(*req.Language)
 	}
 
 	// Synthesis parameters with sensible defaults

backend/go/qwen3-tts-cpp/language_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+func TestLanguageNormalization(t *testing.T) {
+	RegisterFailHandler(Fail)
+	RunSpecs(t, "qwen3-tts-cpp language normalization")
+}
+
+var _ = Describe("normalizeLanguage", func() {
+	DescribeTable("maps caller input to the canonical model language code",
+		func(input, expected string) {
+			Expect(normalizeLanguage(input)).To(Equal(expected))
+		},
+		// Canonical codes pass through unchanged
+		Entry("canonical en", "en", "en"),
+		Entry("canonical zh", "zh", "zh"),
+		Entry("canonical pt", "pt", "pt"),
+
+		// Case-insensitive
+		Entry("uppercase", "EN", "en"),
+		Entry("mixed case", "Ja", "ja"),
+
+		// Surrounding whitespace
+		Entry("trims whitespace", "  en  ", "en"),
+
+		// Region/locale stripping
+		Entry("BCP-47 region", "en-US", "en"),
+		Entry("underscore region", "en_US", "en"),
+		Entry("dotted locale", "ja.JP", "ja"),
+		Entry("region + case", "ZH-CN", "zh"),
+
+		// Full-name aliases
+		Entry("english name", "english", "en"),
+		Entry("chinese name cased", "Chinese", "zh"),
+		Entry("japanese name", "japanese", "ja"),
+		Entry("russian name", "russian", "ru"),
+		Entry("portuguese name", "portuguese", "pt"),
+
+		// Empty stays empty (C++ applies the English default)
+		Entry("empty", "", ""),
+		Entry("whitespace only", "   ", ""),
+
+		// Unknown values pass through normalized so C++ can log + default
+		Entry("unknown code", "klingon", "klingon"),
+		Entry("unknown with region", "xx-YY", "xx"),
+	)
+})

backend/go/rfdetr-cpp/Makefile

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ JOBS?=$(shell nproc --ignore=1)
 # build; leaving this on `master` always picks up the latest C-API surface
 # (incl. the per-detection accessor functions used by gorfdetrcpp.go).
 RFDETR_REPO?=https://github.com/mudler/rf-detr.cpp.git
-RFDETR_VERSION?=main
+RFDETR_VERSION?=65c0ffcc9a9bc9dae38252f63d0417c9845a6cf7
 
 ifeq ($(NATIVE),false)
 	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_NATIVE=OFF

backend/go/stablediffusion-ggml/Makefile

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ JOBS?=$(shell nproc --ignore=1)
 
 # stablediffusion.cpp (ggml)
 STABLEDIFFUSION_GGML_REPO?=https://github.com/leejet/stable-diffusion.cpp
-STABLEDIFFUSION_GGML_VERSION?=92dc7268fc4ffb0c0cc0bd52dfcefea91326e797
+STABLEDIFFUSION_GGML_VERSION?=1f9ee88e09c258053fa59d5e05e23dfb10fa0b13
 
 CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_MAX_NAME=128
 

backend/go/whisper/Makefile

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ JOBS?=$(shell nproc --ignore=1)
 
 # whisper.cpp version
 WHISPER_REPO?=https://github.com/ggml-org/whisper.cpp
-WHISPER_CPP_VERSION?=27101c01dcac1676e2b6422256233cd0f1f9ae28
+WHISPER_CPP_VERSION?=99613cb720b65036237d44b52f753b51f75c2797
 SO_TARGET?=libgowhisper.so
 
 CMAKE_ARGS+=-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF

backend/index.yaml

@@ -122,6 +122,62 @@
     nvidia-cuda-12: "cuda12-whisper"
     nvidia-l4t-cuda-12: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-whisper"
     nvidia-l4t-cuda-13: "cuda13-nvidia-l4t-arm64-whisper"
+- &crispasr
+  name: "crispasr"
+  alias: "crispasr"
+  license: mit
+  icon: https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/1991296/235238348-05d0f6a4-da44-4900-a1de-d0707e75b763.jpeg
+  description: |
+    CrispASR unified speech engine (whisper.cpp fork on ggml) supporting many ASR architectures (Parakeet, Canary, Voxtral, Qwen3-ASR, Granite, Wav2Vec2, Moonshine, OmniASR, FireRedASR, and more).
+  urls:
+    - https://github.com/CrispStrobe/CrispASR
+  tags:
+    - audio-transcription
+    - CPU
+    - GPU
+    - CUDA
+    - HIP
+  capabilities:
+    default: "cpu-crispasr"
+    nvidia: "cuda12-crispasr"
+    intel: "intel-sycl-f16-crispasr"
+    metal: "metal-crispasr"
+    amd: "rocm-crispasr"
+    vulkan: "vulkan-crispasr"
+    nvidia-l4t: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr"
+    nvidia-cuda-13: "cuda13-crispasr"
+    nvidia-cuda-12: "cuda12-crispasr"
+    nvidia-l4t-cuda-12: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr"
+    nvidia-l4t-cuda-13: "cuda13-nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr"
+- &parakeetcpp
+  name: "parakeet-cpp"
+  alias: "parakeet-cpp"
+  license: mit
+  icon: https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/95302084
+  description: |
+    parakeet.cpp is a C++/ggml port of NVIDIA NeMo Parakeet automatic speech recognition (ASR) models.
+    It supports the tdt, ctc, rnnt and hybrid decoder families as well as cache-aware streaming transcription,
+    and runs on CPU, NVIDIA CUDA, AMD ROCm/HIP, Intel SYCL and NVIDIA Jetson (L4T) targets.
+  urls:
+    - https://github.com/mudler/parakeet.cpp
+  tags:
+    - audio-transcription
+    - CPU
+    - GPU
+    - CUDA
+    - HIP
+  capabilities:
+    default: "cpu-parakeet-cpp"
+    nvidia: "cuda12-parakeet-cpp"
+    intel: "intel-sycl-f16-parakeet-cpp"
+    metal: "metal-parakeet-cpp"
+    amd: "rocm-parakeet-cpp"
+    vulkan: "vulkan-parakeet-cpp"
+    nvidia-l4t: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+    nvidia-cuda-13: "cuda13-parakeet-cpp"
+    nvidia-cuda-12: "cuda12-parakeet-cpp"
+    nvidia-l4t-cuda-12: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+    nvidia-l4t-cuda-13: "cuda13-nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
 - &voxtral
   name: "voxtral"
   alias: "voxtral"
@@ -1928,6 +1984,246 @@
   uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-whisper"
   mirrors:
     - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-whisper
+## crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "crispasr-development"
+  capabilities:
+    default: "cpu-crispasr-development"
+    nvidia: "cuda12-crispasr-development"
+    intel: "intel-sycl-f16-crispasr-development"
+    metal: "metal-crispasr-development"
+    amd: "rocm-crispasr-development"
+    vulkan: "vulkan-crispasr-development"
+    nvidia-l4t: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr-development"
+    nvidia-cuda-13: "cuda13-crispasr-development"
+    nvidia-cuda-12: "cuda12-crispasr-development"
+    nvidia-l4t-cuda-12: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr-development"
+    nvidia-l4t-cuda-13: "cuda13-nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr-development"
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "cuda13-nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-nvidia-l4t-cuda-13-arm64-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-nvidia-l4t-cuda-13-arm64-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "cuda13-nvidia-l4t-arm64-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-nvidia-l4t-cuda-13-arm64-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-nvidia-l4t-cuda-13-arm64-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "cpu-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-cpu-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-cpu-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "metal-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-metal-darwin-arm64-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-metal-darwin-arm64-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "metal-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-metal-darwin-arm64-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-metal-darwin-arm64-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "cpu-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-cpu-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-cpu-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "cuda12-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "rocm-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-rocm-hipblas-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-rocm-hipblas-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "intel-sycl-f32-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "intel-sycl-f16-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-intel-sycl-f16-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-intel-sycl-f16-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "vulkan-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-vulkan-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-vulkan-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "vulkan-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-vulkan-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-vulkan-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "metal-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-metal-darwin-arm64-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-metal-darwin-arm64-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "metal-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-metal-darwin-arm64-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-metal-darwin-arm64-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "cuda12-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "rocm-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-rocm-hipblas-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-rocm-hipblas-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "intel-sycl-f32-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "intel-sycl-f16-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-intel-sycl-f16-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-intel-sycl-f16-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "cuda13-crispasr"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-crispasr
+- !!merge <<: *crispasr
+  name: "cuda13-crispasr-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-crispasr"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-crispasr
+## parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "parakeet-cpp-development"
+  capabilities:
+    default: "cpu-parakeet-cpp-development"
+    nvidia: "cuda12-parakeet-cpp-development"
+    intel: "intel-sycl-f16-parakeet-cpp-development"
+    metal: "metal-parakeet-cpp-development"
+    amd: "rocm-parakeet-cpp-development"
+    vulkan: "vulkan-parakeet-cpp-development"
+    nvidia-l4t: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp-development"
+    nvidia-cuda-13: "cuda13-parakeet-cpp-development"
+    nvidia-cuda-12: "cuda12-parakeet-cpp-development"
+    nvidia-l4t-cuda-12: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp-development"
+    nvidia-l4t-cuda-13: "cuda13-nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp-development"
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "cuda13-nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-nvidia-l4t-cuda-13-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-nvidia-l4t-cuda-13-arm64-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "cuda13-nvidia-l4t-arm64-parakeet-cpp-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-nvidia-l4t-cuda-13-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-nvidia-l4t-cuda-13-arm64-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "cpu-parakeet-cpp"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-cpu-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-cpu-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "cpu-parakeet-cpp-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-cpu-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-cpu-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "metal-parakeet-cpp"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-metal-darwin-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-metal-darwin-arm64-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "metal-parakeet-cpp-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-metal-darwin-arm64-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-metal-darwin-arm64-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "cuda12-parakeet-cpp"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "cuda12-parakeet-cpp-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "rocm-parakeet-cpp"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-rocm-hipblas-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-rocm-hipblas-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "rocm-parakeet-cpp-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-rocm-hipblas-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-rocm-hipblas-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "intel-sycl-f32-parakeet-cpp"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "intel-sycl-f32-parakeet-cpp-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "intel-sycl-f16-parakeet-cpp"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-intel-sycl-f16-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-intel-sycl-f16-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "intel-sycl-f16-parakeet-cpp-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-intel-sycl-f16-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-intel-sycl-f16-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "vulkan-parakeet-cpp"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-vulkan-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-vulkan-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "vulkan-parakeet-cpp-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-vulkan-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-vulkan-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "cuda13-parakeet-cpp"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-parakeet-cpp
+- !!merge <<: *parakeetcpp
+  name: "cuda13-parakeet-cpp-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-parakeet-cpp"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-13-parakeet-cpp
 ## stablediffusion-ggml
 - !!merge <<: *stablediffusionggml
   name: "cpu-stablediffusion-ggml"

backend/python/chatterbox/backend.py

@@ -37,6 +37,20 @@ def is_int(s):
     except ValueError:
         return False
 
+def coerce_param_value(value):
+    """Coerce a TTSRequest.params value (string on the wire) to the type the
+    Chatterbox generate() kwargs expect (float/int/bool), matching how static
+    YAML options are coerced at load time. Non-string values pass through."""
+    if not isinstance(value, str):
+        return value
+    if is_float(value):
+        return float(value)
+    if is_int(value):
+        return int(value)
+    if value.lower() in ["true", "false"]:
+        return value.lower() == "true"
+    return value
+
 def split_text_at_word_boundary(text, max_length=250):
     """
     Split text at word boundaries without truncating words.
@@ -191,6 +205,14 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
             # add options to kwargs
             kwargs.update(self.options)
 
+            # Merge per-request params (TTSRequest.params), overriding the static
+            # YAML options. This exposes Chatterbox generation knobs (e.g.
+            # exaggeration, cfg_weight, temperature) per request. Values arrive as
+            # strings on the wire and are coerced to float/int/bool.
+            if hasattr(request, "params") and request.params:
+                for key, value in request.params.items():
+                    kwargs[key] = coerce_param_value(value)
+
             # Check if text exceeds 250 characters
             # (chatterbox does not support long text)
             # https://github.com/resemble-ai/chatterbox/issues/60

backend/python/coqui/requirements-cpu.txt

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 --extra-index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
-transformers==4.48.3
+transformers==5.0.0rc3
 accelerate
-torch==2.4.1
+torch==2.7.1+cpu
 torchaudio==2.4.1
 coqui-tts

backend/python/coqui/requirements-cublas12.txt

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-torch==2.4.1
+torch==2.7.1+cpu
 torchaudio==2.4.1
-transformers==4.48.3
+transformers==5.0.0rc3
 accelerate
 coqui-tts

backend/python/coqui/requirements-hipblas.txt

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 --extra-index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/rocm7.0
-torch==2.10.0+rocm7.0
+torch==2.7.1+cpu
 torchaudio==2.10.0+rocm7.0
-transformers==4.48.3
+transformers==5.0.0rc3
 accelerate
 coqui-tts

backend/python/coqui/requirements-intel.txt

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 --extra-index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/xpu
-torch==2.8.0+xpu
+torch==2.7.1+cpu
 torchaudio==2.8.0+xpu
 optimum[openvino]
 setuptools
-transformers==4.48.3
+transformers==5.0.0rc3
 accelerate
 coqui-tts

backend/python/coqui/requirements-mps.txt

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-torch==2.7.1
-transformers==4.48.3
+torch==2.7.1+cpu
+transformers==5.0.0rc3
 accelerate
 coqui-tts

backend/python/nemo/requirements-cublas13.txt

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 --extra-index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu130
 torch
+texterrors==1.1.6
 nemo_toolkit[asr]

backend/python/qwen-tts/backend.py

@@ -47,6 +47,26 @@ def is_int(s):
         return False
 
 
+def coerce_param_value(value):
+    """Coerce a string param value (from the TTSRequest.params map, which is
+    string-typed on the wire) into the most specific Python type the model
+    generation kwargs expect: bool, int, float, else the original string."""
+    if not isinstance(value, str):
+        return value
+    lowered = value.strip().lower()
+    if lowered in ("true", "false"):
+        return lowered == "true"
+    try:
+        return int(value)
+    except ValueError:
+        pass
+    try:
+        return float(value)
+    except ValueError:
+        pass
+    return value
+
+
 _ONE_DAY_IN_SECONDS = 60 * 60 * 24
 
 # If MAX_WORKERS are specified in the environment use it, otherwise default to 1
@@ -322,6 +342,19 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
 
         return backend_pb2.Result(message="Model loaded successfully", success=True)
 
+    def _effective_instruct(self, request):
+        """Resolve the instruction/style string for this request, preferring the
+        per-request TTSRequest.instructions value and falling back to the static
+        YAML `instruct` option. Empty string means "no instruction"."""
+        req_instruct = (
+            request.instructions
+            if hasattr(request, "instructions") and request.instructions
+            else ""
+        )
+        if req_instruct:
+            return req_instruct
+        return self.options.get("instruct", "") or ""
+
     def _detect_mode(self, request):
         """Detect which mode to use based on request parameters."""
         # Priority: VoiceClone > VoiceDesign > CustomVoice
@@ -338,8 +371,8 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
         if self.audio_path or self.voices:
             return "VoiceClone"
 
-        # VoiceDesign: instruct option is provided
-        if "instruct" in self.options and self.options["instruct"]:
+        # VoiceDesign: instruct provided per-request or via YAML option
+        if self._effective_instruct(request):
             return "VoiceDesign"
 
         # Default to CustomVoice
@@ -690,10 +723,20 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
             if do_sample is not None:
                 generation_kwargs["do_sample"] = do_sample
 
-            instruct = self.options.get("instruct", "")
+            # Prefer the per-request instruction (TTSRequest.instructions) over the
+            # static YAML `instruct` option. This lets clients set a different style
+            # (CustomVoice emotion) or designed voice (VoiceDesign) per request.
+            instruct = self._effective_instruct(request)
             if instruct is not None and instruct != "":
                 generation_kwargs["instruct"] = instruct
 
+            # Merge any per-request backend-specific params (TTSRequest.params).
+            # Values arrive as strings on the wire; coerce to int/float/bool so the
+            # model receives the types it expects. These override YAML-derived kwargs.
+            if hasattr(request, "params") and request.params:
+                for key, value in request.params.items():
+                    generation_kwargs[key] = coerce_param_value(value)
+
             # Generate audio based on mode
             if mode == "VoiceClone":
                 # VoiceClone mode

backend/python/transformers/requirements.txt

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-grpcio==1.80.0
+grpcio==1.81.0
 protobuf==7.35.0
 certifi
 setuptools

backend/python/vllm/requirements-cublas13-after.txt

@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@
 # on a cu130 host. Pull the cu130-flavoured wheel from vLLM's per-tag index
 # instead — the cublas13 case in install.sh adds --index-strategy=unsafe-best-match
 # so uv consults this index alongside PyPI.
---extra-index-url https://wheels.vllm.ai/0.21.0/cu130
-vllm==0.21.0
+--extra-index-url https://wheels.vllm.ai/0.22.1/cu130
+vllm==0.22.1

backend/python/vllm/requirements.txt

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-grpcio==1.80.0
+grpcio==1.81.0
 protobuf
 certifi
 setuptools

cmd/launcher/internal/release_manager.go

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/internal"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/httpclient"
 )
 
 // Release represents a LocalAI release
@@ -67,9 +68,7 @@ func NewReleaseManager() *ReleaseManager {
 		CurrentVersion: internal.PrintableVersion(),
 		ChecksumsPath:  checksumsPath,
 		MetadataPath:   metadataPath,
-		HTTPClient: &http.Client{
-			Timeout: 30 * time.Second,
-		},
+		HTTPClient:     httpclient.NewWithTimeout(30*time.Second, httpclient.WithFollowRedirects()),
 	}
 }
 

core/application/application.go

@@ -90,6 +90,8 @@ type Application struct {
 	// LocalAI Assistant in-process MCP server. nil when DisableLocalAIAssistant
 	// is set; otherwise initialised in start() after galleryService.
 	localAIAssistant *mcpTools.LocalAIAssistantHolder
+
+	shutdownOnce sync.Once
 }
 
 func newApplication(appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig) *Application {
@@ -320,6 +322,24 @@ func (a *Application) IsDistributed() bool {
 	return a.distributed != nil
 }
 
+// Shutdown stops backend gRPC processes and distributed services
+// synchronously on the caller's stack. The context-cancel goroutine wired
+// in New does the same work asynchronously, which races test-binary exit
+// and CLI shutdown — orphaning spawned mock-backend / llama.cpp / etc.
+// children to init. Callers that need a guarantee that cleanup has
+// finished before they proceed (AfterSuite/AfterEach, signal handlers)
+// must call this. Safe to call multiple times.
+func (a *Application) Shutdown() error {
+	var err error
+	a.shutdownOnce.Do(func() {
+		a.distributed.Shutdown()
+		if a.modelLoader != nil {
+			err = a.modelLoader.StopAllGRPC()
+		}
+	})
+	return err
+}
+
 // waitForHealthyWorker blocks until at least one healthy backend worker is registered.
 // This prevents the agent pool from failing during startup when workers haven't connected yet.
 func (a *Application) waitForHealthyWorker() {

core/application/distributed.go

@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/jobs"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/messaging"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/nodes"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/nodes/prefixcache"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/storage"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/distributedhdr"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/sanitize"
 	"github.com/mudler/xlog"
 	"gorm.io/gorm"
@@ -100,7 +102,12 @@ func initDistributed(cfg *config.ApplicationConfig, authDB *gorm.DB, configLoade
 	xlog.Info("Distributed instance", "id", cfg.Distributed.InstanceID)
 
 	// Connect to NATS
-	natsClient, err := messaging.New(cfg.Distributed.NatsURL)
+	natsAuth := cfg.Distributed.NatsAuthConfig()
+	if natsAuth.RequireAuth && (natsAuth.ServiceUserJWT == "" || natsAuth.ServiceUserSeed == "") {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("LOCALAI_NATS_REQUIRE_AUTH requires LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_JWT and LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_SEED")
+	}
+	natsOpts := cfg.Distributed.NatsMessagingOptions("", "")
+	natsClient, err := messaging.New(cfg.Distributed.NatsURL, natsOpts...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("connecting to NATS: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -240,6 +247,84 @@ func initDistributed(cfg *config.ApplicationConfig, authDB *gorm.DB, configLoade
 		cfg.Distributed.BackendUpgradeTimeoutOrDefault(),
 	)
 
+	// Prefix-cache-aware routing. Enabled by default; an operator can opt out
+	// with --distributed-prefix-cache=false, which leaves prefixProvider and
+	// pressure nil so the SmartRouter and reconciler behave exactly as the
+	// round-robin floor (true no-op). When enabled we build the local index,
+	// wrap it in a NATS-backed Sync (publishes our observations, applies peers'
+	// via the subscriptions below), install the extraction hook used by
+	// core/backend/llm.go, and run a background eviction ticker on the app ctx.
+	var prefixProvider prefixcache.Provider
+	var pressure *prefixcache.Pressure
+	var prefixCfg prefixcache.Config
+	if !cfg.Distributed.PrefixCacheDisabled {
+		prefixCfg = prefixcache.DefaultConfig()
+		if cfg.Distributed.PrefixCacheTTL > 0 {
+			prefixCfg.TTL = cfg.Distributed.PrefixCacheTTL
+		}
+		if err := prefixCfg.Validate(); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid prefix-cache configuration: %w", err)
+		}
+		idx := prefixcache.NewIndex(prefixCfg)
+		prefixSync := prefixcache.NewSync(idx, natsClient)
+		pressure = prefixcache.NewPressure(prefixCfg.PressureWindow)
+		prefixProvider = prefixSync
+
+		// Invalidate the prefix-cache index whenever a replica row is removed.
+		// SetReplicaRemovedHook fires from the single chokepoint all removal paths
+		// funnel through (RemoveNodeModel / RemoveAllNodeModelReplicas), so this
+		// one hook covers every path: reconciler scale-down, probe reaper,
+		// health-monitor reap, RemoteUnloaderAdapter, and the router. Registering
+		// it only inside this enabled block keeps the disabled path a true no-op
+		// (the registry stays hook-less).
+		registry.SetReplicaRemovedHook(func(model, node string, replica int) {
+			if replica < 0 {
+				prefixSync.InvalidateNode(model, node)
+			} else {
+				prefixSync.Invalidate(model, prefixcache.ReplicaKey{NodeID: node, Replica: replica})
+			}
+		})
+
+		distributedhdr.PrefixChainHook = func(model, prompt string) []uint64 {
+			return prefixcache.ExtractChain(model, prompt, prefixCfg)
+		}
+
+		// Apply peers' observations/invalidations to the same Sync. ApplyObserve
+		// and ApplyInvalidate update only the local index and do not re-publish,
+		// so there is no broadcast loop.
+		if _, err := messaging.SubscribeJSON(natsClient, messaging.SubjectPrefixCacheObserve, func(ev messaging.PrefixCacheObserveEvent) {
+			prefixSync.ApplyObserve(ev, time.Now())
+		}); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("subscribing to %s: %w", messaging.SubjectPrefixCacheObserve, err)
+		}
+		if _, err := messaging.SubscribeJSON(natsClient, messaging.SubjectPrefixCacheInvalidate, func(ev messaging.PrefixCacheInvalidateEvent) {
+			prefixSync.ApplyInvalidate(ev)
+		}); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("subscribing to %s: %w", messaging.SubjectPrefixCacheInvalidate, err)
+		}
+
+		// Background eviction: sweep idle entries on the app context. Stopped
+		// when the app context is cancelled (mirrors the reconciler loop which
+		// also runs on options.Context). TTL/2 keeps stale entries from
+		// outliving their idle window by more than half a TTL.
+		evictInterval := prefixCfg.TTL / 2
+		go func() {
+			ticker := time.NewTicker(evictInterval)
+			defer ticker.Stop()
+			for {
+				select {
+				case <-cfg.Context.Done():
+					return
+				case <-ticker.C:
+					prefixSync.Evict(time.Now())
+				}
+			}
+		}()
+		xlog.Info("Prefix-cache-aware routing enabled", "ttl", prefixCfg.TTL, "evictInterval", evictInterval)
+	} else {
+		xlog.Info("Prefix-cache-aware routing disabled: using round-robin routing")
+	}
+
 	// All dependencies ready — build SmartRouter with all options at once
 	var conflictResolver nodes.ConcurrencyConflictResolver
 	if configLoader != nil {
@@ -252,6 +337,9 @@ func initDistributed(cfg *config.ApplicationConfig, authDB *gorm.DB, configLoade
 		AuthToken:        routerAuthToken,
 		DB:               authDB,
 		ConflictResolver: conflictResolver,
+		PrefixProvider:   prefixProvider,
+		PrefixConfig:     prefixCfg,
+		Pressure:         pressure,
 	})
 
 	// Create ReplicaReconciler for auto-scaling model replicas. Adapter +
@@ -268,6 +356,8 @@ func initDistributed(cfg *config.ApplicationConfig, authDB *gorm.DB, configLoade
 		Interval:          30 * time.Second,
 		ScaleDownDelay:    5 * time.Minute,
 		ProbeStaleAfter:   2 * time.Minute,
+		Pressure:          pressure,
+		PressureThreshold: prefixCfg.PressureScaleThreshold,
 	})
 
 	// Create ModelRouterAdapter to wire into ModelLoader

core/application/startup.go

@@ -449,13 +449,15 @@ func New(opts ...config.AppOption) (*Application, error) {
 
 	application.ModelLoader().SetBackendLoggingEnabled(options.EnableBackendLogging)
 
-	// turn off any process that was started by GRPC if the context is canceled
+	// Safety-net cleanup if the application context is cancelled without
+	// the caller invoking Shutdown directly. This is fire-and-forget — it
+	// races binary exit and is unreliable in tests; the deterministic path
+	// is application.Shutdown(), which Shutdown's sync.Once dedupes with
+	// this goroutine.
 	go func() {
 		<-options.Context.Done()
 		xlog.Debug("Context canceled, shutting down")
-		application.distributed.Shutdown()
-		err := application.ModelLoader().StopAllGRPC()
-		if err != nil {
+		if err := application.Shutdown(); err != nil {
 			xlog.Error("error while stopping all grpc backends", "error", err)
 		}
 	}()

core/backend/ctx_propagation_test.go

@@ -123,14 +123,14 @@ var _ = Describe("X-LocalAI-Node ctx propagation contract", func() {
 	})
 
 	It("ModelTTS forwards the request context to the SmartRouter", func() {
-		_, _, err := backend.ModelTTS(reqCtx, "hello", "", "", loader, appCfg, modelCfg)
+		_, _, err := backend.ModelTTS(reqCtx, "hello", "", "", "", nil, loader, appCfg, modelCfg)
 		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
 		Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("router short-circuit (test)"))
 		stampViaRouterCtx()
 	})
 
 	It("ModelTTSStream forwards the request context to the SmartRouter", func() {
-		err := backend.ModelTTSStream(reqCtx, "hello", "", "", loader, appCfg, modelCfg, func([]byte) error { return nil })
+		err := backend.ModelTTSStream(reqCtx, "hello", "", "", "", nil, loader, appCfg, modelCfg, func([]byte) error { return nil })
 		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
 		Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("router short-circuit (test)"))
 		stampViaRouterCtx()

core/backend/llm.go

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/trace"
 
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/gallery"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/distributedhdr"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
 	model "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/utils"
@@ -94,6 +95,22 @@ func ModelInference(ctx context.Context, s string, messages schema.Messages, ima
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Make the rendered prompt's prefix chain available to the distributed router
+	// for prefix-cache-aware node selection. No-op in single-process mode. The
+	// model id MUST match the id ModelOptions feeds to model.WithModelID, so both
+	// use the shared config.ModelConfig.ModelID() helper (Name with a fallback to
+	// Model) or the chain salt and the tracking key would diverge.
+	//
+	// s is empty for UseTokenizerTemplate models (the backend tokenizes the
+	// structured messages itself), so fall back to a prefix-stable serialization
+	// of the messages - otherwise prefix routing would silently degrade to
+	// round-robin for the bulk of modern chat models.
+	chainSource := s
+	if chainSource == "" {
+		chainSource = messagesPrefixSource(messages)
+	}
+	ctx = distributedhdr.MaybeWithPrefixChain(ctx, c.ModelID(), chainSource)
+
 	opts := ModelOptions(*c, o, model.WithContext(ctx))
 	inferenceModel, err := loader.Load(opts...)
 	if err != nil {

core/backend/options.go

@@ -34,16 +34,11 @@ func recordModelLoadFailure(appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig, modelName, back
 }
 
 func ModelOptions(c config.ModelConfig, so *config.ApplicationConfig, opts ...model.Option) []model.Option {
-	name := c.Name
-	if name == "" {
-		name = c.Model
-	}
-
 	defOpts := []model.Option{
 		model.WithBackendString(c.Backend),
 		model.WithModel(c.Model),
 		model.WithContext(so.Context),
-		model.WithModelID(name),
+		model.WithModelID(c.ModelID()),
 	}
 
 	threads := 1
@@ -244,13 +239,13 @@ func grpcModelOpts(c config.ModelConfig, modelPath string) *pb.ModelOptions {
 
 	if c.Backend == "cloud-proxy" {
 		opts.Proxy = &pb.ProxyOptions{
-			UpstreamUrl:            c.Proxy.UpstreamURL,
-			Mode:                   c.Proxy.Mode,
-			Provider:               c.Proxy.Provider,
-			ApiKeyEnv:              c.Proxy.APIKeyEnv,
-			ApiKeyFile:             c.Proxy.APIKeyFile,
-			UpstreamModel:          c.Proxy.UpstreamModel,
-			RequestTimeoutSeconds:  int32(c.Proxy.RequestTimeoutSeconds),
+			UpstreamUrl:           c.Proxy.UpstreamURL,
+			Mode:                  c.Proxy.Mode,
+			Provider:              c.Proxy.Provider,
+			ApiKeyEnv:             c.Proxy.APIKeyEnv,
+			ApiKeyFile:            c.Proxy.APIKeyFile,
+			UpstreamModel:         c.Proxy.UpstreamModel,
+			RequestTimeoutSeconds: int32(c.Proxy.RequestTimeoutSeconds),
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -328,6 +323,12 @@ func gRPCPredictOpts(c config.ModelConfig, modelPath string) *pb.PredictOptions
 			metadata["enable_thinking"] = "true"
 		}
 	}
+	// Forward the effective reasoning effort so the backend can pass it to the
+	// jinja chat template (chat_template_kwargs.reasoning_effort) — the lever
+	// models like gpt-oss / LFM2.5 actually read, distinct from enable_thinking.
+	if c.ReasoningEffort != "" {
+		metadata["reasoning_effort"] = c.ReasoningEffort
+	}
 	pbOpts.Metadata = metadata
 
 	// Logprobs and TopLogprobs are set by the caller if provided

core/backend/options_internal_test.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/reasoning"
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
 	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
@@ -42,3 +43,57 @@ var _ = Describe("grpcModelOpts EngineArgs", func() {
 		Expect(opts.EngineArgs).To(BeEmpty())
 	})
 })
+
+// Guards the DisableReasoning -> enable_thinking metadata conversion that the
+// per-request reasoning_effort feature (issue #10072) relies on: the request
+// merge sets ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning, and gRPCPredictOpts is where it
+// becomes the gRPC PredictOptions.Metadata the backend reads.
+var _ = Describe("gRPCPredictOpts enable_thinking metadata", func() {
+	// withReasoning builds a fully-defaulted config (gRPCPredictOpts dereferences
+	// many pointer fields) and overrides only the reasoning toggle.
+	withReasoning := func(disable *bool) config.ModelConfig {
+		cfg := config.ModelConfig{}
+		cfg.SetDefaults()
+		cfg.ReasoningConfig = reasoning.Config{DisableReasoning: disable}
+		return cfg
+	}
+	disabled := true
+	enabled := false
+
+	It("emits enable_thinking=false when reasoning is disabled", func() {
+		opts := gRPCPredictOpts(withReasoning(&disabled), "/tmp/models")
+		Expect(opts.Metadata).To(HaveKeyWithValue("enable_thinking", "false"))
+	})
+
+	It("emits enable_thinking=true when reasoning is enabled", func() {
+		opts := gRPCPredictOpts(withReasoning(&enabled), "/tmp/models")
+		Expect(opts.Metadata).To(HaveKeyWithValue("enable_thinking", "true"))
+	})
+
+	It("omits enable_thinking when reasoning is unset", func() {
+		opts := gRPCPredictOpts(withReasoning(nil), "/tmp/models")
+		Expect(opts.Metadata).ToNot(HaveKey("enable_thinking"))
+	})
+})
+
+// Guards forwarding the effective reasoning_effort into PredictOptions.Metadata,
+// where the backend passes it to the jinja chat template (chat_template_kwargs)
+// so models like gpt-oss / LFM2.5 honor it.
+var _ = Describe("gRPCPredictOpts reasoning_effort metadata", func() {
+	withEffort := func(effort string) config.ModelConfig {
+		cfg := config.ModelConfig{}
+		cfg.SetDefaults()
+		cfg.ReasoningEffort = effort
+		return cfg
+	}
+
+	It("forwards reasoning_effort when set", func() {
+		opts := gRPCPredictOpts(withEffort("none"), "/tmp/models")
+		Expect(opts.Metadata).To(HaveKeyWithValue("reasoning_effort", "none"))
+	})
+
+	It("omits reasoning_effort when empty", func() {
+		opts := gRPCPredictOpts(withEffort(""), "/tmp/models")
+		Expect(opts.Metadata).ToNot(HaveKey("reasoning_effort"))
+	})
+})

core/backend/prefix_source.go

@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+package backend
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
+)
+
+// messagesPrefixSource builds a deterministic, prefix-stable serialization of a
+// chat conversation for prefix-cache-aware routing. It is the fallback used when
+// the frontend did not render a prompt string: models with
+// config.TemplateConfig.UseTokenizerTemplate tokenize the structured messages
+// backend-side, so the frontend's rendered prompt is empty and a chain built
+// from it would always be empty - silently degrading prefix routing to
+// round-robin for the bulk of modern chat models.
+//
+// Messages are emitted head-first in turn order (role line + content line per
+// message), so two conversations sharing a leading system prompt and early turns
+// share a leading byte prefix. That is exactly what ExtractChain hashes into a
+// shared chain prefix, landing both requests on the same cache-warm replica.
+func messagesPrefixSource(messages schema.Messages) string {
+	var b strings.Builder
+	for _, m := range messages {
+		b.WriteString(m.Role)
+		b.WriteByte('\n')
+		content := m.StringContent
+		if content == "" {
+			if s, ok := m.Content.(string); ok {
+				content = s
+			}
+		}
+		b.WriteString(content)
+		b.WriteByte('\n')
+	}
+	return b.String()
+}

core/backend/prefix_source_internal_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+package backend
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("messagesPrefixSource", func() {
+	mk := func(role, content string) schema.Message {
+		return schema.Message{Role: role, StringContent: content}
+	}
+
+	It("serializes messages head-first in turn order", func() {
+		got := messagesPrefixSource(schema.Messages{
+			mk("system", "You are helpful."),
+			mk("user", "Hi"),
+		})
+		Expect(got).To(Equal("system\nYou are helpful.\nuser\nHi\n"))
+	})
+
+	It("is deterministic across calls for the same conversation", func() {
+		conv := schema.Messages{mk("system", "S"), mk("user", "U")}
+		Expect(messagesPrefixSource(conv)).To(Equal(messagesPrefixSource(conv)))
+	})
+
+	It("shares a leading byte prefix when the system prompt is shared", func() {
+		shared := "system\nShared system prompt.\nuser\n"
+		a := messagesPrefixSource(schema.Messages{mk("system", "Shared system prompt."), mk("user", "Question A")})
+		b := messagesPrefixSource(schema.Messages{mk("system", "Shared system prompt."), mk("user", "Question B")})
+		Expect(strings.HasPrefix(a, shared)).To(BeTrue())
+		Expect(strings.HasPrefix(b, shared)).To(BeTrue())
+	})
+
+	It("does NOT share a prefix when the system prompt differs", func() {
+		a := messagesPrefixSource(schema.Messages{mk("system", "Prompt A"), mk("user", "Q")})
+		b := messagesPrefixSource(schema.Messages{mk("system", "Prompt B"), mk("user", "Q")})
+		Expect(strings.HasPrefix(a, "system\nPrompt A")).To(BeTrue())
+		Expect(strings.HasPrefix(b, "system\nPrompt B")).To(BeTrue())
+	})
+
+	It("returns empty for no messages", func() {
+		Expect(messagesPrefixSource(nil)).To(Equal(""))
+	})
+
+	It("falls back to Content when StringContent is empty", func() {
+		got := messagesPrefixSource(schema.Messages{{Role: "user", Content: "plain"}})
+		Expect(got).To(Equal("user\nplain\n"))
+	})
+})

core/backend/tts.go

@@ -20,11 +20,32 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/utils"
 )
 
+// newTTSRequest assembles the gRPC TTSRequest from the per-request inputs. The
+// optional instructions string is only attached when non-empty so backends can
+// distinguish "no per-request instruction" (fall back to YAML) from an explicit
+// empty one. params is forwarded as-is (nil when unset).
+func newTTSRequest(text, modelPath, voice, dst, language, instructions string, params map[string]string) *proto.TTSRequest {
+	req := &proto.TTSRequest{
+		Text:     text,
+		Model:    modelPath,
+		Voice:    voice,
+		Dst:      dst,
+		Language: &language,
+		Params:   params,
+	}
+	if instructions != "" {
+		req.Instructions = &instructions
+	}
+	return req
+}
+
 func ModelTTS(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	text,
 	voice,
-	language string,
+	language,
+	instructions string,
+	params map[string]string,
 	loader *model.ModelLoader,
 	appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig,
 	modelConfig config.ModelConfig,
@@ -74,13 +95,9 @@ func ModelTTS(
 		startTime = time.Now()
 	}
 
-	res, err := ttsModel.TTS(ctx, &proto.TTSRequest{
-		Text:     text,
-		Model:    modelPath,
-		Voice:    voice,
-		Dst:      filePath,
-		Language: &language,
-	})
+	ttsRequest := newTTSRequest(text, modelPath, voice, filePath, language, instructions, params)
+
+	res, err := ttsModel.TTS(ctx, ttsRequest)
 
 	if appConfig.EnableTracing {
 		errStr := ""
@@ -128,7 +145,9 @@ func ModelTTSStream(
 	ctx context.Context,
 	text,
 	voice,
-	language string,
+	language,
+	instructions string,
+	params map[string]string,
 	loader *model.ModelLoader,
 	appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig,
 	modelConfig config.ModelConfig,
@@ -177,12 +196,10 @@ func ModelTTSStream(
 	var totalPCMBytes int
 	snippetCapped := false
 
-	err = ttsModel.TTSStream(ctx, &proto.TTSRequest{
-		Text:     text,
-		Model:    modelPath,
-		Voice:    voice,
-		Language: &language,
-	}, func(reply *proto.Reply) {
+	// Streaming TTS writes to the HTTP response, not a file, so dst is empty.
+	ttsRequest := newTTSRequest(text, modelPath, voice, "", language, instructions, params)
+
+	err = ttsModel.TTSStream(ctx, ttsRequest, func(reply *proto.Reply) {
 		// First message contains sample rate info
 		if !headerSent && len(reply.Message) > 0 {
 			var info map[string]any

core/backend/tts_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+package backend
+
+// Specs for the TTSRequest assembly that carries the per-request
+// instructions/params from the OpenAI `instructions` field (and the LocalAI
+// `params` extension) through to the gRPC boundary. Before this plumbing the
+// instruction value was dropped before reaching the backend; these specs pin
+// that it now survives, and that the empty case stays backward compatible.
+
+import (
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("newTTSRequest", func() {
+	It("attaches the instructions when a per-request value is set", func() {
+		req := newTTSRequest("hi", "/m", "alloy", "/out.wav", "en", "cheerful narrator", nil)
+		Expect(req.Instructions).ToNot(BeNil())
+		Expect(req.GetInstructions()).To(Equal("cheerful narrator"))
+		Expect(req.GetText()).To(Equal("hi"))
+		Expect(req.GetVoice()).To(Equal("alloy"))
+		Expect(req.GetDst()).To(Equal("/out.wav"))
+		Expect(req.GetLanguage()).To(Equal("en"))
+	})
+
+	It("leaves instructions unset when empty so backends fall back to YAML", func() {
+		req := newTTSRequest("hi", "/m", "", "/out.wav", "", "", nil)
+		Expect(req.Instructions).To(BeNil())
+		Expect(req.GetInstructions()).To(Equal(""))
+	})
+
+	It("forwards per-request params through to the backend", func() {
+		params := map[string]string{"exaggeration": "0.7", "cfg_weight": "0.3"}
+		req := newTTSRequest("hi", "/m", "", "/out.wav", "", "", params)
+		Expect(req.GetParams()).To(HaveKeyWithValue("exaggeration", "0.7"))
+		Expect(req.GetParams()).To(HaveKeyWithValue("cfg_weight", "0.3"))
+	})
+
+	It("leaves params nil when none are supplied", func() {
+		req := newTTSRequest("hi", "/m", "", "/out.wav", "", "", nil)
+		Expect(req.GetParams()).To(BeNil())
+	})
+})

core/cli/agent_worker.go

@@ -52,10 +52,28 @@ type AgentWorkerCMD struct {
 	Subject string `env:"LOCALAI_AGENT_SUBJECT" default:"agent.execute" help:"NATS subject for agent execution" group:"distributed"`
 	Queue   string `env:"LOCALAI_AGENT_QUEUE" default:"agent-workers" help:"NATS queue group name" group:"distributed"`
 
+	NatsJWT         string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_JWT" help:"NATS user JWT override (defaults to nats_jwt from registration)" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsUserSeed    string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_USER_SEED" help:"NATS user seed override (defaults to nats_user_seed from registration)" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsServiceJWT  string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_JWT" help:"Fallback NATS service JWT when registration does not mint agent JWT" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsServiceSeed string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_SEED" help:"Fallback NATS service seed paired with LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_JWT" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsRequireAuth bool   `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_REQUIRE_AUTH" default:"false" help:"Require NATS JWT+seed to connect" group:"distributed"`
+	// DistributedRequireAuth is the umbrella switch; for the agent worker (which
+	// has no file-transfer server) it implies NATS auth is required.
+	DistributedRequireAuth bool   `env:"LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_REQUIRE_AUTH" default:"false" help:"Umbrella switch implying --nats-require-auth (agent workers have no file-transfer server)" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsTLSCA              string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_TLS_CA" type:"existingfile" help:"PEM file for NATS server CA (private PKI)" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsTLSCert            string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_TLS_CERT" type:"existingfile" help:"Client certificate for NATS mTLS" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsTLSKey             string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_TLS_KEY" type:"existingfile" help:"Client private key for NATS mTLS" group:"distributed"`
+
 	// Timeouts
 	MCPCIJobTimeout string `env:"LOCALAI_MCP_CI_JOB_TIMEOUT" default:"10m" help:"Timeout for MCP CI job execution" group:"distributed"`
 }
 
+// natsAuthRequired reports whether NATS JWT credentials must be present — the
+// granular flag or the umbrella (LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_REQUIRE_AUTH).
+func (cmd *AgentWorkerCMD) natsAuthRequired() bool {
+	return cmd.NatsRequireAuth || cmd.DistributedRequireAuth
+}
+
 func (cmd *AgentWorkerCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 	xlog.Info("Starting agent worker", "nats", sanitize.URL(cmd.NatsURL), "register_to", cmd.RegisterTo)
 
@@ -81,15 +99,30 @@ func (cmd *AgentWorkerCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 		registrationBody["token"] = cmd.RegistrationToken
 	}
 
-	nodeID, apiToken, err := regClient.RegisterWithRetry(context.Background(), registrationBody, 10)
+	// Context cancelled on shutdown — used by registration waits, heartbeat, and
+	// other background goroutines.
+	shutdownCtx, shutdownCancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+	defer shutdownCancel()
+
+	// Acquire credentials via (re)registration. When the bus requires auth and no
+	// static fallback is configured, wait through admin approval until the
+	// frontend mints credentials rather than starting unauthenticated.
+	credMgr := workerregistry.NewNATSCredentialManager(
+		func(ctx context.Context) (*workerregistry.RegisterResponse, error) {
+			return regClient.RegisterFull(ctx, registrationBody)
+		},
+		cmd.natsAuthRequired() && cmd.NatsJWT == "" && cmd.NatsServiceJWT == "",
+	)
+	res, err := credMgr.Acquire(shutdownCtx)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("registration failed: %w", err)
 	}
+	nodeID := res.ID
 	xlog.Info("Registered with frontend", "nodeID", nodeID, "frontend", cmd.RegisterTo)
 
 	// Use provisioned API token if none was set
 	if cmd.APIToken == "" {
-		cmd.APIToken = apiToken
+		cmd.APIToken = res.APIToken
 	}
 
 	// Start heartbeat
@@ -98,14 +131,40 @@ func (cmd *AgentWorkerCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 		xlog.Warn("invalid heartbeat interval, using default 10s", "input", cmd.HeartbeatInterval, "error", err)
 	}
 	heartbeatInterval = cmp.Or(heartbeatInterval, 10*time.Second)
-	// Context cancelled on shutdown — used by heartbeat and other background goroutines
-	shutdownCtx, shutdownCancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
-	defer shutdownCancel()
 
 	go regClient.HeartbeatLoop(shutdownCtx, nodeID, heartbeatInterval, func() map[string]any { return map[string]any{} })
 
-	// Connect to NATS
-	natsClient, err := messaging.New(cmd.NatsURL)
+	// Resolve NATS credentials with precedence: explicit env override, then
+	// frontend-minted (auto-refreshed before expiry), then service fallback.
+	// Each static source must supply JWT and seed together.
+	natsTLS := messaging.TLSFiles{CA: cmd.NatsTLSCA, Cert: cmd.NatsTLSCert, Key: cmd.NatsTLSKey}
+	var natsOpts []messaging.Option
+	switch {
+	case cmd.NatsJWT != "" || cmd.NatsUserSeed != "":
+		if (cmd.NatsJWT == "") != (cmd.NatsUserSeed == "") {
+			return fmt.Errorf("LOCALAI_NATS_JWT and LOCALAI_NATS_USER_SEED must be set together")
+		}
+		natsOpts = append(natsOpts, messaging.WithUserJWT(cmd.NatsJWT, cmd.NatsUserSeed))
+	case credMgr.HasCredentials():
+		natsOpts = append(natsOpts, messaging.WithUserJWTProvider(credMgr.Provider()))
+		go func() {
+			if err := credMgr.RefreshLoop(shutdownCtx); err != nil {
+				xlog.Error("NATS credential refresh permanently failed; shutting down agent worker", "error", err)
+				shutdownCancel()
+			}
+		}()
+	case cmd.NatsServiceJWT != "" || cmd.NatsServiceSeed != "":
+		if (cmd.NatsServiceJWT == "") != (cmd.NatsServiceSeed == "") {
+			return fmt.Errorf("LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_JWT and LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_SEED must be set together")
+		}
+		natsOpts = append(natsOpts, messaging.WithUserJWT(cmd.NatsServiceJWT, cmd.NatsServiceSeed))
+	case cmd.natsAuthRequired():
+		return fmt.Errorf("NATS JWT+seed required: enable frontend minting or set LOCALAI_NATS_* env vars")
+	}
+	if natsTLS.Enabled() {
+		natsOpts = append(natsOpts, messaging.WithTLS(natsTLS))
+	}
+	natsClient, err := messaging.New(cmd.NatsURL, natsOpts...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("connecting to NATS: %w", err)
 	}
@@ -183,17 +242,25 @@ func (cmd *AgentWorkerCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 
 	xlog.Info("Agent worker ready, waiting for jobs", "subject", cmd.Subject, "queue", cmd.Queue)
 
-	// Wait for shutdown
+	// Wait for an OS signal or an internal fatal condition (e.g. NATS
+	// credentials became unrenewable), so the worker restarts and re-acquires
+	// rather than lingering unable to serve.
 	sigCh := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
 	signal.Notify(sigCh, syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM)
-	<-sigCh
+	var runErr error
+	select {
+	case <-sigCh:
+	case <-shutdownCtx.Done():
+		runErr = fmt.Errorf("agent worker shutting down: NATS credentials unavailable")
+		xlog.Error("Internal shutdown requested", "error", runErr)
+	}
 
 	xlog.Info("Shutting down agent worker")
 	shutdownCancel() // stop heartbeat loop immediately
 	dispatcher.Stop()
 	mcpTools.CloseAllMCPSessions()
 	regClient.GracefulDeregister(nodeID)
-	return nil
+	return runErr
 }
 
 // handleMCPToolRequest handles a NATS request-reply for MCP tool execution.

core/cli/run.go

@@ -145,19 +145,31 @@ type RunCMD struct {
 	DefaultAPIKeyExpiry  string `env:"LOCALAI_DEFAULT_API_KEY_EXPIRY" help:"Default expiry for API keys (e.g. 90d, 1y; empty = no expiry)" group:"auth"`
 
 	// Distributed / Horizontal Scaling
-	Distributed           bool   `env:"LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED" default:"false" help:"Enable distributed mode (requires PostgreSQL + NATS)" group:"distributed"`
-	InstanceID            string `env:"LOCALAI_INSTANCE_ID" help:"Unique instance ID for distributed mode (auto-generated UUID if empty)" group:"distributed"`
-	NatsURL               string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_URL" help:"NATS server URL (e.g., nats://localhost:4222)" group:"distributed"`
-	StorageURL            string `env:"LOCALAI_STORAGE_URL" help:"S3-compatible storage endpoint URL (e.g., http://minio:9000)" group:"distributed"`
-	StorageBucket         string `env:"LOCALAI_STORAGE_BUCKET" default:"localai" help:"S3 bucket name for object storage" group:"distributed"`
-	StorageRegion         string `env:"LOCALAI_STORAGE_REGION" default:"us-east-1" help:"S3 region" group:"distributed"`
-	StorageAccessKey      string `env:"LOCALAI_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY" help:"S3 access key ID" group:"distributed"`
-	StorageSecretKey      string `env:"LOCALAI_STORAGE_SECRET_KEY" help:"S3 secret access key" group:"distributed"`
-	RegistrationToken     string `env:"LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_TOKEN" help:"Token that backend nodes must provide to register (empty = no auth required)" group:"distributed"`
-	AutoApproveNodes      bool   `env:"LOCALAI_AUTO_APPROVE_NODES" default:"false" help:"Auto-approve new worker nodes (skip admin approval)" group:"distributed"`
-	BackendInstallTimeout string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_BACKEND_INSTALL_TIMEOUT" help:"NATS round-trip timeout for backend.install requests sent to worker nodes (default 15m). Increase for slow links pulling multi-GB images." group:"distributed"`
-	BackendUpgradeTimeout string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_BACKEND_UPGRADE_TIMEOUT" help:"NATS round-trip timeout for backend.upgrade requests (default 15m)." group:"distributed"`
-	ExposeNodeHeader      bool   `env:"LOCALAI_EXPOSE_NODE_HEADER" default:"false" help:"Set the X-LocalAI-Node response header on inference responses (OpenAI chat/completions/embeddings, Anthropic /v1/messages, Ollama /api/chat,/api/generate,/api/embed) with the ID of the worker that served the request. Disabled by default: the node ID reveals internal topology and should not be exposed on a public endpoint. Best-effort: under heavy concurrency the header may reflect a recent routing decision rather than this exact request's." group:"distributed"`
+	Distributed               bool   `env:"LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED" default:"false" help:"Enable distributed mode (requires PostgreSQL + NATS)" group:"distributed"`
+	InstanceID                string `env:"LOCALAI_INSTANCE_ID" help:"Unique instance ID for distributed mode (auto-generated UUID if empty)" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsURL                   string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_URL" help:"NATS server URL (e.g., nats://localhost:4222)" group:"distributed"`
+	StorageURL                string `env:"LOCALAI_STORAGE_URL" help:"S3-compatible storage endpoint URL (e.g., http://minio:9000)" group:"distributed"`
+	StorageBucket             string `env:"LOCALAI_STORAGE_BUCKET" default:"localai" help:"S3 bucket name for object storage" group:"distributed"`
+	StorageRegion             string `env:"LOCALAI_STORAGE_REGION" default:"us-east-1" help:"S3 region" group:"distributed"`
+	StorageAccessKey          string `env:"LOCALAI_STORAGE_ACCESS_KEY" help:"S3 access key ID" group:"distributed"`
+	StorageSecretKey          string `env:"LOCALAI_STORAGE_SECRET_KEY" help:"S3 secret access key" group:"distributed"`
+	RegistrationToken         string `env:"LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_TOKEN" help:"Token that backend nodes must provide to register (empty = no auth required)" group:"distributed"`
+	RegistrationRequireAuth   bool   `env:"LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_REQUIRE_AUTH" default:"false" help:"Fail startup when distributed mode is enabled but LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_TOKEN is empty (node endpoints and worker file-transfer server would otherwise be unauthenticated)" group:"distributed"`
+	DistributedRequireAuth    bool   `env:"LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_REQUIRE_AUTH" default:"false" help:"Umbrella switch: require BOTH NATS JWT credentials and a registration token when distributed mode is enabled (implies --nats-require-auth and --registration-require-auth)" group:"distributed"`
+	AutoApproveNodes          bool   `env:"LOCALAI_AUTO_APPROVE_NODES" default:"false" help:"Auto-approve new worker nodes (skip admin approval)" group:"distributed"`
+	DistributedPrefixCache    bool   `env:"LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_PREFIX_CACHE" default:"true" help:"Enable prefix-cache-aware routing in distributed mode (default true). When false, routing falls back to round-robin." group:"distributed"`
+	DistributedPrefixCacheTTL string `env:"LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_PREFIX_CACHE_TTL" help:"Idle-timeout for prefix-cache index entries; also drives the background eviction cadence (every TTL/2). Default 5m." group:"distributed"`
+	BackendInstallTimeout     string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_BACKEND_INSTALL_TIMEOUT" help:"NATS round-trip timeout for backend.install requests sent to worker nodes (default 15m). Increase for slow links pulling multi-GB images." group:"distributed"`
+	BackendUpgradeTimeout     string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_BACKEND_UPGRADE_TIMEOUT" help:"NATS round-trip timeout for backend.upgrade requests (default 15m)." group:"distributed"`
+	NatsAccountSeed           string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_ACCOUNT_SEED" help:"NATS account signing seed (SU...) used to mint per-node worker JWTs at registration" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsServiceJWT            string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_JWT" help:"NATS user JWT for the frontend (and agent workers) to publish control-plane messages" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsServiceSeed           string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_SEED" help:"NATS user signing seed (SU...) paired with LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_JWT" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsWorkerJWTTTL          string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_WORKER_JWT_TTL" help:"Lifetime of minted per-node NATS JWTs (e.g. 24h, default 24h)" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsRequireAuth           bool   `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_REQUIRE_AUTH" default:"false" help:"Require NATS JWT credentials (service JWT + account seed) when distributed mode is enabled" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsTLSCA                 string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_TLS_CA" type:"existingfile" help:"PEM file for NATS server CA (private PKI); use with tls:// in --nats-url" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsTLSCert               string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_TLS_CERT" type:"existingfile" help:"Client certificate for NATS mTLS" group:"distributed"`
+	NatsTLSKey                string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_TLS_KEY" type:"existingfile" help:"Client private key for NATS mTLS" group:"distributed"`
+	ExposeNodeHeader          bool   `env:"LOCALAI_EXPOSE_NODE_HEADER" default:"false" help:"Set the X-LocalAI-Node response header on inference responses (OpenAI chat/completions/embeddings, Anthropic /v1/messages, Ollama /api/chat,/api/generate,/api/embed) with the ID of the worker that served the request. Disabled by default: the node ID reveals internal topology and should not be exposed on a public endpoint. Best-effort: under heavy concurrency the header may reflect a recent routing decision rather than this exact request's." group:"distributed"`
 
 	Version bool
 
@@ -281,9 +293,53 @@ func (r *RunCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 	if r.RegistrationToken != "" {
 		opts = append(opts, config.WithRegistrationToken(r.RegistrationToken))
 	}
+	if r.RegistrationRequireAuth {
+		opts = append(opts, config.EnableRegistrationRequireAuth)
+	}
+	if r.DistributedRequireAuth {
+		opts = append(opts, config.EnableDistributedRequireAuth)
+	}
+	if r.NatsAccountSeed != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithNatsAccountSeed(r.NatsAccountSeed))
+	}
+	if r.NatsServiceJWT != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithNatsServiceJWT(r.NatsServiceJWT))
+	}
+	if r.NatsServiceSeed != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithNatsServiceSeed(r.NatsServiceSeed))
+	}
+	if r.NatsWorkerJWTTTL != "" {
+		d, err := time.ParseDuration(r.NatsWorkerJWTTTL)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid LOCALAI_NATS_WORKER_JWT_TTL %q: %w", r.NatsWorkerJWTTTL, err)
+		}
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithNatsWorkerJWTTTL(d))
+	}
+	if r.NatsRequireAuth {
+		opts = append(opts, config.EnableNatsRequireAuth)
+	}
+	if r.NatsTLSCA != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithNatsTLSCA(r.NatsTLSCA))
+	}
+	if r.NatsTLSCert != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithNatsTLSCert(r.NatsTLSCert))
+	}
+	if r.NatsTLSKey != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithNatsTLSKey(r.NatsTLSKey))
+	}
 	if r.AutoApproveNodes {
 		opts = append(opts, config.EnableAutoApproveNodes)
 	}
+	if !r.DistributedPrefixCache {
+		opts = append(opts, config.DisablePrefixCache)
+	}
+	if r.DistributedPrefixCacheTTL != "" {
+		d, err := time.ParseDuration(r.DistributedPrefixCacheTTL)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_PREFIX_CACHE_TTL %q: %w", r.DistributedPrefixCacheTTL, err)
+		}
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithPrefixCacheTTL(d))
+	}
 	if r.ExposeNodeHeader {
 		opts = append(opts, config.WithExposeNodeHeader(true))
 	}
@@ -577,12 +633,8 @@ func (r *RunCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 	}
 
 	signals.RegisterGracefulTerminationHandler(func() {
-		if err := app.ModelLoader().StopAllGRPC(); err != nil {
-			xlog.Error("error while stopping all grpc backends", "error", err)
-		}
-		// Clean up distributed services (idempotent — safe if already called)
-		if d := app.Distributed(); d != nil {
-			d.Shutdown()
+		if err := app.Shutdown(); err != nil {
+			xlog.Error("error while shutting down application", "error", err)
 		}
 	})
 

core/cli/tts.go

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ func (t *TTSCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 	options.Backend = t.Backend
 	options.Model = t.Model
 
-	filePath, _, err := backend.ModelTTS(context.Background(), text, t.Voice, t.Language, ml, opts, options)
+	filePath, _, err := backend.ModelTTS(context.Background(), text, t.Voice, t.Language, "", nil, ml, opts, options)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}

core/cli/worker/worker.go

@@ -14,4 +14,5 @@ type Worker struct {
 	LLamaCPP        LLamaCPP        `cmd:"" name:"llama-cpp-rpc" help:"Starts a llama.cpp worker in standalone mode"`
 	MLXDistributed  MLXDistributed  `cmd:"" name:"mlx-distributed" help:"Starts an MLX distributed worker in standalone mode (requires --hostfile and --rank)"`
 	VLLMDistributed VLLMDistributed `cmd:"" name:"vllm" help:"Starts a vLLM data-parallel follower process. Multi-node DP for a single model: head runs the existing vllm backend with engine_args.data_parallel_size>1, followers run this command."`
+	DS4Distributed  DS4Distributed  `cmd:"" name:"ds4-distributed" help:"Starts a ds4 distributed worker in standalone mode: owns a layer slice and dials the coordinator (pass ds4-worker args after --)"`
 }

core/cli/worker/worker_ds4.go

@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+package worker
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+	"syscall"
+
+	cliContext "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/cli/context"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/gallery"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/system"
+	"github.com/mudler/xlog"
+)
+
+type DS4Distributed struct {
+	WorkerFlags  `embed:""`
+	ExtraDS4Args string `name:"ds4-args" env:"LOCALAI_EXTRA_DS4_ARGS,EXTRA_DS4_ARGS" help:"Arguments passed to ds4-worker (e.g. '--role worker --model m.gguf --layers 20:output --coordinator HOST PORT')"`
+}
+
+const (
+	ds4WorkerBinaryName = "ds4-worker"
+	ds4GalleryName      = "ds4"
+)
+
+// ds4WorkerArgs builds the argv for syscall.Exec when launching ds4-worker
+// directly: the binary path followed by the space-split extra args. An empty
+// extra string yields a bare invocation.
+func ds4WorkerArgs(binary, extra string) []string {
+	args := []string{binary}
+	args = append(args, strings.Fields(extra)...)
+	return args
+}
+
+func findDS4Backend(galleries string, systemState *system.SystemState, requireIntegrity bool) (string, error) {
+	backends, err := gallery.ListSystemBackends(systemState)
+	if err != nil {
+		xlog.Warn("Failed listing system backends", "error", err)
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	backend, ok := backends.Get(ds4GalleryName)
+	if !ok {
+		ml := model.NewModelLoader(systemState)
+		var gals []config.Gallery
+		if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(galleries), &gals); err != nil {
+			xlog.Error("failed loading galleries", "error", err)
+			return "", err
+		}
+		if err := gallery.InstallBackendFromGallery(context.Background(), gals, systemState, ml, ds4GalleryName, nil, true, requireIntegrity); err != nil {
+			xlog.Error("ds4 backend not found, failed to install it", "error", err)
+			return "", err
+		}
+		backends, err = gallery.ListSystemBackends(systemState)
+		if err != nil {
+			return "", err
+		}
+		backend, ok = backends.Get(ds4GalleryName)
+		if !ok {
+			return "", errors.New("ds4 backend not found after install")
+		}
+	}
+
+	backendPath := filepath.Dir(backend.RunFile)
+	if backendPath == "" {
+		return "", errors.New("ds4 backend not found, install it first")
+	}
+	return filepath.Join(backendPath, ds4WorkerBinaryName), nil
+}
+
+func (r *DS4Distributed) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
+	if r.ExtraDS4Args == "" && len(os.Args) < 4 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("usage: local-ai worker ds4-distributed -- --role worker --model <gguf> --layers <START:END|START:output> --coordinator <host> <port>")
+	}
+
+	systemState, err := system.GetSystemState(
+		system.WithBackendPath(r.BackendsPath),
+		system.WithBackendSystemPath(r.BackendsSystemPath),
+	)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	worker, err := findDS4Backend(r.BackendGalleries, systemState, r.RequireBackendIntegrity)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	// ds4 bundles its own dynamic loader (lib/ld.so) for glibc compatibility,
+	// like backend/cpp/ds4/run.sh does for grpc-server. Launch ds4-worker via
+	// that loader when present; otherwise exec it directly. (This is a
+	// deliberate divergence from worker_llamacpp.go, which has no bundled loader.)
+	backendPath := filepath.Dir(worker)
+	env := os.Environ()
+	loader := filepath.Join(backendPath, "lib", "ld.so")
+	if _, statErr := os.Stat(loader); statErr == nil {
+		env = append(env, "LD_LIBRARY_PATH="+filepath.Join(backendPath, "lib")+":"+os.Getenv("LD_LIBRARY_PATH"))
+		args := append([]string{loader}, ds4WorkerArgs(worker, r.ExtraDS4Args)...)
+		return syscall.Exec(loader, args, env)
+	}
+
+	return syscall.Exec(worker, ds4WorkerArgs(worker, r.ExtraDS4Args), env)
+}

core/cli/worker/worker_ds4_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package worker
+
+import (
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("ds4 worker CLI", func() {
+	It("uses the ds4 backend gallery name and worker binary name", func() {
+		Expect(ds4GalleryName).To(Equal("ds4"))
+		Expect(ds4WorkerBinaryName).To(Equal("ds4-worker"))
+	})
+
+	It("assembles direct exec args as [binary, extra-split...]", func() {
+		args := ds4WorkerArgs("/b/ds4-worker", "--role worker --model m.gguf --layers 20:output --coordinator 10.0.0.1 1234")
+		Expect(args).To(Equal([]string{
+			"/b/ds4-worker",
+			"--role", "worker",
+			"--model", "m.gguf",
+			"--layers", "20:output",
+			"--coordinator", "10.0.0.1", "1234",
+		}))
+	})
+
+	It("drops empty extra args to a bare binary invocation", func() {
+		Expect(ds4WorkerArgs("/b/ds4-worker", "")).To(Equal([]string{"/b/ds4-worker"}))
+	})
+})

core/cli/worker/worker_vllm.go

@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ func (r *VLLMDistributed) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 			FrontendURL:       r.RegisterTo,
 			RegistrationToken: r.RegistrationToken,
 		}
-		nodeID, _, regErr := regClient.RegisterWithRetry(context.Background(), r.registrationBody(), 10)
+		nodeID, _, _, _, regErr := regClient.RegisterWithRetry(context.Background(), r.registrationBody(), 10)
 		if regErr != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("registering with frontend: %w", regErr)
 		}

core/cli/workerregistry/client.go

@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/mudler/xlog"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/httpclient"
 )
 
 // RegistrationClient talks to the frontend's /api/node/* endpoints.
@@ -37,7 +39,7 @@ func (c *RegistrationClient) httpTimeout() time.Duration {
 // httpClient returns the shared HTTP client, initializing it on first use.
 func (c *RegistrationClient) httpClient() *http.Client {
 	c.clientOnce.Do(func() {
-		c.client = &http.Client{Timeout: c.httpTimeout()}
+		c.client = httpclient.NewWithTimeout(c.httpTimeout())
 	})
 	return c.client
 }
@@ -56,65 +58,77 @@ func (c *RegistrationClient) setAuth(req *http.Request) {
 
 // RegisterResponse is the JSON body returned by /api/node/register.
 type RegisterResponse struct {
-	ID       string `json:"id"`
-	APIToken string `json:"api_token,omitempty"`
+	ID           string `json:"id"`
+	Status       string `json:"status,omitempty"` // "pending" until an admin approves the node
+	APIToken     string `json:"api_token,omitempty"`
+	NatsJWT      string `json:"nats_jwt,omitempty"`
+	NatsUserSeed string `json:"nats_user_seed,omitempty"`
 }
 
-// Register sends a single registration request and returns the node ID and
-// (optionally) an auto-provisioned API token.
-func (c *RegistrationClient) Register(ctx context.Context, body map[string]any) (string, string, error) {
+// RegisterFull sends a single registration request and returns the full
+// response (node ID, approval status, and optional API token / NATS creds).
+// Re-registration is idempotent: the frontend preserves the node row and mints
+// a fresh NATS JWT each call, so this doubles as the credential-refresh call.
+func (c *RegistrationClient) RegisterFull(ctx context.Context, body map[string]any) (*RegisterResponse, error) {
 	jsonBody, _ := json.Marshal(body)
 	url := c.baseURL() + "/api/node/register"
 
 	req, err := http.NewRequestWithContext(ctx, http.MethodPost, url, bytes.NewReader(jsonBody))
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("creating request: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("creating request: %w", err)
 	}
 	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
 	c.setAuth(req)
 
 	resp, err := c.httpClient().Do(req)
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("posting to %s: %w", url, err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("posting to %s: %w", url, err)
 	}
 	defer resp.Body.Close()
 
 	if resp.StatusCode < 200 || resp.StatusCode >= 300 {
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("registration failed with status %d", resp.StatusCode)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("registration failed with status %d", resp.StatusCode)
 	}
 
 	var result RegisterResponse
 	if err := json.NewDecoder(resp.Body).Decode(&result); err != nil {
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("decoding response: %w", err)
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("decoding response: %w", err)
 	}
-	return result.ID, result.APIToken, nil
+	return &result, nil
+}
+
+// Register sends a single registration request and returns the node ID and
+// optional credentials (API token for agent workers, NATS JWT when configured).
+func (c *RegistrationClient) Register(ctx context.Context, body map[string]any) (nodeID, apiToken, natsJWT, natsSeed string, err error) {
+	res, err := c.RegisterFull(ctx, body)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", "", "", "", err
+	}
+	return res.ID, res.APIToken, res.NatsJWT, res.NatsUserSeed, nil
 }
 
 // RegisterWithRetry retries registration with exponential backoff.
-func (c *RegistrationClient) RegisterWithRetry(ctx context.Context, body map[string]any, maxRetries int) (string, string, error) {
+func (c *RegistrationClient) RegisterWithRetry(ctx context.Context, body map[string]any, maxRetries int) (nodeID, apiToken, natsJWT, natsSeed string, err error) {
 	backoff := 2 * time.Second
 	maxBackoff := 30 * time.Second
 
-	var nodeID, apiToken string
-	var err error
-
 	for attempt := 1; attempt <= maxRetries; attempt++ {
-		nodeID, apiToken, err = c.Register(ctx, body)
+		nodeID, apiToken, natsJWT, natsSeed, err = c.Register(ctx, body)
 		if err == nil {
-			return nodeID, apiToken, nil
+			return nodeID, apiToken, natsJWT, natsSeed, nil
 		}
 		if attempt == maxRetries {
-			return "", "", fmt.Errorf("failed after %d attempts: %w", maxRetries, err)
+			return "", "", "", "", fmt.Errorf("failed after %d attempts: %w", maxRetries, err)
 		}
 		xlog.Warn("Registration failed, retrying", "attempt", attempt, "next_retry", backoff, "error", err)
 		select {
 		case <-ctx.Done():
-			return "", "", ctx.Err()
+			return "", "", "", "", ctx.Err()
 		case <-time.After(backoff):
 		}
 		backoff = min(backoff*2, maxBackoff)
 	}
-	return nodeID, apiToken, err
+	return nodeID, apiToken, natsJWT, natsSeed, err
 }
 
 // Heartbeat sends a single heartbeat POST with the given body.

core/cli/workerregistry/credentials.go

@@ -0,0 +1,200 @@
+package workerregistry
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"sync"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/natsauth"
+	"github.com/mudler/xlog"
+)
+
+// statusPending mirrors nodes.StatusPending. It is duplicated rather than
+// imported so the lightweight registration client does not pull in the nodes
+// package (and its gorm/DB dependencies).
+const statusPending = "pending"
+
+// defaultMaxAttempts bounds how many times Acquire registers (and how many
+// consecutive times RefreshLoop may fail) before giving up. It is high enough
+// to ride out a slow admin approval or a transient frontend outage, but finite
+// so an unauthorized/unapprovable worker exits and surfaces the problem (via a
+// non-zero exit and the resulting restart) rather than waiting forever.
+const defaultMaxAttempts = 100
+
+// RegisterFunc performs one idempotent registration round-trip.
+type RegisterFunc func(ctx context.Context) (*RegisterResponse, error)
+
+// NATSCredentialManager acquires NATS credentials at startup — waiting through
+// admin approval when required — and refreshes them before the minted JWT
+// expires, by re-registering (which mints a fresh JWT). The live NATS
+// connection adopts a refreshed JWT on its next reconnect via Provider. Safe
+// for concurrent use.
+//
+// It addresses two failure modes: a worker that needs credentials but registers
+// while still pending approval (it would otherwise give up and never connect),
+// and a long-running worker whose 24h JWT expires with no way to renew it.
+type NATSCredentialManager struct {
+	register     RegisterFunc
+	requireCreds bool // block until credentials are present (frontend minting in use)
+
+	// Tunables; defaults set by NewNATSCredentialManager, overridable in tests.
+	initialBackoff time.Duration
+	maxBackoff     time.Duration
+	maxAttempts    int     // bound on Acquire attempts / consecutive refresh failures (<=0 = unlimited)
+	refreshLead    float64 // refresh once this fraction of the JWT lifetime has elapsed
+	refreshRetry   time.Duration
+	expiryOf       func(jwt string) (time.Time, bool)
+
+	mu     sync.RWMutex
+	jwt    string
+	seed   string
+	nodeID string
+}
+
+// NewNATSCredentialManager builds a manager over register. When requireCreds is
+// true, Acquire blocks until the node is approved and credentials are minted.
+func NewNATSCredentialManager(register RegisterFunc, requireCreds bool) *NATSCredentialManager {
+	return &NATSCredentialManager{
+		register:       register,
+		requireCreds:   requireCreds,
+		initialBackoff: 2 * time.Second,
+		maxBackoff:     30 * time.Second,
+		maxAttempts:    defaultMaxAttempts,
+		refreshLead:    0.75,
+		refreshRetry:   30 * time.Second,
+		expiryOf:       jwtExpiry,
+	}
+}
+
+// jwtExpiry decodes the expiry of a minted user JWT. ok is false when the token
+// is empty/undecodable or carries no expiry (e.g. a non-expiring service JWT).
+func jwtExpiry(token string) (time.Time, bool) {
+	if token == "" {
+		return time.Time{}, false
+	}
+	uc, err := natsauth.DecodeUserClaims(token)
+	if err != nil || uc.Expires == 0 {
+		return time.Time{}, false
+	}
+	return time.Unix(uc.Expires, 0), true
+}
+
+func (m *NATSCredentialManager) store(res *RegisterResponse) {
+	m.mu.Lock()
+	defer m.mu.Unlock()
+	m.nodeID = res.ID
+	if res.NatsJWT != "" && res.NatsUserSeed != "" {
+		m.jwt, m.seed = res.NatsJWT, res.NatsUserSeed
+	}
+}
+
+// Current returns the latest NATS credentials (both empty until acquired).
+func (m *NATSCredentialManager) Current() (jwt, seed string) {
+	m.mu.RLock()
+	defer m.mu.RUnlock()
+	return m.jwt, m.seed
+}
+
+// NodeID returns the node ID from the most recent registration.
+func (m *NATSCredentialManager) NodeID() string {
+	m.mu.RLock()
+	defer m.mu.RUnlock()
+	return m.nodeID
+}
+
+// Provider returns a callback compatible with messaging.WithUserJWTProvider,
+// supplying the current credentials on each (re)connect.
+func (m *NATSCredentialManager) Provider() func() (string, string) {
+	return m.Current
+}
+
+// HasCredentials reports whether complete NATS credentials have been obtained.
+func (m *NATSCredentialManager) HasCredentials() bool {
+	jwt, seed := m.Current()
+	return jwt != "" && seed != ""
+}
+
+// Acquire registers and, when requireCreds is set, keeps re-registering with
+// exponential backoff until the node is approved (status != pending) and
+// credentials are minted. Without requireCreds it returns the first successful
+// response (the historical one-shot behavior, preserved for anonymous NATS).
+func (m *NATSCredentialManager) Acquire(ctx context.Context) (*RegisterResponse, error) {
+	backoff := m.initialBackoff
+	var lastReason error
+	for attempt := 1; m.maxAttempts <= 0 || attempt <= m.maxAttempts; attempt++ {
+		res, err := m.register(ctx)
+		switch {
+		case err != nil:
+			lastReason = err
+			xlog.Warn("Registration failed, retrying", "attempt", attempt, "next_retry", backoff, "error", err)
+		case !m.requireCreds:
+			m.store(res)
+			return res, nil
+		case res.Status == statusPending:
+			lastReason = fmt.Errorf("node %s still pending admin approval", res.ID)
+			xlog.Info("Node pending admin approval; waiting", "node", res.ID, "attempt", attempt, "next_retry", backoff)
+		case res.NatsJWT == "" || res.NatsUserSeed == "":
+			lastReason = fmt.Errorf("node %s approved but NATS credentials not minted", res.ID)
+			xlog.Info("Node approved but NATS credentials not yet minted; waiting", "node", res.ID, "attempt", attempt, "next_retry", backoff)
+		default:
+			m.store(res)
+			return res, nil
+		}
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return nil, ctx.Err()
+		case <-time.After(backoff):
+		}
+		backoff = min(backoff*2, m.maxBackoff)
+	}
+	return nil, fmt.Errorf("giving up acquiring NATS credentials after %d attempts: %w", m.maxAttempts, lastReason)
+}
+
+// RefreshLoop re-registers to mint a fresh JWT before the current one expires,
+// updating the credentials returned by Current/Provider so the NATS connection
+// adopts them on its next reconnect. It returns nil when ctx is cancelled or
+// when the current credential has no expiry (nothing to refresh), and a non-nil
+// error after maxAttempts consecutive refresh failures — letting the caller
+// exit the worker so it restarts and re-acquires (or surfaces the outage)
+// rather than silently drifting toward an expired, unrenewable JWT.
+func (m *NATSCredentialManager) RefreshLoop(ctx context.Context) error {
+	failures := 0
+	for {
+		jwt, _ := m.Current()
+		exp, ok := m.expiryOf(jwt)
+		if !ok {
+			xlog.Debug("NATS credential has no expiry; refresh loop exiting")
+			return nil
+		}
+		wait := max(time.Duration(float64(time.Until(exp))*m.refreshLead), 0)
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return nil
+		case <-time.After(wait):
+		}
+
+		res, err := m.register(ctx)
+		if err == nil && res.NatsJWT != "" && res.NatsUserSeed != "" {
+			m.store(res)
+			failures = 0
+			xlog.Info("Refreshed NATS credentials", "node", res.ID)
+			continue
+		}
+		failures++
+		if err != nil {
+			xlog.Warn("NATS credential refresh failed; will retry", "attempt", failures, "error", err)
+		} else {
+			xlog.Warn("NATS credential refresh returned no credentials; will retry", "attempt", failures)
+		}
+		if m.maxAttempts > 0 && failures >= m.maxAttempts {
+			return fmt.Errorf("NATS credential refresh failed %d times in a row", failures)
+		}
+		// Back off before retrying so a persistent failure near expiry does not spin.
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return nil
+		case <-time.After(m.refreshRetry):
+		}
+	}
+}

core/cli/workerregistry/credentials_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,198 @@
+package workerregistry
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"sync"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/natsauth"
+	"github.com/nats-io/nkeys"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+func TestWorkerRegistry(t *testing.T) {
+	RegisterFailHandler(Fail)
+	RunSpecs(t, "WorkerRegistry")
+}
+
+// fakeRegister returns a sequence of canned responses/errors, one per call, and
+// records how many times it was invoked. The last entry repeats once exhausted.
+type fakeRegister struct {
+	mu    sync.Mutex
+	steps []step
+	calls int
+}
+
+type step struct {
+	res *RegisterResponse
+	err error
+}
+
+func (f *fakeRegister) fn() RegisterFunc {
+	return func(context.Context) (*RegisterResponse, error) {
+		f.mu.Lock()
+		defer f.mu.Unlock()
+		i := f.calls
+		f.calls++
+		if i >= len(f.steps) {
+			i = len(f.steps) - 1
+		}
+		return f.steps[i].res, f.steps[i].err
+	}
+}
+
+func (f *fakeRegister) count() int {
+	f.mu.Lock()
+	defer f.mu.Unlock()
+	return f.calls
+}
+
+var _ = Describe("NATSCredentialManager", func() {
+	approved := func(jwt, seed string) *RegisterResponse {
+		return &RegisterResponse{ID: "node-1", Status: "healthy", NatsJWT: jwt, NatsUserSeed: seed}
+	}
+	pending := &RegisterResponse{ID: "node-1", Status: "pending"}
+
+	Describe("Acquire (#4 — wait through admin approval)", func() {
+		It("keeps re-registering until the node is approved and credentials are minted", func() {
+			f := &fakeRegister{steps: []step{
+				{res: pending},                     // not approved yet
+				{res: approved("", "")},            // approved but JWT not minted yet
+				{res: approved("jwt-1", "seed-1")}, // finally minted
+			}}
+			m := NewNATSCredentialManager(f.fn(), true /* requireCreds */)
+			m.initialBackoff = time.Millisecond
+			m.maxBackoff = time.Millisecond
+
+			res, err := m.Acquire(context.Background())
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(res.ID).To(Equal("node-1"))
+			Expect(f.count()).To(Equal(3))
+
+			jwt, seed := m.Current()
+			Expect(jwt).To(Equal("jwt-1"))
+			Expect(seed).To(Equal("seed-1"))
+			Expect(m.HasCredentials()).To(BeTrue())
+			Expect(m.NodeID()).To(Equal("node-1"))
+		})
+
+		It("returns immediately on the first success when credentials are not required (anonymous NATS)", func() {
+			f := &fakeRegister{steps: []step{{res: pending}}}
+			m := NewNATSCredentialManager(f.fn(), false /* requireCreds */)
+
+			res, err := m.Acquire(context.Background())
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(res.Status).To(Equal("pending"))
+			Expect(f.count()).To(Equal(1))
+			Expect(m.HasCredentials()).To(BeFalse())
+		})
+
+		It("aborts when the context is cancelled while waiting for approval", func() {
+			f := &fakeRegister{steps: []step{{res: pending}}}
+			m := NewNATSCredentialManager(f.fn(), true)
+			m.initialBackoff = 10 * time.Millisecond
+
+			ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+			cancel()
+			_, err := m.Acquire(ctx)
+			Expect(err).To(MatchError(context.Canceled))
+		})
+
+		It("gives up after a bounded number of attempts so the worker exits and alerts", func() {
+			f := &fakeRegister{steps: []step{{res: pending}}} // never approved
+			m := NewNATSCredentialManager(f.fn(), true)
+			m.initialBackoff = time.Millisecond
+			m.maxBackoff = time.Millisecond
+			m.maxAttempts = 5
+
+			_, err := m.Acquire(context.Background())
+			Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("after 5 attempts"))
+			Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("pending admin approval"))
+			Expect(f.count()).To(Equal(5))
+		})
+	})
+
+	Describe("RefreshLoop (#5 — renew before the JWT expires)", func() {
+		It("re-registers before expiry and updates the credentials served to new connections", func() {
+			f := &fakeRegister{steps: []step{{res: approved("jwt-2", "seed-2")}}}
+			m := NewNATSCredentialManager(f.fn(), true)
+			m.refreshLead = 0.5
+			m.refreshRetry = time.Millisecond
+			// jwt-1 expires soon; jwt-2 is long-lived so the loop then idles.
+			m.expiryOf = func(jwt string) (time.Time, bool) {
+				switch jwt {
+				case "jwt-1":
+					return time.Now().Add(40 * time.Millisecond), true
+				case "jwt-2":
+					return time.Now().Add(time.Hour), true
+				default:
+					return time.Time{}, false
+				}
+			}
+			m.store(approved("jwt-1", "seed-1"))
+
+			ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())
+			defer cancel()
+			go func() { _ = m.RefreshLoop(ctx) }()
+
+			Eventually(func() string {
+				jwt, _ := m.Current()
+				return jwt
+			}, "2s", "10ms").Should(Equal("jwt-2"))
+		})
+
+		It("returns an error after the bounded number of consecutive failures so the caller can exit", func() {
+			f := &fakeRegister{steps: []step{{err: context.DeadlineExceeded}}} // refresh always fails
+			m := NewNATSCredentialManager(f.fn(), true)
+			m.refreshLead = 0.5
+			m.refreshRetry = time.Millisecond
+			m.maxAttempts = 3
+			m.expiryOf = func(string) (time.Time, bool) { return time.Now().Add(time.Millisecond), true }
+			m.store(approved("jwt-1", "seed-1"))
+
+			errCh := make(chan error, 1)
+			go func() { errCh <- m.RefreshLoop(context.Background()) }()
+			Eventually(errCh, "2s").Should(Receive(MatchError(ContainSubstring("3 times in a row"))))
+		})
+
+		It("exits promptly when the current credential has no expiry (nothing to refresh)", func() {
+			f := &fakeRegister{steps: []step{{res: approved("x", "y")}}}
+			m := NewNATSCredentialManager(f.fn(), true)
+			m.expiryOf = func(string) (time.Time, bool) { return time.Time{}, false }
+			m.store(approved("static", "seed"))
+
+			done := make(chan struct{})
+			go func() { _ = m.RefreshLoop(context.Background()); close(done) }()
+			Eventually(done, "1s").Should(BeClosed())
+			Expect(f.count()).To(Equal(0)) // never tried to re-register
+		})
+	})
+
+	Describe("jwtExpiry default", func() {
+		It("decodes the expiry of a real minted worker JWT", func() {
+			akp, err := nkeys.CreateAccount()
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			seed, err := akp.Seed()
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			cfg := natsauth.Config{AccountSeed: string(seed), WorkerJWTTTL: time.Hour}
+			token, _, err := cfg.MintWorkerJWT("node-1", "backend")
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			exp, ok := jwtExpiry(token)
+			Expect(ok).To(BeTrue())
+			Expect(exp).To(BeTemporally("~", time.Now().Add(time.Hour), 2*time.Minute))
+		})
+
+		It("reports no expiry for an empty or undecodable token", func() {
+			_, ok := jwtExpiry("")
+			Expect(ok).To(BeFalse())
+			_, ok = jwtExpiry("not-a-jwt")
+			Expect(ok).To(BeFalse())
+		})
+	})
+})

core/clients/store.go

@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"net/http"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/httpclient"
 )
 
 // Define a struct to hold the store API client
@@ -47,7 +49,7 @@ type FindResponse struct {
 func NewStoreClient(baseUrl string) *StoreClient {
 	return &StoreClient{
 		BaseURL: baseUrl,
-		Client:  &http.Client{},
+		Client:  httpclient.New(),
 	}
 }
 

core/config/backend_capabilities.go

@@ -22,9 +22,11 @@ const (
 	UsecaseRerank          = "rerank"
 	UsecaseDetection       = "detection"
 	UsecaseVAD             = "vad"
-	UsecaseAudioTransform  = "audio_transform"
-	UsecaseDiarization     = "diarization"
-	UsecaseRealtimeAudio   = "realtime_audio"
+	UsecaseAudioTransform      = "audio_transform"
+	UsecaseDiarization         = "diarization"
+	UsecaseRealtimeAudio       = "realtime_audio"
+	UsecaseFaceRecognition     = "face_recognition"
+	UsecaseSpeakerRecognition  = "speaker_recognition"
 )
 
 // GRPCMethod identifies a Backend service RPC from backend.proto.
@@ -47,6 +49,11 @@ const (
 	MethodAudioTransform     GRPCMethod = "AudioTransform"
 	MethodDiarize            GRPCMethod = "Diarize"
 	MethodAudioToAudioStream GRPCMethod = "AudioToAudioStream"
+	MethodFaceVerify         GRPCMethod = "FaceVerify"
+	MethodFaceAnalyze        GRPCMethod = "FaceAnalyze"
+	MethodVoiceVerify        GRPCMethod = "VoiceVerify"
+	MethodVoiceEmbed         GRPCMethod = "VoiceEmbed"
+	MethodVoiceAnalyze       GRPCMethod = "VoiceAnalyze"
 )
 
 // UsecaseInfo describes a single known_usecase value and how it maps
@@ -154,6 +161,16 @@ var UsecaseInfoMap = map[string]UsecaseInfo{
 		GRPCMethod:  MethodAudioToAudioStream,
 		Description: "Self-contained any-to-any audio model for the Realtime API — accepts microphone audio and emits speech + transcript (+ optional function calls) from a single backend via the AudioToAudioStream RPC.",
 	},
+	UsecaseFaceRecognition: {
+		Flag:        FLAG_FACE_RECOGNITION,
+		GRPCMethod:  MethodFaceVerify,
+		Description: "Face recognition — verify identity, analyze attributes (age/gender/emotion) via FaceVerify and FaceAnalyze RPCs.",
+	},
+	UsecaseSpeakerRecognition: {
+		Flag:        FLAG_SPEAKER_RECOGNITION,
+		GRPCMethod:  MethodVoiceVerify,
+		Description: "Speaker recognition — verify identity, embed and analyze voice via VoiceVerify, VoiceEmbed and VoiceAnalyze RPCs.",
+	},
 }
 
 // BackendCapability describes which gRPC methods and usecases a backend supports.
@@ -198,6 +215,13 @@ var BackendCapabilities = map[string]BackendCapability{
 		AcceptsVideos:    true,
 		Description:      "vLLM engine — high-throughput LLM serving with optional multimodal",
 	},
+	"sglang": {
+		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodPredict, MethodPredictStream, MethodTokenizeString},
+		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseChat, UsecaseCompletion, UsecaseTokenize, UsecaseVision},
+		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseChat},
+		AcceptsImages:    true,
+		Description:      "SGLang — fast LLM inference with structured generation and optional vision",
+	},
 	"vllm-omni": {
 		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodPredict, MethodPredictStream, MethodGenerateImage, MethodGenerateVideo, MethodTTS},
 		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseChat, UsecaseCompletion, UsecaseImage, UsecaseVideo, UsecaseTTS, UsecaseVision},
@@ -291,6 +315,12 @@ var BackendCapabilities = map[string]BackendCapability{
 		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseTranscript},
 		Description:      "NVIDIA NeMo speech recognition",
 	},
+	"parakeet-cpp": {
+		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodAudioTranscription},
+		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseTranscript},
+		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseTranscript},
+		Description:      "NVIDIA NeMo Parakeet ASR (parakeet.cpp)",
+	},
 	"qwen-asr": {
 		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodAudioTranscription},
 		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseTranscript},
@@ -309,6 +339,18 @@ var BackendCapabilities = map[string]BackendCapability{
 		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseTranscript, UsecaseTTS},
 		Description:      "VibeVoice — bidirectional speech (transcription and synthesis)",
 	},
+	"vibevoice-cpp": {
+		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodAudioTranscription, MethodTTS, MethodTTSStream},
+		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseTranscript, UsecaseTTS},
+		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseTranscript, UsecaseTTS},
+		Description:      "VibeVoice C++ — bidirectional speech, C++ backend with streaming TTS",
+	},
+	"sherpa-onnx": {
+		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodAudioTranscription, MethodTTS, MethodTTSStream, MethodVAD},
+		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseTranscript, UsecaseTTS, UsecaseVAD},
+		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseTranscript},
+		Description:      "Sherpa-ONNX — multi-model speech toolkit (ASR, TTS, VAD)",
+	},
 
 	// --- TTS backends ---
 	"piper": {
@@ -353,6 +395,12 @@ var BackendCapabilities = map[string]BackendCapability{
 		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseTTS},
 		Description:      "Qwen TTS",
 	},
+	"qwen3-tts-cpp": {
+		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodTTS},
+		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseTTS},
+		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseTTS},
+		Description:      "Qwen3 TTS C++ — text-to-speech, C++ backend",
+	},
 	"faster-qwen3-tts": {
 		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodTTS},
 		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseTTS},
@@ -434,6 +482,27 @@ var BackendCapabilities = map[string]BackendCapability{
 		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseDetection},
 		Description:      "RF-DETR object detection",
 	},
+	"rfdetr-cpp": {
+		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodDetect},
+		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseDetection},
+		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseDetection},
+		Description:      "RF-DETR C++ object detection",
+	},
+
+	// --- Face and speaker recognition backends ---
+	"insightface": {
+		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodEmbedding, MethodDetect, MethodFaceVerify, MethodFaceAnalyze},
+		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseEmbeddings, UsecaseDetection, UsecaseFaceRecognition},
+		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseFaceRecognition},
+		AcceptsImages:    true,
+		Description:      "InsightFace — face detection, embedding, verification and attribute analysis",
+	},
+	"speaker-recognition": {
+		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodVoiceVerify, MethodVoiceEmbed, MethodVoiceAnalyze},
+		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseSpeakerRecognition},
+		DefaultUsecases:  []string{UsecaseSpeakerRecognition},
+		Description:      "Speaker recognition — voice identity verification and analysis",
+	},
 	"silero-vad": {
 		GRPCMethods:      []GRPCMethod{MethodVAD},
 		PossibleUsecases: []string{UsecaseVAD},

core/config/distributed_config.go

@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"time"
 
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/messaging"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/natsauth"
 	"github.com/mudler/xlog"
 )
 
@@ -16,7 +18,29 @@ type DistributedConfig struct {
 	NatsURL           string // --nats-url / LOCALAI_NATS_URL
 	StorageURL        string // --storage-url / LOCALAI_STORAGE_URL (S3 endpoint)
 	RegistrationToken string // --registration-token / LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_TOKEN (required token for node registration)
-	AutoApproveNodes  bool   // --auto-approve-nodes / LOCALAI_AUTO_APPROVE_NODES (skip admin approval for new workers)
+	// RegistrationRequireAuth fails startup when distributed mode is enabled but
+	// RegistrationToken is empty. The default (false) keeps the historical
+	// fail-open behavior with a loud warning; production should set it so the
+	// node-register endpoints and the worker file-transfer server cannot run
+	// unauthenticated. Mirrors NatsRequireAuth for the NATS bus.
+	RegistrationRequireAuth bool // LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_REQUIRE_AUTH
+	// RequireAuth is the umbrella switch (LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_REQUIRE_AUTH) for
+	// distributed-mode auth: when true it implies BOTH NatsRequireAuth and
+	// RegistrationRequireAuth, so a single knob locks down the bus and the
+	// registration/file-transfer layer together. The granular flags remain
+	// available to enforce just one layer.
+	RequireAuth      bool // LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_REQUIRE_AUTH
+	AutoApproveNodes bool // --auto-approve-nodes / LOCALAI_AUTO_APPROVE_NODES (skip admin approval for new workers)
+
+	// NATS JWT auth (optional; see pkg/natsauth and docs/features/distributed-mode.md)
+	NatsAccountSeed  string        // LOCALAI_NATS_ACCOUNT_SEED — account signing seed to mint per-node worker JWTs
+	NatsServiceJWT   string        // LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_JWT — user JWT for frontends / agent workers
+	NatsServiceSeed  string        // LOCALAI_NATS_SERVICE_SEED — signing seed paired with service JWT
+	NatsWorkerJWTTTL time.Duration // LOCALAI_NATS_WORKER_JWT_TTL — minted worker JWT lifetime (default 24h)
+	NatsRequireAuth  bool          // LOCALAI_NATS_REQUIRE_AUTH — fail startup if NATS credentials are missing
+	NatsTLSCA        string        // LOCALAI_NATS_TLS_CA — PEM file for private CA (server verify)
+	NatsTLSCert      string        // LOCALAI_NATS_TLS_CERT — client cert for NATS mTLS
+	NatsTLSKey       string        // LOCALAI_NATS_TLS_KEY — client key paired with NatsTLSCert
 
 	// S3 configuration (used when StorageURL is set)
 	StorageBucket    string // --storage-bucket / LOCALAI_STORAGE_BUCKET
@@ -49,6 +73,17 @@ type DistributedConfig struct {
 
 	AgentWorkerConcurrency int `yaml:"agent_worker_concurrency" json:"agent_worker_concurrency" env:"LOCALAI_AGENT_WORKER_CONCURRENCY"`
 	JobWorkerConcurrency   int `yaml:"job_worker_concurrency" json:"job_worker_concurrency" env:"LOCALAI_JOB_WORKER_CONCURRENCY"`
+
+	// PrefixCacheDisabled turns off prefix-cache-aware routing, falling back to
+	// round-robin (the floor). Prefix-cache routing is ON by default in
+	// distributed mode; this flag exists so operators can opt out. The CLI
+	// surfaces a default-true --distributed-prefix-cache enable flag and sets
+	// this when the operator passes --distributed-prefix-cache=false.
+	PrefixCacheDisabled bool
+	// PrefixCacheTTL is the idle-timeout for prefix-cache index entries and
+	// drives the background eviction cadence (eviction runs every TTL/2). Zero
+	// means use the prefixcache package default (5m).
+	PrefixCacheTTL time.Duration
 }
 
 // Validate checks that the distributed configuration is internally consistent.
@@ -65,10 +100,23 @@ func (c DistributedConfig) Validate() error {
 		(c.StorageAccessKey == "" && c.StorageSecretKey != "") {
 		return fmt.Errorf("storage-access-key and storage-secret-key must both be set or both empty")
 	}
-	// Warn about missing registration token (not an error)
+	// The registration token guards both the node HTTP register/heartbeat
+	// endpoints and the worker file-transfer server (which fails open on an
+	// empty token). Enforce it when registration auth is required (the granular
+	// flag or the umbrella); otherwise warn.
 	if c.RegistrationToken == "" {
-		xlog.Warn("distributed mode running without registration token — node endpoints are unprotected")
+		if c.RegistrationAuthRequired() {
+			return fmt.Errorf("registration auth is required (LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_REQUIRE_AUTH or LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_REQUIRE_AUTH) but LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_TOKEN is empty")
+		}
+		xlog.Warn("distributed mode running without registration token — node endpoints and the worker file-transfer server are unprotected; set LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_TOKEN, or LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_REQUIRE_AUTH=true to fail closed")
 	}
+	if err := c.NatsAuthConfig().Validate(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if err := c.NatsTLSFiles().Validate(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	c.NatsAuthConfig().WarnIfInsecure(true)
 	// Check for negative durations
 	for name, d := range map[string]time.Duration{
 		FlagMCPToolTimeout:        c.MCPToolTimeout,
@@ -112,6 +160,76 @@ func WithRegistrationToken(token string) AppOption {
 	}
 }
 
+func WithNatsAccountSeed(seed string) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		o.Distributed.NatsAccountSeed = seed
+	}
+}
+
+func WithNatsServiceJWT(jwt string) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		o.Distributed.NatsServiceJWT = jwt
+	}
+}
+
+func WithNatsServiceSeed(seed string) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		o.Distributed.NatsServiceSeed = seed
+	}
+}
+
+func WithNatsWorkerJWTTTL(d time.Duration) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		o.Distributed.NatsWorkerJWTTTL = d
+	}
+}
+
+var EnableNatsRequireAuth = func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+	o.Distributed.NatsRequireAuth = true
+}
+
+// EnableRegistrationRequireAuth makes an empty registration token a hard error
+// in distributed mode (see DistributedConfig.RegistrationRequireAuth).
+var EnableRegistrationRequireAuth = func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+	o.Distributed.RegistrationRequireAuth = true
+}
+
+// EnableDistributedRequireAuth is the umbrella switch implying both
+// NatsRequireAuth and RegistrationRequireAuth (see DistributedConfig.RequireAuth).
+var EnableDistributedRequireAuth = func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+	o.Distributed.RequireAuth = true
+}
+
+// RegistrationAuthRequired reports whether an empty registration token must be
+// treated as a fatal misconfiguration — the granular flag or the umbrella.
+func (c DistributedConfig) RegistrationAuthRequired() bool {
+	return c.RegistrationRequireAuth || c.RequireAuth
+}
+
+// NatsAuthRequired reports whether NATS JWT credentials must be present — the
+// granular flag or the umbrella.
+func (c DistributedConfig) NatsAuthRequired() bool {
+	return c.NatsRequireAuth || c.RequireAuth
+}
+
+func WithNatsTLSCA(path string) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		o.Distributed.NatsTLSCA = path
+	}
+}
+
+func WithNatsTLSCert(path string) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		o.Distributed.NatsTLSCert = path
+	}
+}
+
+func WithNatsTLSKey(path string) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		o.Distributed.NatsTLSKey = path
+	}
+}
+
 func WithStorageURL(url string) AppOption {
 	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
 		o.Distributed.StorageURL = url
@@ -158,6 +276,20 @@ var EnableAutoApproveNodes = func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
 	o.Distributed.AutoApproveNodes = true
 }
 
+// DisablePrefixCache turns off prefix-cache-aware routing (falls back to
+// round-robin). Prefix-cache routing is enabled by default in distributed mode.
+var DisablePrefixCache = func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+	o.Distributed.PrefixCacheDisabled = true
+}
+
+// WithPrefixCacheTTL sets the prefix-cache index idle-timeout (and the
+// background eviction cadence, which runs every TTL/2).
+func WithPrefixCacheTTL(d time.Duration) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		o.Distributed.PrefixCacheTTL = d
+	}
+}
+
 // Flag names for distributed timeout / interval configuration. These are
 // the kebab-case identifiers kong derives from the matching RunCMD struct
 // fields; they appear in Validate error messages and any other operator-
@@ -192,6 +324,44 @@ const (
 // DefaultMaxUploadSize is the default maximum upload body size (50 GB).
 const DefaultMaxUploadSize int64 = 50 << 30
 
+// NatsTLSFiles returns NATS TLS/mTLS PEM paths for the messaging client.
+func (c DistributedConfig) NatsTLSFiles() messaging.TLSFiles {
+	return messaging.TLSFiles{
+		CA:   c.NatsTLSCA,
+		Cert: c.NatsTLSCert,
+		Key:  c.NatsTLSKey,
+	}
+}
+
+// NatsMessagingOptions builds messaging client options (JWT + TLS) for distributed components.
+// Pass explicit userJWT/userSeed when set (e.g. worker overrides); empty uses service JWT from config.
+func (c DistributedConfig) NatsMessagingOptions(userJWT, userSeed string) []messaging.Option {
+	var opts []messaging.Option
+	jwt, seed := userJWT, userSeed
+	if jwt == "" && seed == "" {
+		auth := c.NatsAuthConfig()
+		jwt, seed = auth.ServiceUserJWT, auth.ServiceUserSeed
+	}
+	if jwt != "" && seed != "" {
+		opts = append(opts, messaging.WithUserJWT(jwt, seed))
+	}
+	if tls := c.NatsTLSFiles(); tls.Enabled() {
+		opts = append(opts, messaging.WithTLS(tls))
+	}
+	return opts
+}
+
+// NatsAuthConfig builds pkg/natsauth settings from distributed configuration.
+func (c DistributedConfig) NatsAuthConfig() natsauth.Config {
+	return natsauth.Config{
+		AccountSeed:     c.NatsAccountSeed,
+		ServiceUserJWT:  c.NatsServiceJWT,
+		ServiceUserSeed: c.NatsServiceSeed,
+		WorkerJWTTTL:    c.NatsWorkerJWTTTL,
+		RequireAuth:     c.NatsAuthRequired(),
+	}
+}
+
 // BackendInstallTimeoutOrDefault returns the configured timeout or the default.
 func (c DistributedConfig) BackendInstallTimeoutOrDefault() time.Duration {
 	return cmp.Or(c.BackendInstallTimeout, DefaultBackendInstallTimeout)

core/config/distributed_config_test.go

@@ -88,3 +88,66 @@ var _ = Describe("DistributedConfig.Validate negative-duration errors", func() {
 		Expect(c.Validate()).To(Succeed())
 	})
 })
+
+var _ = Describe("DistributedConfig.Validate registration auth", func() {
+	It("rejects an empty registration token when RequireAuth is set", func() {
+		c := config.DistributedConfig{
+			Enabled:                 true,
+			NatsURL:                 "nats://localhost:4222",
+			RegistrationRequireAuth: true,
+		}
+		err := c.Validate()
+		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_REQUIRE_AUTH"))
+		Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_TOKEN"))
+	})
+
+	It("accepts a set registration token when RequireAuth is set", func() {
+		c := config.DistributedConfig{
+			Enabled:                 true,
+			NatsURL:                 "nats://localhost:4222",
+			RegistrationToken:       "s3cret",
+			RegistrationRequireAuth: true,
+		}
+		Expect(c.Validate()).To(Succeed())
+	})
+
+	It("warns but succeeds with an empty token when RequireAuth is unset", func() {
+		c := config.DistributedConfig{
+			Enabled: true,
+			NatsURL: "nats://localhost:4222",
+		}
+		Expect(c.Validate()).To(Succeed())
+	})
+
+	It("rejects an empty token when the umbrella RequireAuth is set", func() {
+		c := config.DistributedConfig{
+			Enabled:     true,
+			NatsURL:     "nats://localhost:4222",
+			RequireAuth: true,
+			// Provide NATS creds so only the registration-token gap remains.
+			NatsServiceJWT:  "jwt",
+			NatsServiceSeed: "seed",
+			NatsAccountSeed: "acct",
+		}
+		err := c.Validate()
+		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("LOCALAI_DISTRIBUTED_REQUIRE_AUTH"))
+		Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("LOCALAI_REGISTRATION_TOKEN"))
+	})
+
+	It("the umbrella implies NATS auth is required", func() {
+		c := config.DistributedConfig{
+			Enabled:           true,
+			NatsURL:           "nats://localhost:4222",
+			RegistrationToken: "tok", // registration layer satisfied
+			RequireAuth:       true,  // umbrella → NATS creds now required
+		}
+		Expect(c.NatsAuthRequired()).To(BeTrue())
+		Expect(c.RegistrationAuthRequired()).To(BeTrue())
+		// Missing NATS service JWT/seed must now be fatal.
+		err := c.Validate()
+		Expect(err).To(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(err.Error()).To(ContainSubstring("LOCALAI_NATS_REQUIRE_AUTH"))
+	})
+})

core/config/gen_inference_defaults/main.go

@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
-	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"sort"
 	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/httpclient"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ var allowedFields = map[string]bool{
 func main() {
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Fetching %s ...\n", unslothURL)
 
-	resp, err := http.Get(unslothURL)
+	resp, err := httpclient.New(httpclient.WithFollowRedirects()).Get(unslothURL)
 	if err != nil {
 		fatal("fetch failed: %v", err)
 	}

core/config/meta/registry.go

@@ -128,6 +128,22 @@ func DefaultRegistry() map[string]FieldMetaOverride {
 			Advanced:    true,
 			Order:       21,
 		},
+		"reasoning_effort": {
+			Section:     "llm",
+			Label:       "Reasoning Effort",
+			Description: "Default reasoning effort, forwarded to the backend as the reasoning_effort chat_template_kwarg (jinja models like gpt-oss / LFM2.5 honor it). A per-request reasoning_effort overrides it. 'none' also turns thinking off.",
+			Component:   "select",
+			Options: []FieldOption{
+				{Value: "", Label: "Unset (model default)"},
+				{Value: "none", Label: "none (disable thinking)"},
+				{Value: "minimal", Label: "minimal"},
+				{Value: "low", Label: "low"},
+				{Value: "medium", Label: "medium"},
+				{Value: "high", Label: "high"},
+			},
+			Advanced: true,
+			Order:    22,
+		},
 		"cache_type_k": {
 			Section:     "llm",
 			Label:       "KV Cache Type (K)",
@@ -277,6 +293,21 @@ func DefaultRegistry() map[string]FieldMetaOverride {
 			AutocompleteProvider: ProviderModelsVAD,
 			Order:                63,
 		},
+		"pipeline.reasoning_effort": {
+			Section:     "pipeline",
+			Label:       "Reasoning Effort",
+			Description: "Reasoning effort for the pipeline's LLM, forwarded to the backend as the reasoning_effort chat_template_kwarg (jinja models like gpt-oss / LFM2.5 honor it). Overrides the LLM model's own reasoning_effort. 'none' also turns thinking off.",
+			Component:   "select",
+			Options: []FieldOption{
+				{Value: "", Label: "Default (model config)"},
+				{Value: "none", Label: "none (disable thinking)"},
+				{Value: "minimal", Label: "minimal"},
+				{Value: "low", Label: "low"},
+				{Value: "medium", Label: "medium"},
+				{Value: "high", Label: "high"},
+			},
+			Order: 64,
+		},
 
 		// --- Functions ---
 		"function.grammar.parallel_calls": {

core/config/model_config.go

@@ -63,6 +63,13 @@ type ModelConfig struct {
 	FunctionsConfig functions.FunctionsConfig `yaml:"function,omitempty" json:"function,omitempty"`
 	ReasoningConfig reasoning.Config          `yaml:"reasoning,omitempty" json:"reasoning,omitempty"`
 
+	// ReasoningEffort is the default reasoning effort (none|minimal|low|medium|high)
+	// for this model. A per-request reasoning_effort overrides it. It is forwarded
+	// to the backend as the reasoning_effort chat_template_kwarg (see
+	// gRPCPredictOpts), so jinja-templated models that key on it — e.g. gpt-oss
+	// (Harmony) or LFM2.5 — honor it; "none" also toggles enable_thinking off.
+	ReasoningEffort string `yaml:"reasoning_effort,omitempty" json:"reasoning_effort,omitempty"`
+
 	FeatureFlag FeatureFlag `yaml:"feature_flags,omitempty" json:"feature_flags,omitempty"` // Feature Flag registry. We move fast, and features may break on a per model/backend basis. Registry for (usually temporary) flags that indicate aborting something early.
 	// LLM configs (GPT4ALL, Llama.cpp, ...)
 	LLMConfig `yaml:",inline" json:",inline"`
@@ -487,6 +494,40 @@ type Pipeline struct {
 	LLM           string `yaml:"llm,omitempty" json:"llm,omitempty"`
 	Transcription string `yaml:"transcription,omitempty" json:"transcription,omitempty"`
 	VAD           string `yaml:"vad,omitempty" json:"vad,omitempty"`
+
+	// ReasoningEffort sets the reasoning effort (none|minimal|low|medium|high) for
+	// the pipeline's LLM without editing the LLM model config. Overrides the LLM's
+	// own reasoning_effort. Unset leaves the LLM model config in charge.
+	ReasoningEffort string `yaml:"reasoning_effort,omitempty" json:"reasoning_effort,omitempty"`
+}
+
+// ApplyReasoningEffort resolves the effective reasoning effort — a per-request
+// value (requestEffort) overrides the config's own ReasoningEffort default —
+// stores it on the config so gRPCPredictOpts forwards it to the backend as the
+// reasoning_effort chat_template_kwarg, and maps it onto the enable_thinking
+// toggle the backend also reads:
+//   - "none" always disables thinking.
+//   - any explicit level enables it, UNLESS the config already disabled reasoning
+//     (an operator's explicit disable wins over a request asking to think).
+//
+// An empty requestEffort keeps the config's own default. With no effort set
+// anywhere it is a no-op, leaving the model's reasoning settings untouched.
+func (c *ModelConfig) ApplyReasoningEffort(requestEffort string) {
+	effort := requestEffort
+	if effort == "" {
+		effort = c.ReasoningEffort
+	}
+	c.ReasoningEffort = effort
+	switch strings.ToLower(effort) {
+	case "none":
+		disable := true
+		c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning = &disable
+	case "minimal", "low", "medium", "high":
+		if c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning == nil || !*c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning {
+			enable := false
+			c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning = &enable
+		}
+	}
 }
 
 // @Description File configuration for model downloads
@@ -694,6 +735,18 @@ func (c *ModelConfig) IsModelURL() bool {
 	return uri.LooksLikeURL()
 }
 
+// ModelID returns the identifier used to reference this model across the
+// system: the configured Name, falling back to Model when Name is empty.
+// This is the single source of truth for the id fed to model.WithModelID and
+// the prefix-cache chain salt; both MUST agree with the router's tracking key
+// or the prefix-cache salt diverges silently.
+func (c ModelConfig) ModelID() string {
+	if c.Name != "" {
+		return c.Name
+	}
+	return c.Model
+}
+
 // ModelFileName returns the filename of the model
 // If the model is a URL, it will return the MD5 of the URL which is the filename
 func (c *ModelConfig) ModelFileName() string {
@@ -732,6 +785,17 @@ func (cfg *ModelConfig) SetDefaults(opts ...ConfigLoaderOption) {
 		cfg.Proxy.Mode = ProxyModePassthrough
 	}
 
+	// When templating is delegated to the backend (use_tokenizer_template),
+	// the backend also owns tool-call grammar generation and parsing. Sending
+	// a LocalAI-generated grammar alongside overrides the backend's native
+	// (name-first) tool pipeline and makes it stream the tool-call JSON back as
+	// plain content (issue #10052). The GGUF auto-import path already couples
+	// these two flags; enforce it here so gallery and hand-written configs that
+	// set use_tokenizer_template directly stay consistent.
+	if cfg.TemplateConfig.UseTokenizerTemplate {
+		cfg.FunctionsConfig.GrammarConfig.NoGrammar = true
+	}
+
 	// Apply model-family-specific inference defaults before generic fallbacks.
 	// This ensures gallery-installed and runtime-loaded models get optimal parameters.
 	ApplyInferenceDefaults(cfg, cfg.Name, cfg.Model)

core/config/model_config_test.go

@@ -10,6 +10,23 @@ import (
 )
 
 var _ = Describe("Test cases for config related functions", func() {
+	Context("ModelID", func() {
+		It("returns Name when set", func() {
+			c := ModelConfig{Name: "my-name"}
+			c.Model = "my-model"
+			Expect(c.ModelID()).To(Equal("my-name"))
+		})
+		It("falls back to Model when Name is empty", func() {
+			c := ModelConfig{}
+			c.Model = "my-model"
+			Expect(c.ModelID()).To(Equal("my-model"))
+		})
+		It("returns empty string when both are empty", func() {
+			c := ModelConfig{}
+			Expect(c.ModelID()).To(Equal(""))
+		})
+	})
+
 	Context("Test Read configuration functions", func() {
 		It("Test Validate", func() {
 			tmp, err := os.CreateTemp("", "config.yaml")
@@ -471,4 +488,33 @@ concurrency_groups:
 			Expect(configs[0].GetConcurrencyGroups()).To(Equal([]string{"vram-heavy", "120b"}))
 		})
 	})
+
+	// When templating is delegated to the backend (use_tokenizer_template),
+	// the backend also owns tool-call grammar generation and parsing. A
+	// LocalAI-generated grammar sent alongside would override the backend's
+	// native (name-first) tool pipeline and make it stream the tool-call JSON
+	// back as plain content (issue #10052). SetDefaults must therefore couple
+	// the two: tokenizer template implies grammar generation is disabled.
+	Context("use_tokenizer_template couples with grammar disable (issue #10052)", func() {
+		It("disables Go grammar generation when the tokenizer template is used", func() {
+			cfg := &ModelConfig{
+				TemplateConfig: TemplateConfig{UseTokenizerTemplate: true},
+			}
+			Expect(cfg.FunctionsConfig.GrammarConfig.NoGrammar).To(BeFalse())
+
+			cfg.SetDefaults()
+
+			Expect(cfg.FunctionsConfig.GrammarConfig.NoGrammar).To(BeTrue(),
+				"use_tokenizer_template must imply grammar.disable so tools go to the backend's native pipeline")
+		})
+
+		It("leaves grammar generation enabled when the tokenizer template is not used", func() {
+			cfg := &ModelConfig{}
+
+			cfg.SetDefaults()
+
+			Expect(cfg.FunctionsConfig.GrammarConfig.NoGrammar).To(BeFalse(),
+				"models that template in Go still rely on the Go-generated grammar")
+		})
+	})
 })

core/config/reasoning_effort_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+package config_test
+
+import (
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+)
+
+// ApplyReasoningEffort resolves the effective reasoning effort (request value
+// overrides the model config default), stores it on the config so it reaches the
+// backend, and maps it onto the enable_thinking toggle.
+var _ = Describe("ModelConfig.ApplyReasoningEffort", func() {
+	It("uses the request value over the config default", func() {
+		c := &config.ModelConfig{ReasoningEffort: "high"}
+		c.ApplyReasoningEffort("none")
+		Expect(c.ReasoningEffort).To(Equal("none"))
+		Expect(c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning).ToNot(BeNil())
+		Expect(*c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning).To(BeTrue())
+	})
+
+	It("falls back to the config default when the request omits it", func() {
+		c := &config.ModelConfig{ReasoningEffort: "none"}
+		c.ApplyReasoningEffort("")
+		Expect(c.ReasoningEffort).To(Equal("none"))
+		Expect(c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning).ToNot(BeNil())
+		Expect(*c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning).To(BeTrue())
+	})
+
+	It("enables thinking for an explicit effort level", func() {
+		c := &config.ModelConfig{}
+		c.ApplyReasoningEffort("medium")
+		Expect(c.ReasoningEffort).To(Equal("medium"))
+		Expect(c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning).ToNot(BeNil())
+		Expect(*c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning).To(BeFalse())
+	})
+
+	It("does not let a level override an operator's config-level disable", func() {
+		disabled := true
+		c := &config.ModelConfig{}
+		c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning = &disabled
+		c.ApplyReasoningEffort("high")
+		Expect(*c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning).To(BeTrue())
+	})
+
+	It("is a no-op on the toggle when no effort is set anywhere", func() {
+		c := &config.ModelConfig{}
+		c.ApplyReasoningEffort("")
+		Expect(c.ReasoningEffort).To(Equal(""))
+		Expect(c.ReasoningConfig.DisableReasoning).To(BeNil())
+	})
+})

core/gallery/importers/importers.go

@@ -115,6 +115,10 @@ var defaultImporters = []Importer{
 	&NemoImporter{},
 	&FasterWhisperImporter{},
 	&QwenASRImporter{},
+	// ParakeetCppImporter matches only parakeet GGUFs (<arch>-<size>-<quant>.gguf);
+	// kept ahead of LlamaCPPImporter so its .gguf bundles aren't claimed by the
+	// generic GGUF importer.
+	&ParakeetCppImporter{},
 	// TTS (Batch 2)
 	&PiperImporter{},
 	&BarkImporter{},

core/gallery/importers/parakeet-cpp.go

@@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+package importers
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"strings"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/gallery"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/downloader"
+	hfapi "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/huggingface-api"
+	"go.yaml.in/yaml/v2"
+)
+
+var _ Importer = &ParakeetCppImporter{}
+
+// ParakeetCppImporter recognises parakeet.cpp GGUF weights, the C++/ggml port
+// of NVIDIA NeMo Parakeet. The signal is narrow on purpose: parakeet.cpp names
+// its weights "<arch>-<size>-<quant>.gguf" (e.g. tdt_ctc-110m-f16.gguf,
+// rnnt-0.6b-q4_k.gguf, realtime_eou_120m-v1-q8_0.gguf), so we only match a
+// .gguf whose name carries a parakeet architecture token. That keeps us from
+// claiming arbitrary llama-style GGUFs (the importer is registered before
+// llama-cpp), and it deliberately does NOT match the upstream nvidia/parakeet-*
+// NeMo repos (which ship .nemo checkpoints, not runnable GGUFs).
+// preferences.backend="parakeet-cpp" forces the importer regardless.
+type ParakeetCppImporter struct{}
+
+func (i *ParakeetCppImporter) Name() string      { return "parakeet-cpp" }
+func (i *ParakeetCppImporter) Modality() string  { return "asr" }
+func (i *ParakeetCppImporter) AutoDetects() bool { return true }
+
+func (i *ParakeetCppImporter) Match(details Details) bool {
+	preferences, err := details.Preferences.MarshalJSON()
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	preferencesMap := make(map[string]any)
+	if len(preferences) > 0 {
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(preferences, &preferencesMap); err != nil {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	if b, ok := preferencesMap["backend"].(string); ok && b == "parakeet-cpp" {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	// Direct URL or path to a parakeet GGUF.
+	if isParakeetGGUF(filepath.Base(details.URI)) {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	// HF repo shipping at least one parakeet GGUF.
+	if details.HuggingFace != nil {
+		for _, f := range details.HuggingFace.Files {
+			if isParakeetGGUF(filepath.Base(f.Path)) {
+				return true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return false
+}
+
+func (i *ParakeetCppImporter) Import(details Details) (gallery.ModelConfig, error) {
+	preferences, err := details.Preferences.MarshalJSON()
+	if err != nil {
+		return gallery.ModelConfig{}, err
+	}
+	preferencesMap := make(map[string]any)
+	if len(preferences) > 0 {
+		if err := json.Unmarshal(preferences, &preferencesMap); err != nil {
+			return gallery.ModelConfig{}, err
+		}
+	}
+
+	name, ok := preferencesMap["name"].(string)
+	if !ok {
+		name = filepath.Base(details.URI)
+	}
+
+	description, ok := preferencesMap["description"].(string)
+	if !ok {
+		description = "Imported from " + details.URI
+	}
+
+	// parakeet quants are near-lossless even at Q4_K (WER 0.0 vs NeMo on 110m),
+	// so default to the smallest, then fall back up the size ladder; the last
+	// file wins if none match (mirrors whisper / llama-cpp).
+	preferredQuants, _ := preferencesMap["quantizations"].(string)
+	quants := []string{"q4_k", "q5_k", "q6_k", "q8_0", "f16"}
+	if preferredQuants != "" {
+		quants = strings.Split(preferredQuants, ",")
+	}
+
+	cfg := gallery.ModelConfig{
+		Name:        name,
+		Description: description,
+	}
+
+	modelConfig := config.ModelConfig{
+		Name:                name,
+		Description:         description,
+		Backend:             "parakeet-cpp",
+		KnownUsecaseStrings: []string{"transcript"},
+	}
+
+	uri := downloader.URI(details.URI)
+	directGGUF := isParakeetGGUF(filepath.Base(details.URI))
+	switch {
+	case uri.LooksLikeURL() && directGGUF:
+		// Direct file URL (e.g. .../resolve/main/tdt_ctc-110m-f16.gguf). The
+		// exact file is known, no quant pick.
+		fileName, err := uri.FilenameFromUrl()
+		if err != nil {
+			return gallery.ModelConfig{}, err
+		}
+		target := filepath.Join("parakeet-cpp", "models", name, fileName)
+		cfg.Files = append(cfg.Files, gallery.File{
+			URI:      details.URI,
+			Filename: target,
+		})
+		modelConfig.PredictionOptions = schema.PredictionOptions{
+			BasicModelRequest: schema.BasicModelRequest{Model: target},
+		}
+	case details.HuggingFace != nil:
+		// HF repo: collect every parakeet GGUF, pick the preferred quant, and
+		// nest under parakeet-cpp/models/<name>/ so a multi-quant repo doesn't
+		// collide on disk.
+		var ggufFiles []hfapi.ModelFile
+		for _, f := range details.HuggingFace.Files {
+			if isParakeetGGUF(filepath.Base(f.Path)) {
+				ggufFiles = append(ggufFiles, f)
+			}
+		}
+		if chosen, ok := pickPreferredGGMLFile(ggufFiles, quants); ok {
+			target := filepath.Join("parakeet-cpp", "models", name, filepath.Base(chosen.Path))
+			cfg.Files = append(cfg.Files, gallery.File{
+				URI:      chosen.URL,
+				Filename: target,
+				SHA256:   chosen.SHA256,
+			})
+			modelConfig.PredictionOptions = schema.PredictionOptions{
+				BasicModelRequest: schema.BasicModelRequest{Model: target},
+			}
+		}
+	default:
+		// Bare URI with no HF metadata (pref-only path): point at the basename
+		// so users can tweak the YAML after import.
+		modelConfig.PredictionOptions = schema.PredictionOptions{
+			BasicModelRequest: schema.BasicModelRequest{Model: filepath.Base(details.URI)},
+		}
+	}
+
+	data, err := yaml.Marshal(modelConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		return gallery.ModelConfig{}, err
+	}
+	cfg.ConfigFile = string(data)
+
+	return cfg, nil
+}
+
+// isParakeetGGUF reports whether name is a parakeet.cpp GGUF: a .gguf file
+// whose name carries a parakeet architecture token. The .gguf check is
+// case-insensitive; the tokens cover the published naming
+// (<arch>-<size>-<quant>.gguf) plus a generic "parakeet" fallback.
+func isParakeetGGUF(name string) bool {
+	lower := strings.ToLower(name)
+	if !strings.HasSuffix(lower, ".gguf") {
+		return false
+	}
+	for _, tok := range []string{"tdt_ctc", "tdt-", "tdt_", "rnnt", "ctc-", "ctc_", "realtime_eou", "parakeet"} {
+		if strings.Contains(lower, tok) {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}

core/gallery/importers/parakeet-cpp_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+package importers_test
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/gallery/importers"
+	hfapi "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/huggingface-api"
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+// hfWith builds Details carrying a synthetic HF file list so detection can be
+// exercised without hitting the network.
+func parakeetDetails(uri string, prefs string, files ...hfapi.ModelFile) importers.Details {
+	return importers.Details{
+		URI:         uri,
+		Preferences: json.RawMessage(prefs),
+		HuggingFace: &hfapi.ModelDetails{Files: files},
+	}
+}
+
+var _ = Describe("ParakeetCppImporter", func() {
+	imp := &importers.ParakeetCppImporter{}
+
+	Context("Importer interface metadata", func() {
+		It("exposes name/modality/autodetect", func() {
+			Expect(imp.Name()).To(Equal("parakeet-cpp"))
+			Expect(imp.Modality()).To(Equal("asr"))
+			Expect(imp.AutoDetects()).To(BeTrue())
+		})
+	})
+
+	Context("detection (Match)", func() {
+		It("matches an HF repo shipping a parakeet GGUF", func() {
+			d := parakeetDetails("huggingface://mudler/parakeet-cpp-gguf", `{}`,
+				hfapi.ModelFile{Path: "tdt_ctc-110m-f16.gguf"},
+				hfapi.ModelFile{Path: "README.md"},
+			)
+			Expect(imp.Match(d)).To(BeTrue())
+		})
+
+		It("matches a direct URL to a parakeet GGUF", func() {
+			d := parakeetDetails("https://huggingface.co/mudler/parakeet-cpp-gguf/resolve/main/rnnt-0.6b-q4_k.gguf", `{}`)
+			Expect(imp.Match(d)).To(BeTrue())
+		})
+
+		It("honours preferences.backend=parakeet-cpp for arbitrary URIs", func() {
+			d := parakeetDetails("https://example.com/whatever", `{"backend": "parakeet-cpp"}`)
+			Expect(imp.Match(d)).To(BeTrue())
+		})
+
+		It("does NOT claim a generic llama-style GGUF", func() {
+			d := parakeetDetails("huggingface://someorg/some-llm-gguf", `{}`,
+				hfapi.ModelFile{Path: "llama-3-8b-instruct-q4_k_m.gguf"},
+			)
+			Expect(imp.Match(d)).To(BeFalse())
+		})
+
+		It("does NOT claim the upstream NeMo repo (.nemo, no GGUF)", func() {
+			d := parakeetDetails("huggingface://nvidia/parakeet-tdt_ctc-110m", `{}`,
+				hfapi.ModelFile{Path: "parakeet-tdt_ctc-110m.nemo"},
+			)
+			Expect(imp.Match(d)).To(BeFalse())
+		})
+	})
+
+	Context("import (Import)", func() {
+		It("picks the default quant (q4_k) from a multi-quant HF repo", func() {
+			d := parakeetDetails("huggingface://mudler/parakeet-cpp-gguf", `{"name":"parakeet-110m"}`,
+				hfapi.ModelFile{Path: "tdt_ctc-110m-f16.gguf", URL: "https://hf/f16", SHA256: "aaa"},
+				hfapi.ModelFile{Path: "tdt_ctc-110m-q4_k.gguf", URL: "https://hf/q4k", SHA256: "bbb"},
+				hfapi.ModelFile{Path: "tdt_ctc-110m-q8_0.gguf", URL: "https://hf/q8", SHA256: "ccc"},
+			)
+			cfg, err := imp.Import(d)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(cfg.ConfigFile).To(ContainSubstring("backend: parakeet-cpp"), fmt.Sprintf("%+v", cfg))
+			Expect(cfg.ConfigFile).To(ContainSubstring("transcript"))
+			Expect(cfg.Files).To(HaveLen(1))
+			Expect(cfg.Files[0].URI).To(Equal("https://hf/q4k"), "default quant should be q4_k")
+			Expect(cfg.Files[0].Filename).To(ContainSubstring("parakeet-cpp/models/parakeet-110m/tdt_ctc-110m-q4_k.gguf"))
+		})
+
+		It("honours a preferred quantization override", func() {
+			d := parakeetDetails("huggingface://mudler/parakeet-cpp-gguf", `{"name":"p","quantizations":"q8_0"}`,
+				hfapi.ModelFile{Path: "tdt_ctc-110m-f16.gguf", URL: "https://hf/f16"},
+				hfapi.ModelFile{Path: "tdt_ctc-110m-q8_0.gguf", URL: "https://hf/q8"},
+			)
+			cfg, err := imp.Import(d)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(cfg.Files).To(HaveLen(1))
+			Expect(cfg.Files[0].URI).To(Equal("https://hf/q8"))
+		})
+
+		It("uses the exact file for a direct GGUF URL", func() {
+			d := parakeetDetails("https://huggingface.co/mudler/parakeet-cpp-gguf/resolve/main/ctc-0.6b-q5_k.gguf", `{"name":"ctc"}`)
+			cfg, err := imp.Import(d)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			Expect(cfg.Files).To(HaveLen(1))
+			Expect(cfg.Files[0].Filename).To(ContainSubstring("parakeet-cpp/models/ctc/ctc-0.6b-q5_k.gguf"))
+		})
+	})
+})