fix(gallery): default audio-cpp models to backend:best (#11892)

* fix(gallery): default audio-cpp models to backend:best

The audio-cpp engine creates its session on the CPU backend when no
backend option is given, so every gallery model ran CPU-only even on
machines where a CUDA/Vulkan/Metal device was registered. backend:best
selects the best available backend and falls back to CPU.

Assisted-by: Claude:claude-fable-5
Signed-off-by: Plamen K. Kosseff <p.kosseff@gmail.com>

* docs(audio-cpp): explain gallery device selection

Document automatic compute backend selection and the CPU override.

Assisted-by: Codex:gpt-6
Signed-off-by: Plamen K. Kosseff <p.kosseff@gmail.com>

---------

Signed-off-by: Plamen K. Kosseff <p.kosseff@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: localai-org-maint-bot <306269227+localai-org-maint-bot@users.noreply.github.com>

.agents/ai-coding-assistants.md

@@ -49,6 +49,40 @@ AI agents MUST NOT add `Co-Authored-By` trailers for themselves either.
 A human reviewer owns the contribution; the AI's involvement is recorded
 via `Assisted-by` (see below).
 
+### Exception: automation operated by a maintainer
+
+The rule above addresses the common case, an AI assistant helping a human
+contributor who then signs off. It does not fit automation that a
+maintainer runs themselves, which opens pull requests with no human
+submitter to sign. Applied literally there, nothing ever signs and the
+DCO check blocks the pull request permanently.
+
+A maintainer-operated bot MUST therefore add a `Signed-off-by` trailer
+naming **the maintainer who operates it**, not the bot and not the model:
+
+```
+Assisted-by: Codex:gpt-5
+Signed-off-by: Ettore Di Giacinto <mudler@localai.io>
+```
+
+This is not the AI certifying the DCO. The maintainer is, exactly as they
+do for a commit they typed by hand: they configured the automation, they
+own its output, and they take responsibility for it when they merge it.
+The `Assisted-by` trailer still records that a model produced the code, so
+the provenance trail is unchanged.
+
+The exception is narrow and does not widen the rule for anyone else:
+
+- It applies only to automation a LocalAI maintainer operates and whose
+  output that maintainer reviews before merge.
+- The sign-off names a real person who accepts DCO responsibility.
+- An AI assistant helping an outside contributor still MUST NOT sign off.
+  That contributor adds their own trailer.
+- A bot MUST NOT sign off on behalf of anyone other than its operator, and
+  MUST NOT add a trailer for a contributor whose branch it pushes to. If
+  automation contributes to someone else's branch, it leaves the sign-off
+  to that contributor.
+
 ## Attribution
 
 When AI tools contribute to LocalAI development, proper attribution helps

.agents/api-endpoints-and-auth.md

@@ -236,6 +236,58 @@ Use these HTTP status codes:
 
 If your endpoint should be tracked for usage (token counts, request counts), add the `usageMiddleware` to its middleware chain. See `core/http/middleware/usage.go` and how it's applied in `routes/openai.go`.
 
+## Control-plane database health metrics
+
+In distributed mode the frontend registers three OpenTelemetry gauges over the
+PostgreSQL control-plane database (`core/services/monitoring/control_plane_db.go`,
+wired in `core/application/distributed.go`). They reach `/metrics` through the
+same Prometheus exporter as the rest of the API metrics.
+
+| Metric | Meaning | Page when |
+|--------|---------|-----------|
+| `localai_control_plane_oldest_xmin_age` | Transactions elapsed since the oldest snapshot any backend still holds | above a few million, and rising |
+| `localai_control_plane_longest_transaction_seconds` | Age of the longest open transaction | above 3600 |
+| `localai_control_plane_dead_tuple_ratio` | Dead tuples per live tuple, labelled by `table`, on `backend_nodes`, `node_models` and `gallery_operations` | sustained above ~10 on a small table |
+
+A sustained high `localai_control_plane_oldest_xmin_age` is the one to page on.
+While it grows, autovacuum can reclaim nothing anywhere in the database no
+matter how often it runs, so the dead tuple ratio keeps climbing and a six-row
+registry table can reach hundreds of megabytes. Tuning autovacuum does not help.
+The fix is to find the transaction holding the horizon open and clear it:
+
+```sql
+SELECT pid, state, age(backend_xmin) AS xmin_age, now() - xact_start AS xact_age, query
+FROM pg_stat_activity
+WHERE backend_xmin IS NOT NULL
+ORDER BY age(backend_xmin) DESC;
+```
+
+Then `pg_terminate_backend(pid)` on the offenders, and `VACUUM (VERBOSE)` the
+bloated tables once the horizon has moved.
+
+**A healthy-looking xmin age does not on its own prove the horizon is free.**
+The gauge reads `pg_stat_activity`, which only sees live backends. Two other
+things pin the very same horizon and are invisible there, so either one can hold
+vacuum back while the gauge reads 0:
+
+```sql
+SELECT gid, prepared, database, transaction FROM pg_prepared_xacts;
+SELECT slot_name, active, xmin, catalog_xmin FROM pg_replication_slots;
+```
+
+An orphaned prepared transaction is cleared with `ROLLBACK PREPARED '<gid>'`,
+and a stale slot with `pg_drop_replication_slot('<slot_name>')`. Check both
+before concluding that a bloated table has some other cause.
+
+Sampling is scrape-driven behind a 30 second cache, so scrape frequency does not
+translate into database load. Failed and timed-out samples cost the same interval
+as successful ones, so a database that is already struggling is not retried on
+every scrape. A failed sample reports the last good values rather than failing the
+scrape, because these gauges matter most when the database is struggling. Before
+the first successful sample the gauges are absent rather than zero, since a zero
+xmin age would read as a healthy horizon: alert on `absent()` too if you need to
+distinguish "healthy" from "never sampled".
+
 ## Advertising surfaces — where to register a new capability
 
 Beyond routing and auth, LocalAI publishes its capability surface in **four independent places**. When you add an endpoint — especially one introducing a net-new capability like a new media type or a new auth-gated feature — you must update every relevant surface. These aren't optional: missing them means the endpoint works but is invisible to clients, admins, and the UI.

.agents/ds4-backend.md

@@ -77,6 +77,56 @@ spectrum. **Metal (Darwin) only** - it is a no-op on CUDA/CPU. Enable with
 budget). Gallery entries built on this: `deepseek-v4-flash-q4-ssd` (153 GB Flash
 on a 128 GB Mac) and `deepseek-v4-pro-q2-ssd` (433 GB Pro, experimental).
 
+## CUDA architecture (do not build without one)
+
+`backend/cpp/ds4/Makefile` drives upstream's **object targets** directly
+(`$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4.o ds4_cuda.o ...`), which bypasses upstream's own guard:
+its `cuda` target refuses to build unless `CUDA_ARCH` is set, and offers
+`cuda-spark` (sm_121, DGX Spark / GB10) and `cuda-generic` (native) instead.
+Built with no `-arch`, nvcc targets its default architecture and the kernels run
+as JIT'd PTX. On GB10 that silently corrupted every prefill batch of >=128
+tokens - the model emitted text unrelated to the prompt and never closed its
+thinking block, so `content` came back empty - and cost close to two orders of
+magnitude of prefill throughput (4.21 t/s vs 325.70 t/s, same box, same model).
+Short prompts stayed correct, which is why it went unnoticed.
+
+The Makefile therefore picks a gencode list from `CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION` (a build
+arg the backend matrix already declares, forwarded by `Dockerfile.ds4`) and
+`uname -m`, and passes it as `NVCC_ARCH_FLAGS` to the sub-make. Upstream's
+`CUDA_ARCH` accepts a single value, so it cannot express the fat binary the
+shipped images need; a command-line assignment beats its `:=`. An empty
+`CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION` falls back to upstream's `native` for local developer
+builds, and an unrecognised one is a hard error - no CI runner has a GPU, so a
+silent `native` there is exactly the failure mode this guards against.
+
+`DS4_CUDA_HAVE_MXF4` is deliberately unset: upstream defines it only for
+single-arch sm_120/sm_121 builds and guards it with a plain `#ifdef` rather than
+`__CUDA_ARCH__`, so it cannot be combined with older archs. It gates an optional
+MXFP4 indexer fast path whose `#ifndef` branch returns 0, so omitting it costs
+speed, not correctness.
+
+### Verifying a build
+
+Check which flags a configuration resolves to, without compiling anything:
+
+```
+make -C backend/cpp/ds4 BUILD_TYPE=cublas CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION=13 NATIVE=false \
+  --eval='show: ; @echo [$(DS4_ARCH_MAKEVARS)]' show
+```
+
+Do not use `make -n` for this: the recipe is `+$(MAKE) ...`, and the `+` prefix
+makes it run even under `-n`.
+
+Then exercise the failure mode itself against a built backend. It only appears
+above one prefill batch, so the ordinary `predict` spec cannot catch it:
+
+```
+BACKEND_BINARY=$(pwd)/backend/cpp/ds4/package/run.sh \
+BACKEND_TEST_MODEL_FILE=/path/to/ds4flash.gguf \
+BACKEND_TEST_CAPS=health,load,predict,long_prefill \
+go test -count=1 -timeout=30m -v ./tests/e2e-backends/...
+```
+
 ## Build matrix
 
 | Build | Where | Notes |

.github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md

@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ This PR fixes #
 **Notes for Reviewers**
 
 
-**[Signed commits](../CONTRIBUTING.md#signing-off-on-commits-developer-certificate-of-origin)**
+**[Signed commits](../CONTRIBUTING.md#commit-messages)**
 - [ ] Yes, I signed my commits.
 - [ ] Documentation updated (docs/content/) for user-facing changes, or not applicable
  

.github/backend-matrix.yml

@@ -3754,6 +3754,19 @@ 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-stablediffusion-ggml'
+    runs-on: 'ubuntu-latest'
+    base-image: "rocm/dev-ubuntu-24.04:7.2.1"
+    skip-drivers: 'false'
+    backend: "stablediffusion-ggml"
+    dockerfile: "./backend/Dockerfile.golang"
+    context: "./"
+    ubuntu-version: '2404'
   - build-type: 'sycl_f16'
     cuda-major-version: ""
     cuda-minor-version: ""

.github/bump_vllm_metal.sh

@@ -3,9 +3,9 @@
 # darwin (Apple Silicon) install path. The macOS/Metal build
 # (backend/python/vllm/install.sh, Darwin branch) installs vllm-metal, which is
 # version-locked to a specific vLLM source release. install.sh derives that vLLM
-# version at build time from vllm-metal's own installer at the pinned
-# tag, so there is only ONE value to bump here -- mirroring bump_vllm_wheel.sh,
-# which bumps the Linux cu130 wheel pin.
+# version, and the wheel asset name, at build time from the pinned tag, so there
+# is only ONE value to bump here -- mirroring bump_vllm_wheel.sh, which bumps the
+# Linux cu130 wheel pin.
 #
 # This deliberately tracks vllm-project/vllm-metal, NOT vllm-project/vllm: the
 # darwin build can only use the exact vLLM version vllm-metal supports, so it may
@@ -23,15 +23,20 @@ if [ -z "$FILE" ] || [ -z "$REPO" ] || [ -z "$VAR" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-# vllm-metal ships frequent dev releases, all flagged as non-prerelease, so
-# /releases/latest returns the newest one (with its cp312 wheel asset).
+# vllm-metal ships frequent .dev releases, flagged as prereleases, alongside the
+# stable ones. /releases/latest skips the prereleases and returns the newest
+# stable tag, which is what darwin should pin: upstream deletes and re-cuts .dev
+# tags, and a pin to a deleted tag 404s the whole build.
 LATEST_TAG=$(gh_curl -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
     "https://api.github.com/repos/$REPO/releases/latest" \
     | python3 -c "import json,sys; print(json.load(sys.stdin)['tag_name'])")
 
-# The coupled vLLM source version lives in vllm-metal's installer at that tag.
-NEW_VLLM_VERSION=$(gh_curl \
-    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/$REPO/$LATEST_TAG/install.sh" \
+# The coupled vLLM release lives in .github/vllm-release-tag.commit at that tag
+# (since vllm-metal 0.28); releases predating that file pinned it inline in their
+# own install.sh. The extractor reads both forms.
+NEW_VLLM_VERSION=$( { gh_curl \
+    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/$REPO/$LATEST_TAG/.github/vllm-release-tag.commit" \
+    || gh_curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/$REPO/$LATEST_TAG/install.sh"; } \
     | "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/../scripts/lib/extract-vllm-metal-version.sh")
 
 if [ -z "$LATEST_TAG" ] || [ -z "$NEW_VLLM_VERSION" ]; then

.github/ci/test-website-review-143.sh

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+python3 - <<'PY'
+from pathlib import Path
+
+home = Path("website/layouts/index.html").read_text()
+css = Path("website/static/css/site.css").read_text()
+install = Path("docs/content/getting-started/install.md").read_text()
+containers = Path("docs/content/getting-started/containers.md").read_text()
+
+def require(condition, message):
+    if not condition:
+        raise SystemExit(f"FAIL: {message}")
+
+require("Drop-in replacement for most upstream APIs." in home,
+        "homepage must use the requested drop-in API heading")
+require("Everything else plugs into LocalAI." not in home,
+        "old runtime heading must be removed")
+require("When the engine we need" not in home,
+        "hero must describe user outcomes instead of team implementation")
+require('href="mailto:contact@localai.io"' in home and "business" in home.lower(),
+        "homepage must provide a direct business contact action")
+require(home.index('id="localai"') < home.index('id="proof-quotes"') < home.index('id="mission"'),
+        "headline testimonials must directly follow the runtime section")
+require(home.count('id="proof-quotes"') == 1,
+        "headline testimonials must appear exactly once")
+require('id="engines"' not in home and "Engines we build" not in home,
+        "homepage engine showcase must be removed")
+require('href="/docs/installation/index.html"' in home,
+        "installation guide action must use the direct installation URL")
+require('<iframe' in install and "youtube.com/embed/cMVNnlqwfw4" in install,
+        "installation page must embed the walkthrough video")
+require("## Quick Start" not in install,
+        "installation landing page must not duplicate Quick Start")
+for text in ("CUDA 12", "CUDA 13", "ROCm", "Intel", "Jetson", "Vulkan", "fallback"):
+    require(text.lower() in containers.lower(), f"GPU chooser must explain {text}")
+require('class="sn__e"><a href="https://github.com/mudler/parakeet.cpp">parakeet.cpp</a>' in home,
+        "capability engine names must link to their repositories")
+require(".pane{min-height:" in css.replace(" ", ""),
+        "all installation panes must have a fixed minimum height")
+
+print("website review 143 source checks passed")
+PY

.github/dependabot.yml

@@ -29,10 +29,6 @@ updates:
     schedule:
       # Check for updates to GitHub Actions every weekday
       interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/backend/python/bark"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
   - package-ecosystem: "pip"
     directory: "/backend/python/common/template"
     schedule:
@@ -55,30 +51,10 @@ updates:
     ignore:
     - dependency-name: "torch"
     - dependency-name: "transformers"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/backend/python/exllama"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/backend/python/exllama2"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/backend/python/mamba"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/backend/python/openvoice"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
   - package-ecosystem: "pip"
     directory: "/backend/python/rerankers"
     schedule:
       interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/backend/python/sentencetransformers"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
   - package-ecosystem: "pip"
     directory: "/backend/python/transformers"
     schedule:
@@ -86,44 +62,4 @@ updates:
   - package-ecosystem: "pip"
     directory: "/backend/python/vllm"
     schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/examples/chainlit"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/examples/functions"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/examples/langchain/langchainpy-localai-example"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/examples/langchain-chroma"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "pip"
-    directory: "/examples/streamlit-bot"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "docker"
-    directory: "/examples/k8sgpt"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "docker"
-    directory: "/examples/kubernetes"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "docker"
-    directory: "/examples/langchain"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "gomod"
-    directory: "/examples/semantic-todo"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
-  - package-ecosystem: "docker"
-    directory: "/examples/telegram-bot"
-    schedule:
-      interval: "weekly"
+      interval: "weekly"

.github/workflows/bump_deps.yaml

@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ jobs:
           push-to-fork: ci-forks/LocalAI
           commit-message: ':arrow_up: Update ${{ matrix.repository }}'
           title: 'chore: :arrow_up: Update ${{ matrix.repository }} to `${{ steps.bump.outputs.commit }}`'
-          branch: "update/${{ matrix.variable }}"
+          branch: "bump/${{ matrix.variable }}"
           body: ${{ steps.bump.outputs.message }}
           signoff: true
 
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ jobs:
           push-to-fork: ci-forks/LocalAI
           commit-message: ':arrow_up: Update vllm-project/vllm cu130 wheel'
           title: 'chore: :arrow_up: Update vllm-project/vllm cu130 wheel to `${{ steps.bump.outputs.commit }}`'
-          branch: "update/VLLM_VERSION"
+          branch: "bump/VLLM_VERSION"
           body: ${{ steps.bump.outputs.message }}
           signoff: true
 
@@ -241,6 +241,6 @@ jobs:
           push-to-fork: ci-forks/LocalAI
           commit-message: ':arrow_up: Update vllm-project/vllm-metal (darwin)'
           title: 'chore: :arrow_up: Update vllm-metal (darwin) to `${{ steps.bump.outputs.commit }}`'
-          branch: "update/VLLM_METAL_VERSION"
+          branch: "bump/VLLM_METAL_VERSION"
           body: ${{ steps.bump.outputs.message }}
           signoff: true

.github/workflows/notify-releases.yaml

@@ -31,13 +31,14 @@ jobs:
             messages: [
                 {
                 role: "system",
-                content: "Write a discord message with a bullet point summary of the release notes."
+                content: "Write a Discord message with a bullet point summary of the release notes. Keep the complete message under 1800 characters."
                 },
                 {
                 role: "user",
                 content: $input
                 }
-            ]
+            ],
+            max_tokens: 450
             }')
 
             # Send the request to LocalAI API
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ jobs:
             -d "$json_payload")
 
             # Extract the summary from the response
-            summary=$(echo $response | jq -r '.choices[0].message.content')
+            summary=$(printf '%s' "$response" | jq -er '.choices[0].message.content | strings | .[0:1800]')
 
             # Print the summary
             #  -H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \

.github/workflows/test.yml

@@ -80,8 +80,13 @@ jobs:
             coverage/coverage.out
             coverage/coverage.html
           if-no-files-found: ignore
+      # tmate keeps the runner busy until the 6 hour job limit, so a single
+      # failure costs a whole runner slot. Only open a session when someone
+      # asked for one by labelling the pull request `ci-debug`, and cap the
+      # session so a forgotten label cannot idle a runner either.
       - name: Setup tmate session if tests fail
-        if: ${{ failure() }}
+        if: ${{ failure() && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'ci-debug') }}
+        timeout-minutes: 30
         uses: mxschmitt/action-tmate@v3.23
         with:
           detached: true
@@ -125,8 +130,13 @@ jobs:
           export PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/make/libexec/gnubin:$PATH"
           PATH="$PATH:$HOME/go/bin" make protogen-go
           PATH="$PATH:$HOME/go/bin" BUILD_TYPE="GITHUB_CI_HAS_BROKEN_METAL" CMAKE_ARGS="-DGGML_F16C=OFF -DGGML_AVX512=OFF -DGGML_AVX2=OFF -DGGML_FMA=OFF" make --jobs 4 --output-sync=target test
+      # tmate keeps the runner busy until the 6 hour job limit, so a single
+      # failure costs a whole runner slot. Only open a session when someone
+      # asked for one by labelling the pull request `ci-debug`, and cap the
+      # session so a forgotten label cannot idle a runner either.
       - name: Setup tmate session if tests fail
-        if: ${{ failure() }}
+        if: ${{ failure() && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'ci-debug') }}
+        timeout-minutes: 30
         uses: mxschmitt/action-tmate@v3.23
         with:
           detached: true

.github/workflows/tests-aio.yml

@@ -77,8 +77,13 @@ jobs:
       - name: Test
         run: |
             PATH="$PATH:$HOME/go/bin" make backends/local-store backends/silero-vad backends/llama-cpp backends/whisper backends/piper backends/stablediffusion-ggml docker-build-e2e e2e-aio
+      # tmate keeps the runner busy until the 6 hour job limit, so a single
+      # failure costs a whole runner slot. Only open a session when someone
+      # asked for one by labelling the pull request `ci-debug`, and cap the
+      # session so a forgotten label cannot idle a runner either.
       - name: Setup tmate session if tests fail
-        if: ${{ failure() }}
+        if: ${{ failure() && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'ci-debug') }}
+        timeout-minutes: 30
         uses: mxschmitt/action-tmate@v3.23
         with:
           detached: true

.github/workflows/tests-e2e.yml

@@ -63,8 +63,13 @@ jobs:
       - name: Test Backend E2E
         run: |
           PATH="$PATH:$HOME/go/bin" make build-mock-backend test-e2e
+      # tmate keeps the runner busy until the 6 hour job limit, so a single
+      # failure costs a whole runner slot. Only open a session when someone
+      # asked for one by labelling the pull request `ci-debug`, and cap the
+      # session so a forgotten label cannot idle a runner either.
       - name: Setup tmate session if tests fail
-        if: ${{ failure() }}
+        if: ${{ failure() && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'ci-debug') }}
+        timeout-minutes: 30
         uses: mxschmitt/action-tmate@v3.23
         with:
           detached: true

.github/workflows/tests-pii-ner-e2e.yml

@@ -88,8 +88,13 @@ jobs:
       # CPU and runs the token_classify capability spec (byte-offset contract).
       - name: Run live PII NER backend E2E
         run: PATH="$PATH:$HOME/go/bin" make test-extra-backend-privacy-filter
+      # tmate keeps the runner busy until the 6 hour job limit, so a single
+      # failure costs a whole runner slot. Only open a session when someone
+      # asked for one by labelling the pull request `ci-debug`, and cap the
+      # session so a forgotten label cannot idle a runner either.
       - name: Setup tmate session if tests fail
-        if: ${{ failure() }}
+        if: ${{ failure() && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'ci-debug') }}
+        timeout-minutes: 30
         uses: mxschmitt/action-tmate@v3.23
         with:
           detached: true

.github/workflows/tests-ui-e2e.yml

@@ -75,8 +75,13 @@ jobs:
           path: core/http/react-ui/coverage/
           if-no-files-found: ignore
           retention-days: 7
+      # tmate keeps the runner busy until the 6 hour job limit, so a single
+      # failure costs a whole runner slot. Only open a session when someone
+      # asked for one by labelling the pull request `ci-debug`, and cap the
+      # session so a forgotten label cannot idle a runner either.
       - name: Setup tmate session if tests fail
-        if: ${{ failure() }}
+        if: ${{ failure() && contains(github.event.pull_request.labels.*.name, 'ci-debug') }}
+        timeout-minutes: 30
         uses: mxschmitt/action-tmate@v3.23
         with:
           detached: true

AGENTS.md

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ Human contributors: see [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for the development w
 
 LocalAI follows the Linux kernel project's [guidelines for AI coding assistants](https://docs.kernel.org/process/coding-assistants.html). Before submitting AI-assisted code, read [.agents/ai-coding-assistants.md](.agents/ai-coding-assistants.md). Key rules:
 
-- **No `Signed-off-by` from AI.** Only the human submitter may sign off on the Developer Certificate of Origin.
+- **No `Signed-off-by` from AI.** Only the human submitter may sign off on the Developer Certificate of Origin. One exception: automation a maintainer operates signs off with *that maintainer's* identity, since no other human submitter exists to certify it. See [.agents/ai-coding-assistants.md](.agents/ai-coding-assistants.md).
 - **No `Co-Authored-By: <AI>` trailers.** The human contributor owns the change.
 - **Use an `Assisted-by:` trailer** to attribute AI involvement. Format: `Assisted-by: AGENT_NAME:MODEL_VERSION [TOOL1] [TOOL2]`.
 - **The human submitter is responsible** for reviewing, testing, and understanding every line of generated code.

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ LocalAI follows the **same guidelines as the Linux kernel project** for AI-assis
 
 The full policy for this repository lives in [`.agents/ai-coding-assistants.md`](.agents/ai-coding-assistants.md). Summary:
 
-- **AI agents MUST NOT add `Signed-off-by` tags.** Only humans can certify the Developer Certificate of Origin.
+- **AI agents MUST NOT add `Signed-off-by` tags.** Only humans can certify the Developer Certificate of Origin. Automation operated by a maintainer is the one exception: it signs off with that maintainer's identity, because there is no other human submitter to certify it.
 - **AI agents MUST NOT add `Co-Authored-By` trailers** attributing themselves as co-authors.
 - **Attribute AI involvement with an `Assisted-by` trailer** in the commit message:
 

Makefile

@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ TEST_FLAKES?=5
 RANDOM := $(shell bash -c 'echo $$RANDOM')
 
 VERSION?=$(shell git describe --always --tags || echo "dev" )
+# fyne package only accepts numeric x[.y[.z]] app versions, so reduce git
+# describe output (v4.9.0, v4.9.0-14-gabc1234, or a bare sha on untagged
+# checkouts) to its numeric core; anything non-numeric falls back to 0.0.0.
+# Without this the packaged launcher reports itself as version 0.0.0 (#11673).
+LAUNCHER_APP_VERSION?=$(shell v=$$(echo "$(VERSION)" | sed -E 's/^v//; s/[+-].*$$//'); echo "$$v" | grep -qE '^[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+){0,2}$$' && echo "$$v" || echo "0.0.0")
 # go tool nm ./local-ai | grep Commit
 LD_FLAGS?=-s -w
 override LD_FLAGS += -X "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/internal.Version=$(VERSION)"
@@ -388,9 +393,17 @@ test-e2e: build-mock-backend build-cloud-proxy-backend prepare-e2e run-e2e-image
 	$(MAKE) teardown-e2e
 	docker rmi localai-tests
 
+# `docker stop` returns as soon as the container exits, but Docker reaps a
+# `--rm` container asynchronously after that. The `docker rmi localai-tests` in
+# test-e2e then loses the race against the reaper and fails on a still
+# referenced image, turning a green suite red. Removing the container ourselves
+# is synchronous, so the image reference is gone before we return. It also
+# covers the case where nothing is running, which `docker stop` could not
+# because it rejects an empty argument list.
 teardown-e2e:
 	rm -rf $(TEST_DIR) || true
-	docker stop $$(docker ps -q --filter ancestor=localai-tests)
+	@CONTAINERS=$$(docker ps -aq --filter ancestor=localai-tests 2>/dev/null); \
+	if [ -n "$$CONTAINERS" ]; then docker rm -f $$CONTAINERS || true; fi
 
 ########################################################
 ## Integration and unit tests
@@ -1622,7 +1635,7 @@ site-serve: site
 build-launcher-darwin:
 	rm -rf dist/LocalAI.app cmd/launcher/LocalAI.app
 	mkdir -p dist
-	cd cmd/launcher && go run fyne.io/tools/cmd/fyne@latest package -os darwin -icon ../../core/http/static/logo.png --executable $(LAUNCHER_BINARY_NAME)
+	cd cmd/launcher && go run fyne.io/tools/cmd/fyne@latest package -os darwin -icon ../../core/http/static/logo.png --executable $(LAUNCHER_BINARY_NAME) --app-version $(LAUNCHER_APP_VERSION)
 	mv cmd/launcher/LocalAI.app dist/LocalAI.app
 	bash contrib/macos/sign-and-notarize.sh sign dist/LocalAI.app
 
@@ -1649,4 +1662,4 @@ release-launcher-darwin: notarize-launcher-darwin
 	@echo "dist/LocalAI.dmg is ready"
 
 build-launcher-linux:
-	cd cmd/launcher && go run fyne.io/tools/cmd/fyne@latest package -os linux -icon ../../core/http/static/logo.png --executable $(LAUNCHER_BINARY_NAME)-linux && mv LocalAI.tar.xz ../../$(LAUNCHER_BINARY_NAME)-linux.tar.xz
+	cd cmd/launcher && go run fyne.io/tools/cmd/fyne@latest package -os linux -icon ../../core/http/static/logo.png --executable $(LAUNCHER_BINARY_NAME)-linux --app-version $(LAUNCHER_APP_VERSION) && mv LocalAI.tar.xz ../../$(LAUNCHER_BINARY_NAME)-linux.tar.xz

backend/Dockerfile.ds4

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ FROM ${BASE_IMAGE} AS builder
 ARG BUILD_TYPE
 ARG TARGETARCH
 ARG TARGETVARIANT
+ARG CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION
 
 ENV BUILD_TYPE=${BUILD_TYPE} \
     DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive \
@@ -35,7 +36,8 @@ RUN apt-get update && \
 COPY . /LocalAI
 
 RUN --mount=type=cache,target=/root/.ccache,id=ds4-ccache-${TARGETARCH}-${BUILD_TYPE},sharing=locked \
-    make -C /LocalAI/backend/cpp/ds4 BUILD_TYPE=${BUILD_TYPE} NATIVE=false grpc-server package
+    make -C /LocalAI/backend/cpp/ds4 BUILD_TYPE=${BUILD_TYPE} \
+        CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION=${CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION} NATIVE=false grpc-server package
 
 FROM scratch
 COPY --from=builder /LocalAI/backend/cpp/ds4/package/. ./

backend/cpp/audio-cpp/Makefile

@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 # recipe is a make target (not a prepare.sh) so 'make purge && make' is a clean
 # rebuild and so the bump bot can see the pin.
 
-AUDIO_CPP_VERSION?=a61da671b6a81c79071500954eea3c91c1a383dd
+AUDIO_CPP_VERSION?=9c6a282337cc83f227cc10428867a478947706ad
 AUDIO_CPP_REPO?=https://github.com/0xShug0/audio.cpp
 
 CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR := $(dir $(abspath $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))

backend/cpp/bonsai/Makefile

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 
 # Pinned to the HEAD of the `prism` branch on https://github.com/PrismML-Eng/llama.cpp.
 # Auto-bumped nightly by .github/workflows/bump_deps.yaml.
-BONSAI_VERSION?=9ca265a57f85f2117942490f421f64a226dd9847
+BONSAI_VERSION?=312bb2a93ea2bf798333fa859614fbf913ecb9e2
 LLAMA_REPO?=https://github.com/PrismML-Eng/llama.cpp
 
 CMAKE_ARGS?=
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ define bonsai-build
 	# and are applied by apply-patches.sh below.
 	rm -rf $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/../bonsai-$(1)-build/patches
 	$(MAKE) -C $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/../bonsai-$(1)-build purge
+	bash $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/patch-grpc-server.sh $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/../bonsai-$(1)-build/grpc-server.cpp
 	bash $(LLAMA_CPP_DIR)/disable-score-task.sh $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/../bonsai-$(1)-build/grpc-server.cpp
 	bash $(LLAMA_CPP_DIR)/disable-tts-task.sh $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/../bonsai-$(1)-build/grpc-server.cpp
 	$(info $(GREEN)I bonsai build info:$(1)$(RESET))
@@ -79,6 +80,7 @@ bonsai-cpu-all:
 	# and are applied by apply-patches.sh below.
 	rm -rf $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/../bonsai-cpu-all-build/patches
 	$(MAKE) -C $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/../bonsai-cpu-all-build purge
+	bash $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/patch-grpc-server.sh $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/../bonsai-cpu-all-build/grpc-server.cpp
 	bash $(LLAMA_CPP_DIR)/disable-score-task.sh $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/../bonsai-cpu-all-build/grpc-server.cpp
 	bash $(LLAMA_CPP_DIR)/disable-tts-task.sh $(CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR)/../bonsai-cpu-all-build/grpc-server.cpp
 	$(info $(GREEN)I bonsai build info:cpu-all-variants$(RESET))

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

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# Adapt the shared llama.cpp gRPC source to the older JSON API in Bonsai.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+if [[ $# -ne 1 ]]; then
+    echo "usage: $0 <grpc-server.cpp>" >&2
+    exit 2
+fi
+
+SRC=$1
+if [[ ! -f "$SRC" ]]; then
+    echo "grpc-server.cpp not found at $SRC" >&2
+    exit 2
+fi
+
+if grep -q 'common_json_error' "$SRC"; then
+    echo "==> patching $SRC to use the Bonsai JSON exception type"
+    awk '{ gsub(/common_json_error/, "json::parse_error"); print }' "$SRC" > "$SRC.tmp"
+    mv "$SRC.tmp" "$SRC"
+    echo "==> Bonsai JSON exception patch OK"
+else
+    echo "==> $SRC already uses a Bonsai-compatible JSON exception type, skipping"
+fi

backend/cpp/ds4/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -84,9 +84,10 @@ elseif(DS4_GPU STREQUAL "cpu")
     set(DS4_OBJS "${DS4_DIR}/ds4_cpu.o")
 endif()
 
-# Upstream splits distributed inference, tensor-parallel transport, the SSD
-# expert cache, and layer placement into GPU-agnostic translation units. Link
-# them regardless of DS4_GPU.
+# Upstream splits image preprocessing, distributed inference, tensor-parallel
+# transport, the SSD expert cache, and layer placement into GPU-agnostic
+# translation units. Link them regardless of DS4_GPU.
+list(APPEND DS4_OBJS "${DS4_DIR}/ds4_image.o")
 list(APPEND DS4_OBJS "${DS4_DIR}/ds4_distributed.o")
 list(APPEND DS4_OBJS "${DS4_DIR}/ds4_tp.o")
 list(APPEND DS4_OBJS "${DS4_DIR}/ds4_ssd.o")

backend/cpp/ds4/Makefile

@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 # ds4 backend Makefile.
 #
-# Upstream pin lives below as DS4_VERSION?=84cc882352757baf628a1776badf7cc54d584e28
+# Upstream pin lives below as DS4_VERSION?=f62ca29a308724cde5bc99134ede19104b2a3260
 # (.github/bump_deps.sh) can find and update it - matches the
 # llama-cpp / ik-llama-cpp / turboquant convention.
 
-DS4_VERSION?=84cc882352757baf628a1776badf7cc54d584e28
+DS4_VERSION?=f62ca29a308724cde5bc99134ede19104b2a3260
 DS4_REPO?=https://github.com/antirez/ds4
 
 CURRENT_MAKEFILE_DIR := $(dir $(abspath $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))))
@@ -18,21 +18,83 @@ UNAME_S := $(shell uname -s)
 
 CMAKE_ARGS ?= -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
 
-# Upstream splits distributed inference, tensor-parallel transport, the SSD
-# expert cache, and layer placement into GPU-agnostic translation units. They
-# are shared by every GPU mode, so append them unconditionally below.
+# nvcc must be told the target architecture explicitly for a cublas build, and
+# this is not a tuning knob. Upstream's Makefile leaves CUDA_ARCH empty and its
+# `cuda` target REFUSES to build without one, offering `cuda-spark`
+# (CUDA_ARCH=sm_121) and `cuda-generic` (CUDA_ARCH=native) instead. We drive its
+# object targets directly, which bypasses that guard: nvcc then compiles with no
+# -arch at all, and the kernels run as JIT'd PTX for its default architecture.
+# On GB10 (sm_121) that silently produced corrupt inference output above a
+# ~128-token prefill batch and ~77x slower prefill (4.21 t/s vs 325.70 t/s,
+# measured on the same box with the same model). No CI runner has a GPU, so
+# `native` has nothing to enumerate there.
+#
+# Upstream's CUDA_ARCH takes a SINGLE value (see its sm_120/sm_121 special cases
+# and the `-arch=$(CUDA_ARCH)` fallback), so it cannot express the fat binary
+# these images need. NVCC_ARCH_FLAGS is overridden instead: a command-line
+# assignment wins over the `:=` in upstream's Makefile, and its NVCCFLAGS
+# expands whatever we pass.
+#
+# The architecture lists are copied from backend/go/vllm-cpp/Makefile rather
+# than invented, so the two CUDA images cover the same GPUs: amd64 datacenter +
+# consumer, and l4t/arm64 covering Orin (87), Thor (110) and GB10 (121a).
+#
+# -DDS4_CUDA_HAVE_MXF4=1 is deliberately NOT set. Upstream only defines it for
+# single-arch sm_120/sm_121 builds and guards the code with a plain #ifdef
+# rather than __CUDA_ARCH__, so it cannot be combined with older archs in one
+# fat binary. It gates an optional MXFP4 indexer fast path whose #ifndef branch
+# returns 0 and falls back to the generic path, so omitting it costs some speed
+# on GB10, not correctness. Revisit if upstream adds __CUDA_ARCH__ guards.
+#
+# An EMPTY CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION means a local developer build, not CI: fall back
+# to upstream's own `native` handling, which needs a GPU present but is what a
+# developer building on their own machine wants. Both variables are `?=` so an
+# explicit value on the command line always wins.
+UNAME_M := $(shell uname -m)
+CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION ?=
+ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),cublas)
+ifeq ($(CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION),13)
+ifeq ($(UNAME_M),aarch64)
+    DS4_NVCC_ARCH_FLAGS ?= -gencode arch=compute_87,code=sm_87 \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_90a,code=sm_90a \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_100a,code=sm_100a \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_110,code=sm_110 \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_121a,code=sm_121a
+else
+    DS4_NVCC_ARCH_FLAGS ?= -gencode arch=compute_80,code=sm_80 \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_86,code=sm_86 \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_89,code=sm_89 \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_90a,code=sm_90a \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_100a,code=sm_100a \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_103a,code=sm_103a \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_120a,code=sm_120a \
+                           -gencode arch=compute_121a,code=sm_121a
+endif
+    DS4_ARCH_MAKEVARS := NVCC_ARCH_FLAGS="$(DS4_NVCC_ARCH_FLAGS)"
+else ifeq ($(CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION),)
+    # Local build: let upstream resolve the host GPU.
+    DS4_ARCH_MAKEVARS := CUDA_ARCH=native
+else
+    $(error CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION=$(CUDA_MAJOR_VERSION) has no architecture list here (13 does). Leave it empty for a native build, or pass DS4_NVCC_ARCH_FLAGS explicitly.)
+endif
+endif
+
+# Upstream splits image preprocessing, distributed inference, tensor-parallel
+# transport, the SSD expert cache, and layer placement into GPU-agnostic
+# translation units. They are shared by every GPU mode, so append them
+# unconditionally below.
 ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),cublas)
     CMAKE_ARGS += -DDS4_GPU=cuda
-    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4.o ds4_cuda.o ds4_distributed.o ds4_tp.o ds4_ssd.o ds4_layer_pack.o \
+    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4.o ds4_image.o ds4_cuda.o ds4_distributed.o ds4_tp.o ds4_ssd.o ds4_layer_pack.o \
         cuda/mmq/ds4_ggml_stubs.o cuda/mmq/ds4_mmq.o cuda/mmq/ds4_mmq_d2r.o \
         cuda/mmq/quantize.o cuda/mmq/mmid.o cuda/mmq/mmvq.o cuda/mmq/ds4_repack.o
 else ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Darwin)
     CMAKE_ARGS += -DDS4_GPU=metal
-    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4.o ds4_metal.o ds4_distributed.o ds4_tp.o ds4_ssd.o ds4_layer_pack.o
+    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4.o ds4_image.o ds4_metal.o ds4_distributed.o ds4_tp.o ds4_ssd.o ds4_layer_pack.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_distributed.o ds4_tp.o ds4_ssd.o ds4_layer_pack.o
+    DS4_OBJ_TARGET := ds4_cpu.o ds4_image.o ds4_distributed.o ds4_tp.o ds4_ssd.o ds4_layer_pack.o
 endif
 
 ifneq ($(NATIVE),true)
@@ -57,11 +119,11 @@ ds4:
 # the right per-platform compile flags (Objective-C/Metal on Darwin, nvcc on Linux+CUDA).
 ds4/ds4.o: ds4
 ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),cublas)
-	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 $(DS4_OBJ_TARGET)
+	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 $(DS4_ARCH_MAKEVARS) $(DS4_OBJ_TARGET)
 else ifeq ($(UNAME_S),Darwin)
-	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4.o ds4_metal.o ds4_distributed.o ds4_tp.o ds4_ssd.o ds4_layer_pack.o
+	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4.o ds4_image.o ds4_metal.o ds4_distributed.o ds4_tp.o ds4_ssd.o ds4_layer_pack.o
 else
-	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4_cpu.o ds4_distributed.o ds4_tp.o ds4_ssd.o ds4_layer_pack.o
+	+$(MAKE) -C ds4 ds4_cpu.o ds4_image.o ds4_distributed.o ds4_tp.o ds4_ssd.o ds4_layer_pack.o
 endif
 
 grpc-server: ds4/ds4.o

backend/cpp/ds4/dsml_parser.cpp

@@ -92,7 +92,8 @@ std::string json_escape(const std::string &in) {
 
 } // namespace
 
-DsmlParser::DsmlParser() = default;
+DsmlParser::DsmlParser(bool starts_in_thinking)
+    : state_(starts_in_thinking ? State::THINK : State::TEXT) {}
 
 bool DsmlParser::IsInDsmlStructural() const {
     switch (state_) {

backend/cpp/ds4/dsml_parser.h

@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@ struct ParserEvent {
 // Streaming parser. Stateless across instances; one per Predict call.
 class DsmlParser {
 public:
-    DsmlParser();
+    // The chat prompt may already contain the opening thinking marker, so the
+    // generated text can begin directly with reasoning bytes.
+    explicit DsmlParser(bool starts_in_thinking = false);
 
     // Feed a chunk of raw model-emitted text. Appends classified events to
     // `out`. May buffer the tail of `chunk` internally if it looks like a
@@ -43,7 +45,7 @@ public:
 
 private:
     enum class State { TEXT, THINK, TOOL_CALLS, INVOKE, PARAM_VALUE };
-    State state_ = State::TEXT;
+    State state_;
     std::string buf_;
     std::string current_tool_name_;
     int tool_index_ = -1;

backend/cpp/ds4/dsml_parser_test.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+// Standalone regression tests for the DSML streaming parser.
+//
+// The repository's backend/cpp/run-unit-tests.sh harness compiles each
+// *_test.cpp as a single translation unit, so include the implementation here.
+
+#include "dsml_parser.cpp"
+
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <string>
+#include <type_traits>
+#include <vector>
+
+namespace {
+
+struct ParsedText {
+    std::string content;
+    std::string reasoning;
+};
+
+int failures = 0;
+
+void check_equal(const std::string &got, const std::string &want,
+                 const char *name) {
+    if (got == want) return;
+    std::fprintf(stderr, "FAIL %s: got \"%s\", want \"%s\"\n",
+                 name, got.c_str(), want.c_str());
+    failures++;
+}
+
+void collect_text(const std::vector<ds4cpp::ParserEvent> &events,
+                  ParsedText *parsed) {
+    for (const auto &event : events) {
+        if (event.type == ds4cpp::ParserEvent::CONTENT) {
+            parsed->content += event.text;
+        } else if (event.type == ds4cpp::ParserEvent::REASONING) {
+            parsed->reasoning += event.text;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+ParsedText parse_chunks(ds4cpp::DsmlParser *parser,
+                        const std::vector<std::string> &chunks) {
+    ParsedText parsed;
+    for (const auto &chunk : chunks) {
+        std::vector<ds4cpp::ParserEvent> events;
+        parser->Feed(chunk, events);
+        collect_text(events, &parsed);
+    }
+    std::vector<ds4cpp::ParserEvent> events;
+    parser->Flush(events);
+    collect_text(events, &parsed);
+    return parsed;
+}
+
+template <typename Parser>
+void test_reasoning_opened_by_prompt() {
+    if constexpr (!std::is_constructible_v<Parser, bool>) {
+        std::fprintf(stderr,
+                     "FAIL reasoning_opened_by_prompt: parser cannot start in thinking state\n");
+        failures++;
+    } else {
+        Parser parser(true);
+        ParsedText parsed = parse_chunks(
+            &parser,
+            {"We need to calculate factorial recursively.</think>Here is the answer."});
+        check_equal(parsed.reasoning,
+                    "We need to calculate factorial recursively.",
+                    "reasoning_opened_by_prompt:reasoning");
+        check_equal(parsed.content, "Here is the answer.",
+                    "reasoning_opened_by_prompt:content");
+    }
+}
+
+template <typename Parser>
+Parser text_parser() {
+    if constexpr (std::is_constructible_v<Parser, bool>) {
+        return Parser(false);
+    } else {
+        return Parser();
+    }
+}
+
+void test_reasoning_disabled() {
+    auto parser = text_parser<ds4cpp::DsmlParser>();
+    ParsedText parsed = parse_chunks(&parser, {"Here is the answer."});
+    check_equal(parsed.reasoning, "", "reasoning_disabled:reasoning");
+    check_equal(parsed.content, "Here is the answer.",
+                "reasoning_disabled:content");
+}
+
+void test_explicit_think_tag() {
+    auto parser = text_parser<ds4cpp::DsmlParser>();
+    ParsedText parsed = parse_chunks(
+        &parser, {"<think>reasoning</think>answer"});
+    check_equal(parsed.reasoning, "reasoning", "explicit_think_tag:reasoning");
+    check_equal(parsed.content, "answer", "explicit_think_tag:content");
+}
+
+template <typename Parser>
+void test_split_think_close_marker() {
+    if constexpr (!std::is_constructible_v<Parser, bool>) {
+        std::fprintf(stderr,
+                     "FAIL split_think_close_marker: parser cannot start in thinking state\n");
+        failures++;
+    } else {
+        Parser parser(true);
+        ParsedText parsed = parse_chunks(
+            &parser,
+            {"We need ", "to calculate ", "factorial", "</thi", "nk>",
+             "Here is ", "the answer."});
+        check_equal(parsed.reasoning, "We need to calculate factorial",
+                    "split_think_close_marker:reasoning");
+        check_equal(parsed.content, "Here is the answer.",
+                    "split_think_close_marker:content");
+    }
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
+int main() {
+    test_reasoning_opened_by_prompt<ds4cpp::DsmlParser>();
+    test_reasoning_disabled();
+    test_explicit_think_tag();
+    test_split_think_close_marker<ds4cpp::DsmlParser>();
+
+    if (failures == 0) {
+        std::fprintf(stderr, "all dsml_parser checks passed\n");
+        return 0;
+    }
+    std::fprintf(stderr, "%d check(s) failed\n", failures);
+    return 1;
+}

backend/cpp/ds4/generation_limits.h

@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+#pragma once
+
+#include <algorithm>
+
+namespace ds4cpp {
+
+inline int EffectiveGenerationLimit(int requested, int context_size,
+                                    int session_position) {
+  const int limit = requested > 0 ? requested : 256;
+  const int room = context_size - session_position;
+  if (room <= 1) return 0;
+  return std::min(limit, room - 1);
+}
+
+inline int RemainingGenerationBudget(int effective_limit, int produced) {
+  if (effective_limit <= produced) return 0;
+  return effective_limit - produced;
+}
+
+inline int SpeculativeAcceptedCapacity(int remaining, int draft_allowance,
+                                       int buffer_capacity) {
+  if (remaining <= 0 || draft_allowance < 0 || buffer_capacity <= 0) return 0;
+  return std::min({remaining, draft_allowance + 1, buffer_capacity});
+}
+
+} // namespace ds4cpp

backend/cpp/ds4/generation_limits_test.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,92 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+
+#include "generation_limits.h"
+
+#include <cstdio>
+
+namespace {
+
+int failures = 0;
+
+void check_equal(int got, int want, const char *name) {
+  if (got == want) return;
+  std::fprintf(stderr, "FAIL %s: got %d, want %d\n", name, got, want);
+  failures++;
+}
+
+// Mutation caught: treating omitted or negative max_tokens as unlimited instead
+// of preserving DS4's legacy 256-token default.
+void test_nonpositive_uses_legacy_default_when_space_permits() {
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::EffectiveGenerationLimit(0, 4096, 100), 256,
+              "zero max_tokens uses legacy default");
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::EffectiveGenerationLimit(-1, 4096, 100), 256,
+              "negative max_tokens uses legacy default");
+}
+
+// Mutation caught: applying the legacy default without clamping it to the
+// post-prefill context room and reserved slot.
+void test_legacy_default_is_clamped_by_context() {
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::EffectiveGenerationLimit(0, 300, 100), 199,
+              "legacy default is context-clamped");
+}
+
+// Mutation caught: allowing an explicitly large request to overrun the
+// post-prefill context boundary.
+void test_large_positive_limit_is_clamped_to_context() {
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::EffectiveGenerationLimit(32768, 32768, 100), 32667,
+              "large positive is context-clamped");
+}
+
+// Mutation caught: replacing every positive request with the legacy default
+// rather than preserving a smaller configured limit.
+void test_smaller_positive_limit_is_preserved() {
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::EffectiveGenerationLimit(64, 4096, 100), 64,
+              "smaller positive is preserved");
+}
+
+// Mutation caught: consuming the final context slot instead of reserving it as
+// required by DS4's generation loop.
+void test_no_usable_room_returns_zero() {
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::EffectiveGenerationLimit(32, 100, 99), 0,
+              "one remaining context slot is not usable");
+}
+
+// Mutation caught: sending the original generation limit to a later
+// speculative cycle instead of subtracting tokens already produced.
+void test_remaining_budget_accounts_for_produced_tokens() {
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::RemainingGenerationBudget(10, 4), 6,
+              "remaining budget subtracts produced tokens");
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::RemainingGenerationBudget(10, 12), 0,
+              "remaining budget never becomes negative");
+}
+
+// Mutation caught: giving speculative evaluation capacity beyond either the
+// output budget, the draft allowance plus its first target token, or the fixed
+// accepted-token buffer.
+void test_speculative_capacity_obeys_all_bounds() {
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::SpeculativeAcceptedCapacity(3, 8, 8), 3,
+              "capacity respects remaining output budget");
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::SpeculativeAcceptedCapacity(20, 4, 8), 5,
+              "capacity includes one target token beyond draft allowance");
+  check_equal(ds4cpp::SpeculativeAcceptedCapacity(20, 8, 6), 6,
+              "capacity respects fixed buffer");
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
+int main() {
+  test_nonpositive_uses_legacy_default_when_space_permits();
+  test_legacy_default_is_clamped_by_context();
+  test_large_positive_limit_is_clamped_to_context();
+  test_smaller_positive_limit_is_preserved();
+  test_no_usable_room_returns_zero();
+  test_remaining_budget_accounts_for_produced_tokens();
+  test_speculative_capacity_obeys_all_bounds();
+
+  if (failures == 0) {
+    std::fprintf(stderr, "all generation limit checks passed\n");
+    return 0;
+  }
+  std::fprintf(stderr, "%d check(s) failed\n", failures);
+  return 1;
+}

backend/cpp/ds4/grpc-server.cpp

@@ -10,7 +10,9 @@
 
 #include "dsml_parser.h"   // populated in Task 12
 #include "dsml_renderer.h" // populated in Task 16
+#include "generation_limits.h"
 #include "kv_cache.h"      // populated in Task 17
+#include "request_lifecycle.h"
 
 extern "C" {
 #include "ds4.h"
@@ -35,6 +37,7 @@ extern "C" {
 #include <mutex>
 #include <string>
 #include <thread>
+#include <utility>
 #include <vector>
 
 using grpc::Server;
@@ -69,6 +72,21 @@ int g_route_timeout_sec = 60;
 
 std::atomic<Server *> g_server{nullptr};
 
+static bool server_context_cancelled(void *ud) {
+    return static_cast<ServerContext *>(ud)->IsCancelled();
+}
+
+static void set_session_cancel(void *target, ds4cpp::CancelCallback callback,
+                               void *userdata) noexcept {
+    ds4_session_set_cancel(static_cast<ds4_session *>(target), callback, userdata);
+}
+
+static bool request_should_continue(ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle *request,
+                                    ServerContext *context) {
+    request->ObserveContextCancellation(context->IsCancelled());
+    return request->ShouldContinue();
+}
+
 // Parse a "key:value" option string. Returns empty when no colon.
 static std::pair<std::string, std::string> split_option(const std::string &opt) {
     auto colon = opt.find(':');
@@ -238,37 +256,58 @@ static bool apply_engine_option(ds4_engine_options *opt, const std::string &key,
 
 // 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.
+// elapses. 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 "";
+struct RouteWaitResult {
+    ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision decision;
+    std::string error;
+};
+
+static RouteWaitResult wait_route_ready(std::unique_lock<std::mutex> &lock,
+                                        ServerContext *context) {
+    if (!g_distributed) return {ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Ready, ""};
     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");
+        switch (ds4cpp::DecideRouteWait(ready, context->IsCancelled())) {
+        case ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Ready:
+            return {ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Ready, ""};
+        case ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Error:
+            return {ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Error,
+                    std::string("ds4 distributed route error: ") +
+                        (err[0] ? err : "unknown")};
+        case ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Cancelled:
+            return {ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Cancelled, ""};
+        case ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Pending:
+            break;
         }
+        if (i == deadline_polls) break;
         // 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();
+        if (context->IsCancelled()) {
+            return {ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Cancelled, ""};
+        }
         // 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 {ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Error,
+                    "ds4: model unloaded while waiting for distributed route"};
         }
     }
-    return "ds4 distributed route incomplete: workers not connected (layers uncovered)";
+    if (context->IsCancelled()) {
+        return {ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Cancelled, ""};
+    }
+    return {ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Error,
+            "ds4 distributed route incomplete: workers not connected (layers uncovered)"};
 }
 
 static void append_token_text(ds4_engine *engine, int token, std::string &out) {
@@ -341,9 +380,9 @@ static void collect_done(void *) {}
 struct StreamCtx {
     ds4_engine *engine;
     ServerWriter<backend::Reply> *writer;
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle *request;
     ds4cpp::DsmlParser parser;
     int tokens;
-    bool aborted;
     // Track which tool indices we've seen TOOL_START for, so subsequent
     // ARGS deltas can elide the redundant id/name fields.
     std::vector<bool> tool_started;
@@ -351,7 +390,7 @@ struct StreamCtx {
 
 static void stream_emit(void *ud, int token) {
     auto *s = static_cast<StreamCtx *>(ud);
-    if (s->aborted) return;
+    if (!s->request->ShouldContinue()) return;
     if (token == ds4_token_eos(s->engine)) return;
     size_t len = 0;
     const char *text = ds4_token_text(s->engine, token, &len);
@@ -401,7 +440,7 @@ static void stream_emit(void *ud, int token) {
     reply.set_message(chunk);
     reply.set_tokens(1);
     if (any_field) {
-        if (!s->writer->Write(reply)) s->aborted = true;
+        s->request->ObserveStreamWrite(s->writer->Write(reply));
     }
     s->tokens++;
 }
@@ -757,21 +796,30 @@ public:
         return GStatus::OK;
     }
 
-    GStatus Predict(ServerContext *, const backend::PredictOptions *request,
+    GStatus Predict(ServerContext *context, const backend::PredictOptions *request,
                    backend::Reply *reply) override {
         std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(g_engine_mu);
         if (!g_engine || !g_session) {
             return GStatus(StatusCode::FAILED_PRECONDITION, "ds4: model not loaded");
         }
         if (GStatus id = check_model_identity(request); !id.ok()) return id;
-        if (std::string route_err = wait_route_ready(lock); !route_err.empty()) {
-            return GStatus(StatusCode::UNAVAILABLE, route_err);
+        RouteWaitResult route = wait_route_ready(lock, context);
+        if (route.decision == ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Cancelled) {
+            return GStatus(StatusCode::CANCELLED, "ds4 request cancelled");
+        }
+        if (route.decision == ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Error) {
+            return GStatus(StatusCode::UNAVAILABLE, route.error);
         }
         ds4_tokens prompt = {};
         build_prompt(g_engine, request, &prompt);
-        int n_predict = request->tokens() > 0 ? request->tokens() : 256;
 
-        CollectCtx collect = {g_engine, "", {}, reply, 0, {}, "", ""};
+        const bool think_enabled = ds4_think_mode_enabled(parse_think_mode(request));
+        const bool starts_in_thinking = think_enabled &&
+            request->usetokenizertemplate() && request->messages_size() > 0;
+        CollectCtx collect = {
+            g_engine, "", ds4cpp::DsmlParser(starts_in_thinking),
+            reply, 0, {}, "", ""};
+        ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle lifecycle;
         std::string cache_key = render_prompt_text(request);
         size_t cache_hit = maybe_load_cache(cache_key);
         (void)cache_hit; // future: skip prompt prefix if hit covers full prompt
@@ -783,15 +831,27 @@ public:
         // Either way g_session advances so the disk KV cache picks up a
         // real checkpoint after the call (see maybe_save_cache below).
         char err[256] = {0};
-        int rc = ds4_session_sync(g_session, &prompt, err, sizeof(err));
+        int rc;
+        {
+            ds4cpp::CancelCallbackScope cancel_scope(
+                g_session, set_session_cancel, server_context_cancelled, context);
+            rc = ds4_session_sync(g_session, &prompt, err, sizeof(err));
+        }
         int prompt_len = prompt.len;
         ds4_tokens_free(&prompt);
-        if (rc == 0) {
+        if (rc == DS4_SESSION_SYNC_INTERRUPTED) {
+            lifecycle.ObserveContextCancellation(true);
+        }
+        const bool generation_started = rc == 0;
+        if (generation_started) {
+            const int n_predict = ds4cpp::EffectiveGenerationLimit(
+                request->tokens(), ds4_session_ctx(g_session),
+                ds4_session_pos(g_session));
             const int eos = ds4_token_eos(g_engine);
             const int draft_max = ds4_engine_mtp_draft_tokens(g_engine);
-            const bool think_enabled = ds4_think_mode_enabled(parse_think_mode(request));
             int produced = 0;
             while (produced < n_predict) {
+                if (!request_should_continue(&lifecycle, context)) break;
                 SampleParams sp = compute_sample_params(request, collect.parser, think_enabled);
                 int first;
                 if (sp.temperature <= 0.0f) {
@@ -806,13 +866,20 @@ public:
                 if (draft_max > 0 && sp.temperature <= 0.0f) {
                     constexpr int kAcceptedMax = 8;
                     int accepted[kAcceptedMax];
-                    int cap = std::min(kAcceptedMax, draft_max + 1);
+                    const int remaining = ds4cpp::RemainingGenerationBudget(
+                        n_predict, produced);
+                    const int cap = ds4cpp::SpeculativeAcceptedCapacity(
+                        remaining, draft_max, kAcceptedMax);
                     int n = ds4_session_eval_speculative_argmax(
-                        g_session, first, draft_max, eos,
+                        g_session, first, remaining, eos,
                         accepted, cap, err, sizeof(err));
                     if (n < 0) { rc = -1; break; }
                     bool stop = false;
                     for (int j = 0; j < n; ++j) {
+                        if (!request_should_continue(&lifecycle, context)) {
+                            stop = true;
+                            break;
+                        }
                         if (accepted[j] == eos) { stop = true; break; }
                         collect_emit(&collect, accepted[j]);
                         if (++produced >= n_predict) { stop = true; break; }
@@ -821,12 +888,26 @@ public:
                 } else {
                     collect_emit(&collect, first);
                     if (++produced >= n_predict) break;
+                    if (!request_should_continue(&lifecycle, context)) break;
                     rc = ds4_session_eval(g_session, first, err, sizeof(err));
                     if (rc != 0) break;
                 }
             }
-            collect_done(&collect);
         }
+
+        request_should_continue(&lifecycle, context);
+        ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal = ds4cpp::ResolveTerminalDecision(
+            rc == DS4_SESSION_SYNC_INTERRUPTED, rc != 0,
+            !lifecycle.ShouldFinalize());
+        if (!terminal.should_finalize) {
+            if (terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError) {
+                return GStatus(StatusCode::INTERNAL,
+                              std::string("ds4 generation failed: ") + err);
+            }
+            return GStatus(StatusCode::CANCELLED,
+                          "ds4 request cancelled");
+        }
+        if (generation_started) collect_done(&collect);
         maybe_save_cache(cache_key);
 
         // Flush any buffered parser state.
@@ -834,7 +915,7 @@ public:
         collect.parser.Flush(events);
         apply_events(&collect, events);
 
-        if (rc != 0) {
+        if (terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError) {
             return GStatus(StatusCode::INTERNAL,
                           std::string("ds4 generation failed: ") + err);
         }
@@ -857,21 +938,30 @@ public:
         return GStatus::OK;
     }
 
-    GStatus PredictStream(ServerContext *, const backend::PredictOptions *request,
+    GStatus PredictStream(ServerContext *context, const backend::PredictOptions *request,
                          ServerWriter<backend::Reply> *writer) override {
         std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(g_engine_mu);
         if (!g_engine || !g_session) {
             return GStatus(StatusCode::FAILED_PRECONDITION, "ds4: model not loaded");
         }
         if (GStatus id = check_model_identity(request); !id.ok()) return id;
-        if (std::string route_err = wait_route_ready(lock); !route_err.empty()) {
-            return GStatus(StatusCode::UNAVAILABLE, route_err);
+        RouteWaitResult route = wait_route_ready(lock, context);
+        if (route.decision == ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Cancelled) {
+            return GStatus(StatusCode::CANCELLED, "ds4 request cancelled");
+        }
+        if (route.decision == ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Error) {
+            return GStatus(StatusCode::UNAVAILABLE, route.error);
         }
         ds4_tokens prompt = {};
         build_prompt(g_engine, request, &prompt);
-        int n_predict = request->tokens() > 0 ? request->tokens() : 256;
 
-        StreamCtx s = {g_engine, writer, {}, 0, false, {}};
+        const bool think_enabled = ds4_think_mode_enabled(parse_think_mode(request));
+        const bool starts_in_thinking = think_enabled &&
+            request->usetokenizertemplate() && request->messages_size() > 0;
+        ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle lifecycle;
+        StreamCtx s = {
+            g_engine, writer, &lifecycle,
+            ds4cpp::DsmlParser(starts_in_thinking), 0, {}};
         std::string cache_key = render_prompt_text(request);
         size_t cache_hit = maybe_load_cache(cache_key);
         (void)cache_hit;
@@ -879,14 +969,26 @@ public:
         // Manual loop on g_session - see Predict() above for the rationale.
         // MTP speculative path used when ds4_engine_mtp_draft_tokens > 0.
         char err[256] = {0};
-        int rc = ds4_session_sync(g_session, &prompt, err, sizeof(err));
+        int rc;
+        {
+            ds4cpp::CancelCallbackScope cancel_scope(
+                g_session, set_session_cancel, server_context_cancelled, context);
+            rc = ds4_session_sync(g_session, &prompt, err, sizeof(err));
+        }
         ds4_tokens_free(&prompt);
-        if (rc == 0) {
+        if (rc == DS4_SESSION_SYNC_INTERRUPTED) {
+            lifecycle.ObserveContextCancellation(true);
+        }
+        const bool generation_started = rc == 0;
+        if (generation_started) {
+            const int n_predict = ds4cpp::EffectiveGenerationLimit(
+                request->tokens(), ds4_session_ctx(g_session),
+                ds4_session_pos(g_session));
             const int eos = ds4_token_eos(g_engine);
             const int draft_max = ds4_engine_mtp_draft_tokens(g_engine);
-            const bool think_enabled = ds4_think_mode_enabled(parse_think_mode(request));
             int produced = 0;
-            while (produced < n_predict && !s.aborted) {
+            while (produced < n_predict) {
+                if (!request_should_continue(&lifecycle, context)) break;
                 SampleParams sp = compute_sample_params(request, s.parser, think_enabled);
                 int first;
                 if (sp.temperature <= 0.0f) {
@@ -900,50 +1002,77 @@ public:
                 if (draft_max > 0 && sp.temperature <= 0.0f) {
                     constexpr int kAcceptedMax = 8;
                     int accepted[kAcceptedMax];
-                    int cap = std::min(kAcceptedMax, draft_max + 1);
+                    const int remaining = ds4cpp::RemainingGenerationBudget(
+                        n_predict, produced);
+                    const int cap = ds4cpp::SpeculativeAcceptedCapacity(
+                        remaining, draft_max, kAcceptedMax);
                     int n = ds4_session_eval_speculative_argmax(
-                        g_session, first, draft_max, eos,
+                        g_session, first, remaining, eos,
                         accepted, cap, err, sizeof(err));
                     if (n < 0) { rc = -1; break; }
                     bool stop = false;
                     for (int j = 0; j < n; ++j) {
+                        if (!request_should_continue(&lifecycle, context)) {
+                            stop = true;
+                            break;
+                        }
                         if (accepted[j] == eos) { stop = true; break; }
                         stream_emit(&s, accepted[j]);
-                        if (s.aborted) { stop = true; break; }
+                        if (!lifecycle.ShouldContinue()) { stop = true; break; }
                         if (++produced >= n_predict) { stop = true; break; }
                     }
                     if (stop) break;
                 } else {
                     stream_emit(&s, first);
-                    if (s.aborted || ++produced >= n_predict) break;
+                    if (!lifecycle.ShouldContinue() || ++produced >= n_predict) break;
+                    if (!request_should_continue(&lifecycle, context)) break;
                     rc = ds4_session_eval(g_session, first, err, sizeof(err));
                     if (rc != 0) break;
                 }
             }
-            stream_done(&s);
         }
-        maybe_save_cache(cache_key);
 
-        // Flush parser state.
-        std::vector<ds4cpp::ParserEvent> events;
-        s.parser.Flush(events);
-        if (!events.empty() && !s.aborted) {
-            backend::Reply reply;
-            auto *delta = reply.add_chat_deltas();
-            for (const auto &e : events) {
-                if (e.type == ds4cpp::ParserEvent::CONTENT) {
-                    delta->set_content(delta->content() + e.text);
-                } else if (e.type == ds4cpp::ParserEvent::REASONING) {
-                    delta->set_reasoning_content(delta->reasoning_content() + e.text);
+        request_should_continue(&lifecycle, context);
+        ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal = ds4cpp::ResolveTerminalDecision(
+            rc == DS4_SESSION_SYNC_INTERRUPTED, rc != 0,
+            !lifecycle.ShouldFinalize());
+        terminal = ds4cpp::RunPostlude(
+            terminal,
+            [&]() {
+                ds4cpp::DsmlParser staged_parser = s.parser;
+                std::vector<ds4cpp::ParserEvent> events;
+                staged_parser.Flush(events);
+                bool write_succeeded = true;
+                if (!events.empty()) {
+                    backend::Reply reply;
+                    auto *delta = reply.add_chat_deltas();
+                    for (const auto &e : events) {
+                        if (e.type == ds4cpp::ParserEvent::CONTENT) {
+                            delta->set_content(delta->content() + e.text);
+                        } else if (e.type == ds4cpp::ParserEvent::REASONING) {
+                            delta->set_reasoning_content(
+                                delta->reasoning_content() + e.text);
+                        }
+                    }
+                    write_succeeded = s.writer->Write(reply);
                 }
-            }
-            s.writer->Write(reply);
-        }
+                lifecycle.ObserveStreamWrite(write_succeeded);
+                request_should_continue(&lifecycle, context);
+                if (!lifecycle.ShouldFinalize()) return false;
+                s.parser = std::move(staged_parser);
+                if (generation_started) stream_done(&s);
+                return true;
+            },
+            [&]() { maybe_save_cache(cache_key); });
 
-        if (rc != 0 && !s.aborted) {
+        if (terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError) {
             return GStatus(StatusCode::INTERNAL,
                           std::string("ds4 generation failed: ") + err);
         }
+        if (terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Cancelled) {
+            return GStatus(StatusCode::CANCELLED,
+                          "ds4 request cancelled");
+        }
         return GStatus::OK;
     }
 

backend/cpp/ds4/request_lifecycle.h

@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+#pragma once
+
+namespace ds4cpp {
+
+using CancelCallback = bool (*)(void *);
+using CancelSetter = void (*)(void *, CancelCallback, void *) noexcept;
+
+class CancelCallbackScope {
+public:
+    CancelCallbackScope(void *target, CancelSetter setter,
+                        CancelCallback callback, void *userdata) noexcept
+        : target_(target), setter_(setter) {
+        setter_(target_, callback, userdata);
+    }
+
+    ~CancelCallbackScope() noexcept {
+        setter_(target_, nullptr, nullptr);
+    }
+
+    CancelCallbackScope(const CancelCallbackScope &) = delete;
+    CancelCallbackScope &operator=(const CancelCallbackScope &) = delete;
+
+private:
+    void *target_;
+    CancelSetter setter_;
+};
+
+enum class RouteWaitDecision {
+    Pending,
+    Ready,
+    Error,
+    Cancelled,
+};
+
+inline RouteWaitDecision DecideRouteWait(int route_status, bool cancelled) {
+    if (cancelled) return RouteWaitDecision::Cancelled;
+    if (route_status > 0) return RouteWaitDecision::Ready;
+    if (route_status < 0) return RouteWaitDecision::Error;
+    return RouteWaitDecision::Pending;
+}
+
+enum class TerminalCause {
+    Success,
+    Cancelled,
+    EngineError,
+};
+
+inline TerminalCause DecideTerminalCause(bool sync_interrupted,
+                                         bool engine_error,
+                                         bool abandoned) {
+    if (sync_interrupted) return TerminalCause::Cancelled;
+    if (engine_error) return TerminalCause::EngineError;
+    if (abandoned) return TerminalCause::Cancelled;
+    return TerminalCause::Success;
+}
+
+struct TerminalDecision {
+    TerminalCause cause;
+    bool should_finalize;
+};
+
+inline TerminalDecision ResolveTerminalDecision(bool sync_interrupted,
+                                                 bool engine_error,
+                                                 bool abandoned) {
+    return {
+        DecideTerminalCause(sync_interrupted, engine_error, abandoned),
+        !sync_interrupted && !abandoned,
+    };
+}
+
+template <typename Finalize, typename Persist>
+TerminalDecision RunPostlude(TerminalDecision terminal,
+                             Finalize transactional_finalize,
+                             Persist persist) {
+    if (!terminal.should_finalize) return terminal;
+    if (!transactional_finalize()) {
+        terminal.should_finalize = false;
+        if (terminal.cause != TerminalCause::EngineError) {
+            terminal.cause = TerminalCause::Cancelled;
+        }
+        return terminal;
+    }
+    persist();
+    return terminal;
+}
+
+class RequestLifecycle {
+public:
+    void ObserveContextCancellation(bool cancelled) {
+        context_cancelled_ = context_cancelled_ || cancelled;
+    }
+
+    void ObserveStreamWrite(bool succeeded) {
+        stream_write_aborted_ = stream_write_aborted_ || !succeeded;
+    }
+
+    bool ShouldContinue() const {
+        return !context_cancelled_ && !stream_write_aborted_;
+    }
+
+    bool ShouldFinalize() const {
+        return ShouldContinue();
+    }
+
+private:
+    bool context_cancelled_ = false;
+    bool stream_write_aborted_ = false;
+};
+
+} // namespace ds4cpp

backend/cpp/ds4/request_lifecycle_test.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,414 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+// Standalone regression tests for DS4 request cancellation policy.
+
+#include "request_lifecycle.h"
+
+#include <cstdio>
+
+namespace {
+
+int failures = 0;
+
+struct FakeCancelTarget {
+    ds4cpp::CancelCallback callback = nullptr;
+    void *userdata = nullptr;
+    int installs = 0;
+    int clears = 0;
+};
+
+struct PostludeCounts {
+    int finalize_attempts = 0;
+    int finalize_commits = 0;
+    int cache_persists = 0;
+    bool cache_followed_commit = true;
+};
+
+ds4cpp::TerminalDecision run_fake_postlude(
+        ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal, bool finalize_succeeds,
+        PostludeCounts *counts) {
+    return ds4cpp::RunPostlude(
+        terminal,
+        [=]() {
+            counts->finalize_attempts++;
+            if (!finalize_succeeds) return false;
+            counts->finalize_commits++;
+            return true;
+        },
+        [=]() {
+            counts->cache_followed_commit = counts->finalize_commits == 1;
+            counts->cache_persists++;
+        });
+}
+
+bool fake_cancel(void *) {
+    return false;
+}
+
+void fake_set_cancel(void *target, ds4cpp::CancelCallback callback,
+                     void *userdata) noexcept {
+    auto *fake = static_cast<FakeCancelTarget *>(target);
+    fake->callback = callback;
+    fake->userdata = userdata;
+    if (callback) {
+        fake->installs++;
+    } else {
+        fake->clears++;
+    }
+}
+
+void check(bool condition, const char *name) {
+    if (condition) return;
+    std::fprintf(stderr, "FAIL %s\n", name);
+    failures++;
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: treating an active request as abandoned would
+// skip its parser finalization and cache save.
+void test_active_request_continues_and_finalizes() {
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle request;
+
+    check(request.ShouldContinue(), "active:continue");
+    check(request.ShouldFinalize(), "active:finalize");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: omitting the ServerContext cancellation branch
+// would continue decoding and finalize a partial response.
+void test_context_cancellation_stops_without_finalizing() {
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle request;
+
+    request.ObserveContextCancellation(true);
+
+    check(!request.ShouldContinue(), "context_cancelled:stop");
+    check(!request.ShouldFinalize(), "context_cancelled:no_finalize");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: ignoring ServerWriter::Write failure would keep
+// streaming and finalize a response whose client has gone away.
+void test_stream_write_abort_stops_without_finalizing() {
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle request;
+
+    request.ObserveStreamWrite(false);
+
+    check(!request.ShouldContinue(), "write_abort:stop");
+    check(!request.ShouldFinalize(), "write_abort:no_finalize");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: combining cancellation and write failure with
+// AND would fail to stop when either signal occurs on its own.
+void test_cancellation_and_write_abort_are_independent_or_conditions() {
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle cancelled;
+    cancelled.ObserveContextCancellation(true);
+    cancelled.ObserveStreamWrite(true);
+
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle write_aborted;
+    write_aborted.ObserveContextCancellation(false);
+    write_aborted.ObserveStreamWrite(false);
+
+    check(!cancelled.ShouldContinue(), "or:context_only");
+    check(!write_aborted.ShouldContinue(), "or:write_only");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: treating an incomplete distributed route as an
+// error would return before workers have time to connect.
+void test_route_wait_pending() {
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideRouteWait(0, false) ==
+              ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Pending,
+          "route_wait:pending");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: failing to recognize a complete route would
+// keep a ready inference request in the polling loop.
+void test_route_wait_ready() {
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideRouteWait(1, false) ==
+              ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Ready,
+          "route_wait:ready");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: ignoring a route probe error would poll until a
+// misleading timeout instead of returning UNAVAILABLE promptly.
+void test_route_wait_error() {
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideRouteWait(-1, false) ==
+              ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Error,
+          "route_wait:error");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: omitting cancellation from route waiting would
+// leave an abandoned request blocked until the distributed timeout.
+void test_route_wait_cancellation() {
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideRouteWait(0, true) ==
+              ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Cancelled,
+          "route_wait:cancelled");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: checking route errors before cancellation would
+// report UNAVAILABLE for a request the client already abandoned.
+void test_route_wait_cancellation_precedes_error() {
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideRouteWait(-1, true) ==
+              ds4cpp::RouteWaitDecision::Cancelled,
+          "route_wait:cancellation_precedence");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: classifying a successful active request as a
+// terminal failure would suppress its normal response finalization.
+void test_terminal_success() {
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideTerminalCause(false, false, false) ==
+              ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Success,
+          "terminal:success");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: treating DS4's cooperative sync interruption
+// as an ordinary engine error would return INTERNAL instead of CANCELLED.
+void test_terminal_sync_interruption_is_cancelled() {
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideTerminalCause(true, true, true) ==
+              ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Cancelled,
+          "terminal:sync_interrupted");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: treating every nonzero engine result as client
+// abandonment would hide genuine DS4 failures behind CANCELLED.
+void test_terminal_engine_error() {
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideTerminalCause(false, true, false) ==
+              ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError,
+          "terminal:engine_error");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: ignoring an rc==0 context cancellation would
+// finalize and cache an abandoned request.
+void test_terminal_context_abandonment() {
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle request;
+    request.ObserveContextCancellation(true);
+
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideTerminalCause(
+              false, false, !request.ShouldFinalize()) ==
+              ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Cancelled,
+          "terminal:context_abandonment");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: ignoring an rc==0 stream write failure would
+// finalize and cache an abandoned streaming request.
+void test_terminal_write_abandonment() {
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle request;
+    request.ObserveStreamWrite(false);
+
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideTerminalCause(
+              false, false, !request.ShouldFinalize()) ==
+              ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Cancelled,
+          "terminal:write_abandonment");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: checking late cancellation or write failure
+// before a determined ordinary DS4 error would replace INTERNAL with CANCELLED.
+void test_terminal_engine_error_precedes_late_abandonment() {
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle cancelled;
+    cancelled.ObserveContextCancellation(true);
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle write_aborted;
+    write_aborted.ObserveStreamWrite(false);
+
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideTerminalCause(
+              false, true, !cancelled.ShouldFinalize()) ==
+              ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError,
+          "terminal:engine_error_precedes_cancellation");
+    check(ds4cpp::DecideTerminalCause(
+              false, true, !write_aborted.ShouldFinalize()) ==
+              ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError,
+          "terminal:engine_error_precedes_write_abort");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: using status precedence alone to gate side
+// effects would finalize and persist an engine-error request abandoned later.
+void test_abandoned_engine_error_keeps_internal_without_finalizing() {
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle request;
+    request.ObserveContextCancellation(true);
+
+    ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal = ds4cpp::ResolveTerminalDecision(
+        false, true, !request.ShouldFinalize());
+
+    check(terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError,
+          "terminal_decision:abandoned_engine_error_status");
+    check(!terminal.should_finalize,
+          "terminal_decision:abandoned_engine_error_no_finalize");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: suppressing side effects for every engine error
+// would change the existing finalization and cache behavior of active failures.
+void test_active_engine_error_still_finalizes() {
+    ds4cpp::RequestLifecycle request;
+
+    ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal = ds4cpp::ResolveTerminalDecision(
+        false, true, !request.ShouldFinalize());
+
+    check(terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError,
+          "terminal_decision:active_engine_error_status");
+    check(terminal.should_finalize,
+          "terminal_decision:active_engine_error_finalize");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: persisting before committed finalization would
+// cache a state whose final buffered stream reply was never completed.
+void test_postlude_active_success_commits_then_persists() {
+    PostludeCounts counts;
+
+    ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal = run_fake_postlude(
+        {ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Success, true}, true, &counts);
+
+    check(terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Success,
+          "postlude:success_outcome");
+    check(terminal.should_finalize, "postlude:success_committed");
+    check(counts.finalize_attempts == 1, "postlude:success_attempts");
+    check(counts.finalize_commits == 1, "postlude:success_commits");
+    check(counts.cache_persists == 1, "postlude:success_cache");
+    check(counts.cache_followed_commit, "postlude:success_cache_order");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: starting the postlude for an already-cancelled
+// request would flush buffered parser state or persist an abandoned session.
+void test_postlude_cancellation_skips_all_side_effects() {
+    PostludeCounts counts;
+
+    ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal = run_fake_postlude(
+        {ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Cancelled, false}, true, &counts);
+
+    check(terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Cancelled,
+          "postlude:cancelled_outcome");
+    check(counts.finalize_attempts == 0, "postlude:cancelled_attempts");
+    check(counts.finalize_commits == 0, "postlude:cancelled_commits");
+    check(counts.cache_persists == 0, "postlude:cancelled_cache");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: committing the live parser or cache after a
+// failed final Write would publish an abandoned streaming postlude.
+void test_postlude_finalize_failure_cancels_without_commit_or_cache() {
+    PostludeCounts counts;
+
+    ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal = run_fake_postlude(
+        {ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Success, true}, false, &counts);
+
+    check(terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::Cancelled,
+          "postlude:write_failure_outcome");
+    check(!terminal.should_finalize, "postlude:write_failure_not_committed");
+    check(counts.finalize_attempts == 1, "postlude:write_failure_attempts");
+    check(counts.finalize_commits == 0, "postlude:write_failure_commits");
+    check(counts.cache_persists == 0, "postlude:write_failure_cache");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: skipping the postlude for every engine error
+// would change active internal-error finalization and cache behavior.
+void test_postlude_active_engine_error_finalizes_and_persists() {
+    PostludeCounts counts;
+
+    ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal = run_fake_postlude(
+        {ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError, true}, true, &counts);
+
+    check(terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError,
+          "postlude:engine_error_outcome");
+    check(counts.finalize_attempts == 1, "postlude:engine_error_attempts");
+    check(counts.finalize_commits == 1, "postlude:engine_error_commits");
+    check(counts.cache_persists == 1, "postlude:engine_error_cache");
+    check(counts.cache_followed_commit, "postlude:engine_error_cache_order");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: replacing every failed transactional finalize
+// with cancellation would hide an already-determined engine error.
+void test_postlude_engine_error_finalize_failure_preserves_internal() {
+    PostludeCounts counts;
+
+    ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal = run_fake_postlude(
+        {ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError, true}, false, &counts);
+
+    check(terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError,
+          "postlude:engine_error_write_failure_outcome");
+    check(!terminal.should_finalize,
+          "postlude:engine_error_write_failure_not_committed");
+    check(counts.finalize_attempts == 1,
+          "postlude:engine_error_write_failure_attempts");
+    check(counts.finalize_commits == 0,
+          "postlude:engine_error_write_failure_commits");
+    check(counts.cache_persists == 0,
+          "postlude:engine_error_write_failure_cache");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: status precedence must not grant side-effect
+// permission to an engine-error request that was also abandoned.
+void test_postlude_abandoned_engine_error_skips_all_side_effects() {
+    PostludeCounts counts;
+
+    ds4cpp::TerminalDecision terminal = run_fake_postlude(
+        {ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError, false}, true, &counts);
+
+    check(terminal.cause == ds4cpp::TerminalCause::EngineError,
+          "postlude:abandoned_engine_error_outcome");
+    check(counts.finalize_attempts == 0,
+          "postlude:abandoned_engine_error_attempts");
+    check(counts.finalize_commits == 0,
+          "postlude:abandoned_engine_error_commits");
+    check(counts.cache_persists == 0,
+          "postlude:abandoned_engine_error_cache");
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: failing to install the request callback would
+// make DS4 prompt synchronization unable to observe client cancellation.
+void test_cancel_callback_scope_installs_callback() {
+    FakeCancelTarget target;
+    int request_context = 42;
+
+    {
+        ds4cpp::CancelCallbackScope scope(
+            &target, fake_set_cancel, fake_cancel, &request_context);
+        check(target.callback == fake_cancel, "cancel_scope:callback_installed");
+        check(target.userdata == &request_context, "cancel_scope:userdata_installed");
+        check(target.installs == 1, "cancel_scope:installed_once");
+    }
+}
+
+// Production mutation caught: failing to clear the callback at every scope
+// exit would leave DS4 pointing at a destroyed stack-owned ServerContext.
+void test_cancel_callback_scope_clears_callback() {
+    FakeCancelTarget target;
+    int request_context = 42;
+
+    {
+        ds4cpp::CancelCallbackScope scope(
+            &target, fake_set_cancel, fake_cancel, &request_context);
+    }
+
+    check(target.callback == nullptr, "cancel_scope:callback_cleared");
+    check(target.userdata == nullptr, "cancel_scope:userdata_cleared");
+    check(target.clears == 1, "cancel_scope:cleared_once");
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
+int main() {
+    test_active_request_continues_and_finalizes();
+    test_context_cancellation_stops_without_finalizing();
+    test_stream_write_abort_stops_without_finalizing();
+    test_cancellation_and_write_abort_are_independent_or_conditions();
+    test_route_wait_pending();
+    test_route_wait_ready();
+    test_route_wait_error();
+    test_route_wait_cancellation();
+    test_route_wait_cancellation_precedes_error();
+    test_terminal_success();
+    test_terminal_sync_interruption_is_cancelled();
+    test_terminal_engine_error();
+    test_terminal_context_abandonment();
+    test_terminal_write_abandonment();
+    test_terminal_engine_error_precedes_late_abandonment();
+    test_abandoned_engine_error_keeps_internal_without_finalizing();
+    test_active_engine_error_still_finalizes();
+    test_postlude_active_success_commits_then_persists();
+    test_postlude_cancellation_skips_all_side_effects();
+    test_postlude_finalize_failure_cancels_without_commit_or_cache();
+    test_postlude_active_engine_error_finalizes_and_persists();
+    test_postlude_engine_error_finalize_failure_preserves_internal();
+    test_postlude_abandoned_engine_error_skips_all_side_effects();
+    test_cancel_callback_scope_installs_callback();
+    test_cancel_callback_scope_clears_callback();
+
+    if (failures == 0) {
+        std::fprintf(stderr, "all request_lifecycle checks passed\n");
+        return 0;
+    }
+    std::fprintf(stderr, "%d check(s) failed\n", failures);
+    return 1;
+}

backend/cpp/ik-llama-cpp/Makefile

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-IK_LLAMA_VERSION?=8337e4cd3861406fc04e0854b1409cd1b027fbc9
+IK_LLAMA_VERSION?=fe215a8ccdce6b844d2a3a3bbde08ae76a6284bf
 LLAMA_REPO?=https://github.com/ikawrakow/ik_llama.cpp
 
 CMAKE_ARGS?=

backend/cpp/llama-cpp/Makefile

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 
-LLAMA_VERSION?=60addddf3c567c43ec3caf70fc953fba3572d96f
+LLAMA_VERSION?=67672dc5b76f8bc17785a19d3dc6d1463fc2902c
 LLAMA_REPO?=https://github.com/ggerganov/llama.cpp
 
 CMAKE_ARGS?=

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

@@ -88,6 +88,12 @@ using grpc::ServerBuilder;
 using grpc::ServerContext;
 using grpc::Status;
 
+#if LOCALAI_HAS_MTMD_INIT_OPT
+#define LOCALAI_MTMD_INIT_OPT_ARG(value) , value
+#else
+#define LOCALAI_MTMD_INIT_OPT_ARG(value)
+#endif
+
 // gRPC bearer token auth for distributed mode.
 // Reads LOCALAI_GRPC_AUTH_TOKEN from the environment. When set, rejects
 // requests without a matching "authorization: Bearer <token>" metadata header.
@@ -294,7 +300,7 @@ json parse_options(bool streaming, const backend::PredictOptions* predict, const
             } else {
                 SRV_WRN("[TOOLS DEBUG] parse_options: Parsed tools JSON is not an array: %s\n", tools_json.dump().c_str());
             }
-        } catch (const json::parse_error& e) {
+        } catch (const common_json_error& e) {
             SRV_WRN("Failed to parse tools JSON from proto: %s\n", e.what());
             SRV_WRN("[TOOLS DEBUG] parse_options: Tools string that failed to parse: %s\n", predict->tools().c_str());
         }
@@ -324,7 +330,7 @@ json parse_options(bool streaming, const backend::PredictOptions* predict, const
                 SRV_DBG("[TOOLS DEBUG] Received tool_choice object from Go layer: %s\n", tool_choice_json.dump().c_str());
             }
             SRV_INF("Extracted tool_choice from proto: %s\n", predict->toolchoice().c_str());
-        } catch (const json::parse_error& e) {
+        } catch (const common_json_error& e) {
             // If parsing fails, treat as string
             data["tool_choice"] = predict->toolchoice();
             SRV_INF("Extracted tool_choice as string: %s\n", predict->toolchoice().c_str());
@@ -353,7 +359,7 @@ json parse_options(bool streaming, const backend::PredictOptions* predict, const
             // Add to data - llama.cpp server expects it as an object (map)
             data["logit_bias"] = logit_bias_json;
             SRV_INF("Using logit_bias: %s\n", predict->logitbias().c_str());
-        } catch (const json::parse_error& e) {
+        } catch (const common_json_error& e) {
             SRV_ERR("Failed to parse logit_bias JSON from proto: %s\n", e.what());
         }
     }
@@ -398,7 +404,10 @@ json parse_options(bool streaming, const backend::PredictOptions* predict, const
             });
     }
 
-    data["stop"] = predict->stopprompts();
+    data["stop"] = json::array();
+    for (const auto & stop : predict->stopprompts()) {
+        data["stop"].push_back(stop);
+    }
     // data["n_probs"] = predict->nprobs();
     //TODO: images,
 
@@ -1116,14 +1125,16 @@ static void params_parse(server_context& /*ctx_server*/, const backend::ModelOpt
                 try {
                     int n = std::stoi(optval_str);
                     if (n < 0) n = 0;
-                    // Keep override-name storage alive for the lifetime of the params struct
-                    // (mirrors upstream arg.cpp behavior with a function-local static).
+#if LOCALAI_HAS_N_CPU_FFN_HELPER
+                    llm_add_n_cpu_ffn_overrides(n, LLM_FFN_EXPS_REGEX, params.speculative.draft.tensor_buft_overrides);
+#else
                     static std::list<std::string> buft_overrides_draft;
                     for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
                         buft_overrides_draft.push_back(llm_ffn_exps_block_regex(i));
                         params.speculative.draft.tensor_buft_overrides.push_back(
                             {buft_overrides_draft.back().c_str(), ggml_backend_cpu_buffer_type()});
                     }
+#endif
                 } catch (...) {}
             }
 
@@ -1141,14 +1152,16 @@ static void params_parse(server_context& /*ctx_server*/, const backend::ModelOpt
                 try {
                     int n = std::stoi(optval_str);
                     if (n < 0) n = 0;
-                    // Keep override-name storage alive for the lifetime of the
-                    // params struct (mirrors upstream arg.cpp's function-local static).
+#if LOCALAI_HAS_N_CPU_FFN_HELPER
+                    llm_add_n_cpu_ffn_overrides(n, LLM_FFN_EXPS_REGEX, params.tensor_buft_overrides);
+#else
                     static std::list<std::string> buft_overrides_main;
                     for (int i = 0; i < n; ++i) {
                         buft_overrides_main.push_back(llm_ffn_exps_block_regex(i));
                         params.tensor_buft_overrides.push_back(
                             {buft_overrides_main.back().c_str(), ggml_backend_cpu_buffer_type()});
                     }
+#endif
                 } catch (...) {}
             }
 
@@ -1795,7 +1808,7 @@ public:
                         for (int j = 0; j < request->audios_size(); j++) rin.audios.push_back(request->audios(j));
                         for (int j = 0; j < request->videos_size(); j++) rin.videos.push_back(request->videos(j));
                     }
-                    messages_json.push_back(llama_grpc::build_reconstructed_message(rin));
+                    messages_json.push_back(json::parse(llama_grpc::build_reconstructed_message(rin).dump()));
                 }
 
                 // Final safety check: Ensure no message has null content (Jinja templates require strings)
@@ -1988,7 +2001,7 @@ public:
                             if (!body_json.contains("chat_template_kwargs")) {
                                 body_json["chat_template_kwargs"] = json::object();
                             }
-                            for (auto& el : ctk.items()) {
+                            for (auto el : ctk.items()) {
                                 body_json["chat_template_kwargs"][el.key()] = el.value();
                             }
                         }
@@ -2074,30 +2087,27 @@ public:
             // If not using chat templates, extract files from image_data/audio_data fields
             // (If using chat templates, files were already extracted by oaicompat_chat_params_parse)
             if (!request->usetokenizertemplate() || request->messages_size() == 0 || ctx_server.impl->chat_params.tmpls == nullptr) {
-                const auto &images_data = data.find("image_data");
-                if (images_data != data.end() && images_data->is_array())
+                if (data.contains("image_data") && data.at("image_data").is_array())
                 {
-                    for (const auto &img : *images_data)
+                    for (const auto &img : data.at("image_data"))
                     {
                         auto decoded_data = base64_decode(img["data"].get<std::string>());
                         files.push_back(decoded_data);
                     }
                 }
 
-                const auto &audio_data = data.find("audio_data");
-                if (audio_data != data.end() && audio_data->is_array())
+                if (data.contains("audio_data") && data.at("audio_data").is_array())
                 {
-                    for (const auto &audio : *audio_data)
+                    for (const auto &audio : data.at("audio_data"))
                     {
                         auto decoded_data = base64_decode(audio["data"].get<std::string>());
                         files.push_back(decoded_data);
                     }
                 }
 
-                const auto &video_data = data.find("video_data");
-                if (video_data != data.end() && video_data->is_array())
+                if (data.contains("video_data") && data.at("video_data").is_array())
                 {
-                    for (const auto &video : *video_data)
+                    for (const auto &video : data.at("video_data"))
                     {
                         auto decoded_data = base64_decode(video["data"].get<std::string>());
                         files.push_back(decoded_data);
@@ -2111,10 +2121,10 @@ public:
             std::vector<server_tokens> inputs;
             if (has_mtmd) {
                 // multimodal
-                inputs.push_back(process_mtmd_prompt(ctx_server.impl->mctx, prompt_str, files));
+                inputs.push_back(process_mtmd_prompt(ctx_server.impl->mctx, prompt_str, files LOCALAI_MTMD_INIT_OPT_ARG(ctx_server.impl->init_opt)));
             } else {
                  // Everything else, including multimodal completions.
-                inputs = tokenize_input_prompts(ctx_server.impl->vocab, ctx_server.impl->mctx, prompt_str, true, true);
+                inputs = tokenize_input_prompts(ctx_server.impl->vocab, ctx_server.impl->mctx, prompt_str, true, true LOCALAI_MTMD_INIT_OPT_ARG(ctx_server.impl->init_opt));
             }
 
             tasks.reserve(inputs.size());
@@ -2370,7 +2380,7 @@ public:
                         for (int j = 0; j < request->audios_size(); j++) rin.audios.push_back(request->audios(j));
                         for (int j = 0; j < request->videos_size(); j++) rin.videos.push_back(request->videos(j));
                     }
-                    messages_json.push_back(llama_grpc::build_reconstructed_message(rin));
+                    messages_json.push_back(json::parse(llama_grpc::build_reconstructed_message(rin).dump()));
                 }
 
                 // Final safety check: Ensure no message has null content (Jinja templates require strings)
@@ -2563,7 +2573,7 @@ public:
                             if (!body_json.contains("chat_template_kwargs")) {
                                 body_json["chat_template_kwargs"] = json::object();
                             }
-                            for (auto& el : ctk.items()) {
+                            for (auto el : ctk.items()) {
                                 body_json["chat_template_kwargs"][el.key()] = el.value();
                             }
                         }
@@ -2649,11 +2659,10 @@ public:
             // If not using chat templates, extract files from image_data/audio_data fields
             // (If using chat templates, files were already extracted by oaicompat_chat_params_parse)
             if (!request->usetokenizertemplate() || request->messages_size() == 0 || ctx_server.impl->chat_params.tmpls == nullptr) {
-                const auto &images_data = data.find("image_data");
-                if (images_data != data.end() && images_data->is_array())
+                if (data.contains("image_data") && data.at("image_data").is_array())
                 {
-                    std::cout << "[PREDICT] Processing " << images_data->size() << " images" << std::endl;
-                    for (const auto &img : *images_data)
+                    std::cout << "[PREDICT] Processing " << data.at("image_data").size() << " images" << std::endl;
+                    for (const auto &img : data.at("image_data"))
                     {
                         std::cout << "[PREDICT] Processing image" << std::endl;
                         auto decoded_data = base64_decode(img["data"].get<std::string>());
@@ -2661,20 +2670,18 @@ public:
                     }
                 }
 
-                const auto &audio_data = data.find("audio_data");
-                if (audio_data != data.end() && audio_data->is_array())
+                if (data.contains("audio_data") && data.at("audio_data").is_array())
                 {
-                    for (const auto &audio : *audio_data)
+                    for (const auto &audio : data.at("audio_data"))
                     {
                         auto decoded_data = base64_decode(audio["data"].get<std::string>());
                         files.push_back(decoded_data);
                     }
                 }
 
-                const auto &video_data = data.find("video_data");
-                if (video_data != data.end() && video_data->is_array())
+                if (data.contains("video_data") && data.at("video_data").is_array())
                 {
-                    for (const auto &video : *video_data)
+                    for (const auto &video : data.at("video_data"))
                     {
                         auto decoded_data = base64_decode(video["data"].get<std::string>());
                         files.push_back(decoded_data);
@@ -2689,10 +2696,10 @@ public:
             std::vector<server_tokens> inputs;
             if (has_mtmd) {
                 // multimodal
-                inputs.push_back(process_mtmd_prompt(ctx_server.impl->mctx, prompt_str, files));
+                inputs.push_back(process_mtmd_prompt(ctx_server.impl->mctx, prompt_str, files LOCALAI_MTMD_INIT_OPT_ARG(ctx_server.impl->init_opt)));
             } else {
                  // Everything else, including multimodal completions.
-                inputs = tokenize_input_prompts(ctx_server.impl->vocab, ctx_server.impl->mctx, prompt_str, true, true);
+                inputs = tokenize_input_prompts(ctx_server.impl->vocab, ctx_server.impl->mctx, prompt_str, true, true LOCALAI_MTMD_INIT_OPT_ARG(ctx_server.impl->init_opt));
             }
 
             tasks.reserve(inputs.size());
@@ -2879,7 +2886,7 @@ public:
         json prompt = body.at("embeddings");
 
 
-        auto tokenized_prompts = tokenize_input_prompts(ctx_server.impl->vocab, ctx_server.impl->mctx, prompt, true, true);
+        auto tokenized_prompts = tokenize_input_prompts(ctx_server.impl->vocab, ctx_server.impl->mctx, prompt, true, true LOCALAI_MTMD_INIT_OPT_ARG(ctx_server.impl->init_opt));
         for (const auto & tokens : tokenized_prompts) {
             // this check is necessary for models that do not add BOS token to the input
             if (tokens.empty()) {
@@ -2984,7 +2991,7 @@ public:
 
             tasks.reserve(documents.size());
             for (size_t i = 0; i < documents.size(); i++) {
-                auto tmp = format_prompt_rerank(ctx_server.impl->model_tgt, ctx_server.impl->vocab, ctx_server.impl->mctx, request->query(), documents[i]);
+                auto tmp = format_prompt_rerank(ctx_server.impl->model_tgt, ctx_server.impl->vocab, ctx_server.impl->mctx, request->query(), documents[i] LOCALAI_MTMD_INIT_OPT_ARG(ctx_server.impl->init_opt));
                 server_task task = server_task(SERVER_TASK_TYPE_RERANK);
                 task.id = rd.queue_tasks.get_new_id();
                 task.index = i;
@@ -3005,7 +3012,7 @@ public:
         }
 
         // Collect responses
-        json responses = json::array();
+        std::vector<json> responses;
         for (auto & res : all_results.results) {
             GGML_ASSERT(dynamic_cast<server_task_result_rerank*>(res.get()) != nullptr);
             responses.push_back(res->to_json());
@@ -3018,7 +3025,7 @@ public:
         // Crop results by request.top_n if specified
         int top_n = request->top_n();
         if (top_n > 0 && top_n < static_cast<int>(responses.size())) {
-            responses = json(responses.begin(), responses.begin() + top_n);
+            responses.resize(top_n);
         }
         // Set usage information
         backend::Usage* usage = rerankResult->mutable_usage();
@@ -3065,7 +3072,7 @@ public:
             return grpc::Status(grpc::StatusCode::INVALID_ARGUMENT, opts.error);
         }
 
-        auto wrapper = mtmd_helper_bitmap_init_from_file(ctx_server.impl->mctx, opts.voice_path.c_str(), false);
+        auto wrapper = mtmd_helper_bitmap_init_from_file(ctx_server.impl->mctx, opts.voice_path.c_str(), false LOCALAI_MTMD_INIT_OPT_ARG(ctx_server.impl->init_opt));
         if (!wrapper.bitmap) {
             return grpc::Status(grpc::StatusCode::INVALID_ARGUMENT,
                 "failed to read speaker reference audio: " + opts.voice_path);

backend/cpp/llama-cpp/message_content.h

@@ -52,14 +52,15 @@ inline nlohmann::ordered_json normalize_message_content(const std::string& role,
 // (#7528). A multimodal user message legitimately carries a typed-part array
 // ({type:text}, {type:image_url}, ...), which must be left intact. Shared by the
 // streaming and non-streaming paths so this invariant cannot drift between them.
-inline void normalize_template_message(nlohmann::ordered_json& msg) {
+template <typename Json>
+inline void normalize_template_message(Json& msg) {
     if (!msg.contains("content")) {
         msg["content"] = ""; // templates expect the field to exist
         return;
     }
-    nlohmann::ordered_json& content = msg["content"];
+    auto& content = msg["content"];
     const std::string role = (msg.contains("role") && msg["role"].is_string())
-                                 ? msg["role"].get<std::string>()
+                                 ? msg["role"].template get<std::string>()
                                  : std::string();
     if (content.is_null()) {
         content = ""; // #7324: null would crash content[:N] slicing

backend/cpp/llama-cpp/patches/0001-add-server-task-type-score.patch

@@ -6,10 +6,9 @@ Subject: [PATCH 1/2] score-patch
 ---
  common/common.cpp               |   6 +-
  common/common.h                 |   3 +
- tools/CMakeLists.txt            |   1 +
  tools/server/server-context.cpp | 358 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-
  tools/server/server-task.h      |  47 +++++
- 5 files changed, 406 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
+ 4 files changed, 405 insertions(+), 9 deletions(-)
 
 diff --git a/common/common.cpp b/common/common.cpp
 index 2e3f14c..0cec0dc 100644
@@ -42,15 +41,6 @@ index 878534d..4001df2 100644
      int32_t n_sequences           =     1; // number of sequences to decode
      int32_t n_outputs_max         =     0; // max outputs in a batch (0 = n_batch)
      int32_t n_outputs_max_per_seq =     1; // max outputs per sequence
-diff --git a/tools/CMakeLists.txt b/tools/CMakeLists.txt
-index 780df32..1d2fe8f 100644
---- a/tools/CMakeLists.txt
-+++ b/tools/CMakeLists.txt
-@@ -41,3 +41,4 @@ else()
-     add_subdirectory(fit-params)
-     add_subdirectory(results)
- endif()
-+add_subdirectory(grpc-server)
 diff --git a/tools/server/server-context.cpp b/tools/server/server-context.cpp
 index 3b5f6a1..d0e18e6 100644
 --- a/tools/server/server-context.cpp

backend/cpp/llama-cpp/patches/0002-add-server-task-type-tts.patch

@@ -659,7 +659,7 @@ index 9069463fe..b7fa1e534 100644
 +        }
 +
 +        if (speaker_ref_len > 0) {
-+            auto wrapper = mtmd_helper_bitmap_init_from_buf(ctx_server.mctx, speaker_ref_data, speaker_ref_len, false);
++            auto wrapper = mtmd_helper_bitmap_init_from_buf(ctx_server.mctx, speaker_ref_data, speaker_ref_len, false, ctx_server.init_opt);
 +            if (!wrapper.bitmap) {
 +                res->error(format_error_response("failed to decode \"speaker_ref\"", ERROR_TYPE_INVALID_REQUEST));
 +                return res;

backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh

@@ -15,6 +15,30 @@ if [ -d "patches" ]; then
     done
 fi
 
+## Apple RDMA link fixup.
+
+## ggml-rpc hands Apple's librdma to the linker with
+## target_link_options(ggml-rpc PRIVATE "LINKER:-weak_library,..."). Link options are not
+## a usage requirement of a static library, so in our BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF build the flag
+## dies with libggml-rpc.a and every ibv_* symbol transport-apple.cpp reaches for comes out
+## undefined when grpc-server and ggml-rpc-server link. Re-declare the same weak link as
+## INTERFACE so it travels to whoever links the static library.
+##
+## Guarded on the marker so a second prepare.sh over the same checkout is a no-op, and on
+## GGML_RPC_RDMA_APPLE so forks that branched before the Apple RDMA transport (turboquant,
+## bonsai) are left alone.
+RPC_CMAKE=llama.cpp/ggml/src/ggml-rpc/CMakeLists.txt
+if [ -f "$RPC_CMAKE" ] && grep -q "GGML_RPC_RDMA_APPLE" "$RPC_CMAKE" && ! grep -q "LOCALAI_RDMA_IFACE" "$RPC_CMAKE"; then
+    echo "==> ggml-rpc carries the Apple RDMA transport, re-declaring its weak librdma link as INTERFACE"
+    cat >> "$RPC_CMAKE" <<'EOF'
+
+# LOCALAI_RDMA_IFACE: added by backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh
+if (GGML_RPC_RDMA AND APPLE AND NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
+    target_link_options(ggml-rpc INTERFACE "LINKER:-weak_library,${RDMA_LIB}")
+endif()
+EOF
+fi
+
 for file in $(ls llama.cpp/tools/server/); do
     cp -rfv llama.cpp/tools/server/$file llama.cpp/tools/grpc-server/
 done
@@ -61,11 +85,23 @@ if grep -q "server_metrics metrics;" llama.cpp/tools/server/server-task.h; then
 else
     HAS_SERVER_METRICS=0
 fi
+if grep -q "mtmd_helper_init_opt" llama.cpp/tools/mtmd/mtmd-helper.h; then
+    HAS_MTMD_INIT_OPT=1
+else
+    HAS_MTMD_INIT_OPT=0
+fi
+if grep -q "llm_add_n_cpu_ffn_overrides" llama.cpp/common/common.h; then
+    HAS_N_CPU_FFN_HELPER=1
+else
+    HAS_N_CPU_FFN_HELPER=0
+fi
 cat > llama.cpp/tools/grpc-server/llama_compat.h <<EOF
 // Generated by backend/cpp/llama-cpp/prepare.sh. Do not edit.
 #pragma once
 #define LOCALAI_LEGACY_LOAD_MODE ${LEGACY_LOAD_MODE}
 #define LOCALAI_HAS_SERVER_METRICS ${HAS_SERVER_METRICS}
+#define LOCALAI_HAS_MTMD_INIT_OPT ${HAS_MTMD_INIT_OPT}
+#define LOCALAI_HAS_N_CPU_FFN_HELPER ${HAS_N_CPU_FFN_HELPER}
 EOF
 
 set +e

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

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 #      so the grpc-server option parser skips the two references to
 #      common_params::checkpoint_min_step (the default and the option handler).
 #      That field does not exist in the fork yet; drop this once it does.
+#   3. Use nlohmann's parse_error type in JSON catch clauses because the fork
+#      predates upstream's common_json_error wrapper.
 #
 # The fork used to lag upstream on the whole common_params_speculative refactor
 # (ggml-org/llama.cpp#22397/#22838/#22964), the model_tgt rename (#22838) and
@@ -100,4 +102,16 @@ else
     echo "==> LOCALAI_TURBOQUANT_NO_CHECKPOINT_MIN_STEP define OK"
 fi
 
+# 3. The shared source follows current upstream and catches common_json_error.
+#    TurboQuant still exposes nlohmann::json directly, so its equivalent parse
+#    failures use json::parse_error instead.
+if grep -q 'common_json_error' "$SRC"; then
+    echo "==> patching $SRC to use the TurboQuant JSON exception type"
+    awk '{ gsub(/common_json_error/, "json::parse_error"); print }' "$SRC" > "$SRC.tmp"
+    mv "$SRC.tmp" "$SRC"
+    echo "==> TurboQuant JSON exception patch OK"
+else
+    echo "==> $SRC already uses a TurboQuant-compatible JSON exception type, skipping"
+fi
+
 echo "==> all patches applied"

backend/go/crispasr/Makefile

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ JOBS?=$(shell nproc --ignore=1)
 
 # CrispASR version (release tag)
 CRISPASR_REPO?=https://github.com/CrispStrobe/CrispASR
-CRISPASR_VERSION?=a153b09b37c90cd55cd9336fccbdf3ba7a289596
+CRISPASR_VERSION?=301acd87b036764973b8bfba71e0a21818036d33
 SO_TARGET?=libgocrispasr.so
 
 CMAKE_ARGS+=-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF

backend/go/depth-anything-cpp/Makefile

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ JOBS?=$(shell nproc --ignore=1)
 # It is kept alive by the upstream tag da2-support (survives a squash-merge);
 # repoint to the master merge commit once mudler/depth-anything.cpp PR #1 lands.
 DEPTHANYTHING_REPO?=https://github.com/mudler/depth-anything.cpp.git
-DEPTHANYTHING_VERSION?=54abd5c0abfd1f394e01cb3c38f2e3af4daedf85
+DEPTHANYTHING_VERSION?=14f7461d1f704761a038ac9f50dbde8fdb7275e2
 
 ifeq ($(NATIVE),false)
 	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_NATIVE=OFF

backend/go/nemo-speech-cpp/Makefile

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 # runs 'make -C backend/go/$(BACKEND) build' and then copies package/), so it
 # has to produce the binary and the package, not just the shared libraries.
 
-NEMO_SPEECH_VERSION?=4f9676226f667d14608487df744f375db87127f8
+NEMO_SPEECH_VERSION?=ffa38cb2408f1e832a36d46fef5e3e1e80d07e6c
 NEMO_SPEECH_REPO?=https://github.com/NVIDIA/NeMo-Speech.cpp
 
 GOCMD?=go

backend/go/omnivoice-cpp/Makefile

@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ JOBS?=$(shell nproc --ignore=1)
 
 # omnivoice.cpp version
 OMNIVOICE_REPO?=https://github.com/ServeurpersoCom/omnivoice.cpp
-OMNIVOICE_VERSION?=4f33af825d66e6ef1cb185e87b4589cacf747291
+OMNIVOICE_VERSION?=040c8b344d8c670ce1475194751d119b5ef82c78
 SO_TARGET?=libgomnivoicecpp.so
 
 CMAKE_ARGS+=-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=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?=97d2990807fe6d558e395f8764198d7c7e7b411c
+STABLEDIFFUSION_GGML_VERSION?=d04e8950c1ec8d30248cbe996682b3182fb1adf6
 
 CMAKE_ARGS+=-DGGML_MAX_NAME=128
 
@@ -38,8 +38,11 @@ else ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),hipblas)
 	ROCM_PATH ?= /opt/rocm
 	export CXX=$(ROCM_HOME)/llvm/bin/clang++
 	export CC=$(ROCM_HOME)/llvm/bin/clang
-	AMDGPU_TARGETS?=gfx908,gfx90a,gfx942,gfx950,gfx1030,gfx1100,gfx1101,gfx1102,gfx1200,gfx1201
-	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DSD_HIPBLAS=ON -DGGML_HIPBLAS=ON -DAMDGPU_TARGETS=$(AMDGPU_TARGETS)
+	AMDGPU_TARGETS?=gfx908,gfx90a,gfx942,gfx950,gfx1030,gfx1100,gfx1101,gfx1102,gfx1151,gfx1200,gfx1201
+	# SD_HIPBLAS turns on ggml's HIP backend itself; GGML_HIPBLAS is the name ggml
+	# used before it was renamed to GGML_HIP, so passing it here only produced an
+	# unused-variable warning.
+	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DSD_HIPBLAS=ON -DAMDGPU_TARGETS=$(AMDGPU_TARGETS)
 else ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),vulkan)
 	CMAKE_ARGS+=-DSD_VULKAN=ON -DGGML_VULKAN=ON
 else ifeq ($(BUILD_TYPE),metal)

backend/go/stablediffusion-ggml/cpp/gosd.cpp

@@ -401,7 +401,6 @@ int load_model(const char *model, char *model_path, char* options[], int threads
     const char *params_backend_arg = "";
     const char *rpc_servers_arg = "";
     const char *max_vram_arg = "";
-    bool stream_layers = false;
 
     int n_threads = threads;
     enum sd_type_t wtype = SD_TYPE_COUNT;
@@ -510,7 +509,10 @@ int load_model(const char *model, char *model_path, char* options[], int threads
         if (!strcmp(optname, "params_backend")) params_backend_arg = strdup(optval);
         if (!strcmp(optname, "rpc_servers")) rpc_servers_arg = strdup(optval);
         if (!strcmp(optname, "max_vram")) max_vram_arg = strdup(optval);
-        if (!strcmp(optname, "stream_layers")) stream_layers = (strcmp(optval, "true") == 0 || strcmp(optval, "1") == 0);
+        if (!strcmp(optname, "stream_layers")) {
+            // Retained as a no-op for existing configurations. Upstream now
+            // selects segmented weight streaming automatically.
+        }
 
         // vae_decode_only is still accepted for backwards compatibility with
         // existing gallery configs, but upstream dropped the option (the model
@@ -650,11 +652,9 @@ int load_model(const char *model, char *model_path, char* options[], int threads
             ctx_params.rpc_servers = env_rpc_servers;
         }
     }
-    // max_vram: GiB budget or per-backend spec for graph-cut segmented param
-    // offload ("0" = disabled, "-1" = auto). stream_layers only has effect when
-    // max_vram is set.
+    // max_vram is an optional GiB budget or per-backend spec for automatic
+    // graph-cut execution. A zero value uses the live free-VRAM budget.
     if (strlen(max_vram_arg) > 0) ctx_params.max_vram = max_vram_arg;
-    ctx_params.stream_layers = stream_layers;
     ctx_params.diffusion_flash_attn = diffusion_flash_attn;
     ctx_params.tae_preview_only = tae_preview_only;
     ctx_params.diffusion_conv_direct = diffusion_conv_direct;
@@ -1438,4 +1438,3 @@ int unload() {
     free_sd_ctx(sd_c);
     return 0;
 }
-

backend/go/vllm-cpp/Makefile

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ JOBS?=$(shell nproc --ignore=1 2>/dev/null || sysctl -n hw.ncpu 2>/dev/null || e
 
 # vllm.cpp version
 VLLM_CPP_REPO?=https://github.com/mudler/vllm.cpp
-VLLM_CPP_VERSION?=438305e1577768ec0f75729456a4c8b9f425e2ee
+VLLM_CPP_VERSION?=6bf3abb580982f4fd2e4525ef37802ee0ce28981
 
 # MLX GEMM provider (darwin/metal only; see the metal branch below for why).
 # Consumed as the prebuilt pip wheel: building MLX from source needs `xcrun

backend/go/vllm-cpp/govllmcpp.go

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 package main
 
-// purego bindings for the vllm.cpp stable C ABI (include/vllm.h, ABI v21).
+// purego bindings for the vllm.cpp stable C ABI (include/vllm.h, ABI v23).
 //
 // The structs below are hand-mirrored PODs of the C declarations, with
 // explicit padding so the Go layout matches the C layout on linux/darwin
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ import (
 // the header of the VLLM_CPP_VERSION pinned in the Makefile: the build checks
 // the two against each other, because a mismatch is only caught at runtime by
 // registerLib, where it takes the backend down on every load (issue #11379).
-const abiVersion = 21
+const abiVersion = 23
 
 // The ABI's tri-state toggles (enable_prefix_caching ABI v7,
 // enable_jump_forward ABI v10) share one encoding: 0 is NOT "off", it is
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ type cModelParams struct {
 	LanguageModelOnly  int32   // 0 = multimodal inputs enabled (ABI v19)
 	_                  [4]byte
 	LimitMMPerPrompt   uintptr // const char* JSON; NULL = default limits (ABI v19)
+	MMProjPath         uintptr // const char*; NULL = no GGUF projector (ABI v22)
 }
 
 // cSamplingParams mirrors vllm_sampling_params (structured fields included).

backend/go/vllm-cpp/options.go

@@ -128,9 +128,40 @@ func parseOptions(opts *pb.ModelOptions) loadOptions {
 	lo := loadOptions{}
 	applyOptionsList(&lo, opts.GetOptions())
 	applyEngineArgs(&lo, opts.GetEngineArgs())
+	applyDraftModelOption(&lo, opts.GetOptions())
 	return lo
 }
 
+// applyDraftModelOption binds a managed companion snapshot after engine_args
+// has supplied the speculative document. Companion paths do not exist until
+// LocalAI materializes the artifact, so they must replace the gallery's static
+// repository reference without disturbing the method or token budget.
+func applyDraftModelOption(lo *loadOptions, options []string) {
+	if strings.TrimSpace(lo.speculativeConfig) == "" {
+		return
+	}
+	var draftModel string
+	for _, option := range options {
+		key, value, found := strings.Cut(option, ":")
+		if found && strings.TrimSpace(key) == "draft_model" {
+			draftModel = strings.TrimSpace(value)
+		}
+	}
+	if draftModel == "" {
+		return
+	}
+
+	var spec map[string]any
+	if err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(lo.speculativeConfig), &spec); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	spec["model"] = draftModel
+	encoded, err := json.Marshal(spec)
+	if err == nil {
+		lo.speculativeConfig = string(encoded)
+	}
+}
+
 // applyOptionsList reads the legacy free-form "key:value" list. strings.Cut
 // splits on the FIRST colon only, so a JSON object value survives intact.
 func applyOptionsList(lo *loadOptions, options []string) {

backend/go/vllm-cpp/options_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+
+	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("managed DFlash companion options", func() {
+	It("replaces only the draft model in an existing speculative configuration", func() {
+		managedPath := ".artifacts/huggingface/0123456789abcdef/snapshot"
+		lo := parseOptions(&pb.ModelOptions{
+			Options: []string{"draft_model:" + managedPath},
+			EngineArgs: `{
+				"speculative_config": {
+					"method": "dflash",
+					"model": "Mia-AiLab/Qwen3.8-27B-DFlash2-EXL3-5.0bpw",
+					"num_speculative_tokens": 7
+				}
+			}`,
+		})
+
+		Expect(lo.speculativeConfig).To(MatchJSON(`{
+			"method": "dflash",
+			"model": ".artifacts/huggingface/0123456789abcdef/snapshot",
+			"num_speculative_tokens": 7
+		}`))
+	})
+
+	It("ignores a draft companion when speculative decoding is not configured", func() {
+		lo := parseOptions(&pb.ModelOptions{
+			Options: []string{"draft_model:.artifacts/huggingface/0123456789abcdef/snapshot"},
+		})
+
+		Expect(lo.speculativeConfig).To(BeEmpty())
+	})
+})

backend/go/vllm-cpp/vllmcpp_test.go

@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ func TestVllmCpp(t *testing.T) {
 	RunSpecs(t, "vllm-cpp suite")
 }
 
-// The Go POD mirrors must match the C struct layout of vllm.h (ABI v21)
+// The Go POD mirrors must match the C struct layout of vllm.h (ABI v23)
 // byte-for-byte: these offsets are the C offsets on LP64 (linux/darwin
 // amd64+arm64). A failure here means govllmcpp.go drifted from vllm.h.
 var _ = Describe("C ABI struct mirrors", func() {
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ var _ = Describe("C ABI struct mirrors", func() {
 		// VLLM_ABI_VERSION in the vllm.h of VLLM_CPP_VERSION (Makefile).
 		// Moving the pin past this without growing the mirrors below ships a
 		// backend that refuses every load at startup (issue #11379).
-		Expect(abiVersion).To(Equal(21))
+		Expect(abiVersion).To(Equal(23))
 	})
 
 	It("cModelParams matches vllm_model_params", func() {
@@ -51,7 +51,8 @@ var _ = Describe("C ABI struct mirrors", func() {
 		Expect(unsafe.Offsetof(p.KVCacheMemoryBytes)).To(Equal(uintptr(104)))
 		Expect(unsafe.Offsetof(p.LanguageModelOnly)).To(Equal(uintptr(112)))
 		Expect(unsafe.Offsetof(p.LimitMMPerPrompt)).To(Equal(uintptr(120)))
-		Expect(unsafe.Sizeof(p)).To(Equal(uintptr(128)))
+		Expect(unsafe.Offsetof(p.MMProjPath)).To(Equal(uintptr(128)))
+		Expect(unsafe.Sizeof(p)).To(Equal(uintptr(136)))
 	})
 
 	It("cSamplingParams matches vllm_sampling_params (ABI v8)", func() {

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?=4834a2327d008ace3ec5a9ed00f51454bcabbc1c
+WHISPER_CPP_VERSION?=52a939a2a762224e255d366c1182b2af4dd1a032
 SO_TARGET?=libgowhisper.so
 
 CMAKE_ARGS+=-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF

backend/index.yaml

@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@
     default: "cpu-stablediffusion-ggml"
     nvidia: "cuda12-stablediffusion-ggml"
     intel: "intel-sycl-f16-stablediffusion-ggml"
-    # amd: "rocm-stablediffusion-ggml"
+    amd: "rocm-stablediffusion-ggml"
     vulkan: "vulkan-stablediffusion-ggml"
     nvidia-l4t: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-stablediffusion-ggml"
     metal: "metal-stablediffusion-ggml"
@@ -2109,7 +2109,7 @@
     default: "cpu-stablediffusion-ggml-development"
     nvidia: "cuda12-stablediffusion-ggml-development"
     intel: "intel-sycl-f16-stablediffusion-ggml-development"
-    # amd: "rocm-stablediffusion-ggml-development"
+    amd: "rocm-stablediffusion-ggml-development"
     vulkan: "vulkan-stablediffusion-ggml-development"
     nvidia-l4t: "nvidia-l4t-arm64-stablediffusion-ggml-development"
     metal: "metal-stablediffusion-ggml-development"
@@ -3904,6 +3904,11 @@
   uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-stablediffusion-ggml"
   mirrors:
     - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-stablediffusion-ggml
+- !!merge <<: *stablediffusionggml
+  name: "rocm-stablediffusion-ggml"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-rocm-hipblas-stablediffusion-ggml"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:latest-gpu-rocm-hipblas-stablediffusion-ggml
 - !!merge <<: *stablediffusionggml
   name: "intel-sycl-f32-stablediffusion-ggml"
   uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:latest-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-stablediffusion-ggml"
@@ -3917,6 +3922,11 @@
   uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-stablediffusion-ggml"
   mirrors:
     - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-nvidia-cuda-12-stablediffusion-ggml
+- !!merge <<: *stablediffusionggml
+  name: "rocm-stablediffusion-ggml-development"
+  uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-rocm-hipblas-stablediffusion-ggml"
+  mirrors:
+    - localai/localai-backends:master-gpu-rocm-hipblas-stablediffusion-ggml
 - !!merge <<: *stablediffusionggml
   name: "intel-sycl-f32-stablediffusion-ggml-development"
   uri: "quay.io/go-skynet/local-ai-backends:master-gpu-intel-sycl-f32-stablediffusion-ggml"

backend/python/common/python_utils.py

@@ -37,6 +37,46 @@ def parse_options(options_list):
     return opts
 
 
+def attach_media_parts(messages_dicts, n_images=0, n_videos=0):
+    """Rebuild the last user message as content *parts* carrying media markers.
+
+    Backends that let the tokenizer do the templating hand plain string content
+    to ``apply_chat_template``, but a chat template only emits the model's own
+    media tokens (``<|vision_start|><|image_pad|><|vision_end|>`` for the
+    Qwen-VL family, and the equivalents elsewhere) when the content is a list
+    of parts. Without those markers the engine's multimodal processor finds
+    nothing to substitute and silently discards the pixels, even though they
+    were forwarded correctly out of band.
+
+    Returns a new list whose last user message has
+    ``[{"type": "image"} * n_images, {"type": "video"} * n_videos, text]`` as
+    its content, or ``None`` when there is nothing to attach - no media, no
+    user turn, or content that is already a list of parts - so the caller can
+    keep using the original string-content list.
+    """
+    if not n_images and not n_videos:
+        return None
+    idx = next(
+        (
+            i
+            for i in reversed(range(len(messages_dicts)))
+            if messages_dicts[i].get("role") == "user"
+        ),
+        None,
+    )
+    if idx is None:
+        return None
+    text = messages_dicts[idx].get("content") or ""
+    if not isinstance(text, str):
+        return None
+    parts = [{"type": "image"}] * n_images + [{"type": "video"}] * n_videos
+    if text:
+        parts.append({"type": "text", "text": text})
+    patched = list(messages_dicts)
+    patched[idx] = dict(patched[idx], content=parts)
+    return patched
+
+
 def messages_to_dicts(proto_messages):
     """Convert proto ``Message`` objects to dicts suitable for ``apply_chat_template``.
 

backend/python/common/python_utils_test.py

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import json
 import types
 import unittest
 
-from python_utils import messages_to_dicts, parse_options
+from python_utils import attach_media_parts, messages_to_dicts, parse_options
 
 
 def _msg(**fields):
@@ -118,5 +118,63 @@ class TestMessagesToDicts(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertNotIn("tool_calls", out[0])
 
 
+class TestAttachMediaParts(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_image_marker_added_to_last_user_turn(self):
+        messages = [
+            {"role": "system", "content": "be brief"},
+            {"role": "user", "content": "first"},
+            {"role": "assistant", "content": "ok"},
+            {"role": "user", "content": "how high is the water?"},
+        ]
+        out = attach_media_parts(messages, n_images=1)
+        self.assertEqual(
+            out[3]["content"],
+            [{"type": "image"}, {"type": "text", "text": "how high is the water?"}],
+        )
+        # Earlier turns and the input list itself are untouched.
+        self.assertEqual(out[:3], messages[:3])
+        self.assertEqual(messages[3]["content"], "how high is the water?")
+
+    def test_counts_and_order_images_then_videos(self):
+        out = attach_media_parts(
+            [{"role": "user", "content": "describe"}], n_images=2, n_videos=1
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            out[0]["content"],
+            [
+                {"type": "image"},
+                {"type": "image"},
+                {"type": "video"},
+                {"type": "text", "text": "describe"},
+            ],
+        )
+
+    def test_empty_text_yields_media_only_parts(self):
+        out = attach_media_parts([{"role": "user", "content": ""}], n_images=1)
+        self.assertEqual(out[0]["content"], [{"type": "image"}])
+
+    def test_other_message_keys_are_preserved(self):
+        out = attach_media_parts(
+            [{"role": "user", "content": "hi", "name": "bob"}], n_images=1
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(out[0]["name"], "bob")
+
+    def test_no_media_is_a_no_op(self):
+        self.assertIsNone(attach_media_parts([{"role": "user", "content": "hi"}]))
+
+    def test_no_user_turn_is_a_no_op(self):
+        self.assertIsNone(
+            attach_media_parts([{"role": "system", "content": "hi"}], n_images=1)
+        )
+
+    def test_content_already_parts_is_a_no_op(self):
+        self.assertIsNone(
+            attach_media_parts(
+                [{"role": "user", "content": [{"type": "text", "text": "hi"}]}],
+                n_images=1,
+            )
+        )
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()

backend/python/common/template/requirements-intel.txt

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 --extra-index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/xpu
-torch==2.13.0+xpu
+torch==2.14.0+xpu
 oneccl_bind_pt==2.8.0+xpu
 optimum[openvino]

backend/python/common/template/requirements.txt

@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-grpcio==1.82.1
+grpcio==1.83.1
 protobuf
 grpcio-tools

backend/python/coqui/requirements.txt

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-grpcio==1.83.0
+grpcio==1.83.1
 protobuf
 certifi
 packaging==26.3

backend/python/diffusers/backend.py

@@ -122,6 +122,21 @@ from diffusers.schedulers import (
     UniPCMultistepScheduler,
 )
 
+def select_device(request_cuda, device_option, cuda_available, xpu, mps_available):
+    """Pick the pipeline device. An explicit `device:` model option wins;
+    otherwise CUDA is used whenever torch reports it available (ROCm
+    builds included) or the model config forces it with `cuda: true`,
+    keeping the pre-existing XPU/MPS overrides. CPU is the fallback, not
+    the default."""
+    if device_option:
+        return device_option
+    device = "cuda" if (request_cuda or cuda_available) else "cpu"
+    if xpu:
+        device = "xpu"
+    if mps_available:
+        device = "mps"
+    return device
+
 def is_float(s):
     """Check if a string can be converted to float."""
     try:
@@ -627,12 +642,13 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
                 # modify LoraAdapter to be relative to modelFileBase
                 request.LoraAdapter = os.path.join(request.ModelPath, request.LoraAdapter)
 
-            device = "cpu" if not request.CUDA else "cuda"
-            if XPU:
-                device = "xpu"
-            mps_available = hasattr(torch.backends, "mps") and torch.backends.mps.is_available()
-            if mps_available:
-                device = "mps"
+            device = select_device(
+                request.CUDA,
+                self.options.pop("device", None),
+                torch.cuda.is_available(),
+                XPU,
+                hasattr(torch.backends, "mps") and torch.backends.mps.is_available(),
+            )
             self.device = device
             if request.LoraAdapter:
                 # Check if its a local file and not a directory ( we load lora differently for a safetensor file )
@@ -800,12 +816,12 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
             image = image.resize((1024, 576))
 
             generator = torch.manual_seed(request.seed)
-            frames = self.pipe(image, guidance_scale=self.cfg_scale, decode_chunk_size=CHUNK_SIZE, generator=generator).frames[0]
+            frames = self.pipe(image=image, guidance_scale=self.cfg_scale, decode_chunk_size=CHUNK_SIZE, generator=generator).frames[0]
             export_to_video(frames, request.dst, fps=FPS)
             return backend_pb2.Result(message="Media generated successfully", success=True)
 
         if self.txt2vid:
-            video_frames = self.pipe(prompt, guidance_scale=self.cfg_scale, num_inference_steps=steps, num_frames=int(FRAMES)).frames
+            video_frames = self.pipe(prompt=prompt, guidance_scale=self.cfg_scale, num_inference_steps=steps, num_frames=int(FRAMES)).frames
             export_to_video(video_frames, request.dst)
             return backend_pb2.Result(message="Media generated successfully", success=True)
 
@@ -868,7 +884,7 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
         else:
             # pass the kwargs dictionary to the self.pipe method
             image = self.pipe(
-                prompt,
+                prompt=prompt,
                 guidance_scale=self.cfg_scale,
                 **kwargs
             ).images[0]

backend/python/diffusers/test.py

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import time
 from unittest.mock import patch, MagicMock
 
 # Import dynamic loader for testing (these don't need gRPC)
+import backend
 import diffusers_dynamic_loader as loader
 from diffusers import DiffusionPipeline, StableDiffusionPipeline
 
@@ -373,3 +374,74 @@ class TestGenerateImageOptionsKwargsMerge(unittest.TestCase):
         finally:
             os.unlink(src_file.name)
             os.unlink(dst_file.name)
+
+    def test_text_to_image_prompt_is_passed_by_keyword(self):
+        """Test compatibility with pipelines that take image before prompt."""
+        import os
+        import tempfile
+
+        from PIL import Image
+
+        from backend import BackendServicer
+
+        class Flux2CompatiblePipeline:
+            """Model the FLUX.2 call signature: image is before prompt."""
+
+            def __call__(self, image=None, prompt=None, **kwargs):
+                if prompt is None:
+                    raise ValueError("prompt was not passed by keyword")
+                self.prompt = prompt
+                self.kwargs = kwargs
+                return MagicMock(images=[Image.new("RGB", (4, 4))])
+
+        pipeline = Flux2CompatiblePipeline()
+        svc = BackendServicer.__new__(BackendServicer)
+        svc.pipe = pipeline
+        svc.cfg_scale = 7.5
+        svc.controlnet = None
+        svc.img2vid = False
+        svc.txt2vid = False
+        svc.clip_skip = 0
+        svc.PipelineType = "Flux2KleinPipeline"
+        svc.options = {}
+
+        with tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix=".png", delete=False) as dst_file:
+            dst_path = dst_file.name
+
+        try:
+            request = MagicMock()
+            request.positive_prompt = "a red apple on a wooden table"
+            request.negative_prompt = ""
+            request.step = 4
+            request.seed = 0
+            request.width = 0
+            request.height = 0
+            request.src = ""
+            request.ref_images = []
+            request.dst = dst_path
+
+            svc.GenerateImage(request, context=None)
+
+            self.assertEqual(pipeline.prompt, request.positive_prompt)
+            self.assertEqual(pipeline.kwargs["num_inference_steps"], 4)
+        finally:
+            os.unlink(dst_path)
+
+
+class TestDeviceSelection(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Unit tests for backend.select_device (no GPU required)."""
+
+    def test_autodetect_cuda(self):
+        self.assertEqual(backend.select_device(False, None, True, False, False), "cuda")
+
+    def test_cpu_fallback(self):
+        self.assertEqual(backend.select_device(False, None, False, False, False), "cpu")
+
+    def test_forced_cuda(self):
+        self.assertEqual(backend.select_device(True, None, False, False, False), "cuda")
+
+    def test_device_option_wins(self):
+        self.assertEqual(backend.select_device(True, "cpu", True, True, True), "cpu")
+
+    def test_mps_overrides(self):
+        self.assertEqual(backend.select_device(False, None, True, False, True), "mps")

backend/python/longcat-video/README.md

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ RPC. It supports:
   systems such as NVIDIA DGX Spark.
 
 Install the `longcat-video` or `longcat-video-avatar-1.5` recipe from the
-LocalAI Model Gallery. See the [LongCat user guide](../../../docs/content/features/longcat-video.md)
+LocalAI Model Gallery. LongCat video backend
 for Studio and API examples, hardware requirements, and manual configuration.
 
 The upstream source is pinned in `Makefile` and patched at build time. The

backend/python/qwen-asr/backend.py

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'common'))
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'common'))
 from grpc_auth import get_auth_interceptors
 from model_utils import resolve_model_reference
+from device_utils import device_map_for, select_device
 
 
 
@@ -95,13 +96,7 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
         return backend_pb2.Reply(message=bytes("OK", 'utf-8'))
 
     def LoadModel(self, request, context):
-        if torch.cuda.is_available():
-            device = "cuda"
-        else:
-            device = "cpu"
-        mps_available = hasattr(torch.backends, "mps") and torch.backends.mps.is_available()
-        if mps_available:
-            device = "mps"
+        device = select_device(torch)
         if not torch.cuda.is_available() and request.CUDA:
             return backend_pb2.Result(success=False, message="CUDA is not available")
 
@@ -123,7 +118,7 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
         model_path, local_only = resolve_model_reference(
             request, "Qwen/Qwen3-ASR-1.7B"
         )
-        default_dtype = torch.bfloat16 if self.device == "cuda" else torch.float32
+        default_dtype = torch.bfloat16 if self.device in ("cuda", "xpu") else torch.float32
         load_dtype = default_dtype
         if "torch_dtype" in self.options:
             d = str(self.options["torch_dtype"]).lower()
@@ -145,12 +140,7 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
         if attn_implementation is not None and isinstance(attn_implementation, str):
             attn_implementation = attn_implementation.strip() or None
 
-        if self.device == "mps":
-            device_map = None
-        elif self.device == "cuda":
-            device_map = "cuda:0"
-        else:
-            device_map = "cpu"
+        device_map = device_map_for(self.device)
 
         load_kwargs = dict(
             dtype=load_dtype,
@@ -423,4 +413,4 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Run the gRPC server.")
     parser.add_argument("--addr", default="localhost:50051", help="The address to bind the server to.")
     args = parser.parse_args()
-    serve(args.addr)
+    serve(args.addr)

backend/python/qwen-asr/device_utils.py

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+def select_device(torch_module):
+    mps = getattr(getattr(torch_module, "backends", None), "mps", None)
+    if mps is not None and mps.is_available():
+        return "mps"
+    if torch_module.cuda.is_available():
+        return "cuda"
+    xpu = getattr(torch_module, "xpu", None)
+    if xpu is not None and xpu.is_available():
+        return "xpu"
+    return "cpu"
+
+
+def device_map_for(device):
+    if device == "mps":
+        return None
+    if device in ("cuda", "xpu"):
+        return f"{device}:0"
+    return "cpu"

backend/python/qwen-asr/device_utils_test.py

@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import unittest
+
+from device_utils import device_map_for, select_device
+
+
+class Availability:
+    def __init__(self, available):
+        self._available = available
+
+    def is_available(self):
+        return self._available
+
+
+class TorchStub:
+    def __init__(self, *, cuda=False, mps=False, xpu=False):
+        self.cuda = Availability(cuda)
+        self.backends = type("Backends", (), {"mps": Availability(mps)})()
+        self.xpu = Availability(xpu)
+
+
+class SelectDeviceTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_preserves_cuda_selection(self):
+        torch_module = TorchStub(cuda=True)
+
+        self.assertEqual(select_device(torch_module), "cuda")
+
+    def test_preserves_mps_selection(self):
+        torch_module = TorchStub(mps=True)
+
+        self.assertEqual(select_device(torch_module), "mps")
+
+    def test_selects_xpu_when_intel_gpu_is_available(self):
+        torch_module = TorchStub(xpu=True)
+
+        self.assertEqual(select_device(torch_module), "xpu")
+
+    def test_falls_back_to_cpu(self):
+        torch_module = TorchStub()
+
+        self.assertEqual(select_device(torch_module), "cpu")
+
+
+class DeviceMapTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_preserves_cuda_model_placement(self):
+        self.assertEqual(device_map_for("cuda"), "cuda:0")
+
+    def test_preserves_mps_model_placement(self):
+        self.assertIsNone(device_map_for("mps"))
+
+    def test_places_the_model_on_the_first_xpu(self):
+        self.assertEqual(device_map_for("xpu"), "xpu:0")
+
+    def test_preserves_cpu_model_placement(self):
+        self.assertEqual(device_map_for("cpu"), "cpu")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()

backend/python/rerankers/requirements.txt

@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-grpcio==1.82.1
+grpcio==1.83.1
 protobuf
 certifi

backend/python/sglang/backend.py

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import grpc
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'common'))
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'common'))
+from python_utils import attach_media_parts
 from grpc_auth import get_auth_interceptors
 from model_utils import resolve_model_reference
 
@@ -90,6 +91,14 @@ except Exception:
 
 
 _ONE_DAY_IN_SECONDS = 60 * 60 * 24
+
+# proto3 has no field presence, so an explicit 0 is indistinguishable from
+# "unset" and the zero-filter below would drop it. These two fields have a
+# meaningful zero a caller can actually intend: temperature 0 is greedy
+# decoding, and 0 is a valid seed. Silently substituting a default for either
+# turns a reproducible request into a random one.
+_EXPLICIT_ZERO_FIELDS = ("Temperature", "Seed")
+
 MAX_WORKERS = int(os.environ.get('PYTHON_GRPC_MAX_WORKERS', '1'))
 
 
@@ -323,7 +332,7 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
             if not hasattr(request, proto_field):
                 continue
             value = getattr(request, proto_field)
-            if value in (None, 0, 0.0, [], False, ""):
+            if proto_field not in _EXPLICIT_ZERO_FIELDS and value in (None, 0, 0.0, [], False, ""):
                 continue
             # repeated fields come back as RepeatedScalarContainer — convert
             if hasattr(value, "__iter__") and not isinstance(value, (str, bytes)):
@@ -363,8 +372,27 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
                 template_kwargs["tools"] = json.loads(request.Tools)
             except json.JSONDecodeError:
                 pass
-        if request.Metadata.get("enable_thinking", "").lower() == "true":
-            template_kwargs["enable_thinking"] = True
+        _thinking = request.Metadata.get("enable_thinking", "").lower()
+        if _thinking in ("true", "false"):
+            template_kwargs["enable_thinking"] = (_thinking == "true")
+
+        # sglang locates the attached images/videos by scanning the rendered
+        # prompt for the model's own media token, so the template has to be
+        # given content *parts* - string content renders a prompt with no
+        # placeholder and the media are dropped without a word (#11621).
+        media_dicts = attach_media_parts(
+            messages_dicts, len(request.Images), len(request.Videos)
+        )
+        if media_dicts is not None:
+            try:
+                return self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(media_dicts, **template_kwargs)
+            except Exception as e:
+                # A text-only template cannot iterate content parts; fall
+                # through to the text-only prompt instead of failing.
+                print(
+                    f"chat template rejected multimodal content parts: {e!r}",
+                    file=sys.stderr,
+                )
 
         try:
             return self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(messages_dicts, **template_kwargs)
@@ -373,10 +401,67 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
                 messages_dicts, tokenize=False, add_generation_prompt=True,
             )
 
-    def _make_parsers(self, request):
+    def _new_reasoning_parser(self, stream_reasoning: bool, prompt: str = "",
+                              grammar_constrained: bool = False):
+        """Build a ReasoningParser for one request, or None.
+
+        Reasoning templates come in two flavours. Some let the model emit the
+        opening tag, others put it into the *prompt* — Qwen3's template appends
+        ``<think>`` when thinking is on, so the completion starts straight in
+        the reasoning block and only the closing ``</think>`` ever shows up.
+        sglang's detector keys off the opening tag, so in that second case it
+        classifies the whole completion as normal content and
+        ``reasoning_content`` stays empty.
+
+        sglang's own OpenAI server covers this with
+        ``template_manager.force_reasoning``; this backend has no template
+        manager, so it derives the same signal from the rendered prompt.
+        ``force_reasoning`` is only passed when we mean True, leaving detector
+        defaults (e.g. DeepSeek-R1's built-in True) untouched.
+
+        ``grammar_constrained`` suppresses the prefill heuristic. A structured
+        decoding constraint applies from the first token, so the model cannot
+        emit the closing tag even though the template opened the block: the
+        whole completion is schema output and belongs in ``content``. Forcing
+        there files the answer as reasoning and leaves content empty. sglang's
+        own server keeps the two apart for the same reason — its grammar
+        backend owns the reasoning prefix when a reasoning parser is set.
+        """
+        if grammar_constrained:
+            prompt = ""
+
+        if not (HAS_REASONING_PARSERS and self.reasoning_parser_name):
+            return None
+
+        kwargs = {
+            "model_type": self.reasoning_parser_name,
+            "stream_reasoning": stream_reasoning,
+        }
+        try:
+            parser = ReasoningParser(**kwargs)
+        except Exception as e:
+            print(f"ReasoningParser init failed: {e!r}", file=sys.stderr)
+            return None
+
+        start = getattr(getattr(parser, "detector", None), "think_start_token", None)
+        if start and prompt and prompt.rstrip().endswith(start):
+            try:
+                parser = ReasoningParser(force_reasoning=True, **kwargs)
+            except TypeError:
+                # sglang without the force_reasoning kwarg: keep the default
+                # parser rather than failing the request.
+                pass
+            except Exception as e:
+                print(
+                    f"ReasoningParser(force_reasoning=True) failed: {e!r}",
+                    file=sys.stderr,
+                )
+
+        return parser
+
+    def _make_parsers(self, request, prompt: str = ""):
         """Construct fresh per-request parser instances (stateful)."""
         tool_parser = None
-        reasoning_parser = None
 
         if HAS_TOOL_PARSERS and self.tool_parser_name and request.Tools:
             try:
@@ -388,14 +473,9 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
             except Exception as e:
                 print(f"FunctionCallParser init failed: {e!r}", file=sys.stderr)
 
-        if HAS_REASONING_PARSERS and self.reasoning_parser_name:
-            try:
-                reasoning_parser = ReasoningParser(
-                    model_type=self.reasoning_parser_name,
-                    stream_reasoning=True,
-                )
-            except Exception as e:
-                print(f"ReasoningParser init failed: {e!r}", file=sys.stderr)
+        reasoning_parser = self._new_reasoning_parser(
+            True, prompt, bool(getattr(request, "Grammar", "")),
+        )
 
         return tool_parser, reasoning_parser
 
@@ -403,7 +483,7 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
         sampling_params = self._build_sampling_params(request)
         prompt = self._build_prompt(request)
 
-        tool_parser, reasoning_parser = self._make_parsers(request)
+        tool_parser, reasoning_parser = self._make_parsers(request, prompt)
 
         image_data = list(request.Images) if request.Images else None
         video_data = list(request.Videos) if request.Videos else None
@@ -499,15 +579,9 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
         final_tool_calls: List[backend_pb2.ToolCallDelta] = []
 
         if not streaming:
-            final_reasoning_parser = None
-            if HAS_REASONING_PARSERS and self.reasoning_parser_name:
-                try:
-                    final_reasoning_parser = ReasoningParser(
-                        model_type=self.reasoning_parser_name,
-                        stream_reasoning=False,
-                    )
-                except Exception:
-                    final_reasoning_parser = None
+            final_reasoning_parser = self._new_reasoning_parser(
+                False, prompt, bool(getattr(request, "Grammar", "")),
+            )
 
             if final_reasoning_parser is not None:
                 try:

backend/python/sglang/test.py

@@ -96,6 +96,126 @@ class TestSglangHelpers(unittest.TestCase):
             servicer._apply_engine_args({}, "[1,2,3]")
         self.assertIn("must be a JSON object", str(ctx.exception))
 
+    def test_build_prompt_forwards_enable_thinking(self):
+        from types import SimpleNamespace
+
+        class Tok:
+            def __init__(self):
+                self.kwargs = None
+
+            def apply_chat_template(self, messages, **kwargs):
+                self.kwargs = kwargs
+                return "PROMPT"
+
+        def kwargs_for(metadata):
+            servicer = self._servicer()
+            tok = Tok()
+            servicer.tokenizer = tok
+            msg = SimpleNamespace(
+                role="user", content="hi", name="",
+                tool_call_id="", reasoning_content="", tool_calls="",
+            )
+            req = SimpleNamespace(
+                Prompt="", UseTokenizerTemplate=True,
+                Messages=[msg], Tools="", Metadata=metadata,
+            )
+            self.assertEqual(servicer._build_prompt(req), "PROMPT")
+            return tok.kwargs
+
+        self.assertIs(kwargs_for({"enable_thinking": "true"})["enable_thinking"], True)
+        # "false" used to be dropped, so Qwen3 kept thinking on
+        self.assertIs(kwargs_for({"enable_thinking": "false"})["enable_thinking"], False)
+        self.assertNotIn("enable_thinking", kwargs_for({}))
+        self.assertIs(kwargs_for({"enable_thinking": "FALSE"})["enable_thinking"], False)
+
+    def test_reasoning_parser_forced_when_template_prefills_think_tag(self):
+        """Qwen3's template puts ``<think>`` in the prompt, so the completion
+        never contains it. Without force_reasoning the detector treats the whole
+        completion as normal text and reasoning_content stays empty."""
+        servicer = self._servicer()
+        servicer.reasoning_parser_name = "qwen3"
+
+        # What the model actually emits when the prompt ends in "<think>".
+        completion = "adding two and two</think>4"
+
+        forced = servicer._new_reasoning_parser(False, prompt="user: hi\n<think>\n")
+        reasoning, content = forced.parse_non_stream(completion)
+        self.assertEqual(reasoning, "adding two and two")
+        self.assertEqual(content, "4")
+
+        # No prefilled tag in the prompt: detector default, unchanged behaviour.
+        unforced = servicer._new_reasoning_parser(False, prompt="user: hi\n")
+        reasoning, content = unforced.parse_non_stream(completion)
+        self.assertFalse(reasoning)
+        self.assertEqual(content, completion)
+
+    def test_reasoning_parser_not_forced_when_thinking_is_off(self):
+        """Thinking off means no ``<think>`` in the prompt either, so the answer
+        must not be swallowed into reasoning_content."""
+        servicer = self._servicer()
+        servicer.reasoning_parser_name = "qwen3"
+
+        parser = servicer._new_reasoning_parser(False, prompt="user: primes?\n")
+        reasoning, content = parser.parse_non_stream("2,3,5,7,11")
+        self.assertFalse(reasoning)
+        self.assertEqual(content, "2,3,5,7,11")
+
+    def test_grammar_constrained_output_is_not_forced_into_reasoning(self):
+        """Structured decoding applies from the first token, so the model cannot
+        emit the closing tag even though the template opened the block. The whole
+        completion is schema output and must stay in content."""
+        servicer = self._servicer()
+        servicer.reasoning_parser_name = "qwen3"
+
+        schema_out = '{"findings": [{"line": 42, "issue": "off-by-one"}]}'
+        parser = servicer._new_reasoning_parser(
+            False, prompt="audit this\n<think>\n", grammar_constrained=True,
+        )
+        reasoning, content = parser.parse_non_stream(schema_out)
+        self.assertFalse(reasoning)
+        self.assertEqual(content, schema_out)
+
+    def test_reasoning_parser_absent_without_configured_parser(self):
+        servicer = self._servicer()
+        servicer.reasoning_parser_name = None
+        self.assertIsNone(servicer._new_reasoning_parser(False, prompt="<think>"))
+
+    def test_explicit_zero_temperature_and_seed_are_preserved(self):
+        """Temperature=0 is greedy decoding and 0 is a valid seed — neither is
+        an unset value. A dropped seed turns a reproducible request random."""
+        from types import SimpleNamespace
+
+        servicer = self._servicer()
+        import sys as _sys
+        _SEED_KEY_FOR_TEST = _sys.modules["backend"]._SEED_KEY
+        request = SimpleNamespace(
+            Temperature=0,
+            N=0,
+            PresencePenalty=0,
+            FrequencyPenalty=0,
+            RepetitionPenalty=0,
+            TopP=0,
+            TopK=0,
+            MinP=0,
+            Seed=0,
+            StopPrompts=[],
+            StopTokenIds=[],
+            IgnoreEOS=False,
+            Tokens=0,
+            MinTokens=0,
+            SkipSpecialTokens=False,
+            Grammar="",
+        )
+
+        params = servicer._build_sampling_params(request)
+        self.assertEqual(params["temperature"], 0)
+        self.assertEqual(params[_SEED_KEY_FOR_TEST], 0)
+        # Other protobuf-default scalar fields must remain filtered. top_k=0 in
+        # particular is not a value sglang accepts (-1 disables it), so it must
+        # keep falling through to the engine default.
+        self.assertNotIn("top_p", params)
+        self.assertNotIn("top_k", params)
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()

backend/python/vllm/backend.py

@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import backend_pb2_grpc
 import grpc
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'common'))
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'common'))
+from python_utils import attach_media_parts
 from grpc_auth import get_auth_interceptors
 from model_utils import resolve_model_reference
 from vllm_utils import apply_options_to_engine_args, normalize_option_key
@@ -60,6 +61,12 @@ except ImportError:
 
 _ONE_DAY_IN_SECONDS = 60 * 60 * 24
 
+# proto3 has no field presence, so an explicit 0 is indistinguishable from
+# "unset". These two fields have a meaningful zero a caller can intend:
+# temperature 0 is greedy decoding, and 0 is a valid seed.
+_EXPLICIT_ZERO_FIELDS = ("Temperature", "Seed")
+
+
 # If MAX_WORKERS are specified in the environment use it, otherwise default to 1
 MAX_WORKERS = int(os.environ.get('PYTHON_GRPC_MAX_WORKERS', '1'))
 
@@ -523,9 +530,7 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
             context.set_details(str(e))
             return backend_pb2.ScoreResponse()
 
-    async def _predict(self, request, context, streaming=False):
-        # Build the sampling parameters
-        # NOTE: this must stay in sync with the vllm backend
+    def _build_sampling_params(self, request):
         request_to_sampling_params = {
             "N": "n",
             "PresencePenalty": "presence_penalty",
@@ -555,9 +560,84 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
         for request_field, param_field in request_to_sampling_params.items():
             if hasattr(request, request_field):
                 value = getattr(request, request_field)
-                if value not in (None, 0, [], False):
+                # See _EXPLICIT_ZERO_FIELDS: temperature 0 is greedy decoding
+                # and 0 is a valid seed, so neither may be filtered out.
+                if request_field in _EXPLICIT_ZERO_FIELDS or value not in (None, 0, [], False):
                     setattr(sampling_params, param_field, value)
 
+        return sampling_params
+
+    def _new_reasoning_parser(self, chat_template_kwargs):
+        """Build the reasoning parser, telling it whether thinking is on.
+
+        vLLM's newer parser engines decide their *initial state* from
+        ``chat_template_kwargs``: ``Qwen3Parser`` reads
+        ``chat_template_kwargs["enable_thinking"]`` and defaults to ``True``,
+        starting in the REASONING state. Constructed without it, a completion
+        produced with thinking disabled is classified as reasoning end to end,
+        and the answer is reported in both ``reasoning_content`` and
+        ``content``.
+
+        vLLM's own OpenAI server forwards the request's chat template kwargs
+        here; this backend renders the template itself, so it forwards the
+        same dict. Older parsers do not accept the argument — fall back to the
+        plain constructor for those.
+        """
+        try:
+            return self.reasoning_parser_cls(
+                self.tokenizer, chat_template_kwargs=chat_template_kwargs or {},
+            )
+        except TypeError:
+            return self.reasoning_parser_cls(self.tokenizer)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _split_reasoning(rp, generated_text, prompt, reasoning, content):
+        """Decide what the reasoning parser's output actually means.
+
+        Covers the *older* parser shape, which has no initial state to set:
+        ``BaseThinkingReasoningParser.extract_reasoning`` documents its own
+        fallback — "For models that may not generate start token, assume the
+        reasoning content is always at the start." When no end token is
+        present it returns *everything* as reasoning and ``None`` as content,
+        which is right for a truncated reasoning run and wrong for a
+        completion that never contained reasoning at all.
+
+        Taking ``None`` content to mean "keep the raw text" then duplicates
+        the answer into both fields.
+
+        The prompt says which case it is. A template with thinking on leaves
+        the reasoning block open (the prompt ends with the start token); with
+        thinking off it closes the block in the prompt, so the completion is
+        plain content. Parsers that expose no token pair (the engine-based
+        adapters, which take the ``chat_template_kwargs`` route above) keep
+        the parser's verdict unchanged.
+        """
+        start = getattr(rp, "start_token", None)
+        end = getattr(rp, "end_token", None)
+
+        if end and end in generated_text:
+            # The parser split on the end token. Empty content here means the
+            # model stopped right after it, not that parsing failed.
+            return reasoning or "", content or ""
+
+        if not start:
+            # Unknown token layout — keep the previous behaviour rather than
+            # guess.
+            return reasoning or "", content if content is not None else generated_text
+
+        if not (start in generated_text or (prompt or "").rstrip().endswith(start)):
+            # No end token and the block was never open: the "reasoning starts
+            # at the beginning" fallback does not apply to this completion.
+            return "", generated_text
+
+        # Block was open and the end token never arrived — reasoning ran out of
+        # budget. It is all reasoning, and there is no answer to report.
+        return reasoning or "", content or ""
+
+    async def _predict(self, request, context, streaming=False):
+        # Build the sampling parameters
+        sampling_params = self._build_sampling_params(request)
+
         # Structured-output decoding: use Grammar field to pass JSON schema or BNF
         if HAS_GUIDED_DECODING and request.Grammar:
             try:
@@ -568,6 +648,9 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
 
         # Extract image paths and process images
         prompt = request.Prompt
+        # Kept in scope: the reasoning parser needs to know which chat
+        # template kwargs produced this prompt.
+        template_kwargs = {}
 
         image_paths = request.Images
         image_data = [self.load_image(img_path) for img_path in image_paths]
@@ -578,7 +661,7 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
         # If tokenizer template is enabled and messages are provided instead of prompt, apply the tokenizer template
         if not request.Prompt and request.UseTokenizerTemplate and request.Messages:
             messages_dicts = self._messages_to_dicts(request.Messages)
-            template_kwargs = {"tokenize": False, "add_generation_prompt": True}
+            template_kwargs.update({"tokenize": False, "add_generation_prompt": True})
 
             # Pass tools for tool calling
             if request.Tools:
@@ -587,17 +670,37 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
                 except json.JSONDecodeError:
                     pass
 
-            # Enable thinking mode if requested
-            if request.Metadata.get("enable_thinking", "").lower() == "true":
-                template_kwargs["enable_thinking"] = True
+            _thinking = request.Metadata.get("enable_thinking", "").lower()
+            if _thinking in ("true", "false"):
+                template_kwargs["enable_thinking"] = (_thinking == "true")
 
-            try:
-                prompt = self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(messages_dicts, **template_kwargs)
-            except TypeError:
-                # Some tokenizers don't support tools/enable_thinking kwargs — retry without them
-                prompt = self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(
-                    messages_dicts, tokenize=False, add_generation_prompt=True
-                )
+            # vLLM substitutes multi_modal_data into the model's own media
+            # token, so the template has to be given content *parts* - string
+            # content renders a prompt with no placeholder and the media are
+            # dropped without a word (#11621).
+            prompt = None
+            media_dicts = attach_media_parts(
+                messages_dicts, len(image_data), len(video_data)
+            )
+            if media_dicts is not None:
+                try:
+                    prompt = self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(media_dicts, **template_kwargs)
+                except Exception as e:
+                    # A text-only template cannot iterate content parts; fall
+                    # through to the text-only prompt instead of failing.
+                    print(
+                        f"chat template rejected multimodal content parts: {e!r}",
+                        file=sys.stderr,
+                    )
+
+            if prompt is None:
+                try:
+                    prompt = self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(messages_dicts, **template_kwargs)
+                except TypeError:
+                    # Some tokenizers don't support tools/enable_thinking kwargs — retry without them
+                    prompt = self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(
+                        messages_dicts, tokenize=False, add_generation_prompt=True
+                    )
 
         # Generate text using the LLM engine
         request_id = random_uuid()
@@ -753,10 +856,11 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
 
         if self.reasoning_parser_cls:
             try:
-                rp = self.reasoning_parser_cls(self.tokenizer)
+                rp = self._new_reasoning_parser(template_kwargs)
                 r, c = rp.extract_reasoning(generated_text, request=None)
-                reasoning_content = r or ""
-                content = c if c is not None else generated_text
+                reasoning_content, content = self._split_reasoning(
+                    rp, generated_text, prompt, r, c,
+                )
             except Exception as e:
                 print(f"Reasoning parser error: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
 

backend/python/vllm/install.sh

@@ -119,14 +119,18 @@ if [ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ]; then
     # can rewrite it. Darwin therefore follows vllm-metal and can lag the Linux
     # vllm pin (requirements-cublas13-after.txt, bumped independently against
     # vllm/vllm) until vllm-metal supports a newer vLLM.
-    VLLM_METAL_VERSION="v0.3.0.dev20260818075955"
+    VLLM_METAL_VERSION="v0.28.0"
 
     # The coupled vLLM source version is whatever this vllm-metal release builds
-    # against. Derive it from
-    # the PINNED tag rather than hardcoding a second value that could drift. The
-    # tag is immutable, so this stays reproducible across rebuilds.
-    VLLM_VERSION=$(curl -fsSL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vllm-project/vllm-metal/${VLLM_METAL_VERSION}/install.sh" \
-        | "$backend_dir/../../../scripts/lib/extract-vllm-metal-version.sh")
+    # against. Derive it from the PINNED tag rather than hardcoding a second value
+    # that could drift. The tag is immutable, so this stays reproducible across
+    # rebuilds. Since vllm-metal 0.28 the coupling is declared in
+    # .github/vllm-release-tag.commit; older releases pinned it inline in their
+    # own install.sh, so fall back to that. The extractor reads both forms.
+    _vllm_metal_raw="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vllm-project/vllm-metal/${VLLM_METAL_VERSION}"
+    VLLM_VERSION=$( { curl -fsSL "${_vllm_metal_raw}/.github/vllm-release-tag.commit" \
+        || curl -fsSL "${_vllm_metal_raw}/install.sh"; } \
+        | "$backend_dir/../../../scripts/lib/extract-vllm-metal-version.sh" || true)
     if [ -z "${VLLM_VERSION}" ]; then
         echo "ERROR: could not derive the vLLM version from vllm-metal ${VLLM_METAL_VERSION}" >&2
         exit 1
@@ -153,10 +157,18 @@ if [ "$(uname -s)" = "Darwin" ]; then
     # 2) Install the prebuilt vllm-metal wheel for the PINNED release. It pulls
     #    mlx / mlx-metal as deps and registers the `metal` platform plugin that
     #    backend.py resolves to at engine-init time. Build the release-asset URL
-    #    deterministically (tag + the cp312/arm64 wheel name) rather than querying
-    #    api.github.com, whose unauthenticated rate limit (60/hr per IP) 403s on
-    #    shared CI runners. The wheel version is the tag without its leading 'v'.
-    _metal_wheel="vllm_metal-${VLLM_METAL_VERSION#v}-cp312-cp312-macosx_11_0_arm64.whl"
+    #    from the release's OWN asset listing rather than composing it from a
+    #    hardcoded platform tag: upstream raised its macOS deployment target
+    #    (macosx_11_0 -> macosx_15_0) and every composed URL started to 404.
+    #    expanded_assets is the plain release page, not api.github.com, whose
+    #    unauthenticated rate limit (60/hr per IP) 403s on shared CI runners.
+    #    The wheel version is the tag without its leading 'v'.
+    _metal_wheel=$(curl -fsSL "https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm-metal/releases/expanded_assets/${VLLM_METAL_VERSION}" \
+        | grep -oE "vllm_metal-${VLLM_METAL_VERSION#v}-cp312-cp312-[A-Za-z0-9_]+\.whl" | head -1 || true)
+    if [ -z "${_metal_wheel}" ]; then
+        echo "ERROR: no cp312 wheel asset on vllm-metal release ${VLLM_METAL_VERSION}" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
     _metal_wheel_url="https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm-metal/releases/download/${VLLM_METAL_VERSION}/${_metal_wheel}"
     echo "Installing vllm-metal wheel: ${_metal_wheel_url}"
     uv pip install "${_metal_wheel_url}"

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

@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
 # 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/0.27.1/cu130
+--extra-index-url https://wheels.vllm.ai/0.28.0/cu130
 # VERSION COUPLING: darwin/Apple-Silicon builds use vllm-metal (see install.sh),
 # which pins this exact vLLM version. Bumping vllm here means coordinating with a
 # vllm-metal release that supports the new version, or macOS/Metal builds break.
-vllm==0.27.1
+vllm==0.28.0

backend/python/vllm/requirements-l4t13-after.txt

@@ -9,4 +9,4 @@
 # memory architecture crash deterministically with an empty "Engine core init
 # failed" set (mudler/LocalAI#10722). Leaving this unpinned let the L4T image
 # drift onto whatever wheel was latest at build time.
-vllm==0.26.0
+vllm==0.28.0

backend/python/vllm/requirements.txt

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
-grpcio==1.83.0
+grpcio==1.83.1
 protobuf
 certifi
 setuptools
 pillow
-charset-normalizer>=3.4.9
+charset-normalizer>=3.5.1
 chardet

backend/python/vllm/test.py

@@ -121,6 +121,21 @@ class TestBackendServicer(unittest.TestCase):
         finally:
             self.tearDown()
 
+    def test_explicit_zero_temperature_and_seed_are_preserved(self):
+        """Temperature=0 is greedy decoding and 0 is a valid seed — neither is
+        an unset value. A dropped seed turns a reproducible request random."""
+        import sys, os
+        sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+        from backend import BackendServicer
+
+        servicer = BackendServicer()
+        request = backend_pb2.PredictOptions(Prompt="hello", Temperature=0, Seed=0)
+        sampling_params = servicer._build_sampling_params(request)
+        self.assertEqual(sampling_params.temperature, 0)
+        self.assertEqual(sampling_params.seed, 0)
+        # Other protobuf-default scalar fields must remain filtered.
+        self.assertEqual(sampling_params.top_p, 0.9)
+
 
     def test_messages_to_dicts(self):
         """
@@ -536,3 +551,116 @@ class TestStreamingToolParser(unittest.TestCase):
             intermediate, ["Hello ", "world", "!"],
             f"plain streaming changed; got {intermediate!r}",
         )
+
+
+class TestReasoningSplit(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Server-less tests for BackendServicer._split_reasoning.
+
+    vLLM's BaseThinkingReasoningParser returns the whole completion as
+    reasoning and None as content whenever the end token is missing. Taken
+    literally that duplicates a thinking-disabled answer into both fields.
+    """
+
+    class _Parser:
+        start_token = "<think>"
+        end_token = "</think>"
+
+    def _split(self, generated, prompt, reasoning, content):
+        import sys, os
+        sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+        from backend import BackendServicer
+        return BackendServicer._split_reasoning(
+            self._Parser(), generated, prompt, reasoning, content,
+        )
+
+    def test_thinking_off_is_not_duplicated_into_reasoning(self):
+        """No tags anywhere: the answer is content, and only content."""
+        r, c = self._split(
+            "391", "user: 17*23?\n<think>\n\n</think>\n\n",
+            reasoning="391", content=None,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(r, "")
+        self.assertEqual(c, "391")
+
+    def test_prefilled_start_tag_keeps_truncated_reasoning(self):
+        """Prompt left the block open and the end token never arrived
+        (budget exhausted): that really is all reasoning."""
+        r, c = self._split(
+            "thinking and thinking", "user: hi\n<think>\n",
+            reasoning="thinking and thinking", content=None,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(r, "thinking and thinking")
+        self.assertEqual(c, "")
+
+    def test_end_token_present_keeps_parser_split(self):
+        r, c = self._split(
+            "adding two and two</think>4", "user: hi\n<think>\n",
+            reasoning="adding two and two", content="4",
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(r, "adding two and two")
+        self.assertEqual(c, "4")
+
+    def test_stop_right_after_end_token_yields_empty_content(self):
+        """Content must not fall back to the raw text — that would put the
+        reasoning into the answer."""
+        r, c = self._split(
+            "reasoned</think>", "user: hi\n<think>\n",
+            reasoning="reasoned", content=None,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(r, "reasoned")
+        self.assertEqual(c, "")
+
+    def test_unknown_token_layout_keeps_previous_behaviour(self):
+        class _Bare:
+            pass
+        import sys, os
+        sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+        from backend import BackendServicer
+        r, c = BackendServicer._split_reasoning(
+            _Bare(), "raw", "prompt", "raw", None,
+        )
+        self.assertEqual(r, "raw")
+        self.assertEqual(c, "raw")
+
+
+class TestReasoningParserConstruction(unittest.TestCase):
+    """The parser must learn whether thinking was on for this request.
+
+    vLLM's engine-based parsers (Qwen3Parser and friends) read
+    chat_template_kwargs["enable_thinking"] and default to True, so a parser
+    built without it treats a thinking-disabled completion as pure reasoning.
+    """
+
+    def _servicer(self):
+        import sys, os
+        sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
+        from backend import BackendServicer
+        s = BackendServicer()
+        s.tokenizer = object()
+        return s
+
+    def test_chat_template_kwargs_are_forwarded(self):
+        seen = {}
+
+        class _Parser:
+            def __init__(self, tokenizer, **kwargs):
+                seen.update(kwargs)
+
+        s = self._servicer()
+        s.reasoning_parser_cls = _Parser
+        s._new_reasoning_parser({"enable_thinking": False})
+        self.assertEqual(
+            seen.get("chat_template_kwargs"), {"enable_thinking": False},
+        )
+
+    def test_parser_without_the_kwarg_still_builds(self):
+        """Older parsers take only the tokenizer — must not break them."""
+        class _Old:
+            def __init__(self, tokenizer):
+                self.tokenizer = tokenizer
+
+        s = self._servicer()
+        s.reasoning_parser_cls = _Old
+        self.assertIsInstance(
+            s._new_reasoning_parser({"enable_thinking": False}), _Old,
+        )

backend/python/whisperx/backend.py

@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import grpc
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..', 'common'))
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'common'))
 from grpc_auth import get_auth_interceptors
+from transcript_utils import require_diarization_token, seconds_to_nanoseconds
 
 
 
@@ -81,6 +82,11 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
         import whisperx
         from whisperx.diarize import DiarizationPipeline
 
+        try:
+            require_diarization_token(request.diarize, self.hf_token)
+        except ValueError as err:
+            context.abort(grpc.StatusCode.FAILED_PRECONDITION, str(err))
+
         resultSegments = []
         text = ""
         try:
@@ -117,8 +123,8 @@ class BackendServicer(backend_pb2_grpc.BackendServicer):
             # Build result segments
             for idx, seg in enumerate(transcript["segments"]):
                 seg_text = seg.get("text", "")
-                start = int(seg.get("start", 0))
-                end = int(seg.get("end", 0))
+                start = seconds_to_nanoseconds(seg.get("start", 0))
+                end = seconds_to_nanoseconds(seg.get("end", 0))
                 speaker = seg.get("speaker", "")
 
                 resultSegments.append(backend_pb2.TranscriptSegment(

backend/python/whisperx/test_transcript_utils.py

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+import unittest
+
+import transcript_utils
+
+
+class TestTranscriptUtils(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_diarization_requires_hugging_face_token(self):
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(
+            ValueError,
+            "HF_TOKEN is required for WhisperX diarization",
+        ):
+            transcript_utils.require_diarization_token(True, None)
+
+    def test_diarization_does_not_require_token_when_disabled(self):
+        transcript_utils.require_diarization_token(False, None)
+
+    def test_seconds_are_serialized_as_nanoseconds(self):
+        self.assertEqual(
+            transcript_utils.seconds_to_nanoseconds(3.25),
+            3_250_000_000,
+        )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()

backend/python/whisperx/transcript_utils.py

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+"""Helpers for WhisperX transcript responses."""
+
+
+def require_diarization_token(diarize, token):
+    """Reject diarization when WhisperX cannot load its gated pipeline."""
+    if diarize and not token:
+        raise ValueError("HF_TOKEN is required for WhisperX diarization")
+
+
+def seconds_to_nanoseconds(seconds):
+    """Convert WhisperX timestamps to the duration unit used by LocalAI."""
+    return int(seconds * 1_000_000_000)

cmd/launcher/internal/launcher.go

@@ -24,10 +24,17 @@ import (
 
 // Config represents the launcher configuration
 type Config struct {
-	ModelsPath      string            `json:"models_path"`
-	BackendsPath    string            `json:"backends_path"`
-	Address         string            `json:"address"`
-	AutoStart       bool              `json:"auto_start"`
+	ModelsPath   string `json:"models_path"`
+	BackendsPath string `json:"backends_path"`
+	Address      string `json:"address"`
+	// AutoStart controls whether the launcher starts the LocalAI server as
+	// soon as the launcher itself opens (and right after a fresh install).
+	// Unset means enabled: launching the app must yield a serving endpoint,
+	// which is what the quickstart docs promise. The JSON key is deliberately
+	// not the legacy "auto_start": that field was never honored nor exposed
+	// in any UI, so every existing launcher.json carries an unintentional
+	// false that would keep auto-start permanently off (#11673).
+	AutoStart       *bool             `json:"auto_start_server"`
 	StartOnBoot     bool              `json:"start_on_boot"`
 	LogLevel        string            `json:"log_level"`
 	EnvironmentVars map[string]string `json:"environment_vars"`
@@ -122,9 +129,6 @@ func (l *Launcher) Initialize() error {
 		log.Printf("Warning: failed to cleanup partial downloads: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	if l.config.StartOnBoot {
-		l.StartLocalAI()
-	}
 	// Set default paths if not configured (only if not already loaded from config)
 	if l.config.ModelsPath == "" {
 		homeDir, _ := os.UserHomeDir()
@@ -156,6 +160,12 @@ func (l *Launcher) Initialize() error {
 		log.Printf("Setting default ShowWelcome: true")
 	}
 
+	if l.config.AutoStart == nil {
+		enabled := true
+		l.config.AutoStart = &enabled
+		log.Printf("Setting default AutoStart: true")
+	}
+
 	// Create directories
 	os.MkdirAll(l.config.ModelsPath, 0755)
 	os.MkdirAll(l.config.BackendsPath, 0755)
@@ -177,6 +187,11 @@ func (l *Launcher) Initialize() error {
 				l.showDownloadLocalAIDialog()
 			}
 		})
+	} else if l.ShouldAutoStartServer() {
+		// The launcher is a tray-only app: without this the user launches it,
+		// sees no window and no server, and concludes it does nothing (#11673).
+		log.Printf("Auto-starting LocalAI server")
+		l.autoStartServer()
 	}
 
 	// Check for updates periodically
@@ -185,6 +200,35 @@ func (l *Launcher) Initialize() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// ShouldAutoStartServer reports whether the launcher should start the server
+// without user interaction: at launcher startup and right after a fresh
+// install. Defaults to enabled; StartOnBoot forces a start even when
+// auto-start was explicitly disabled, preserving its historical behavior.
+func (l *Launcher) ShouldAutoStartServer() bool {
+	if l.config == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	if l.config.StartOnBoot {
+		return true
+	}
+	return l.config.AutoStart == nil || *l.config.AutoStart
+}
+
+// autoStartServer starts LocalAI in the background and surfaces failures
+// through the systray error dialog: during an auto-start there is no visible
+// window for a regular error dialog to attach to.
+func (l *Launcher) autoStartServer() {
+	go func() {
+		if err := l.StartLocalAI(); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("Failed to auto-start LocalAI: %v", err)
+			l.updateStatus(fmt.Sprintf("Failed to start LocalAI: %v", err))
+			if l.systray != nil {
+				l.systray.showStartupErrorDialog(err)
+			}
+		}
+	}()
+}
+
 // StartLocalAI starts the LocalAI server
 func (l *Launcher) StartLocalAI() error {
 	if l.isRunning {
@@ -644,14 +688,22 @@ func (l *Launcher) showDownloadError(title, message string) {
 // after a fresh install (no LocalAI binary present yet).
 func (l *Launcher) showDownloadProgress(version, title string) {
 	l.showDownloadProgressWindow(version, title, func(win fyne.Window) {
-		dialog.ShowConfirm("Installation Complete",
-			"LocalAI has been downloaded and installed successfully. You can now start LocalAI from the launcher.",
+		message := "LocalAI has been downloaded and installed successfully. You can now start LocalAI from the launcher."
+		if l.ShouldAutoStartServer() {
+			message = "LocalAI has been downloaded and installed successfully. It will start now: manage it and open the WebUI from the system tray icon."
+		}
+		dialog.ShowConfirm("Installation Complete", message,
 			func(bool) {
 				win.Close()
 				l.updateStatus("LocalAI installed successfully")
 				if l.systray != nil {
 					l.systray.recreateMenu()
 				}
+				// A fresh install should end with a running server, not with
+				// the user hunting for a start button in the tray (#11673).
+				if l.ShouldAutoStartServer() && !l.isRunning {
+					l.autoStartServer()
+				}
 			}, win)
 	})
 }

cmd/launcher/internal/launcher_test.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package launcher_test
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
@@ -55,7 +56,8 @@ var _ = Describe("Launcher", func() {
 			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
 
 			config := launcherInstance.GetConfig()
-			Expect(config.ShowWelcome).To(BeTrue())
+			Expect(config.ShowWelcome).ToNot(BeNil())
+			Expect(*config.ShowWelcome).To(BeTrue())
 			Expect(config.Address).To(Equal("127.0.0.1:8080"))
 			Expect(config.LogLevel).To(Equal("info"))
 		})
@@ -177,13 +179,53 @@ var _ = Describe("Launcher", func() {
 
 			assertFlagValue("--generated-content-path", filepath.Join(dataPath, "generated"))
 			assertFlagValue("--upload-path", filepath.Join(dataPath, "uploads"))
-			// The bug was the server resolving these to shared /tmp paths.
+			// The bug was the server resolving these to its shared /tmp
+			// defaults. Only reject those specific paths: on Linux the test's
+			// own temp directory legitimately lives under /tmp.
 			for _, a := range args {
-				Expect(a).ToNot(HavePrefix("/tmp/"), "run args must not reference shared /tmp paths, got %s", a)
+				Expect(a).ToNot(HavePrefix("/tmp/generated"), "run args must not reference the shared /tmp generated-content default, got %s", a)
+				Expect(a).ToNot(HavePrefix("/tmp/upload"), "run args must not reference the shared /tmp upload default, got %s", a)
 			}
 		})
 	})
 
+	// Regression for "Mac dmg launcher launches nothing" (issue #11673): the
+	// launcher created empty log files and served nothing because nothing ever
+	// started the server unless the unrelated "start on system boot" option was
+	// enabled. Launching the app must yield a serving endpoint by default.
+	Describe("ShouldAutoStartServer", func() {
+		It("should auto-start by default when nothing is configured", func() {
+			Expect(launcherInstance.ShouldAutoStartServer()).To(BeTrue())
+		})
+
+		It("should respect an explicit opt-out", func() {
+			config := launcherInstance.GetConfig()
+			err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(`{"auto_start_server": false}`), config)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			Expect(launcherInstance.ShouldAutoStartServer()).To(BeFalse())
+		})
+
+		It("should still auto-start when StartOnBoot is set even if auto-start is off", func() {
+			config := launcherInstance.GetConfig()
+			err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(`{"auto_start_server": false, "start_on_boot": true}`), config)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			Expect(launcherInstance.ShouldAutoStartServer()).To(BeTrue())
+		})
+
+		It("should ignore the legacy auto_start key older launchers persisted as false", func() {
+			// Old launchers marshaled the never-honored AutoStart field as
+			// "auto_start": false into every launcher.json. That stale value
+			// carries no user intent and must not disable auto-start.
+			config := launcherInstance.GetConfig()
+			err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(`{"auto_start": false}`), config)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+			Expect(launcherInstance.ShouldAutoStartServer()).To(BeTrue())
+		})
+	})
+
 	Describe("Logs", func() {
 		It("should return empty logs initially", func() {
 			logs := launcherInstance.GetLogs()
@@ -210,13 +252,38 @@ var _ = Describe("Launcher", func() {
 	})
 })
 
+// Regression for the welcome window suppressing itself (part of issue
+// #11673): the "don't show this welcome window again" checkbox was
+// initialized with the ShowWelcome value itself, so on the very first
+// showing it came up checked AND its change callback persisted
+// ShowWelcome=false, hiding the welcome window forever.
+var _ = Describe("WelcomeDontShowAgainChecked", func() {
+	It("should be unchecked when the welcome window is enabled", func() {
+		show := true
+		config := &launcher.Config{ShowWelcome: &show}
+		Expect(launcher.WelcomeDontShowAgainChecked(config)).To(BeFalse())
+	})
+
+	It("should be checked when the user opted out", func() {
+		show := false
+		config := &launcher.Config{ShowWelcome: &show}
+		Expect(launcher.WelcomeDontShowAgainChecked(config)).To(BeTrue())
+	})
+
+	It("should be unchecked when the preference is unset", func() {
+		Expect(launcher.WelcomeDontShowAgainChecked(&launcher.Config{})).To(BeFalse())
+		Expect(launcher.WelcomeDontShowAgainChecked(nil)).To(BeFalse())
+	})
+})
+
 var _ = Describe("Config", func() {
 	It("should have proper JSON tags", func() {
+		autoStart := true
 		config := &launcher.Config{
 			ModelsPath:      "/test/models",
 			BackendsPath:    "/test/backends",
 			Address:         ":8080",
-			AutoStart:       true,
+			AutoStart:       &autoStart,
 			LogLevel:        "info",
 			EnvironmentVars: map[string]string{"TEST": "value"},
 		}
@@ -224,7 +291,7 @@ var _ = Describe("Config", func() {
 		Expect(config.ModelsPath).To(Equal("/test/models"))
 		Expect(config.BackendsPath).To(Equal("/test/backends"))
 		Expect(config.Address).To(Equal(":8080"))
-		Expect(config.AutoStart).To(BeTrue())
+		Expect(*config.AutoStart).To(BeTrue())
 		Expect(config.LogLevel).To(Equal("info"))
 		Expect(config.EnvironmentVars).To(HaveKeyWithValue("TEST", "value"))
 	})

cmd/launcher/internal/ui.go

@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ type LauncherUI struct {
 	backendsPathEntry *widget.Entry
 	addressEntry      *widget.Entry
 	logLevelSelect    *widget.Select
+	autoStartCheck    *widget.Check
 	startOnBootCheck  *widget.Check
 
 	// Environment Variables
@@ -75,6 +76,7 @@ func NewLauncherUI() *LauncherUI {
 		backendsPathEntry: widget.NewEntry(),
 		addressEntry:      widget.NewEntry(),
 		logLevelSelect:    widget.NewSelect([]string{"error", "warn", "info", "debug", "trace"}, nil),
+		autoStartCheck:    widget.NewCheck("Start LocalAI when the launcher opens", nil),
 		startOnBootCheck:  widget.NewCheck("Start LocalAI on system boot", nil),
 		logText:           widget.NewMultiLineEntry(),
 		progressBar:       widget.NewProgressBar(),
@@ -117,6 +119,7 @@ func (ui *LauncherUI) createConfigTab() *fyne.Container {
 			widget.NewLabel("Log Level:"),
 			ui.logLevelSelect,
 		),
+		ui.autoStartCheck,
 		ui.startOnBootCheck,
 	))
 
@@ -401,6 +404,8 @@ func (ui *LauncherUI) saveConfiguration() {
 	config.BackendsPath = ui.backendsPathEntry.Text
 	config.Address = ui.addressEntry.Text
 	config.LogLevel = ui.logLevelSelect.Selected
+	autoStart := ui.autoStartCheck.Checked
+	config.AutoStart = &autoStart
 	config.StartOnBoot = ui.startOnBootCheck.Checked
 
 	// Ensure environment variables are included in the configuration
@@ -583,6 +588,7 @@ func (ui *LauncherUI) LoadConfiguration() {
 	ui.backendsPathEntry.SetText(config.BackendsPath)
 	ui.addressEntry.SetText(config.Address)
 	ui.logLevelSelect.SetSelected(config.LogLevel)
+	ui.autoStartCheck.SetChecked(config.AutoStart == nil || *config.AutoStart)
 	ui.startOnBootCheck.SetChecked(config.StartOnBoot)
 
 	// Load environment variables
@@ -616,6 +622,14 @@ func (ui *LauncherUI) UpdateRunningState(isRunning bool) {
 	})
 }
 
+// WelcomeDontShowAgainChecked reports the initial state of the welcome
+// window's "don't show this welcome window again" checkbox for the given
+// config: checked only when the user has already opted out of the welcome
+// window.
+func WelcomeDontShowAgainChecked(config *Config) bool {
+	return config != nil && config.ShowWelcome != nil && !*config.ShowWelcome
+}
+
 // ShowWelcomeWindow displays the welcome window with helpful information
 func (ui *LauncherUI) ShowWelcomeWindow() {
 	if ui.launcher == nil || ui.launcher.window == nil {
@@ -677,19 +691,20 @@ Getting Started:
 			ui.openURL("https://discord.gg/XgwjKptP7Z")
 		})
 
-		// Checkbox to disable welcome window
-		dontShowAgainCheck := widget.NewCheck("Don't show this welcome window again", func(checked bool) {
+		// Checkbox to disable welcome window. The initial state is applied
+		// BEFORE the change callback is attached: SetChecked fires OnChanged,
+		// and letting the initialization itself persist a ShowWelcome flip is
+		// exactly the bug that suppressed this window forever after its first
+		// showing (#11673).
+		dontShowAgainCheck := widget.NewCheck("Don't show this welcome window again", nil)
+		dontShowAgainCheck.SetChecked(WelcomeDontShowAgainChecked(ui.launcher.GetConfig()))
+		dontShowAgainCheck.OnChanged = func(checked bool) {
 			if ui.launcher != nil {
 				config := ui.launcher.GetConfig()
 				v := !checked
 				config.ShowWelcome = &v
 				ui.launcher.SetConfig(config)
 			}
-		})
-
-		config := ui.launcher.GetConfig()
-		if config.ShowWelcome != nil {
-			dontShowAgainCheck.SetChecked(*config.ShowWelcome)
 		}
 
 		// Close button

core/application/distributed.go

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/distributed"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/jobs"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/messaging"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/monitoring"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/nodes"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/nodes/prefixcache"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/services/storage"
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@ type DistributedServices struct {
 	FileStager   nodes.FileStager
 	ModelAdapter *nodes.ModelRouterAdapter
 	Unloader     *nodes.RemoteUnloaderAdapter
+	ModelCleanup *nodes.ModelCleanupService
 
 	shutdownOnce sync.Once
 }
@@ -161,6 +163,26 @@ func initDistributed(cfg *config.ApplicationConfig, authDB *gorm.DB, configLoade
 	}
 	xlog.Info("Node registry initialized")
 
+	// Bound durable heartbeat writes: a beat that only carries a fresher
+	// timestamp is what turned backend_nodes into a 460 MB six-row table.
+	registry.SetHeartbeatCheckpoint(cfg.Distributed.NodeHeartbeatCheckpointOrDefault())
+
+	// Measure the vacuum horizon. The 42 days it stayed open went unnoticed
+	// because no gauge reported it until models started failing to load.
+	if err := monitoring.RegisterControlPlaneDBMetrics(authDB, 30*time.Second); err != nil {
+		// Metrics are diagnostic; a failure here must not stop the frontend.
+		xlog.Warn("Control-plane database metrics unavailable", "error", err)
+	}
+
+	// Let scheduling rules be keyed by a model alias. The registry resolves a
+	// rule's name through the config loader to find the model it governs, so an
+	// operator can pin placement to a stable name like "production" and have it
+	// follow the alias when the alias is repointed. Wired before the seed below
+	// and before the reconciler starts, so the first tick already resolves.
+	if configLoader != nil {
+		registry.SetAliasResolver(configLoader)
+	}
+
 	// Seed declarative per-model scheduling config (LOCALAI_MODEL_SCHEDULING /
 	// LOCALAI_MODEL_SCHEDULING_CONFIG). Authoritative: overwrites matching models
 	// on every boot. Runs before the reconciler starts so the first tick already
@@ -346,8 +368,10 @@ func initDistributed(cfg *config.ApplicationConfig, authDB *gorm.DB, configLoade
 	if configLoader != nil {
 		conflictResolver = configLoader
 	}
+	modelCleanup := nodes.NewModelCleanupService(registry, remoteUnloader)
 	router := nodes.NewSmartRouter(registry, nodes.SmartRouterOptions{
 		Unloader:         remoteUnloader,
+		ModelCleanup:     modelCleanup,
 		FileStager:       fileStager,
 		GalleriesJSON:    routerGalleriesJSON,
 		AuthToken:        routerAuthToken,
@@ -437,6 +461,7 @@ func initDistributed(cfg *config.ApplicationConfig, authDB *gorm.DB, configLoade
 		FileStager:   fileStager,
 		ModelAdapter: modelAdapter,
 		Unloader:     remoteUnloader,
+		ModelCleanup: modelCleanup,
 	}, nil
 }
 

core/application/startup.go

@@ -267,6 +267,10 @@ func New(opts ...config.AppOption) (*Application, error) {
 	}
 
 	// Initialize distributed mode services (NATS, object storage, node registry)
+	// revisionStore is built inside the distributed block below but used after
+	// the model configs are loaded, so it is declared out here.
+	var revisionStore modeladmin.RevisionStore
+
 	distSvc, err := initDistributed(options, application.authDB, application.ModelConfigLoader())
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("distributed mode initialization failed: %w", err)
@@ -298,6 +302,7 @@ func New(opts ...config.AppOption) (*Application, error) {
 		if distSvc.Reconciler != nil {
 			go distSvc.Reconciler.Run(options.Context)
 		}
+		go distSvc.ModelCleanup.Run(options.Context)
 		// In distributed mode, MCP CI jobs are executed by agent workers (not the frontend)
 		// because the frontend can't create MCP sessions (e.g., stdio servers using docker).
 		// The dispatcher still subscribes to jobs.new for persistence (result/progress subs)
@@ -370,13 +375,18 @@ func New(opts ...config.AppOption) (*Application, error) {
 			gs := application.galleryService
 			sys := options.SystemState
 			cfgLoaderOpts := options.ToConfigLoaderOptions()
+			modelRevisionLifecycle := modeladmin.NewDistributedModelRevisionLifecycle(distSvc.Registry, distSvc.ModelCleanup)
+			gs.SetModelRevisionLifecycle(modelRevisionLifecycle)
+			// Captured here, used after the model configs are loaded below: the
+			// resync reads the loader, which is still empty at this point.
+			revisionStore = modeladmin.NewRevisionStore(distSvc.Registry, modelRevisionLifecycle)
 			gs.OnModelsChanged = func(evt messaging.CacheInvalidateEvent) {
 				// ApplyRemoteChange honors the op: a "delete" prunes the element
 				// (a reload-from-path is additive and cannot drop it), anything
 				// else reloads from disk; a named element's running instance is
 				// shut down so the new config takes effect. The originating
 				// replica reloads inline and never depends on this path.
-				if err := modeladmin.ApplyRemoteChange(application.ModelConfigLoader(), application.modelLoader, sys.Model.ModelsPath, evt, cfgLoaderOpts...); err != nil {
+				if err := modeladmin.ApplyRemoteChange(options.Context, application.ModelConfigLoader(), sys.Model.ModelsPath, evt, modelRevisionLifecycle, cfgLoaderOpts...); err != nil {
 					xlog.Warn("Failed to apply peer model config change", "error", err)
 				}
 			}
@@ -416,6 +426,18 @@ func New(opts ...config.AppOption) (*Application, error) {
 		xlog.Error("error loading config files", "error", err)
 	}
 
+	// Bring the controller's stored revisions back in line with the
+	// configuration just loaded. An inference request may only establish a
+	// revision, never replace one, so a model whose stored value has drifted
+	// stays unroutable until something republishes it. This has to run after
+	// the load above: the loader is empty until then, and a resync against an
+	// empty loader silently reconciles nothing.
+	if revisionStore != nil {
+		if err := modeladmin.ResyncModelConfigRevisions(options.Context, application.ModelConfigLoader(), options, revisionStore); err != nil {
+			xlog.Warn("Failed to resync model config revisions", "error", err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	if err := gallery.RegisterBackends(options.SystemState, application.ModelLoader()); err != nil {
 		xlog.Error("error registering external backends", "error", err)
 	}
@@ -443,13 +465,20 @@ func New(opts ...config.AppOption) (*Application, error) {
 	// Wire gallery generation counter into VRAM caches so they invalidate
 	// when gallery data refreshes instead of using a fixed TTL.
 	vram.SetGalleryGenerationFunc(gallery.GalleryGeneration)
+	if options.AutoloadGalleries {
+		if options.VRAMPersistentCache {
+			// Remote GGUF probes can transfer substantial metadata. Keep successful
+			// results across restarts so the startup warmer does not repeat that work.
+			vram.ConfigurePersistentCache(filepath.Join(options.SystemState.Model.ModelsPath, "..", "cache", "vram"), 24*time.Hour)
+		}
 
-	// Fill those caches ahead of the first visitor. An estimate for an entry
-	// nobody has asked about yet costs a remote probe of its weight files, and
-	// the model gallery asks for one per row, so without this the first page
-	// spends seconds filling in its own sizes while somebody watches it.
-	// Non-blocking, and bounded: see DefaultEstimateWarmConfig.
-	gallery.WarmEstimateCache(options.Context, options.Galleries, options.SystemState, gallery.EstimateWarmConfigFromEnv())
+		// Fill those caches ahead of the first visitor. An estimate for an entry
+		// nobody has asked about yet costs a remote probe of its weight files, and
+		// the model gallery asks for one per row, so without this the first page
+		// spends seconds filling in its own sizes while somebody watches it.
+		// Non-blocking, and bounded: see DefaultEstimateWarmConfig.
+		gallery.WarmEstimateCache(options.Context, options.Galleries, options.SystemState, gallery.EstimateWarmConfigFromEnv())
+	}
 
 	if options.ConfigFile != "" {
 		if err := application.ModelConfigLoader().LoadMultipleModelConfigsSingleFile(options.ConfigFile, configLoaderOpts...); err != nil {

core/backend/ctx_propagation_test.go

@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/backend"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
-	pbproto "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/distributedhdr"
+	pbproto "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/model"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/system"
 
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ import (
 func newCapturingLoader() (*model.ModelLoader, *atomic.Value, func() context.Context) {
 	loader := model.NewModelLoader(&system.SystemState{})
 	var captured atomic.Value
-	loader.SetModelRouter(func(ctx context.Context, _ string, _, _, _ string, _ *pbproto.ModelOptions, _ bool) (*model.Model, error) {
+	loader.SetModelRouter(func(ctx context.Context, _ string, _, _, _, _ string, _ *pbproto.ModelOptions, _ bool) (*model.Model, error) {
 		captured.Store(ctx)
 		// Return an error so the backend short-circuits before trying to
 		// dial gRPC. We only care about the context-arrival contract.

core/backend/model_identity_modalities_test.go

@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ func (r *recordingBackend) VoiceEmbed(_ context.Context, in *pb.VoiceEmbedReques
 // backend, so every helper below reaches it through the real Load path.
 func newRecordingLoader(rec *recordingBackend) *model.ModelLoader {
 	loader := model.NewModelLoader(&system.SystemState{})
-	loader.SetModelRouter(func(_ context.Context, id string, _, _, _ string, _ *pb.ModelOptions, _ bool) (*model.Model, error) {
+	loader.SetModelRouter(func(_ context.Context, id string, _, _, _, _ string, _ *pb.ModelOptions, _ bool) (*model.Model, error) {
 		return model.NewModelWithClient(id, "test://recording", rec), nil
 	})
 	return loader

core/backend/options.go

@@ -202,6 +202,19 @@ func ModelOptions(c config.ModelConfig, so *config.ApplicationConfig, opts ...mo
 		model.WithContext(so.Context),
 		model.WithModelID(c.ModelID()),
 	}
+	// Use the revision stamped when the configuration was parsed, and only
+	// that. By this point c has been merged with the request's prediction
+	// parameters and had SetDefaults applied, so hashing it here would produce
+	// a revision that depends on the request body and on whether the model file
+	// parsed, which the controller reads as a config change and rejects. Every
+	// config the loader hands out is stamped; an unstamped one was synthesized
+	// elsewhere and is routed without a revision rather than with a wrong one.
+	if revision := c.PersistedConfigRevision(); revision != "" {
+		defOpts = append(defOpts, model.WithConfigRevision(revision))
+	} else {
+		xlog.Warn("Model configuration carries no revision stamp; routing without one",
+			"model", c.ModelID())
+	}
 	managedPrimary := len(c.Artifacts) > 0 && c.Artifacts[0].Resolved != nil
 	if managedPrimary {
 		defOpts = append(defOpts, model.WithModelFile(c.ModelFileName()))

core/cli/run.go

@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ type RunCMD struct {
 	BackendGalleries          string   `env:"LOCALAI_BACKEND_GALLERIES,BACKEND_GALLERIES" help:"JSON list of backend galleries" group:"backends" default:"${backends}"`
 	Galleries                 string   `env:"LOCALAI_GALLERIES,GALLERIES" help:"JSON list of galleries" group:"models" default:"${galleries}"`
 	AutoloadGalleries         bool     `env:"LOCALAI_AUTOLOAD_GALLERIES,AUTOLOAD_GALLERIES" group:"models" default:"true"`
+	VRAMPersistentCache       bool     `env:"LOCALAI_VRAM_PERSISTENT_CACHE,VRAM_PERSISTENT_CACHE" group:"models" default:"true" help:"Persist successful remote VRAM metadata probes across restarts"`
 	AutoloadBackendGalleries  bool     `env:"LOCALAI_AUTOLOAD_BACKEND_GALLERIES,AUTOLOAD_BACKEND_GALLERIES" group:"backends" default:"true"`
 	BackendImagesReleaseTag   string   `env:"LOCALAI_BACKEND_IMAGES_RELEASE_TAG,BACKEND_IMAGES_RELEASE_TAG" help:"Fallback release tag for backend images" group:"backends" default:"latest"`
 	BackendImagesBranchTag    string   `env:"LOCALAI_BACKEND_IMAGES_BRANCH_TAG,BACKEND_IMAGES_BRANCH_TAG" help:"Fallback branch tag for backend images" group:"backends" default:"master"`
@@ -181,6 +182,8 @@ type RunCMD struct {
 	BackendUpgradeTimeout        string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_BACKEND_UPGRADE_TIMEOUT" help:"NATS round-trip timeout for backend.upgrade requests (default 15m)." group:"distributed"`
 	ModelLoadTimeout             string `env:"LOCALAI_NATS_MODEL_LOAD_TIMEOUT" help:"Fixed gRPC deadline for the remote LoadModel call sent to a worker node once its backend is installed and model files are staged. Unset (the default), the deadline is derived from the checkpoint size instead: 5m plus 20s per GiB, capped at 6h, so multi-tens-of-GB diffusion/video checkpoints get the minutes they need without a fixed cliff. Set this only to pin a specific budget; the value is used verbatim, including when it is shorter than the derived one." group:"distributed"`
 	ModelLoadWait                string `env:"LOCALAI_MODEL_LOAD_WAIT" help:"How long an inference request waits for a model that is still cold-loading onto a worker before it is answered with 503, a Retry-After header and live staging progress (default 60s). The request is served the moment the model becomes ready, so a model already most of the way staged needs no client retry. Set to 0 to wait as long as the load takes — only safe when no ingress or load balancer with an idle timeout sits in front." group:"distributed"`
+	StaleNodeThreshold           string `env:"LOCALAI_STALE_NODE_THRESHOLD" help:"How long a worker node may go without a durable heartbeat before the health monitor marks it offline (default 5m). Because a beat that only carries a fresher timestamp is held back by --node-heartbeat-checkpoint, this must stay comfortably wider than that interval; raise both together. Dead-node detection through the per-model gRPC health check and through request-time failure is unaffected by this knob." group:"distributed"`
+	NodeHeartbeatCheckpoint      string `env:"LOCALAI_NODE_HEARTBEAT_CHECKPOINT" help:"Minimum gap between durable heartbeat writes for a worker node (default 60s). A beat that only carries a fresher timestamp is dropped until this interval elapses; every field is compared against the value last written, so a node's first beat, a changed total VRAM/total disk/GPU vendor, and a free VRAM/RAM/disk reading that has moved more than 256 MiB from the written value all still write immediately, and a node that is not active is never suppressed. Set below the worker heartbeat interval to write on every beat." 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"`
@@ -302,6 +305,7 @@ func (r *RunCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 		config.WithF16(r.F16),
 		config.WithStringGalleries(r.Galleries),
 		config.WithBackendGalleries(r.BackendGalleries),
+		config.WithVRAMPersistentCache(r.VRAMPersistentCache),
 		config.WithCors(r.CORS),
 		config.WithCorsAllowOrigins(r.CORSAllowOrigins),
 		config.WithDisableCSRF(r.DisableCSRF),
@@ -395,6 +399,20 @@ func (r *RunCMD) Run(ctx *cliContext.Context) error {
 		}
 		opts = append(opts, config.WithModelLoadWait(d))
 	}
+	if r.StaleNodeThreshold != "" {
+		d, err := parseDistributedDuration("LOCALAI_STALE_NODE_THRESHOLD", r.StaleNodeThreshold)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithStaleNodeThreshold(d))
+	}
+	if r.NodeHeartbeatCheckpoint != "" {
+		d, err := parseDistributedDuration("LOCALAI_NODE_HEARTBEAT_CHECKPOINT", r.NodeHeartbeatCheckpoint)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		opts = append(opts, config.WithNodeHeartbeatCheckpoint(d))
+	}
 	if r.RegistrationToken != "" {
 		opts = append(opts, config.WithRegistrationToken(r.RegistrationToken))
 	}

core/cli/worker/labels.go

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ func ParseNodeLabels(input string) map[string]string {
 	if input == "" {
 		return labels
 	}
-	for _, pair := range strings.Split(input, ",") {
+	for pair := range strings.SplitSeq(input, ",") {
 		pair = strings.TrimSpace(pair)
 		if k, v, ok := strings.Cut(pair, "="); ok {
 			labels[strings.TrimSpace(k)] = strings.TrimSpace(v)

core/config/application_config.go

@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@ type ApplicationConfig struct {
 	ExternalGRPCBackends map[string]string
 
 	AutoloadGalleries, AutoloadBackendGalleries bool
+	VRAMPersistentCache                         bool
 	AutoUpgradeBackends                         bool
 	PreferDevelopmentBackends                   bool
 
@@ -284,6 +285,7 @@ func NewApplicationConfig(o ...AppOption) *ApplicationConfig {
 		// toggle can still turn it off (a persisted false wins - see
 		// loadRuntimeSettingsFromFile).
 		EnableBackendLogging:        true,
+		VRAMPersistentCache:         true,
 		ArtifactDownloadConcurrency: modelartifacts.DefaultDownloadConcurrency,
 		AgentJobRetentionDays:       30,               // Default: 30 days
 		LRUEvictionMaxRetries:       30,               // Default: 30 retries
@@ -596,6 +598,10 @@ func WithAutoUpgradeBackends(v bool) AppOption {
 	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) { o.AutoUpgradeBackends = v }
 }
 
+func WithVRAMPersistentCache(v bool) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) { o.VRAMPersistentCache = v }
+}
+
 func WithRequireBackendIntegrity(v bool) AppOption {
 	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) { o.RequireBackendIntegrity = v }
 }
@@ -1140,6 +1146,7 @@ func (o *ApplicationConfig) ToConfigLoaderOptions() []ConfigLoaderOption {
 		LoadOptionF16(o.F16),
 		LoadOptionThreads(o.Threads),
 		ModelPath(o.SystemState.Model.ModelsPath),
+		LoadOptionGalleryFiles(o.Galleries...),
 	}
 }
 

core/config/application_config_test.go

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package config
 
 import (
+	"encoding/json"
 	"time"
 
 	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
@@ -9,6 +10,15 @@ import (
 
 var _ = Describe("ApplicationConfig RuntimeSettings Conversion", func() {
 	Describe("ToRuntimeSettings", func() {
+		It("includes the persistent VRAM cache toggle", func() {
+			encoded, err := json.Marshal(NewApplicationConfig().ToRuntimeSettings())
+			Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+			var settings map[string]any
+			Expect(json.Unmarshal(encoded, &settings)).To(Succeed())
+			Expect(settings).To(HaveKeyWithValue("vram_persistent_cache", true))
+		})
+
 		It("should convert all fields correctly", func() {
 			appConfig := &ApplicationConfig{
 				WatchDog:                 true,

core/config/distributed_config.go

@@ -57,12 +57,13 @@ type DistributedConfig struct {
 	StorageSecretKey string // --storage-secret-key / LOCALAI_STORAGE_SECRET_KEY
 
 	// Timeout configuration (all have sensible defaults — zero means use default)
-	MCPToolTimeout      time.Duration // MCP tool execution timeout (default 360s)
-	MCPDiscoveryTimeout time.Duration // MCP discovery timeout (default 60s)
-	WorkerWaitTimeout   time.Duration // Max wait for healthy worker at startup (default 5m)
-	DrainTimeout        time.Duration // Time to wait for in-flight requests during drain (default 30s)
-	HealthCheckInterval time.Duration // Health monitor check interval (default 15s)
-	StaleNodeThreshold  time.Duration // Time before a node is considered stale (default 60s)
+	MCPToolTimeout          time.Duration // MCP tool execution timeout (default 360s)
+	MCPDiscoveryTimeout     time.Duration // MCP discovery timeout (default 60s)
+	WorkerWaitTimeout       time.Duration // Max wait for healthy worker at startup (default 5m)
+	DrainTimeout            time.Duration // Time to wait for in-flight requests during drain (default 30s)
+	HealthCheckInterval     time.Duration // Health monitor check interval (default 15s)
+	StaleNodeThreshold      time.Duration // Time before a node is considered stale (default 5m)
+	NodeHeartbeatCheckpoint time.Duration // Minimum gap between durable heartbeat writes (default 60s, 0 = every beat)
 	// DisablePerModelHealthCheck turns off the health monitor's per-model
 	// gRPC probe. When enabled (the default), the monitor pings each model's
 	// gRPC address and removes stale node_models rows whose backend has
@@ -165,16 +166,17 @@ func (c DistributedConfig) Validate() error {
 	c.NatsAuthConfig().WarnIfInsecure(true)
 	// Check for negative durations
 	for name, d := range map[string]time.Duration{
-		FlagMCPToolTimeout:        c.MCPToolTimeout,
-		FlagMCPDiscoveryTimeout:   c.MCPDiscoveryTimeout,
-		FlagWorkerWaitTimeout:     c.WorkerWaitTimeout,
-		FlagDrainTimeout:          c.DrainTimeout,
-		FlagHealthCheckInterval:   c.HealthCheckInterval,
-		FlagStaleNodeThreshold:    c.StaleNodeThreshold,
-		FlagMCPCIJobTimeout:       c.MCPCIJobTimeout,
-		FlagBackendInstallTimeout: c.BackendInstallTimeout,
-		FlagBackendUpgradeTimeout: c.BackendUpgradeTimeout,
-		FlagModelLoadTimeout:      c.ModelLoadTimeout,
+		FlagMCPToolTimeout:          c.MCPToolTimeout,
+		FlagMCPDiscoveryTimeout:     c.MCPDiscoveryTimeout,
+		FlagWorkerWaitTimeout:       c.WorkerWaitTimeout,
+		FlagDrainTimeout:            c.DrainTimeout,
+		FlagHealthCheckInterval:     c.HealthCheckInterval,
+		FlagStaleNodeThreshold:      c.StaleNodeThreshold,
+		FlagNodeHeartbeatCheckpoint: c.NodeHeartbeatCheckpoint,
+		FlagMCPCIJobTimeout:         c.MCPCIJobTimeout,
+		FlagBackendInstallTimeout:   c.BackendInstallTimeout,
+		FlagBackendUpgradeTimeout:   c.BackendUpgradeTimeout,
+		FlagModelLoadTimeout:        c.ModelLoadTimeout,
 	} {
 		if d < 0 {
 			return fmt.Errorf("%s must not be negative", name)
@@ -337,6 +339,27 @@ func WithModelLoadWait(d time.Duration) AppOption {
 	}
 }
 
+// WithStaleNodeThreshold sets how long a node may go without a durable
+// heartbeat before the health monitor marks it offline. It has to be raised
+// alongside WithNodeHeartbeatCheckpoint: a checkpoint interval wider than this
+// threshold makes every healthy node look dead the moment its beats start
+// being suppressed.
+func WithStaleNodeThreshold(d time.Duration) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		o.Distributed.StaleNodeThreshold = d
+	}
+}
+
+// WithNodeHeartbeatCheckpoint bounds durable heartbeat writes. A zero d is
+// deliberately not special-cased into "unbounded": NodeHeartbeatCheckpointOrDefault
+// reads zero as unset, and an operator who wants a write per beat sets a value
+// below the worker's heartbeat interval instead.
+func WithNodeHeartbeatCheckpoint(d time.Duration) AppOption {
+	return func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
+		o.Distributed.NodeHeartbeatCheckpoint = d
+	}
+}
+
 var EnableAutoApproveNodes = func(o *ApplicationConfig) {
 	o.Distributed.AutoApproveNodes = true
 }
@@ -391,17 +414,18 @@ func WithModelSchedulingConfigPath(path string) AppOption {
 // them as constants prevents the string from drifting from the actual
 // flag a future rename would produce.
 const (
-	FlagMCPToolTimeout        = "mcp-tool-timeout"
-	FlagMCPDiscoveryTimeout   = "mcp-discovery-timeout"
-	FlagWorkerWaitTimeout     = "worker-wait-timeout"
-	FlagDrainTimeout          = "drain-timeout"
-	FlagHealthCheckInterval   = "health-check-interval"
-	FlagStaleNodeThreshold    = "stale-node-threshold"
-	FlagMCPCIJobTimeout       = "mcp-ci-job-timeout"
-	FlagBackendInstallTimeout = "backend-install-timeout"
-	FlagBackendUpgradeTimeout = "backend-upgrade-timeout"
-	FlagModelLoadTimeout      = "model-load-timeout"
-	FlagModelLoadWait         = "model-load-wait"
+	FlagMCPToolTimeout          = "mcp-tool-timeout"
+	FlagMCPDiscoveryTimeout     = "mcp-discovery-timeout"
+	FlagWorkerWaitTimeout       = "worker-wait-timeout"
+	FlagDrainTimeout            = "drain-timeout"
+	FlagHealthCheckInterval     = "health-check-interval"
+	FlagStaleNodeThreshold      = "stale-node-threshold"
+	FlagNodeHeartbeatCheckpoint = "node-heartbeat-checkpoint"
+	FlagMCPCIJobTimeout         = "mcp-ci-job-timeout"
+	FlagBackendInstallTimeout   = "backend-install-timeout"
+	FlagBackendUpgradeTimeout   = "backend-upgrade-timeout"
+	FlagModelLoadTimeout        = "model-load-timeout"
+	FlagModelLoadWait           = "model-load-wait"
 	// FlagDiskHeadroomCheck names the disk-headroom toggle. It is quoted in
 	// the warning the check emits while disabled, so the operator reading a
 	// log line knows exactly which knob produced it.
@@ -410,16 +434,22 @@ const (
 
 // Defaults for distributed timeouts.
 const (
-	DefaultMCPToolTimeout        = 360 * time.Second
-	DefaultMCPDiscoveryTimeout   = 60 * time.Second
-	DefaultWorkerWaitTimeout     = 5 * time.Minute
-	DefaultDrainTimeout          = 30 * time.Second
-	DefaultHealthCheckInterval   = 15 * time.Second
-	DefaultStaleNodeThreshold    = 60 * time.Second
-	DefaultMCPCIJobTimeout       = 10 * time.Minute
-	DefaultBackendInstallTimeout = 15 * time.Minute
-	DefaultBackendUpgradeTimeout = 15 * time.Minute
-	DefaultModelLoadTimeout      = 5 * time.Minute
+	DefaultMCPToolTimeout      = 360 * time.Second
+	DefaultMCPDiscoveryTimeout = 60 * time.Second
+	DefaultWorkerWaitTimeout   = 5 * time.Minute
+	DefaultDrainTimeout        = 30 * time.Second
+	DefaultHealthCheckInterval = 15 * time.Second
+	// A beat that only refreshes the timestamp is now dropped until the
+	// checkpoint interval elapses, so the persisted column is up to one
+	// interval stale by design. The threshold covers that plus jitter.
+	// A genuinely dead node is still caught sooner by the per-model gRPC
+	// health check and by request-time failure, neither of which reads this.
+	DefaultStaleNodeThreshold      = 5 * time.Minute
+	DefaultNodeHeartbeatCheckpoint = 60 * time.Second
+	DefaultMCPCIJobTimeout         = 10 * time.Minute
+	DefaultBackendInstallTimeout   = 15 * time.Minute
+	DefaultBackendUpgradeTimeout   = 15 * time.Minute
+	DefaultModelLoadTimeout        = 5 * time.Minute
 	// DefaultModelLoadWait is how long a request waits for a cold-loading model
 	// before it is answered with 503 and live progress. Chosen to sit under the
 	// idle timeout of typical ingress/LB defaults, so the answer comes from
@@ -519,6 +549,14 @@ func (c DistributedConfig) StaleNodeThresholdOrDefault() time.Duration {
 	return cmp.Or(c.StaleNodeThreshold, DefaultStaleNodeThreshold)
 }
 
+// NodeHeartbeatCheckpointOrDefault returns the configured interval or the
+// default. A configured zero is indistinguishable from unset here, which is
+// intentional: cmp.Or falls back to the default, and an operator who wants a
+// write per beat sets a value below the heartbeat interval instead.
+func (c DistributedConfig) NodeHeartbeatCheckpointOrDefault() time.Duration {
+	return cmp.Or(c.NodeHeartbeatCheckpoint, DefaultNodeHeartbeatCheckpoint)
+}
+
 // MCPCIJobTimeoutOrDefault returns the configured MCP CI job timeout or the default.
 func (c DistributedConfig) MCPCIJobTimeoutOrDefault() time.Duration {
 	return cmp.Or(c.MCPCIJobTimeout, DefaultMCPCIJobTimeout)

core/config/distributed_config_test.go

@@ -47,6 +47,27 @@ var _ = Describe("DistributedConfig backend NATS timeouts", func() {
 	})
 })
 
+// Heartbeat checkpointing makes last_heartbeat up to one checkpoint interval
+// stale by design, which is why the threshold defaults to 5 minutes. An
+// operator who widens the checkpoint has to widen this to match, so it has to
+// be reachable from the CLI rather than being a compile-time constant.
+var _ = Describe("DistributedConfig stale node threshold", func() {
+	It("defaults to 5 minutes, wide enough to cover a suppressed beat", func() {
+		Expect(config.DistributedConfig{}.StaleNodeThresholdOrDefault()).
+			To(Equal(5 * time.Minute))
+		Expect(config.DefaultStaleNodeThreshold).
+			To(BeNumerically(">", config.DefaultNodeHeartbeatCheckpoint),
+				"a threshold at or below the checkpoint interval marks healthy, "+
+					"beating nodes offline every cycle")
+	})
+
+	It("is configurable, so a widened checkpoint can be matched", func() {
+		o := config.NewApplicationConfig(config.WithStaleNodeThreshold(20 * time.Minute))
+		Expect(o.Distributed.StaleNodeThreshold).To(Equal(20 * time.Minute))
+		Expect(o.Distributed.StaleNodeThresholdOrDefault()).To(Equal(20 * time.Minute))
+	})
+})
+
 var _ = Describe("DistributedConfig flag-name constants", func() {
 	// Pin the kebab-case strings so a rename of the Go field name (or a
 	// CLI flag naming convention change) forces the constant to update,
@@ -62,6 +83,7 @@ var _ = Describe("DistributedConfig flag-name constants", func() {
 		Entry("drain timeout", config.FlagDrainTimeout, "drain-timeout"),
 		Entry("health check interval", config.FlagHealthCheckInterval, "health-check-interval"),
 		Entry("stale node threshold", config.FlagStaleNodeThreshold, "stale-node-threshold"),
+		Entry("node heartbeat checkpoint", config.FlagNodeHeartbeatCheckpoint, "node-heartbeat-checkpoint"),
 		Entry("MCP CI job timeout", config.FlagMCPCIJobTimeout, "mcp-ci-job-timeout"),
 		Entry("backend install timeout", config.FlagBackendInstallTimeout, "backend-install-timeout"),
 		Entry("backend upgrade timeout", config.FlagBackendUpgradeTimeout, "backend-upgrade-timeout"),

core/config/inference_defaults.json

@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 {
   "_comment": "Auto-generated from unsloth inference_defaults.json. DO NOT EDIT. Run go generate ./core/config/ to update.",
   "families": {
+    "moss-tts-local-transformer-v1.5": {"min_p":0,"repeat_penalty":1,"temperature":1.7,"top_k":25,"top_p":0.8},
+    "moss-tts-nano": {"min_p":0,"repeat_penalty":1,"temperature":1.7,"top_k":25,"top_p":0.8},
+    "qwen3.8": {"min_p":0,"presence_penalty":1.5,"repeat_penalty":1,"temperature":0.7,"top_k":20,"top_p":0.8},
     "qwen3.6": {"min_p":0,"presence_penalty":1.5,"repeat_penalty":1,"temperature":0.7,"top_k":20,"top_p":0.8},
     "qwen3.5": {"min_p":0,"presence_penalty":1.5,"repeat_penalty":1,"temperature":0.7,"top_k":20,"top_p":0.8},
     "qwen3-coder": {"min_p":0,"repeat_penalty":1,"temperature":0.7,"top_k":20,"top_p":0.8},
@@ -59,5 +62,5 @@
     "grok": {"min_p":0.01,"repeat_penalty":1,"temperature":1,"top_k":-1,"top_p":0.95},
     "mimo": {"min_p":0.01,"repeat_penalty":1,"temperature":0.7,"top_k":-1,"top_p":0.95}
   },
-  "patterns": ["qwen3.6","qwen3.5","qwen3-coder","qwen3-next","qwen3-vl","qwen3","qwen2.5-coder","qwen2.5-vl","qwen2.5-omni","qwen2.5-math","qwen2.5","qwen2-vl","qwen2","qwq","gemma-4","gemma-3n","gemma-3","medgemma","gemma-2","muse-glimmer","llama-4","llama-3.3","llama-3.2","llama-3.1","llama-3","phi-4","phi-3","mistral-nemo","mistral-small","mistral-large","magistral","ministral","devstral","pixtral","deepseek-v4","deepseek-r1","deepseek-v3","deepseek-ocr","glm-5","glm-4","nemotron","minimax-m2.7","minimax-m2.5","minimax","gpt-oss","granite-4","kimi-k3","kimi-k2","kimi","lfm2","smollm","olmo","falcon","ernie","seed","grok","mimo"]
+  "patterns": ["moss-tts-local-transformer-v1.5","moss-tts-nano","qwen3.8","qwen3.6","qwen3.5","qwen3-coder","qwen3-next","qwen3-vl","qwen3","qwen2.5-coder","qwen2.5-vl","qwen2.5-omni","qwen2.5-math","qwen2.5","qwen2-vl","qwen2","qwq","gemma-4","gemma-3n","gemma-3","medgemma","gemma-2","muse-glimmer","llama-4","llama-3.3","llama-3.2","llama-3.1","llama-3","phi-4","phi-3","mistral-nemo","mistral-small","mistral-large","magistral","ministral","devstral","pixtral","deepseek-v4","deepseek-r1","deepseek-v3","deepseek-ocr","glm-5","glm-4","nemotron","minimax-m2.7","minimax-m2.5","minimax","gpt-oss","granite-4","kimi-k3","kimi-k2","kimi","lfm2","smollm","olmo","falcon","ernie","seed","grok","mimo"]
 }

core/config/model_config.go

@@ -43,8 +43,17 @@ type TTSConfig struct {
 
 // @Description ModelConfig represents a model configuration
 type ModelConfig struct {
-	modelConfigFile          string `yaml:"-" json:"-"`
-	modelTemplate            string `yaml:"-" json:"-"`
+	modelConfigFile string `yaml:"-" json:"-"`
+	modelTemplate   string `yaml:"-" json:"-"`
+	// persistedConfigRevision is the revision of this model's persisted
+	// configuration, stamped when the loader materializes it and therefore
+	// before any per-request override is merged in. The request pipeline
+	// mutates its copy of a ModelConfig with the caller's sampling parameters
+	// (temperature, top_p, stop, ...), so hashing the config at load time is
+	// the only way the controller sees one revision per configuration rather
+	// than one per request body. Unexported, so it never enters the hash it
+	// describes and never reaches YAML or JSON.
+	persistedConfigRevision  string `yaml:"-" json:"-"`
 	schema.PredictionOptions `yaml:"parameters,omitempty" json:"parameters,omitempty"`
 	Name                     string                `yaml:"name,omitempty" json:"name,omitempty"`
 	Artifacts                []modelartifacts.Spec `yaml:"artifacts,omitempty" json:"artifacts,omitempty"`
@@ -1360,6 +1369,12 @@ func (c *ModelConfig) syncKnownUsecasesFromString() {
 			c.KnownUsecaseStrings = append(c.KnownUsecaseStrings, k)
 		}
 	}
+	// GetAllModelConfigUsecases returns a map, and ranging one yields a random
+	// order per call. KnownUsecaseStrings is part of the serialized config, so
+	// an unsorted list gives the same file a different config revision on every
+	// load. In distributed mode that reads as a config change and the router
+	// rejects the request with ErrStaleModelConfigRevision.
+	slices.Sort(c.KnownUsecaseStrings)
 }
 
 func (c *ModelConfig) UnmarshalYAML(value *yaml.Node) error {
@@ -1836,6 +1851,27 @@ func (c *ModelConfig) GetModelConfigFile() string {
 	return c.modelConfigFile
 }
 
+// PersistedConfigRevision returns the revision stamped when this configuration
+// was loaded, or "" when it was never stamped (a config synthesized outside the
+// loader). Callers that need a revision for a request must prefer this over
+// recomputing one from the config they hold: by then the request pipeline has
+// merged the caller's prediction parameters into it.
+func (c *ModelConfig) PersistedConfigRevision() string {
+	return c.persistedConfigRevision
+}
+
+// StampPersistedConfigRevision records the revision of this configuration as
+// persisted. It is computed from the receiver as-is, so callers must invoke it
+// only on a configuration that has not been merged with request overrides.
+func (c *ModelConfig) StampPersistedConfigRevision() error {
+	revision, err := modelConfigRevision(c)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	c.persistedConfigRevision = revision
+	return nil
+}
+
 // GetModelTemplate returns the model's chat template if available
 func (c *ModelConfig) GetModelTemplate() string {
 	return c.modelTemplate

core/config/model_config_loader.go

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/fs"
+	"net/url"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"reflect"
@@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/schema"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/downloader"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/modelartifacts"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/safefile"
 	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/utils"
 	"github.com/mudler/xlog"
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
@@ -55,9 +57,20 @@ type ModelConfigLoader struct {
 	artifactMaterializer ArtifactMaterializer
 	preloadRenderMode    string
 	disablePreloadColor  bool
+	mutationMu           sync.Mutex
 	sync.Mutex
 }
 
+// WithModelConfigMutation serializes filesystem-backed configuration changes
+// and their lifecycle publication for every service sharing this loader. It is
+// deliberately separate from the loader's map lock: callbacks reload and
+// replace loader state and would deadlock if that lock were held here.
+func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) WithModelConfigMutation(fn func() error) error {
+	bcl.mutationMu.Lock()
+	defer bcl.mutationMu.Unlock()
+	return fn()
+}
+
 func NewModelConfigLoader(modelPath string, options ...ModelConfigLoaderOption) *ModelConfigLoader {
 	loader := &ModelConfigLoader{
 		configs:              make(map[string]ModelConfig),
@@ -76,6 +89,7 @@ type LoadOptions struct {
 	debug            bool
 	threads, ctxSize int
 	f16              bool
+	galleryFiles     map[string]struct{}
 }
 
 func LoadOptionDebug(debug bool) ConfigLoaderOption {
@@ -108,6 +122,30 @@ func LoadOptionF16(f16 bool) ConfigLoaderOption {
 	}
 }
 
+// LoadOptionGalleryFiles identifies local gallery sources that can legitimately
+// live in the models directory. Exact paths provide provenance; document shape
+// validation alone cannot distinguish an overrides-only gallery entry from a
+// malformed runtime model configuration.
+func LoadOptionGalleryFiles(galleries ...Gallery) ConfigLoaderOption {
+	return func(o *LoadOptions) {
+		if o.galleryFiles == nil {
+			o.galleryFiles = map[string]struct{}{}
+		}
+		for _, configured := range galleries {
+			for _, raw := range append([]string{configured.URL}, configured.Mirrors...) {
+				parsed, err := url.Parse(raw)
+				if err != nil || parsed.Scheme != "file" || parsed.Path == "" {
+					continue
+				}
+				absolute, err := filepath.Abs(filepath.FromSlash(parsed.Path))
+				if err == nil {
+					o.galleryFiles[absolute] = struct{}{}
+				}
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 type ConfigLoaderOption func(*LoadOptions)
 
 func (lo *LoadOptions) Apply(options ...ConfigLoaderOption) {
@@ -130,6 +168,14 @@ func readModelConfigsFromFile(file string, opts ...ConfigLoaderOption) ([]*Model
 	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(f, &configs); err == nil && len(configs) > 0 {
 		for _, cc := range configs {
 			cc.modelConfigFile = file
+			// Stamp before SetDefaults: the revision describes what is on disk.
+			// SetDefaults folds in the GGUF guess, hardware defaults and
+			// app-level options, none of which are persisted configuration, and
+			// the GGUF guess in particular depends on whether the model file
+			// parses at that moment.
+			if err := cc.StampPersistedConfigRevision(); err != nil {
+				return nil, fmt.Errorf("stamping config revision for %q: %w", cc.Name, err)
+			}
 			cc.SetDefaults(opts...)
 			cc.syncKnownUsecasesFromString()
 		}
@@ -144,6 +190,9 @@ func readModelConfigsFromFile(file string, opts ...ConfigLoaderOption) ([]*Model
 
 	c.modelConfigFile = file
 	c.syncKnownUsecasesFromString()
+	if err := c.StampPersistedConfigRevision(); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("stamping config revision for %q: %w", c.Name, err)
+	}
 	c.SetDefaults(opts...)
 
 	return []*ModelConfig{c}, nil
@@ -180,6 +229,16 @@ func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) LoadModelConfigFileByName(modelName, modelPath str
 		}
 	}
 
+	// Stamp before SetDefaults, and only when this config did not come from
+	// disk already carrying one (a name with no config file on disk is
+	// synthesized above). Re-stamping a loaded config here would hash it after
+	// SetDefaults and reintroduce the dependency on the GGUF guess.
+	if cfg.PersistedConfigRevision() == "" {
+		if err := cfg.StampPersistedConfigRevision(); err != nil {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("stamping config revision for %q: %w", modelName, err)
+		}
+	}
+
 	cfg.SetDefaults(append(opts, ModelPath(modelPath))...)
 
 	return cfg, nil
@@ -307,6 +366,18 @@ func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) RemoveModelConfig(m string) {
 	delete(bcl.configs, m)
 }
 
+// ReplaceModelConfigs atomically replaces the in-memory configuration set with
+// a previously parsed snapshot.
+func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) ReplaceModelConfigs(configs []ModelConfig) {
+	bcl.Lock()
+	defer bcl.Unlock()
+	replacement := make(map[string]ModelConfig, len(configs))
+	for _, cfg := range configs {
+		replacement[cfg.Name] = cfg
+	}
+	bcl.configs = replacement
+}
+
 // GetModelsConflictingWith returns the names of every other configured (and
 // not-disabled) model that shares at least one concurrency group with the
 // named model. Returns nil if the named model has no groups, is unknown, or
@@ -370,6 +441,26 @@ func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) ResolveAlias(cfg *ModelConfig) (*ModelConfig, bool
 	return &target, true, nil
 }
 
+// ResolveAliasName maps a model name to the name of the model that actually
+// serves it: an alias resolves to its target, anything else resolves to
+// itself. The second return reports whether name was an alias.
+//
+// Unlike ResolveAlias this never errors. A name with no config (a rule may be
+// authored before the model is installed), a dangling alias, and a chained
+// alias all resolve to themselves, so callers keep a usable name that simply
+// has no model behind it rather than silently governing a different model.
+func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) ResolveAliasName(name string) (string, bool) {
+	cfg, exists := bcl.GetModelConfig(name)
+	if !exists || !cfg.IsAlias() {
+		return name, false
+	}
+	target, exists := bcl.GetModelConfig(cfg.Alias)
+	if !exists || target.IsAlias() {
+		return name, true
+	}
+	return target.Name, true
+}
+
 // ValidateAliasTarget checks an alias config's target at create/swap time:
 // the target must exist, must not be an alias, and must not be disabled.
 // Returns nil for non-alias configs.
@@ -629,6 +720,16 @@ func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) MITMHostOwners() MITMHostOwnership {
 // LoadModelConfigsFromPath reads all the configurations of the models from a path
 // (non-recursive)
 func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) LoadModelConfigsFromPath(path string, opts ...ConfigLoaderOption) error {
+	return bcl.loadModelConfigsFromPath(path, false, opts...)
+}
+
+// LoadModelConfigsFromPathStrict builds an authoritative snapshot and fails
+// when any visible config cannot be parsed or validated.
+func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) LoadModelConfigsFromPathStrict(path string, opts ...ConfigLoaderOption) error {
+	return bcl.loadModelConfigsFromPath(path, true, opts...)
+}
+
+func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) loadModelConfigsFromPath(path string, strict bool, opts ...ConfigLoaderOption) error {
 	bcl.Lock()
 	defer bcl.Unlock()
 
@@ -644,6 +745,8 @@ func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) LoadModelConfigsFromPath(path string, opts ...Conf
 		}
 		files = append(files, info)
 	}
+	loadOptions := &LoadOptions{}
+	loadOptions.Apply(opts...)
 	for _, file := range files {
 		// Only load real YAML config files and ignore dotfiles or backup variants
 		ext := strings.ToLower(filepath.Ext(file.Name()))
@@ -652,10 +755,35 @@ func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) LoadModelConfigsFromPath(path string, opts ...Conf
 		}
 
 		filePath := filepath.Join(path, file.Name())
+		absolutePath, absErr := filepath.Abs(filePath)
+		if absErr != nil {
+			return absErr
+		}
+		if _, gallerySource := loadOptions.galleryFiles[absolutePath]; gallerySource {
+			galleryDocument, err := classifyGalleryDocument(filePath)
+			if err != nil {
+				if strict {
+					return err
+				}
+				xlog.Error("LoadModelConfigsFromPath cannot validate gallery YAML file", "error", err, "File Name", file.Name())
+				continue
+			}
+			if !galleryDocument {
+				if strict {
+					return fmt.Errorf("configured gallery source %q is not valid gallery metadata", filePath)
+				}
+				xlog.Error("Configured gallery source is not valid gallery metadata", "File Name", file.Name())
+				continue
+			}
+			continue
+		}
 
 		// Read config(s) - handles both single and array formats
 		configs, err := readModelConfigsFromFile(filePath, opts...)
 		if err != nil {
+			if strict {
+				return err
+			}
 			xlog.Error("LoadModelConfigsFromPath cannot read config file", "error", err, "File Name", file.Name())
 			continue
 		}
@@ -665,6 +793,9 @@ func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) LoadModelConfigsFromPath(path string, opts ...Conf
 			if valid, validationErr := c.Validate(); valid {
 				bcl.configs[c.Name] = *c
 			} else {
+				if strict {
+					return fmt.Errorf("invalid model config %q: %w", c.Name, validationErr)
+				}
 				xlog.Error("config is not valid", "error", validationErr, "Name", c.Name)
 			}
 		}
@@ -688,3 +819,204 @@ func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) LoadModelConfigsFromPath(path string, opts ...Conf
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+var galleryMetadataKeys = map[string]struct{}{
+	"name": {}, "description": {}, "license": {}, "icon": {}, "tags": {}, "size": {},
+	"url": {}, "urls": {}, "config_file": {}, "overrides": {}, "files": {}, "variants": {}, "prompt_templates": {},
+}
+
+// classifyGalleryDocument recognizes the two gallery documents LocalAI writes
+// beside model configurations: a GalleryModel catalogue sequence and the
+// legacy downloadable ModelConfig mapping. A gallery discriminator makes the
+// document subject to the complete shape check; malformed or mixed documents
+// are errors rather than silently disappearing from an authoritative snapshot.
+func classifyGalleryDocument(path string) (bool, error) {
+	data, _, err := safefile.ReadRegularAt(filepath.Dir(path), filepath.Base(path))
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("read YAML file %q for classification: %w", path, err)
+	}
+	var document yaml.Node
+	if err := yaml.Unmarshal(data, &document); err != nil || len(document.Content) != 1 {
+		return false, nil // The model-config parser supplies the syntax error.
+	}
+	root := document.Content[0]
+	switch root.Kind {
+	case yaml.SequenceNode:
+		looksGallery := false
+		for _, entry := range root.Content {
+			if entry.Kind == yaml.MappingNode && hasAnyMappingKey(entry, "url", "config_file", "variants", "files", "overrides") {
+				looksGallery = true
+			}
+		}
+		if !looksGallery {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		if len(root.Content) == 0 {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		for _, entry := range root.Content {
+			if err := validateGalleryCatalogueEntry(entry); err != nil {
+				return false, fmt.Errorf("invalid gallery catalogue %q: %w", path, err)
+			}
+		}
+		return true, nil
+	case yaml.MappingNode:
+		if !hasAnyMappingKey(root, "config_file", "prompt_templates") {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		if err := validateLegacyGalleryModel(root); err != nil {
+			return false, fmt.Errorf("invalid gallery model metadata %q: %w", path, err)
+		}
+		return true, nil
+	default:
+		return false, nil
+	}
+}
+
+func validateGalleryCatalogueEntry(entry *yaml.Node) error {
+	if entry.Kind != yaml.MappingNode {
+		return errors.New("entry must be a mapping")
+	}
+	if err := validateGalleryKeys(entry); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if !nonemptyScalar(galleryMappingValue(entry, "name")) {
+		return errors.New("entry name must be a non-empty string")
+	}
+	hasPayload := nonemptyScalar(galleryMappingValue(entry, "url"))
+	if node := galleryMappingValue(entry, "config_file"); node != nil {
+		if node.Kind != yaml.MappingNode {
+			return errors.New("config_file must be a mapping in a gallery catalogue")
+		}
+		hasPayload = true
+	}
+	for _, key := range []string{"overrides", "files", "variants"} {
+		if node := galleryMappingValue(entry, key); node != nil {
+			if err := validateGalleryPayload(key, node); err != nil {
+				return err
+			}
+			hasPayload = hasPayload || len(node.Content) > 0
+		}
+	}
+	if !hasPayload {
+		return errors.New("entry has no installable gallery payload")
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func validateLegacyGalleryModel(entry *yaml.Node) error {
+	if err := validateGalleryKeys(entry); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if !nonemptyScalar(galleryMappingValue(entry, "name")) {
+		return errors.New("model name must be a non-empty string")
+	}
+	configFile := galleryMappingValue(entry, "config_file")
+	if !nonemptyScalar(configFile) {
+		return errors.New("config_file must be a non-empty YAML string")
+	}
+	for _, key := range []string{"files", "prompt_templates"} {
+		if node := galleryMappingValue(entry, key); node != nil && node.Kind != yaml.SequenceNode {
+			return fmt.Errorf("%s must be a sequence", key)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func validateGalleryKeys(entry *yaml.Node) error {
+	for i := 0; i+1 < len(entry.Content); i += 2 {
+		key := entry.Content[i].Value
+		if _, ok := galleryMetadataKeys[key]; !ok {
+			return fmt.Errorf("field %q is not gallery metadata", key)
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func validateGalleryPayload(key string, node *yaml.Node) error {
+	switch key {
+	case "overrides":
+		if node.Kind != yaml.MappingNode {
+			return errors.New("overrides must be a mapping")
+		}
+	case "files":
+		if node.Kind != yaml.SequenceNode {
+			return errors.New("files must be a sequence")
+		}
+		for _, file := range node.Content {
+			if file.Kind != yaml.MappingNode || !nonemptyScalar(galleryMappingValue(file, "filename")) || !nonemptyScalar(galleryMappingValue(file, "uri")) {
+				return errors.New("each gallery file must have non-empty filename and uri strings")
+			}
+		}
+	case "variants":
+		if node.Kind != yaml.SequenceNode || len(node.Content) == 0 {
+			return errors.New("variants must be a non-empty sequence")
+		}
+		for _, variant := range node.Content {
+			if variant.Kind != yaml.MappingNode || len(variant.Content) != 2 || variant.Content[0].Value != "model" || !nonemptyScalar(variant.Content[1]) {
+				return errors.New("each variant must contain only a non-empty model string")
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func galleryMappingValue(mapping *yaml.Node, key string) *yaml.Node {
+	if mapping == nil || mapping.Kind != yaml.MappingNode {
+		return nil
+	}
+	for i := 0; i+1 < len(mapping.Content); i += 2 {
+		if mapping.Content[i].Value == key {
+			return mapping.Content[i+1]
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func hasAnyMappingKey(mapping *yaml.Node, keys ...string) bool {
+	for _, key := range keys {
+		if galleryMappingValue(mapping, key) != nil {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
+func nonemptyScalar(node *yaml.Node) bool {
+	return node != nil && node.Kind == yaml.ScalarNode && node.Tag == "!!str" && strings.TrimSpace(node.Value) != ""
+}
+
+// RevisionFor returns the config revision for modelName: the one an inference
+// request for that model will carry.
+//
+// This is the only way to obtain a revision outside this package. Every
+// publisher must use it, so that what is published and what is checked are
+// the same value by construction rather than by two implementations happening
+// to agree. Hashing a ModelConfig directly is not available to callers, because
+// a config that has been through SetDefaults or the request middleware hashes
+// to something no request will ever present.
+func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) RevisionFor(modelName string, appConfig *ApplicationConfig) (string, error) {
+	cfg, err := bcl.LoadModelConfigFileByNameDefaultOptions(modelName, appConfig)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("resolving config revision for %q: %w", modelName, err)
+	}
+	return stampedRevision(cfg, modelName)
+}
+
+// RevisionForPath is RevisionFor for callers that hold loader options and a
+// models path rather than an ApplicationConfig.
+func (bcl *ModelConfigLoader) RevisionForPath(modelName, modelPath string, opts ...ConfigLoaderOption) (string, error) {
+	cfg, err := bcl.LoadModelConfigFileByName(modelName, modelPath, opts...)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("resolving config revision for %q: %w", modelName, err)
+	}
+	return stampedRevision(cfg, modelName)
+}
+
+func stampedRevision(cfg *ModelConfig, modelName string) (string, error) {
+	revision := cfg.PersistedConfigRevision()
+	if revision == "" {
+		return "", fmt.Errorf("no config revision stamped for %q", modelName)
+	}
+	return revision, nil
+}

core/config/model_config_loader_test.go

@@ -314,3 +314,57 @@ var _ = Describe("ModelConfigLoader alias resolution", func() {
 		Expect(loader.ValidateAliasTarget(&bad)).To(MatchError(ContainSubstring("itself an alias")))
 	})
 })
+
+var _ = Describe("ModelConfigLoader ResolveAliasName", func() {
+	var loader *ModelConfigLoader
+
+	BeforeEach(func() {
+		loader = NewModelConfigLoader("")
+		loader.configs["real"] = ModelConfig{Name: "real", Backend: "llama-cpp"}
+		loader.configs["production"] = ModelConfig{Name: "production", Alias: "real"}
+		loader.configs["chain"] = ModelConfig{Name: "chain", Alias: "production"}
+		loader.configs["dangling"] = ModelConfig{Name: "dangling", Alias: "nope"}
+	})
+
+	It("maps an alias name to the model that actually serves it", func() {
+		target, isAlias := loader.ResolveAliasName("production")
+		Expect(isAlias).To(BeTrue())
+		Expect(target).To(Equal("real"))
+	})
+
+	It("maps a real model name to itself", func() {
+		target, isAlias := loader.ResolveAliasName("real")
+		Expect(isAlias).To(BeFalse())
+		Expect(target).To(Equal("real"))
+	})
+
+	// A rule may be authored for a model that is not installed yet (pre-staging
+	// placement before standing up a node), so an unknown name must resolve to
+	// itself rather than to the empty string.
+	It("maps an unknown name to itself", func() {
+		target, isAlias := loader.ResolveAliasName("not-installed-yet")
+		Expect(isAlias).To(BeFalse())
+		Expect(target).To(Equal("not-installed-yet"))
+	})
+
+	// A broken alias has no model behind it. Resolving to itself keeps the
+	// caller on a name that simply has no replicas, instead of silently
+	// governing some other model.
+	It("maps a dangling alias to itself", func() {
+		target, isAlias := loader.ResolveAliasName("dangling")
+		Expect(isAlias).To(BeTrue())
+		Expect(target).To(Equal("dangling"))
+	})
+
+	It("maps a chained alias to itself rather than following the chain", func() {
+		target, isAlias := loader.ResolveAliasName("chain")
+		Expect(isAlias).To(BeTrue())
+		Expect(target).To(Equal("chain"))
+	})
+
+	It("maps the empty name to itself", func() {
+		target, isAlias := loader.ResolveAliasName("")
+		Expect(isAlias).To(BeFalse())
+		Expect(target).To(BeEmpty())
+	})
+})

core/config/model_config_revision.go

@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+package config
+
+import (
+	"crypto/sha256"
+	"encoding/hex"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+
+	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
+	"google.golang.org/protobuf/proto"
+)
+
+// modelConfigRevision returns a stable revision of the persisted semantic
+// configuration. ModelConfig's JSON tags exclude runtime-derived state and
+// source bookkeeping, while encoding/json orders map keys deterministically.
+//
+// Deliberately unexported. It must only ever be called on a configuration as
+// parsed from disk, before SetDefaults folds in the GGUF guess, the hardware
+// defaults and app-level options. Callers outside this package cannot tell
+// which they hold, and every time one hashed a defaulted or request-merged
+// config it published a revision no inference request would carry, which makes
+// the model unroutable. Use ModelConfigLoader.RevisionFor instead.
+func modelConfigRevision(cfg *ModelConfig) (string, error) {
+	if cfg == nil {
+		return "", errors.New("model config is nil")
+	}
+
+	canonical, err := json.Marshal(cfg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	return sha256Hex(canonical), nil
+}
+
+// EffectiveModelOptionsHash returns a deterministic hash of materialized
+// backend options without allowing protobuf marshaling to mutate caller state.
+func EffectiveModelOptionsHash(opts *pb.ModelOptions) (string, error) {
+	if opts == nil {
+		return "", errors.New("model options are nil")
+	}
+
+	cloned := proto.Clone(opts).(*pb.ModelOptions)
+	canonical, err := (proto.MarshalOptions{Deterministic: true}).Marshal(cloned)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "", err
+	}
+
+	return sha256Hex(canonical), nil
+}
+
+func sha256Hex(value []byte) string {
+	digest := sha256.Sum256(value)
+	return hex.EncodeToString(digest[:])
+}

core/config/model_config_revision_stability_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+package config_test
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/system"
+)
+
+// The distributed controller pins a model's replicas to its config revision and
+// rejects any request carrying a different one. A revision that is not stable
+// for one unchanged file on disk therefore wedges the model.
+var _ = Describe("Model config revision stability", func() {
+	// A chat model with an mmproj derives two usecase flags, FLAG_CHAT and
+	// FLAG_VISION. syncKnownUsecasesFromString builds that list by ranging a
+	// map, so an unstable order shows up with two or more flags and stays
+	// hidden with one.
+	const multiUsecaseModel = `backend: llama-cpp
+context_size: 50000
+known_usecases:
+    - chat
+mmproj: llama-cpp/mmproj/example/mmproj.gguf
+name: example
+options:
+    - use_jinja:true
+    - parallel:2
+parameters:
+    model: llama-cpp/models/example/example.gguf
+template:
+    use_tokenizer_template: true
+`
+
+	var (
+		dir       string
+		appConfig *config.ApplicationConfig
+	)
+
+	BeforeEach(func() {
+		dir = GinkgoT().TempDir()
+		Expect(os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "example.yaml"), []byte(multiUsecaseModel), 0o600)).To(Succeed())
+		appConfig = config.NewApplicationConfig()
+		appConfig.SystemState = &system.SystemState{Model: system.Model{ModelsPath: dir}}
+	})
+
+	loadRevision := func() string {
+		loader := config.NewModelConfigLoader(dir)
+		Expect(loader.LoadModelConfigsFromPath(dir, appConfig.ToConfigLoaderOptions()...)).To(Succeed())
+		cfg, ok := loader.GetModelConfig("example")
+		Expect(ok).To(BeTrue())
+		Expect(cfg.PersistedConfigRevision()).ToNot(BeEmpty())
+		return cfg.PersistedConfigRevision()
+	}
+
+	It("does not change when the same file is loaded repeatedly", func() {
+		baseline := loadRevision()
+		for i := 0; i < 20; i++ {
+			Expect(loadRevision()).To(Equal(baseline), "revision changed between two loads of one unchanged file")
+		}
+	})
+
+	It("orders the derived usecases deterministically", func() {
+		loader := config.NewModelConfigLoader(dir)
+		Expect(loader.LoadModelConfigsFromPath(dir, appConfig.ToConfigLoaderOptions()...)).To(Succeed())
+		cfg, ok := loader.GetModelConfig("example")
+		Expect(ok).To(BeTrue())
+		Expect(len(cfg.KnownUsecaseStrings)).To(BeNumerically(">=", 2), "fixture must derive several usecases to expose ordering")
+		Expect(cfg.KnownUsecaseStrings).To(Equal([]string{"FLAG_CHAT", "FLAG_VISION"}))
+	})
+
+	// The request pipeline reloads the config through LoadModelConfigFileByName,
+	// which applies SetDefaults a second time. The stamp is taken before those
+	// defaults, so both the stored config and the one a request resolves carry
+	// the same revision.
+	It("survives the extra SetDefaults the request path applies", func() {
+		loader := config.NewModelConfigLoader(dir)
+		Expect(loader.LoadModelConfigsFromPath(dir, appConfig.ToConfigLoaderOptions()...)).To(Succeed())
+		stored, ok := loader.GetModelConfig("example")
+		Expect(ok).To(BeTrue())
+		Expect(stored.PersistedConfigRevision()).ToNot(BeEmpty())
+
+		requestCfg, err := loader.LoadModelConfigFileByNameDefaultOptions("example", appConfig)
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(requestCfg.PersistedConfigRevision()).To(Equal(stored.PersistedConfigRevision()))
+	})
+})
+
+// The revision must describe the configuration as persisted, and nothing else.
+// SetDefaults folds in values that are not persisted config: the GGUF guess
+// (which reads the model file and can fail on slow or remote storage), the
+// hardware defaults, and app-level options like threads. Hashing after that
+// made the revision a function of whether a multi-gigabyte file happened to
+// parse, so one unchanged YAML produced two different revisions depending on
+// the moment, and the controller rejected every request carrying the other one.
+var _ = Describe("Model config revision independence from runtime defaults", func() {
+	It("does not change when SetDefaults is applied", func() {
+		dir := GinkgoT().TempDir()
+		body := "backend: llama-cpp\ncontext_size: 50000\nknown_usecases:\n    - chat\n" +
+			"mmproj: llama-cpp/mmproj/example/mmproj.gguf\nname: example\n" +
+			"parameters:\n    model: llama-cpp/models/example/example.gguf\n"
+		Expect(os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "example.yaml"), []byte(body), 0o600)).To(Succeed())
+
+		appConfig := config.NewApplicationConfig()
+		appConfig.SystemState = &system.SystemState{Model: system.Model{ModelsPath: dir}}
+		loader := config.NewModelConfigLoader(dir)
+		Expect(loader.LoadModelConfigsFromPath(dir, appConfig.ToConfigLoaderOptions()...)).To(Succeed())
+
+		stored, ok := loader.GetModelConfig("example")
+		Expect(ok).To(BeTrue())
+		before := stored.PersistedConfigRevision()
+		Expect(before).ToNot(BeEmpty())
+
+		// Applying defaults again is what the request path does.
+		stored.SetDefaults(appConfig.ToConfigLoaderOptions()...)
+		Expect(stored.PersistedConfigRevision()).To(Equal(before))
+
+		resolved, err := loader.LoadModelConfigFileByNameDefaultOptions("example", appConfig)
+		Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(resolved.PersistedConfigRevision()).To(Equal(before),
+			"the request path must carry the same revision as the stored config")
+	})
+
+	It("does not change when app-level defaults differ", func() {
+		dir := GinkgoT().TempDir()
+		Expect(os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, "example.yaml"),
+			[]byte("name: example\nbackend: llama-cpp\nparameters:\n    model: m.gguf\n"), 0o600)).To(Succeed())
+
+		revWith := func(threads int, f16 bool) string {
+			appConfig := config.NewApplicationConfig()
+			appConfig.SystemState = &system.SystemState{Model: system.Model{ModelsPath: dir}}
+			appConfig.Threads = threads
+			appConfig.F16 = f16
+			loader := config.NewModelConfigLoader(dir)
+			Expect(loader.LoadModelConfigsFromPath(dir, appConfig.ToConfigLoaderOptions()...)).To(Succeed())
+			cfg, err := loader.LoadModelConfigFileByNameDefaultOptions("example", appConfig)
+			Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+			return cfg.PersistedConfigRevision()
+		}
+
+		Expect(revWith(8, false)).To(Equal(revWith(1, true)),
+			"an operator changing threads must not make every model unroutable")
+	})
+})

core/config/model_config_revision_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+package config_test
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+
+	"github.com/mudler/LocalAI/core/config"
+	pb "github.com/mudler/LocalAI/pkg/grpc/proto"
+	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
+)
+
+var _ = Describe("Model configuration revisions", func() {
+	parse := func(document string) *config.ModelConfig {
+		cfg := &config.ModelConfig{}
+		Expect(yaml.Unmarshal([]byte(document), cfg)).To(Succeed())
+		return cfg
+	}
+
+	// The raw hash is unexported on purpose, so these specs exercise it the way
+	// every caller now must: by stamping the parsed config.
+	revision := func(cfg *config.ModelConfig) string {
+		Expect(cfg.StampPersistedConfigRevision()).To(Succeed())
+		return cfg.PersistedConfigRevision()
+	}
+
+	It("is stable across equivalent YAML formatting and map order", func() {
+		first := parse("name: example\nbackend: llama-cpp\nroles: {user: USER, assistant: ASSISTANT}\n")
+		second := parse("# Comments and presentation details do not affect the typed configuration.\n" +
+			"backend: llama-cpp\nroles:\n  assistant: ASSISTANT\n  user: USER\nname: example\n")
+
+		Expect(revision(first)).To(Equal(revision(second)))
+	})
+
+	It("changes for context and parallel options", func() {
+		base := parse("name: example\ncontext_size: 2048\noptions: [parallel:1]\n")
+		contextChanged := parse("name: example\ncontext_size: 4096\noptions: [parallel:1]\n")
+		parallelChanged := parse("name: example\ncontext_size: 2048\noptions: [parallel:2]\n")
+
+		Expect(revision(contextChanged)).NotTo(Equal(revision(base)))
+		Expect(revision(parallelChanged)).NotTo(Equal(revision(base)))
+	})
+
+	It("preserves meaningful absence versus explicit zero", func() {
+		absent := parse("name: example\n")
+		explicitZero := parse("name: example\ncontext_size: 0\n")
+
+		Expect(revision(explicitZero)).NotTo(Equal(revision(absent)))
+	})
+
+	It("excludes the configuration source path", func() {
+		dir := GinkgoT().TempDir()
+		paths := []string{filepath.Join(dir, "first.yaml"), filepath.Join(dir, "second.yaml")}
+		for _, path := range paths {
+			Expect(os.WriteFile(path, []byte("name: example\nbackend: llama-cpp\n"), 0o600)).To(Succeed())
+		}
+
+		loaded := make([]config.ModelConfig, 0, len(paths))
+		for _, path := range paths {
+			loader := config.NewModelConfigLoader(dir)
+			Expect(loader.ReadModelConfig(path)).To(Succeed())
+			cfg, found := loader.GetModelConfig("example")
+			Expect(found).To(BeTrue())
+			loaded = append(loaded, cfg)
+		}
+
+		Expect(loaded[0].GetModelConfigFile()).NotTo(Equal(loaded[1].GetModelConfigFile()))
+		Expect(revision(&loaded[0])).To(Equal(revision(&loaded[1])))
+	})
+
+	It("hashes effective protobuf options deterministically without mutation", func() {
+		opts := &pb.ModelOptions{Model: "example", ContextSize: 2048, TensorParallelSize: 1}
+		original := opts.String()
+
+		first, err := config.EffectiveModelOptionsHash(opts)
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		second, err := config.EffectiveModelOptionsHash(opts)
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+
+		Expect(second).To(Equal(first))
+		Expect(opts.String()).To(Equal(original))
+
+		changed := &pb.ModelOptions{Model: "example", ContextSize: 4096, TensorParallelSize: 1}
+		different, err := config.EffectiveModelOptionsHash(changed)
+		Expect(err).NotTo(HaveOccurred())
+		Expect(different).NotTo(Equal(first))
+	})
+})
+
+var _ = Describe("Strict model configuration snapshots", func() {
+	write := func(dir, name, body string) {
+		Expect(os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(dir, name), []byte(body), 0o600)).To(Succeed())
+	}
+
+	It("ignores valid catalogue and legacy gallery metadata", func() {
+		dir := GinkgoT().TempDir()
+		write(dir, "catalogue.yaml", "- name: downloadable\n  url: github:example/model.yaml\n- name: inline\n  config_file:\n    backend: llama-cpp\n")
+		write(dir, "gallery_simple.yaml", "name: legacy\nconfig_file: |\n  backend: llama-cpp\nfiles:\n- filename: model.gguf\n  uri: https://example.invalid/model.gguf\n")
+		write(dir, "installed.yaml", "name: installed\nbackend: llama-cpp\n")
+
+		loader := config.NewModelConfigLoader(dir)
+		galleryFiles := config.LoadOptionGalleryFiles(
+			config.Gallery{URL: "file://" + filepath.Join(dir, "catalogue.yaml")},
+			config.Gallery{URL: "file://" + filepath.Join(dir, "gallery_simple.yaml")},
+		)
+		Expect(loader.LoadModelConfigsFromPathStrict(dir, galleryFiles)).To(Succeed())
+		_, found := loader.GetModelConfig("installed")
+		Expect(found).To(BeTrue())
+		_, found = loader.GetModelConfig("downloadable")
+		Expect(found).To(BeFalse())
+		_, found = loader.GetModelConfig("legacy")
+		Expect(found).To(BeFalse())
+	})
+
+	DescribeTable("rejects malformed gallery-looking documents",
+		func(body, message string) {
+			dir := GinkgoT().TempDir()
+			write(dir, "broken.yaml", body)
+			loader := config.NewModelConfigLoader(dir)
+			galleryFile := config.LoadOptionGalleryFiles(config.Gallery{URL: "file://" + filepath.Join(dir, "broken.yaml")})
+			Expect(loader.LoadModelConfigsFromPathStrict(dir, galleryFile)).To(MatchError(ContainSubstring(message)))
+		},
+		Entry("invalid variants", "- name: broken\n  variants: []\n", "variants must be a non-empty sequence"),
+		Entry("malformed payload type", "- name: broken\n  files: nope\n", "files must be a sequence"),
+		Entry("mixed runtime and gallery fields", "- name: broken\n  backend: llama-cpp\n  url: github:example/model.yaml\n", `field "backend" is not gallery metadata`),
+		Entry("malformed legacy config", "name: broken\nconfig_file: [not, yaml]\n", "config_file must be a non-empty YAML string"),
+	)
+
+	It("still rejects invalid runtime configuration sequences", func() {
+		dir := GinkgoT().TempDir()
+		write(dir, "broken.yaml", "- name: broken\n  backend: [\n")
+		loader := config.NewModelConfigLoader(dir)
+		Expect(loader.LoadModelConfigsFromPathStrict(dir)).To(MatchError(ContainSubstring("cannot unmarshal config file")))
+	})
+
+	It("does not skip a valid gallery-shaped document without configured provenance", func() {
+		dir := GinkgoT().TempDir()
+		write(dir, "runtime.yaml", "- name: ambiguous\n  overrides:\n    backend: llama-cpp\n")
+		loader := config.NewModelConfigLoader(dir)
+		Expect(loader.LoadModelConfigsFromPathStrict(dir)).ToNot(Succeed())
+	})
+})

core/config/model_config_revision_transition.go

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+package config
+
+// ModelConfigRevisionTransition describes one authoritative model identity.
+// Related transitions are applied together by revision lifecycle services.
+type ModelConfigRevisionTransition struct {
+	ModelName      string
+	ConfigRevision string
+	Disabled       bool
+}

core/config/runtime_settings.go

@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ type RuntimeSettings struct {
 	BackendGalleries         *[]Gallery `json:"backend_galleries,omitempty"`
 	AutoloadGalleries        *bool      `json:"autoload_galleries,omitempty"`
 	AutoloadBackendGalleries *bool      `json:"autoload_backend_galleries,omitempty"`
+	VRAMPersistentCache      *bool      `json:"vram_persistent_cache,omitempty"`
 
 	// API keys - No omitempty as we need to save empty arrays to clear keys
 	ApiKeys *[]string `json:"api_keys"`

core/config/runtime_settings_registry.go

@@ -328,6 +328,10 @@ var runtimeSettingsFields = []fieldSpec{
 		func(s *RuntimeSettings) **bool { return &s.AutoloadBackendGalleries },
 		func(o *ApplicationConfig) bool { return o.AutoloadBackendGalleries },
 		func(o *ApplicationConfig, v bool) { o.AutoloadBackendGalleries = v }),
+	field("vram_persistent_cache",
+		func(s *RuntimeSettings) **bool { return &s.VRAMPersistentCache },
+		func(o *ApplicationConfig) bool { return o.VRAMPersistentCache },
+		func(o *ApplicationConfig, v bool) { o.VRAMPersistentCache = v }),
 
 	// API keys: echoed for the UI, but the apply loops never touch them.
 	// The settings endpoint and the file watcher own the env+runtime merge