Stream loading state when swapping models (#371)

Swapping models can take a long time and leave a lot of silence while the model is loading. Rather than silently load the model in the background, this PR allows llama-swap to send status updates in the reasoning_content of a streaming chat response.

Fixes: #366

config.example.yaml

@@ -35,6 +35,14 @@ metricsMaxInMemory: 1000
 # - it is automatically incremented for every model that uses it
 startPort: 10001
 
+# sendLoadingState: inject loading status updates into the reasoning (thinking)
+# field
+# - optional, default: false
+# - when true, a stream of loading messages will be sent to the client in the
+#   reasoning field so chat UIs can show that loading is in progress.
+# - see #366 for more details
+sendLoadingState: true
+
 # macros: a dictionary of string substitutions
 # - optional, default: empty dictionary
 # - macros are reusable snippets
@@ -184,6 +192,10 @@ models:
     # - recommended to be omitted and the default used
     concurrencyLimit: 0
 
+    # sendLoadingState: overrides the global sendLoadingState setting for this model
+    # - optional, default: undefined (use global setting)
+    sendLoadingState: false
+
   # Unlisted model example:
   "qwen-unlisted":
     # unlisted: boolean, true or false

proxy/config/config.go

@@ -129,6 +129,9 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	// hooks, see: #209
 	Hooks HooksConfig `yaml:"hooks"`
+
+	// send loading state in reasoning
+	SendLoadingState bool `yaml:"sendLoadingState"`
 }
 
 func (c *Config) RealModelName(search string) (string, bool) {
@@ -350,6 +353,13 @@ func LoadConfigFromReader(r io.Reader) (Config, error) {
 			)
 		}
 
+		// if sendLoadingState is nil, set it to the global config value
+		// see #366
+		if modelConfig.SendLoadingState == nil {
+			v := config.SendLoadingState // copy it
+			modelConfig.SendLoadingState = &v
+		}
+
 		config.Models[modelId] = modelConfig
 	}
 

proxy/config/config_posix_test.go

@@ -160,6 +160,8 @@ groups:
 		t.Fatalf("Failed to load config: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	modelLoadingState := false
+
 	expected := Config{
 		LogLevel:  "info",
 		StartPort: 5800,
@@ -171,36 +173,41 @@ groups:
 				Preload: []string{"model1", "model2"},
 			},
 		},
+		SendLoadingState: false,
 		Models: map[string]ModelConfig{
 			"model1": {
-				Cmd:           "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
-				Proxy:         "http://localhost:8080",
-				Aliases:       []string{"m1", "model-one"},
-				Env:           []string{"VAR1=value1", "VAR2=value2"},
-				CheckEndpoint: "/health",
-				Name:          "Model 1",
-				Description:   "This is model 1",
+				Cmd:              "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
+				Proxy:            "http://localhost:8080",
+				Aliases:          []string{"m1", "model-one"},
+				Env:              []string{"VAR1=value1", "VAR2=value2"},
+				CheckEndpoint:    "/health",
+				Name:             "Model 1",
+				Description:      "This is model 1",
+				SendLoadingState: &modelLoadingState,
 			},
 			"model2": {
-				Cmd:           "path/to/server --arg1 one",
-				Proxy:         "http://localhost:8081",
-				Aliases:       []string{"m2"},
-				Env:           []string{},
-				CheckEndpoint: "/",
+				Cmd:              "path/to/server --arg1 one",
+				Proxy:            "http://localhost:8081",
+				Aliases:          []string{"m2"},
+				Env:              []string{},
+				CheckEndpoint:    "/",
+				SendLoadingState: &modelLoadingState,
 			},
 			"model3": {
-				Cmd:           "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
-				Proxy:         "http://localhost:8081",
-				Aliases:       []string{"mthree"},
-				Env:           []string{},
-				CheckEndpoint: "/",
+				Cmd:              "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
+				Proxy:            "http://localhost:8081",
+				Aliases:          []string{"mthree"},
+				Env:              []string{},
+				CheckEndpoint:    "/",
+				SendLoadingState: &modelLoadingState,
 			},
 			"model4": {
-				Cmd:           "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
-				Proxy:         "http://localhost:8082",
-				CheckEndpoint: "/",
-				Aliases:       []string{},
-				Env:           []string{},
+				Cmd:              "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
+				Proxy:            "http://localhost:8082",
+				CheckEndpoint:    "/",
+				Aliases:          []string{},
+				Env:              []string{},
+				SendLoadingState: &modelLoadingState,
 			},
 		},
 		HealthCheckTimeout: 15,

proxy/config/config_windows_test.go

@@ -152,44 +152,51 @@ groups:
 		t.Fatalf("Failed to load config: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	modelLoadingState := false
+
 	expected := Config{
 		LogLevel:  "info",
 		StartPort: 5800,
 		Macros: MacroList{
 			{"svr-path", "path/to/server"},
 		},
+		SendLoadingState: false,
 		Models: map[string]ModelConfig{
 			"model1": {
-				Cmd:           "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
-				CmdStop:       "taskkill /f /t /pid ${PID}",
-				Proxy:         "http://localhost:8080",
-				Aliases:       []string{"m1", "model-one"},
-				Env:           []string{"VAR1=value1", "VAR2=value2"},
-				CheckEndpoint: "/health",
+				Cmd:              "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
+				CmdStop:          "taskkill /f /t /pid ${PID}",
+				Proxy:            "http://localhost:8080",
+				Aliases:          []string{"m1", "model-one"},
+				Env:              []string{"VAR1=value1", "VAR2=value2"},
+				CheckEndpoint:    "/health",
+				SendLoadingState: &modelLoadingState,
 			},
 			"model2": {
-				Cmd:           "path/to/server --arg1 one",
-				CmdStop:       "taskkill /f /t /pid ${PID}",
-				Proxy:         "http://localhost:8081",
-				Aliases:       []string{"m2"},
-				Env:           []string{},
-				CheckEndpoint: "/",
+				Cmd:              "path/to/server --arg1 one",
+				CmdStop:          "taskkill /f /t /pid ${PID}",
+				Proxy:            "http://localhost:8081",
+				Aliases:          []string{"m2"},
+				Env:              []string{},
+				CheckEndpoint:    "/",
+				SendLoadingState: &modelLoadingState,
 			},
 			"model3": {
-				Cmd:           "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
-				CmdStop:       "taskkill /f /t /pid ${PID}",
-				Proxy:         "http://localhost:8081",
-				Aliases:       []string{"mthree"},
-				Env:           []string{},
-				CheckEndpoint: "/",
+				Cmd:              "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
+				CmdStop:          "taskkill /f /t /pid ${PID}",
+				Proxy:            "http://localhost:8081",
+				Aliases:          []string{"mthree"},
+				Env:              []string{},
+				CheckEndpoint:    "/",
+				SendLoadingState: &modelLoadingState,
 			},
 			"model4": {
-				Cmd:           "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
-				CmdStop:       "taskkill /f /t /pid ${PID}",
-				Proxy:         "http://localhost:8082",
-				CheckEndpoint: "/",
-				Aliases:       []string{},
-				Env:           []string{},
+				Cmd:              "path/to/cmd --arg1 one",
+				CmdStop:          "taskkill /f /t /pid ${PID}",
+				Proxy:            "http://localhost:8082",
+				CheckEndpoint:    "/",
+				Aliases:          []string{},
+				Env:              []string{},
+				SendLoadingState: &modelLoadingState,
 			},
 		},
 		HealthCheckTimeout: 15,

proxy/config/model_config.go

@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ type ModelConfig struct {
 	// Metadata: see #264
 	// Arbitrary metadata that can be exposed through the API
 	Metadata map[string]any `yaml:"metadata"`
+
+	// override global setting
+	SendLoadingState *bool `yaml:"sendLoadingState"`
 }
 
 func (m *ModelConfig) UnmarshalYAML(unmarshal func(interface{}) error) error {

proxy/config/model_config_test.go

@@ -50,5 +50,25 @@ models:
 			}
 		})
 	}
-
+}
+
+func TestConfig_ModelSendLoadingState(t *testing.T) {
+	content := `
+sendLoadingState: true
+models:
+  model1:
+    cmd: path/to/cmd --port ${PORT}
+    sendLoadingState: false
+  model2:
+    cmd: path/to/cmd --port ${PORT}
+`
+	config, err := LoadConfigFromReader(strings.NewReader(content))
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.True(t, config.SendLoadingState)
+	if assert.NotNil(t, config.Models["model1"].SendLoadingState) {
+		assert.False(t, *config.Models["model1"].SendLoadingState)
+	}
+	if assert.NotNil(t, config.Models["model2"].SendLoadingState) {
+		assert.True(t, *config.Models["model2"].SendLoadingState)
+	}
 }

proxy/process.go

@@ -2,8 +2,10 @@ package proxy
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
 	"fmt"
+	"math/rand"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httputil"
@@ -462,6 +464,12 @@ func (p *Process) checkHealthEndpoint(healthURL string) error {
 }
 
 func (p *Process) ProxyRequest(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+
+	if p.reverseProxy == nil {
+		http.Error(w, fmt.Sprintf("No reverse proxy available for %s", p.ID), http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		return
+	}
+
 	requestBeginTime := time.Now()
 	var startDuration time.Duration
 
@@ -488,17 +496,44 @@ func (p *Process) ProxyRequest(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		p.inFlightRequests.Done()
 	}()
 
+	// for #366
+	// - extract streaming param from request context, should have been set by proxymanager
+	var srw *statusResponseWriter
+	swapCtx, cancelLoadCtx := context.WithCancel(r.Context())
 	// start the process on demand
 	if p.CurrentState() != StateReady {
+		// start a goroutine to stream loading status messages into the response writer
+		// add a sync so the streaming client only runs when the goroutine has exited
+
+		isStreaming, _ := r.Context().Value(proxyCtxKey("streaming")).(bool)
+		if p.config.SendLoadingState != nil && *p.config.SendLoadingState && isStreaming {
+			srw = newStatusResponseWriter(p, w)
+			go srw.statusUpdates(swapCtx)
+		} else {
+			p.proxyLogger.Debugf("<%s> SendLoadingState is nil or false, not streaming loading state", p.ID)
+		}
+
 		beginStartTime := time.Now()
 		if err := p.start(); err != nil {
 			errstr := fmt.Sprintf("unable to start process: %s", err)
-			http.Error(w, errstr, http.StatusBadGateway)
+			cancelLoadCtx()
+			if srw != nil {
+				srw.sendData(fmt.Sprintf("Unable to swap model err: %s\n", errstr))
+				// Wait for statusUpdates goroutine to finish writing its deferred "Done!" messages
+				// before closing the connection. Without this, the connection would close before
+				// the goroutine can write its cleanup messages, causing incomplete SSE output.
+				srw.waitForCompletion(100 * time.Millisecond)
+			} else {
+				http.Error(w, errstr, http.StatusBadGateway)
+			}
 			return
 		}
 		startDuration = time.Since(beginStartTime)
 	}
 
+	// should trigger srw to stop sending loading events ...
+	cancelLoadCtx()
+
 	// recover from http.ErrAbortHandler panics that can occur when the client
 	// disconnects before the response is sent
 	defer func() {
@@ -511,10 +546,15 @@ func (p *Process) ProxyRequest(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		}
 	}()
 
-	if p.reverseProxy != nil {
-		p.reverseProxy.ServeHTTP(w, r)
+	if srw != nil {
+		// Wait for the goroutine to finish writing its final messages
+		const completionTimeout = 1 * time.Second
+		if !srw.waitForCompletion(completionTimeout) {
+			p.proxyLogger.Warnf("<%s> status updates goroutine did not complete within %v, proceeding with proxy request", p.ID, completionTimeout)
+		}
+		p.reverseProxy.ServeHTTP(srw, r)
 	} else {
-		http.Error(w, fmt.Sprintf("No reverse proxy available for %s", p.ID), http.StatusInternalServerError)
+		p.reverseProxy.ServeHTTP(w, r)
 	}
 
 	totalTime := time.Since(requestBeginTime)
@@ -600,3 +640,220 @@ func (p *Process) cmdStopUpstreamProcess() error {
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+var loadingRemarks = []string{
+	"Still faster than your last standup meeting...",
+	"Reticulating splines...",
+	"Waking up the hamsters...",
+	"Teaching the model manners...",
+	"Convincing the GPU to participate...",
+	"Loading weights (they're heavy)...",
+	"Herding electrons...",
+	"Compiling excuses for the delay...",
+	"Downloading more RAM...",
+	"Asking the model nicely to boot up...",
+	"Bribing CUDA with cookies...",
+	"Still loading (blame VRAM)...",
+	"The model is fashionably late...",
+	"Warming up those tensors...",
+	"Making the neural net do push-ups...",
+	"Your patience is appreciated (really)...",
+	"Almost there (probably)...",
+	"Loading like it's 1999...",
+	"The model forgot where it put its keys...",
+	"Quantum tunneling through layers...",
+	"Negotiating with the PCIe bus...",
+	"Defrosting frozen parameters...",
+	"Teaching attention heads to focus...",
+	"Running the matrix (slowly)...",
+	"Untangling transformer blocks...",
+	"Calibrating the flux capacitor...",
+	"Spinning up the probability wheels...",
+	"Waiting for the GPU to wake from its nap...",
+	"Converting caffeine to compute...",
+	"Allocating virtual patience...",
+	"Performing arcane CUDA rituals...",
+	"The model is stuck in traffic...",
+	"Inflating embeddings...",
+	"Summoning computational demons...",
+	"Pleading with the OOM killer...",
+	"Calculating the meaning of life (still at 42)...",
+	"Training the training wheels...",
+	"Optimizing the optimizer...",
+	"Bootstrapping the bootstrapper...",
+	"Loading loading screen...",
+	"Processing processing logs...",
+	"Buffering buffer overflow jokes...",
+	"The model hit snooze...",
+	"Debugging the debugger...",
+	"Compiling the compiler...",
+	"Parsing the parser (meta)...",
+	"Tokenizing tokens...",
+	"Encoding the encoder...",
+	"Hashing hash browns...",
+	"Forking spoons (not forks)...",
+	"The model is contemplating existence...",
+	"Transcending dimensional barriers...",
+	"Invoking elder tensor gods...",
+	"Unfurling probability clouds...",
+	"Synchronizing parallel universes...",
+	"The GPU is having second thoughts...",
+	"Recalibrating reality matrices...",
+	"Time is an illusion, loading doubly so...",
+	"Convincing bits to flip themselves...",
+	"The model is reading its own documentation...",
+}
+
+type statusResponseWriter struct {
+	hasWritten bool
+	writer     http.ResponseWriter
+	process    *Process
+	wg         sync.WaitGroup // Track goroutine completion
+	start      time.Time
+}
+
+func newStatusResponseWriter(p *Process, w http.ResponseWriter) *statusResponseWriter {
+	s := &statusResponseWriter{
+		writer:  w,
+		process: p,
+		start:   time.Now(),
+	}
+
+	s.Header().Set("Content-Type", "text/event-stream") // SSE
+	s.Header().Set("Cache-Control", "no-cache")         // no-cache
+	s.Header().Set("Connection", "keep-alive")          // keep-alive
+	s.WriteHeader(http.StatusOK)                        // send status code 200
+	s.sendLine("━━━━━")
+	s.sendLine(fmt.Sprintf("llama-swap loading model: %s", p.ID))
+	return s
+}
+
+// statusUpdates sends status updates to the client while the model is loading
+func (s *statusResponseWriter) statusUpdates(ctx context.Context) {
+	s.wg.Add(1)
+	defer s.wg.Done()
+
+	defer func() {
+		duration := time.Since(s.start)
+		s.sendLine(fmt.Sprintf("\nDone! (%.2fs)", duration.Seconds()))
+		s.sendLine("━━━━━")
+		s.sendLine(" ")
+	}()
+
+	// Create a shuffled copy of loadingRemarks
+	remarks := make([]string, len(loadingRemarks))
+	copy(remarks, loadingRemarks)
+	rand.Shuffle(len(remarks), func(i, j int) {
+		remarks[i], remarks[j] = remarks[j], remarks[i]
+	})
+	ri := 0
+
+	// Pick a random duration to send a remark
+	nextRemarkIn := time.Duration(2+rand.Intn(4)) * time.Second
+	lastRemarkTime := time.Now()
+
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(time.Second)
+	defer ticker.Stop() // Ensure ticker is stopped to prevent resource leak
+	for {
+		select {
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			return
+		case <-ticker.C:
+			if s.process.CurrentState() == StateReady {
+				return
+			}
+
+			// Check if it's time for a snarky remark
+			if time.Since(lastRemarkTime) >= nextRemarkIn {
+				remark := remarks[ri%len(remarks)]
+				ri++
+				s.sendLine(fmt.Sprintf("\n%s", remark))
+				lastRemarkTime = time.Now()
+				// Pick a new random duration for the next remark
+				nextRemarkIn = time.Duration(5+rand.Intn(5)) * time.Second
+			} else {
+				s.sendData(".")
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// waitForCompletion waits for the statusUpdates goroutine to finish
+func (s *statusResponseWriter) waitForCompletion(timeout time.Duration) bool {
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	go func() {
+		s.wg.Wait()
+		close(done)
+	}()
+
+	select {
+	case <-done:
+		return true
+	case <-time.After(timeout):
+		return false
+	}
+}
+
+func (s *statusResponseWriter) sendLine(line string) {
+	s.sendData(line + "\n")
+}
+
+func (s *statusResponseWriter) sendData(data string) {
+	// Create the proper SSE JSON structure
+	type Delta struct {
+		ReasoningContent string `json:"reasoning_content"`
+	}
+	type Choice struct {
+		Delta Delta `json:"delta"`
+	}
+	type SSEMessage struct {
+		Choices []Choice `json:"choices"`
+	}
+
+	msg := SSEMessage{
+		Choices: []Choice{
+			{
+				Delta: Delta{
+					ReasoningContent: data,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	jsonData, err := json.Marshal(msg)
+	if err != nil {
+		s.process.proxyLogger.Errorf("<%s> Failed to marshal SSE message: %v", s.process.ID, err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	// Write SSE formatted data, panic if not able to write
+	_, err = fmt.Fprintf(s.writer, "data: %s\n\n", jsonData)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(fmt.Sprintf("<%s> Failed to write SSE data: %v", s.process.ID, err))
+	}
+	s.Flush()
+}
+
+func (s *statusResponseWriter) Header() http.Header {
+	return s.writer.Header()
+}
+
+func (s *statusResponseWriter) Write(data []byte) (int, error) {
+	return s.writer.Write(data)
+}
+
+func (s *statusResponseWriter) WriteHeader(statusCode int) {
+	if s.hasWritten {
+		return
+	}
+	s.hasWritten = true
+	s.writer.WriteHeader(statusCode)
+	s.Flush()
+}
+
+// Add Flush method
+func (s *statusResponseWriter) Flush() {
+	if flusher, ok := s.writer.(http.Flusher); ok {
+		flusher.Flush()
+	}
+}

proxy/proxymanager.go

@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ const (
 	PROFILE_SPLIT_CHAR = ":"
 )
 
+type proxyCtxKey string
+
 type ProxyManager struct {
 	sync.Mutex
 
@@ -555,6 +557,12 @@ func (pm *ProxyManager) proxyOAIHandler(c *gin.Context) {
 	c.Request.Header.Set("content-length", strconv.Itoa(len(bodyBytes)))
 	c.Request.ContentLength = int64(len(bodyBytes))
 
+	// issue #366 extract values that downstream handlers may need
+	isStreaming := gjson.GetBytes(bodyBytes, "stream").Bool()
+	ctx := context.WithValue(c.Request.Context(), proxyCtxKey("streaming"), isStreaming)
+	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, proxyCtxKey("model"), realModelName)
+	c.Request = c.Request.WithContext(ctx)
+
 	if pm.metricsMonitor != nil && c.Request.Method == "POST" {
 		if err := pm.metricsMonitor.wrapHandler(realModelName, c.Writer, c.Request, processGroup.ProxyRequest); err != nil {
 			pm.sendErrorResponse(c, http.StatusInternalServerError, fmt.Sprintf("error proxying metrics wrapped request: %s", err.Error()))