chore(deps): bump vLLM floor to 0.26 and refresh docker matrix

[slin1237]

Description

Problem

The CI installer floors vLLM at 0.25.0 with a manual fastapi<0.137 pin, and the release-docker matrix tops out at v0.22.1 — four minor versions behind upstream 0.26.0.

Solution

• scripts/ci_install_vllm.sh: floor raised to vllm>=0.26.0; the explicit fastapi<0.137 pin is dropped because 0.26's own metadata caps fastapi[standard]<0.137.0,>=0.133.0 (verified from the wheel's requires_dist). The torchcodec/FFmpeg canary and --torch-backend=auto are unchanged.
• release-vllm-docker.yml: 3-version matrix → v0.26.0 / v0.25.0 / v0.23.0, defaults and examples → v0.26.0. All three tags verified on Docker Hub; note there is no v0.24.x vllm-openai tag, hence v0.23.0 as the third entry.
• grpc_servicer's vllm>=0.19.0 floor is untouched.

Test Plan

• Real validation is this PR's e2e matrix: vllm legs across 1-GPU chat/completions/embeddings and 2-GPU PD with both NIXL and Mooncake KV backends.
• Locally: bash -n clean; 0.26.0 requires_dist verified for the fastapi cap; all matrix image tags verified.

Checklist

• cargo +nightly fmt passes
• cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features -- -D warnings passes
• (Optional) Documentation updated
• (Optional) Please join us on Slack #sig-smg to discuss, review, and merge PRs

Summary by CodeRabbit

• Chores
  • Updated Docker release workflows to use vLLM 0.26.0 as the default base image.
  • Updated release input guidance and image tag examples for vLLM 0.26.0.
  • Updated CI installation requirements to use vLLM 0.26.0 or newer.
  • Simplified the CI installation command by removing the explicit FastAPI version constraint.

[gemini-code-assist]

Caution

The consumer version of Gemini Code Assist on GitHub has been sunset. All code review activity has officially ceased.

[coderabbitai]

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info

⚙️ Run configuration

Configuration used: Organization UI

Review profile: ASSERTIVE

Plan: Pro

Run ID: 6f387142-5e35-44e8-8904-2fdf97e2868a

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 52ef817 and 11279b9.

📒 Files selected for processing (2)

• .github/workflows/release-vllm-docker.yml
• scripts/ci_install_vllm.sh

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

Updates the Docker release workflow and CI installation script to use vLLM 0.26.0 defaults, fallback images, examples, and minimum version requirements.

Changes

vLLM version alignment

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Release image version updates .github/workflows/release-vllm-docker.yml	Default, example, and fallback Docker images are updated to newer vLLM versions, led by v0.26.0.
CI installation requirement scripts/ci_install_vllm.sh	The minimum installed vLLM version becomes 0.26.0, while the explicit FastAPI constraint is removed.

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Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Possibly related PRs

• lightseekorg/smg#604: Updates the same vLLM Docker release pipeline and version-selection logic.
• lightseekorg/smg#651: Overlaps in the Docker release workflow and CI vLLM installation updates.
• lightseekorg/smg#1727: Directly overlaps the CI vLLM installation and FastAPI constraint.

Suggested labels: ci, docker

Suggested reviewers: catherinesue, key4ng, xinyuezhang369

Poem

I hopped through the versions, light and bright,
v0.26.0 now leads the flight.
Docker tags line up in a row,
CI installs the newer glow.
FastAPI’s pin hops away—
A bunny-approved release day!

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5

✅ Passed checks (5 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately reflects the main changes: raising the vLLM minimum to 0.26.0 and updating the Docker release matrix.
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

✨ Finishing Touches

📝 Generate docstrings

• Create stacked PR
• Commit on current branch

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests
• Commit unit tests in branch chore/bump-vllm-0-26

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_{Comment @coderabbitai help to get the list of available commands.}

[claude]

👋 The PR description doesn't fully follow
PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE.md:

• Missing header: ## Changes

Please update the PR description so reviewers have the context they need.

[claude]

Clean dependency version bump. The fastapi<0.137 pin removal is correct — vLLM 0.26's own requires_dist already enforces it. Matrix versions and defaults are consistent throughout both files. No issues found.