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[Bugfix] Take padded path for ragged decode batches in sparse_attn_indexer - #52500

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Purpose

Fix a crash in sparse_attn_indexer for ragged decode batches.

decode_metadata.requires_padding can be computed False for ragged mixed/warmup decode batches (observed on SM120/GB10 TP=2: 8 decode tokens over 6 requests). The non-padded path then performs a uniform num_decode_tokens // batch reshape, which crashes when the token count does not divide evenly over the decode batch.

Fix: also take the padded path whenever num_decode_tokens % decode_lens.shape[0] != 0. This is a strictly-safer superset of the current condition; evenly-divisible batches keep the fast path.

Not a duplicate: no open PR touches this condition in vllm/model_executor/layers/sparse_attn_indexer.py; #47808 (DSpark confidence-scheduled verification) restructured other parts of this file but kept the requires_padding-only condition. The metadata-side computation (requires_padding = min_decode_len != max_decode_len in backends/mla/indexer.py) is unchanged on main, so the ragged case is still reachable.

Test Plan

  • python -m py_compile vllm/model_executor/layers/sparse_attn_indexer.py
  • End-to-end: 2× DGX Spark (GB10, SM121), TP=2, serving DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731; warmup + mixed decode batches that previously produced the ragged 8-tokens-over-6-requests shape.

Test Result

  • Before: reshape crash during warmup/mixed decode batches on SM120 TP=2.
  • After: serving stable on 2× DGX Spark GB10 TP=2 (DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731); padded path takes over for ragged batches, no perf change for uniform batches.

AI assistance was used for this PR (rebasing the fix from a v0.26.0-based production branch onto main); every changed line was reviewed and validated end-to-end by the submitter on the hardware above.

@pavelzak
pavelzak requested a review from zyongye as a code owner August 16, 2026 07:15

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@mergify mergify Bot added the bug Something isn't working label Aug 16, 2026
randomvariable added a commit to randomvariable/vllm that referenced this pull request Aug 19, 2026
Three correctness fixes for the SM120/SM121 (consumer Blackwell /
GB10) serving path, ported from open upstream PRs:

1. MXFP4 persistent-kernel constraint must cover sm120/sm121
   (upstream vllm-project#52850): has_native_mxfp() is cuda_capability_geq(10,0),
   so gating the is_persistent constraint on the sm100 family alone
   leaves consumer Blackwell requiring a constraint nothing sets and
   every native-MXFP matmul raises. Gate on >=100 instead.
   Adds test_swizzle_mxfp4_sets_persistent_for_native_mxfp.

2. DSpark spec-decode reshape guard in the SM120 FlashInfer sparse
   decode (upstream vllm-project#52499): flashinfer's dsv4 decode API expects
   [batch, q_len_per_request, ...] queries; flattened spec-decode
   batches misroute to the varlen prefill kernel which asserts
   num_tokens > 64. Reshape to [num_decodes, next_n, ...] when tokens
   exceed requests, and handle empty/small (<=64) prefill chunks via
   the uniform decode-form call.

3. Ragged decode batches take the padded indexer path (upstream
   vllm-project#52500): requires_padding can be computed False for ragged
   warmup/mixed batches (SM120 TP=2: 8 tokens over 6 seqs), where the
   uniform reshape would crash. Also pad when num_decode_tokens does
   not divide the decode batch.

Verified: all four files compile; pre-commit clean.
test_flashmla_sparse.py failures are pre-existing (no compiled
extensions in this venv; identical 4 failures with changes stashed).

Co-authored-by: OMP Agent <noreply@omp.local>
Signed-off-by: Naadir Jeewa <naadir@randomvariable.co.uk>
@pavelzak

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Adoption data point: independently ported into a third-party GB10 (DGX Spark) serving fork alongside #52499randomvariable/vllm@07011d8 (2026-08-19).

randomvariable added a commit to randomvariable/vllm that referenced this pull request Aug 23, 2026
Three correctness fixes for the SM120/SM121 (consumer Blackwell /
GB10) serving path, ported from open upstream PRs:

1. MXFP4 persistent-kernel constraint must cover sm120/sm121
   (upstream vllm-project#52850): has_native_mxfp() is cuda_capability_geq(10,0),
   so gating the is_persistent constraint on the sm100 family alone
   leaves consumer Blackwell requiring a constraint nothing sets and
   every native-MXFP matmul raises. Gate on >=100 instead.
   Adds test_swizzle_mxfp4_sets_persistent_for_native_mxfp.

2. DSpark spec-decode reshape guard in the SM120 FlashInfer sparse
   decode (upstream vllm-project#52499): flashinfer's dsv4 decode API expects
   [batch, q_len_per_request, ...] queries; flattened spec-decode
   batches misroute to the varlen prefill kernel which asserts
   num_tokens > 64. Reshape to [num_decodes, next_n, ...] when tokens
   exceed requests, and handle empty/small (<=64) prefill chunks via
   the uniform decode-form call.

3. Ragged decode batches take the padded indexer path (upstream
   vllm-project#52500): requires_padding can be computed False for ragged
   warmup/mixed batches (SM120 TP=2: 8 tokens over 6 seqs), where the
   uniform reshape would crash. Also pad when num_decode_tokens does
   not divide the decode batch.

Verified: all four files compile; pre-commit clean.
test_flashmla_sparse.py failures are pre-existing (no compiled
extensions in this venv; identical 4 failures with changes stashed).

Co-authored-by: OMP Agent <noreply@omp.local>
Signed-off-by: Naadir Jeewa <naadir@randomvariable.co.uk>
randomvariable added a commit to randomvariable/vllm that referenced this pull request Aug 25, 2026
Three correctness fixes for the SM120/SM121 (consumer Blackwell /
GB10) serving path, ported from open upstream PRs:

1. MXFP4 persistent-kernel constraint must cover sm120/sm121
   (upstream vllm-project#52850): has_native_mxfp() is cuda_capability_geq(10,0),
   so gating the is_persistent constraint on the sm100 family alone
   leaves consumer Blackwell requiring a constraint nothing sets and
   every native-MXFP matmul raises. Gate on >=100 instead.
   Adds test_swizzle_mxfp4_sets_persistent_for_native_mxfp.

2. DSpark spec-decode reshape guard in the SM120 FlashInfer sparse
   decode (upstream vllm-project#52499): flashinfer's dsv4 decode API expects
   [batch, q_len_per_request, ...] queries; flattened spec-decode
   batches misroute to the varlen prefill kernel which asserts
   num_tokens > 64. Reshape to [num_decodes, next_n, ...] when tokens
   exceed requests, and handle empty/small (<=64) prefill chunks via
   the uniform decode-form call.

3. Ragged decode batches take the padded indexer path (upstream
   vllm-project#52500): requires_padding can be computed False for ragged
   warmup/mixed batches (SM120 TP=2: 8 tokens over 6 seqs), where the
   uniform reshape would crash. Also pad when num_decode_tokens does
   not divide the decode batch.

Verified: all four files compile; pre-commit clean.
test_flashmla_sparse.py failures are pre-existing (no compiled
extensions in this venv; identical 4 failures with changes stashed).

Co-authored-by: OMP Agent <noreply@omp.local>
Signed-off-by: Naadir Jeewa <naadir@randomvariable.co.uk>
randomvariable added a commit to randomvariable/vllm that referenced this pull request Aug 29, 2026
Three correctness fixes for the SM120/SM121 (consumer Blackwell /
GB10) serving path, ported from open upstream PRs:

1. MXFP4 persistent-kernel constraint must cover sm120/sm121
   (upstream vllm-project#52850): has_native_mxfp() is cuda_capability_geq(10,0),
   so gating the is_persistent constraint on the sm100 family alone
   leaves consumer Blackwell requiring a constraint nothing sets and
   every native-MXFP matmul raises. Gate on >=100 instead.
   Adds test_swizzle_mxfp4_sets_persistent_for_native_mxfp.

2. DSpark spec-decode reshape guard in the SM120 FlashInfer sparse
   decode (upstream vllm-project#52499): flashinfer's dsv4 decode API expects
   [batch, q_len_per_request, ...] queries; flattened spec-decode
   batches misroute to the varlen prefill kernel which asserts
   num_tokens > 64. Reshape to [num_decodes, next_n, ...] when tokens
   exceed requests, and handle empty/small (<=64) prefill chunks via
   the uniform decode-form call.

3. Ragged decode batches take the padded indexer path (upstream
   vllm-project#52500): requires_padding can be computed False for ragged
   warmup/mixed batches (SM120 TP=2: 8 tokens over 6 seqs), where the
   uniform reshape would crash. Also pad when num_decode_tokens does
   not divide the decode batch.

Verified: all four files compile; pre-commit clean.
test_flashmla_sparse.py failures are pre-existing (no compiled
extensions in this venv; identical 4 failures with changes stashed).

Co-authored-by: OMP Agent <noreply@omp.local>
Signed-off-by: Naadir Jeewa <naadir@randomvariable.co.uk>
randomvariable added a commit to randomvariable/vllm that referenced this pull request Aug 29, 2026
Three correctness fixes for the SM120/SM121 (consumer Blackwell /
GB10) serving path, ported from open upstream PRs:

1. MXFP4 persistent-kernel constraint must cover sm120/sm121
   (upstream vllm-project#52850): has_native_mxfp() is cuda_capability_geq(10,0),
   so gating the is_persistent constraint on the sm100 family alone
   leaves consumer Blackwell requiring a constraint nothing sets and
   every native-MXFP matmul raises. Gate on >=100 instead.
   Adds test_swizzle_mxfp4_sets_persistent_for_native_mxfp.

2. DSpark spec-decode reshape guard in the SM120 FlashInfer sparse
   decode (upstream vllm-project#52499): flashinfer's dsv4 decode API expects
   [batch, q_len_per_request, ...] queries; flattened spec-decode
   batches misroute to the varlen prefill kernel which asserts
   num_tokens > 64. Reshape to [num_decodes, next_n, ...] when tokens
   exceed requests, and handle empty/small (<=64) prefill chunks via
   the uniform decode-form call.

3. Ragged decode batches take the padded indexer path (upstream
   vllm-project#52500): requires_padding can be computed False for ragged
   warmup/mixed batches (SM120 TP=2: 8 tokens over 6 seqs), where the
   uniform reshape would crash. Also pad when num_decode_tokens does
   not divide the decode batch.

Verified: all four files compile; pre-commit clean.
test_flashmla_sparse.py failures are pre-existing (no compiled
extensions in this venv; identical 4 failures with changes stashed).

Co-authored-by: OMP Agent <noreply@omp.local>
Signed-off-by: Naadir Jeewa <naadir@randomvariable.co.uk>
Comment on lines 684 to 693

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looks like we also need to add num_decode_tokens % decode_lens.shape[0] != 0 for unpacking

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Addressed in 2c4e78e, now rebased onto current main. The padding predicate is computed once:

needs_padded_path = decode_metadata.requires_padding or (
    num_decode_tokens % decode_lens.shape[0] != 0
)

Both the packing branch and the matching unpack_seq_triton branch use needs_padded_path. For 8 tokens across 6 requests, the divisibility fallback selects the padded path for both operations, preventing the padded-pack/unpadded-unpack reshape mismatch you identified.

The rebase preserved both patches unchanged; syntax and applicable pre-commit checks passed. The separate evenly divisible [1, 2, 3] case still relies on correct requires_padding metadata, as acknowledged in my earlier comment.

Comment on lines +542 to +543
elif decode_metadata.requires_padding or (
num_decode_tokens % decode_lens.shape[0] != 0

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what if the decode_lens=[1, 2, 3], batch_size = 3, 6 % 3 == 0? In this case, it still needs padding.

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You're right that 6 % 3 == 0 does not establish uniformity. My earlier reply overstated the gap for this specific example: with consistent metadata, the existing preparation handles it.

  • Native preparation sets requires_padding = min_decode_len != max_decode_len. For [1, 2, 3], this is True, so the shared needs_padded_path flag selects both padded packing and unpacking even though the modulo term is false.
  • Flattened preparation converts the requests into six one-token rows, with decode_lens = [1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1]. In that representation, requires_padding=False and an unpadded reshape are appropriate.

See the metadata preparation on the rebased head.

I checked seven isolated CPU cases using the production _prepare_decode_tensors method with real PyTorch tensors, including native/flattened [1, 2, 3], padded token budgets, and eight tokens across six requests. All passed. These validate metadata preparation only; GPU inference was not rerun.

The modulo condition remains an additional fallback, not a replacement for the existing uniformity check. I haven't reproduced a current failure for [1, 2, 3] with consistent metadata, so I haven't added another condition for that example.

pavelzak added a commit to pavelzak/vllm that referenced this pull request Sep 5, 2026
…and unpack

The pack site checked 'requires_padding or tokens % batch_size != 0'
but the matching unpack site only checked 'requires_padding' - so a
batch that took the padded pack path via the divisibility fallback
would then take the WRONG unpack path, since the two conditions could
disagree. Factor the check into one needs_padded_path shared by both
sites so they can never disagree.

Reported by @Jie-Fang on vllm-project#52500.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01C7YveGPhnT8v6qrAEucmVW
Signed-off-by: pavelzak <pavel.zakharov@gmail.com>
@coderabbitai

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Review Change Stack

No actionable comments were generated in the recent review. 🎉

ℹ️ Recent review info
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Configuration used: Repository UI

Review profile: CHILL

Plan: Team

Run ID: 1541e812-bb18-4731-b3a6-c5b45c4e13d4

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 8efa13b and ad44d02.

📒 Files selected for processing (1)
  • vllm/model_executor/layers/sparse_attn_indexer.py

Included review availability: Your plan provides up to 10 included reviews per hour; 8 remain after this review.


📝 Summary

Summary by CodeRabbit

  • Bug Fixes
    • Fixed sparse attention processing for ragged warmup and mixed batches.
    • Batches with token counts that are not evenly divisible by the batch size now use the correct padded processing path, preventing reshape-related failures.

Walkthrough

The decode path now selects padded packing when decode token counts are not divisible by batch size. The same condition controls unpacking, keeping both branches aligned for ragged warmup and mixed batches.

Changes

Decode padding handling

Layer / File(s) Summary
Align padded pack and unpack branches
vllm/model_executor/layers/sparse_attn_indexer.py
The decode path computes needs_padded_path from padding metadata or token-count divisibility. The flag controls both padded packing and padded unpacking.

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

Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to ad44d

Ragged decode batches that previously could fail the uniform reshape now use matching padded packing and unpacking, with no remaining merge-blocking risk identified.

Suggested reviewers: lucaswilkinson, yewentao256

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

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✅ Passed checks (4 passed)
Check name Status Explanation
Title check ✅ Passed The title clearly and concisely identifies the bug fix: selecting the padded path for ragged decode batches in sparse_attn_indexer.
Description check ✅ Passed The description is directly related to the changeset. It explains the ragged-batch reshape crash, the condition change, the preserved fast path, and the validation results.
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.
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@pavelzak

pavelzak commented Sep 5, 2026

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@Jie-Fang thanks for catching this. Confirmed and reproduced directly: with the old asymmetric check, pack takes the padded path for an 8-tokens-over-6-seqs ragged batch (requires_padding=False, divisibility fallback triggers on pack) but unpack doesn't (it only checked requires_padding) — trying to reshape the padded [6, 2, 2, 4] tensor as flat [8, -1, 2, 4] crashes: shape '[8, -1, 2, 4]' is invalid for input of size 96. Pushed a fix that factors the check into one needs_padded_path shared by both sites, so they can't disagree. Round-trip verified correct against the exact scenario above.

On your [1, 2, 3] example specifically: you're right that this PR doesn't fix it — 6 divides evenly by 3, so the divisibility fallback can't distinguish it from a genuinely uniform batch, and it still takes the fast/reshape path. I looked into computing real uniformity (decode_lens.min() != decode_lens.max()) at this call site instead, but that requires a GPU→host sync to read tensor values, which isn't safe inside this function's CUDA-graph-captured region. The correct fix is upstream, in how requires_padding itself gets computed in vllm/v1/attention/backends/mla/indexer.py (min_decode_len != max_decode_len) — that's a CPU-side computation already, so it shouldn't need a sync, but I haven't root-caused why it returns False for the SM120 TP≥2 case that motivated this PR in the first place. This PR fixes the narrower pack/unpack-disagreement bug; the deeper heuristic-accuracy gap you found is still open. Happy to take a pass at the root cause if useful, or split this into its own issue.

@Jie-Fang

Jie-Fang commented Sep 6, 2026

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LGTM, thanks!

pavelzak and others added 2 commits September 11, 2026 21:31
…dexer

decode_metadata.requires_padding can be computed False for ragged
mixed/warmup decode batches (observed on SM120 TP=2: 8 tokens over 6
requests), in which case the uniform `num_decode_tokens // batch`
reshape below crashes. Also take the padded path whenever the decode
token count does not divide evenly over the decode batch.

Validated on 2x DGX Spark (GB10) TP=2 serving DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731.

Signed-off-by: pavelzak <pavel.zakharov@gmail.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
…and unpack

The pack site checked 'requires_padding or tokens % batch_size != 0'
but the matching unpack site only checked 'requires_padding' - so a
batch that took the padded pack path via the divisibility fallback
would then take the WRONG unpack path, since the two conditions could
disagree. Factor the check into one needs_padded_path shared by both
sites so they can never disagree.

Reported by @Jie-Fang on vllm-project#52500.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01C7YveGPhnT8v6qrAEucmVW
Signed-off-by: pavelzak <pavel.zakharov@gmail.com>
@pavelzak
pavelzak force-pushed the upstream/sparse-indexer-ragged-padding branch from ad44d02 to 2c4e78e Compare September 12, 2026 04:33

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thanks for contribution.
@Jie-Fang thanks for review

@jeejeelee
jeejeelee enabled auto-merge (squash) September 13, 2026 00:30
@github-actions github-actions Bot added the ready ONLY add when PR is ready to merge/full CI is needed label Sep 13, 2026
@jeejeelee jeejeelee added the verified Run pre-commit for new contributors without triggering other tests label Sep 13, 2026
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/ci run

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✅ Triggered Buildkite CI #88582 for commit 67683afeca3d.

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/ci run

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✅ Triggered Buildkite CI #88601 for commit 3c0c9ae55208.

Include the upstream MRV2 warmup rollback (vllm-project#56654) before rerunning CI.

Co-authored-by: OpenAI Codex <codex@openai.com>
Signed-off-by: pavelzak <pavel.zakharov@gmail.com>
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/ci run

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✅ Triggered Buildkite CI #88661 for commit 4f03b498aabd.

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