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[Bugfix][Parser] Recover DeepSeek V4 tool calls with malformed DSML wrappers - #52645

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jinbagi:agent/deepseek-dsml-recovery-51914
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jinbagi:agent/deepseek-dsml-recovery-51914

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@jinbagi jinbagi commented Aug 17, 2026 •

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Purpose

Fixes #51914.

DeepSeek V4 can intermittently emit an otherwise complete DSML <|DSML|invoke ...> block while the outer <|DSML|tool_calls> opener is missing or malformed. One observed DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 variant changes tool_calls to toolcalls. The current DeepSeekV4Parser only enters the tool-call state machine from CONTENT or REASONING when the exact outer opener is recognized, so the invoke is otherwise returned as text and the structured tool call is lost.

Relationship to #49117

This PR is a current-main, DeepSeek V4-only refinement derived from the orphan-invoke recovery direction developed in #49117. It is not an unrelated competing implementation.

This narrower scope keeps the current-main patch to the parser engine and DeepSeek V4 parser tests.

Fix

  • Add opt-in provisional-start and provisional-commit markers to parser transitions.
  • Let DeepSeek V4 treat a bare <|DSML|invoke name="..."> seen from CONTENT or REASONING as a provisional recovery candidate.
  • Buffer its semantic events and raw text instead of emitting a tool call immediately.
  • Validate the completed function name against tools declared by the current request.
  • Commit only after the DeepSeek V4 INVOKE_END transition.
  • After committing a recovered invoke, return to CONTENT so ordinary suffix text is preserved and any following bare invoke must pass provisional validation again.
  • Still absorb an optional outer TOOL_END after a recovered invoke.
  • Drop unconfigured special tokens before provisional recovery buffering, so EOS and other parser-level drop tokens cannot leak into rolled-back content.
  • Preserve provisional recovery while the reasoning adapter is running with skip_tool_parsing=True; only a completed, validated invoke ends reasoning and is handed off to the tool parser.
  • Synchronize the current request's tools and tool_choice into the reasoning-side parser engine before recovery validation, so undeclared tools and tool_choice="none" still roll back correctly.
  • If TOOL_END arrives without INVOKE_END, the request has no tools, uses tool_choice="none", names an undeclared tool, or generation ends early, restore the full candidate to its original content or reasoning state.
  • Keep the normal wrapped DSML state-machine path unchanged.

The patch deliberately does not normalize specific misspelled wrapper spellings. Recovery anchors on the inner invoke structure, so the same conservative path covers missing and malformed outer openers without expanding a typo allowlist.

Regression coverage

Recovery coverage is integrated into the existing tests/parser/engine/test_deepseek_v4.py suite:

  • missing outer start wrapper
  • corrupted tool_calls to toolcalls opener from [Bug] DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 intermittently emits malformed DSML tool-call start wrapper on v0.27.1 + DSpark #51914
  • undeclared tool name
  • requests with no tools
  • parser reuse followed by a request with no tools
  • tool_choice="none"
  • truncated candidate before the tool name completes
  • declared tool name with no closing </|DSML|invoke>
  • truncated provisional invoke followed by an EOS drop token
  • </|DSML|tool_calls> without a preceding invoke close
  • streaming with the invoke marker split across chunks
  • streaming rollback when only the outer tool-call closer arrives
  • ordinary trailing content after a recovered invoke with no outer closer
  • multiple bare invokes with every declared tool name validated
  • an undeclared second invoke remains content instead of bypassing validation through the parallel-call path
  • a complete declared bare invoke before a missing </think> commits and is handed off to the tool parser
  • undeclared, truncated, and tool_choice="none" bare invokes before a missing </think> remain reasoning instead of becoming user-visible content

Validation

Parser tests and changed-file checks were run on commit 94ceafb1e7 before the follow-up review fixes:

VLLM_USE_PRECOMPILED=1 .venv/bin/python -m pytest -q tests/parser/engine/test_deepseek_v4.py
75 passed

VLLM_USE_PRECOMPILED=1 .venv/bin/python -m pytest -q tests/parser/engine
3802 passed

pre-commit run ruff-check --files <changed Python files>
Passed

pre-commit run ruff-format --files <changed Python files>
Passed

pre-commit run typos --files <changed Python files>
Passed

pre-commit run mypy-3.12 --hook-stage manual --files <changed Python files>
Passed

Follow-up commit 35af231a99 addresses the suffix-preservation and parallel-name-validation review findings and adds focused regression cases to the existing DeepSeek V4 test suite. Commit c848ab5aa4 addresses the subsequent DROP_TERMINAL rollback finding and adds an EOS-leak regression case. Commit 4f2aae22cd addresses the reasoning-adapter rollback finding and adds serving-style DelegatingParser coverage for a valid committed invoke plus undeclared, truncated, and tool_choice="none" rollback cases.

The follow-up commits have not yet received upstream code-check results. On the upstream PR, the pre-commit workflow stops at the repository contributor gate before code checks run: it requires a verified, ready, or ready-run-all-tests label, or at least four merged PRs by the author. The actual pre-commit job is therefore skipped until that gate is opened.

Real-environment validation was also completed on the affected DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 plus DSpark serving stack for the original reported failure family. The original production prompt and tool payload remain private; validation used a sanitized equivalent and confirmed structured tool-call recovery in the affected serving path.

Scope and tradeoff

A fully formed DSML invoke using a real declared tool name is intentionally recoverable even if the outer wrapper is absent. Prose that reproduces an entire valid invoke for a declared tool is fundamentally ambiguous. Requiring a current-request tool match and a complete invoke bounds the recovery without broad regex repair.

Unknown malformed wrapper text emitted before the inner invoke is not guessed or retracted. The parser recovers the structured invoke while preserving text it cannot safely classify.

AI assistance

AI assistance was used to analyze the parser state machine, prepare the implementation, review the provisional-commit conditions, and write regression tests. The affected serving behavior was validated in the reporter's real environment, and the original parser tree was checked with the commands and results above.

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@mergify mergify Bot added deepseek Related to DeepSeek models tool-calling bug Something isn't working labels Aug 17, 2026
@jinbagi jinbagi closed this Aug 17, 2026
@jinbagi jinbagi reopened this Aug 17, 2026

jinbagi commented Aug 17, 2026 •

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Update: the current-main refinement is now complete on commit 94ceafb1e737b9e394bb0914bd407367a6fce520.

This is the DeepSeek V4-only continuation of the orphan-invoke recovery direction from #49117. The final patch additionally requires the configured </|DSML|invoke> transition before a provisional call commits; an outer </|DSML|tool_calls> alone rolls the candidate back to text. The existing correctly wrapped compatibility path is unchanged.

Validation completed:

@chaunceyjiang @bbrowning, the PR is ready for review and a full CI signal when convenient.

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This pull request is from a fork — automated review is disabled. A repository maintainer can comment @claude review to run a one-time review.

jinbagi commented Aug 17, 2026

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@chaunceyjiang @bbrowning, #52645 is now marked Ready for Review on validated head 94ceafb1e737b9e394bb0914bd407367a6fce520. The GitHub integration available to me cannot create a formal review request on the upstream repository, so I am notifying you here. Targeted V4 tests passed 75/75, the full parser-engine suite passed 3802/3802, changed-file checks passed, and the affected serving environment was validated. A /ci run or review when convenient would be appreciated.

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@@ -181,6 +195,7 @@ def deepseek_v4_config(thinking: bool = False) -> ParserEngineConfig:
(ParserState.TOOL_ARGS, "INVOKE_END"): Transition(
ParserState.TOOL_BETWEEN,
(EventType.TOOL_CALL_END,),
commit_provisional_tool_call=True,

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P2 Badge Preserve content after a recovered invoke

When a bare recovered invoke is followed by ordinary text without an outer TOOL_END, this commits the call while the transition leaves the engine in TOOL_BETWEEN. That state has no content event, so all trailing output is silently discarded until a closer or finish() is encountered; for example, prefix <invoke ...></invoke> suffix loses suffix. After committing a provisional call, restore a state that can emit subsequent text or otherwise preserve that text while awaiting an optional outer closer.

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transition_events = self._run_transition(transition, value, token_count)
self._recovery_hold_events.extend(transition_events)
events = self._recovery_hold_events
self._clear_recovery_hold()

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P2 Badge Validate every invoke in a recovered parallel block

When a malformed or missing outer wrapper contains multiple invokes, committing the first candidate clears the provisional hold but leaves the parser in TOOL_BETWEEN. A following INVOKE_PREFIX therefore takes the normal parallel-call transition and bypasses recovery_tool_name_validator, allowing an undeclared second tool to be emitted even though recovery is intended to be bounded to tools declared by the request. Keep subsequent orphan invokes provisional or validate each name before emitting it.

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jinbagi commented Aug 18, 2026

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Reviewed commit: c8f4325440

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)


def test_recovered_invoke_preserves_trailing_content_without_tool_end(mock_request):

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P1 Badge Fold recovery cases into the existing DeepSeek V4 suite

Move these regression cases into tests/parser/engine/test_deepseek_v4.py: this same commit already adds TestMalformedWrapperRecovery and its helpers there, so a nearby suite demonstrably fits and the separate file duplicates setup and fragments one recovery feature across two suites, contrary to the repository's test-placement requirement.

AGENTS.md reference: AGENTS.md:L87-L88

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Comment on lines +395 to +399
if self._recovery_hold_active and self.state == ParserState.TOOL_ARGS:
# DSML parameter closers are terminals but deliberately have
# no state transition. During recovery they are still part of
# the candidate invoke and must stay buffered as arguments.
return self._emit_for_state(value, token_count)

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P2 Badge Keep dropped special tokens out of aborted recovery text

When a streamed provisional invoke has reached TOOL_ARGS but generation ends before INVOKE_END, an unconfigured special token such as EOS arrives as DROP_TERMINAL; this branch handles every transitionless terminal before the drop check below, appends the EOS text to _recovery_hold_raw, and finish() then returns it as ordinary content when aborting the candidate. Handle DROP_TERMINAL before this recovery fallback, or restrict the fallback to the intended parameter closer, so malformed/truncated calls do not leak normally suppressed special-token text to users.

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@jinbagi
jinbagi force-pushed the agent/deepseek-dsml-recovery-51914 branch from c8f4325 to 35af231 Compare August 18, 2026 00:21

jinbagi commented Aug 18, 2026

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Reviewed commit: c848ab5aa4

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Comment on lines +177 to +180
(ParserState.REASONING, "INVOKE_PREFIX"): Transition(
ParserState.TOOL_NAME,
(EventType.REASONING_END, EventType.TOOL_CALL_START),
provisional_tool_call=True,

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P2 Badge Preserve provisional rollback through the reasoning adapter

When thinking is enabled and a bare invoke appears before </think>, the serving-layer ParserEngineReasoningAdapter sets skip_tool_parsing=True; StreamingParserEngine._on_terminal then handles this new transition in its skip-tool branch before _apply_transition, so provisional_tool_call=True is never honored and reasoning ends immediately at the prefix. If the invoke is truncated, undeclared, or recovery is disabled by tool_choice="none", the tool adapter later returns the candidate as user-visible content instead of restoring it to reasoning as the provisional contract requires. The skip-tool path needs to defer this transition until the candidate is committed or rolled back.

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@codex address that feedback

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Addressed in 4f2aae22cd. Provisional transitions now bypass the generic skip-tool passthrough while the recovery hold is active. The reasoning-side parser is synchronized with the current request's tools/tool_choice, and only a completed validated candidate emits REASONING_END plus the raw invoke for tool-parser handoff. Undeclared, truncated, and tool_choice="none" candidates abort back to the original REASONING state. Added DelegatingParser regression coverage for the valid commit case and all three rollback cases.

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Follow-up head 4f2aae22cd addresses the reasoning-adapter provisional rollback finding. The new DelegatingParser regression cases cover a valid committed orphan invoke and rollback for undeclared, truncated, and tool_choice="none" candidates. Upstream pre-commit remains gated before code checks.

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Codex Review: Didn't find any major issues. Bravo.

Reviewed commit: 4f2aae22cd

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Independent validation on a second affected stack built on bjk110/spark_vllm_docker (2× NVIDIA DGX Spark GB10, TP=2, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731, vLLM 0.27.1-based NGC 26.07 image, DSpark k=5 probabilistic) after hitting this failure family in production agentic chats.

Repro pre-patch (client-independent, scripted multi-round transcripts): with a 2-tool preamble, DSML suffixes trickled into content by round 3; with a ~40-tool preamble (agent-harness shaped), the model degenerated wholesale by round 3-4 — repeated </invoke></|DSML|tool_calls> loop blocks, confabulated marker variants, and even corrupted names landing inside otherwise-"structured" tool_calls. Spec-decode mean acceptance decayed 4.34 → 2.12 across the derailing generation (symptom only; confirms target-model derailment).

Porting note for 0.27.1-based builds: the PR touches files whose current-main versions have drifted from 0.27.1 beyond the PR's hunks. For a drop-in on this build I needed this branch's full files for token_id_scanner.py, incremental_lexer.py, and events.py in addition to the 5 files in the PR (the drift is all additive dataclass fields with defaults, so it's backward compatible). With only the 5 PR files, streaming_parser_engine raises 'TextChunk' object has no attribute 'token_texts' on every request, since 0.27.1's scanner doesn't provide that field.

Validation on-stack:

  • tests/parser/engine/test_deepseek_v4.py from this branch in a disposable container (CPU-only): 81/83 passed. The 2 failures are TestDelegatingMalformedWrapperRecovery rollback-to-reasoning edges (truncated candidate pre-</think> leaks into the hidden reasoning channel instead of staying held; a complete declared invoke arriving before </think> doesn't commit). Conservative failure modes — nothing commits incorrectly — and no regression vs. the unpatched behavior. Likely residual version drift in the serving-level delegation path vs. current main.
  • Live acceptance after deploying as a runtime patch: the previously-titled worst case (40 tools, temperature 1.0) ran 7 rounds with zero DSML leakage and every structured tool call recovered (including multi-call rounds, 2-4 calls); a second matrix axis (40 tools, 0.6) also went from 4 leak rounds to 0. TTFT/decode throughput unchanged within noise.

Thank you — this is exactly the fix our stack needed. Happy to provide the repro script or further measurements.

randomvariable added a commit to randomvariable/vllm that referenced this pull request Aug 19, 2026
…llm-project#52645 through c848ab5aa4)

Recover structurally valid <|DSML|invoke> blocks emitted with a missing or
corrupted outer <|DSML|tool_calls> wrapper: validate the function name
against tools declared by the current request, hold the provisional invoke
until </|DSML|invoke>, and roll rejected candidates back to text unchanged.

Addresses the agentic corruption cascade on deepseek-v4-flash-lws-b-0: a
single leaked malformed wrapper feeds DSML back into agent context and
sessions degrade into token soup (upstream vllm-project#51914, vllm-project#48089; independent
2xGB10 TP2 + DSpark k=5 validation in the PR thread).

Ported through upstream c848ab5aa4 only. The final upstream commit
4f2aae22cd (reasoning-adapter delegation) is excluded: its own regression
tests fail on pure upstream (verified on a clean worktree of 4f2aae22cd;
upstream CI never ran - contributor-gated), caused by ParserEngine
finish_streaming dropping _deferred_reasoning. Pre-</think> bare-invoke
recovery therefore remains unsupported on the delegating path; post-</think>
recovery - the corruption cascade - is fully covered.

vllm/parser files byte-identical to c848ab5aa4. Tests: 79/79
tests/parser/engine/test_deepseek_v4.py, 3812/3812 tests/parser/engine.

Co-authored-by: OMP Agent <agent@randomvariable.co.uk>
randomvariable added a commit to randomvariable/vllm that referenced this pull request Aug 19, 2026
…c848) port

Co-authored-by: OMP Agent <agent@randomvariable.co.uk>
@mergify mergify Bot added the DSv4 label Aug 19, 2026
XPengZhao added a commit to XPengZhao/vllm that referenced this pull request Aug 20, 2026
…oject#52645)

Port provisional invoke recovery onto this branch so missing or
corrupted tool_calls wrappers still parse declared tools, including
reasoning-phase rollback.

Co-authored-by: Cursor Grok 4.6
jinbagi and others added 6 commits August 22, 2026 14:57
Signed-off-by: jinbagi <4094424+jinbagi@users.noreply.github.com>
Assisted-by: OpenAI Codex
Signed-off-by: jinbagi <4094424+jinbagi@users.noreply.github.com>
Assisted-by: OpenAI Codex
Signed-off-by: jinbagi <4094424+jinbagi@users.noreply.github.com>
Assisted-by: OpenAI Codex
Signed-off-by: jinbagi <4094424+jinbagi@users.noreply.github.com>
Assisted-by: OpenAI Codex
Signed-off-by: jinbagi <4094424+jinbagi@users.noreply.github.com>
Keep V3.2 function_calls blocks in their original content or reasoning channel so nested declared invokes cannot enter the V4 recovery path. Preserve native wrappers after unclosed foreign blocks and flush deferred reasoning consistently at stream end.

Co-authored-by: OpenAI Codex <codex@openai.com>
@mergify

mergify Bot commented Sep 2, 2026

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This pull request has merge conflicts that must be resolved before it can be
merged. Please rebase the PR, @calycekr.

https://docs.github.com/en/pull-requests/collaborating-with-pull-requests/working-with-forks/syncing-a-fork

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bug Something isn't working deepseek Related to DeepSeek models DSv4 needs-rebase tool-calling

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[Bug] DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731 intermittently emits malformed DSML tool-call start wrapper on v0.27.1 + DSpark

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