feat(meromero): MeroMero-v2 dual-mode (prose + streaming CoT) live on one seat — no re-quant

The multi-turn Gemma-4 CoT problem is solved. One MeroMero-v2 seat, one weight set,
two aliases: char-rp (prose) + char-rp-reasoning (streaming chain-of-thought).

The winning stack, traced from vLLM source by the four-arm brokkr/dwarf panel:

  - vllm/vllm-openai:v0.26.0 — ships transformers 5.14.1 natively, below the
    head_dim guard, so Gemma-4-31B loads with no pin and no custom image. It also
    carries the #48217 streaming pre-arm fix.
  - A patched chat template whose enable_thinking:true branch force-opens a BARE
    <|channel> (not <|channel>thought\n -- full-open defeats _preprocess_feed's
    injection). --chat-template override, no re-quant.
  - Two served-names char-rp / char-rp-thinking; --reasoning-parser gemma4;
    default enable_thinking:false. LiteLLM char-rp -> prose, char-rp-reasoning ->
    the thinking served-name with enable_thinking:true.

Verified: streaming CoT split 6/6 direct on :8016 and 3/3 through the gateway;
char-rp prose clean on both transports with no trailing-token leak.

Two hard-won facts recorded in persistent-memory:
  - STREAMING ONLY. Non-streaming can't split -- extract_reasoning never receives
    prompt_token_ids so the pre-arm can't fire (a vLLM one-shot bug unchanged
    across v0.24-0.27). Fine here: Lobe/OWUI stream. Upstream PR #49797 fixes
    non-streaming too, landing ~v0.28.0 -- then it's a clean image bump.
  - KEY-NAME TRAP: vLLM streams reasoning in delta.reasoning; LiteLLM normalizes
    to delta.reasoning_content. I lost two false-negative test rounds to this.

Canonical: stacks/meromero-charrp/ (compose + patched_chat_template.jinja) and
stacks/litellm/conf/config.yaml. Rollback is the .env image line + dropping
--chat-template.

persistent-memory.md

@@ -124,6 +124,8 @@ _As of 2026-08-21 00:35 — **the Heretic-300 session, and its reversal** (see t
 
 - **🟢 OPEN WEBUI — deployed as a Lobe bake-off, esh-docker-vm:3211 (2026-08-21).** Operator-approved candidate replacement for `lobe-chat` (:3210), stood up **parallel** — Lobe untouched. `stacks/open-webui/` (v0.11.0, `ENABLE_PERSISTENT_CONFIG=False` = deploy is the config source of truth). Gates (verified on the box): **G1** declarative-config PASS both directions (env change takes on bounce, UI change reverts on restart — no persistent-config bug bit it); **G2** picker auto-tracks the 31 live gateway models 1:1, no pins (also shows non-chat seats — the flip side of no-hand-listing); **G3** `POST /api/v1/models/sync` genuinely reconciles (create+delete), `export` round-trips; **G5** task model pinned `summarizer`; **G4** (TTS, direct at `:8198`) handed to tts-dev. Admin = **lkraven** (temp pw, signup then locked off). Fresh **capped** key `open-webui-esh` (`all-proxy-models` + **$50/1mo** cap — NOT inherited from uncapped `lobe-chat-esh`). Secrets vaulted `esh-docker-vm/open-webui-{litellm-key,secret-key,admin}`. Folded in a `docker image prune -af` → **73.6 GB reclaimed**. ⚠ **LESSON:** in Open WebUI a `.env` var only reaches the container if `compose.yaml` names it in `environment:` (Compose uses `.env` for `${VAR}` substitution, not as an `env_file`); and the API-key toggle env var is **`ENABLE_API_KEYS`** (plural) — singular is inert. Detail lives in `stacks/open-webui/README.md`. **Operator's open call:** whether Lobe retires once G4 passes.
 
+- **✅✅ SOLVED 2026-08-21 — MeroMero-v2 DUAL-MODE (prose + streaming CoT) IS LIVE on ONE seat, ONE weight set, TWO aliases. No re-quant.** The multi-turn saga below is resolved. **Config:** `meromero-charrp` seat on **`vllm/vllm-openai:v0.26.0`** (ships transformers **5.14.1** natively — below the head_dim guard, so Gemma-4-31B loads with NO pin/custom image) + a **patched chat template** (`stacks/meromero-charrp/patched_chat_template.jinja`, `--chat-template` override) whose Think branch force-opens a **bare `<|channel>`** (NOT `<|channel>thought\n` — full-open defeats the parser) + **two served-names** `char-rp`/`char-rp-thinking` + `--reasoning-parser gemma4` + default `enable_thinking:false`. LiteLLM: `char-rp` (enable_thinking:false → prose) + `char-rp-reasoning` (→ char-rp-thinking served-name, enable_thinking:true → CoT). **★ STREAMING ONLY** — verified 6/6 direct + 3/3 via gateway; **non-streaming does NOT split** (structural: `extract_reasoning` never gets prompt_token_ids so the pre-arm can't fire — vLLM one-shot bug, unchanged across v0.24-0.27; fine because Lobe/OWUI stream). **★ KEY-NAME TRAP that cost me two false negatives:** vLLM streams reasoning in delta.**`reasoning`**; LiteLLM normalizes it to delta.**`reasoning_content`**. Test the RIGHT key per path or you'll wrongly conclude failure. **Credit: the four-arm brokkr/dwarf panel** (thread `01M0JKW44Y…`) traced it from vLLM source — the fix is the force-open template + v0.26.0's #48217 streaming pre-arm. Upstream PR #49797 (full fix, non-streaming too) lands ~v0.28.0 → then it's a clean image bump. char-rp prose verified clean on v0.26.0 (no #49955 trailing-token leak observed). Canonical: `stacks/meromero-charrp/` (compose + patched template), `stacks/litellm/conf/config.yaml`. ROLLBACK: `.env` MEROMERO_IMAGE→latest + drop --chat-template.
+
 - **⛔ RESULT 2026-08-21 — the gemma4 CoT test on a STABLE (v0.27.1) is BLOCKED by a config incompatibility, NOT the parser.** Tried serving the MeroMero NVFP4A16 quant on `vllm/vllm-openai:v0.27.1`. Two-stage failure: (1) v0.27.1's stricter transformers raised `AmbiguousGlobalPerLayerAttributeError: 'head_dim' is per-layer` on the Gemma-4 config; setting `allow_global_per_layer_attribute_access:true` on `text_config` downgraded it to a warning BUT (2) then `gemma4.py load_weights` crashed with **`AssertionError: load weight (512) into parameter (256)`** — **Gemma-4-31B is genuinely HETEROGENEOUS (some layers head_dim 512, not a uniform 256)**, so forcing the global value built wrong-shaped params. The transformers guard was CORRECT; there is no safe override. **The MeroMero quant's config was authored for v0.24.0's Gemma4 loader and cannot load on v0.27.x without a config migration (proper per_layer_config) or a re-quant against the newer transformers.** ⚠ **This also means the eventual gen-seat move to v0.27.2 stable must re-verify any Gemma-4 seat's config-compat** — the transformers heterogeneity change affects all Gemma-4 quants of this vintage. **FULLY REVERTED:** config.json restored (flags removed), compose + image back to `latest` (v0.24.0), gateway char-rp-reasoning removed, char-rp prose verified on v0.24.0. Net: char-rp stays pinned to v0.24.0; MeroMero CoT remains undelivered. **The per-request-kwargs hypothesis was never even reachable** — couldn't load the model to test it. **For RP-with-CoT: gen-reasoning (works now) or a re-quant of MeroMero against v0.27.x transformers (real work, unproven payoff).**
 
 - **⚠️ CORRECTED 2026-08-21 — MeroMero-v2 CoT: NOT a hard wall, and NOT MeroMero-specific. My first conclusion ("gemma4 parser is process-wide") was WRONG.** Read the actual code, not the stale compose comment. **The real mechanism (gemma4-GENERAL, applies to any gemma4 finetune on this template family):** thinking is a **per-request** template toggle — `chat_template.jinja:347-352` emits the generation prompt `<|turn>model\n`, and **only when `enable_thinking` is false** does it prefill an empty `<|channel>thought\n<channel|>` to SUPPRESS thinking; `enable_thinking:true` omits the prefill so the model is free to open a real `<|channel>thought…<channel|>` block. The vLLM parser (`vllm/reasoning/gemma4_utils.py:parse_thinking_output`) **splits on `<|channel>`/`<channel|>` tag PRESENCE — "works with or without enable_thinking," NOT a process-wide flag.** The stale compose comment I trusted cited an OLD parser API (`vllm/parser/gemma4.py:439`) that this container does not run. **So there is no architectural blocker; the two-served-name gen pattern SHOULD work.** **What actually failed my test:** meromero runs `vllm/vllm-openai:latest` (v0.24.0); per-request `chat_template_kwargs.enable_thinking:true` produced no thinking on it, whereas the **gen seat's pinned nightly demonstrably applies per-request `chat_template_kwargs`** (gen-reasoning works). So the practical block is a **vLLM-version / per-request-plumbing issue on v0.24.0**, not the model and not the architecture — and it would hit ANY gemma4 finetune served on that image the same way. **UNVERIFIED FIX (needs a GPU window): re-serve meromero on the nightly image + no process default + per-request enable_thinking; likely yields clean split CoT.** Currently REVERTED to known-good (char-rp prose, process default false, single served-name). ⚠ Kept `MEROMERO_GPU_MEM_UTIL` 0.52→0.51 (0.52 no longer boots next to the bigger orcarouter gen; free 49.02 < 49.38 GiB; 0.51 = KV 2.00× @ 262K).

stacks/litellm/conf/config.yaml

@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@
 # Model-name → upstream mapping:
 #   phi4-mini        → vLLM :8004  (generative chat)
 #   qwen3-embedding  → vLLM :8001  (/v1/embeddings)
-#   reranker         → vLLM :8013  (/rerank; bge-v2-m3. The old qwen3-reranker
+#   qwen3-reranker   → vLLM :8002  (/rerank)
-#                                   alias on :8002 was retired 2026-08-20.)
 #   *  (wildcard)    → llama-swap :9292  (the swappable generative zoo)
 #
 # The wildcard fronts llama-swap so its whole model zoo logs through the
@@ -223,6 +222,34 @@ model_list:
       extra_body:
         min_p: 0.10
         top_k: 0
+        # EXPLICIT since 2026-08-21: the meromero seat no longer forces
+        # enable_thinking:false at the process level (it now also serves the
+        # char-rp-thinking variant for char-rp-reasoning). This false keeps the
+        # gemma4 parser out of the reasoning state so prose lands in content.
+        chat_template_kwargs:
+          enable_thinking: false
+    model_info:
+      mode: chat
+
+  # char-rp-reasoning -> MeroMero-v2 WITH CoT, 2026-08-21. Same physical seat as
+  #   char-rp (:8016) but a DISTINCT served-name (char-rp-thinking) so LiteLLM keys
+  #   it as its own deployment (no shared-param mutation with char-rp), and
+  #   enable_thinking:true so the gemma4 parser splits the <|channel>thought block
+  #   into reasoning_content while content stays clean prose. MeroMero-v2 is
+  #   GRPO-trained with thinking (its own card: "Stage 3 RP logic GRPO, think
+  #   enabled"). Same creative RP samplers as char-rp, thinking on.
+  - model_name: char-rp-reasoning
+    litellm_params:
+      model: hosted_vllm/char-rp-thinking
+      api_base: http://10.250.50.54:8016/v1
+      api_key: os.environ/VLLM_API_KEY
+      temperature: 1.1
+      top_p: 0.95
+      extra_body:
+        min_p: 0.10
+        top_k: 0
+        chat_template_kwargs:
+          enable_thinking: true
     model_info:
       mode: chat
   # char-rp-reasoning -> GGUF managed-REASONING seat (:8018, llama.cpp, char-rp-gguf stack).
@@ -357,8 +384,7 @@ model_list:
       top_p: 0.9
     model_info:
       mode: chat
-  # reranker → generic capability name for rerank. THE reranker alias — the only
+  # reranker → generic capability name for rerank (currently qwen3-reranker).
-  # one left as of 2026-08-20. Every consumer pins this name, never a model name.
   - model_name: reranker
     litellm_params:
       model: hosted_vllm/BAAI/bge-reranker-v2-m3

stacks/meromero-charrp/compose.yaml

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ services:
       - compressed-tensors
       - --served-model-name
       - char-rp
+      - char-rp-thinking
       # Tool-calling: Gemma-4 emits its OWN native syntax
       # (<|tool_call>call:name{...}<tool_call|>), NOT the qwen3_coder XML the
       # other seats use. vLLM 0.24 ships a matching `gemma4` parser whose token
@@ -44,6 +45,9 @@ services:
       # the prompt inside an open channel block).
       - --reasoning-parser
       - gemma4
+      # Dwarf-panel CoT patch 2026-08-21: force-open <|channel> on enable_thinking:true
+      - --chat-template
+      - /tank/aimodels/meromero-v2-nvfp4-work/patched_chat_template.jinja
       # MANDATORY companion to the reasoning parser on this seat. The parser
       # reads enable_thinking from chat_template_kwargs and DEFAULTS IT TO TRUE
       # (vllm/parser/gemma4.py:439). True makes is_reasoning_end() return False

stacks/meromero-charrp/patched_chat_template.jinja

@@ -0,0 +1,356 @@
+{%- macro format_parameters(properties, required, filter_keys=false) -%}
+    {%- set standard_keys = ['description', 'type', 'properties', 'required', 'nullable'] -%}
+    {%- set ns = namespace(found_first=false) -%}
+    {%- for key, value in properties | dictsort -%}
+        {%- set add_comma = false -%}
+        {%- if not filter_keys or key not in standard_keys -%}
+            {%- if ns.found_first %},{% endif -%}
+            {%- set ns.found_first = true -%}
+            {{ key }}:{
+            {%- if value['description'] -%}
+                description:<|"|>{{ value['description'] }}<|"|>
+                {%- set add_comma = true -%}
+            {%- endif -%}
+            {%- if value['type'] | upper == 'STRING' -%}
+                {%- if value['enum'] -%}
+                    {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
+                    enum:{{ format_argument(value['enum']) }}
+                {%- endif -%}
+            {%- elif value['type'] | upper == 'ARRAY' -%}
+                {%- if value['items'] is mapping and value['items'] -%}
+                    {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
+                    items:{
+                    {%- set ns_items = namespace(found_first=false) -%}
+                    {%- for item_key, item_value in value['items'] | dictsort -%}
+                        {%- if item_value is not none -%}
+                            {%- if ns_items.found_first %},{% endif -%}
+                            {%- set ns_items.found_first = true -%}
+                            {%- if item_key == 'properties' -%}
+                                properties:{
+                                {%- if item_value is mapping -%}
+                                    {{- format_parameters(item_value, value['items']['required'] | default([])) -}}
+                                {%- endif -%}
+                                }
+                            {%- elif item_key == 'required' -%}
+                                required:[
+                                {%- for req_item in item_value -%}
+                                    <|"|>{{- req_item -}}<|"|>
+                                    {%- if not loop.last %},{% endif -%}
+                                {%- endfor -%}
+                                ]
+                            {%- elif item_key == 'type' -%}
+                                {%- if item_value is string -%}
+                                    type:{{ format_argument(item_value | upper) }}
+                                {%- else -%}
+                                    type:{{ format_argument(item_value | map('upper') | list) }}
+                                {%- endif -%}
+                            {%- else -%}
+                                {{ item_key }}:{{ format_argument(item_value) }}
+                            {%- endif -%}
+                        {%- endif -%}
+                    {%- endfor -%}
+                    }
+                {%- endif -%}
+            {%- endif -%}
+            {%- if value['nullable'] %}
+                {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
+                nullable:true
+            {%- endif -%}
+            {%- if value['type'] | upper == 'OBJECT' -%}
+                {%- if value['properties'] is defined and value['properties'] is mapping -%}
+                    {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
+                    properties:{
+                    {{- format_parameters(value['properties'], value['required'] | default([])) -}}
+                    }
+                {%- elif value is mapping -%}
+                    {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
+                    properties:{
+                    {{- format_parameters(value, value['required'] | default([]), filter_keys=true) -}}
+                    }
+                {%- endif -%}
+                {%- if value['required'] -%}
+                    {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
+                    required:[
+                    {%- for item in value['required'] | default([]) -%}
+                        <|"|>{{- item -}}<|"|>
+                        {%- if not loop.last %},{% endif -%}
+                    {%- endfor -%}
+                    ]
+                {%- endif -%}
+            {%- endif -%}
+            {%- if add_comma %},{%- else -%} {%- set add_comma = true -%} {% endif -%}
+            type:<|"|>{{ value['type'] | upper }}<|"|>}
+        {%- endif -%}
+    {%- endfor -%}
+{%- endmacro -%}
+{%- macro format_function_declaration(tool_data) -%}
+    declaration:{{- tool_data['function']['name'] -}}{description:<|"|>{{- tool_data['function']['description'] -}}<|"|>
+    {%- set params = tool_data['function']['parameters'] -%}
+    {%- if params -%}
+        ,parameters:{
+        {%- if params['properties'] -%}
+            properties:{ {{- format_parameters(params['properties'], params['required']) -}} },
+        {%- endif -%}
+        {%- if params['required'] -%}
+            required:[
+            {%- for item in params['required'] -%}
+                <|"|>{{- item -}}<|"|>
+                {{- ',' if not loop.last -}}
+            {%- endfor -%}
+            ],
+        {%- endif -%}
+        {%- if params['type'] -%}
+            type:<|"|>{{- params['type'] | upper -}}<|"|>}
+        {%- endif -%}
+    {%- endif -%}
+    {%- if 'response' in tool_data['function'] -%}
+        {%- set response_declaration = tool_data['function']['response'] -%}
+        ,response:{
+        {%- if response_declaration['description'] -%}
+            description:<|"|>{{- response_declaration['description'] -}}<|"|>,
+        {%- endif -%}
+        {%- if response_declaration['type'] | upper == 'OBJECT' -%}
+            type:<|"|>{{- response_declaration['type'] | upper -}}<|"|>}
+        {%- endif -%}
+    {%- endif -%}
+    }
+{%- endmacro -%}
+{%- macro format_argument(argument, escape_keys=True) -%}
+    {%- if argument is string -%}
+        {{- '<|"|>' + argument + '<|"|>' -}}
+    {%- elif argument is boolean -%}
+        {{- 'true' if argument else 'false' -}}
+    {%- elif argument is mapping -%}
+        {{- '{' -}}
+        {%- set ns = namespace(found_first=false) -%}
+        {%- for key, value in argument | dictsort -%}
+            {%- if ns.found_first %},{% endif -%}
+            {%- set ns.found_first = true -%}
+            {%- if escape_keys -%}
+                {{- '<|"|>' + key + '<|"|>' -}}
+            {%- else -%}
+                {{- key -}}
+            {%- endif -%}
+            :{{- format_argument(value, escape_keys=escape_keys) -}}
+        {%- endfor -%}
+        {{- '}' -}}
+    {%- elif argument is sequence -%}
+        {{- '[' -}}
+        {%- for item in argument -%}
+            {{- format_argument(item, escape_keys=escape_keys) -}}
+            {%- if not loop.last %},{% endif -%}
+        {%- endfor -%}
+        {{- ']' -}}
+    {%- else -%}
+        {{- argument -}}
+    {%- endif -%}
+{%- endmacro -%}
+{%- macro strip_thinking(text) -%}
+    {%- set ns = namespace(result='') -%}
+    {%- for part in text.split('<channel|>') -%}
+        {%- if '<|channel>' in part -%}
+            {%- set ns.result = ns.result + part.split('<|channel>')[0] -%}
+        {%- else -%}
+            {%- set ns.result = ns.result + part -%}
+        {%- endif -%}
+    {%- endfor -%}
+    {{- ns.result | trim -}}
+{%- endmacro -%}
+
+{%- macro format_tool_response_block(tool_name, response) -%}
+    {{- '<|tool_response>' -}}
+    {%- if response is mapping -%}
+        {{- 'response:' + tool_name + '{' -}}
+        {%- for key, value in response | dictsort -%}
+            {{- key -}}:{{- format_argument(value, escape_keys=False) -}}
+            {%- if not loop.last %},{% endif -%}
+        {%- endfor -%}
+        {{- '}' -}}
+    {%- else -%}
+        {{- 'response:' + tool_name + '{value:' + format_argument(response, escape_keys=False) + '}' -}}
+    {%- endif -%}
+    {{- '<tool_response|>' -}}
+{%- endmacro -%}
+
+{%- set ns = namespace(prev_message_type=None) -%}
+{%- set loop_messages = messages -%}
+{{- bos_token -}}
+{#- Handle System/Tool Definitions Block -#}
+{%- if (enable_thinking is defined and enable_thinking) or tools or messages[0]['role'] in ['system', 'developer'] -%}
+    {{- '<|turn>system\n' -}}
+    {#- Inject Thinking token at the very top of the FIRST system turn -#}
+    {%- if enable_thinking is defined and enable_thinking -%}
+        {{- '<|think|>\n' -}}
+        {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'think' -%}
+    {%- endif -%}
+    {%- if messages[0]['role'] in ['system', 'developer'] -%}
+        {%- if messages[0]['content'] is string -%}
+            {{- messages[0]['content'] | trim -}}
+        {%- elif messages[0]['content'] is sequence -%}
+            {%- for item in messages[0]['content'] -%}
+                {{- item['text'] | trim + ' '-}}
+            {%- endfor -%}
+        {%- endif -%}
+        {%- set loop_messages = messages[1:] -%}
+    {%- endif -%}
+    {%- if tools -%}
+        {%- for tool in tools %}
+            {{- '<|tool>' -}}
+            {{- format_function_declaration(tool) | trim -}}
+            {{- '<tool|>' -}}
+        {%- endfor %}
+        {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'tool' -%}
+    {%- endif -%}
+    {{- '<turn|>\n' -}}
+{%- endif %}
+
+{#- Pre-scan: find last user message index for reasoning guard -#}
+{%- set ns_turn = namespace(last_user_idx=-1) -%}
+{%- for i in range(loop_messages | length) -%}
+    {%- if loop_messages[i]['role'] == 'user' -%}
+        {%- set ns_turn.last_user_idx = i -%}
+    {%- endif -%}
+{%- endfor -%}
+
+{#- Loop through messages -#}
+{%- for message in loop_messages -%}
+    {%- if message['role'] != 'tool' -%}
+    {%- set ns.prev_message_type = None -%}
+    {%- set role = 'model' if message['role'] == 'assistant' else message['role'] -%}
+    {#- Detect continuation: suppress duplicate <|turn>model when previous non-tool message was also assistant -#}
+    {%- set prev_nt = namespace(role=None, found=false) -%}
+    {%- if loop.index0 > 0 -%}
+        {%- for j in range(loop.index0 - 1, -1, -1) -%}
+            {%- if not prev_nt.found -%}
+                {%- if loop_messages[j]['role'] != 'tool' -%}
+                    {%- set prev_nt.role = loop_messages[j]['role'] -%}
+                    {%- set prev_nt.found = true -%}
+                {%- endif -%}
+            {%- endif -%}
+        {%- endfor -%}
+    {%- endif -%}
+    {%- set continue_same_model_turn = (role == 'model' and prev_nt.role == 'assistant') -%}
+    {%- if not continue_same_model_turn -%}
+        {{- '<|turn>' + role + '\n' }}
+    {%- endif -%}
+
+    {#- Render reasoning/reasoning_content as thinking channel -#}
+    {%- set thinking_text = message.get('reasoning') or message.get('reasoning_content') -%}
+    {%- if thinking_text and loop.index0 > ns_turn.last_user_idx and message.get('tool_calls') -%}
+        {{- '<|channel>thought\n' + thinking_text + '\n<channel|>' -}}
+    {%- endif -%}
+
+            {%- if message['tool_calls'] -%}
+                {%- for tool_call in message['tool_calls'] -%}
+                    {%- set function = tool_call['function'] -%}
+                    {{- '<|tool_call>call:' + function['name'] + '{' -}}
+                    {%- if function['arguments'] is mapping -%}
+                        {%- set ns_args = namespace(found_first=false) -%}
+                        {%- for key, value in function['arguments'] | dictsort -%}
+                            {%- if ns_args.found_first %},{% endif -%}
+                            {%- set ns_args.found_first = true -%}
+                            {{- key -}}:{{- format_argument(value, escape_keys=False) -}}
+                        {%- endfor -%}
+                    {%- elif function['arguments'] is string -%}
+                        {{- function['arguments'] -}}
+                    {%- endif -%}
+                    {{- '}<tool_call|>' -}}
+                {%- endfor -%}
+                {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'tool_call' -%}
+            {%- endif -%}
+
+            {%- set ns_tr_out = namespace(flag=false) -%}
+            {%- if message.get('tool_responses') -%}
+                {#- Legacy: tool_responses embedded on the assistant message (Google/Gemma native) -#}
+                {%- for tool_response in message['tool_responses'] -%}
+                    {{- format_tool_response_block(tool_response['name'] | default('unknown'), tool_response['response']) -}}
+                    {%- set ns_tr_out.flag = true -%}
+                    {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'tool_response' -%}
+                {%- endfor -%}
+            {%- elif message.get('tool_calls') -%}
+                {#- OpenAI Chat Completions: forward-scan consecutive role:tool messages -#}
+                {%- set ns_tool_scan = namespace(stopped=false) -%}
+                {%- for k in range(loop.index0 + 1, loop_messages | length) -%}
+                    {%- if ns_tool_scan.stopped -%}
+                    {%- elif loop_messages[k]['role'] != 'tool' -%}
+                        {%- set ns_tool_scan.stopped = true -%}
+                    {%- else -%}
+                        {%- set follow = loop_messages[k] -%}
+                        {#- Resolve tool_call_id to function name -#}
+                        {%- set ns_tname = namespace(name=follow.get('name') | default('unknown')) -%}
+                        {%- for tc in message['tool_calls'] -%}
+                            {%- if tc.get('id') == follow.get('tool_call_id') -%}
+                                {%- set ns_tname.name = tc['function']['name'] -%}
+                            {%- endif -%}
+                        {%- endfor -%}
+                        {#- Handle content as string or content-parts array -#}
+                        {%- set tool_body = follow.get('content') -%}
+                        {%- if tool_body is string -%}
+                            {{- format_tool_response_block(ns_tname.name, tool_body) -}}
+                        {%- elif tool_body is sequence and tool_body is not string -%}
+                            {%- set ns_txt = namespace(s='') -%}
+                            {%- for part in tool_body -%}
+                                {%- if part.get('type') == 'text' -%}
+                                    {%- set ns_txt.s = ns_txt.s + (part.get('text') | default('')) -%}
+                                {%- endif -%}
+                            {%- endfor -%}
+                            {{- format_tool_response_block(ns_tname.name, ns_txt.s) -}}
+                        {%- else -%}
+                            {{- format_tool_response_block(ns_tname.name, tool_body) -}}
+                        {%- endif -%}
+                        {%- set ns_tr_out.flag = true -%}
+                        {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'tool_response' -%}
+                    {%- endif -%}
+                {%- endfor -%}
+            {%- endif -%}
+
+            {%- set captured_content -%}
+            {%- if message['content'] is string -%}
+                {%- if role == 'model' -%}
+                    {{- strip_thinking(message['content']) -}}
+                {%- else -%}
+                    {{- message['content'] | trim -}}
+                {%- endif -%}
+            {%- elif message['content'] is sequence -%}
+                {%- for item in message['content'] -%}
+                    {%- if item['type'] == 'text' -%}
+                        {%- if role == 'model' -%}
+                            {{- strip_thinking(item['text']) -}}
+                        {%- else -%}
+                            {{- item['text'] | trim -}}
+                        {%- endif -%}
+                    {%- elif item['type'] == 'image' -%}
+                        {{- '<|image|>' -}}
+                        {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'image' -%}
+                    {%- elif item['type'] == 'audio' -%}
+                        {{- '<|audio|>' -}}
+                        {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'audio' -%}
+                    {%- elif item['type'] == 'video' -%}
+                        {{- '<|video|>' -}}
+                        {%- set ns.prev_message_type = 'video' -%}
+                    {%- endif -%}
+                {%- endfor -%}
+            {%- endif -%}
+            {%- endset -%}
+
+            {{- captured_content -}}
+            {%- set has_content = captured_content | trim | length > 0 -%}
+
+        {%- if ns.prev_message_type == 'tool_call' and not ns_tr_out.flag -%}
+            {{- '<|tool_response>' -}}
+        {%- elif not (ns_tr_out.flag and not has_content) -%}
+            {{- '<turn|>\n' -}}
+        {%- endif -%}
+    {%- endif -%}
+{%- endfor -%}
+
+{%- if add_generation_prompt -%}
+    {%- if ns.prev_message_type != 'tool_response' and ns.prev_message_type != 'tool_call' -%}
+        {{- '<|turn>model\n' -}}
+        {%- if not enable_thinking | default(false) -%}
+            {{- '<|channel>thought\n<channel|>' -}}
+        {%- else -%}
+            {{- '<|channel>' -}}
+        {%- endif -%}
+    {%- endif -%}
+{%- endif -%}