lmstudio-ai / lmstudio-ai/mlx-engine

MLX vision models do not currently support KV cache quantization for qwen3.5

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Python
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Description

Title

MLX vision model fails to load when KV cache quantization is enabled

Description

When trying to load a vision model with KV cache quantization enabled, the model fails to load and throws an error indicating that MLX vision models do not currently support KV cache quantization.

Currently, the application allows KV cache quantization to be configured even when loading a vision model, which leads to a runtime error during model initialization.

KV Cache Settings
KV cache quantization bits: 8
Group size strategy: Balanced
Start quantizing when ctx reaches this length: 5000
Error Message
🥲 Failed to load the model

Failed to load model

Error when loading model:
ValueError: MLX vision models do not currently support KV cache quantization

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Research direction

Start by reproducing the failure while loading the qwen3.5 vision model with KV cache quantization enabled, then trace model initialization and the KV cache settings path that raises the reported ValueError. Done means the intended handling of KV cache quantization for vision models is defined and loading no longer fails unexpectedly; the issue names no files or tests to begin with.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
machine-learning
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
52/100

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