vllm-project / vllm-project/production-stack

feature: per-alias reasoning_effort for backward-compatible model migration

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Dominant language
Python
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Description

Problem

As the ecosystem moves to reasoning-first models (DeepSeek-R1, Qwen3, etc.), we at Siemens need to retire older models while keeping client API calls unchanged. Simply remapping an alias to a reasoning model forces chain-of-thought on every request, including ones where it is undesired, with no way to control it at the router level. Mainly we need a way to force reasoning_effort=none so we can swap in a reasoning model as a drop-in replacement without changing client behaviour.

It would also enable creating dedicated aliases for capability tiers (fast, thorough, etc.) from a single engine deployment.

What we'd want is something like:

# CLI / JSON
gpt-4o:qwen3-32b|reasoning_effort=none
gpt-4o-mini:qwen3-32b|reasoning_effort=low
gpt-4o-thorough:qwen3-32b|reasoning_effort=high

# YAML
static_aliases:
  gpt-4o:
    model: qwen3-32b
    reasoning_effort: none

The router injects reasoning_effort into the forwarded request when the client hasn't set it (client value always wins). Plain alias:model aliases stay unchanged, fully backward-compatible.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start at the router's CLI/JSON alias syntax and the static_aliases YAML entry point described in the issue. Trace how aliases become forwarded requests and how client-supplied parameters are handled. Done means per-alias reasoning_effort is injected only when absent, client values win, and plain alias:model behavior remains unchanged.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
backend-api-design, cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
55/100

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