Squash Odysseus development history

specs/model-providers/vllm.md

@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+# vLLM Provider Shape
+
+Last updated: dev@e57f60b | 2026-07-20
+
+## Scope
+
+Canonical placeholder provider ID `vllm`; OpenAI Chat and Responses serving;
+generic identity-only inventory normalization. There is no dedicated vLLM
+reader or model-card detector on current `dev`.
+
+## Catalog Shape
+
+Current `GET /v1/models` returns `object: list`, `data[]` model cards with
+`id`, `object`, `owned_by: vllm`, `root`, `parent`, `max_model_len`, and
+`permission[]`. The generic reader retains only identity/raw data and does not
+inspect `owned_by`, `root`, `parent`, `max_model_len`, or `permission`. The card
+does not prove chat template, tools,
+reasoning parser, vision assets, embeddings, transcription, or rerank.
+
+LoRA cards can use a different `id`, root path, and parent. Keep each served ID
+endpoint scoped and do not merge it globally with the base checkpoint.
+
+## Runtime Capability
+
+vLLM's supported API surface is broad, but actual behavior depends on the
+loaded model task, chat template, multimodal assets, tool-call parser,
+reasoning parser, structured-output configuration, and launch flags. Current
+Odysseus reasoning regressions cover structured `reasoning`, legacy
+`reasoning_content`, and compatible fields (#602). These response channels are
+transport evidence, not a claim that every vLLM model reasons.
+
+## Fallback And Safety
+
+Current reader detection identifies port 8000 as vLLM, or accepts an explicit
+endpoint kind, then dispatches to the generic identity-only reader. It does not
+infer vLLM from the model-card payload. Do not consume `/server_info`
+environment/config dumps for normal discovery because they can be large and
+operationally sensitive.
+
+## Current Gaps
+
+- A small safe native capability endpoint is not part of the canonical probe.
+- Deployment parser/template flags are not persisted with endpoint capability.
+- No dedicated reader maps vLLM model-card fields today.