fix: make base-model warning's instruct advice family-aware#137
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The no-chat-template warning recommended trying a variant named with an "-it" suffix, but -it is the Gemma convention. For other families that advice is wrong: Llama and Qwen2.5 instruction-tuned checkpoints use -Instruct, and Qwen3 / Qwen3.5 use the plain repo name (with -Base marking the non-instruct variant), so a user running Qwen3.5-0.8B-Base was pointed at a non-existent -it repo instead of being told to drop -Base. The advice now names the per-family conventions (Gemma -it; Llama / Qwen2.5 -Instruct; Qwen3 / Qwen3.5 plain name vs. -Base). Base-model detection is unchanged: it keys on chat-template absence, never on the model name.
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Summary
The no-chat-template warning that
mlxcel run/ the chat REPL prints when a model ships no chat template advised users to "try a variant named with an-itsuffix". That is the Gemma naming convention only. For other families the advice was actively misleading: Llama and Qwen2.5 instruction-tuned checkpoints use-Instruct, and Qwen3 / Qwen3.5 use the plain repo name with-Basemarking the non-instruct variant. So a user runningQwen3.5-0.8B-Base(the base sibling of this repo's own README test modelQwen3.5-0.8B) was pointed at a non-existent-itrepo instead of simply being told to drop-Base.The advice now states the per-family conventions:
-itsuffix (e.g.gemma-4-e4b-it-4bit)-Instruct-Basemarking the non-instruct variantBase-model detection is unchanged — it keys on chat-template absence (
processor.is_none()), never on the model name. Only the human-facing advice text changed.Changes
src/commands/chat.rs— replace the-it-only advice block in the base-model warning with family-aware guidance.CHANGELOG.md—[Unreleased] → Fixedentry.Tests
cargo fmt --check— clean.cargo check --features metal,accelerate --bin mlxcel— compiles. No test asserts the warning wording, so no test change is required.Related
Follow-up to the base-model warning introduced in #134 and the structured
User/Assistantfallback in #136.