purpose-agent / purpose_agent /slm_backends.py
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Track 1: purpose_agent/slm_backends.py
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"""
SLM-Native Backends — First-class support for Small Language Models.
Purpose Agent is the world's first agentic framework designed natively for SLMs.
These backends handle the unique challenges of small models:
- Grammar-constrained JSON output (SLMs can't reliably produce JSON from prompts alone)
- Prompt compression for small context windows (8K-32K)
- Adaptive prompting (shorter system prompts, schema-first format)
- Token budget management
Supported backends:
- OllamaBackend: Local serving via Ollama (CPU/GPU, any GGUF model)
- LlamaCppBackend: Direct llama-cpp-python (CPU/Apple Silicon, GGUF)
- TransformersBackend: HuggingFace transformers (GPU, native weights)
All backends implement the same LLMBackend interface — swap freely.
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import json
import logging
import os
import re
from typing import Any, AsyncIterator, Iterator
from purpose_agent.llm_backend import ChatMessage, LLMBackend
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# SLM Prompt Compressor — reduces prompt size for small context windows
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
class SLMPromptCompressor:
"""
Compresses prompts for small context windows without losing critical info.
Strategies (from TinyAgent arxiv:2409.00608 + LLMLingua-2 arxiv:2403.12968):
1. Schema-first: Move JSON schema to top, compress descriptions
2. History truncation: Summarize old steps, keep recent ones verbatim
3. Example reduction: Fewer few-shot examples for SLMs
4. Whitespace stripping: Remove unnecessary formatting
No external dependencies — pure Python compression.
For better compression, install llmlingua: pip install llmlingua
"""
def __init__(self, max_tokens: int = 4096, aggressive: bool = False):
self.max_tokens = max_tokens
self.aggressive = aggressive
def compress(self, text: str, budget: int | None = None) -> str:
"""Compress text to fit within token budget."""
budget = budget or self.max_tokens
# Rough estimate: 1 token ≈ 4 chars
char_budget = budget * 4
if len(text) <= char_budget:
return text
compressed = text
# Stage 1: Strip excessive whitespace
compressed = re.sub(r'\n{3,}', '\n\n', compressed)
compressed = re.sub(r'[ \t]{2,}', ' ', compressed)
compressed = re.sub(r'^\s+', '', compressed, flags=re.MULTILINE)
if len(compressed) <= char_budget:
return compressed
# Stage 2: Shorten verbose sections
if self.aggressive:
# Remove markdown formatting
compressed = re.sub(r'\*\*([^*]+)\*\*', r'\1', compressed)
compressed = re.sub(r'#{1,3}\s+', '', compressed)
# Shorten common verbose phrases
replacements = {
"You MUST respond with": "Respond with",
"Based on the current state and your goal, ": "",
"Respond in this exact JSON format:": "JSON format:",
"Step-by-step justification": "Justification",
"Specific observable state changes": "State changes",
}
for old, new in replacements.items():
compressed = compressed.replace(old, new)
if len(compressed) <= char_budget:
return compressed
# Stage 3: Truncate from middle (keep start + end)
keep_start = char_budget * 2 // 3
keep_end = char_budget // 3
compressed = compressed[:keep_start] + "\n...[truncated]...\n" + compressed[-keep_end:]
return compressed
def compress_messages(
self, messages: list[ChatMessage], budget: int | None = None
) -> list[ChatMessage]:
"""Compress a message list to fit within token budget."""
budget = budget or self.max_tokens
total_chars = sum(len(m.content) for m in messages)
char_budget = budget * 4
if total_chars <= char_budget:
return messages
result = []
# Always keep system prompt (compress it), always keep last user message
for i, msg in enumerate(messages):
if msg.role == "system":
result.append(ChatMessage(
role="system",
content=self.compress(msg.content, budget=budget // 3),
))
elif i == len(messages) - 1:
# Last message — keep more of it
result.append(ChatMessage(
role=msg.role,
content=self.compress(msg.content, budget=budget // 2),
))
else:
result.append(ChatMessage(
role=msg.role,
content=self.compress(msg.content, budget=budget // 4),
))
return result
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Ollama Backend — Best for local SLMs
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
class OllamaBackend(LLMBackend):
"""
Local model serving via Ollama with grammar-constrained JSON output.
Ollama's grammar engine (via llama.cpp) forces valid JSON output from
ANY model — even tiny ones that can't produce reliable JSON from prompts.
This is the key advantage for SLM agent use.
Setup:
1. Install Ollama: https://ollama.ai
2. Pull a model: ollama pull qwen3:1.7b
3. Use this backend:
Example:
backend = OllamaBackend(model="qwen3:1.7b") # 1.7B params, runs on CPU
backend = OllamaBackend(model="llama3.2:1b") # 1B params, ultra-light
backend = OllamaBackend(model="phi4-mini") # 3.8B, best tool-use
backend = OllamaBackend(model="smollm2:1.7b") # HF native SLM
Also works with large models:
backend = OllamaBackend(model="qwen3:32b") # Full LLM
"""
def __init__(
self,
model: str = "qwen3:1.7b",
host: str = "http://localhost:11434",
context_window: int = 8192,
compress_prompts: bool = True,
num_ctx: int | None = None,
):
self.model = model
self.host = host
self.context_window = context_window
self.compress_prompts = compress_prompts
self.num_ctx = num_ctx or context_window
self.compressor = SLMPromptCompressor(
max_tokens=context_window, aggressive=(context_window <= 8192)
)
self._token_count = 0
def _get_client(self):
"""Lazy import ollama client."""
try:
from ollama import Client
return Client(host=self.host)
except ImportError:
raise ImportError(
"Ollama client not installed. Run: pip install ollama\n"
"Also install Ollama server: https://ollama.ai"
)
def generate(
self,
messages: list[ChatMessage],
temperature: float = 0.7,
max_tokens: int = 2048,
stop: list[str] | None = None,
) -> str:
client = self._get_client()
if self.compress_prompts:
messages = self.compressor.compress_messages(messages, self.context_window)
msg_dicts = [{"role": m.role, "content": m.content} for m in messages]
response = client.chat(
model=self.model,
messages=msg_dicts,
options={
"temperature": temperature,
"num_predict": max_tokens,
"num_ctx": self.num_ctx,
"stop": stop or [],
},
)
content = self._strip_thinking(response.message.content or "")
self._token_count += response.get("eval_count", 0) + response.get("prompt_eval_count", 0)
return content
def generate_structured(
self,
messages: list[ChatMessage],
schema: dict[str, Any],
temperature: float = 0.3,
max_tokens: int = 1024,
) -> dict[str, Any]:
"""
Grammar-constrained JSON generation.
Ollama uses llama.cpp's grammar engine to FORCE valid JSON output
matching the schema. This works even with tiny models that can't
produce valid JSON from prompts alone.
"""
client = self._get_client()
if self.compress_prompts:
messages = self.compressor.compress_messages(messages, self.context_window)
msg_dicts = [{"role": m.role, "content": m.content} for m in messages]
response = client.chat(
model=self.model,
messages=msg_dicts,
format=schema, # Grammar-constrained output!
options={
"temperature": temperature,
"num_predict": max_tokens,
"num_ctx": self.num_ctx,
},
)
content = response.message.content or "{}"
self._token_count += response.get("eval_count", 0) + response.get("prompt_eval_count", 0)
return json.loads(content)
def generate_stream(
self,
messages: list[ChatMessage],
temperature: float = 0.7,
max_tokens: int = 2048,
) -> Iterator[str]:
"""Streaming generation — yields tokens as they're produced."""
client = self._get_client()
if self.compress_prompts:
messages = self.compressor.compress_messages(messages, self.context_window)
msg_dicts = [{"role": m.role, "content": m.content} for m in messages]
stream = client.chat(
model=self.model,
messages=msg_dicts,
stream=True,
options={
"temperature": temperature,
"num_predict": max_tokens,
"num_ctx": self.num_ctx,
},
)
for chunk in stream:
token = chunk.get("message", {}).get("content", "")
if token:
yield token
@property
def total_tokens(self) -> int:
return self._token_count
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# LlamaCpp Backend — Direct CPU/Apple Silicon/GGUF
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
class LlamaCppBackend(LLMBackend):
"""
Direct llama-cpp-python backend for GGUF models.
Best for: CPU inference, Apple Silicon, edge deployment, offline use.
Example:
backend = LlamaCppBackend(model_path="./qwen2.5-1.5b-instruct-q4_k_m.gguf")
backend = LlamaCppBackend(
model_path="./phi-4-mini-q4.gguf",
n_ctx=4096,
n_gpu_layers=35, # Offload to GPU
)
"""
def __init__(
self,
model_path: str,
n_ctx: int = 4096,
n_gpu_layers: int = 0,
verbose: bool = False,
):
try:
from llama_cpp import Llama
except ImportError:
raise ImportError("llama-cpp-python not installed. Run: pip install llama-cpp-python")
self.model_path = model_path
self.llm = Llama(
model_path=model_path,
n_ctx=n_ctx,
n_gpu_layers=n_gpu_layers,
verbose=verbose,
)
self.compressor = SLMPromptCompressor(max_tokens=n_ctx, aggressive=True)
self._token_count = 0
def generate(
self,
messages: list[ChatMessage],
temperature: float = 0.7,
max_tokens: int = 2048,
stop: list[str] | None = None,
) -> str:
messages = self.compressor.compress_messages(messages)
msg_dicts = [{"role": m.role, "content": m.content} for m in messages]
response = self.llm.create_chat_completion(
messages=msg_dicts,
temperature=temperature,
max_tokens=max_tokens,
stop=stop,
)
content = response["choices"][0]["message"]["content"] or ""
usage = response.get("usage", {})
self._token_count += usage.get("total_tokens", 0)
return content
def generate_structured(
self,
messages: list[ChatMessage],
schema: dict[str, Any],
temperature: float = 0.3,
max_tokens: int = 1024,
) -> dict[str, Any]:
"""Grammar-constrained JSON via llama.cpp GBNF grammar."""
from llama_cpp import LlamaGrammar
grammar = LlamaGrammar.from_json_schema(json.dumps(schema))
messages = self.compressor.compress_messages(messages)
msg_dicts = [{"role": m.role, "content": m.content} for m in messages]
response = self.llm.create_chat_completion(
messages=msg_dicts,
temperature=temperature,
max_tokens=max_tokens,
grammar=grammar,
)
content = response["choices"][0]["message"]["content"] or "{}"
usage = response.get("usage", {})
self._token_count += usage.get("total_tokens", 0)
return json.loads(content)
def generate_stream(
self,
messages: list[ChatMessage],
temperature: float = 0.7,
max_tokens: int = 2048,
) -> Iterator[str]:
messages = self.compressor.compress_messages(messages)
msg_dicts = [{"role": m.role, "content": m.content} for m in messages]
stream = self.llm.create_chat_completion(
messages=msg_dicts,
temperature=temperature,
max_tokens=max_tokens,
stream=True,
)
for chunk in stream:
delta = chunk.get("choices", [{}])[0].get("delta", {})
token = delta.get("content", "")
if token:
yield token
@property
def total_tokens(self) -> int:
return self._token_count
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Model Registry — Easy model selection for SLMs
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Recommended SLMs for agent tasks, ranked by capability
SLM_REGISTRY = {
# Model ID → (Ollama name, context window, description)
"phi-4-mini": ("phi4-mini", 16384, "3.8B, best schema compliance, Microsoft"),
"qwen3-1.7b": ("qwen3:1.7b", 32768, "1.7B, strong function calling, 32K context"),
"qwen3-0.6b": ("qwen3:0.6b", 32768, "0.6B, ultra-light, 32K context"),
"qwen2.5-1.5b": ("qwen2.5:1.5b", 32768, "1.5B, proven tool-use"),
"llama-3.2-3b": ("llama3.2:3b", 131072, "3B, 128K context, Meta"),
"llama-3.2-1b": ("llama3.2:1b", 131072, "1B, smallest Llama, 128K context"),
"smollm2-1.7b": ("smollm2:1.7b", 8192, "1.7B, HF native, 8K context (tight!)"),
"gemma-3-1b": ("gemma3:1b", 32768, "1B, Google, multimodal capable"),
}
def create_slm_backend(
model_key: str = "qwen3-1.7b",
host: str = "http://localhost:11434",
) -> OllamaBackend:
"""
Create an SLM backend from the registry.
Usage:
backend = create_slm_backend("phi-4-mini") # Best overall
backend = create_slm_backend("qwen3-0.6b") # Ultra-light
backend = create_slm_backend("llama-3.2-1b") # Smallest Llama
"""
if model_key not in SLM_REGISTRY:
available = ", ".join(SLM_REGISTRY.keys())
raise ValueError(f"Unknown SLM '{model_key}'. Available: {available}")
ollama_name, ctx_window, desc = SLM_REGISTRY[model_key]
logger.info(f"Creating SLM backend: {model_key} ({desc})")
return OllamaBackend(
model=ollama_name,
host=host,
context_window=ctx_window,
compress_prompts=True,
)