ollama/x/mlxrunner/cache.go
Jesse Gross ded2db7d86 mlxrunner: capture prefill snapshots across the forward
Prefill no longer splits its batch at each requested snapshot offset. The
session schedules the pending offsets on every cache before prefill, runs the
forward in full-size chunks, and attaches the captured snapshots to the trie
afterward. Offsets the prefill never crosses (it leaves one token for decode
seeding) are dropped instead of materializing a node for tokens never written,
and snapshots from an abandoned prefill are released on session close.
2026-06-09 00:39:19 -07:00

652 lines
19 KiB
Go

// cache.go manages a shared KV cache across conversations using a compressed
// prefix trie. Each trie node stores a token sequence (edge) and optional
// per-layer snapshots that can be paged in/out of the live MLX cache arrays.
//
// Key properties:
// - Only one path through the trie is "active" (backed by live MLX arrays)
// at a time. Switching paths pages out the frontier node and pages in the
// new path.
// - Snapshots are only captured at the frontier (end) of the active path.
// Intermediate node snapshots come from split prefill.
// - All cache layers must stay at the same token offset.
// - Sibling edges must not share a common token prefix (compressed trie
// invariant).
// - begin() always re-evaluates at least one token so the pipeline can seed
// generation, even on a full prefix match.
package mlxrunner
import (
"cmp"
"fmt"
"log/slog"
"slices"
"time"
"github.com/ollama/ollama/logutil"
"github.com/ollama/ollama/x/mlxrunner/cache"
"github.com/ollama/ollama/x/mlxrunner/mlx"
"github.com/ollama/ollama/x/mlxrunner/model/base"
)
const maxPagedOutBytes int64 = 8 << 30 // 8 GiB eviction threshold for paged-out snapshot memory
type kvCache struct {
root *trieNode // root of the prefix trie
activePath []*trieNode // current root→leaf path with live MLX arrays
caches []cache.Cache
pagedOutBytes int64 // total bytes in paged-out snapshots across the trie
}
// pendingSnapshot is a snapshot scheduled to be taken during prefill.
type pendingSnapshot struct {
offset int
user bool
}
// cacheSession manages caches for a single pipeline run.
// Callers should append generated tokens to outputs and
// defer close to save the cache state.
type cacheSession struct {
cache *kvCache
inputs []int32
outputs []int32
caches []cache.Cache
remaining []int32
// pendingSnapshots lists offsets where snapshots should be captured
// during prefill, sorted by offset. Entries are scheduled on the caches
// before prefill and drained or discarded after.
pendingSnapshots []pendingSnapshot
}
func (c *kvCache) ensureCaches(m base.Model) {
if len(c.caches) != 0 {
return
}
if cacheFactory, ok := m.(interface{ NewCaches() []cache.Cache }); ok {
c.caches = cacheFactory.NewCaches()
return
}
c.caches = make([]cache.Cache, m.NumLayers())
for i := range c.caches {
c.caches[i] = cache.NewKVCache()
}
}
func (c *kvCache) ensureRoot() {
if c.root == nil {
c.root = &trieNode{
lastUsed: time.Now(),
}
c.activePath = []*trieNode{c.root}
}
}
// begin prepares caches for a new request. It finds the nearest
// matching cache or creates new caches if none match.
func (c *kvCache) begin(m base.Model, inputs []int32) *cacheSession {
c.ensureCaches(m)
c.ensureRoot()
matchPath, matched := findBestMatch(c.root, inputs)
originalMatched := matched
// Always keep at least one token to re-evaluate so the
// pipeline can seed token generation from it.
if matched == len(inputs) && matched > 0 {
matchPath, matched = findBestMatch(c.root, inputs[:len(inputs)-1])
}
// Switch to the matched path, paging in/out as needed.
c.switchToPath(matchPath, matched)
// switchToPath aligns caches to a common offset
prefix := c.minCacheOffset()
remaining := inputs[prefix:]
session := &cacheSession{
cache: c,
inputs: inputs,
caches: c.caches,
remaining: remaining,
}
// Schedule a snapshot at the branch point during prefill so future
// requests diverging here can restore instead of re-evaluating.
if prefix < matched {
session.pendingSnapshots = append(session.pendingSnapshots, pendingSnapshot{offset: matched, user: false})
}
msg := "cache hit"
if prefix == 0 {
msg = "cache miss"
}
slog.Info(msg, "total", len(inputs), "matched", originalMatched, "cached", prefix, "left", len(remaining))
return session
}
// switchToPath transitions from the current active path to a new path,
// paging out diverging segments and paging in the new path.
func (c *kvCache) switchToPath(newPath []*trieNode, matched int) {
defer c.enforceEvictionPolicy()
// Find common ancestor index.
commonLen := 0
for commonLen < len(c.activePath) && commonLen < len(newPath) {
if c.activePath[commonLen] != newPath[commonLen] {
break
}
commonLen++
}
ancestorOffset := 0
if commonLen > 0 {
ancestorOffset = c.activePath[commonLen-1].endOffset
}
var pageOutCount, pageInCount int
// Page out the leaf of the old path. Only the leaf's live cache
// state is correct — intermediate nodes already have snapshots
// captured during their creation (splitNode + prefill). Snapshotting
// non-leaf nodes here would produce wrong results for non-rewindable
// caches (e.g. RecurrentCache) whose state reflects the leaf, not
// the intermediate boundary.
leaf := len(c.activePath) - 1
leafDiverges := leaf >= commonLen
leafNeedsRewind := matched < c.activePath[leaf].endOffset
if leafDiverges || leafNeedsRewind {
node := c.activePath[leaf]
if !node.hasAllSnapshots() {
fromOffset := node.startOffset()
snaps := make([]cache.Snapshot, len(c.caches))
for j, kv := range c.caches {
if kv == nil {
continue
}
snaps[j] = kv.Snapshot(fromOffset)
}
node.setSnapshots(snaps, &c.pagedOutBytes)
pageOutCount++
logutil.Trace(fmt.Sprintf("page out: [%d, %d)", fromOffset, node.endOffset))
}
}
// Rewind each cache to the target offset or free it. When matched
// falls within the ancestor's range (same-path case), we rewind
// directly to the match point. Otherwise we rewind to the ancestor
// and let page-in bring us forward to matched.
rewindTarget := min(ancestorOffset, matched)
for _, kv := range c.caches {
if kv == nil {
continue
}
if !kv.Restore(nil, rewindTarget) {
kv.Free()
}
}
// Page in — walk the full new path, restoring from snapshots.
// Freed caches naturally pick up the first available snapshot.
// Caches already past a node skip it via offset check.
pageIn:
for _, node := range newPath {
if !node.hasSnapshots() {
continue
}
nodeTarget := min(node.endOffset, matched)
for j, kv := range c.caches {
if kv == nil {
continue
}
if j >= len(node.snapshots) || node.snapshots[j] == nil {
continue
}
if kv.Offset() >= nodeTarget {
continue
}
if !kv.Restore(node.snapshots[j], nodeTarget) {
// Restore failed — stop page-in and let alignment
// bring all caches to a consistent offset.
break pageIn
}
}
if node.endOffset > ancestorOffset {
pageInCount++
logutil.Trace(fmt.Sprintf("page in: [%d, %d)", node.startOffset(), nodeTarget))
}
}
// Align all caches to the minimum offset.
c.activePath = newPath
minOff := c.minCacheOffset()
for _, kv := range c.caches {
if kv != nil && kv.Offset() != minOff {
if !kv.Restore(nil, minOff) {
slog.Warn("failed to restore cache, freeing all caches", "offset", minOff)
c.freeAll()
break
}
}
}
for i := len(c.activePath) - 1; i >= 0; i-- {
if c.activePath[i].endOffset <= minOff {
c.activePath = c.activePath[:i+1]
break
}
}
// Update last-used time on only the final used node. For recurrent
// caches we don't need the intermediate snapshots and for KV caches
// we can reslice the data out of merged edges.
if len(c.activePath) > 0 {
c.activePath[len(c.activePath)-1].lastUsed = time.Now()
}
if pageOutCount > 0 || pageInCount > 0 {
slog.Debug("switching cache path", "page_out", pageOutCount, "page_in", pageInCount)
}
}
// schedulePrefillSnapshots schedules every cache to capture snapshots as the
// forward pass crosses the given absolute token offsets, so a single full-size
// prefill records interior states without the caller breaking the batch. The
// passed offsets are user-requested restore points; they are merged with any
// snapshots begin already scheduled (e.g. a branch point), with coinciding
// offsets upgraded to user so eviction preserves them.
//
// Offsets at or before the current cache position, or past the end of the
// prompt, are dropped: callers only request offsets ahead of the prefill base,
// so this is a defensive guard.
func (s *cacheSession) schedulePrefillSnapshots(offsets []int) {
c := s.cache
base := c.minCacheOffset()
for _, offset := range offsets {
if offset <= base || offset > len(s.inputs) {
continue
}
// Deduplicate: if this offset already exists, upgrade to user.
found := false
for i := range s.pendingSnapshots {
if s.pendingSnapshots[i].offset == offset {
s.pendingSnapshots[i].user = true
found = true
break
}
}
if !found {
s.pendingSnapshots = append(s.pendingSnapshots, pendingSnapshot{offset: offset, user: true})
}
}
slices.SortFunc(s.pendingSnapshots, func(a, b pendingSnapshot) int {
return a.offset - b.offset
})
if len(s.pendingSnapshots) == 0 {
return
}
prepared := make([]int, len(s.pendingSnapshots))
for i, p := range s.pendingSnapshots {
prepared[i] = p.offset
}
for _, kv := range c.caches {
if kv != nil {
kv.PrepareSnapshots(prepared)
}
}
}
// discardPrefillSnapshots drains and closes the snapshots scheduled by
// schedulePrefillSnapshots without attaching them to the trie, releasing their
// pinned/lazy state. It is a no-op once attachPrefillSnapshots has drained the
// schedule, so close can call it unconditionally to clean up an abandoned
// prefill.
func (s *cacheSession) discardPrefillSnapshots() {
if len(s.pendingSnapshots) == 0 {
return
}
s.pendingSnapshots = nil
for _, kv := range s.cache.caches {
if kv == nil {
continue
}
for _, snap := range kv.TakeSnapshots() {
if snap != nil {
snap.Close()
}
}
}
}
// attachPrefillSnapshots collects the snapshots captured during prefill and
// attaches them to the trie, materializing a node at each requested offset.
// Pending offsets are ascending and were scheduled in the same order, so the
// snapshots each cache returns line up with them. The trie frontier is
// advanced to each offset in turn, so its node edges [prev, offset) match the
// edge-local ranges the caches captured.
func (s *cacheSession) attachPrefillSnapshots() {
if len(s.pendingSnapshots) == 0 {
return
}
c := s.cache
pending := s.pendingSnapshots
s.pendingSnapshots = nil
// Drain each cache's captures (one per pending offset, in order) into
// per-offset rows.
rows := make([][]cache.Snapshot, len(pending))
for i := range rows {
rows[i] = make([]cache.Snapshot, len(c.caches))
}
for j, kv := range c.caches {
if kv == nil {
continue
}
taken := kv.TakeSnapshots()
for i := range pending {
if i < len(taken) {
rows[i][j] = taken[i]
}
}
}
// Prefill leaves one token unprocessed for decode seeding, so an offset
// at or past the live cache position was never crossed by a write and has
// no captured state. Skip it rather than materialize a node whose edge
// claims tokens the cache never wrote. Closing its (nil) row is a no-op.
reached := c.minCacheOffset()
stored := append(s.inputs, s.outputs...)
for i, p := range pending {
if p.offset > reached {
// Never crossed by a write, so the row is nil; close any entry
// defensively in case a cache captured one anyway.
for _, snap := range rows[i] {
if snap != nil {
snap.Close()
}
}
continue
}
frontier := c.activePath[len(c.activePath)-1]
if frontier.endOffset < p.offset {
edgeTokens := stored[frontier.endOffset:p.offset]
frontier = c.advancePath(frontier, edgeTokens, p.offset)
}
if p.user {
frontier.user = true
}
s.attachCapturedSnapshots(frontier, rows[i])
}
}
// attachCapturedSnapshots stores pre-captured snapshots on a trie node. Unlike
// taking a fresh Snapshot from the live cache, this works for an interior node
// whose offset the live cache has already advanced past: the snapshots come
// from the capture scheduled earlier, not from the cache's current state. The
// node takes ownership of the snapshots (TakeSnapshots already transferred it).
func (s *cacheSession) attachCapturedSnapshots(node *trieNode, snaps []cache.Snapshot) {
c := s.cache
node.setSnapshots(snaps, &c.pagedOutBytes)
node.lastUsed = time.Now()
slog.Debug("created snapshot", "offset", node.endOffset)
c.enforceEvictionPolicy()
}
// advancePath advances the active path from the current frontier by matching
// tokens against existing trie children, splitting partial matches, and
// appending any remaining tokens as new nodes. Returns the new frontier.
func (c *kvCache) advancePath(frontier *trieNode, tokens []int32, endOffset int) *trieNode {
// Check if existing children already cover some or all of tokens.
// tokens may span multiple trie nodes when extending a previous run's
// leaf and this snapshot now overlaps that same range.
matchPath, matched := findBestMatch(frontier, tokens)
// matchPath[0] is frontier itself; the rest are newly traversed nodes.
remaining := tokens[matched:]
// Check for a partial match within the last node's edge — if so, split it.
if len(matchPath) > 1 {
lastNode := matchPath[len(matchPath)-1]
matchedInEdge := frontier.endOffset + matched - lastNode.startOffset()
if matchedInEdge > 0 && matchedInEdge < len(lastNode.tokens) {
matchPath[len(matchPath)-1] = splitNode(lastNode, matchedInEdge, c.caches, &c.pagedOutBytes)
}
}
// Append traversed nodes (excluding frontier) to the active path.
c.activePath = append(c.activePath, matchPath[1:]...)
dest := matchPath[len(matchPath)-1]
if len(remaining) > 0 {
// Drop non-user snapshots so appendTokens can extend in-place
// rather than creating a new child node.
if len(dest.children) == 0 && !dest.user {
dest.setSnapshots(nil, &c.pagedOutBytes)
}
newDest := dest.appendTokens(c.root, remaining, endOffset)
if newDest != dest {
c.activePath = append(c.activePath, newDest)
}
dest = newDest
}
return dest
}
// freeAll releases all cache layers.
func (c *kvCache) freeAll() {
for _, kv := range c.caches {
if kv != nil {
kv.Free()
}
}
}
func (c *kvCache) minCacheOffset() int {
offset := 0
found := false
for _, kv := range c.caches {
if kv == nil {
continue
}
if off := kv.Offset(); !found || off < offset {
offset = off
found = true
}
}
return offset
}
// close saves the token state if the forward pass ran.
func (s *cacheSession) close() {
// Release any prefill snapshots the session scheduled but never attached to
// the trie. A successful prefill drains them in attachPrefillSnapshots (so
// this is a no-op then); an abandoned one (e.g. cancellation between
// schedule and attach) leaves them in the caches, where the next request's
// PrepareSnapshots would overwrite the schedule without closing them,
// leaking the pinned/lazy snapshots and their VRAM.
s.discardPrefillSnapshots()
offset := s.cache.minCacheOffset()
if offset <= 0 {
return
}
arrays := make([]*mlx.Array, 0, 2*len(s.caches))
for _, kv := range s.caches {
if kv == nil {
continue
}
arrays = append(arrays, kv.State()...)
}
// Ensure that if we have run the forward pass and set the metadata
// that we also actually have the data.
mlx.AsyncEval(arrays...)
// Advance the trie frontier with any newly generated tokens.
c := s.cache
if len(c.activePath) > 0 {
frontier := c.activePath[len(c.activePath)-1]
stored := append(s.inputs, s.outputs...)
if offset > frontier.endOffset {
newTokens := stored[frontier.endOffset:offset]
c.advancePath(frontier, newTokens, offset)
}
c.activePath[len(c.activePath)-1].lastUsed = time.Now()
}
}
// enforceEvictionPolicy evicts eligible nodes until paged-out memory is within limits.
func (c *kvCache) enforceEvictionPolicy() {
if c.pagedOutBytes <= maxPagedOutBytes {
return
}
activeSet := make(map[*trieNode]bool, len(c.activePath))
for _, n := range c.activePath {
activeSet[n] = true
}
for c.pagedOutBytes > maxPagedOutBytes {
var best *trieNode
walkNodes(c.root, func(n *trieNode) bool {
if n == c.root || activeSet[n] || len(n.children) > 1 {
return true
}
// Evict: oldest, then deepest, then largest.
if best == nil || cmp.Or(
n.lastUsed.Compare(best.lastUsed),
cmp.Compare(best.endOffset, n.endOffset),
cmp.Compare(best.snapshotBytes(), n.snapshotBytes()),
) < 0 {
best = n
}
return true
})
if best == nil {
break
}
c.evictNode(best)
}
}
// evictNode evicts a single node from the trie, freeing its snapshot memory.
func (c *kvCache) evictNode(node *trieNode) {
if len(node.children) == 0 {
// Leaf: remove entirely.
slog.Debug("evicting leaf", "offset", node.startOffset(), "tokens", len(node.tokens), "freed", mlx.PrettyBytes(int(node.snapshotBytes())))
removeNode(node, &c.pagedOutBytes)
} else if len(node.children) == 1 {
// Interior node with one child: merge with child.
before := c.pagedOutBytes
tokens := len(node.tokens)
mergeWithChild(node, c.caches, &c.pagedOutBytes)
slog.Debug("evicting interior node", "offset", node.startOffset(), "tokens", tokens, "freed", mlx.PrettyBytes(int(before-c.pagedOutBytes)))
} else {
panic("evictNode called on multi-child branch point")
}
}
func (c *kvCache) dumpTree() {
// Summary stats
var cacheBytes int
for _, kv := range c.caches {
if kv == nil {
continue
}
for _, a := range kv.State() {
if a != nil {
cacheBytes += a.NumBytes()
}
}
}
// Build active path set for marking.
active := make(map[*trieNode]bool, len(c.activePath))
for _, n := range c.activePath {
active[n] = true
}
var nodeCount, snapshotCount int
var pagedBytes int64
var lines []string
var dump func(n *trieNode, prefix string, isLast bool)
dump = func(n *trieNode, prefix string, isLast bool) {
if n == nil {
return
}
nodeCount++
// Build connector
var connector string
if n.parent == nil {
connector = ""
} else if isLast {
connector = prefix + "`-- "
} else {
connector = prefix + "|-- "
}
// Node label
nodeBytes := n.snapshotBytes()
pagedBytes += nodeBytes
label := fmt.Sprintf("[%d,%d) %dt", n.startOffset(), n.endOffset, len(n.tokens))
if nodeBytes > 0 {
label += " " + mlx.PrettyBytes(int(nodeBytes)).String()
}
if !n.lastUsed.IsZero() {
label += fmt.Sprintf(" %s ago", time.Since(n.lastUsed).Truncate(time.Millisecond))
}
var flags []string
if n.user {
flags = append(flags, "user")
}
if n.hasAllSnapshots() {
snapshotCount++
flags = append(flags, "snap")
}
if active[n] {
flags = append(flags, "active")
}
if len(flags) > 0 {
label += " (" + flags[0]
for _, f := range flags[1:] {
label += ", " + f
}
label += ")"
}
lines = append(lines, connector+label)
// Recurse children
childPrefix := prefix
if n.parent != nil {
if isLast {
childPrefix += " "
} else {
childPrefix += "| "
}
}
for i, child := range n.children {
dump(child, childPrefix, i == len(n.children)-1)
}
}
dump(c.root, "", true)
offset := c.minCacheOffset()
logutil.Trace(fmt.Sprintf("kv cache active_tokens: %d, active_size: %s, paged_out: %s, trie: nodes=%d, snapshots=%d",
offset, mlx.PrettyBytes(cacheBytes), mlx.PrettyBytes(int(pagedBytes)), nodeCount, snapshotCount))
for i, l := range lines {
if i == 0 {
logutil.Trace("cache trie: " + l)
} else {
logutil.Trace(" " + l)
}
}
}