Enables force reasoning based on chat template for Qwen3-Thinking (#8369)

Signed-off-by: Xinyuan Tong <xinyuantong.cs@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Xinyuan Tong <justinning0323@outlook.com>
Co-authored-by: Chang Su <csu272@usc.edu>

docs/backend/openai_api_completions.ipynb

@@ -101,19 +101,16 @@
     "\n",
     "**Reasoning Parser Options:**\n",
     "- `--reasoning-parser deepseek-r1`: For DeepSeek-R1 family models (R1, R1-0528, R1-Distill)\n",
-    "- `--reasoning-parser qwen3`: For standard Qwen3 models that support `enable_thinking` parameter\n",
+    "- `--reasoning-parser qwen3`: For both standard Qwen3 models that support `enable_thinking` parameter and Qwen3-Thinking models\n",
-    "- `--reasoning-parser qwen3-thinking`: For Qwen3-Thinking models (e.g., Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507) that always generate thinking content\n",
+    "- `--reasoning-parser qwen3-thinking`: For Qwen3-Thinking models, force reasoning version of qwen3 parser\n",
     "- `--reasoning-parser kimi`: For Kimi thinking models\n",
     "\n",
     "Here's an example demonstrating how to enable thinking and retrieve the reasoning content separately (using `separate_reasoning: True`):\n",
     "\n",
     "```python\n",
-    "# For standard Qwen3 models with enable_thinking support:\n",
+    "# For Qwen3 models with enable_thinking support:\n",
     "# python3 -m sglang.launch_server --model-path QwQ/Qwen3-32B-250415 --reasoning-parser qwen3 ...\n",
     "\n",
-    "# For Qwen3-Thinking models that always think:\n",
-    "# python3 -m sglang.launch_server --model-path Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507 --reasoning-parser qwen3-thinking ...\n",
-    "\n",
     "from openai import OpenAI\n",
     "\n",
     "# Modify OpenAI's API key and API base to use SGLang's API server.\n",
@@ -132,7 +129,7 @@
     "    model=model,\n",
     "    messages=messages,\n",
     "    extra_body={\n",
-    "        \"chat_template_kwargs\": {\"enable_thinking\": True}, # Only for standard Qwen3 models\n",
+    "        \"chat_template_kwargs\": {\"enable_thinking\": True},\n",
     "        \"separate_reasoning\": True\n",
     "    }\n",
     ")\n",
@@ -158,7 +155,7 @@
     "\n",
     "Setting `\"enable_thinking\": False` (or omitting it) will result in `reasoning_content` being `None`.\n",
     "\n",
-    "**Note for Qwen3-Thinking models:** These models always generate thinking content and do not support the `enable_thinking` parameter. When using `--reasoning-parser qwen3-thinking`, the model will always produce reasoning content regardless of the `enable_thinking` setting.\n",
+    "**Note for Qwen3-Thinking models:** These models always generate thinking content and do not support the `enable_thinking` parameter. Use `--reasoning-parser qwen3-thinking` or `--reasoning-parser qwen3` to parse the thinking content.\n",
     "\n",
     "Here is an example of a detailed chat completion request using standard OpenAI parameters:"
    ]

docs/backend/separate_reasoning.ipynb

@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
     "|---------|-----------------------------|------------------|-------|\n",
     "| [DeepSeek‑R1 series](https://huggingface.co/collections/deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1-678e1e131c0169c0bc89728d) | `<think>` … `</think>` | `deepseek-r1` | Supports all variants (R1, R1-0528, R1-Distill) |\n",
     "| [Standard Qwen3 models](https://huggingface.co/collections/Qwen/qwen3-67dd247413f0e2e4f653967f) | `<think>` … `</think>` | `qwen3` | Supports `enable_thinking` parameter |\n",
-    "| [Qwen3-Thinking models](https://huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507) | `<think>` … `</think>` | `qwen3-thinking` | Always generates thinking content |\n",
+    "| [Qwen3-Thinking models](https://huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507) | `<think>` … `</think>` | `qwen3` or `qwen3-thinking` | Always generates thinking content |\n",
     "| [Kimi models](https://huggingface.co/collections/MoonshotAI/kimi-675e30c072b7ba7e79833be7) | `◁think▷` … `◁/think▷` | `kimi` | Uses special thinking delimiters |\n",
     "\n",
     "### Model-Specific Behaviors\n",
@@ -26,7 +26,10 @@
     "\n",
     "**Qwen3 Family:**\n",
     "- Standard Qwen3 (e.g., Qwen3-2507): Use `qwen3` parser, supports `enable_thinking` in chat templates\n",
-    "- Qwen3-Thinking (e.g., Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507): Use `qwen3-thinking` parser, always thinks"
+    "- Qwen3-Thinking (e.g., Qwen3-235B-A22B-Thinking-2507): Use `qwen3` or `qwen3-thinking` parser, always thinks\n",
+    "\n",
+    "**Kimi:**\n",
+    "- Kimi: Uses special `◁think▷` and `◁/think▷` tags"
    ]
   },
   {

python/sglang/srt/entrypoints/openai/serving_chat.py

@@ -332,6 +332,8 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServingBase):
                 prompt = prompt[: -len(conv.sep2)]
         else:
             prompt = conv.get_prompt()
+            if self._get_enable_thinking_from_request(request):
+                prompt += "<think>"  # Note(Xinyuan): hard code thinking token
 
         image_data = conv.image_data if conv.image_data else None
         video_data = conv.video_data if conv.video_data else None
@@ -840,7 +842,9 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServingBase):
             if reasoning_parser and request.separate_reasoning:
                 try:
                     parser = ReasoningParser(
-                        model_type=reasoning_parser, stream_reasoning=False
+                        model_type=reasoning_parser,
+                        stream_reasoning=False,
+                        force_reasoning=self.template_manager.force_reasoning,
                     )
                     reasoning_text, text = parser.parse_non_stream(text)
                 except Exception as e:
@@ -1006,11 +1010,12 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServingBase):
             reasoning_parser_dict[index] = ReasoningParser(
                 self.tokenizer_manager.server_args.reasoning_parser,
                 request.stream_reasoning,
+                self.template_manager.force_reasoning,
             )
         reasoning_parser = reasoning_parser_dict[index]
         return reasoning_parser.parse_stream_chunk(delta)
 
-    def _get_enable_thinking_from_request(request: ChatCompletionRequest) -> bool:
+    def _get_enable_thinking_from_request(self, request: ChatCompletionRequest) -> bool:
         """Extracts the 'enable_thinking' flag from request chat_template_kwargs.
 
         NOTE: This parameter is only useful for models that support enable_thinking
@@ -1019,7 +1024,7 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServingBase):
         Args:
             request_obj: The request object (or an item from a list of requests).
         Returns:
-            The boolean value of 'enable_thinking' if found and not True, otherwise True.
+            The boolean value of 'enable_thinking' if found, otherwise False.
         """
         if (
             hasattr(request, "chat_template_kwargs")
@@ -1027,7 +1032,7 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServingBase):
             and request.chat_template_kwargs.get("enable_thinking") is not None
         ):
             return request.chat_template_kwargs.get("enable_thinking")
-        return True
+        return False
 
     async def _process_tool_call_stream(
         self,

python/sglang/srt/managers/template_manager.py

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ and code completion templates, eliminating global state and improving modularity
 import json
 import logging
 import os
+import re
 from typing import Optional
 
 from sglang.srt.code_completion_parser import (
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@ class TemplateManager:
         self._chat_template_name: Optional[str] = None
         self._completion_template_name: Optional[str] = None
         self._jinja_template_content_format: Optional[str] = "openai"
+        self._force_reasoning: bool = False
 
     @property
     def chat_template_name(self) -> Optional[str]:
@@ -70,6 +72,31 @@ class TemplateManager:
         """Get the detected template content format ('string' or 'openai' or None)."""
         return self._jinja_template_content_format
 
+    @property
+    def force_reasoning(self) -> bool:
+        """
+        Check if the current chat template enforces reasoning/thinking.
+
+        Returns:
+            True if the template contains reasoning patterns like <think> tags
+        """
+        return self._force_reasoning
+
+    def _detect_reasoning_pattern(self, template: str) -> bool:
+        """
+        Detect if the chat template contains reasoning/thinking patterns.
+        """
+        if template is None:
+            return False
+
+        force_reasoning_pattern = r"<\|im_start\|>assistant\\n<think>\\n"
+        has_reasoning = re.search(force_reasoning_pattern, template) is not None
+
+        if has_reasoning:
+            logger.info("Detected the force reasoning pattern in chat template.")
+
+        return has_reasoning
+
     def load_chat_template(
         self, tokenizer_manager, chat_template_arg: Optional[str], model_path: str
     ) -> None:
@@ -93,7 +120,8 @@ class TemplateManager:
                 hf_template = self._resolve_hf_chat_template(tokenizer_manager)
                 if hf_template:
                     # override the chat template
-                    tokenizer_manager.tokenizer.chat_template = hf_template
+                    if tokenizer_manager.tokenizer:
+                        tokenizer_manager.tokenizer.chat_template = hf_template
                     self._jinja_template_content_format = (
                         detect_jinja_template_content_format(hf_template)
                     )
@@ -106,6 +134,12 @@ class TemplateManager:
             self._jinja_template_content_format = "string"
             logger.info("No chat template found, defaulting to 'string' content format")
 
+        # Detect reasoning pattern from chat template
+        if tokenizer_manager.tokenizer:
+            self._force_reasoning = self._detect_reasoning_pattern(
+                tokenizer_manager.tokenizer.chat_template
+            )
+
     def _load_explicit_chat_template(
         self, tokenizer_manager, chat_template_arg: str
     ) -> None:

python/sglang/srt/reasoning_parser.py

@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ class DeepSeekR1Detector(BaseReasoningFormatDetector):
             If True, streams reasoning content as it arrives.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, stream_reasoning: bool = True):
+    def __init__(self, stream_reasoning: bool = True, force_reasoning: bool = True):
         # DeepSeek-R1 is assumed to be reasoning until `</think>` token
         super().__init__(
             "<think>",
@@ -144,7 +144,7 @@ class DeepSeekR1Detector(BaseReasoningFormatDetector):
 
 class Qwen3Detector(BaseReasoningFormatDetector):
     """
-    Detector for standard Qwen3 models (e.g., Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B).
+    Detector for Qwen3 models (e.g., Qwen/Qwen3-235B-A22B).
     Assumes reasoning format:
       (<think>)*(.*)</think>
 
@@ -153,47 +153,16 @@ class Qwen3Detector(BaseReasoningFormatDetector):
       - enable_thinking=True: "<think>reasoning content</think>The answer is 42."
       - enable_thinking=False: "The answer is 42." (no thinking tokens)
 
-    This detector handles both cases.
-
-    NOTE: Do NOT use this detector for Qwen3-Thinking models (e.g., Qwen3-Thinking-2507).
-    Those models always generate thinking content without <think> start tags.
-    Use "qwen3-thinking" parser type for those models instead.
-
     Args:
         stream_reasoning (bool): If False, accumulates reasoning content until the end tag.
             If True, streams reasoning content as it arrives.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, stream_reasoning: bool = True):
+    def __init__(self, stream_reasoning: bool = True, force_reasoning: bool = False):
         super().__init__(
             "<think>",
             "</think>",
-            force_reasoning=False,
+            force_reasoning=force_reasoning,
-            stream_reasoning=stream_reasoning,
-        )
-
-
-class Qwen3ThinkingDetector(BaseReasoningFormatDetector):
-    """
-    Detector for Qwen3-Thinking models (e.g., Qwen3-Thinking-2507).
-    Assumes reasoning format:
-      *(.*)</think>
-
-    These models always generate thinking content without <think> start tag.
-    They do not support the enable_thinking parameter and always think.
-
-    Format: "I need to think about this...</think>The answer is 42."
-
-    Args:
-        stream_reasoning (bool): If False, accumulates reasoning content until the end tag.
-            If True, streams reasoning content as it arrives.
-    """
-
-    def __init__(self, stream_reasoning: bool = True):
-        super().__init__(
-            "<think>",
-            "</think>",
-            force_reasoning=True,
             stream_reasoning=stream_reasoning,
         )
 
@@ -207,7 +176,7 @@ class KimiDetector(BaseReasoningFormatDetector):
     and the rest of the text as `normal_text`.
     """
 
-    def __init__(self, stream_reasoning: bool = True):
+    def __init__(self, stream_reasoning: bool = True, force_reasoning: bool = False):
         super().__init__(
             "◁think▷",
             "◁/think▷",
@@ -230,13 +199,18 @@ class ReasoningParser:
     DetectorMap: Dict[str, Type[BaseReasoningFormatDetector]] = {
         "deepseek-r1": DeepSeekR1Detector,
         "qwen3": Qwen3Detector,
-        "qwen3-thinking": Qwen3ThinkingDetector,
+        "qwen3-thinking": Qwen3Detector,
         "glm45": Qwen3Detector,
         "kimi": KimiDetector,
         "step3": DeepSeekR1Detector,
     }
 
-    def __init__(self, model_type: Optional[str] = None, stream_reasoning: bool = True):
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        model_type: Optional[str] = None,
+        stream_reasoning: bool = True,
+        force_reasoning: bool = False,
+    ):
         if not model_type:
             raise ValueError("Model type must be specified")
 
@@ -244,7 +218,12 @@ class ReasoningParser:
         if not detector_class:
             raise ValueError(f"Unsupported model type: {model_type}")
 
-        self.detector = detector_class(stream_reasoning=stream_reasoning)
+        if model_type.lower() == "qwen3-thinking":
+            force_reasoning = True
+
+        self.detector = detector_class(
+            stream_reasoning=stream_reasoning, force_reasoning=force_reasoning
+        )
 
     def parse_non_stream(self, full_text: str) -> Tuple[str, str]:
         """Non-streaming call: one-time parsing"""

test/srt/test_reasoning_parser.py

@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ from sglang.srt.reasoning_parser import (
     DeepSeekR1Detector,
     KimiDetector,
     Qwen3Detector,
-    Qwen3ThinkingDetector,
     ReasoningParser,
     StreamingParseResult,
 )
@@ -216,19 +215,19 @@ class TestQwen3Detector(CustomTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(result.reasoning_text, "")
 
 
-class TestQwen3ThinkingDetector(CustomTestCase):
+class TestQwen3ForcedReasoningDetector(CustomTestCase):
     def setUp(self):
-        self.detector = Qwen3ThinkingDetector()
+        self.detector = Qwen3Detector(force_reasoning=True)
 
     def test_init(self):
-        """Test Qwen3ThinkingDetector initialization."""
+        """Test Qwen3ForcedReasoningDetector initialization."""
         self.assertEqual(self.detector.think_start_token, "<think>")
         self.assertEqual(self.detector.think_end_token, "</think>")
         self.assertTrue(self.detector._in_reasoning)  # force_reasoning=True
         self.assertTrue(self.detector.stream_reasoning)
 
-    def test_detect_and_parse_qwen3_thinking_format(self):
+    def test_detect_and_parse_qwen3_forced_reasoning_format(self):
-        """Test parsing Qwen3-Thinking format (no <think> start tag)."""
+        """Test parsing Qwen3-ForcedReasoning format (no <think> start tag)."""
         text = "I need to think about this step by step.</think>The answer is 42."
         result = self.detector.detect_and_parse(text)
         self.assertEqual(
@@ -237,15 +236,15 @@ class TestQwen3ThinkingDetector(CustomTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(result.normal_text, "The answer is 42.")
 
     def test_detect_and_parse_with_start_token(self):
-        """Test parsing Qwen3-Thinking with optional <think> start tag."""
+        """Test parsing Qwen3-ForcedReasoning with optional <think> start tag."""
         text = "<think>I need to think about this.</think>The answer is 42."
         result = self.detector.detect_and_parse(text)
         # Should work because base class logic handles both force_reasoning=True OR start token
         self.assertEqual(result.reasoning_text, "I need to think about this.")
         self.assertEqual(result.normal_text, "The answer is 42.")
 
-    def test_streaming_qwen3_thinking_format(self):
+    def test_streaming_qwen3_forced_reasoning_format(self):
-        """Test streaming parse of Qwen3-Thinking format."""
+        """Test streaming parse of Qwen3-ForcedReasoning format."""
         # First chunk without <think> start
         result = self.detector.parse_streaming_increment("I need to")
         self.assertEqual(result.reasoning_text, "I need to")
@@ -320,9 +319,6 @@ class TestReasoningParser(CustomTestCase):
         parser = ReasoningParser("qwen3")
         self.assertIsInstance(parser.detector, Qwen3Detector)
 
-        parser = ReasoningParser("qwen3-thinking")
-        self.assertIsInstance(parser.detector, Qwen3ThinkingDetector)
-
         parser = ReasoningParser("kimi")
         self.assertIsInstance(parser.detector, KimiDetector)
 
@@ -370,13 +366,11 @@ class TestReasoningParser(CustomTestCase):
         """Test case insensitive model type matching."""
         parser1 = ReasoningParser("DeepSeek-R1")
         parser2 = ReasoningParser("QWEN3")
-        parser3 = ReasoningParser("QWEN3-THINKING")
+        parser3 = ReasoningParser("Kimi")
-        parser4 = ReasoningParser("Kimi")
 
         self.assertIsInstance(parser1.detector, DeepSeekR1Detector)
         self.assertIsInstance(parser2.detector, Qwen3Detector)
-        self.assertIsInstance(parser3.detector, Qwen3ThinkingDetector)
+        self.assertIsInstance(parser3.detector, KimiDetector)
-        self.assertIsInstance(parser4.detector, KimiDetector)
 
     def test_stream_reasoning_parameter(self):
         """Test stream_reasoning parameter is passed correctly."""
@@ -458,9 +452,9 @@ class TestIntegrationScenarios(CustomTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(reasoning, "")
         self.assertEqual(normal, "Just the answer.")
 
-    def test_qwen3_thinking_complete_response(self):
+    def test_qwen3_forced_reasoning_complete_response(self):
-        """Test complete Qwen3-Thinking response parsing."""
+        """Test complete Qwen3-ForcedReasoning response parsing."""
-        parser = ReasoningParser("qwen3-thinking")
+        parser = ReasoningParser("qwen3", force_reasoning=True)
         text = "Let me solve this step by step. The equation is x + 2 = 5. Subtracting 2 from both sides gives x = 3.</think>The solution is x = 3."
 
         reasoning, normal = parser.parse_non_stream(text)
@@ -468,9 +462,9 @@ class TestIntegrationScenarios(CustomTestCase):
         self.assertIn("x = 3", reasoning)
         self.assertEqual(normal, "The solution is x = 3.")
 
-    def test_qwen3_thinking_streaming_scenario(self):
+    def test_qwen3_forced_reasoning_streaming_scenario(self):
-        """Test Qwen3-Thinking streaming scenario."""
+        """Test Qwen3-ForcedReasoning streaming scenario."""
-        parser = ReasoningParser("qwen3-thinking")
+        parser = ReasoningParser("qwen3", force_reasoning=True)
 
         chunks = [
             "I need to analyze",