codec-dev

name	codec-dev
description	Guidelines for developing the codec.cpp project, ensuring parity with llama.cpp architecture and conventions.

codec.cpp Development Guidelines

Implement the Audio Encoder/Decoder framework following 'llama.cpp' backbone patterns.

Core Rules:

1. Architecture: Use 'ggml' as the backend. Maintain 'codec_model' (shared weight data) and 'codec_context' (stateful inference) separation.
2. GPU Support: Use a simple 'bool use_gpu' flag in params instead of layer-based offloading, optimized for smaller audio models.
3. Format: Use GGUF exclusively for model files. Do not create new file structures.
4. Style: Pure C header (extern "C" for C++) with 4-space indentation, mirroring llama.cpp's coding style.
5. Implementation:
   • Current repo support includes WavTokenizer-Large, DAC, Mimi, Qwen3-TTS-Tokenizer, Soprano, NeMo-Nano-Codec, NeuCodec, and Chatterbox S3.
   • Models are registered via a vtable in src/codec.cpp; model structs live in src/models/<model>.h.
   • Graph sizing belongs to the model vtable. Do not add runtime kind-switch heuristics for graph capacity.
   • Keep runtime graph allocation exact. Eval graphs use exact DAG-derived capacity, and scheduler sizing must follow ggml's actual contract rather than blanket multipliers.
   • Weight layout conversion is a converter responsibility. Runtime code may validate and upload tensors, but must not transpose/reshape/reorder model weights.
   • If an operator is missing in GGML, implement it as a custom operator using existing GGML primitives where possible.
6. Submodule: ggml/ is a submodule; do not edit it directly unless explicitly asked to update the submodule.

Reference:

• Always refer to the latest 'llama.h' and 'ggml.h' patterns from the llama.cpp repository.