[Frontend] Support reasoning content for deepseek r1 (#12473)

Signed-off-by: Ce Gao <cegao@tensorchord.ai>
Co-authored-by: Rafael Vasquez <rafvasq21@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Cyrus Leung <cyrus.tl.leung@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Michael Goin <mgoin@redhat.com>

docs/source/features/reasoning_outputs.md

@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+(reasoning-outputs)=
+
+# Reasoning Outputs
+
+vLLM offers support for reasoning models like [DeepSeek R1](https://huggingface.co/deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-R1), which are designed to generate outputs containing both reasoning steps and final conclusions.
+
+Reasoning models return a additional `reasoning_content` field in their outputs, which contains the reasoning steps that led to the final conclusion. This field is not present in the outputs of other models.
+
+## Supported Models
+
+vLLM currently supports the following reasoning models:
+
+- [DeepSeek R1 series](https://huggingface.co/collections/deepseek-ai/deepseek-r1-678e1e131c0169c0bc89728d) (`deepseek_r1`, which looks for `<think> ... </think>`)
+
+## Quickstart
+
+To use reasoning models, you need to specify the `--enable-reasoning` and `--reasoning-parser` flags when making a request to the chat completion endpoint. The `--reasoning-parser` flag specifies the reasoning parser to use for extracting reasoning content from the model output.
+
+```bash
+vllm serve deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B \
+    --enable-reasoning --reasoning-parser deepseek_r1
+```
+
+Next, make a request to the model that should return the reasoning content in the response.
+
+```python
+from openai import OpenAI
+
+# Modify OpenAI's API key and API base to use vLLM's API server.
+openai_api_key = "EMPTY"
+openai_api_base = "http://localhost:8000/v1"
+
+client = OpenAI(
+    api_key=openai_api_key,
+    base_url=openai_api_base,
+)
+
+models = client.models.list()
+model = models.data[0].id
+
+# Round 1
+messages = [{"role": "user", "content": "9.11 and 9.8, which is greater?"}]
+response = client.chat.completions.create(model=model, messages=messages)
+
+reasoning_content = response.choices[0].message.reasoning_content
+content = response.choices[0].message.content
+
+print("reasoning_content:", reasoning_content)
+print("content:", content)
+```
+
+The `reasoning_content` field contains the reasoning steps that led to the final conclusion, while the `content` field contains the final conclusion.
+
+## Streaming chat completions
+
+Streaming chat completions are also supported for reasoning models. The `reasoning_content` field is available in the `delta` field in [chat completion response chunks](https://platform.openai.com/docs/api-reference/chat/streaming).
+
+```json
+{
+    "id": "chatcmpl-123",
+    "object": "chat.completion.chunk",
+    "created": 1694268190,
+    "model": "deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B",
+    "system_fingerprint": "fp_44709d6fcb",
+    "choices": [
+        {
+            "index": 0,
+            "delta": {
+                "role": "assistant",
+                "reasoning_content": "is",
+            },
+            "logprobs": null,
+            "finish_reason": null
+        }
+    ]
+}
+```
+
+Please note that it is not compatible with the OpenAI Python client library. You can use the `requests` library to make streaming requests.
+
+## How to support a new reasoning model
+
+You can add a new `ReasoningParser` similar to `vllm/entrypoints/openai/reasoning_parsers/deepseek_r1_reasoning_parser.py`.
+
+```python
+# import the required packages
+
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.reasoning_parsers.abs_reasoning_parsers import (
+    ReasoningParser, ReasoningParserManager)
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.protocol import (ChatCompletionRequest,
+                                              DeltaMessage)
+
+# define a reasoning parser and register it to vllm
+# the name list in register_module can be used
+# in --reasoning-parser.
+@ReasoningParserManager.register_module(["example"])
+class ExampleParser(ReasoningParser):
+    def __init__(self, tokenizer: AnyTokenizer):
+        super().__init__(tokenizer)
+
+    def extract_reasoning_content_streaming(
+        self,
+        previous_text: str,
+        current_text: str,
+        delta_text: str,
+        previous_token_ids: Sequence[int],
+        current_token_ids: Sequence[int],
+        delta_token_ids: Sequence[int],
+    ) -> Union[DeltaMessage, None]:
+        """
+        Instance method that should be implemented for extracting reasoning
+        from an incomplete response; for use when handling reasoning calls and
+        streaming. Has to be an instance method because  it requires state -
+        the current tokens/diffs, but also the information about what has
+        previously been parsed and extracted (see constructor)
+        """
+
+    def extract_reasoning_content(
+            self, model_output: str, request: ChatCompletionRequest
+    ) -> Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[str]]:
+        """
+        Extract reasoning content from a complete model-generated string.
+
+        Used for non-streaming responses where we have the entire model response
+        available before sending to the client.
+
+        Parameters:
+        model_output: str
+            The model-generated string to extract reasoning content from.
+
+        request: ChatCompletionRequest
+            The request object that was used to generate the model_output.
+
+        Returns:
+        Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[str]]
+            A tuple containing the reasoning content and the content.
+        """
+```
+
+After defining the reasoning parser, you can use it by specifying the `--reasoning-parser` flag when making a request to the chat completion endpoint.
+
+```bash
+vllm serve <model_tag> \
+    --enable-reasoning --reasoning-parser example
+```
+
+## Limitations
+
+- The reasoning content is only available for online serving's chat completion endpoint (`/v1/chat/completions`).
+- It is not compatible with the [`structured_outputs`](#structured_outputs) and [`tool_calling`](#tool_calling) features.
+- The reasoning content is not available for all models. Check the model's documentation to see if it supports reasoning.

docs/source/index.md

@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ models/extensions/index
 features/quantization/index
 features/lora
 features/tool_calling
+features/reasoning_outputs
 features/structured_outputs
 features/automatic_prefix_caching
 features/disagg_prefill

examples/online_serving/openai_chat_completion_with_reasoning.py

@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+"""
+An example shows how to generate chat completions from reasoning models
+like DeepSeekR1.
+
+To run this example, you need to start the vLLM server with the reasoning 
+parser:
+
+```bash
+vllm serve deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B \
+     --enable-reasoning --reasoning-parser deepseek_r1
+```
+
+This example demonstrates how to generate chat completions from reasoning models
+using the OpenAI Python client library.
+"""
+
+from openai import OpenAI
+
+# Modify OpenAI's API key and API base to use vLLM's API server.
+openai_api_key = "EMPTY"
+openai_api_base = "http://localhost:8000/v1"
+
+client = OpenAI(
+    api_key=openai_api_key,
+    base_url=openai_api_base,
+)
+
+models = client.models.list()
+model = models.data[0].id
+
+# Round 1
+messages = [{"role": "user", "content": "9.11 and 9.8, which is greater?"}]
+response = client.chat.completions.create(model=model, messages=messages)
+
+reasoning_content = response.choices[0].message.reasoning_content
+content = response.choices[0].message.content
+
+print("reasoning_content:", reasoning_content)
+print("content:", content)
+
+# Round 2
+messages.append({"role": "assistant", "content": content})
+messages.append({
+    "role": "user",
+    "content": "How many Rs are there in the word 'strawberry'?",
+})
+response = client.chat.completions.create(model=model, messages=messages)
+
+reasoning_content = response.choices[0].message.reasoning_content
+content = response.choices[0].message.content
+
+print("reasoning_content:", reasoning_content)
+print("content:", content)

examples/online_serving/openai_chat_completion_with_reasoning_streaming.py

@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+"""
+An example shows how to generate chat completions from reasoning models
+like DeepSeekR1.
+
+To run this example, you need to start the vLLM server with the reasoning 
+parser:
+
+```bash
+vllm serve deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B \
+     --enable-reasoning --reasoning-parser deepseek_r1
+```
+
+Unlike openai_chat_completion_with_reasoning.py, this example demonstrates the
+streaming chat completions feature.
+
+The streaming chat completions feature allows you to receive chat completions
+in real-time as they are generated by the model. This is useful for scenarios
+where you want to display chat completions to the user as they are generated
+by the model.
+
+Here we do not use the OpenAI Python client library, because it does not support
+`reasoning_content` fields in the response.
+"""
+
+import json
+
+import requests
+
+# Modify OpenAI's API key and API base to use vLLM's API server.
+openai_api_key = "EMPTY"
+openai_api_base = "http://localhost:8000/v1"
+
+models = requests.get(
+    f"{openai_api_base}/models",
+    headers={
+        "Authorization": f"Bearer {openai_api_key}"
+    },
+).json()
+model = models["data"][0]["id"]
+
+# Streaming chat completions
+messages = [{"role": "user", "content": "9.11 and 9.8, which is greater?"}]
+
+response = requests.post(
+    f"{openai_api_base}/chat/completions",
+    headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {openai_api_key}"},
+    json={
+        "model": model,
+        "messages": messages,
+        "stream": True
+    },
+)
+
+print("client: Start streaming chat completions...")
+printed_reasoning_content = False
+printed_content = False
+# Make the streaming request
+if response.status_code == 200:
+    # Process the streaming response
+    for line in response.iter_lines():
+        if line:  # Filter out keep-alive new lines
+            # Decode the line and parse the JSON
+            decoded_line = line.decode("utf-8")
+            if decoded_line.startswith("data:"):
+                data = decoded_line[5:].strip()  # Remove "data:" prefix
+                if data == "[DONE]":  # End of stream
+                    print("\nclient: Stream completed.")
+                    break
+                try:
+                    # Parse the JSON data
+                    chunk = json.loads(data)
+                    reasoning_content = chunk["choices"][0]["delta"].get(
+                        "reasoning_content", "")
+                    content = chunk["choices"][0]["delta"].get("content", "")
+
+                    if reasoning_content:
+                        if not printed_reasoning_content:
+                            printed_reasoning_content = True
+                            print("reasoning_content:", end="", flush=True)
+                        print(reasoning_content, end="", flush=True)
+                    elif content:
+                        if not printed_content:
+                            printed_content = True
+                            print("\ncontent:", end="", flush=True)
+                        # Extract and print the content
+                        print(content, end="", flush=True)
+                except json.JSONDecodeError:
+                    print("Error decoding JSON:", decoded_line)
+else:
+    print(f"Error: {response.status_code} - {response.text}")

tests/entrypoints/openai/reasoning_parsers/test_deepseekr1_reasoning_parser.py

@@ -0,0 +1,120 @@
+from typing import List
+
+import pytest
+from transformers import AutoTokenizer
+
+from tests.entrypoints.openai.reasoning_parsers.utils import (
+    run_reasoning_extraction)
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.reasoning_parsers import (ReasoningParser,
+                                                       ReasoningParserManager)
+
+parser_name = "deepseek_r1"
+start_token = "<think>"
+end_token = "</think>"
+
+SIMPLE_REASONING = {
+    "output": "<think>This is a reasoning section</think>This is the rest",
+    "reasoning_content": "This is a reasoning section",
+    "content": "This is the rest",
+}
+COMPLETE_REASONING = {
+    "output": "<think>This is a reasoning section</think>",
+    "reasoning_content": "This is a reasoning section",
+    "content": None,
+}
+NO_REASONING = {
+    "output": "This is a reasoning section",
+    "reasoning_content": None,
+    "content": "This is a reasoning section",
+}
+MULTIPLE_LINES = {
+    "output": "<think>This\nThat</think>This is the rest\nThat",
+    "reasoning_content": "This\nThat",
+    "content": "This is the rest\nThat",
+}
+SHORTEST_REASONING_NO_STREAMING = {
+    "output": "<think></think>This is the rest",
+    "reasoning_content": "",
+    "content": "This is the rest",
+}
+SHORTEST_REASONING = {
+    "output": "<think></think>This is the rest",
+    "reasoning_content": None,
+    "content": "This is the rest",
+}
+
+TEST_CASES = [
+    pytest.param(
+        False,
+        SIMPLE_REASONING,
+        id="simple_streaming",
+    ),
+    pytest.param(
+        True,
+        SIMPLE_REASONING,
+        id="simple_streaming",
+    ),
+    pytest.param(
+        False,
+        COMPLETE_REASONING,
+        id="complete_streaming",
+    ),
+    pytest.param(
+        True,
+        COMPLETE_REASONING,
+        id="complete_streaming",
+    ),
+    pytest.param(
+        False,
+        NO_REASONING,
+        id="no_streaming",
+    ),
+    pytest.param(
+        True,
+        NO_REASONING,
+        id="no_streaming",
+    ),
+    pytest.param(
+        False,
+        MULTIPLE_LINES,
+        id="multiple_lines_streaming",
+    ),
+    pytest.param(
+        True,
+        MULTIPLE_LINES,
+        id="multiple_lines_streaming",
+    ),
+    pytest.param(
+        True,
+        SHORTEST_REASONING,
+        id="shortest_streaming",
+    ),
+    pytest.param(
+        False,
+        SHORTEST_REASONING_NO_STREAMING,
+        id="shortest_streaming",
+    ),
+]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("streaming, param_dict", TEST_CASES)
+def test_reasoning(
+    streaming: bool,
+    param_dict: dict,
+):
+    tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("facebook/opt-125m")
+    tokenizer.add_tokens([start_token, end_token])
+    output = tokenizer.tokenize(param_dict["output"])
+    # decode everything to tokens
+    output_tokens: List[str] = [
+        tokenizer.convert_tokens_to_string([token]) for token in output
+    ]
+    parser: ReasoningParser = ReasoningParserManager.get_reasoning_parser(
+        parser_name)(tokenizer)
+
+    reasoning, content = run_reasoning_extraction(parser,
+                                                  output_tokens,
+                                                  streaming=streaming)
+
+    assert reasoning == param_dict["reasoning_content"]
+    assert content == param_dict["content"]

tests/entrypoints/openai/reasoning_parsers/utils.py

@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+from typing import List, Optional, Tuple, Union
+
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.protocol import (ChatCompletionRequest,
+                                              DeltaMessage)
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.reasoning_parsers import ReasoningParser
+
+
+class StreamingReasoningReconstructor:
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        self.reasoning_content = None
+        self.other_content = None
+
+    def append_delta(self, delta: DeltaMessage):
+        # content and the reasoning content should not be present
+        # at the same time
+        assert delta.content is None or delta.reasoning_content is None, (
+            "Both content and reasoning content are present in the "
+            "delta message")
+        if delta.content is not None:
+            if self.other_content is None:
+                self.other_content = delta.content
+            else:
+                self.other_content += delta.content
+        else:
+            if self.reasoning_content is None:
+                self.reasoning_content = delta.reasoning_content
+            else:
+                self.reasoning_content += delta.reasoning_content
+
+
+def run_reasoning_extraction(
+    reasoning_parser: ReasoningParser,
+    model_output: List[str],
+    request: Union[ChatCompletionRequest, None] = None,
+    streaming: bool = False,
+) -> Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[str]]:
+    if streaming:
+        reconstructor = run_reasoning_extraction_streaming(
+            reasoning_parser,
+            model_output,
+            request,
+        )
+        return (
+            reconstructor.reasoning_content,
+            reconstructor.other_content or None,
+        )
+    else:
+        reasoning, content = run_reasoning_extraction_nonstreaming(
+            reasoning_parser, model_output, request)
+        return reasoning, content
+
+
+def run_reasoning_extraction_nonstreaming(
+    reasoning_parser: ReasoningParser,
+    model_output: List[str],
+    request: Union[ChatCompletionRequest, None] = None,
+) -> Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[str]]:
+    request = request or ChatCompletionRequest(messages=[], model="test-model")
+    return reasoning_parser.extract_reasoning_content(
+        model_output=''.join(model_output), request=request)
+
+
+def run_reasoning_extraction_streaming(
+    reasoning_parser: ReasoningParser,
+    model_deltas: List[str],
+    request: Union[ChatCompletionRequest, None] = None,
+) -> StreamingReasoningReconstructor:
+    request = request or ChatCompletionRequest(messages=[], model="test-model")
+    reconstructor = StreamingReasoningReconstructor()
+    previous_text = ""
+    previous_tokens: List[int] = []
+    for delta in model_deltas:
+        token_delta = [
+            reasoning_parser.vocab.get(token)
+            for token in reasoning_parser.model_tokenizer.tokenize(delta)
+            if token in reasoning_parser.vocab
+        ]
+        current_text = previous_text + delta
+        current_tokens = previous_tokens + token_delta
+        delta_message = reasoning_parser.extract_reasoning_content_streaming(
+            previous_text,
+            current_text,
+            delta,
+            previous_tokens,
+            current_tokens,
+            token_delta,
+        )
+        if delta_message is not None:
+            reconstructor.append_delta(delta_message)
+        previous_text = current_text
+        previous_tokens = current_tokens
+    return reconstructor

tests/entrypoints/openai/test_cli_args.py

@@ -116,6 +116,35 @@ def test_enable_auto_choice_passes_with_tool_call_parser(serve_parser):
     validate_parsed_serve_args(args)
 
 
+def test_enable_auto_choice_fails_with_enable_reasoning(serve_parser):
+    """Ensure validation fails if reasoning is enabled with auto tool choice"""
+    args = serve_parser.parse_args(args=[
+        "--enable-auto-tool-choice",
+        "--enable-reasoning",
+    ])
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError):
+        validate_parsed_serve_args(args)
+
+
+def test_enable_reasoning_passes_with_reasoning_parser(serve_parser):
+    """Ensure validation passes if reasoning is enabled 
+    with a reasoning parser"""
+    args = serve_parser.parse_args(args=[
+        "--enable-reasoning",
+        "--reasoning-parser",
+        "deepseek_r1",
+    ])
+    validate_parsed_serve_args(args)
+
+
+def test_enable_reasoning_fails_without_reasoning_parser(serve_parser):
+    """Ensure validation fails if reasoning is enabled 
+    without a reasoning parser"""
+    args = serve_parser.parse_args(args=["--enable-reasoning"])
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError):
+        validate_parsed_serve_args(args)
+
+
 def test_chat_template_validation_for_happy_paths(serve_parser):
     """Ensure validation passes if the chat template exists"""
     args = serve_parser.parse_args(

vllm/entrypoints/openai/api_server.py

@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ from vllm.entrypoints.openai.protocol import (ChatCompletionRequest,
                                               TokenizeRequest,
                                               TokenizeResponse,
                                               UnloadLoraAdapterRequest)
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.reasoning_parsers import ReasoningParserManager
 # yapf: enable
 from vllm.entrypoints.openai.serving_chat import OpenAIServingChat
 from vllm.entrypoints.openai.serving_completion import OpenAIServingCompletion
@@ -771,6 +772,8 @@ async def init_app_state(
         return_tokens_as_token_ids=args.return_tokens_as_token_ids,
         enable_auto_tools=args.enable_auto_tool_choice,
         tool_parser=args.tool_call_parser,
+        enable_reasoning=args.enable_reasoning,
+        reasoning_parser=args.reasoning_parser,
         enable_prompt_tokens_details=args.enable_prompt_tokens_details,
     ) if model_config.runner_type == "generate" else None
     state.openai_serving_completion = OpenAIServingCompletion(
@@ -844,6 +847,13 @@ async def run_server(args, **uvicorn_kwargs) -> None:
         raise KeyError(f"invalid tool call parser: {args.tool_call_parser} "
                        f"(chose from {{ {','.join(valid_tool_parses)} }})")
 
+    valid_reasoning_parses = ReasoningParserManager.reasoning_parsers.keys()
+    if args.enable_reasoning \
+        and args.reasoning_parser not in valid_reasoning_parses:
+        raise KeyError(
+            f"invalid reasoning parser: {args.reasoning_parser} "
+            f"(chose from {{ {','.join(valid_reasoning_parses)} }})")
+
     # workaround to make sure that we bind the port before the engine is set up.
     # This avoids race conditions with ray.
     # see https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm/issues/8204

vllm/entrypoints/openai/cli_args.py

@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from typing import List, Optional, Sequence, Union, get_args
 from vllm.engine.arg_utils import AsyncEngineArgs, nullable_str
 from vllm.entrypoints.chat_utils import (ChatTemplateContentFormatOption,
                                          validate_chat_template)
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.reasoning_parsers import ReasoningParserManager
 from vllm.entrypoints.openai.serving_models import (LoRAModulePath,
                                                     PromptAdapterPath)
 from vllm.entrypoints.openai.tool_parsers import ToolParserManager
@@ -208,6 +209,23 @@ def make_arg_parser(parser: FlexibleArgumentParser) -> FlexibleArgumentParser:
         default=False,
         help="Enable auto tool choice for supported models. Use "
         "``--tool-call-parser`` to specify which parser to use.")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--enable-reasoning",
+        action="store_true",
+        default=False,
+        help="Whether to enable reasoning_content for the model. "
+        "If enabled, the model will be able to generate reasoning content.")
+
+    valid_reasoning_parsers = ReasoningParserManager.reasoning_parsers.keys()
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--reasoning-parser",
+        type=str,
+        metavar="{" + ",".join(valid_reasoning_parsers) + "}",
+        default=None,
+        help=
+        "Select the reasoning parser depending on the model that you're using."
+        " This is used to parse the reasoning content into OpenAI API "
+        "format. Required for ``--enable-reasoning``.")
 
     valid_tool_parsers = ToolParserManager.tool_parsers.keys()
     parser.add_argument(
@@ -267,6 +285,18 @@ def validate_parsed_serve_args(args: argparse.Namespace):
         raise TypeError("Error: --enable-auto-tool-choice requires "
                         "--tool-call-parser")
 
+    # Enable reasoning needs a reasoning parser to be valid
+    if args.enable_reasoning and not args.reasoning_parser:
+        raise TypeError("Error: --enable-reasoning requires "
+                        "--reasoning-parser")
+
+    # Ref https://api-docs.deepseek.com/guides/reasoning_model
+    # tool call and reasoning cannot be enabled at the same time.
+    if args.enable_auto_tool_choice and args.enable_reasoning:
+        raise TypeError(
+            "Error: --enable-auto-tool-choice and "
+            "--enable-reasoning cannot be enabled at the same time")
+
 
 def create_parser_for_docs() -> FlexibleArgumentParser:
     parser_for_docs = FlexibleArgumentParser(

vllm/entrypoints/openai/protocol.py

@@ -1202,6 +1202,7 @@ class ExtractedToolCallInformation(BaseModel):
 
 class ChatMessage(OpenAIBaseModel):
     role: str
+    reasoning_content: Optional[str] = None
     content: Optional[str] = None
     tool_calls: List[ToolCall] = Field(default_factory=list)
 
@@ -1243,6 +1244,7 @@ class ChatCompletionResponse(OpenAIBaseModel):
 class DeltaMessage(OpenAIBaseModel):
     role: Optional[str] = None
     content: Optional[str] = None
+    reasoning_content: Optional[str] = None
     tool_calls: List[DeltaToolCall] = Field(default_factory=list)
 
 

vllm/entrypoints/openai/reasoning_parsers/__init__.py

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+from .abs_reasoning_parsers import ReasoningParser, ReasoningParserManager
+from .deepseek_r1_reasoning_parser import DeepSeekR1ReasoningParser
+
+__all__ = [
+    "ReasoningParser", "ReasoningParserManager", "DeepSeekR1ReasoningParser"
+]

vllm/entrypoints/openai/reasoning_parsers/abs_reasoning_parsers.py

@@ -0,0 +1,158 @@
+import os
+from functools import cached_property
+from typing import Callable, Dict, List, Optional, Sequence, Tuple, Type, Union
+
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.protocol import (ChatCompletionRequest,
+                                              DeltaMessage)
+from vllm.logger import init_logger
+from vllm.transformers_utils.tokenizer import AnyTokenizer
+from vllm.utils import import_from_path, is_list_of
+
+logger = init_logger(__name__)
+
+
+class ReasoningParser:
+    """
+    Abstract reasoning parser class that should not be used directly. 
+    Provided and methods should be used in derived classes.
+
+    It is used to extract reasoning content from the model output.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, tokenizer: AnyTokenizer):
+        self.model_tokenizer = tokenizer
+
+    @cached_property
+    def vocab(self) -> Dict[str, int]:
+        # NOTE: Only PreTrainedTokenizerFast is guaranteed to have .vocab
+        # whereas all tokenizers have .get_vocab()
+        return self.model_tokenizer.get_vocab()
+
+    def extract_reasoning_content(
+            self, model_output: str, request: ChatCompletionRequest
+    ) -> Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[str]]:
+        """
+        Extract reasoning content from a complete model-generated string.
+
+        Used for non-streaming responses where we have the entire model response
+        available before sending to the client.
+
+        Parameters:
+        model_output: str
+            The model-generated string to extract reasoning content from.
+
+        request: ChatCompletionRequest
+            The request object that was used to generate the model_output.
+
+        Returns:
+        Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[str]]
+            A tuple containing the reasoning content and the content.
+        """
+
+        raise NotImplementedError(
+            "AbstractReasoningParser.extract_reasoning_calls "
+            "has not been implemented!")
+
+    def extract_reasoning_content_streaming(
+        self,
+        previous_text: str,
+        current_text: str,
+        delta_text: str,
+        previous_token_ids: Sequence[int],
+        current_token_ids: Sequence[int],
+        delta_token_ids: Sequence[int],
+    ) -> Union[DeltaMessage, None]:
+        """
+        Instance method that should be implemented for extracting reasoning
+        from an incomplete response; for use when handling reasoning calls and
+        streaming. Has to be an instance method because  it requires state -
+        the current tokens/diffs, but also the information about what has
+        previously been parsed and extracted (see constructor)
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError(
+            "AbstractReasoningParser.extract_reasoning_content_streaming "
+            "has not been implemented!")
+
+
+class ReasoningParserManager:
+    reasoning_parsers: Dict[str, Type] = {}
+
+    @classmethod
+    def get_reasoning_parser(cls, name) -> Type:
+        """
+        Get reasoning parser by name which is registered by `register_module`.
+
+        Raise a KeyError exception if the name is not registered.
+        """
+        if name in cls.reasoning_parsers:
+            return cls.reasoning_parsers[name]
+
+        raise KeyError(f"reasoning helper: '{name}' not found in "
+                       "reasoning_parsers")
+
+    @classmethod
+    def _register_module(cls,
+                         module: Type,
+                         module_name: Optional[Union[str, List[str]]] = None,
+                         force: bool = True) -> None:
+        if not issubclass(module, ReasoningParser):
+            raise TypeError("module must be subclass of ReasoningParser, "
+                            f"but got {type(module)}")
+        if module_name is None:
+            module_name = module.__name__
+        if isinstance(module_name, str):
+            module_name = [module_name]
+        for name in module_name:
+            if not force and name in cls.reasoning_parsers:
+                existed_module = cls.reasoning_parsers[name]
+                raise KeyError(f"{name} is already registered "
+                               f"at {existed_module.__module__}")
+            cls.reasoning_parsers[name] = module
+
+    @classmethod
+    def register_module(
+            cls,
+            name: Optional[Union[str, List[str]]] = None,
+            force: bool = True,
+            module: Union[Type, None] = None) -> Union[type, Callable]:
+        """
+        Register module with the given name or name list. it can be used as a
+        decoder(with module as None) or normal function(with module as not 
+        None).
+        """
+        if not isinstance(force, bool):
+            raise TypeError(f"force must be a boolean, but got {type(force)}")
+
+        # raise the error ahead of time
+        if not (name is None or isinstance(name, str)
+                or is_list_of(name, str)):
+            raise TypeError(
+                "name must be None, an instance of str, or a sequence of str, "
+                f"but got {type(name)}")
+
+        # use it as a normal method: x.register_module(module=SomeClass)
+        if module is not None:
+            cls._register_module(module=module, module_name=name, force=force)
+            return module
+
+        # use it as a decorator: @x.register_module()
+        def _register(module):
+            cls._register_module(module=module, module_name=name, force=force)
+            return module
+
+        return _register
+
+    @classmethod
+    def import_reasoning_parser(cls, plugin_path: str) -> None:
+        """
+        Import a user-defined reasoning parser by the path 
+        of the reasoning parser define file.
+        """
+        module_name = os.path.splitext(os.path.basename(plugin_path))[0]
+
+        try:
+            import_from_path(module_name, plugin_path)
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Failed to load module '%s' from %s.",
+                             module_name, plugin_path)
+            return

vllm/entrypoints/openai/reasoning_parsers/deepseek_r1_reasoning_parser.py

@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+import re
+from typing import Optional, Sequence, Tuple, Union
+
+from transformers import PreTrainedTokenizerBase
+
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.protocol import (ChatCompletionRequest,
+                                              DeltaMessage)
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.reasoning_parsers.abs_reasoning_parsers import (
+    ReasoningParser, ReasoningParserManager)
+from vllm.logger import init_logger
+
+logger = init_logger(__name__)
+
+
+@ReasoningParserManager.register_module("deepseek_r1")
+class DeepSeekR1ReasoningParser(ReasoningParser):
+    """
+    Reasoning parser for DeepSeek R1 model.
+
+    The DeepSeek R1 model uses <think>...</think> tokens to denote reasoning 
+    text. This parser extracts the reasoning content from the model output.
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, tokenizer: PreTrainedTokenizerBase):
+        super().__init__(tokenizer)
+        self.think_start_token = "<think>"
+        self.think_end_token = "</think>"
+
+        self.reasoning_regex = re.compile(
+            rf"{self.think_start_token}(.*?){self.think_end_token}", re.DOTALL)
+
+        if not self.model_tokenizer:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "The model tokenizer must be passed to the ReasoningParser "
+                "constructor during construction.")
+
+        self.think_start_token_id = self.vocab.get(self.think_start_token)
+        self.think_end_token_id = self.vocab.get(self.think_end_token)
+        if (self.think_start_token_id is None
+                or self.think_end_token_id is None):
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                "DeepSeek R1 reasoning parser could not locate think start/end "
+                "tokens in the tokenizer!")
+
+    def extract_reasoning_content_streaming(
+        self,
+        previous_text: str,
+        current_text: str,
+        delta_text: str,
+        previous_token_ids: Sequence[int],
+        current_token_ids: Sequence[int],
+        delta_token_ids: Sequence[int],
+    ) -> Union[DeltaMessage, None]:
+        """
+        Extract reasoning content from a delta message.
+        Handles streaming output where previous + delta = current.
+        Uses token IDs for faster processing.
+        For text <think>abc</think>xyz:
+        - 'abc' goes to reasoning_content
+        - 'xyz' goes to content
+        """
+        # Skip single special tokens
+        if len(delta_token_ids) == 1 and (delta_token_ids[0] in [
+                self.think_start_token_id, self.think_end_token_id
+        ]):
+            return None
+
+        if self.think_start_token_id in previous_token_ids:
+            if self.think_end_token_id in delta_token_ids:
+                # <think> in previous, </think> in delta,
+                # extract reasoning content
+                end_index = delta_text.find(self.think_end_token)
+                reasoning_content = delta_text[:end_index]
+                content = delta_text[end_index + len(self.think_end_token):]
+                return DeltaMessage(reasoning_content=reasoning_content,
+                                    content=content if content else None)
+            elif self.think_end_token_id in previous_token_ids:
+                # <think> in previous, </think> in previous,
+                # reasoning content continues
+                return DeltaMessage(content=delta_text)
+            else:
+                # <think> in previous, no </think> in previous or delta,
+                # reasoning content continues
+                return DeltaMessage(reasoning_content=delta_text)
+        elif self.think_start_token_id in delta_token_ids:
+            logger.info(delta_text)
+            if self.think_end_token_id in delta_token_ids:
+                # <think> in delta, </think> in delta, extract reasoning content
+                start_index = delta_text.find(self.think_start_token)
+                end_index = delta_text.find(self.think_end_token)
+                reasoning_content = delta_text[start_index +
+                                               len(self.think_start_token
+                                                   ):end_index]
+                content = delta_text[end_index + len(self.think_end_token):]
+                return DeltaMessage(reasoning_content=reasoning_content,
+                                    content=content if content else None)
+            else:
+                # <think> in delta, no </think> in delta,
+                # reasoning content continues
+                return DeltaMessage(reasoning_content=delta_text)
+        else:
+            # No <think> in previous or delta, reasoning content continues.
+            return DeltaMessage(content=delta_text)
+
+    def extract_reasoning_content(
+            self, model_output: str, request: ChatCompletionRequest
+    ) -> Tuple[Optional[str], Optional[str]]:
+
+        # Check if the model output contains the <think> tokens.
+        if (self.think_start_token not in model_output
+                or self.think_end_token not in model_output):
+            return None, model_output
+        else:
+            # Use a regex to find the reasoning content
+            reasoning_content = self.reasoning_regex.findall(model_output)[0]
+
+            # Remove the reasoning content from the model output
+            # Although deepseek's <think> token is always at the
+            # beginning of the line, we cannot guarantee that the
+            # other models will follow this convention.
+            # Therefore, we need to add :start_index.
+            start_index = model_output.find(self.think_start_token)
+            if start_index != -1:
+                end_index = start_index + len(
+                    f"{self.think_start_token}{reasoning_content}{self.think_end_token}"
+                )
+                model_output = model_output[:start_index] + \
+                                model_output[end_index:]
+
+                if len(model_output) == 0:
+                    return reasoning_content, None
+
+            return reasoning_content, model_output

vllm/entrypoints/openai/serving_chat.py

@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ from vllm.entrypoints.openai.protocol import (
     ChatCompletionStreamResponse, ChatMessage, DeltaFunctionCall, DeltaMessage,
     DeltaToolCall, ErrorResponse, FunctionCall, PromptTokenUsageInfo,
     RequestResponseMetadata, ToolCall, UsageInfo)
+from vllm.entrypoints.openai.reasoning_parsers import (ReasoningParser,
+                                                       ReasoningParserManager)
 from vllm.entrypoints.openai.serving_engine import OpenAIServing
 from vllm.entrypoints.openai.serving_models import OpenAIServingModels
 from vllm.entrypoints.openai.tool_parsers import ToolParser, ToolParserManager
@@ -47,6 +49,8 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServing):
         chat_template: Optional[str],
         chat_template_content_format: ChatTemplateContentFormatOption,
         return_tokens_as_token_ids: bool = False,
+        enable_reasoning: bool = False,
+        reasoning_parser: Optional[str] = None,
         enable_auto_tools: bool = False,
         tool_parser: Optional[str] = None,
         enable_prompt_tokens_details: bool = False,
@@ -69,6 +73,18 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServing):
                 " the parallel_tool_calls client option is preset for "
                 "compatibility reasons, it will be ignored.")
 
+        self.enable_reasoning: bool = enable_reasoning
+        self.reasoning_parser: Optional[Callable[[AnyTokenizer],
+                                                 ReasoningParser]] = None
+        if self.enable_reasoning:
+            try:
+                self.reasoning_parser = (
+                    ReasoningParserManager.get_reasoning_parser(
+                        reasoning_parser))
+            except Exception as e:
+                raise TypeError("Error: --enable-reasoning requires "
+                                f"reasoning_parser:'{reasoning_parser}' "
+                                "which has not been registered") from e
         self.tool_parser: Optional[Callable[[AnyTokenizer], ToolParser]] = None
         if self.enable_auto_tools:
             try:
@@ -285,14 +301,35 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServing):
             not tool_choice_function_name
             and self._should_stream_with_auto_tool_parsing(request))
 
+        should_stream_with_reasoning_parsing = (
+            self._should_stream_with_reasoning_parsing(request))
+
         all_previous_token_ids: Optional[List[List[int]]]
-        if tool_choice_auto:
+
+        # Only one of these will be used, thus previous_texts and
+        # all_previous_token_ids will not be used twice in the same iteration.
+        if tool_choice_auto or should_stream_with_reasoning_parsing:
             # These are only required in "auto" tool choice case
             previous_texts = [""] * num_choices
             all_previous_token_ids = [[]] * num_choices
         else:
             previous_texts, all_previous_token_ids = None, None
 
+        try:
+            # There is no need to check if the reasoning_parser is None
+            # because the should_stream_with_reasoning_parsing check
+            # already ensures that the reasoning_parser is not None.
+            # but the pre-commit hook requires it.
+            if should_stream_with_reasoning_parsing and \
+                self.reasoning_parser is not None:
+                reasoning_parser = self.reasoning_parser(tokenizer)
+        except RuntimeError as e:
+            logger.exception("Error in reasoning parser creation.")
+            data = self.create_streaming_error_response(str(e))
+            yield f"data: {data}\n\n"
+            yield "data: [DONE]\n\n"
+            return
+
         # Prepare the tool parser if it's needed
         try:
             if tool_choice_auto and self.tool_parser:
@@ -456,6 +493,32 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServing):
                         # update the previous values for the next iteration
                         previous_texts[i] = current_text
                         all_previous_token_ids[i] = current_token_ids
+                    # reasoning_content cannot be enabled with tool_choice.
+                    # If it is, the tool_choice will be used instead.
+                    elif self.enable_reasoning:
+                        # handle reasoning_content delta
+                        assert reasoning_parser is not None
+                        assert previous_texts is not None
+                        assert all_previous_token_ids is not None
+                        previous_text = previous_texts[i]
+                        previous_token_ids = all_previous_token_ids[i]
+                        current_text = previous_text + delta_text
+                        current_token_ids = previous_token_ids + list(
+                            output.token_ids)
+
+                        delta_message = (reasoning_parser.
+                                         extract_reasoning_content_streaming(
+                                             previous_text,
+                                             current_text,
+                                             delta_text,
+                                             previous_token_ids,
+                                             current_token_ids,
+                                             output.token_ids,
+                                         ))
+
+                        # update the previous values for the next iteration
+                        previous_texts[i] = current_text
+                        all_previous_token_ids[i] = current_token_ids
 
                     # handle streaming just a content delta
                     else:
@@ -642,17 +705,38 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServing):
             else:
                 logprobs = None
 
+            should_stream_with_reasoning_parsing = (
+                self._should_stream_with_reasoning_parsing(request))
+
             # In the OpenAI API the finish_reason is "tools_called"
             # if the tool choice is auto and the model produced a tool
             # call. The same is not true for named function calls
             auto_tools_called = False
 
+            if should_stream_with_reasoning_parsing and \
+                self.reasoning_parser is not None:
+                try:
+                    reasoning_parser = self.reasoning_parser(tokenizer)
+                except RuntimeError as e:
+                    logger.exception("Error in reasoning parser creation.")
+                    return self.create_error_response(str(e))
+
+                reasoning_content, content = (
+                    reasoning_parser.extract_reasoning_content(
+                        output.text, request=request))
+
+                if reasoning_content:
+                    message = ChatMessage(role=role,
+                                          content=content,
+                                          reasoning_content=reasoning_content)
+                else:
+                    message = ChatMessage(role=role, content=output.text)
+
             # if auto tools are not enabled, and a named tool choice using
             #   outlines is not being used
-            if (not self.enable_auto_tools
+            elif (not self.enable_auto_tools
                   or not self.tool_parser) and not isinstance(
-                        request.tool_choice,
+                      request.tool_choice, ChatCompletionNamedToolChoiceParam):
-                        ChatCompletionNamedToolChoiceParam):
                 message = ChatMessage(role=role, content=output.text)
 
             # if the request uses tools and specified a tool choice
@@ -835,6 +919,17 @@ class OpenAIServingChat(OpenAIServing):
         return (request.tools and self.tool_parser and self.enable_auto_tools
                 and request.tool_choice in ['auto', None])
 
+    def _should_stream_with_reasoning_parsing(self,
+                                              request: ChatCompletionRequest):
+        """
+            Utility function to check if streamed tokens should go through the
+            reasoning parser that was configured.
+    
+            We only want to do this IF reasoning is enabled and a reasoning 
+            parser is configured.
+            """
+        return self.enable_reasoning and self.reasoning_parser is not None
+
     def _should_check_for_unstreamed_tool_arg_tokens(
         self,
         delta_message: Optional[DeltaMessage],

vllm/scripts.py

@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ def main():
         "Must be a YAML with the following options:"
         "https://docs.vllm.ai/en/latest/serving/openai_compatible_server.html#cli-reference"
     )
+
     serve_parser = make_arg_parser(serve_parser)
     serve_parser.set_defaults(dispatch_function=serve)