152 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
152 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
# cortex
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A Rust reverse-proxy and fleet management layer for multi-node
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[mistral.rs](https://github.com/EricLBuehler/mistral.rs) inference clusters.
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## Problem
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Running local LLMs across multiple GPU nodes (different VRAM tiers, different
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model affinities) requires a unified API surface that:
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- Presents a **single `/v1/models` catalogue** merging every model across every
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node.
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- **Routes requests** to the correct node based on where a model is loaded (or
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*can* be loaded).
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- Manages **model lifecycle** — unload cold models, reload on demand, pin
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critical ones — using the mistral.rs
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`/v1/models/{unload,reload,status}` HTTP API (PR #1828+).
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- Translates between **OpenAI and Anthropic** request/response envelopes so
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every client in the homelab speaks whichever dialect it prefers.
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- Captures **per-request metrics** (tokens, tok/s, TTFT, latency) and exposes
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them as Prometheus counters/histograms.
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## Architecture
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```
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┌──────────────┐ ┌──────────┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌────────────┐
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│ Claude Code │ │ Zed/IDE │ │ Tidal / mm │ │ curl / etc │
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└──────┬───────┘ └─────┬────┘ └──────┬─────┘ └──────┬─────┘
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│ │ │ │
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└────────────────┴──────┬───────┴───────────────┘
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│
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┌──────────▼──────────┐
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│ cortex │
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│ (cortex-gateway) │
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│ │
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│ Router · Metrics │
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│ Evictor · Translate│
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└──┬──────┬────────┬──┘
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│ │ │
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┌──────────▼┐ ┌──▼─────┐ ┌▼──────────┐
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│ gpu-large │ │gpu-med │ │ gpu-small │
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│ mistralrs │ │mistral │ │ mistralrs │
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│ serve │ │rs serve│ │ serve │
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│ :8080 │ │ :8080 │ │ :8080 │
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└───────────┘ └────────┘ └───────────┘
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private network (.internal)
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```
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### Crates
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| Crate | Purpose |
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|---|---|
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| `cortex-core` | Shared types: config, node/model state, metrics, OpenAI/Anthropic request/response envelopes |
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| `cortex-gateway` | Axum HTTP server: proxy, router, evictor, metrics exporter |
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| `cortex-agent` | Per-node sidecar: polls local mistralrs, reports to gateway, handles restart/defrag |
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| `cortex-cli` | CLI entrypoint (`cortex serve`, `cortex status`, etc.) |
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## Node setup
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Each GPU node runs `mistralrs serve` with a multi-model config. Models are
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declared but start **unloaded** — mistral.rs lazy-loads on first request and
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the gateway can explicitly unload/reload via the HTTP API.
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Example node systemd unit:
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```ini
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# /etc/systemd/system/mistralrs.service
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[Unit]
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Description=mistral.rs inference server
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After=network-online.target
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Wants=network-online.target
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[Service]
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Type=simple
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ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/mistralrs serve \
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--from-config /etc/mistralrs/config.toml \
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--port 8080
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Restart=on-failure
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RestartSec=5
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Environment=CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=0,1
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[Install]
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WantedBy=multi-user.target
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```
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## Gateway config
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```toml
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# cortex.toml
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[gateway]
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listen = "0.0.0.0:8000"
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metrics_listen = "0.0.0.0:9100"
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[eviction]
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strategy = "lru" # lru | priority
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defrag_after_cycles = 50
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[[nodes]]
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name = "gpu-large"
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endpoint = "http://gpu-large.internal:8080"
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vram_mb = 49_152 # e.g. 2x RTX 4090
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pinned = ["your-org/large-model"]
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[[nodes]]
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name = "gpu-medium"
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endpoint = "http://gpu-medium.internal:8080"
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vram_mb = 24_576 # e.g. RTX 4090
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pinned = ["your-org/medium-model"]
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[[nodes]]
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name = "gpu-small"
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endpoint = "http://gpu-small.internal:8080"
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vram_mb = 12_288 # e.g. RTX 3060
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pinned = ["your-org/embedding-model"]
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```
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## Building
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```sh
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cargo build --release
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```
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## CI
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Every push triggers format, lint, and test checks. Ensure these pass
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locally before pushing:
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```sh
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cargo fmt --check --all # must be clean
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cargo clippy --workspace -- -D warnings # warnings are errors
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cargo test --workspace # all tests must pass
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```
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Tagged releases (`v*`) additionally build an SRPM and publish to COPR.
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## Running
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```sh
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# start the gateway
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cortex serve --config cortex.toml
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# check fleet status
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cortex status
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# list all models across nodes
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curl http://localhost:8000/v1/models
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```
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## License
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GPL-3.0
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