llm-katan 0.2.0

One tiny model, every LLM API. Drop-in test server for OpenAI, Anthropic, Bedrock, and Vertex.

LLM Katan - Lightweight LLM Server for Testing

A lightweight LLM serving package using FastAPI and HuggingFace transformers, designed for testing and development with real tiny models.

🎬 See Live Demo Interactive terminal showing multi-instance setup in action!

Features

• 🚀 FastAPI-based: High-performance async web server
• 🤗 HuggingFace Integration: Real model inference with transformers
• ⚡ Tiny Models: Ultra-lightweight models for fast testing (Qwen3-0.6B, etc.)
• 🔄 Multi-Instance: Run same model on different ports with different names
• 🎯 OpenAI Compatible: Drop-in replacement for OpenAI API endpoints
• 📦 PyPI Ready: Easy installation and distribution
• 🛠️ vLLM Support: Optional vLLM backend for production-like performance

Quick Start

Installation

Option 1: PyPI

pip install llm-katan

Option 2: Docker

# Pull and run the latest Docker image
docker pull ghcr.io/yossiovadia/llm-katan/llm-katan:latest
docker run -p 8000:8000 ghcr.io/yossiovadia/llm-katan/llm-katan:latest

# Or with custom model
docker run -p 8000:8000 ghcr.io/yossiovadia/llm-katan/llm-katan:latest \
  llm-katan --served-model-name "TinyLlama/TinyLlama-1.1B-Chat-v1.0"

Setup

HuggingFace Token (Required)

LLM Katan uses HuggingFace transformers to download models. You'll need a HuggingFace token for:

• Private models
• Avoiding rate limits
• Reliable model downloads

Option 1: Environment Variable

export HUGGINGFACE_HUB_TOKEN="your_token_here"

Option 2: Login via CLI

huggingface-cli login

Option 3: Token file in home directory

# Create ~/.cache/huggingface/token file with your token
echo "your_token_here" > ~/.cache/huggingface/token

Get your token: Visit https://huggingface.co/settings/tokens

Basic Usage

# Start server with a tiny model (quantization enabled by default for speed)
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --port 8000

# Start with custom served model name
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --port 8001 --served-model-name "TinyLlama/TinyLlama-1.1B-Chat-v1.0"

# Disable quantization for higher accuracy (slower)
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --port 8000 --no-quantize

# With vLLM backend (optional)
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --port 8000 --backend vllm

Multi-Instance Testing

🎬 Live Demo See this in action with animated terminals!

Note: If GitHub Pages isn't enabled, you can also download and open the demo locally

📺 Preview (click to expand)

# Terminal 1: Installing and starting GPT-3.5-Turbo mock
$ pip install llm-katan
Successfully installed llm-katan-0.1.8

$ llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --port 8000 --served-model-name "gpt-3.5-turbo"
🚀 Starting LLM Katan server with model: Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B
📛 Served model name: gpt-3.5-turbo
✅ Server running on http://0.0.0.0:8000

# Terminal 2: Starting Claude-3-Haiku mock
$ llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --port 8001 --served-model-name "claude-3-haiku"
🚀 Starting LLM Katan server with model: Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B
📛 Served model name: claude-3-haiku
✅ Server running on http://0.0.0.0:8001

# Terminal 3: Testing both endpoints
$ curl localhost:8000/v1/models | jq '.data[0].id'
"gpt-3.5-turbo"

$ curl localhost:8001/v1/models | jq '.data[0].id'
"claude-3-haiku"

# Same tiny model, different API names! 🎯

# Terminal 1: Mock GPT-3.5-Turbo
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --port 8000 --served-model-name "gpt-3.5-turbo"

# Terminal 2: Mock Claude-3-Haiku
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --port 8001 --served-model-name "claude-3-haiku"

# Terminal 3: Test both endpoints
curl http://localhost:8000/v1/models  # Returns "gpt-3.5-turbo"
curl http://localhost:8001/v1/models  # Returns "claude-3-haiku"

Perfect for testing multi-provider scenarios with one tiny model!

API Endpoints

• GET /health - Health check
• GET /v1/models - List available models
• POST /v1/chat/completions - Chat completions (OpenAI compatible)

Example API Usage

# Basic chat completion
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B-Instruct",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "What is the capital of France?"}
    ],
    "max_tokens": 50,
    "temperature": 0.7
  }'

# Creative writing example
curl -X POST http://127.0.0.1:8001/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "TinyLlama/TinyLlama-1.1B-Chat-v1.0",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "Write a short poem about coding"}
    ],
    "max_tokens": 100,
    "temperature": 0.8
  }'

# Check available models
curl http://127.0.0.1:8000/v1/models

# Health check
curl http://127.0.0.1:8000/health

CPU Optimization

LLM Katan includes automatic int8 quantization for CPU inference, providing significant performance improvements:

Performance Gains

• 2-4x faster inference on CPU (on supported platforms)
• 4x memory reduction
• Enabled by default for best testing experience
• Minimal quality impact (acceptable for testing scenarios)
• Platform support: Works best on Linux x86_64; may not be available on all platforms (e.g., Mac)

When to Use Quantization

✅ Enabled (default) - Recommended for:

• Fast E2E testing
• Development environments
• CI/CD pipelines
• Resource-constrained environments

❌ Disabled (--no-quantize) - Use when you need:

• Maximum accuracy (though tiny models have limited accuracy anyway)
• Debugging precision-sensitive issues
• Comparing with full-precision baselines

Example Performance

# Default: Fast with quantization (~50-100s per inference)
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B

# Slower but more accurate (~200s per inference)
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --no-quantize

Note: Even with quantization, llm-katan is slower than production tools like LM Studio (which uses llama.cpp with extensive optimizations). For production workloads, use vLLM, Ollama, or similar solutions.

Use Cases

Strengths

• Fastest time-to-test: 30 seconds from install to running
• Optimized for CPU: Automatic int8 quantization for 2-4x speedup
• Minimal resource footprint: Designed for tiny models and efficient testing
• No GPU required: Runs on laptops, Macs, and any CPU-only environment
• CI/CD integration friendly: Lightweight and automation-ready
• Multiple instances: Run same model with different names on different ports

Ideal For

• Automated testing pipelines: Quick LLM endpoint setup for test suites
• Development environment mocking: Real inference without production overhead
• Quick prototyping: Fast iteration with actual model behavior
• Educational/learning scenarios: Easy setup for AI development learning

Not Ideal For

• Production workloads: Use Ollama or vLLM for production deployments
• Large model serving: Designed for tiny models (< 1B parameters)
• Complex multi-agent workflows: Use Semantic Kernel or similar frameworks
• High-performance inference: Use vLLM or specialized serving solutions

Configuration

Command Line Options

# All available options
llm-katan [OPTIONS]

Required:
  -m, --model TEXT              Model name to load (e.g., 'Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B') [required]

Optional:
  -n, --name, --served-model-name TEXT
                                Model name to serve via API (defaults to model name)
  -p, --port INTEGER            Port to serve on (default: 8000)
  -h, --host TEXT               Host to bind to (default: 0.0.0.0)
  -b, --backend [transformers|vllm]      Backend to use (default: transformers)
  --max, --max-tokens INTEGER   Maximum tokens to generate (default: 512)
  -t, --temperature FLOAT       Sampling temperature (default: 0.7)
  -d, --device [auto|cpu|cuda]  Device to use (default: auto)
  --quantize/--no-quantize      Enable int8 quantization for faster CPU inference (default: enabled)
  --log-level [debug|info|warning|error]  Log level (default: INFO)
  --version                     Show version and exit
  --help                        Show help and exit

Advanced Usage Examples

# Custom generation settings
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --max-tokens 1024 --temperature 0.9

# Force specific device with full precision (no quantization)
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --device cpu --no-quantize --log-level debug

# Custom host and port
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --host 127.0.0.1 --port 9000

# Multiple servers with different settings
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --port 8000 --max-tokens 512 --temperature 0.1
llm-katan --model Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B --port 8001 \
  --name "TinyLlama/TinyLlama-1.1B-Chat-v1.0" --max-tokens 256 --temperature 0.9

Environment Variables

• LLM_KATAN_MODEL: Default model to load
• LLM_KATAN_PORT: Default port (8000)
• LLM_KATAN_BACKEND: Backend type (transformers|vllm)

Development

# Clone and install in development mode
git clone <repo>
cd llm-katan
pip install -e .

# Run with development dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

License

Apache-2.0 License

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please see the main repository for guidelines.

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Created by Yossi Ovadia