# LLM Streaming

The wire-level streaming vocabulary of [dsh-llm](../../packages/llm/llm). [core.md](core.md) introduces `StreamChunk`, `Message`, and `ContentBlock`; this page owns the full chunk protocol, the adapter contract every adapter must obey, and the shared assembler.

Source: [`packages/llm/llm/src/types.ts`](../../packages/llm/llm/src/types.ts)

## `StreamChunk` — the raw protocol

A streaming response interleaves several typed blocks (text, reasoning, multiple tool calls). `index` ties each delta to its block; `block-end` carries the fully-assembled `ContentBlock` so consumers don't have to re-assemble deltas themselves. It is a **closed** discriminated union — a `switch` over `type` ends with `assertNever`, so adding a variant breaks compilation at every consumer that must handle it.

```ts type-equiv
/**
 * Raw streaming protocol emitted by adapters.
 * Block indexes correlate interleaved deltas, and `block-end` carries the
 * assembled block. Adapters emit usage before the terminal finish and nothing
 * afterward; tool arguments remain raw JSON strings. Failures either throw or
 * end with `error`/`aborted`, and consumers must handle both paths.
 */
type StreamChunk =
  | { type: 'block-start'; index: number; blockType: ContentBlockType }
  | { type: 'text-delta'; index: number; text: string }
  | { type: 'reasoning-delta'; index: number; text: string }
  | { type: 'tool-call-delta'; index: number; id: CallId; name?: string; argumentsDelta: string }
  | { type: 'block-end'; index: number; block: ContentBlock }
  | { type: 'usage'; usage: TokenUsage }
  | {
    type: 'finish'
    reason: FinishReason
    /** Adapter-private lossless-JSON state for replaying a successful response. */
    replayState?: unknown
  }
```

## The adapter contract

Every adapter MUST obey these, and every consumer may rely on them:

- **`usage` before `finish`, nothing after `finish`.** Defer both to the provider's end-of-stream marker so a trailing usage-only chunk can't violate the ordering.
- **Tool-call `arguments` stay raw JSON strings end-to-end.** Partial fragments stream via `argumentsDelta`; a provider that hands back parsed objects re-stringifies at `block-end`.
- **Two sanctioned error paths.** A failure may either THROW from `stream()` (transport/protocol errors) **or** end the stream with `finish {kind:'error'|'aborted'}` (provider in-band errors, for adapters that can't throw mid-stream). Consumers must handle *both*. The agent loop translates a finish-error/aborted into a turn error — it never logs a normal completed assistant message for a failed step.
- **Every provider HTTP request carries the app-attribution header.** Adapters send `attributionHeaders()` (below) - the `User-Agent` baseline - and prove it with a wire-level test (mock server asserting the received header, or the library's header hook for a library-backed adapter).
- **Replay state is adapter-owned.** A successful `finish` may carry lossless-JSON state needed to reconstruct a native provider response. The loop stores it with the assembled assistant message unless an `agent/step-result` listener rewrote the content. On a later request, `LlmService` passes the state only when the historical provider and target provider are currently registered to the exact same adapter instance. That adapter validates the state and owns any cross-model or cross-provider conversion; other adapters receive the provider-neutral content and provenance without the private state.

This contract was pinned down by two deliberately independent implementations: `dsh-llm-deepseek` (hand-rolled fetch/SSE) and `dsh-llm-pi-ai` (a generic multi-provider adapter through `@earendil-works/pi-ai`). The library-backed adapter cannot throw mid-stream, so it exercises the finish-chunk error path the hand-rolled one might not.

## `AppIdentity` — app attribution

The static public application identity every adapter sends to providers ([`packages/llm/llm/src/attribution.ts`](../../packages/llm/llm/src/attribution.ts)). `attributionHeaders(identity?)` maps it to the standard `User-Agent` header only; OpenRouter-specific app attribution headers are intentionally not supported by this contract. The default `APP_IDENTITY` sources its version from the package manifest; every field is a public product fact - no secrets, paths, session ids, or per-user identifiers, and nothing per-request may influence the values. Rationale: [Mandatory `User-Agent` attribution](../rfc/implemented/architecture/2026-06-21-mandatory-app-attribution-headers.md).

```ts type-equiv
/**
 * Static public application identity sent to LLM providers.
 *
 * Every field is a public product fact, safe on every request: no secrets,
 * local paths, session ids, prompt text, or per-user identifiers belong here,
 * and nothing per-request may influence the values.
 */
interface AppIdentity {
  /** `User-Agent` product token (lowercase, hyphenated). */
  product: string
  /** Product version; sourced from package metadata, never hand-copied. */
  version: string
  /** Public home URL of the app, used as the `User-Agent` comment. */
  url: string
}
```

## `TokenUsage`

Per-call token accounting. Counts are **disjoint**: `inputTokens` is uncached input only; cached input is reported separately, and billed input is the sum of the three. Adapters whose providers fold cache hits into a single prompt total (DeepSeek's `prompt_tokens`) subtract them back out.

```ts type-equiv
/**
 * Token accounting for one model call (cache fields are optional).
 *
 * Counts are DISJOINT: `inputTokens` is uncached input only; cached input is
 * reported separately as `cacheReadTokens`/`cacheWriteTokens` (billed input =
 * sum of the three). Adapters whose providers fold cache hits into a total
 * prompt count (DeepSeek's `prompt_tokens`) subtract them out.
 */
interface TokenUsage {
  inputTokens: number
  outputTokens: number
  cacheReadTokens?: number
  cacheWriteTokens?: number
  reasoningTokens?: number
}
```

## `BlockAssembler`

`BlockAssembler` ([`packages/llm/llm/src/assembler.ts`](../../packages/llm/llm/src/assembler.ts)) is the single shared implementation that folds a `StreamChunk` stream back into `ContentBlock`s, usage, finish reason, and replay state. The loop logs the raw chunks while feeding the same chunks through an assembler, then stores the assembled assistant content with its provider/model provenance. A consumer that needs the assembled result without re-implementing the fold uses this.

## The seam

`LlmAdapter` is the provider seam: subclass, implement `stream()`, and register one adapter instance with `ctx.llm.registerAdapter(providers, adapter)`. `GenerateOptions.provider` selects the registered adapter; `GenerateOptions.model` is passed to that adapter and need not be registered at lifecycle start. Duplicate provider routes fail atomically. Optional `providerInfo()` and asynchronous `listModels()` methods feed `LlmService.listProviders()` / `listModels()` with detached selector metadata. That catalog is advisory rather than a request whitelist: the adapter remains authoritative and may accept unlisted model ids. Adapter lookup happens at the terminal continuation of the `llm/stream` waterfall, so a listener may short-circuit the call or route a mutable one-shot request before lookup. The `block-start` / `block-end` `index` correlation and the assembler together mean an adapter only has to emit well-formed chunks — block reassembly is not each adapter's problem. The consumer surface (`ctx.llm.stream()`) and the `llm/stream` waterfall are described in [architecture.md § Content blocks and streaming](../architecture.md#content-blocks-and-streaming-dsh-llm).

`ContentBlockType` (the key set the `index`-correlated blocks carry) derives from `ContentBlockMap`:

```ts type-equiv
/**
 * Merge-extensible content blocks keyed by `type`. New core blocks must land
 * with adapter, UI, and compaction support.
 */
interface ContentBlockMap {
  'text': TextBlock
  'reasoning': ReasoningBlock
  'tool-call': ToolCallBlock
  'tool-result': ToolResultBlock
}
```

See [core.md § Content blocks and messages](core.md#content-blocks-and-messages) for the block interfaces.