diff --git a/hw/dixie/default.nix b/hw/dixie/default.nix
index 7057ef9..ebb45e4 100644
--- a/hw/dixie/default.nix
+++ b/hw/dixie/default.nix
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ let
; Runaway guard carried over from straylight: helper tasks need short answers.
reasoning-budget = 2048
n-predict = 4096
+ ; stock template raises on tool-loop requests with no plain user turn (Honcho dialectic)
+ chat-template-file = ${./ornith-9b-chat-template.jinja}
; Qwen thinking-mode sampling (llama-server's 0.8 default made the Honcho deriver drop
; ~1 in 3 batches, measured 2026-09-22). Clients that send their own temperature win.
temp = 0.6
diff --git a/hw/dixie/ornith-9b-chat-template.jinja b/hw/dixie/ornith-9b-chat-template.jinja
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b68784
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hw/dixie/ornith-9b-chat-template.jinja
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+{%- set image_count = namespace(value=0) %}
+{%- set video_count = namespace(value=0) %}
+{%- macro render_content(content, do_vision_count, is_system_content=false) %}
+ {%- if content is string %}
+ {{- content }}
+ {%- elif content is iterable and content is not mapping %}
+ {%- for item in content %}
+ {%- if 'image' in item or 'image_url' in item or item.type == 'image' %}
+ {%- if is_system_content %}
+ {{- raise_exception('System message cannot contain images.') }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- if do_vision_count %}
+ {%- set image_count.value = image_count.value + 1 %}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- if add_vision_id %}
+ {{- 'Picture ' ~ image_count.value ~ ': ' }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {{- '<|vision_start|><|image_pad|><|vision_end|>' }}
+ {%- elif 'video' in item or item.type == 'video' %}
+ {%- if is_system_content %}
+ {{- raise_exception('System message cannot contain videos.') }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- if do_vision_count %}
+ {%- set video_count.value = video_count.value + 1 %}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- if add_vision_id %}
+ {{- 'Video ' ~ video_count.value ~ ': ' }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {{- '<|vision_start|><|video_pad|><|vision_end|>' }}
+ {%- elif 'text' in item %}
+ {{- item.text }}
+ {%- else %}
+ {{- raise_exception('Unexpected item type in content.') }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- endfor %}
+ {%- elif content is none or content is undefined %}
+ {{- '' }}
+ {%- else %}
+ {{- raise_exception('Unexpected content type.') }}
+ {%- endif %}
+{%- endmacro %}
+{%- if not messages %}
+ {{- raise_exception('No messages provided.') }}
+{%- endif %}
+{%- if tools and tools is iterable and tools is not mapping %}
+ {{- '<|im_start|>system\n' }}
+ {{- "# Tools\n\nYou have access to the following functions:\n\n" }}
+ {%- for tool in tools %}
+ {{- "\n" }}
+ {{- tool | tojson }}
+ {%- endfor %}
+ {{- "\n" }}
+ {{- '\n\nIf you choose to call a function ONLY reply in the following format with NO suffix:\n\n\n\n\nvalue_1\n\n\nThis is the value for the second parameter\nthat can span\nmultiple lines\n\n\n\n\n\nReminder:\n- Function calls MUST follow the specified format: an inner block must be nested within XML tags\n- Required parameters MUST be specified\n- You may provide optional reasoning for your function call in natural language BEFORE the function call, but NOT after\n- If there is no function call available, answer the question like normal with your current knowledge and do not tell the user about function calls\n' }}
+ {%- if messages[0].role == 'system' %}
+ {%- set content = render_content(messages[0].content, false, true)|trim %}
+ {%- if content %}
+ {{- '\n\n' + content }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {{- '<|im_end|>\n' }}
+{%- else %}
+ {%- if messages[0].role == 'system' %}
+ {%- set content = render_content(messages[0].content, false, true)|trim %}
+ {{- '<|im_start|>system\n' + content + '<|im_end|>\n' }}
+ {%- endif %}
+{%- endif %}
+{%- set ns = namespace(multi_step_tool=true, last_query_index=messages|length - 1) %}
+{%- for message in messages[::-1] %}
+ {%- set index = (messages|length - 1) - loop.index0 %}
+ {%- if ns.multi_step_tool and message.role == "user" %}
+ {%- set content = render_content(message.content, false)|trim %}
+ {%- if not(content.startswith('') and content.endswith('')) %}
+ {%- set ns.multi_step_tool = false %}
+ {%- set ns.last_query_index = index %}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- endif %}
+{%- endfor %}
+{#- Patched for Dixie (2026-09-22): the stock template raised 'No user query found in
+ messages.' when a request has no plain user turn, which Honcho's dialectic tool loop
+ sends on later iterations. Fall back to treating the last message as the query. #}
+{%- for message in messages %}
+ {%- set content = render_content(message.content, true)|trim %}
+ {%- if message.role == "system" %}
+ {%- if not loop.first %}
+ {{- raise_exception('System message must be at the beginning.') }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- elif message.role == "user" %}
+ {{- '<|im_start|>' + message.role + '\n' + content + '<|im_end|>' + '\n' }}
+ {%- elif message.role == "assistant" %}
+ {%- set reasoning_content = '' %}
+ {%- if message.reasoning_content is string %}
+ {%- set reasoning_content = message.reasoning_content %}
+ {%- else %}
+ {%- if '' in content %}
+ {%- set reasoning_content = content.split('')[0].rstrip('\n').split('')[-1].lstrip('\n') %}
+ {%- set content = content.split('')[-1].lstrip('\n') %}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- set reasoning_content = reasoning_content|trim %}
+ {{- '<|im_start|>' + message.role + '\n\n' + reasoning_content + '\n\n\n' + content }}
+ {%- if message.tool_calls and message.tool_calls is iterable and message.tool_calls is not mapping %}
+ {%- for tool_call in message.tool_calls %}
+ {%- if tool_call.function is defined %}
+ {%- set tool_call = tool_call.function %}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- if loop.first %}
+ {%- if content|trim %}
+ {{- '\n\n\n\n' }}
+ {%- else %}
+ {{- '\n\n' }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- else %}
+ {{- '\n\n\n' }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- if tool_call.arguments is defined %}
+ {%- for args_name, args_value in tool_call.arguments|items %}
+ {{- '\n' }}
+ {%- set args_value = args_value | tojson | safe if args_value is mapping or (args_value is sequence and args_value is not string) else args_value | string %}
+ {{- args_value }}
+ {{- '\n\n' }}
+ {%- endfor %}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {{- '\n' }}
+ {%- endfor %}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {{- '<|im_end|>\n' }}
+ {%- elif message.role == "tool" %}
+ {%- if loop.previtem and loop.previtem.role != "tool" %}
+ {{- '<|im_start|>user' }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {{- '\n\n' }}
+ {{- content }}
+ {{- '\n' }}
+ {%- if not loop.last and loop.nextitem.role != "tool" %}
+ {{- '<|im_end|>\n' }}
+ {%- elif loop.last %}
+ {{- '<|im_end|>\n' }}
+ {%- endif %}
+ {%- else %}
+ {{- raise_exception('Unexpected message role.') }}
+ {%- endif %}
+{%- endfor %}
+{%- if add_generation_prompt %}
+ {{- '<|im_start|>assistant\n' }}
+ {%- if enable_thinking is defined and enable_thinking is false %}
+ {{- '\n\n\n\n' }}
+ {%- else %}
+ {{- '\n' }}
+ {%- endif %}
+{%- endif %}
\ No newline at end of file