Add a new model architecture to llama.cpp Agent Skill

Guided workflow for adding a new model architecture to llama.cpp.

Context cost
3.2k tokensestimated from the bundle, loaded when it triggers
Bundle
1 file · 12.9 kBtext throughout, nothing executable
Licence
not declarednone named by its author
Last change
—no release on file
Servers it uses
Noneruns standalone

What it does

Guided workflow for adding a new model architecture to llama.cpp. Use when the user wants to add/port a new model architecture.

What this skill changes about the agent has not been set out here as a list. Its SKILL.md, shown below, says it in the author’s own words.

data science

The skill itself

A skill is instructions the model reads, so you can see what you are getting: below is the start of its SKILL.md. The front matter loads with every session, the body loads when the skill triggers, and the whole file comes with the install.

SKILL.md12.9 kB · preview
--- name: add-new-model ---
6# Add a new model architecture to llama.cpp
7
8This skill walks a contributor through adding a new model architecture. AI-generated code is permitted in this project, so you may write full implementations for the steps below rather than only pointing at patterns - but follow AGENTS.md's AI usage policy throughout:
9
10- The contributor is 100% responsible for every line, however it was produced. They must be able to explain and defend any part of it to a reviewer. Check in with them as you go (don't silently generate everything and hand over a finished diff) so they actually absorb what was written.
11- Before writing code, make sure the contributor owns the design choices for this architecture (which reference model to follow, how non-standard bits like RoPE variants or MoE routing should be handled) - AI accelerates a design the contributor has already made, it doesn't make the design for them.
12- Disclosure is mandatory: any AI-meaningful contribution must be disclosed per the PR template. Remind the contributor of this before they open the PR.
13- Never write the PR description, commit message, GitHub issue/discussion post, or reviewer replies - those must come from the contributor. If asked to commit on their behalf, use Assisted-by: (never Co-authored-by:) and only after explicit confirmation.
14- If the requested change looks large or introduces a new pattern not covered here, pause and tell the user this kind of change is likely to need prior discussion with maintainers before a PR.
15- Keep the PR self-contained. If the work would require a lot of unconventional changes outside the new model file(s) (e.g. touching shared graph-building code, the sampler, or core APIs in ways other models don't), STOP and tell the contributor to open a discussion/issue first - invasive or excessive changes get closed without full review.
16- Do not bundle unrelated work into this PR - see Step 4 and Step 5 below for the specifics on multimodal and chat-template/parsing work.
17- Never hack around RoPE with a custom sin/cos implementation. Several past PRs tried this and were closed. If the existing ggml_rope_ext (see Step 2's RoPE tips) genuinely cannot express what this model needs, the contributor should open an issue to discuss it with maintainers first - not send a PR with a custom RoPE implementation.
18
19Before starting, read CONTRIBUTING.md, AGENTS.md and docs/development/HOWTO-add-model.md if they are not already in context. Also run git log --oneline -- src/models and look at at least 3 recent PRs that added a model (their merge commits/diffs) - this shows current convention more reliably than the docs, which can lag behind.
20
21## Step 0 - Scope and dedup check
22
23Ask the contributor:
241. Which model (HF repo id or name)? Is it text-only or does it have a multimodal (vision/audio) encoder?
This is a preview of SKILL.md. Download or install the skill to get the whole thing.
In the file
SKILL.md1,968 words
Files1
Licencenot declared
Why you can read it

Nothing in a skill executes. The client loads the text and the model follows it, so a skill can be audited the way a runbook is — by reading it.

What it costs in context

Skills are not billed by the call. They are paid for in context: every token the instructions occupy is a token your code, your diff and your conversation cannot use. Here is what this one takes and when it takes it.

≈40
always loaded
The name and description, so the model knows the skill exists and when to reach for it.
3,185
on trigger
The instruction body, read only when the skill fires.
1.6%
of a 200k window
Ten skills this size would take about 16% of the window before you open a file.
050k100k150k200k context window

3.2k tokens, estimated from the bundle at four bytes to the token, held for the rest of the session once it triggers. Middling. Fine to keep on in a project where you use it weekly, worth unloading in one where you never do.

Servers bill, skills cost

A server charges by the month. A skill charges once per session, in context, and then keeps charging it for as long as the session lives.

Before and after

The same question, put to the same model twice: once as it comes, and once with these instructions loaded.

No worked example has been published for this skill yet.

The procedure it runs

The procedure has not been set out here step by step. It is in the body of its SKILL.md: the start of it is shown above, and the whole file comes with the install.

Prose, not code

These steps are written for a model to follow, not executed by a runtime. It can still be told to skip one, and it will say so when it does.

Servers it uses

None. This skill calls no MCP servers at all.

Everything it needs is in the instructions, so it works in a project with nothing connected — the model reads the file and changes how it works with what it can already reach.

Its SKILL.md does not declare which tools it asks the agent for, so what it touches is whatever the instructions themselves ask for — read them before you install it.

What it asks for
Writes filesnot declared
Network accessnot declared

This SKILL.md carries no allowed-tools line, so neither is declared. A skill grants no permissions of its own — it can only ask for tools your client already has.

What it will not do

Every skill is narrow, and the useful ones say where they stop. These are the jobs this one is the wrong tool for.

What this skill is not for has not been published here. Nothing is implied by that: it is a section the author has not filled in.

What is in the bundle

1 file, 12.9 kB on disk. A bundle is text throughout: the instructions the model reads, plus the templates it fills in.

  • SKILL.md12.9 kB
What is not in it

No dependencies and nothing executable: a skill is text the agent reads, so the bundle is 1 file you can review in full before installing.

Install

Installing copies the bundle into your project. Nothing runs at install time — the files sit on disk until the model reads them.

# Add a new model architecture to llama.cpp · 3.2k tokens when loaded · macOS, Linux mkdir -p .claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp" ] && { [ ! -e .claude/skills/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp ] || { mv .claude/skills/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp" .claude/skills/ && echo "Installed .claude/skills/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp"
On Windows, or any OS with Node 20+
npx mcprush@latest skill add karanmrn/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp

Windows PowerShell says 'running scripts is disabled on this system'? Run Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope CurrentUser RemoteSigned once, or type npx.cmd instead of npx (codex.cmd, gemini.cmd, grok.cmd likewise). PowerShell 7 needs neither. Writes to .claude/skills/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp/ in the current project. For every project instead, run mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && t=$(mktemp -d) && curl -fsSL -o "$t/bundle.tar.gz" https://mcprush.com/api/skills/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp/bundle.tar.gz && tar -xzf "$t/bundle.tar.gz" -C "$t" && [ -d "$t/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp" ] && { [ ! -e ~/.claude/skills/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp ] || { mv ~/.claude/skills/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp "$t/.previous" && echo "Previous copy moved to $t/.previous"; }; } && mv "$t/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp" ~/.claude/skills/ && echo "Installed ~/.claude/skills/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp" (macOS, Linux) — or add --global to the npx line. The curl line replaces .claude/skills/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp/ only after the download succeeds, so files left there by another skill of the same name, or by an older release, do not mix in. A copy already there is moved aside, not deleted, and the line prints where. It appears as add-new-model in Gemini CLI, Codex, Copilot and Grok (its own name); Claude Code lists it by the folder name, add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp.

Which clients pick it up on their own

A skill is a folder of text. Most of these read a skills folder and pick it up without being told; the rest take the same folder another way — an upload in the app, a parameter on an API call — and then choose it by its description just the same.

Claude Code.claude/skills/
Claude DesktopCustomize › Skills
ChatGPTSkills › Create › Upload
Cursor.cursor/skills/
VS Code.github/skills/
Codex CLI.agents/skills/
Gemini CLI.gemini/skills/
Grok Build.grok/skills/
Microsoft CopilotSkills › Upload a skill
PerplexityComputer › Skills › Upload a skill
DeepSeek Harness.dsh/skills/
Zed.agents/skills/
Devin Desktop.devin/skills/
Windsurf (legacy).windsurf/skills/
OpenAI Agents SDKInstructions or sandbox Skills
HTTP / APIa request parameter
This release
Versionnot versioned
Publishedno release date on file
PriceFree
Referencekaranmrn/add-a-new-model-architecture-to-llama-cpp

Versions

Its author publishes no version number, so there is nothing here to pin to: what you install is the folder as it stands today. Instructions change more often than APIs do — a skill can be rewritten entirely without anything it depends on moving.

Pinning

Nothing to pin to: this skill carries no version number of its own. What you install is what the folder holds on the day you install it.

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