unslothai/unsloth · error · ValueError

a .gguf checkpoint needs model_kind 'gguf', not 'single_file

Error message

a .gguf checkpoint needs model_kind 'gguf', not 'single_file'.

What it means

The mirror of error 71: the filename ends in .gguf but model_kind is 'single_file'. The single-file path loads a .safetensors checkpoint via from_single_file, so a .gguf name means the caller actually wants the GGUF path and mislabelled the kind.

Source

Thrown at studio/backend/core/inference/diffusion.py:1682

                f"base_repo is restricted to unsloth/* repos (or a local path); got '{base_repo}'."
            )
        # A local base_repo loads as a full pipeline; reject a non-pipeline one before eviction.
        _assert_local_base_is_pipeline(base_repo)
        # Reject a bad LOCAL pick before the route evicts chat: a path-shaped repo_id must be on disk.
        local_root = Path(repo_id).expanduser()
        # Path-shaped: "."/".." prefix, a backslash (never in "org/name"), or an absolute path.
        path_shaped = (
            repo_id.startswith(("/", "\\", "~", ".")) or "\\" in repo_id or local_root.is_absolute()
        )
        if kind in ("gguf", "single_file"):
            if not gguf_filename:
                raise ValueError(f"a single-file checkpoint name is required for a '{kind}' load.")
            # Fail a kind/extension mismatch before the handoff: gguf needs .gguf, single_file must not.
            is_gguf_name = gguf_filename.lower().endswith(".gguf")
            if kind == "gguf" and not is_gguf_name:
                raise ValueError("a 'gguf' load requires a .gguf checkpoint name.")
            if kind == "single_file" and is_gguf_name:
                raise ValueError("a .gguf checkpoint needs model_kind 'gguf', not 'single_file'.")
            # A single-file load must name a real .safetensors, else it evicts chat then fails in background.
            if kind == "single_file" and not gguf_filename.lower().endswith(".safetensors"):
                raise ValueError(
                    f"'{gguf_filename}' is not a loadable single-file checkpoint "
                    f"(expected a .safetensors name; use a .gguf name for a GGUF load)."
                )
            if local_root.exists():
                resolve_local_gguf_child(local_root, gguf_filename)
            elif path_shaped:
                raise FileNotFoundError(f"Local model path does not exist: {repo_id}")
        else:  # pipeline
            if gguf_filename:
                raise ValueError(
                    "a 'pipeline' load takes a full diffusers repo, not a single-file name."
                )
            if local_root.exists():
                if not (local_root / "model_index.json").exists():
                    raise FileNotFoundError(

View on GitHub (pinned to 203007d190)

Solutions

1. Set model_kind='gguf' (or drop model_kind entirely - a .gguf filename usually resolves the kind automatically).
2. If you really want the single-file safetensors path, pick the corresponding .safetensors filename from the repo.

Example fix

# before
manager.validate_load_request(repo_id="org/model", model_kind="single_file",
                               gguf_filename="model-Q4_K_M.gguf")

# after
manager.validate_load_request(repo_id="org/model", model_kind="gguf",
                               gguf_filename="model-Q4_K_M.gguf")

if gguf_filename and gguf_filename.lower().endswith(".gguf"):
    assert model_kind != "single_file", "a .gguf name means kind 'gguf'"

try:
    fam = manager.validate_load_request(repo_id=r, model_kind=k, gguf_filename=f)
except ValueError as e:
    if "needs model_kind 'gguf'" in str(e):
        manager.validate_load_request(repo_id=r, model_kind="gguf", gguf_filename=f)
    else:
        raise

When it happens

Trigger: model_kind='single_file' with gguf_filename ending in .gguf (case-insensitive) - typically a stale kind field or a UI that renamed its modes while the filename carried over.

Common situations: Older configs that called every transformer-only load 'single_file' before the gguf kind existed; UI mode renamed from single-file to include GGUF but the stored kind string was not migrated.

Related errors

• '{fam.name}' checkpoints are whole-pipeline single files and
• a single-file checkpoint name is required for a '{kind}' loa
• a 'gguf' load requires a .gguf checkpoint name.
• '{repo_id}' is a single-file GGUF repo; load it with model_k
• '{fam.name}' loads only as a full diffusers pipeline (it ass

AI-assisted analysis of unslothai/unsloth@203007d190 (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/605268074483506e. Report an issue: GitHub.