DeepSeek V4.1

Size
552B + 196B Engram
Published
DeepSeek · Sep 2026
Line
New parts in the block · after DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp
Source

deepseek‑ai/DeepSeek‑V4.1‑Flash @ 2cba9e4 · parameter count checked against the checkpoint’s tensor headers · text model onlyHow to read

Compressed sparse attention

40 layers › 2 groups of 6 layers › Source layer, pairs pooled › Compressed sparse attention

learnedself.indexer(x, qr, latent, start_pos, offset) · 735

Choose 512 compressed positions for each query: 32 small heads score one shared key per position.

Why

Choose. A lightweight indexer scores the compressed entries for each query and keeps the best, and the query attends to those together with its window. DeepSeek V4.1 report §2.3

The layers after this one borrow its choice, which spares them an indexer pass of their own. DeepSeek V4.1 report §2.3.1

St,jI=∑hwt,hI ReLU⁡(Qh,tI⋅KjI)S^{I}_{t,j}=\sum_{h}w^{I}_{t,h}\,\operatorname{ReLU}\big({\htmlClass{vl-stream-q}{Q^{I}_{h,t}}}\cdot {\htmlClass{vl-stream-k}{K^{I}_{j}}}\big)
It=top⁡512(St,jI  :  j<⌊(t+1)/2⌋)I_{t}=\operatorname{top}_{512}\big(S^{I}_{t,j}\;:\;j<\lfloor(t+1)/2\rfloor\big)
All 4 steps
qi=cQWIQ{\htmlClass{vl-stream-q}{q^{i}}}=c^{{\htmlClass{vl-stream-q}{Q}}}W_{IQ}
wI=xattnWIW /128⋅32w^{I}=x_{\mathrm{attn}}W_{IW}\,/\sqrt{128\cdot32}
St,jI=∑hwt,hI ReLU⁡(Qh,tI⋅KjI)S^{I}_{t,j}=\sum_{h}w^{I}_{t,h}\,\operatorname{ReLU}\big({\htmlClass{vl-stream-q}{Q^{I}_{h,t}}}\cdot {\htmlClass{vl-stream-k}{K^{I}_{j}}}\big)
It=top⁡512(St,jI  :  j<⌊(t+1)/2⌋)I_{t}=\operatorname{top}_{512}\big(S^{I}_{t,j}\;:\;j<\lfloor(t+1)/2\rfloor\big)
in
cQc^{Q} [B batch, T positions, 1280 query latent]xattnx_{\mathrm{attn}} [B batch, T positions, 5120 d]KIK^{I} [B batch, T/2 compressed positions, 128 index width]
out
II [B batch, T positions, 512 selected]
parameters
5,406,720 · × 2 groups = 10,813,440
Parameters

5,406,720 parameters per instance, across its learned components

Exact per-instance accounting
ComponentCalculationParameters
Index query projection1,280×4,0961{,}280 \times 4{,}0965,242,880
Index head weights5,120×325{,}120 \times 32163,840
Per-instance total5,406,720

Across 2 independent groups: 5,406,720×2=10,813,4405{,}406{,}720 \times 2 = 10{,}813{,}440 parameters.

Derived from the pinned reference implementation and configuration; equal to the element counts of the checkpoint’s own tensors on the text path. The quantisation scales, the vision encoder and the DSpark blocks are not counted.

Explanation

Layers 2, 8, 14, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36 run an indexer; the layers between them use the positions the nearest earlier one chose (model.py 722–737).

Codemodel.py 369–406, 488–580
model.py 488–580
class Indexer(torch.nn.Module):
    """Keeps the `index_topk` best compressed positions per query.

    A small side attention: fp4 query heads against one shared key per compressed position, scores
    rectified then combined by `weights_proj`. With a candidate source this is the second of two
    levels; `select_candidate_blocks` is the first.
    """

    def __init__(self, args: ModelArgs, layer_id: int):
        super().__init__()
        # the index keys are derived from the compressor's latent, so only a layer that compresses
        # its own KV can produce them; every other indexer reads them from that layer's cache
        self.owns_k = layer_id in args.kv_source_layers
        self.compress_ratio = args.compress_ratios[layer_id]
        self.is_candidate_source = layer_id == args.candidate_source_layer
        self.uses_candidates = 0 <= args.candidate_source_layer < layer_id
        self.candidate_topk_blocks = args.candidate_topk_blocks
        self.candidate_block_size = args.candidate_block_size
        self.dim = args.dim
        self.n_heads = args.index_n_heads
        self.n_local_heads = args.index_n_heads // world_size
        self.index_head_dim = args.index_head_dim
        self.rope_head_dim = args.rope_head_dim
        self.index_topk = args.index_topk
        self.q_lora_rank = args.q_lora_rank
        self.softmax_scale = self.index_head_dim**-0.5
        self.wq_b = ColumnParallelLinear(self.q_lora_rank, self.n_heads * self.index_head_dim)
        self.weights_proj = ColumnParallelLinear(self.dim, self.n_heads, dtype=torch.bfloat16)
        self.freqs_cis: torch.Tensor | None = None
        if self.owns_k:
            self.wk = Linear(args.head_dim, self.index_head_dim, dtype=torch.bfloat16)
            self.k_norm = RMSNorm(self.index_head_dim, args.norm_eps)
            self.k_cache: torch.Tensor
            self.register_buffer(
                "k_cache",
                torch.zeros(args.max_batch_size, args.max_seq_len // self.compress_ratio, args.index_head_dim),
                persistent=False,
            )

    def forward(self, x: torch.Tensor, qr: torch.Tensor, latent: torch.Tensor, start_pos: int, offset: int):
        """`latent` is this layer's RoPE-free compressed latent, None when this layer does not
        compress or when its current group is still incomplete. An index-key owner turns it into
        index keys here, which has to happen before Attention overwrites that same storage with
        the RoPE'd, quantized values."""
        assert self.freqs_cis is not None
        bsz, seqlen, _ = x.size()
        ratio, rd, end_pos = self.compress_ratio, self.rope_head_dim, start_pos + seqlen

        # latent is None while a group is still filling up, so there is nothing to publish yet
        if self.owns_k and latent is not None:
            # a latent stands for the first token of its group, so group j takes position j * ratio
            freqs = (
                self.freqs_cis[: seqlen - seqlen % ratio : ratio]
                if start_pos == 0
                else self.freqs_cis[start_pos + 1 - ratio].unsqueeze(0)
            )
            k = self.k_norm(self.wk(latent))
            apply_rotary_emb(k[..., -rd:], freqs)
            fp4_act_quant(k, fp4_block_size, True)
            self.k_cache[:bsz, start_pos // ratio : start_pos // ratio + k.size(1)] = k
            shared_attn.index_k = self.k_cache

        q = self.wq_b(qr).unflatten(-1, (self.n_local_heads, self.index_head_dim))
        apply_rotary_emb(q[..., -rd:], self.freqs_cis[start_pos:end_pos])
        fp4_act_quant(q, fp4_block_size, True)

        index_k = shared_attn.index_k[:bsz, : end_pos // ratio]
        weights = self.weights_proj(x) * (self.softmax_scale * self.n_heads**-0.5)
        index_score = torch.einsum("bshd,btd->bsht", q, index_k)
        index_score = (index_score.relu_() * weights.unsqueeze(-1)).sum(dim=2)
        if world_size > 1:
            dist.all_reduce(index_score)

        # how many compressed positions each query can see: a block becomes visible once the query
        # has passed its last token. One query per decode step, so there it is just a number.
        if start_pos == 0:
            compress_lens = (torch.arange(1, seqlen + 1, device=x.device) // ratio).unsqueeze(-1)
            index_score.masked_fill_(torch.arange(seqlen // ratio, device=x.device) >= compress_lens, -torch.inf)
        else:
            compress_lens = end_pos // ratio

        if self.is_candidate_source:
            shared_attn.candidates = select_candidate_blocks(
                index_score, compress_lens, self.candidate_topk_blocks, self.candidate_block_size
            )
        elif self.uses_candidates:
            # level two: score with our own weights, but only inside the source's candidate blocks
            index_score = index_score.masked_fill(~shared_attn.candidates, -torch.inf)

        # top-k by score, re-sorted into position order; unreachable -> -1, rest shifted by offset
        topk = min(self.index_topk, end_pos // ratio)
        idxs = index_score.topk(topk, dim=-1, sorted=False).indices.sort(dim=-1).values
        return torch.where(idxs < compress_lens, idxs + offset, -1).int()
model.py 369–406
def precompute_freqs_cis(dim, seqlen, original_seq_len, base, factor, beta_fast, beta_slow) -> torch.Tensor:
    """Rotary frequencies as complex exponentials, one row per position.

    With original_seq_len > 0 this applies YaRN: dimensions whose wavelength already fits inside the
    training context keep their frequency, those far beyond it are divided by `factor`, and the
    `beta_fast`..`beta_slow` band in between is faded across with a linear ramp.
    """
    freqs = 1.0 / (base ** (torch.arange(0, dim, 2, dtype=torch.float32) / dim))
    if original_seq_len > 0:
        # the dim whose wavelength completes `rotations` turns over the training context
        def corrected_dim(rotations):
            return dim * math.log(original_seq_len / (rotations * 2 * math.pi)) / (2 * math.log(base))

        low = max(math.floor(corrected_dim(beta_fast)), 0)
        high = min(math.ceil(corrected_dim(beta_slow)), dim - 1)
        ramp = ((torch.arange(dim // 2, dtype=torch.float32) - low) / max(high - low, 1e-3)).clamp(0, 1)
        smooth = 1 - ramp
        freqs = freqs / factor * (1 - smooth) + freqs * smooth

    freqs = torch.outer(torch.arange(seqlen), freqs)
    return torch.polar(torch.ones_like(freqs), freqs)


def apply_rotary_emb(x: torch.Tensor, freqs_cis: torch.Tensor, inverse: bool = False) -> torch.Tensor:
    """Rotate `x` in place, taking adjacent element pairs as complex numbers. Accepts [b, s, d] and
    [b, s, h, d]; `inverse` conjugates the rotation, which is how the attention output gets the
    query's rotation removed again so the cache can stay in one shared rotated form."""
    y = x
    x = torch.view_as_complex(x.float().unflatten(-1, (-1, 2)))
    if inverse:
        freqs_cis = freqs_cis.conj()
    if x.ndim == 3:
        freqs_cis = freqs_cis.view(1, x.size(1), x.size(-1))
    else:
        freqs_cis = freqs_cis.view(1, x.size(1), 1, x.size(-1))
    x = torch.view_as_real(x * freqs_cis).flatten(-2)
    y.copy_(x)
    return y
Sources2

Direct evidence

The indexer scores every compressed position for every query with few small heads against one shared key, masks what the query may not see, and keeps the best 512; the candidate source also publishes its candidate blocks, and later indexers score inside them.

indexer · deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash / inference/model.py
Pinned revision 2cba9e42aa02 ↗ · lines 488–580

Read code excerpt
class Indexer(torch.nn.Module):
    """Keeps the `index_topk` best compressed positions per query.

    A small side attention: fp4 query heads against one shared key per compressed position, scores
    rectified then combined by `weights_proj`. With a candidate source this is the second of two
    levels; `select_candidate_blocks` is the first.
    """

    def __init__(self, args: ModelArgs, layer_id: int):
        super().__init__()
        # the index keys are derived from the compressor's latent, so only a layer that compresses
        # its own KV can produce them; every other indexer reads them from that layer's cache
        self.owns_k = layer_id in args.kv_source_layers
        self.compress_ratio = args.compress_ratios[layer_id]
        self.is_candidate_source = layer_id == args.candidate_source_layer
        self.uses_candidates = 0 <= args.candidate_source_layer < layer_id
        self.candidate_topk_blocks = args.candidate_topk_blocks
        self.candidate_block_size = args.candidate_block_size
        self.dim = args.dim
        self.n_heads = args.index_n_heads
        self.n_local_heads = args.index_n_heads // world_size
        self.index_head_dim = args.index_head_dim
        self.rope_head_dim = args.rope_head_dim
        self.index_topk = args.index_topk
        self.q_lora_rank = args.q_lora_rank
        self.softmax_scale = self.index_head_dim**-0.5
        self.wq_b = ColumnParallelLinear(self.q_lora_rank, self.n_heads * self.index_head_dim)
        self.weights_proj = ColumnParallelLinear(self.dim, self.n_heads, dtype=torch.bfloat16)
        self.freqs_cis: torch.Tensor | None = None
        if self.owns_k:
            self.wk = Linear(args.head_dim, self.index_head_dim, dtype=torch.bfloat16)
            self.k_norm = RMSNorm(self.index_head_dim, args.norm_eps)
            self.k_cache: torch.Tensor
            self.register_buffer(
                "k_cache",
                torch.zeros(args.max_batch_size, args.max_seq_len // self.compress_ratio, args.index_head_dim),
                persistent=False,
            )

    def forward(self, x: torch.Tensor, qr: torch.Tensor, latent: torch.Tensor, start_pos: int, offset: int):
        """`latent` is this layer's RoPE-free compressed latent, None when this layer does not
        compress or when its current group is still incomplete. An index-key owner turns it into
        index keys here, which has to happen before Attention overwrites that same storage with
        the RoPE'd, quantized values."""
        assert self.freqs_cis is not None
        bsz, seqlen, _ = x.size()
        ratio, rd, end_pos = self.compress_ratio, self.rope_head_dim, start_pos + seqlen

        # latent is None while a group is still filling up, so there is nothing to publish yet
        if self.owns_k and latent is not None:
            # a latent stands for the first token of its group, so group j takes position j * ratio
            freqs = (
                self.freqs_cis[: seqlen - seqlen % ratio : ratio]
                if start_pos == 0
                else self.freqs_cis[start_pos + 1 - ratio].unsqueeze(0)
            )
            k = self.k_norm(self.wk(latent))
            apply_rotary_emb(k[..., -rd:], freqs)
            fp4_act_quant(k, fp4_block_size, True)
            self.k_cache[:bsz, start_pos // ratio : start_pos // ratio + k.size(1)] = k
            shared_attn.index_k = self.k_cache

        q = self.wq_b(qr).unflatten(-1, (self.n_local_heads, self.index_head_dim))
        apply_rotary_emb(q[..., -rd:], self.freqs_cis[start_pos:end_pos])
        fp4_act_quant(q, fp4_block_size, True)

        index_k = shared_attn.index_k[:bsz, : end_pos // ratio]
        weights = self.weights_proj(x) * (self.softmax_scale * self.n_heads**-0.5)
        index_score = torch.einsum("bshd,btd->bsht", q, index_k)
        index_score = (index_score.relu_() * weights.unsqueeze(-1)).sum(dim=2)
        if world_size > 1:
            dist.all_reduce(index_score)

        # how many compressed positions each query can see: a block becomes visible once the query
        # has passed its last token. One query per decode step, so there it is just a number.
        if start_pos == 0:
            compress_lens = (torch.arange(1, seqlen + 1, device=x.device) // ratio).unsqueeze(-1)
            index_score.masked_fill_(torch.arange(seqlen // ratio, device=x.device) >= compress_lens, -torch.inf)
        else:
            compress_lens = end_pos // ratio

        if self.is_candidate_source:
            shared_attn.candidates = select_candidate_blocks(
                index_score, compress_lens, self.candidate_topk_blocks, self.candidate_block_size
            )
        elif self.uses_candidates:
            # level two: score with our own weights, but only inside the source's candidate blocks
            index_score = index_score.masked_fill(~shared_attn.candidates, -torch.inf)

        # top-k by score, re-sorted into position order; unreachable -> -1, rest shifted by offset
        topk = min(self.index_topk, end_pos // ratio)
        idxs = index_score.topk(topk, dim=-1, sorted=False).indices.sort(dim=-1).values
        return torch.where(idxs < compress_lens, idxs + offset, -1).int()

Direct evidence

Rotary frequencies with the YaRN scaling above the original context, and the rotation of adjacent feature pairs, with an inverse.

rope · deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash / inference/model.py
Pinned revision 2cba9e42aa02 ↗ · lines 369–406

Read code excerpt
def precompute_freqs_cis(dim, seqlen, original_seq_len, base, factor, beta_fast, beta_slow) -> torch.Tensor:
    """Rotary frequencies as complex exponentials, one row per position.

    With original_seq_len > 0 this applies YaRN: dimensions whose wavelength already fits inside the
    training context keep their frequency, those far beyond it are divided by `factor`, and the
    `beta_fast`..`beta_slow` band in between is faded across with a linear ramp.
    """
    freqs = 1.0 / (base ** (torch.arange(0, dim, 2, dtype=torch.float32) / dim))
    if original_seq_len > 0:
        # the dim whose wavelength completes `rotations` turns over the training context
        def corrected_dim(rotations):
            return dim * math.log(original_seq_len / (rotations * 2 * math.pi)) / (2 * math.log(base))

        low = max(math.floor(corrected_dim(beta_fast)), 0)
        high = min(math.ceil(corrected_dim(beta_slow)), dim - 1)
        ramp = ((torch.arange(dim // 2, dtype=torch.float32) - low) / max(high - low, 1e-3)).clamp(0, 1)
        smooth = 1 - ramp
        freqs = freqs / factor * (1 - smooth) + freqs * smooth

    freqs = torch.outer(torch.arange(seqlen), freqs)
    return torch.polar(torch.ones_like(freqs), freqs)


def apply_rotary_emb(x: torch.Tensor, freqs_cis: torch.Tensor, inverse: bool = False) -> torch.Tensor:
    """Rotate `x` in place, taking adjacent element pairs as complex numbers. Accepts [b, s, d] and
    [b, s, h, d]; `inverse` conjugates the rotation, which is how the attention output gets the
    query's rotation removed again so the cache can stay in one shared rotated form."""
    y = x
    x = torch.view_as_complex(x.float().unflatten(-1, (-1, 2)))
    if inverse:
        freqs_cis = freqs_cis.conj()
    if x.ndim == 3:
        freqs_cis = freqs_cis.view(1, x.size(1), x.size(-1))
    else:
        freqs_cis = freqs_cis.view(1, x.size(1), 1, x.size(-1))
    x = torch.view_as_real(x * freqs_cis).flatten(-2)
    y.copy_(x)
    return y