@@ -2325,6 +2325,179 @@ static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_deepseek_v3_2(const common_cha
     return data;
 }
 
+// Kimi K3 - XTML tagged format, built by open_tag/close_tag macros:
+//   open_tag(t, attrs) = <|open|>t k="v"...<|sep|>   close_tag(t) = <|close|>t<|sep|>
+//   assistant := [think] [response] [tools] close_tag(message) <|end_of_msg|>
+// the generation prompt already opens the think (or response) section, so the
+// section opener is optional here - same as Kimi K2 Thinking
+static common_chat_params common_chat_params_init_kimi_k3(const common_chat_template &          tmpl,
+                                                          const autoparser::generation_params & inputs) {
+    common_chat_params data;
+
+    data.prompt            = common_chat_template_direct_apply_impl(tmpl, inputs);
+    data.generation_prompt = common_chat_template_generation_prompt_impl(tmpl, inputs);
+    data.format            = COMMON_CHAT_FORMAT_PEG_NATIVE;
+    data.supports_thinking = true;
+
+    const std::string SEP         = "<|sep|>";
+    const std::string MSG_START   = "<|open|>message role=\"assistant\"<|sep|>";
+    const std::string THINK_START = "<|open|>think<|sep|>";
+    const std::string THINK_END   = "<|close|>think<|sep|>";
+    const std::string RESP_START  = "<|open|>response<|sep|>";
+    const std::string RESP_END    = "<|close|>response<|sep|>";
+    const std::string TOOLS_START = "<|open|>tools<|sep|>";
+    const std::string TOOLS_END   = "<|close|>tools<|sep|>";
+    const std::string CALL_START  = "<|open|>call tool=\"";
+    const std::string CALL_END    = "<|close|>call<|sep|>";
+    const std::string ARG_START   = "<|open|>argument key=\"";
+    const std::string ARG_END     = "<|close|>argument<|sep|>";
+    const std::string MSG_END     = "<|close|>message<|sep|>";
+    const std::string EOM_TOKEN   = "<|end_of_msg|>";
+
+    // only the markers are special tokens. tag names ("think", "response", ...) are
+    // normal tokens and must not be preserved, or prose with those words is broken
+    data.preserved_tokens = {
+        "<|open|>",
+        "<|close|>",
+        "<|sep|>",
+        "<|end_of_msg|>",
+    };
+
+    data.thinking_start_tag = THINK_START;
+    data.thinking_end_tags  = { THINK_END };
+
+    // per-role message-start delimiters. user/assistant messages only have the role
+    // attribute, so the full opener is used. system and tool messages have more
+    // attributes, so those delimiters stop after the closing quote of the role
+    data.message_delimiters = {
+        { COMMON_CHAT_ROLE_ASSISTANT, "<|open|>message role=\"assistant\"<|sep|>" },
+        { COMMON_CHAT_ROLE_USER,      "<|open|>message role=\"user\"<|sep|>"      },
+        { COMMON_CHAT_ROLE_TOOL,      "<|open|>message role=\"tool\""             },
+        { COMMON_CHAT_ROLE_SYSTEM,    "<|open|>message role=\"system\""           },
+    };
+
+    auto has_tools         = inputs.tools.is_array() && !inputs.tools.empty();
+    auto extract_reasoning = inputs.reasoning_format != COMMON_REASONING_FORMAT_NONE;
+    auto include_grammar   = has_tools && inputs.tool_choice != COMMON_CHAT_TOOL_CHOICE_NONE;
+
+    if (inputs.has_continuation()) {
+        const auto & msg = inputs.continue_msg;
+
+        data.generation_prompt = MSG_START + THINK_START + msg.reasoning_content;
+        if (inputs.continue_final_message == COMMON_CHAT_CONTINUATION_CONTENT) {
+            data.generation_prompt += THINK_END + RESP_START + msg.render_content();
+        }
+
+        data.prompt += data.generation_prompt;
+    }
+
+    auto parser = build_chat_peg_parser([&](common_chat_peg_builder & p) {
+        auto end = p.end();
+
+        auto start = p.optional(p.literal(MSG_START));
+
+        // the think section is always consumed, even with reasoning extraction off:
+        // the generation prompt ends with open_tag('think'), so it is always present.
+        // reasoning stops at its own closer, or at the response opener if the model
+        // skips the closer
+        auto think_body = extract_reasoning ? p.reasoning(p.until_one_of({ THINK_END, RESP_START })) :
+                                              p.content(p.until_one_of({ THINK_END, RESP_START }));
+
+        auto reasoning = p.optional(p.optional(p.literal(THINK_START)) + think_body +
+                                    p.optional(p.literal(THINK_END)));
+
+        // content runs to the response closer, or to the next section if truncated
+        auto response = p.optional(p.literal(RESP_START)) +
+                        p.content(p.until_one_of({ RESP_END, TOOLS_START, MSG_END })) +
+                        p.optional(p.literal(RESP_END));
+
+        // the EOG token after the message closer reaches the parser as text,
+        // so it must be consumed or the parse stays incomplete
+        auto trailer = p.optional(p.literal(MSG_END)) + p.optional(p.literal(EOM_TOKEN));
+
+        if (!has_tools || inputs.tool_choice == COMMON_CHAT_TOOL_CHOICE_NONE) {
+            return start + reasoning + response + trailer + end;
+        }
+
+        auto tool_choices = p.choice();
+        foreach_function(inputs.tools, [&](const json & tool) {
+            const auto & function = tool.at("function");
+            std::string  name     = function.at("name");
+            const json   schema   = function.contains("parameters") ? function.at("parameters") : json::object();
+
+            // arguments come one tag per key, with the JSON type in a type="..."
+            // attribute. the type is taken from the tool schema instead, as it tells
+            // us if the value is JSON or a literal string
+            auto args = p.eps();
+            if (schema.contains("properties") && !schema.at("properties").empty()) {
+                auto arg_choices = p.choice();
+                for (const auto & prop : schema.at("properties").items()) {
+                    const std::string & key = prop.key();
+
+                    std::string type = "string";
+                    if (prop.value().is_object() && prop.value().contains("type") &&
+                        prop.value().at("type").is_string()) {
+                        type = prop.value().at("type").get<std::string>();
+                    }
+
+                    auto value = type == "string" ? p.tool_arg_string_value(p.until(ARG_END)) :
+                                                    p.tool_arg_value(p.until(ARG_END));
+
+                    // skip the trailing type="..." attribute: anything up to <|sep|>
+                    arg_choices |= p.rule("kimi-k3-arg-" + name + "-" + key,
+                                          p.tool_arg(p.tool_arg_open(p.literal(ARG_START)) +
+                                                     p.tool_arg_name(p.literal(key)) + p.literal("\"") +
+                                                     p.until(SEP) + p.literal(SEP) + value +
+                                                     p.tool_arg_close(p.literal(ARG_END))));
+                }
+                args = p.zero_or_more(arg_choices);
+            }
+
+            // skip the trailing index="N" attribute the same way
+            auto call = p.tool(p.tool_open(p.literal(CALL_START) + p.tool_name(p.literal(name)) + p.literal("\"") +
+                                           p.until(SEP) + p.literal(SEP)) +
+                               p.tool_args(args) + p.tool_close(p.literal(CALL_END)));
+
+            tool_choices |= p.rule("kimi-k3-tool-" + name, call);
+        });
+
+        // all calls go inside one tools section, then the message is closed. the
+        // message closer is part of the trigger rule, or else the lazy grammar
+        // rejects it once tool calls have started
+        auto tools_section =
+            p.trigger_rule("kimi-k3-tool-call", p.literal(TOOLS_START) + p.one_or_more(tool_choices) +
+                                                    p.literal(TOOLS_END) + p.optional(p.literal(MSG_END)) +
+                                                    p.optional(p.literal(EOM_TOKEN)));
+
+        auto tools = inputs.tool_choice == COMMON_CHAT_TOOL_CHOICE_REQUIRED ? tools_section :
+                                                                              p.optional(tools_section);
+
+        return start + reasoning + response + tools + trailer + end;
+    });
+
+    data.parser = parser.save();
+
+    if (include_grammar) {
+        data.grammar_lazy = inputs.tool_choice != COMMON_CHAT_TOOL_CHOICE_REQUIRED;
+        data.grammar      = build_grammar([&](const common_grammar_builder & builder) {
+            foreach_function(inputs.tools, [&](const json & tool) {
+                const auto & function = tool.at("function");
+                if (function.contains("parameters")) {
+                    auto schema = function.at("parameters");
+                    builder.resolve_refs(schema);
+                }
+            });
+            parser.build_grammar(builder, data.grammar_lazy);
+        });
+
+        data.grammar_triggers = {
+            { COMMON_GRAMMAR_TRIGGER_TYPE_WORD, TOOLS_START },
+        };
+    }
+
+    return data;
+}
+
 // Cohere2 MoE (a.k.a. "North Code") parser.
 //
 // The assistant turn is fully marker-wrapped:
@@ -3293,6 +3466,13 @@ std::optional<common_chat_params> common_chat_try_specialized_template(
         return common_chat_params_init_kimi_k2(tmpl, params);
     }
 
+    // Kimi K3 - the <|open|>/<|close|>/<|end_of_msg|> markers are unique to it
+    if (src.find("<|open|>") != std::string::npos && src.find("<|close|>") != std::string::npos &&
+        src.find("<|end_of_msg|>") != std::string::npos) {
+        LOG_DBG("Using specialized template: Kimi K3\n");
+        return common_chat_params_init_kimi_k3(tmpl, params);
+    }
+
     // Cohere2 MoE / North Code - marker-wrapped format with <|START_TEXT|> content and
     // <|START_ACTION|> JSON tool calls. <|START_TEXT|> is unique to this template (the older
     // Command-R templates use <|START_RESPONSE|>).
 
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@
     "JinaEmbeddingsV5Model": "bert",
     "KORMoForCausalLM": "qwen",
     "KimiK25ForConditionalGeneration": "deepseek",
+    "KimiK3ForConditionalGeneration": "kimi_k3",
     "KimiLinearForCausalLM": "kimi_linear",
     "KimiLinearModel": "kimi_linear",
     "KimiVLForConditionalGeneration": "deepseek",
 
@@ -658,6 +658,43 @@ def tensor_force_quant(self, name: str, new_name: str, bid: int | None, n_dims:
     def generate_extra_tensors(self) -> Iterable[tuple[str, Tensor]]:
         return ()
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def repack_mxfp4_blocks(packed: Tensor, scale: Tensor) -> np.ndarray:
+        """
+        Repack 4-bit MX weights into ggml `block_mxfp4`. Lossless - only moves bits.
+
+        Source (compressed-tensors "mxfp4-pack-quantized", also used by DeepSeek-V4):
+          packed  uint8 [rows, cols/2]  element 2i in the low nibble, 2i+1 in the high one
+          scale   uint8 [rows, cols/32] one E8M0 biased exponent per 32-element group
+
+        Destination, per group: one scale byte then 16 code bytes, where byte j holds
+        element j in the low nibble and element j+16 in the high one.
+
+        The 4-bit codes need no remapping: both sides index into ggml's kvalues_mxfp4
+        order. ggml doubles the kvalues and halves the scale, so the value is the same.
+        """
+        p = packed.contiguous().view(torch.uint8)
+        s = scale.contiguous().view(torch.uint8)
+
+        rows, packed_cols = p.shape
+        cols = packed_cols * 2
+        if cols % 32 != 0:
+            raise ValueError(f"MXFP4 source row has {cols} values, expected a multiple of 32")
+
+        n_blocks = cols // 32
+        if tuple(s.shape) != (rows, n_blocks):
+            raise ValueError(f"MXFP4 scale shape {tuple(s.shape)} does not match {(rows, n_blocks)}")
+
+        src = p.reshape(rows, n_blocks, 16)
+        lo = src & 0x0F           # elements 0, 2, 4, ...
+        hi = (src >> 4) & 0x0F    # elements 1, 3, 5, ...
+
+        vals = torch.stack((lo, hi), dim=-1).reshape(rows, n_blocks, 32)
+        qs = vals[:, :, :16] | (vals[:, :, 16:] << 4)
+
+        raw = torch.cat((s.unsqueeze(-1), qs.to(torch.uint8)), dim=-1)
+        return raw.reshape(rows, n_blocks * 17).cpu().numpy()
+
     @staticmethod
     def _nvfp4_pack(weight: Tensor, scale: Tensor) -> tuple[np.ndarray, list[int]]:
         """Repack NVFP4 ModelOpt tensors into ggml super-block layout.
@@ -2661,7 +2698,10 @@ def get_model_architecture(hparams: dict[str, Any], model_type: ModelType) -> st
     # Step3-VL keeps text config under text_config but uses a custom top-level architecture.
     # For text conversion we route to a dedicated text-only class.
     # TODO: refactor this later to avoid adding exception here
-    if model_type == ModelType.TEXT and arch in ("StepVLForConditionalGeneration", "Sarashina2VisionForCausalLM", "Exaone4_5_ForConditionalGeneration", "Step3p7ForConditionalGeneration"):
+    # Kimi-K3's text_config reports "KimiLinearForCausalLM", which is the older
+    # Kimi-Linear-48B architecture and cannot load K3 (no attention residuals,
+    # latent MoE, situ, ...). Route on the top-level architecture instead.
+    if model_type == ModelType.TEXT and arch in ("StepVLForConditionalGeneration", "Sarashina2VisionForCausalLM", "Exaone4_5_ForConditionalGeneration", "Step3p7ForConditionalGeneration", "KimiK3ForConditionalGeneration"):
         return arch
 
     # if "architectures" is found in the sub-config, use that instead
 
@@ -709,31 +709,6 @@ def dequant_fp8_weight(weight: Tensor, scale: Tensor) -> Tensor:
         for name in tensors_to_remove:
             del self.model_tensors[name]
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def _pack_mxfp4_blocks(weight: Tensor, scale: Tensor) -> np.ndarray:
-        packed = weight.contiguous().view(torch.uint8)
-        scale_u8 = scale.contiguous().view(torch.uint8)
-
-        out_features, packed_cols = packed.shape
-        logical_cols = packed_cols * 2
-        if logical_cols % 32 != 0:
-            raise ValueError(f"MXFP4 source row has {logical_cols} values, expected a multiple of 32")
-
-        n_blocks = logical_cols // 32
-        if tuple(scale_u8.shape) != (out_features, n_blocks):
-            raise ValueError(f"MXFP4 scale shape {tuple(scale_u8.shape)} does not match {(out_features, n_blocks)}")
-
-        src = packed.reshape(out_features, n_blocks, 16)
-        low = src & 0x0F
-        high = (src >> 4) & 0x0F
-
-        # The safetensors bytes store adjacent values as low/high nibbles.
-        # ggml MXFP4 blocks store values 0..15 in low nibbles and 16..31 in high nibbles.
-        vals = torch.stack((low, high), dim=-1).reshape(out_features, n_blocks, 32)
-        qs = vals[:, :, :16] | (vals[:, :, 16:] << 4)
-        raw = torch.cat((scale_u8.unsqueeze(-1), qs.to(torch.uint8)), dim=-1)
-        return raw.reshape(out_features, n_blocks * 17).cpu().numpy()
-
     def _write_mxfp4_expert_tensor(self, bid: int, proj: str, tensor_key: gguf.MODEL_TENSOR) -> list[str]:
         n_experts = self.hparams["n_routed_experts"]
         data: np.ndarray | None = None
@@ -747,7 +722,7 @@ def _write_mxfp4_expert_tensor(self, bid: int, proj: str, tensor_key: gguf.MODEL
 
             weight = LazyTorchTensor.to_eager(self.model_tensors[weight_name]())
             scale = LazyTorchTensor.to_eager(self.model_tensors[scale_name]())
-            packed = self._pack_mxfp4_blocks(weight, scale)
+            packed = self.repack_mxfp4_blocks(weight, scale)
             if data is None:
                 data = np.empty((n_experts, *packed.shape), dtype=packed.dtype)
             data[eid] = packed