fix: defer to native LIK backends in PyLate & colpali-engine#105
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PyLate now ships its own LIK dispatch (pylate#222: `pip install "pylate[lik]"`, selected via `auto` / PYLATE_SCORES_BACKEND). On those versions patch_pylate() detected nothing and would shadow native routing — and break ColBERTScores, which forwards `backend=` to colbert_scores (our drop-in doesn't accept it). patch_pylate() now detects the native `backend` parameter and becomes a deprecated no-op there; older PyLate is unaffected. PyLate's backend calls maxsim / maxsim_pairs / maxsim_mps by keyword, so those signatures are pinned by a test. README + e2e bench point at the native path.
h-tonywu
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Jun 6, 2026
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I suggest waiting for the next pylate release (should be Monday) and clean the code a bit! Other really great initiative, tsm! 🙌🏼
ColPali merged native LIK support (colpali#412), shipped in colpali-engine 0.3.17, mirroring PyLate 1.5.1 (pylate#222). Both now route MaxSim through their own dispatch (COLPALI_SCORES_BACKEND / PYLATE_SCORES_BACKEND), so our patches are redundant there — and patching PyLate on top breaks ColBERTScores (forwards backend=). patch_pylate() and patch_colpali_engine() now detect native support by package version (per Tony's review on #105: pylate >= 1.5.1, colpali-engine >= 0.3.17) via a shared _utils.package_at_least helper, and become deprecated no-ops there. Older versions are unaffected. - README/CHANGELOG name the exact versions and the native install path. - e2e benches set the native env var for the lik variant; sky colpali-compat test pins < 0.3.17 so it still exercises the patch. - no-op tests for both patches + the maxsim signature freeze the native backends now depend on.
h-aurelien-lac
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- Cover numeric (not lexicographic) ordering, short release tuples, and dev/rc suffixes flooring to the release - Cover absent-package returning False - CPU-safe and downstream-free, unlike the monkeypatched no-op tests that never exercise the real comparison
- Move the maxsim / maxsim_pairs / maxsim_mps kwarg freeze out of test_pylate_compat.py (gated by mark.cuda + importorskip pylate) into a downstream-free test_public_api.py so it runs on CPU CI - Freeze normalize on maxsim / maxsim_pairs too, matching the documented native-backend contract
- Reference _PYLATE_NATIVE_MIN / _COLPALI_NATIVE_MIN as the single source of truth in the compat docstrings instead of restating 1.5.1 / 0.3.17 - Genericize the colpali bench docstring + comment to "native LIK" rather than >= 0.3.17 (keeping the concrete 0.3.16 pinned-env references)
h-tonywu
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Jun 8, 2026
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What
Both downstreams now ship a native LIK backend, released today:
pip install "pylate[lik]", viaauto/PYLATE_SCORES_BACKEND.pip install "colpali-engine[lik]", viaauto/COLPALI_SCORES_BACKEND.So
patch_pylate()/patch_colpali_engine()are now redundant there — and on PyLate the patch actively breaks: nativeColBERTScoresforwardsbackend=tocolbert_scores, which our drop-in doesn't accept →TypeError.Change
Both patches detect native support by package version (per @tonywu71's review) and become a deprecated no-op — they leave the native dispatch alone instead of shadowing it. Older versions are unchanged.
_utils.package_at_least()helper; thresholds named: PyLate ≥ 1.5.1, colpali-engine ≥ 0.3.17 (verified 1.5.0 / 0.3.16 don't have it).likvariant;sky_colpali_compat_test.yamlpins< 0.3.17so it keeps exercising the patch.maxsim/maxsim_pairs/maxsim_mpsby keyword → those signatures are now pinned by a test.Test plan
< 0.3.17).