cake
Library Listed
Distributed LLM inference for mobile, desktop and server.
- Downloads
- 22
- Dependents
- 0
- Stars
- 3,131
- Forks
- 206
- Contributors
- 8
- Commits
- 1,117
- Latest release
- 0.1.0 ·
About
Cake is a multimodal AI inference server written in Rust that can run models as a single node, or shard them across a heterogeneous cluster of devices — iOS, Android, macOS, Linux, Windows — to run workloads that wouldn't fit on a single GPU, effectively leveraging planned obsolescence to make AI more accessible and democratic.
This is experimental code that's being actively developed and changed very quickly.
Key Features
- Multi Modal — Text generation, image generation (Stable Diffusion, FLUX), and voice synthesis (VibeVoice TTS with voice cloning).
- Multi Model — 15 text model families, 6 image model variants, and 2 TTS models. Architecture auto-detected from HuggingFace checkpoints.
- Multi Platform — CUDA, Metal, Vulkan, and CPU backends across Linux, macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android.
- Multi Node — Shard transformer blocks across devices with zero-config mDNS clustering or manual topology. Also runs entirely on a single machine.
- OpenAI-Compatible API — REST API with streaming, plus a built-in web UI and TUI chat client.
- Docker — Container builds for Linux/NVIDIA with docker-compose cluster support.
Read the full README
Quick Start
Build
cargo build --release --features cuda # Linux (NVIDIA)
cargo build --release --features metal # macOS (Apple Silicon GPU)
cargo build --release --features accelerate # macOS (Apple Silicon CPU, F32 models)
cargo build --release --features vulkan # Linux (AMD/Intel/Steam Deck)
cargo build --release # CPU only (portable)
Models
Download models from HuggingFace with cake pull. Models are stored in the standard HuggingFace cache directory (~/.cache/huggingface/hub/) and are shared with any other tools that use the same cache (transformers, huggingface-cli, etc.).
cake pull evilsocket/Qwen3-0.6B # text model (600M params)
cake pull evilsocket/flux1-dev # image model (FLUX.1-dev FP8)
cake pull evilsocket/VibeVoice-1.5B # voice synthesis model
cake list # show all locally available models
cake rm evilsocket/Qwen3-0.6B # delete a cached model
Models are also downloaded automatically on first use if not already cached.
Single Node
Run any model locally on a single machine — architecture is auto-detected from the model's config.json:
# Text generation
cake run evilsocket/Qwen3-0.6B "Explain quantum computing in simple terms"
# Interactive TUI chat
cake chat Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B
# Start an API server + web UI
cake serve evilsocket/Qwen3-0.6B
# Image generation (FLUX.1-dev FP8)
cake run evilsocket/flux1-dev --model-type image-model --image-model-arch flux1 \
"a cyberpunk cityscape at night"
# Voice synthesis with voice cloning
cake run evilsocket/VibeVoice-1.5B --model-type audio-model \
--voice-prompt voice.wav "Hello world"
Distributed
Shard a model across multiple machines using --cluster-key. Workers don't need the model data — the master automatically streams the required tensor weights over the network (compressed with zstd, verified with CRC32 checksums). Workers cache received data locally for subsequent runs.
# Start workers on any machines (no model needed)
cake run --cluster-key mysecret --name gpu-server-1 # machine A
cake run --cluster-key mysecret --name macbook # machine B
# Run inference from the master (has the model)
cake run evilsocket/Qwen3-0.6B "Hello" --cluster-key mysecret
# Or start an API server as the master
cake serve evilsocket/Qwen3-0.6B --cluster-key mysecret
The master discovers workers via mDNS, assigns layers proportionally to each device's VRAM/compute, and pushes only the required weight shards. See the clustering documentation for manual topology files and advanced configuration.
For the full usage guide and API reference, check the project documentation.
Star History
License
Released under the FAIR License (Free for Attribution and Individual Rights) v1.0.0.
- Non-commercial use (personal, educational, research, non-profit) is freely permitted under the terms of the license.
- Commercial use (SaaS, paid apps, any monetization) requires visible attribution to the project and its author. See the license for details.
- Business use (any use by or on behalf of a business entity) requires a signed commercial agreement with the author. Contact
evilsocket@gmail.comfor inquiries.
To see the licenses of the project dependencies, install cargo license with cargo install cargo-license and then run cargo license.
Compatibility
- Runs on
- CUDA, Metal
What shows it
- CUDA: cake-core feature cuda, cake-cli feature cuda
- Metal: cake-core feature metal, cake-cli feature metal
- Native code
- None found
- No native code found
- Python bindings
- No Python binding crate found
- License
- GPL-3.0
Compare with similar projects
Order: strongest tier first, then most downloads, then name, with unmeasured values last. A library counts downloads over 30 days. An app counts binary downloads per release. An app with none counts its crate downloads over 30 days. ML Rust runs this catalogue, so its closest project always gets a row.
| Project | Downloads | Dependents | Stars | Latest release | Runs on (GPU) | Native code | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Distributed LLM inference for mobile, desktop and server. |
22 downloads over 30 days | 0 | 3,131 | 0.1.0 | CUDA, Metal | No native code found | GPL-3.0 |
|
Distributed AI/LLM for the people. Share compute privately or publicly to power your agents and chat. |
1,411 binary downloads per release | Not applicable | 3,993 | 0.78.1 | GPU support unknown | Binds native code: libsqlite3-sys, netlink-sys, ring, secp256k1-sys | Apache-2.0 OR MIT |
|
Efficent platform for inference and serving local LLMs including an OpenAI compatible API server. |
138 binary downloads per release | Not applicable | 739 | Not measured | Not measured | MIT | |
|
A rust mlx server, ui, and model router for fast, dependency free inference on apple architecture |
23 binary downloads per release | Not applicable | 34 | Not measured | Not measured | MIT | |
|
Inference server for LLMs, speech and embeddings: OpenAI-compatible routes with streaming, plus speech synthesis (TTS) and transcription (ASR). Serves Llama, Mistral, Qwen, Mamba2, MLA+MoE and hybrid models from SafeTensors, AWQ, GPTQ and GGUF. |
8 binary downloads per release | Not applicable | 7 | 0.7.1 | CUDA, WebGPU | Binds native code: ring (feature distributed) | Apache-2.0 |
|
furnace New
Fast, unified, Rust-native, Axum-compatible inference endpoints and nervous system for tensor models and LLMs: KServe / Triton and OpenAI APIs from one pure-Rust server |
241 downloads over 30 days | 0 | 66 | 0.16.2 | CUDA, WebGPU, Metal | No native code found | MIT |
Why ListedNo archive, New or Featured rule places it, so it is Listed.
What it lacks for Featured
- It has 0 active dependents and 0 new dependents in 365 days. Featured needs 11 active dependents or 9 new dependents in 365 days. The repository route reads 3,131 stars, 206 forks and 8 contributors. It needs 4,539 stars, 434 forks and 79 contributors together.
What else the check found
- The last activity is on 24 Apr 2026, 199 days ago. The rules expect an update within 365 days. Dormancy rule
Exact rules: Listed, Featured library. The check on applied thresholds version 9.
Every rule outcome, as the check records it
expected-interval: version 0.1.0 base 80, capped at 1 releases = 50, raised to the 365-day floor: E = 365 daysdormancy: last activity 2026-04-24, 199 days ago, E = 365: activefeatured: not featured: active_users 0 < 11 and new_adopters 0 < 9 and repository route stars 3131 (needs 4539), forks 206 (needs 434), contributors 8 (needs 79)listed: listed: no archive, new or featured rule applies
Measurements and sources
Each signal row shows the raw value, its source and the fetch date. The Sources list gathers every distinct source on this page. Movement needs more history.
Sources6 sources
- Description: the crates.io description
- crates.io database dump, fetched
- RustSec advisory database, fetched
- GitHub repository, fetched
- crates.io package, fetched
- GitHub contributors, fetched
Adoption0 active dependents, 0 new dependents in 365 days1 not measured
| Signal | Value | Source | Fetched | Counts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active dependents | 0 | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| New dependents (365 days) | 0 | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Peak active dependents | 0 | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Active dependents as a share of the peak | 1 | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Binary downloads per release | Not measured | Yes |
MaintenanceLatest human commit: 6 months ago3 not measured
| Signal | Value | Source | Fetched | Counts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latest human commit | 2026-04-24 | GitHub repository | Yes | |
| Latest release | 2026-03-04 | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| First release | 2026-03-04 | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Latest version | 0.1.0 | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Days the oldest outside issue waits for a reply | 82 | GitHub repository | Yes | |
| Maintainer replies over 365 days | 22 | GitHub repository | Yes | |
| Repository archived | false | GitHub repository | Yes | |
| Repository gone | false | GitHub repository | Yes | |
| Release commit or manifest in the repo | true | crates.io package | Yes | |
| Published docs | true | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Latest release fails cargo check | Not measured | Yes | ||
| Build check date | Not measured | Yes | ||
| Build check toolchain | Not measured | Yes |
SecurityUnpatched vulnerabilities: none
| Signal | Value | Source | Fetched | Counts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unpatched vulnerabilities past the grace window | none | RustSec advisory database | Yes | |
| RustSec unmaintained advisory | none | RustSec advisory database | Yes | |
| Deprecation notice | none | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Deprecated requirement | none | crates.io database dump | Yes |
Distribution1 releases, 22 downloads over 30 days5 not measured
| Signal | Value | Source | Fetched | Counts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Releases | 1 | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Downloads over 30 days | 22 | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Binary downloads over the last 3 releases | Not measured | Yes | ||
| Homebrew installs on request over 365 days | Not measured | Yes | ||
| Repology repository families | Not measured | Yes | ||
| Docker pull growth over 90 days | Not measured | Yes | ||
| Docker pulls at the growth baseline | Not measured | Yes | ||
| Every version a prerelease | false | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Every version 0.0.x | false | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Every version yanked | false | crates.io database dump | Yes | |
| Crate deleted from crates.io | false | crates.io database dump | Yes |
Repository3,131 stars, 206 forks, 8 contributors, 1,117 commits. Stars alone never qualify a project.
| Signal | Value | Source | Fetched | Counts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 3131 | GitHub repository | Yes — one part of the repository route | |
| GitHub forks | 206 | GitHub repository | Yes — one part of the repository route | |
| Contributors with a GitHub account | 8 | GitHub contributors | Yes — one part of the repository route | |
| Commits on the default branch | 1117 | GitHub repository | No | |
| Repository's main crate left out of the entry | none | crates.io database dump | Yes |
Facts that never count
| Signal | Value | Source | Fetched | Counts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0 | crates.io database dump | No | |
| Runs on, from listed crates and their direct dependencies | CUDA, Metal | crates.io database dump | No | |
| What shows each backend | CUDA: cake-core feature cuda, cake-cli feature cuda; Metal: cake-core feature metal, cake-cli feature metal | crates.io database dump | No | |
| Native code, from listed crates and their dependencies | No native code found | crates.io database dump | No | |
| Python bindings, from direct dependencies of listed crates | No Python binding crate found | crates.io database dump | No | |
| Crates that depend on a listed crate directly | 0 | crates.io database dump | No |
Corrections and review history
No correction applies to this entry.
Judgments
A judgment enters only through an approved issue and a merged pull request.
No judgment applies to this entry.