> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://sambanova-systems.mintlify.site/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Model
A Model defines *which checkpoints* are available for each architecture, along with the tokenizer to use. It is the source of checkpoints for a deployment: checkpoint paths are never declared in a bundle or a deployment, and the operator resolves them from the Model you reference.
You author a `Model` resource when bringing your own checkpoint. Serving a custom checkpoint against an already-supported architecture requires adding a `Model` resource only, leaving the [profile](/docs/en/sambastack/service-administration/model-deployment/custom-resources/model-profile) untouched.
`Model` resources use `apiVersion: sambanova.ai/v1alpha1`.
Compatibility between a checkpoint and a profile is defined by `model_arch`, but the operator does not verify it. Select a checkpoint whose architecture is compatible with the profile you reference. See [Identify available models and profiles](/docs/en/sambastack/service-administration/model-deployment/deploying-models-and-bundles/overview#identify-available-models-and-profiles).
## Structure
```yaml theme={}
apiVersion: sambanova.ai/v1alpha1
kind: Model
metadata:
name: deepseek-v3-2
spec:
name: DeepSeek-V3.2
owner: no-reply@sambanova.ai
checkpoints:
deepseek:
versions:
"1":
source: gs:///path/to/checkpoint
checkpoint_status: stable
tool_support: true
tokenizer:
path: ./DeepSeek-V3.2_tokenizer
metadata:
capabilities:
- text
```
| Field | Required | Description |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `metadata.name` | Yes | Kubernetes resource name. This value is used in `modelConfigs[].model` references. |
| `spec.name` | Yes | Serving name used in the inference API. |
| `spec.aliases` | No | Alternative names that route to this model. |
| `spec.checkpoints.` | Yes | Checkpoints keyed by architecture. The `` key must match the `model_arch` value of the PEFs in the profile that this model is paired with. |
| `spec.checkpoints..versions..source` | Yes | Path pointing to the model checkpoint. Find available checkpoints in [Supported Models and Bundles](/docs/en/sambastack/service-administration/model-deployment/supported-models-and-bundles). |
| `spec.checkpoints..versions..checkpoint_status` | Yes | Lifecycle status of this checkpoint version. See [PEF and checkpoint lifecycle status](/docs/en/sambastack/service-administration/model-deployment/custom-resources/pef#pef-and-checkpoint-lifecycle-status). |
| `spec.checkpoints..versions..tool_support` | No | Whether this checkpoint is compatible with tools and function calling. Defaults to `false`. |
| `spec.checkpoints..versions..vision_embedding_checkpoint` | No | Companion vision embedding checkpoint, used for multimodal models. |
| `spec.tokenizer.path` | Yes | Path to the local tokenizer to use. For a custom checkpoint, set this to the tokenizer of the base model that the checkpoint was derived from. |
| `spec.tokenizer.endpointUrls` | No | URLs to send tokenizer requests to. One URL is selected at random per request. |
| `spec.owner` | Yes | Email address of the model owner for tracking and notifications. |
| `spec.tool_support` | No | Whether the model supports using tools. |
| `spec.public` | No | Whether the model appears in the public models list. |
| `spec.metadata.capabilities` | Yes | Capabilities of the model, for example `text`, `vision`, `audio`, `embeddings`, or `reasoning`. |
| `spec.metadata` | No | Additional catalog metadata surfaced in the models API and documentation: `provider`, `license`, `overview`, `architecture`, `languages`, `category`, `text_only`, and `vocabulary_size`. |
| `spec.expertFields` | No | Defaults applied to every expert instance of this model at deployment time: `output_processor`, `postprocess_parser`, `enable_reasoning_effort`, and `tiktoken_vocab_rel_path`. Bundle-side values for the same keys take precedence. |
| `spec.price` | No | Pricing for the model: `input_tokens`, `output_tokens`, `input_cache_read`, `input_cache_write`, and `input_audio_duration_per_hour`. |
| `spec.fallback` | No | Fallback configuration, typically for multimodal support. Takes `model` and `when_missing`, both required when set. |
| `spec.api_forward_url` | No | Forwards traffic for this model to another cluster. |
The paths to checkpoints hosted by SambaNova will be provided to you by your SambaNova contact. If you have hosted your own checkpoints, you can include those paths in the `source` fields above.
## Related resources
The runtime shape a model is paired with
The workflow for registering and serving your own checkpoint