On Windows a bare 'coli chat' (no --gpu/--vram/--auto-tier) ALWAYS ran
CPU-only, even on a CUDA build with a GPU present. Two defects:
1. cuda_binary() returned False on Windows. It detects CUDA by running
'ldd glm | grep libcudart', which is Linux-only (no ldd on win32) and
meaningless anyway because the Windows engine links cudart only inside a
runtime-loaded coli_cuda.dll, not as a libcudart symbol in glm.exe. So
the --gpu/--vram/--auto-tier gates (which call cuda_binary()) never opened.
2. Even with detection fixed, bare 'coli chat' set no CUDA env: env_for's
else-branch only enables CUDA when --gpu/--vram is passed. Nothing
auto-enabled the GPU.
Now: cuda_binary() on non-Linux returns True iff coli_cuda.dll exists next
to glm.exe — the exact file backend_loader.c loads from the engine's own
directory, so its presence is a faithful, cheap, DLL-hijack-safe proxy for a
CUDA-capable build. And env_for, scoped to win32 (Linux keeps its working
explicit-flag UX), auto-enables CUDA when a bare chat detects a CUDA build
plus a GPU via nvidia-smi, sizing the expert-tier VRAM budget from real free
VRAM via the existing build_plan/environment_for_plan machinery (same as
--auto-tier, no guessed budget). If nvidia-smi is missing it falls back to
CPU with a clear warning; --gpu none still forces CPU; explicit --vram/--gpu
still win. CUDA_DENSE stays an explicit opt-in (matches --auto-tier).
Verified on a Windows + RTX 5070 Ti box: bare 'coli chat --model <g64>' now
prints '[GPU] auto-enabled CUDA ... 13.0 GB expert tier' and emits
COLI_CUDA=1 / COLI_GPUS=0 / CUDA_EXPERT_GB=13.044 (was: all unset, CPU-only).
Tests: 4 new cases (auto-enable, nvidia-smi-missing fallback, CPU-build
silent, Linux-unchanged) plus the 4 existing default-I/O tests guarded to
mock cuda_binary() so they stay host-independent. Full python suite green
(env_defaults 8, resource_plan 10, doctor 8, makefile_platform 3, cli_output 3).
Out of scope: doctor.cuda_linkage is also POSIX-only and mis-reports on
Windows — separate follow-up.
woolcoxm
0b05f6a76b