diff --git a/experimental/sgl-router/Cargo.toml b/experimental/sgl-router/Cargo.toml
index de419ab8b..80416b29d 100644
--- a/experimental/sgl-router/Cargo.toml
+++ b/experimental/sgl-router/Cargo.toml
@@ -43,6 +43,16 @@ serde_json = { version = "1", features = ["preserve_order"] }
 # this pulls no openssl/native-tls (matching reqwest's rustls-tls above).
 hf-hub = { version = "0.4", default-features = false, features = ["ureq"] }
 
+# Chat-template rendering for cache-aware routing: the engine caches tokens
+# AFTER applying the model's chat template, so the router renders the same
+# template (from tokenizer_config.json) before hashing — otherwise its query
+# token_ids diverge from the engine's stored blocks. `pycompat` supplies the
+# Python str/dict methods HF chat templates rely on (.startswith, .items, ...).
+minijinja = { version = "2", features = ["loop_controls", "json"] }
+minijinja-contrib = { version = "2", features = ["pycompat"] }
+# `strftime_now` chat-template helper (some templates inject the current date).
+chrono = { version = "0.4", default-features = false, features = ["clock"] }
+
 # Utilities
 anyhow = "1"
 thiserror = "2"
diff --git a/experimental/sgl-router/src/policies/cache_aware_zmq.rs b/experimental/sgl-router/src/policies/cache_aware_zmq.rs
index e9e38ea01..e23f9fa9c 100644
--- a/experimental/sgl-router/src/policies/cache_aware_zmq.rs
+++ b/experimental/sgl-router/src/policies/cache_aware_zmq.rs
@@ -17,10 +17,12 @@
 //!    balance_rel_threshold`, skip the cache lookup and pick the
 //!    lowest-load worker. This prevents one hot worker from dominating
 //!    cache-aware selection while every other worker idles.
-//! 2. **Tokenize.** Pull the prompt text out of the JSON body (`messages` or
-//!    `prompt` field), run it through the per-model tokenizer. On any
-//!    failure (no body, no tokenizer, encode error, empty tokens), fall
-//!    through to step 4 (min-load fallback).
+//! 2. **Tokenize.** For chat requests (`messages`) on a model with a chat
+//!    encoder (a Jinja template, or a built-in encoder like DeepSeek-V4's),
+//!    render it and tokenize the result so the query tokens match what the
+//!    engine cached (BOS + role markers + content); otherwise tokenize the raw
+//!    `prompt`/`text`. On any failure (no body, no tokenizer, encode error,
+//!    empty tokens), fall through to step 4 (min-load fallback).
 //! 3. **Hash + match.** Compute block hashes via
 //!    [`super::kv_events::compute_block_hashes`], query the shared hash tree
 //!    for the longest matching prefix. If `match_rate > cache_threshold`,
@@ -130,9 +132,20 @@ impl CacheAwareZmqPolicy {
         abs_diff > self.config.balance_abs_threshold && max_load > rel_threshold
     }
 
-    /// Extract a prompt-text candidate from a JSON request body. Returns
-    /// `None` if the body isn't valid JSON or doesn't contain a routable
-    /// text field; the caller falls back to non-cache-aware routing.
+    /// Byte-slice convenience wrapper over [`Self::extract_prompt_text_from_value`].
+    /// Only the parsed-value form is on the hot path ([`Self::tokens_for_request`]);
+    /// this wrapper exists for the extraction unit tests.
+    #[cfg(test)]
+    fn extract_prompt_text(body: &[u8]) -> Option<String> {
+        let v: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_slice(body).ok()?;
+        Self::extract_prompt_text_from_value(&v)
+    }
+
+    /// Extract a raw prompt-text candidate from an already-parsed JSON request
+    /// body (the body is parsed once in [`Self::tokens_for_request`]). Returns
+    /// `None` when there's no routable text field; the caller falls back to
+    /// non-cache-aware routing. This is the raw path — chat requests on a model
+    /// with a chat template are tokenized via the template instead.
     ///
     /// Supported shapes (in priority order):
     ///   1. `"prompt": "..."` — `/v1/completions`-style.
@@ -145,8 +158,7 @@ impl CacheAwareZmqPolicy {
     ///   5. `"text": "..."` — SGLang `/generate` native form.
     ///
     /// Anything else yields `None`.
-    fn extract_prompt_text(body: &[u8]) -> Option<String> {
-        let v: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_slice(body).ok()?;
+    fn extract_prompt_text_from_value(v: &serde_json::Value) -> Option<String> {
         if let Some(s) = v.get("prompt").and_then(|p| p.as_str()) {
             return Some(s.to_string());
         }
@@ -189,6 +201,28 @@ impl CacheAwareZmqPolicy {
         None
     }
 
+    /// Produce the token sequence to hash for this request.
+    ///
+    /// Chat requests (`messages`) on a model that has a chat template are
+    /// rendered through that template and tokenized the way the engine does, so
+    /// the query hashes match the engine's cached blocks (which are keyed on
+    /// chat-templated tokens). Everything else — `/v1/completions` (`prompt`),
+    /// `/generate` (`text`), or a chat model without a template — tokenizes the
+    /// raw extracted prompt text, unchanged. A failed template render/encode
+    /// falls through to the raw path rather than failing the request.
+    fn tokens_for_request(&self, model_id: &ModelId, body: &[u8]) -> Option<Vec<u32>> {
+        let value: serde_json::Value = serde_json::from_slice(body).ok()?;
+        if self.tokenizers.has_chat_encoder(&model_id.0) {
+            if let Some(messages) = value.get("messages").filter(|m| m.is_array()) {
+                if let Some(tokens) = self.tokenizers.encode_chat(&model_id.0, messages) {
+                    return Some(tokens);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        let text = Self::extract_prompt_text_from_value(&value)?;
+        self.tokenize(model_id, &text)
+    }
+
     /// Tokenize `text` for `model_id`. Returns `None` if no tokenizer is
     /// loaded (the model_id may be misconfigured) or if encoding fails.
     /// Errors log at debug — they degrade routing but are not fatal.
@@ -221,19 +255,17 @@ impl Policy for CacheAwareZmqPolicy {
             return Self::pick_min_load(workers);
         }
 
-        // 2. Extract the prompt text.
+        // 2. Tokenize the request (chat-template-aware for chat traffic on
+        //    models that ship a template; raw prompt text otherwise).
         let body = match ctx.request_body() {
             Some(b) if !b.is_empty() => b,
             _ => return Self::pick_min_load(workers),
         };
-        let Some(text) = Self::extract_prompt_text(body) else {
+        let Some(tokens) = self.tokens_for_request(ctx.model(), body) else {
             return Self::pick_min_load(workers);
         };
 
-        // 3. Tokenize + hash + match.
-        let Some(tokens) = self.tokenize(ctx.model(), &text) else {
-            return Self::pick_min_load(workers);
-        };
+        // 3. Hash + match.
         // Source block_size from the worker — the router can only hash
         // prompts at the block size the workers publish at. If no worker
         // has registered yet (oracle empty), cache-aware routing has no
@@ -713,6 +745,237 @@ mod tests {
         }
     }
 
+    /// A chat-completions request on a model with a chat template must route by
+    /// the **chat-templated** tokens (BOS + role markers + content) — the tokens
+    /// the engine actually cached — not by the raw joined content. Worker w0
+    /// published its blocks under the templated tokens; only a router that
+    /// renders the same template hashes a matching query. Hashing the raw
+    /// content instead would match nothing, leaving live `overlap_blocks_sum`
+    /// at 0 for chat traffic.
+    #[test]
+    fn chat_request_routes_by_templated_tokens() {
+        let registry = tokenizer_registry_with_tiny();
+        let template = serde_json::json!({
+            "chat_template": "{{ bos_token }}{% for m in messages %}<|{{ m['role'] }}|>{{ m['content'] }}{% endfor %}<|assistant|>",
+            "bos_token": "<s>",
+        });
+        registry.attach_chat_template_for_test("tiny", &template);
+
+        let messages = serde_json::json!([{"role":"user","content":"hello world hello world"}]);
+        // Engine-side blocks are keyed on tokenize(render(messages)).
+        let templated_tokens = registry.encode_chat("tiny", &messages).unwrap();
+        let block_size = 4u32;
+        let templated_hashes = compute_block_hashes(&templated_tokens, block_size as usize);
+        assert!(
+            !templated_hashes.is_empty(),
+            "templated prompt must produce at least one block"
+        );
+
+        let tree = Arc::new(HashTree::new());
+        tree.insert(
+            &KvWorkerId::new("http://w0:30000".into(), 0),
+            None,
+            &templated_hashes,
+        );
+
+        let policy = CacheAwareZmqPolicy::new(
+            CacheAwareConfig {
+                cache_threshold: 0.0,
+                balance_abs_threshold: 32,
+                balance_rel_threshold: 1.1,
+            },
+            tree,
+            registry,
+            oracle_for_tests(block_size),
+        );
+        let w0 = worker("http://w0:30000", "tiny");
+        let w1 = worker("http://w1:30000", "tiny");
+        let workers = vec![Arc::clone(&w0), Arc::clone(&w1)];
+        let model = ModelId("tiny".into());
+        let body = serde_json::to_vec(&serde_json::json!({
+            "model": "tiny",
+            "messages": messages,
+        }))
+        .unwrap();
+        let ctx = SelectionContext::new(&model, Some(&body));
+        let chosen = policy.select(&workers, &ctx).expect("must pick");
+        assert_eq!(
+            chosen.url, "http://w0:30000",
+            "chat request must route by chat-templated tokens to the worker holding that prefix"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Templated and raw-content hashings must genuinely differ, confirming
+    /// the chat-template path does real work (a no-op template would make this
+    /// assertion fail, and raw-content hashes would miss the engine's
+    /// templated blocks).
+    #[test]
+    fn chat_templated_hashes_differ_from_raw_content_hashes() {
+        let registry = tokenizer_registry_with_tiny();
+        let template = serde_json::json!({
+            "chat_template": "{{ bos_token }}{% for m in messages %}<|{{ m['role'] }}|>{{ m['content'] }}{% endfor %}<|assistant|>",
+            "bos_token": "<s>",
+        });
+        registry.attach_chat_template_for_test("tiny", &template);
+        let content = "hello world hello world";
+        let messages = serde_json::json!([{"role":"user","content":content}]);
+
+        let templated = registry.encode_chat("tiny", &messages).unwrap();
+        let raw = adapter::encode(&registry.get("tiny").unwrap(), content).unwrap();
+        assert_ne!(
+            compute_block_hashes(&templated, 4),
+            compute_block_hashes(&raw, 4),
+            "templated and raw-content block hashes must differ"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// The DeepSeek-V4 built-in encoder is dispatched for chat requests when a
+    /// model has it (no Jinja template). The query tokens come from the V4
+    /// encoder, so a worker holding that encoded prefix is matched. (The V4
+    /// markers aren't special tokens in the tiny fixture, but the dispatch +
+    /// routing wiring is what's under test; byte-exact V4 token parity is pinned
+    /// by `dsv4`'s string goldens and validated live.)
+    #[test]
+    fn chat_request_routes_via_dsv4_encoder() {
+        let registry = tokenizer_registry_with_tiny();
+        registry.attach_chat_encoder_for_test("tiny", crate::tokenizer::ChatEncoder::DeepSeekV4);
+        assert!(registry.has_chat_encoder("tiny"));
+
+        let messages =
+            serde_json::json!([{"role":"user","content":"hello world hello world hello world"}]);
+        let encoded = registry.encode_chat("tiny", &messages).unwrap();
+        let block_size = 4u32;
+        let hashes = compute_block_hashes(&encoded, block_size as usize);
+        assert!(!hashes.is_empty());
+
+        let tree = Arc::new(HashTree::new());
+        tree.insert(&KvWorkerId::new("http://w0:30000".into(), 0), None, &hashes);
+        let policy = CacheAwareZmqPolicy::new(
+            CacheAwareConfig {
+                cache_threshold: 0.0,
+                balance_abs_threshold: 32,
+                balance_rel_threshold: 1.1,
+            },
+            tree,
+            registry,
+            oracle_for_tests(block_size),
+        );
+        let w0 = worker("http://w0:30000", "tiny");
+        let w1 = worker("http://w1:30000", "tiny");
+        let workers = vec![Arc::clone(&w0), Arc::clone(&w1)];
+        let model = ModelId("tiny".into());
+        let body = serde_json::to_vec(&serde_json::json!({ "messages": messages })).unwrap();
+        let ctx = SelectionContext::new(&model, Some(&body));
+        let chosen = policy.select(&workers, &ctx).expect("must pick");
+        assert_eq!(
+            chosen.url, "http://w0:30000",
+            "dsv4 chat request must route by the V4-encoded prefix"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Helper: a tree holding `content`'s RAW-tokenized block hashes on w0, the
+    /// two workers, and a policy — the fixture the raw-fallback routing tests
+    /// share. Returns (policy, workers, model).
+    fn raw_prefix_fixture(
+        registry: Arc<TokenizerRegistry>,
+        content: &str,
+    ) -> (CacheAwareZmqPolicy, Vec<Arc<Worker>>, ModelId) {
+        let raw_tokens = adapter::encode(&registry.get("tiny").unwrap(), content).unwrap();
+        let hashes = compute_block_hashes(&raw_tokens, 4);
+        assert!(
+            !hashes.is_empty(),
+            "raw content must produce at least one block"
+        );
+        let tree = Arc::new(HashTree::new());
+        tree.insert(&KvWorkerId::new("http://w0:30000".into(), 0), None, &hashes);
+        let policy = CacheAwareZmqPolicy::new(
+            CacheAwareConfig {
+                cache_threshold: 0.0,
+                balance_abs_threshold: 32,
+                balance_rel_threshold: 1.1,
+            },
+            tree,
+            registry,
+            oracle_for_tests(4),
+        );
+        let workers = vec![
+            worker("http://w0:30000", "tiny"),
+            worker("http://w1:30000", "tiny"),
+        ];
+        (policy, workers, ModelId("tiny".into()))
+    }
+
+    /// Graceful degradation: a model that HAS a chat template whose render fails
+    /// (here it always raises) must fall back to hashing the RAW content and
+    /// still route by prefix — not error, not blindly min-load. Exercises the
+    /// `tokens_for_request` fall-through that the leaf `encode_chat`-returns-None
+    /// tests don't reach at the routing level.
+    #[test]
+    fn chat_render_failure_falls_back_to_raw_routing() {
+        let registry = tokenizer_registry_with_tiny();
+        registry.attach_chat_template_for_test(
+            "tiny",
+            &serde_json::json!({
+                "chat_template": "{{ raise_exception('boom') }}",
+                "bos_token": "<s>",
+            }),
+        );
+        let content = "hello world hello world hello world";
+        let (policy, workers, model) = raw_prefix_fixture(registry, content);
+        let body = serde_json::to_vec(&serde_json::json!({
+            "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": content}],
+        }))
+        .unwrap();
+        let ctx = SelectionContext::new(&model, Some(&body));
+        let chosen = policy.select(&workers, &ctx).expect("must pick");
+        assert_eq!(
+            chosen.url, "http://w0:30000",
+            "a failed template render must degrade to raw-content routing"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// A chat request on a model WITHOUT a chat template routes by the raw
+    /// joined `messages[*].content` — the common config where the model ships
+    /// no `chat_template`. Covers the `tokens_for_request` path that skips the
+    /// template block entirely for a `messages` body.
+    #[test]
+    fn chat_on_template_less_model_routes_by_raw_content() {
+        let registry = tokenizer_registry_with_tiny(); // no template attached
+        assert!(!registry.has_chat_encoder("tiny"));
+        let content = "hello world hello world hello world";
+        let (policy, workers, model) = raw_prefix_fixture(registry, content);
+        let body = serde_json::to_vec(&serde_json::json!({
+            "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": content}],
+        }))
+        .unwrap();
+        let ctx = SelectionContext::new(&model, Some(&body));
+        let chosen = policy.select(&workers, &ctx).expect("must pick");
+        assert_eq!(chosen.url, "http://w0:30000");
+    }
+
+    /// A `/v1/completions` (`prompt`) request on a model that DOES have a chat
+    /// template must still use the raw path — the template applies only to
+    /// `messages` traffic. Guards the `messages`-presence gate in
+    /// `tokens_for_request`.
+    #[test]
+    fn completions_prompt_on_templated_model_uses_raw_path() {
+        let registry = tokenizer_registry_with_tiny();
+        registry.attach_chat_template_for_test(
+            "tiny",
+            &serde_json::json!({
+                "chat_template": "{{ bos_token }}{% for m in messages %}<|{{ m['role'] }}|>{{ m['content'] }}{% endfor %}",
+                "bos_token": "<s>",
+            }),
+        );
+        let content = "hello world hello world hello world";
+        let (policy, workers, model) = raw_prefix_fixture(registry, content);
+        // `prompt` body (no `messages`) -> raw path, so it matches the raw tree.
+        let body = serde_json::to_vec(&serde_json::json!({ "prompt": content })).unwrap();
+        let ctx = SelectionContext::new(&model, Some(&body));
+        let chosen = policy.select(&workers, &ctx).expect("must pick");
+        assert_eq!(chosen.url, "http://w0:30000");
+    }
+
     /// Two workers both hold the prefix; the lower-load one wins.
     #[test]
     fn tie_break_by_lowest_active_load() {
diff --git a/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/adapter.rs b/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/adapter.rs
index efec68053..ca9007467 100644
--- a/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/adapter.rs
+++ b/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/adapter.rs
@@ -44,23 +44,68 @@ fn looks_like_path(source: &str) -> bool {
 }
 
 /// Download `tokenizer.json` for a HuggingFace repo id and return the cached
-/// local path. Uses the blocking `ureq` API (this runs once at startup,
-/// before the server begins serving) and `from_env` so `HF_TOKEN` /
-/// `HF_HOME` / endpoint overrides are honored.
+/// local path, adding an actionable error context. The actual fetch (blocking
+/// `ureq`, `from_env` so `HF_TOKEN` / `HF_HOME` / endpoint overrides apply)
+/// lives in [`download_repo_file`].
 fn download_tokenizer_json(repo_id: &str) -> Result<std::path::PathBuf> {
+    download_repo_file(repo_id, "tokenizer.json").with_context(|| {
+        format!(
+            "download tokenizer.json for HuggingFace repo {repo_id:?} \
+             (pass --tokenizer-path with a local tokenizer.json, or set HF_TOKEN \
+             for a gated/private repo)"
+        )
+    })
+}
+
+/// Download `file` from a HuggingFace repo id and return the cached local path.
+/// Shared by `tokenizer.json` (required) and `tokenizer_config.json` (optional).
+fn download_repo_file(repo_id: &str, file: &str) -> Result<std::path::PathBuf> {
     use hf_hub::api::sync::ApiBuilder;
     let api = ApiBuilder::from_env()
         .build()
         .context("initialize HuggingFace Hub client")?;
     api.model(repo_id.to_string())
-        .get("tokenizer.json")
-        .with_context(|| {
-            format!(
-                "download tokenizer.json for HuggingFace repo {repo_id:?} \
-                 (pass --tokenizer-path with a local tokenizer.json, or set HF_TOKEN \
-                 for a gated/private repo)"
-            )
-        })
+        .get(file)
+        .with_context(|| format!("download {file} for HuggingFace repo {repo_id:?}"))
+}
+
+/// Load the `tokenizer_config.json` co-located with the tokenizer named by
+/// `source` (the same value passed to [`load`]). For a local
+/// `.../tokenizer.json` path this is the sibling file; for an HF repo id it is
+/// downloaded from the same repo.
+///
+/// Returns `Ok(None)` when the model ships no `tokenizer_config.json` (rare but
+/// valid) — the caller then has no chat template and routes via raw prompt text.
+pub fn load_tokenizer_config(source: &str) -> Result<Option<serde_json::Value>> {
+    let path = if Path::new(source).is_file() || looks_like_path(source) {
+        match Path::new(source).parent() {
+            Some(dir) => dir.join("tokenizer_config.json"),
+            None => return Ok(None),
+        }
+    } else {
+        // HF repo id. The download error type doesn't distinguish a genuine
+        // 404 (repo ships no tokenizer_config.json — benign) from auth/network
+        // failures (wrong/expired HF_TOKEN, gated repo, timeout), so warn with
+        // the cause rather than asserting the benign case at debug: a swallowed
+        // auth error here silently disables chat-template routing.
+        match download_repo_file(source, "tokenizer_config.json") {
+            Ok(p) => p,
+            Err(e) => {
+                tracing::warn!(repo = %source, error = %e,
+                    "could not download tokenizer_config.json; chat-template routing disabled for this model \
+                     (expected if the repo ships none — otherwise check HF_TOKEN / network for a gated or private repo)");
+                return Ok(None);
+            }
+        }
+    };
+    if !path.is_file() {
+        return Ok(None);
+    }
+    let bytes = std::fs::read(&path)
+        .with_context(|| format!("read tokenizer_config.json at {}", path.display()))?;
+    let value = serde_json::from_slice(&bytes)
+        .with_context(|| format!("parse tokenizer_config.json at {}", path.display()))?;
+    Ok(Some(value))
 }
 
 pub fn encode(t: &Tokenizer, text: &str) -> Result<Vec<u32>> {
diff --git a/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/chat_template.rs b/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/chat_template.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2e1968630
--- /dev/null
+++ b/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/chat_template.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,366 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 The SGLang Authors
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+//! Chat-template rendering for cache-aware routing.
+//!
+//! The engine caches KV blocks keyed on tokens it produces *after* applying the
+//! model's chat template (BOS + role/special markers + content). The router's
+//! cache-aware selection must hash the same token sequence, so it renders the
+//! same template before tokenizing — otherwise its query hashes never match the
+//! engine's stored blocks and cache-aware routing silently degrades to min-load
+//! (`sgl_router_overlap_blocks_sum` stuck at 0).
+//!
+//! The template and its special-token strings come from the model's
+//! `tokenizer_config.json` — the HuggingFace built-in template, which is what
+//! the engine uses unless launched with an explicit chat-template override.
+//!
+//! Tokenization does not auto-prepend special tokens (the `dynamo_tokenizers`
+//! HF wrapper hardcodes `add_special_tokens = false`; [`super::adapter::encode`]
+//! adds none of its own), so the rendered text must already contain `bos_token`
+//! and the role markers as literal text. That matches HuggingFace
+//! `apply_chat_template(tokenize=True)` semantics, where the template — not the
+//! tokenizer's special-token insertion — is the single source of the leading
+//! specials.
+
+use anyhow::{Context, Result};
+use minijinja::{
+    value::Value as JinjaValue, Environment, Error as JinjaError, ErrorKind as JinjaErrorKind,
+    UndefinedBehavior,
+};
+use std::collections::BTreeMap;
+
+/// Template registered under a fixed name in the per-model environment.
+const TEMPLATE_NAME: &str = "chat";
+
+/// The named special tokens HuggingFace injects into the template context via
+/// `special_tokens_map`. Each is supplied from `tokenizer_config.json`, or as
+/// the empty string when absent — jinja2 renders an undefined name as `""`, so
+/// an absent token must not surface as anything else (minijinja would otherwise
+/// print a `none` value as the literal string "none", silently diverging every
+/// block hash from the engine's).
+const SPECIAL_TOKEN_KEYS: [&str; 7] = [
+    "bos_token",
+    "eos_token",
+    "unk_token",
+    "sep_token",
+    "pad_token",
+    "cls_token",
+    "mask_token",
+];
+
+/// A compiled chat template plus the special-token strings it references.
+///
+/// One per model, built once at startup from `tokenizer_config.json` and held
+/// in the [`super::TokenizerRegistry`]. Rendering is read-only and thread-safe.
+pub struct ChatTemplate {
+    env: Environment<'static>,
+    /// `(name, token)` pairs for [`SPECIAL_TOKEN_KEYS`]; absent tokens are `""`.
+    special_tokens: Vec<(&'static str, String)>,
+}
+
+impl std::fmt::Debug for ChatTemplate {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        f.debug_struct("ChatTemplate")
+            .field("special_tokens", &self.special_tokens)
+            .finish()
+    }
+}
+
+impl ChatTemplate {
+    /// Build from a parsed `tokenizer_config.json`. Returns `Ok(None)` when the
+    /// config carries no `chat_template` (the model is then routed via the raw
+    /// prompt-text path, unchanged).
+    pub fn from_tokenizer_config(cfg: &serde_json::Value) -> Result<Option<Self>> {
+        let Some(template_src) = extract_chat_template(cfg) else {
+            return Ok(None);
+        };
+        let special_tokens = SPECIAL_TOKEN_KEYS
+            .iter()
+            .map(|&key| (key, extract_token_str(cfg, key).unwrap_or_default()))
+            .collect();
+
+        let mut env = Environment::new();
+        // HuggingFace compiles chat templates with trim_blocks + lstrip_blocks;
+        // mirror that or rendered whitespace (and thus tokens) diverge.
+        env.set_trim_blocks(true);
+        env.set_lstrip_blocks(true);
+        // Printing a variable the router didn't supply (a custom
+        // `chat_template_kwargs` entry, a date var, ...) must be a render
+        // error so the caller falls back to raw-text hashing — under the
+        // default lenient behavior it would render as `""` and produce a
+        // plausible-but-divergent prompt whose hashes silently never match
+        // the engine's. If-tests and iteration over undefined stay permitted
+        // (`{% if enable_thinking is defined %}`-style guards are common).
+        env.set_undefined_behavior(UndefinedBehavior::SemiStrict);
+        // Python str/dict methods used by real templates (.startswith, .items,
+        // .strip, ...) that minijinja doesn't implement natively.
+        env.set_unknown_method_callback(minijinja_contrib::pycompat::unknown_method_callback);
+        env.add_function("raise_exception", raise_exception);
+        env.add_function("strftime_now", strftime_now);
+        env.add_template_owned(TEMPLATE_NAME, template_src)
+            .context("compile chat template from tokenizer_config.json")?;
+
+        Ok(Some(Self {
+            env,
+            special_tokens,
+        }))
+    }
+
+    /// Render `messages` (the request's `messages` array) into the prompt text
+    /// the engine would tokenize, with `add_generation_prompt = true`.
+    ///
+    /// `messages` is passed through as-is; templates expect string `content`.
+    /// Multimodal content arrays are out of scope (text-only routing): a
+    /// template may stringify the array (divergent hashes → min-load) or error
+    /// (raw prompt-text fallback); neither fails the request.
+    ///
+    /// `tools` and `documents` are supplied as `none` — the context HuggingFace
+    /// renders with when a request carries neither, so tools-branching
+    /// templates take the no-tools path. A request that does carry them renders
+    /// the no-tools form, so its hashes won't match the engine and it routes by
+    /// min-load — no worse than before this path existed. Any other variable
+    /// the template prints is a render error (semi-strict undefined), falling
+    /// back to raw rather than hashing a silently divergent prompt.
+    pub fn render(&self, messages: &serde_json::Value) -> Result<String> {
+        let tmpl = self
+            .env
+            .get_template(TEMPLATE_NAME)
+            .context("chat template not registered")?;
+        let mut ctx: BTreeMap<&str, JinjaValue> = BTreeMap::new();
+        ctx.insert("messages", JinjaValue::from_serialize(messages));
+        ctx.insert("add_generation_prompt", JinjaValue::from(true));
+        ctx.insert("tools", JinjaValue::from(()));
+        ctx.insert("documents", JinjaValue::from(()));
+        for (name, token) in &self.special_tokens {
+            ctx.insert(name, JinjaValue::from(token.clone()));
+        }
+        tmpl.render(ctx).context("render chat template")
+    }
+}
+
+/// Pull the chat-template source out of `tokenizer_config.json`.
+///
+/// Accepts both shapes HuggingFace ships:
+///   - `"chat_template": "<jinja>"` — the common single-template case.
+///   - `"chat_template": [{"name": "default", "template": "<jinja>"}, ...]` —
+///     multi-template models; we take the entry named `default`, else the first.
+fn extract_chat_template(cfg: &serde_json::Value) -> Option<String> {
+    match cfg.get("chat_template")? {
+        serde_json::Value::String(s) => Some(s.clone()),
+        serde_json::Value::Array(arr) => arr
+            .iter()
+            .find(|e| e.get("name").and_then(|n| n.as_str()) == Some("default"))
+            .or_else(|| arr.first())
+            .and_then(|e| e.get("template").and_then(|t| t.as_str()))
+            .map(str::to_owned),
+        _ => None,
+    }
+}
+
+/// Read a special-token string, accepting both the plain-string form and the
+/// `AddedToken` object form (`{"content": "<tok>", ...}`) HuggingFace uses.
+fn extract_token_str(cfg: &serde_json::Value, key: &str) -> Option<String> {
+    match cfg.get(key)? {
+        serde_json::Value::String(s) => Some(s.clone()),
+        serde_json::Value::Object(o) => {
+            o.get("content").and_then(|c| c.as_str()).map(str::to_owned)
+        }
+        _ => None,
+    }
+}
+
+/// `raise_exception(msg)` — templates call this to reject malformed message
+/// sequences (e.g. a non-alternating role order). Surfaces as a render error.
+fn raise_exception(msg: String) -> std::result::Result<String, JinjaError> {
+    Err(JinjaError::new(JinjaErrorKind::InvalidOperation, msg))
+}
+
+/// `strftime_now(format)` — current local time, matching the helper HuggingFace
+/// injects so templates can stamp the date. Both engine and router render
+/// within the same day, so the date prefix is stable enough to share a cache
+/// block.
+fn strftime_now(format: String) -> String {
+    chrono::Local::now().format(&format).to_string()
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use serde_json::json;
+
+    /// A small but representative instruct template: emits `bos_token`, wraps
+    /// each turn in role markers, and appends a generation prompt. Exercises the
+    /// variables the renderer must supply (`messages`, `bos_token`,
+    /// `add_generation_prompt`).
+    const SIMPLE_TEMPLATE: &str = "{{ bos_token }}{% for m in messages %}<|{{ m['role'] }}|>\n{{ m['content'] }}<|end|>\n{% endfor %}{% if add_generation_prompt %}<|assistant|>\n{% endif %}";
+
+    fn messages() -> serde_json::Value {
+        json!([
+            {"role": "system", "content": "be brief"},
+            {"role": "user", "content": "hi"}
+        ])
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn no_chat_template_returns_none() {
+        let cfg = json!({"bos_token": "<s>", "eos_token": "</s>"});
+        assert!(ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().is_none());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn renders_roles_bos_and_generation_prompt() {
+        let cfg = json!({
+            "chat_template": SIMPLE_TEMPLATE,
+            "bos_token": "<s>",
+            "eos_token": "</s>",
+        });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        let out = tmpl.render(&messages()).unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(
+            out,
+            "<s><|system|>\nbe brief<|end|>\n<|user|>\nhi<|end|>\n<|assistant|>\n"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// `add_generation_prompt` is always true on the routing side (we hash the
+    /// prompt the engine will prefill, which includes the assistant header).
+    #[test]
+    fn generation_prompt_is_always_appended() {
+        let cfg = json!({ "chat_template": SIMPLE_TEMPLATE, "bos_token": "<s>" });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        assert!(tmpl
+            .render(&messages())
+            .unwrap()
+            .ends_with("<|assistant|>\n"));
+    }
+
+    /// The list form `[{name, template}, ...]` selects the `default` entry.
+    #[test]
+    fn list_form_selects_default_template() {
+        let cfg = json!({
+            "chat_template": [
+                {"name": "tool_use", "template": "TOOLS"},
+                {"name": "default", "template": SIMPLE_TEMPLATE},
+            ],
+            "bos_token": "<s>",
+        });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        assert!(tmpl
+            .render(&messages())
+            .unwrap()
+            .starts_with("<s><|system|>"));
+    }
+
+    /// `bos_token` in the `AddedToken` object form is read from `.content`.
+    #[test]
+    fn bos_token_object_form_is_extracted() {
+        let cfg = json!({
+            "chat_template": "{{ bos_token }}X",
+            "bos_token": {"content": "<|begin|>", "lstrip": false},
+        });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tmpl.render(&json!([])).unwrap(), "<|begin|>X");
+    }
+
+    /// `raise_exception` surfaces as a render error (caller then falls back to
+    /// the raw prompt-text path rather than failing the request).
+    #[test]
+    fn raise_exception_surfaces_as_error() {
+        let cfg = json!({
+            "chat_template": "{{ raise_exception('bad messages') }}",
+            "bos_token": "<s>",
+        });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        let err = tmpl.render(&messages()).unwrap_err();
+        // The minijinja message is the cause; check the full anyhow chain.
+        assert!(format!("{err:#}").contains("bad messages"), "got: {err:#}");
+    }
+
+    /// pycompat exposes Python str methods (`.startswith`, `.upper`, ...) that
+    /// real HuggingFace templates lean on; without the callback these error.
+    #[test]
+    fn pycompat_string_methods_available() {
+        let cfg = json!({
+            "chat_template": "{% for m in messages %}{% if m['role'].startswith('sys') %}{{ m['content'].upper() }}{% endif %}{% endfor %}",
+            "bos_token": "<s>",
+        });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tmpl.render(&messages()).unwrap(), "BE BRIEF");
+    }
+
+    /// An absent special token renders as `""` exactly like an undefined name
+    /// under HuggingFace's jinja2 — never as minijinja's literal `"none"`,
+    /// which would corrupt block 0 (and thus every chained block hash).
+    #[test]
+    fn absent_special_tokens_render_empty() {
+        let cfg = json!({"chat_template": "A{{ bos_token }}{{ pad_token }}B"});
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tmpl.render(&json!([])).unwrap(), "AB");
+    }
+
+    /// Every name in HuggingFace's `special_tokens_map` is threaded from
+    /// `tokenizer_config.json`, not just `bos_token`/`eos_token`.
+    #[test]
+    fn named_special_tokens_from_config_are_supplied() {
+        let cfg = json!({
+            "chat_template": "{{ pad_token }}|{{ unk_token }}",
+            "pad_token": "<pad>",
+            "unk_token": {"content": "<unk>"},
+        });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tmpl.render(&json!([])).unwrap(), "<pad>|<unk>");
+    }
+
+    /// Printing a variable the router doesn't supply is a render error
+    /// (semi-strict undefined) so the caller falls back to raw-text hashing,
+    /// instead of rendering a plausible-but-divergent prompt.
+    #[test]
+    fn printing_unsupplied_variable_fails_render() {
+        let cfg = json!({
+            "chat_template": "{{ custom_kwarg }}",
+            "bos_token": "<s>",
+        });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        tmpl.render(&messages()).unwrap_err();
+    }
+
+    /// Undefined names stay usable in if-tests (semi-strict only rejects
+    /// printing them); common `{% if enable_thinking is defined %}`-style
+    /// guards must keep rendering.
+    #[test]
+    fn undefined_in_if_test_is_permitted() {
+        let cfg = json!({
+            "chat_template": "{% if enable_thinking is defined and enable_thinking %}T{% endif %}X",
+        });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tmpl.render(&messages()).unwrap(), "X");
+    }
+
+    /// `tools` is `none` in the render context — the same context HuggingFace
+    /// renders with for a request that carries no tools — so tools-branching
+    /// templates take the no-tools path instead of erroring or mis-branching.
+    #[test]
+    fn tools_supplied_as_none_takes_no_tools_branch() {
+        let cfg = json!({
+            "chat_template": "{% if tools is not none %}TOOLS{% endif %}X",
+        });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(tmpl.render(&messages()).unwrap(), "X");
+    }
+
+    /// trim_blocks + lstrip_blocks match HuggingFace's compilation: the newline
+    /// after a block tag and leading whitespace before one are stripped, so a
+    /// block-per-line template renders without spurious blank lines.
+    #[test]
+    fn trim_and_lstrip_blocks_match_huggingface() {
+        let cfg = json!({
+            "chat_template": "{% for m in messages %}\n  {% if true %}\n{{ m['role'] }}\n  {% endif %}\n{% endfor %}",
+            "bos_token": "<s>",
+        });
+        let tmpl = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg).unwrap().unwrap();
+        // Each iteration emits just "<role>\n"; lstrip removes the two leading
+        // spaces before the `{% if %}`/`{% endif %}`, trim removes the newline
+        // immediately after each block tag.
+        assert_eq!(tmpl.render(&messages()).unwrap(), "system\nuser\n");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/dsv4.rs b/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/dsv4.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..07baa3292
--- /dev/null
+++ b/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/dsv4.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,274 @@
+// SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 The SGLang Authors
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+//! DeepSeek-V4 prompt encoder for cache-aware routing.
+//!
+//! DeepSeek-V4 ships no Jinja chat template; the engine builds the prompt in
+//! code (`python/sglang/srt/entrypoints/openai/encoding_dsv4.py`, selected for
+//! the `DeepseekV4` architecture). So to make the router's query tokens match
+//! the engine's cached blocks, this reproduces that encoder's output for the
+//! routing-relevant subset.
+//!
+//! # Scope
+//!
+//! Text content, chat (non-thinking) mode — the engine default
+//! (`SGLANG_DEFAULT_THINKING=false`). For a user turn the engine emits
+//! `BOS <｜User｜> content <｜Assistant｜> </think>`. Two preprocessing steps mirror
+//! `serving_chat.py`/`encode_messages`: an empty system message is inserted when
+//! the first message isn't a system message, and consecutive user turns are
+//! merged into one (joined with `\n\n`). Tools, tasks, and per-turn reasoning
+//! content are out of scope: the engine renders tools immediately after the
+//! system content at the front of the prompt, so a tools-carrying request
+//! diverges from the first block and routes by min-load; tasks alter only the
+//! trailing turn transition; reasoning content is never emitted in chat mode,
+//! so it causes no divergence.
+//!
+//! Tokenization does not auto-prepend special tokens (the `dynamo_tokenizers`
+//! HF wrapper hardcodes `add_special_tokens = false`;
+//! [`super::adapter::encode`] adds none of its own), so the literal marker text
+//! below is what maps to the special token ids. Pinned byte-exact against the
+//! live engine's `/tokenize` (DeepSeek-V4-Flash, snapshot `6976c7ff`):
+//! `[{user:"ABCD"}]` → `[0, 128803, 51453, 128804, 128822]`.
+
+/// Beginning-of-sequence marker (token id 0).
+const BOS: &str = "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜>";
+/// End-of-sequence marker, closing each prior assistant turn (token id 1).
+const EOS: &str = "<｜end▁of▁sentence｜>";
+/// User-turn marker (token id 128803).
+const USER: &str = "<｜User｜>";
+/// Assistant-turn marker, opening the generation prompt (token id 128804).
+const ASSISTANT: &str = "<｜Assistant｜>";
+/// Thinking-end marker; the chat-mode generation prompt ends with it (128822).
+const THINK_END: &str = "</think>";
+
+/// Render `messages` into the DeepSeek-V4 chat prompt for routing.
+///
+/// Mirrors `encoding_dsv4.encode_messages` for the routing subset (chat mode,
+/// text content, no tools/tasks). `messages` is the request's `messages` array;
+/// non-array input renders to just the BOS marker (the caller then tokenizes it
+/// and, finding no useful prefix, degrades to min-load like any short prompt).
+pub fn render_messages(messages: &serde_json::Value) -> String {
+    let mut msgs: Vec<(String, String)> = messages
+        .as_array()
+        .map(|arr| {
+            arr.iter()
+                .map(|m| {
+                    let role = m
+                        .get("role")
+                        .and_then(|r| r.as_str())
+                        .unwrap_or("")
+                        .to_string();
+                    (role, content_to_string(m.get("content")))
+                })
+                .collect()
+        })
+        .unwrap_or_default();
+
+    // The engine inserts an empty system message when the first message isn't a
+    // system message; it renders to nothing but keeps the index logic aligned.
+    if msgs.first().map(|(r, _)| r != "system").unwrap_or(true) {
+        msgs.insert(0, ("system".to_string(), String::new()));
+    }
+
+    merge_consecutive_user_turns(&mut msgs);
+
+    let mut out = String::from(BOS);
+    for i in 0..msgs.len() {
+        render_one(i, &msgs, &mut out);
+    }
+    out
+}
+
+/// Collapse runs of consecutive `user` turns into one, joining their content
+/// with `\n\n` — the engine merges them (`merge_tool_messages`) before encoding,
+/// so back-to-back user messages must hash like the single turn it builds.
+/// `developer` and other roles break a run and are left as-is.
+fn merge_consecutive_user_turns(msgs: &mut Vec<(String, String)>) {
+    let mut merged: Vec<(String, String)> = Vec::with_capacity(msgs.len());
+    for (role, content) in msgs.drain(..) {
+        match merged.last_mut() {
+            Some((last_role, last_content)) if last_role == "user" && role == "user" => {
+                last_content.push_str("\n\n");
+                last_content.push_str(&content);
+            }
+            _ => merged.push((role, content)),
+        }
+    }
+    *msgs = merged;
+}
+
+/// Append message `i`'s encoded form to `out`.
+fn render_one(i: usize, msgs: &[(String, String)], out: &mut String) {
+    let (role, content) = &msgs[i];
+    match role.as_str() {
+        "system" => out.push_str(content),
+        "user" | "developer" => {
+            out.push_str(USER);
+            out.push_str(content);
+        }
+        "assistant" => {
+            // Chat mode emits no reasoning block, so a prior assistant turn is
+            // just its content closed by EOS.
+            out.push_str(content);
+            out.push_str(EOS);
+        }
+        // Unknown roles aren't part of routing traffic; emit the content so a
+        // stray role still contributes something rather than vanishing.
+        _ => out.push_str(content),
+    }
+
+    // Generation-prompt transition. The engine appends it only when this is the
+    // last message OR the next message is an assistant/reminder turn, and only
+    // for user/developer messages.
+    let next_takes_transition = match msgs.get(i + 1) {
+        Some((next_role, _)) => next_role == "assistant" || next_role == "latest_reminder",
+        None => true,
+    };
+    if next_takes_transition && (role == "user" || role == "developer") {
+        out.push_str(ASSISTANT);
+        out.push_str(THINK_END);
+    }
+}
+
+/// Flatten a message `content` field to a string: a plain string as-is, an
+/// OpenAI parts array to its concatenated `text` parts, anything else to empty.
+fn content_to_string(content: Option<&serde_json::Value>) -> String {
+    match content {
+        Some(serde_json::Value::String(s)) => s.clone(),
+        Some(serde_json::Value::Array(parts)) => parts
+            .iter()
+            .filter_map(|p| p.get("text").and_then(|t| t.as_str()))
+            .collect(),
+        _ => String::new(),
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+    use serde_json::json;
+
+    /// Byte-exact against the engine's `/tokenize`: a single user turn renders
+    /// `BOS <｜User｜> content <｜Assistant｜> </think>`.
+    #[test]
+    fn single_user_turn() {
+        let out = render_messages(&json!([{"role":"user","content":"ABCD"}]));
+        assert_eq!(
+            out,
+            "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜><｜User｜>ABCD<｜Assistant｜></think>"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// A leading system message renders as bare content (no marker), before the
+    /// user turn.
+    #[test]
+    fn system_then_user() {
+        let out = render_messages(&json!([
+            {"role":"system","content":"SYS"},
+            {"role":"user","content":"ABCD"}
+        ]));
+        assert_eq!(
+            out,
+            "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜>SYS<｜User｜>ABCD<｜Assistant｜></think>"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Multi-turn: each prior user turn gets the generation prompt, the prior
+    /// assistant turn is closed by EOS. Matches the engine token stream
+    /// `[0,128803,55,19,128804,128822,35,19,1,128803,55,20,128804,128822]`.
+    #[test]
+    fn multi_turn() {
+        let out = render_messages(&json!([
+            {"role":"user","content":"U1"},
+            {"role":"assistant","content":"A1"},
+            {"role":"user","content":"U2"}
+        ]));
+        assert_eq!(
+            out,
+            "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜><｜User｜>U1<｜Assistant｜></think>A1<｜end▁of▁sentence｜><｜User｜>U2<｜Assistant｜></think>"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// An empty leading system message (already present) is not duplicated and
+    /// renders to nothing — same result as a bare user turn.
+    #[test]
+    fn explicit_empty_system_is_not_duplicated() {
+        let out = render_messages(&json!([
+            {"role":"system","content":""},
+            {"role":"user","content":"ABCD"}
+        ]));
+        assert_eq!(
+            out,
+            "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜><｜User｜>ABCD<｜Assistant｜></think>"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Array (multimodal) content flattens to its text parts.
+    #[test]
+    fn array_content_flattens_text_parts() {
+        let out = render_messages(&json!([
+            {"role":"user","content":[{"type":"text","text":"AB"},{"type":"text","text":"CD"}]}
+        ]));
+        assert_eq!(
+            out,
+            "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜><｜User｜>ABCD<｜Assistant｜></think>"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Consecutive user turns merge into one `<｜User｜>` turn joined with `\n\n`
+    /// (the engine's `merge_tool_messages`), so only one user marker and one
+    /// generation prompt are emitted — not a marker per message.
+    #[test]
+    fn consecutive_user_turns_merge() {
+        let out = render_messages(&json!([
+            {"role":"user","content":"U1"},
+            {"role":"user","content":"U2"}
+        ]));
+        assert_eq!(
+            out,
+            "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜><｜User｜>U1\n\nU2<｜Assistant｜></think>"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// A run of user turns split by an assistant turn does NOT merge across the
+    /// assistant: each side is its own user turn.
+    #[test]
+    fn user_runs_do_not_merge_across_assistant() {
+        let out = render_messages(&json!([
+            {"role":"user","content":"U1"},
+            {"role":"user","content":"U2"},
+            {"role":"assistant","content":"A1"},
+            {"role":"user","content":"U3"}
+        ]));
+        assert_eq!(
+            out,
+            "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜><｜User｜>U1\n\nU2<｜Assistant｜></think>A1<｜end▁of▁sentence｜><｜User｜>U3<｜Assistant｜></think>"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// A `developer` turn renders identically to a user turn for text content
+    /// (the engine nests the same `<｜User｜>` marker) and takes the generation
+    /// prompt. Developer turns are not merged (only `user` runs merge), so two
+    /// developers emit two markers.
+    #[test]
+    fn developer_role_renders_like_user_without_merging() {
+        assert_eq!(
+            render_messages(&json!([{"role":"developer","content":"D1"}])),
+            "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜><｜User｜>D1<｜Assistant｜></think>"
+        );
+        assert_eq!(
+            render_messages(&json!([
+                {"role":"developer","content":"D1"},
+                {"role":"developer","content":"D2"}
+            ])),
+            "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜><｜User｜>D1<｜User｜>D2<｜Assistant｜></think>"
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// An empty messages list renders to just the BOS marker — the documented
+    /// degrade path (the caller then routes by min-load on the empty prefix).
+    #[test]
+    fn empty_messages_renders_bos_only() {
+        assert_eq!(render_messages(&json!([])), "<｜begin▁of▁sentence｜>");
+    }
+}
diff --git a/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/mod.rs b/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/mod.rs
index 6b950d748..8df65fd57 100644
--- a/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/mod.rs
+++ b/experimental/sgl-router/src/tokenizer/mod.rs
@@ -2,15 +2,78 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 pub mod adapter;
+pub mod chat_template;
+pub mod dsv4;
 
 use anyhow::Result;
+use chat_template::ChatTemplate;
 use dashmap::DashMap;
 use dynamo_tokenizers::Tokenizer;
+use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
+/// How to turn a chat request's `messages` into the prompt the engine tokenizes
+/// and caches. Cache-aware routing renders this before hashing so its query
+/// tokens match the engine's stored blocks.
+pub enum ChatEncoder {
+    /// HuggingFace Jinja chat template from `tokenizer_config.json` (most
+    /// models). Boxed: it holds a minijinja `Environment`, far larger than the
+    /// other variants.
+    Jinja(Box<ChatTemplate>),
+    /// DeepSeek-V4 ships no template; the engine encodes in code. See [`dsv4`].
+    DeepSeekV4,
+}
+
+impl ChatEncoder {
+    /// Render `messages` into the engine-equivalent prompt text.
+    fn render(&self, messages: &serde_json::Value) -> Result<String> {
+        match self {
+            ChatEncoder::Jinja(t) => t.render(messages),
+            ChatEncoder::DeepSeekV4 => Ok(dsv4::render_messages(messages)),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// A model's chat encoder plus its fallback-logging state.
+struct ChatEncoderEntry {
+    encoder: ChatEncoder,
+    fallback_warned: AtomicBool,
+}
+
+impl ChatEncoderEntry {
+    fn new(encoder: ChatEncoder) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            encoder,
+            fallback_warned: AtomicBool::new(false),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Log a per-request fallback to raw prompt-text hashing. "Enabled but
+    /// failing every request" must be distinguishable from "healthy" at the
+    /// default (info) log level — otherwise cache-aware overlap silently
+    /// degrades to 0 with no signal — so the first failure for a model logs at
+    /// warn; subsequent ones at debug to avoid a per-request log flood.
+    fn log_fallback(&self, model_id: &str, cause: &str) {
+        if !self.fallback_warned.swap(true, Ordering::Relaxed) {
+            tracing::warn!(model = %model_id, %cause,
+                "chat-encoder failed; falling back to raw prompt-text hashing \
+                 (cache-aware overlap degrades for this model; further failures log at debug)");
+        } else {
+            tracing::debug!(model = %model_id, %cause,
+                "chat-encoder failed; falling back to raw prompt-text hashing");
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Default)]
 pub struct TokenizerRegistry {
     inner: DashMap<String, Arc<Tokenizer>>,
+    /// Per-model chat encoder, present only when the model's prompt format is
+    /// known (a `tokenizer_config.json` chat template, or a built-in encoder
+    /// like DeepSeek-V4's). Cache-aware routing uses it to tokenize chat
+    /// requests the way the engine does; models without one fall back to raw
+    /// prompt-text tokenization.
+    encoders: DashMap<String, Arc<ChatEncoderEntry>>,
 }
 
 impl std::fmt::Debug for TokenizerRegistry {
@@ -27,16 +90,128 @@ impl TokenizerRegistry {
         let m = &cfg.model;
         let t = adapter::load(&m.tokenizer_path)?;
         me.inner.insert(m.id.clone(), t);
+        // Resolve the chat encoder, best-effort: a Jinja template from
+        // tokenizer_config.json, else a built-in encoder for a recognized model
+        // (DeepSeek-V4), else none (chat traffic routes via raw text). Every
+        // path logs its outcome — whether chat-aware routing is live for this
+        // model is the single most useful signal for diagnosing "cache-aware
+        // routing degraded to overlap=0 on chat traffic", so it must never be
+        // silent.
+        if let Some(encoder) = me.resolve_chat_encoder(&m.id, &m.tokenizer_path) {
+            me.encoders
+                .insert(m.id.clone(), Arc::new(ChatEncoderEntry::new(encoder)));
+        }
         Ok(me)
     }
 
+    /// Pick the chat encoder for a model, logging the outcome on every branch.
+    fn resolve_chat_encoder(&self, model_id: &str, tokenizer_path: &str) -> Option<ChatEncoder> {
+        match adapter::load_tokenizer_config(tokenizer_path) {
+            Ok(Some(cfg_json)) => match ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(&cfg_json) {
+                Ok(Some(tmpl)) => {
+                    tracing::info!(model = %model_id,
+                        "chat-template routing enabled; chat requests route by templated tokens");
+                    return Some(ChatEncoder::Jinja(Box::new(tmpl)));
+                }
+                Ok(None) => {} // no template — fall through to built-in detection
+                Err(e) => tracing::warn!(model = %model_id, error = %e,
+                    "failed to compile chat template; falling back to built-in detection"),
+            },
+            Ok(None) => {}
+            Err(e) => tracing::warn!(model = %model_id, error = %e,
+                "failed to load tokenizer_config.json; falling back to built-in detection"),
+        }
+        if is_deepseek_v4(model_id) {
+            tracing::info!(model = %model_id,
+                "DeepSeek-V4 routing enabled; chat requests route via the built-in V4 encoder");
+            return Some(ChatEncoder::DeepSeekV4);
+        }
+        tracing::info!(model = %model_id,
+            "no chat template or built-in encoder; chat traffic routes via raw prompt text");
+        None
+    }
+
     pub fn get(&self, model_id: &str) -> Option<Arc<Tokenizer>> {
         self.inner.get(model_id).map(|r| Arc::clone(&*r))
     }
 
+    /// Whether this model has a chat encoder (and thus the chat-aware
+    /// tokenization path is available for it).
+    pub fn has_chat_encoder(&self, model_id: &str) -> bool {
+        self.encoders.contains_key(model_id)
+    }
+
+    /// Render `messages` through the model's chat encoder, then tokenize the
+    /// result the same way the engine does (`add_special_tokens = false`, so the
+    /// encoder's literal `bos_token`/role markers carry the specials). Returns
+    /// `None` — caller falls back to raw routing — when the model has no
+    /// encoder, no tokenizer, or rendering/encoding fails or yields no tokens.
+    pub fn encode_chat(&self, model_id: &str, messages: &serde_json::Value) -> Option<Vec<u32>> {
+        // Clone the Arc and drop the DashMap guard before the CPU-bound
+        // render+encode (mirrors `get`), so no shard read-lock is held across it.
+        let entry = Arc::clone(&*self.encoders.get(model_id)?);
+        let tokenizer = self.get(model_id)?;
+        let rendered = entry
+            .encoder
+            .render(messages)
+            .inspect_err(|e| {
+                // `{e:#}` prints the full anyhow chain, so the underlying
+                // minijinja cause (e.g. a `raise_exception` message) is
+                // visible, not just the "render chat template" context.
+                entry.log_fallback(model_id, &format!("render failed: {e:#}"))
+            })
+            .ok()?;
+        match adapter::encode(&tokenizer, &rendered) {
+            Ok(ids) if !ids.is_empty() => Some(ids),
+            Ok(_) => {
+                entry.log_fallback(model_id, "rendered prompt tokenized to zero tokens");
+                None
+            }
+            Err(e) => {
+                entry.log_fallback(model_id, &format!("tokenize failed: {e:#}"));
+                None
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
     pub fn ids(&self) -> Vec<String> {
         self.inner.iter().map(|kv| kv.key().clone()).collect()
     }
+
+    /// Attach a chat encoder to an already-loaded model. Lets policy tests in
+    /// other modules exercise the chat-aware routing path without a co-located
+    /// fixture.
+    #[cfg(test)]
+    pub(crate) fn attach_chat_encoder_for_test(&self, model_id: &str, encoder: ChatEncoder) {
+        self.encoders.insert(
+            model_id.to_string(),
+            Arc::new(ChatEncoderEntry::new(encoder)),
+        );
+    }
+
+    /// Convenience: attach a Jinja chat encoder built from an inline
+    /// `tokenizer_config.json` value.
+    #[cfg(test)]
+    pub(crate) fn attach_chat_template_for_test(
+        &self,
+        model_id: &str,
+        tokenizer_config: &serde_json::Value,
+    ) {
+        let template = ChatTemplate::from_tokenizer_config(tokenizer_config)
+            .expect("valid test chat template")
+            .expect("test tokenizer_config has a chat_template");
+        self.attach_chat_encoder_for_test(model_id, ChatEncoder::Jinja(Box::new(template)));
+    }
+}
+
+/// Whether `model_id` denotes a DeepSeek-V4 model, which the engine encodes via
+/// the built-in [`dsv4`] encoder rather than a Jinja template. Heuristic on the
+/// served model id (the router has no model architecture from `/server_info`);
+/// scoped to "deepseek" + "v4" so it doesn't claim V3-family models, whose
+/// encoding differs.
+fn is_deepseek_v4(model_id: &str) -> bool {
+    let id = model_id.to_ascii_lowercase();
+    id.contains("deepseek") && id.contains("v4")
 }
 
 #[cfg(test)]
@@ -196,4 +371,116 @@ mod tests {
         let err = TokenizerRegistry::load_from_config(&c).unwrap_err();
         assert!(err.to_string().to_lowercase().contains("tokenizer"));
     }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn load_tokenizer_config_reads_sibling() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let tok = dir.path().join("tokenizer.json");
+        std::fs::write(&tok, "{}").unwrap();
+        std::fs::write(
+            dir.path().join("tokenizer_config.json"),
+            r#"{"chat_template":"X","bos_token":"<s>"}"#,
+        )
+        .unwrap();
+        let cfg = adapter::load_tokenizer_config(tok.to_str().unwrap())
+            .unwrap()
+            .expect("sibling tokenizer_config.json is loaded");
+        assert_eq!(cfg["chat_template"], "X");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn load_tokenizer_config_absent_returns_none() {
+        let dir = tempfile::tempdir().unwrap();
+        let tok = dir.path().join("tokenizer.json");
+        std::fs::write(&tok, "{}").unwrap();
+        assert!(adapter::load_tokenizer_config(tok.to_str().unwrap())
+            .unwrap()
+            .is_none());
+    }
+
+    /// `encode_chat` renders the template then tokenizes the result — and that
+    /// token sequence differs from tokenizing the raw message content (the very
+    /// reason raw-content hashing missed the engine's chat-templated blocks).
+    #[test]
+    fn encode_chat_renders_then_tokenizes() {
+        let reg = TokenizerRegistry::default();
+        reg.inner.insert(
+            "tiny".into(),
+            adapter::load("tests/fixtures/tiny_tokenizer.json").unwrap(),
+        );
+        let cfg = serde_json::json!({
+            "chat_template": "{{ bos_token }}{% for m in messages %}<|{{ m['role'] }}|>{{ m['content'] }}{% endfor %}",
+            "bos_token": "<s>",
+        });
+        reg.attach_chat_template_for_test("tiny", &cfg);
+        assert!(reg.has_chat_encoder("tiny"));
+
+        let messages = serde_json::json!([{"role":"user","content":"hi"}]);
+        let chat_ids = reg.encode_chat("tiny", &messages).expect("encode_chat");
+        assert!(!chat_ids.is_empty());
+
+        let tok = reg.get("tiny").unwrap();
+        let raw_ids = adapter::encode(&tok, "hi").unwrap();
+        assert_ne!(
+            chat_ids, raw_ids,
+            "chat-templated tokens must differ from raw-content tokens"
+        );
+
+        // encode_chat is exactly tokenize(render(messages)).
+        let rendered = reg
+            .encoders
+            .get("tiny")
+            .unwrap()
+            .encoder
+            .render(&messages)
+            .unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(chat_ids, adapter::encode(&tok, &rendered).unwrap());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn encode_chat_none_without_template() {
+        let reg = TokenizerRegistry::default();
+        reg.inner.insert(
+            "tiny".into(),
+            adapter::load("tests/fixtures/tiny_tokenizer.json").unwrap(),
+        );
+        assert!(!reg.has_chat_encoder("tiny"));
+        let messages = serde_json::json!([{"role":"user","content":"hi"}]);
+        assert!(reg.encode_chat("tiny", &messages).is_none());
+    }
+
+    /// A template that fails to render (here, one that calls `raise_exception`)
+    /// makes `encode_chat` return `None`, so the policy falls back to the raw
+    /// prompt-text path rather than failing the request.
+    #[test]
+    fn encode_chat_none_on_render_failure() {
+        let reg = TokenizerRegistry::default();
+        reg.inner.insert(
+            "tiny".into(),
+            adapter::load("tests/fixtures/tiny_tokenizer.json").unwrap(),
+        );
+        reg.attach_chat_template_for_test(
+            "tiny",
+            &serde_json::json!({
+                "chat_template": "{{ raise_exception('nope') }}",
+                "bos_token": "<s>",
+            }),
+        );
+        assert!(reg.has_chat_encoder("tiny"));
+        let messages = serde_json::json!([{"role":"user","content":"hi"}]);
+        assert!(
+            reg.encode_chat("tiny", &messages).is_none(),
+            "a failing render must yield None so routing falls back to raw text"
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn is_deepseek_v4_matches_v4_only() {
+        assert!(is_deepseek_v4("deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4-Flash"));
+        assert!(is_deepseek_v4("DeepSeek-V4-Pro"));
+        // Not V4-family models.
+        assert!(!is_deepseek_v4("deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V3.2"));
+        assert!(!is_deepseek_v4("Qwen/Qwen3-0.6B"));
+        assert!(!is_deepseek_v4("tiny"));
+    }
 }
diff --git a/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/chat_completions/test_two_router_convergence.py b/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/chat_completions/test_two_router_convergence.py
index 34fe97075..efcd35f61 100644
--- a/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/chat_completions/test_two_router_convergence.py
+++ b/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/chat_completions/test_two_router_convergence.py
@@ -43,12 +43,15 @@ import time
 import httpx
 import pytest
 from infra.gateway import Gateway
-from infra.model_pool import PASSTHROUGH_CHAT_TEMPLATE_PATH, spawn_worker
+from infra.model_pool import spawn_worker
 from infra.model_specs import get_model_spec
 
-# Disjoint prefixes — share no common opening text, so block 0 hashes
-# differ from the first block onward and each worker's HashTree
-# contribution is uniquely identifying.
+# Disjoint prefixes — share no common content. Under the chat template both
+# render with the same leading role header (``<|im_start|>user`` ...; Qwen3 has
+# no BOS token), so the first block(s) may hash identically; the disjoint
+# content then diverges
+# well within the matched region, making each worker's HashTree contribution
+# uniquely identifying.
 #
 # Length matters: each prefix must span ≥2 SGLang blocks at the default
 # block_size of 64 tokens so the worker actually emits BlockStored
@@ -127,21 +130,12 @@ def _direct_warm(worker_url: str, model_id: str, prefix: str) -> None:
     worker to populate, so the two workers' HashTree state would no
     longer be uniquely identifying.
 
-    Token alignment with the router — ``cache_aware_zmq`` hashes
-    ``messages[*].content`` RAW (``cache_aware_zmq.rs::extract_prompt_text``)
-    using ``add_special_tokens=false``. By default SGLang's chat
-    endpoint would wrap ``prefix`` in the model's chat template before
-    tokenizing — adding role tags, end-of-turn markers, and a
-    generation prompt — and the resulting block hashes would never
-    match what the router computes from raw content.
-
-    The test launches each worker with ``--chat-template
-    <PASSTHROUGH_CHAT_TEMPLATE_PATH>``: a Jinja template that emits
-    only ``messages[*].content`` (the same shape the router extracts),
-    and which combines with Transformers' ``apply_chat_template(
-    tokenize=True, add_special_tokens=False)`` to produce the same
-    token stream the router will compute. So warm and route hash the
-    same blocks via the same endpoint.
+    Token alignment with the router — the workers run with the model's
+    real chat template (no override), so the engine caches blocks keyed
+    on chat-templated tokens (role markers + content + generation prompt).
+    ``cache_aware_zmq`` mirrors this: for a chat request on a model that
+    ships a chat template, it renders the same template and tokenizes the
+    result before hashing, so warm and route hash the same blocks.
     """
     r = httpx.post(
         f"{worker_url}/v1/chat/completions",
@@ -194,24 +188,22 @@ def test_two_routers_route_by_prefix_content(
     """
     spec = get_model_spec("qwen3-0.6b")
     gpus = gpu_allocator.acquire(2)
-    # Passthrough chat template — see _direct_warm for the rationale. Both
-    # workers must run with the same template; otherwise their KV blocks
-    # would hash template-wrapped tokens while the router hashes raw
-    # content, and every lookup would miss the tree.
-    worker_chat_template_args = ["--chat-template", PASSTHROUGH_CHAT_TEMPLATE_PATH]
+    # Workers run with the model's REAL chat template (no override): the engine
+    # caches chat-templated tokens, and the router renders the same template
+    # (loaded from the model's tokenizer_config.json) before hashing. This
+    # exercises the production chat-template tokenization path, which aligns
+    # router query hashes with the engine's templated blocks.
     try:
         with (
             spawn_worker(
                 "qwen3-0.6b",
                 gpu_ids=[gpus[0]],
                 enable_kv_events=True,
-                extra_args=worker_chat_template_args,
             ) as worker_x,
             spawn_worker(
                 "qwen3-0.6b",
                 gpu_ids=[gpus[1]],
                 enable_kv_events=True,
-                extra_args=worker_chat_template_args,
             ) as worker_y,
             Gateway() as router_a,
             Gateway() as router_b,
diff --git a/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/infra/model_pool.py b/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/infra/model_pool.py
index 2386bcbbc..c60bbee64 100644
--- a/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/infra/model_pool.py
+++ b/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/infra/model_pool.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ import socket
 import subprocess
 import time
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
-from pathlib import Path
 
 import httpx
 
@@ -34,16 +33,6 @@ from .model_specs import get_model_spec
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-# Passthrough Jinja chat template that emits ONLY `messages[*].content`
-# joined with `\n` — matching the router's cache_aware_zmq prompt
-# extraction. A worker launched with
-# ``--chat-template <PASSTHROUGH_CHAT_TEMPLATE_PATH>`` tokenizes the
-# raw content string, so its KV-block hashes align with what the
-# router computes from the same chat-completions request. Test-only.
-PASSTHROUGH_CHAT_TEMPLATE_PATH = str(
-    Path(__file__).parent / "passthrough_chat_template.jinja"
-)
-
 
 def _get_open_port() -> int:
     """Allocate an ephemeral TCP port in the range [20000, 55535].
diff --git a/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/infra/passthrough_chat_template.jinja b/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/infra/passthrough_chat_template.jinja
deleted file mode 100644
index 8d542dd66..000000000
--- a/experimental/sgl-router/tests/e2e/infra/passthrough_chat_template.jinja
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,13 +0,0 @@
-{#-
-  Passthrough chat template for cache-aware-zmq e2e tests.
-
-  Emits ONLY `messages[*].content` joined with `\n` — no role markers,
-  no special tokens, no generation prompt. This is the SAME shape the
-  router's cache_aware_zmq policy produces in `extract_prompt_text`,
-  so a worker launched with `--chat-template <this file>` tokenizes the
-  same string the router will tokenize for routing — making block
-  hashes align across worker KV cache and router HashTree.
-
-  Use only for tests; not appropriate for any real chat workload.
--#}
-{{- messages | map(attribute='content') | join('\n') -}}