id: Qwen__Qwen3.8-27B__candidate
status: candidate
name: Qwen3.8-27B
org: Qwen
source:
  kind: huggingface
  url: https://huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
  revision: main
  model_card_url: https://huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
  project_url: https://qwen.ai/
license:
  spdx: Apache-2.0
  url: https://huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
  allows_offline_retention: true
  allows_local_ops: true
  allows_fine_tune: true
  notes: "Apache 2.0 on the 27B dense multimodal card (2026-08-14). Confirm at pin. Not the Qwen3.8-Max bespoke licence."
profile:
  summary: "Dense 27B multimodal Apache-2.0 — candidate R-spine upgrade vs Qwen3-8B."
  original_source: https://huggingface.co/Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
  use_cases:
    - "Local instruct / vision on T2–T3 (24 GB class at Q4)"
    - "Coding and office agents that need more than 8B"
    - "Homelab QLoRA base"
  sweet_spots:
    - "Apache-2.0, ungated, actually runnable unlike V4-Flash / K3"
    - "Native vision; 262k context (YaRN toward 1M)"
  not_ideal_for:
    - "Replacing the 8B always-on default until measured"
    - "Standing in for Qwen3.8-2.4T-A95B (different licence, multi-TB)"
  capability_notes: >
    Released 2026-08-14, the day the automated brief last landed on
    origin — so the sensing loop never recorded it. Dense 27.8B,
    multimodal, Apache 2.0. Distinct from Qwen3.8-2.4T-A95B (custom
    Max licence, ~4.89 TB). Nominate as W/R; do not pull until euro
    budget and R-spine review after V4-Flash lands.
swot:
  strengths:
    - "Apache-2.0 dense multimodal at a size we can actually serve later"
    - "Likely better local default than Qwen3-8B if VRAM allows"
  weaknesses:
    - "Larger than current verified R instruct (8B)"
    - "Hardware envelope hosts still TBD"
  opportunities:
    - "R-spine upgrade path that does not need Glacier"
    - "Vision in the local working set"
  threats:
    - "Qwen 4.x could supersede before we pull"
size:
  total_bytes: 0
  total_human: "~56 GiB class (reports); measure at pull — Q4 much smaller"
hardware_class:
  min_vram_gb_q4: 20
  min_vram_gb_fp16: 56
  notes: "T2 stretch / T3. Not T1."
axes: [B, C]
priority: medium
collection:
  approved_by: ""
  approved_at: null
  downloaded_at: null
  downloaded_by: ""
  storage_path: ""
  brief_refs:
    - briefs/2026/09/2026-09-13.md
reason: "Missed by the Aug 14 brief cutoff; Apache-2.0 dense 27B is the obvious R-upgrade candidate."
tags: [tier-w, tier-r, instruct, vision, apache]
companions: []
notes: "Do not confuse with Qwen3.8-2.4T-A95B (S-class, custom licence, multi-TB)."
history:
  - at: "2026-09-13"
    event: nominated
    by: grok
    detail: "Catch-up brief after cadence hole. Candidate only."