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What is chunked prefill, and how does it stop long prompts from stalling decode?

A single long prompt can freeze every other user's token stream for hundreds of milliseconds. Chunked prefill slices that prompt so decode keeps flowing. Here is the mechanism and the knob that controls it.

Updated Aug 2026 · Grounded in real Applied AI Engineer interview loops and written to a senior-engineer editorial bar.

A single long prompt can freeze every other user's token stream for hundreds of milliseconds. Chunked prefill slices that prompt so decode keeps flowing. Here is the mechanism and the knob that controls it.

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