diff --git a/src/art/dev/get_model_config.py b/src/art/dev/get_model_config.py
index 850008ae0..8715c8d1d 100644
--- a/src/art/dev/get_model_config.py
+++ b/src/art/dev/get_model_config.py
@@ -1,6 +1,11 @@
 from ..megatron.model_support import default_target_modules_for_model
 from .engine import EngineArgs
-from .model import InitArgs, InternalModelConfig, PeftArgs, TrainerArgs
+from .model import (
+    InitArgs,
+    InternalModelConfig,
+    PeftArgs,
+    TrainerArgs,
+)
 from .validate import is_dedicated_mode
 
 
diff --git a/src/art/megatron/service.py b/src/art/megatron/service.py
index bd9f462f5..fad4c06f6 100644
--- a/src/art/megatron/service.py
+++ b/src/art/megatron/service.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import asyncio
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+import gc
 import importlib
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -18,7 +19,6 @@
 from ..local.checkpoints import get_last_checkpoint_dir
 from ..preprocessing.pack import DiskPackedTensors
 from ..preprocessing.tokenize import SFTBatch
-from ..unsloth.train import gc_and_empty_cuda_cache
 from ..utils.convert_moe_lora import convert_checkpoint_if_needed
 from ..utils.get_model_step import get_step_from_dir
 from ..utils.lifecycle import (
@@ -57,6 +57,13 @@
 safe_open = safetensors.safe_open
 
 
+def gc_and_empty_cuda_cache(n: int = 3) -> None:
+    for _ in range(n):
+        gc.collect()
+        if torch.cuda.is_available():
+            torch.cuda.empty_cache()
+
+
 class _RuntimeRequestKwargs(TypedDict, total=False):
     headers: dict[str, str]
 
diff --git a/src/art/model.py b/src/art/model.py
index 902f337e0..f499fe1d3 100644
--- a/src/art/model.py
+++ b/src/art/model.py
@@ -384,12 +384,15 @@ def litellm_completion_params(self, step: int | None = None) -> dict:
         model_name = self.get_inference_name(step)
         if self.trainable:
             model_name = f"hosted_vllm/{model_name}"
-        return {
+        params = {
             "model": model_name,
             "base_url": self.inference_base_url,
             "api_key": self.inference_api_key,
             "temperature": 1,  # Important for trainable models
         }
+        if extra_body := self._default_chat_completion_extra_body():
+            params["extra_body"] = extra_body
+        return params
 
     # ------------------------------------------------------------------
     # Inference name helpers
diff --git a/src/art/preprocessing/response_masking.py b/src/art/preprocessing/response_masking.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8ee31efef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/art/preprocessing/response_masking.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+from transformers.tokenization_utils_base import PreTrainedTokenizerBase
+
+
+def token_ids_for_template_part(
+    tokenizer: PreTrainedTokenizerBase,
+    template_part: str,
+) -> list[int]:
+    return list(tokenizer(template_part, add_special_tokens=False).input_ids)
+
+
+def _find_subsequence(
+    values: list[int],
+    pattern: list[int],
+    *,
+    start: int = 0,
+) -> int | None:
+    if not pattern:
+        return None
+    last_start = len(values) - len(pattern)
+    for index in range(start, last_start + 1):
+        if values[index : index + len(pattern)] == pattern:
+            return index
+    return None
+
+
+def response_only_labels(
+    input_ids: list[int],
+    *,
+    instruction_ids: list[int],
+    response_ids: list[int],
+) -> list[int]:
+    labels = [-100] * len(input_ids)
+    index = 0
+    while index < len(input_ids):
+        response_start = _find_subsequence(input_ids, response_ids, start=index)
+        if response_start is None:
+            break
+
+        trainable_start = response_start + len(response_ids)
+        next_instruction_start = _find_subsequence(
+            input_ids,
+            instruction_ids,
+            start=trainable_start,
+        )
+        trainable_end = (
+            len(input_ids) if next_instruction_start is None else next_instruction_start
+        )
+        labels[trainable_start:trainable_end] = input_ids[trainable_start:trainable_end]
+        index = trainable_end
+    return labels
diff --git a/src/art/preprocessing/tokenize.py b/src/art/preprocessing/tokenize.py
index 5a55e2186..e3187d935 100644
--- a/src/art/preprocessing/tokenize.py
+++ b/src/art/preprocessing/tokenize.py
@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@
 
 from ..trajectories import History, Trajectory, TrajectoryGroup, get_messages
 from ..types import MessagesAndChoices
+from ..utils.chat_template import (
+    default_chat_template_kwargs_for_tokenizer,
+    merge_chat_template_kwargs,
+)
+from .response_masking import response_only_labels, token_ids_for_template_part
 
 ChatTemplateTool = dict[Any, Any] | Callable[..., Any]
 ChatTemplateToolSchemaFormat = Literal["default", "vllm_openai"]
@@ -24,14 +29,10 @@ def _chat_template_kwargs(
     tokenizer: PreTrainedTokenizerBase,
     chat_template_kwargs: dict[str, Any] | None,
 ) -> dict[str, Any]:
-    kwargs: dict[str, Any] = {}
-    if isinstance(tokenizer.chat_template, str):
-        if "enable_thinking" in tokenizer.chat_template:
-            kwargs["enable_thinking"] = False
-        if "preserve_thinking" in tokenizer.chat_template:
-            kwargs["preserve_thinking"] = True
-    kwargs.update(chat_template_kwargs or {})
-    return kwargs
+    return merge_chat_template_kwargs(
+        default_chat_template_kwargs_for_tokenizer(tokenizer),
+        chat_template_kwargs,
+    )
 
 
 def _normalize_tool_for_vllm_openai(tool: ChatTemplateTool) -> ChatTemplateTool:
@@ -583,17 +584,8 @@ def tokenize_sft_batch(
     """
     _validate_max_seq_length(max_seq_length)
 
-    import unsloth  # noqa: F401 - Must be imported first to set UNSLOTH_IS_PRESENT env var
-    from unsloth_zoo.dataset_utils import train_on_responses_only
-
-    train_on_responses_only_fn = train_on_responses_only(
-        trainer=None,
-        instruction_part=instruction_part,
-        response_part=response_part,
-        force_match=False,
-        tokenizer=tokenizer,
-        return_function=True,
-    )
+    instruction_ids = token_ids_for_template_part(tokenizer, instruction_part)
+    response_ids = token_ids_for_template_part(tokenizer, response_part)
     # Tokenize all trajectories (no padding — each keeps its natural length)
     trajectory_tensors = []
     num_tokens = 0
@@ -625,7 +617,11 @@ def tokenize_sft_batch(
 
         attention_mask = [1] * len(input_ids)
 
-        labels = train_on_responses_only_fn({"input_ids": [input_ids]})["labels"][0]
+        labels = response_only_labels(
+            input_ids,
+            instruction_ids=instruction_ids,
+            response_ids=response_ids,
+        )
 
         trajectory_tensors.append(
             {
diff --git a/src/art/tinker/server.py b/src/art/tinker/server.py
index 9f9341895..9c4f21f9a 100644
--- a/src/art/tinker/server.py
+++ b/src/art/tinker/server.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 from art.tinker.prefix_cache import LRUTrieCache
 from art.tinker.renderers import get_renderer_name, is_qwen3_dot_family_model
 from art.types import Message, Tools
+from art.utils.chat_template import default_chat_template_kwargs_for_tokenizer
 from mp_actors import close_proxy, move_to_child_process
 
 
@@ -552,12 +553,7 @@ async def prompt_tokens(
     ) -> list[int]:
         normalized_messages = _normalize_qwen3_dot_messages(base_model, messages)
         tokenizer = self._get_renderer(base_model).tokenizer
-        chat_template_kwargs = {}
-        if isinstance(tokenizer.chat_template, str):
-            if "enable_thinking" in tokenizer.chat_template:
-                chat_template_kwargs["enable_thinking"] = False
-            if "preserve_thinking" in tokenizer.chat_template:
-                chat_template_kwargs["preserve_thinking"] = True
+        chat_template_kwargs = default_chat_template_kwargs_for_tokenizer(tokenizer)
         encoding = tokenizer.apply_chat_template(
             cast(Any, normalized_messages),
             tools=cast(Any, tools),
diff --git a/src/art/utils/chat_template.py b/src/art/utils/chat_template.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..89043cc19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/art/utils/chat_template.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+from typing import Any
+
+THINKING_CHAT_TEMPLATE_KWARGS: dict[str, Any] = {
+    "enable_thinking": False,
+    "preserve_thinking": True,
+}
+
+
+def default_chat_template_kwargs_for_template(
+    chat_template: object,
+) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    kwargs: dict[str, Any] = {}
+    if not isinstance(chat_template, str):
+        return kwargs
+    if "enable_thinking" in chat_template:
+        kwargs["enable_thinking"] = False
+    if "preserve_thinking" in chat_template:
+        kwargs["preserve_thinking"] = True
+    return kwargs
+
+
+def default_chat_template_kwargs_for_tokenizer(tokenizer: object) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    return default_chat_template_kwargs_for_template(
+        getattr(tokenizer, "chat_template", None)
+    )
+
+
+def merge_chat_template_kwargs(
+    defaults: dict[str, Any] | None,
+    overrides: dict[str, Any] | None,
+) -> dict[str, Any]:
+    return {**(defaults or {}), **(overrides or {})}
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_preprocessing_tokenize.py b/tests/unit/test_preprocessing_tokenize.py
index 4be51b026..587207b30 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_preprocessing_tokenize.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_preprocessing_tokenize.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 import pytest
 from transformers.tokenization_utils_base import BatchEncoding
 
-from art.preprocessing.tokenize import tokenize_trajectory
+from art.preprocessing.tokenize import tokenize_sft_batch, tokenize_trajectory
 from art.trajectories import History, Trajectory
 from art.types import MessagesAndChoices
 
@@ -66,6 +66,13 @@ def encode(self, text: str, add_special_tokens: bool = False) -> list[int]:
         del add_special_tokens
         return [ord(char) for char in text]
 
+    def __call__(self, text: str, add_special_tokens: bool = False):
+        return type(
+            "TokenizedText",
+            (),
+            {"input_ids": self.encode(text, add_special_tokens=add_special_tokens)},
+        )()
+
     def decode(self, token_ids):
         if isinstance(token_ids, int):
             return chr(token_ids)
@@ -199,6 +206,30 @@ def test_tokenize_trajectory_passes_chat_template_kwargs() -> None:
     )
 
 
+def test_tokenize_sft_batch_masks_response_tokens_without_unsloth_import() -> None:
+    tokenizer = _FakeTokenizer()
+    messages = cast(
+        MessagesAndChoices,
+        [
+            {"role": "user", "content": "Hi"},
+            {"role": "assistant", "content": "OK"},
+        ],
+    )
+
+    batch = tokenize_sft_batch(
+        trajectory_batch=[Trajectory(messages_and_choices=messages, reward=1.0)],
+        learning_rate=1e-5,
+        tokenizer=tokenizer,  # type: ignore[arg-type]
+        instruction_part="<user>",
+        response_part="<assistant>",
+    )
+
+    labels = batch.trajectory_tensors[0]["labels"][0].tolist()
+    trainable_token_ids = [token_id for token_id in labels if token_id != -100]
+    assert tokenizer.decode(trainable_token_ids) == "OK"
+    assert batch.num_trainable_tokens == 2
+
+
 def test_tokenize_trajectory_does_not_continue_real_completion_with_thinking() -> None:
     tokenizer = _ContinueFinalMessageRejectingTokenizer()
     choice = Choice.model_validate(