[Bug Fix ] : KeyError: 'name' when using function calling with Ollama models - Gemma3 or Llama3.2

[arjunprabhulal]

Issue
fix(ollama): Handle non-tool-call JSON response when format=json
Issue occurs while using from google.adk.models.lite_llm import LiteLlm with llama3.2 , gemma3:27b

Error

venv/lib/python3.12/site-packages/litellm/llms/ollama/completion/transformation.py", line 266, in transform_response
    "name": function_call["name"],
            ~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^
KeyError: 'name'

Changes
This PR addresses a KeyError: 'name' that occurs in litellm/llms/ollama/completion/transformation.py when using certain Ollama models (e.g., ollama/llama3.2:latest, ollama/gemma3:27b) with tool calling enabled (format="json").
Problem:

When LiteLLM expects a tool call response, it requests format="json" from Ollama. However, some models return a valid JSON string in the response field, but the structure of this JSON does not match the expected tool call format ({"name": ..., "arguments": ...}). Instead, it might contain other structures (e.g., Schema.org JSON as seen with llama3.2). When transformation.py parses this JSON and attempts to access function_call["name"], it results in a KeyError.

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Name	Status	Preview	Comments	Updated (UTC)
litellm	✅ Ready (Inspect)	Visit Preview	💬 Add feedback	Apr 14, 2025 0:46am

[arjunprabhulal]

This PR addresses Infinite loop issue in ADK which couple of them have raised against the Function Calling using ADK. Although codebase directly uses google.adk.models.lite_llm.LiteLlm, and ADK module acts as a wrapper around the litellm library. When configured with an Ollama model (e.g., "ollama/..."), the ADK delegates the call to litellm, which internally uses litellm/llms/ollama/completion/transformation.py to process the Ollama API response. Therefore, changes within that specific litellm file can indirectly impact the behavior observed through the ADK when using Ollama models. So this PR merge is must to resolve the issue

[arjunprabhulal]

Here is full code repo for above fix to work with external third party tools like with ADK - Function calling with Ollama/gemma3:27B and Ollama/llama3.2:latest and other models

https://github.com/arjunprabhulal/adk-gemma3-function-calling

[arjunprabhulal]

Above code solves adk web

Before above code change

After above fix

[CLAassistant]

All committers have signed the CLA.

[arjunprabhulal]

Done

…

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[BartzLeon]

Hey, are there any updates on when this is going to be merged?

[nileshtrivedi]

Any update on this PR? I think it's related to the open issue ollama/ollama#9941

[github-actions]

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