fix(docker): add libsndfile to Alpine image for ARM64 audio processing

[Chesars]

Relevant issues

Fixes #16920

Pre-Submission checklist

• I have Added testing in the tests/litellm/ directory, Adding at least 1 test is a hard requirement - N/A (Dockerfile change, not testable with unit tests)
• My PR passes all unit tests on make test-unit
• My PR's scope is as isolated as possible, it only solves 1 specific problem

Type

🐛 Bug Fix

Changes

Adds libsndfile system library to the Alpine Docker image (docker/Dockerfile.alpine).

The ARM64 Alpine image was missing the libsndfile native library, causing the Python soundfile module to fail with:

cannot load library 'libsndfile.so': libsndfile.so: cannot open shared object file

This affects users running LiteLLM on ARM64 infrastructure (Apple Silicon Macs via Docker, AWS Graviton, etc.) who need audio processing features (STT/TTS).

When you pip install soundfile:

macOS / Windows / Linux x86_64 (glibc)
   │
   └─ PyPI has pre-built .whl with libsndfile bundled inside
         │
         └─ Downloads .whl → extracts → works ✅


Alpine ARM64 (musl)
   │
   └─ PyPI has NO .whl for musllinux_aarch64
         │
         └─ Downloads .tar.gz (source) → compiles → needs libsndfile from system
                                                          │
                                                          └─ Not installed ❌

• Alpine Linux uses musl libc instead of glibc (standard)
• Binaries compiled for glibc don't work on musl and vice versa
• The soundfile maintainers don't publish wheels for musllinux (Alpine)
• So pip falls back to source compilation, which requires libsndfile system library

Solution

Added apk add --no-cache libsndfile to the runtime stage of Dockerfile.alpine.

This is the standard solution - the soundfile documentation states: "On Linux, you need to install libsndfile using your distribution's package manager."

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Project	Deployment	Review	Updated (UTC)
litellm	Ready	Preview, Comment	Dec 17, 2025 2:16am