fix(retrieval-sdg): support clean provider initialization

Makefile

@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ validate-release:
 	@if [ -z "$(PLUGIN)" ]; then echo "ERROR: Set PLUGIN=<name>"; exit 1; fi
 	@if [ ! -d "$(PLUGIN_DIR)" ]; then echo "ERROR: $(PLUGIN_DIR) not found"; exit 1; fi
 	@PLUGIN_VERSION=$$(uv run python -c "import tomllib; print(tomllib.load(open('$(PLUGIN_DIR)/pyproject.toml','rb'))['project']['version'])"); \
-	uv run ddp check-release "$(PLUGIN)" "$$PLUGIN_VERSION"
+	uv run --package ddp ddp check-release "$(PLUGIN)" "$$PLUGIN_VERSION"
 
 test-plugin:
 	@if [ -z "$(PLUGIN)" ]; then echo "ERROR: Set PLUGIN=<name>"; exit 1; fi

plugins/data-designer-retrieval-sdg/src/data_designer_retrieval_sdg/pipeline.py

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 
 import data_designer.config as dd
-from data_designer.config.default_model_settings import get_default_providers
+from data_designer.config.default_model_settings import get_builtin_model_providers, get_default_providers
 
 from data_designer_retrieval_sdg.config import EmbeddingDedupColumnConfig
 from data_designer_retrieval_sdg.models import (
@@ -218,7 +218,13 @@ def add_provider(provider: dd.ModelProvider, source: str, *, replace: bool = Fal
         return None, []
 
     custom_names = {p.name for p in custom}
-    defaults = [p for p in get_default_providers() if p.name not in custom_names]
+    try:
+        default_providers = get_default_providers()
+    except FileNotFoundError:
+        # Data Designer seeds the user-level provider file when its interface is
+        # constructed; provider resolution runs earlier in this pipeline.
+        default_providers = get_builtin_model_providers()
+    defaults = [p for p in default_providers if p.name not in custom_names]
     return defaults + custom, custom
 
 

plugins/data-designer-retrieval-sdg/tests/test_pipeline.py

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 import data_designer.config as dd
 import pytest
 
+import data_designer_retrieval_sdg.pipeline as pipeline_module
 from data_designer_retrieval_sdg.pipeline import (
     DEFAULT_CHAT_MODEL,
     DEFAULT_EMBED_MODEL,
@@ -77,6 +78,29 @@ def test_provider_builder_combines_distinct_aliases(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     )
 
 
+def test_provider_builder_uses_builtins_before_default_file_is_initialized(monkeypatch: pytest.MonkeyPatch) -> None:
+    builtin = dd.ModelProvider(
+        name="builtin",
+        endpoint="https://builtin.example.invalid/v1",
+        provider_type="openai",
+    )
+
+    def missing_default_file() -> list[dd.ModelProvider]:
+        raise FileNotFoundError
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(pipeline_module, "get_default_providers", missing_default_file)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(pipeline_module, "get_builtin_model_providers", lambda: [builtin])
+
+    all_providers, custom = build_model_providers(
+        custom_provider_endpoint="https://custom.example.invalid/v1",
+        custom_provider_name="custom",
+    )
+
+    assert all_providers is not None
+    assert [provider.name for provider in all_providers] == ["builtin", "custom"]
+    assert [provider.name for provider in custom] == ["custom"]
+
+
 def test_inline_provider_overrides_matching_provider_file_alias(tmp_path: Path) -> None:
     providers_file = tmp_path / "providers.json"
     providers_file.write_text(