--generate_autodan CLI feature is broken

[Abhiraj-GetGarak]

Summary

The --generate_autodan CLI feature is broken due to API incompatibilities between the generator interface and AutoDAN code.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install garak from main branch: pip install -U git+https://github.com/NVIDIA/garak.git@main
2. Run with --generate_autodan flag:

   python -m garak --target_type huggingface.Model --target_name gpt2 --generate_autodan --probe_options '{"prompt": "Test prompt", "target": "Test target"}'

Expected behavior

AutoDAN generation should start using the provided prompt and target from --probe_options.

Current behavior

Issue 1: _config.probe_options not defined

The command fails with:

UnboundLocalError: cannot access local variable 'prompt' where it is not associated with a value

Location: cli.py:614-615

The code references _config.probe_options which is never defined. Additionally, the except block prints an error but doesn't exit, so execution continues with undefined variables.

Issue 2: Generator API mismatch in autodan.py

After fixing Issue 1, the command fails with:

AssertionError: generate() must take a Conversation object

Location: autodan.py:181

The code passes a string directly to generator.generate(), but the generator's generate() method now requires a Conversation object.

Issue 3: Generator API mismatch in genetic.py

After fixing Issues 1 and 2, the mutation generator fails repeatedly with:

Assert error: generate() must take a Conversation object
Assert error: generate() must take a Conversation object
... (repeated many times)

Location: genetic.py:281-286

The code passes old OpenAI-style dict format to the mutation generator instead of a Conversation object.

garak version

garak v0.13.3.pre1
commit dac64647627f350e64f45b0d48565008abb9087b

Additional Information

1. Operating system: macOS Darwin 25.1.0 (also reproducible on other platforms)
2. Python version: 3.11.14
3. Install method: pip based repo install from main branch
4. Logs: The errors occur before any scan runs, so no report files are generated
5. Execution config: --generate_autodan --probe_options '{"prompt": "...", "target": "..."}'

Root Cause

The generator API was updated to require Conversation objects instead of strings/dicts, but the AutoDAN code (autodan.py, genetic.py) and CLI integration (cli.py) were not updated to match the new API.