Files
xtrain/crates/xtrain-model/tests/recompute.rs
Gahow Wang 69c5f07359 docs: Phase T13 — activation recompute
Design doc for per-block gradient checkpointing (KI-3): the no-tape forward +
recompute-on-backward design, the `checkpoint` primitive, per-block wrapping,
the exactness/correctness argument (same kernels + inputs → identical grads),
composition with bf16+DDP+batched, and the verification plan (on-vs-off grad
gate + memory/throughput before→after, dim1024-fits). Bench table left as TBD
to fill after the dash5 run.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-06-17 09:45:16 +08:00

162 lines
5.7 KiB
Rust

// T13 activation-recomputation correctness gate (the HARD gate).
//
// Gradient checkpointing is mathematically EXACT: the backward re-runs the same
// `segment_fn` from the same saved input and the same (unchanged) parameter
// values, so the recomputed activations equal the originals and the recovered
// grads equal the non-checkpointed grads — checkpointing trades compute for
// memory, never correctness. This test makes that a closed loop on-GPU:
//
// build two identical models (same init), one with `--recompute` on, one off,
// run the SAME batched loss + backward on both, and assert
// 1. the forward logits match (recompute doesn't touch forward output)
// 2. the loss matches
// 3. EVERY parameter's grad matches within a tight fp tolerance.
//
// Composition is covered by parameterising over fp32 AND bf16 (T12): the
// recompute path is the unchanged block forward, so it runs the same dtype path.
#![cfg(not(no_cuda))]
use xtrain_cuda::device;
use xtrain_model::{Config, TinyTransformer, batched_ids_tensor};
use xtrain_tensor::{DType, Device};
fn fill(n: usize, seed: u64, scale: f32) -> Vec<f32> {
let mut state = seed
.wrapping_mul(2862933555777941757)
.wrapping_add(3037000493);
(0..n)
.map(|_| {
state = state
.wrapping_mul(6364136223846793005)
.wrapping_add(1442695040888963407);
(((state >> 33) as f32 / (1u64 << 31) as f32) - 0.5) * 2.0 * scale
})
.collect()
}
fn build(cfg: Config, device: Device, dtype: DType, recompute: bool) -> TinyTransformer {
let mut seed = 1u64;
let m = TinyTransformer::new(cfg, device, |shape| {
seed = seed.wrapping_add(1);
let n: usize = shape.iter().product();
if shape.len() == 1 {
fill(n, seed, 0.02).iter().map(|v| v + 1.0).collect()
} else {
fill(n, seed, 0.08)
}
});
m.with_compute_dtype(dtype).with_recompute(recompute)
}
/// Upcast to fp32 then read to host — logits are bf16 in bf16 mode (grads are
/// always fp32 master, but this is uniform and harmless for fp32 tensors).
fn host(t: &xtrain_tensor::Tensor) -> Vec<f32> {
t.to_dtype(DType::F32)
.to_device(Device::Cpu)
.as_slice::<f32>()
.to_vec()
}
fn run(dtype: DType, logit_tol: f32, grad_tol: f32) {
assert!(device::device_count().unwrap() > 0, "no CUDA device");
device::set_device(0).unwrap();
let device = Device::Cuda(0);
// A few layers so checkpointing actually wraps multiple blocks.
let mut cfg = Config::tiny();
cfg.vocab = 16;
cfg.n_layers = 4;
let batch = 3usize;
let seq = 6usize;
let seqs: Vec<Vec<i32>> = (0..batch)
.map(|b| {
(0..seq)
.map(|i| ((b * 7 + i * 3 + 1) % cfg.vocab) as i32)
.collect()
})
.collect();
let tgts: Vec<Vec<i32>> = (0..batch)
.map(|b| {
(0..seq)
.map(|i| ((b * 5 + i * 2 + 2) % cfg.vocab) as i32)
.collect()
})
.collect();
let ids = batched_ids_tensor(&seqs, device);
let tgt = batched_ids_tensor(&tgts, device);
// --- recompute OFF (reference) ---
let off = build(cfg, device, dtype, false);
let off_logits = host(&off.forward_batched(&ids, batch).value());
let off_loss = off.loss_batched(&ids, &tgt, batch);
let off_loss_val = host(&off_loss.value())[0];
off_loss.backward();
let off_grads: Vec<Vec<f32>> = off
.params()
.iter()
.map(|p| host(&p.grad().expect("off grad")))
.collect();
// --- recompute ON ---
let on = build(cfg, device, dtype, true);
let on_logits = host(&on.forward_batched(&ids, batch).value());
let on_loss = on.loss_batched(&ids, &tgt, batch);
let on_loss_val = host(&on_loss.value())[0];
on_loss.backward();
let on_grads: Vec<Vec<f32>> = on
.params()
.iter()
.map(|p| host(&p.grad().expect("on grad")))
.collect();
// 1. Forward logits — recompute must not change the forward output.
let logit_rel = off_logits
.iter()
.zip(&on_logits)
.map(|(a, b)| (a - b).abs() / a.abs().max(1e-4))
.fold(0.0f32, f32::max);
// 2. Loss.
let loss_rel = (off_loss_val - on_loss_val).abs() / off_loss_val.abs().max(1e-4);
println!(
"[{dtype:?}] recompute on/off: loss {off_loss_val:.6}/{on_loss_val:.6} (rel {loss_rel:.2e}), \
logits max rel {logit_rel:.2e}"
);
assert!(
logit_rel < logit_tol,
"[{dtype:?}] logits diverged: {logit_rel:.2e}"
);
assert!(
loss_rel < logit_tol,
"[{dtype:?}] loss diverged: {loss_rel:.2e}"
);
// 3. Every parameter grad — the load-bearing gate.
let mut max_grad_rel = 0.0f32;
for (off_g, on_g) in off_grads.iter().zip(&on_grads) {
for (a, b) in off_g.iter().zip(on_g) {
let rel = (a - b).abs() / a.abs().max(1e-3);
max_grad_rel = max_grad_rel.max(rel);
}
}
println!("[{dtype:?}] recompute on/off: grad max rel err = {max_grad_rel:.3e}");
assert!(
max_grad_rel < grad_tol,
"[{dtype:?}] recompute grads diverged from non-recompute: {max_grad_rel:.3e}"
);
}
#[test]
fn recompute_matches_non_recompute_fp32() {
// fp32: recompute runs the identical deterministic kernels → grads match to
// (near) bit-exact; allow a hair for any nondeterministic GPU reduction.
run(DType::F32, 1e-5, 1e-4);
}
#[test]
fn recompute_matches_non_recompute_bf16() {
// bf16 (T12 composition): same bf16 path on recompute. The recompute is still
// exact w.r.t. the bf16 forward, so on/off match tightly (looser tol only for
// bf16 rounding, not for any recompute discrepancy).
run(DType::BF16, 5e-3, 5e-3);
}