clearml-docs/docs/clearml_sdk/task_sdk.md

title
Task

The following page provides an overview of the basic Pythonic interface to ClearML Tasks.

Task Creation

Task.init is the main method used to create tasks in ClearML. It will create a task, and populate it with:

• A link to the running git repository (including commit ID and local uncommitted changes)
• Python packages used (i.e. directly imported Python packages, and the versions available on the machine)
• Argparse arguments (default and specific to the current execution)
• Reports to Tensorboard and Matplotlib and model checkpoints.

:::tip Ensuring Reproducibility To ensure every run will provide the same results, ClearML controls the deterministic behaviors of the tensorflow, pytorch, and random packages by setting a fixed initial seed. See Setting Random Seed. :::

:::note ClearML object (e.g. task, project) names are required to be at least 3 characters long :::

from clearml import Task


task = Task.init(
    project_name='example',    # project name of at least 3 characters
    task_name='task template', # task name of at least 3 characters
    task_type=None,
    tags=None,
    reuse_last_task_id=True,
    continue_last_task=False,
    output_uri=None,
    auto_connect_arg_parser=True,
    auto_connect_frameworks=True,
    auto_resource_monitoring=True,
    auto_connect_streams=True,    
)

Once a task is created, the task object can be accessed from anywhere in the code by calling Task.current_task.

If multiple tasks need to be created in the same process (for example, for logging multiple manual runs), make sure to close a task, before initializing a new one. To close a task simply call Task.close (see example here).

When initializing a task, its project needs to be specified. If the project entered does not exist, it will be created on-the-fly. Projects can be divided into subprojects, just like folders are broken into sub-folders.

For example:

Task.init(project_name='main_project/sub_project', task_name='test')

Nesting projects works on multiple levels. For example: project_name=main_project/sub_project/sub_sub_project

Automatic Logging

After invoking Task.init in a script, ClearML starts its automagical logging, which includes the following elements:

• Hyperparameters - ClearML logs the following types of hyperparameters:

  • Command Line Parsing - ClearML captures any command line parameters passed when invoking code that uses standard python packages, including:
    • click
    • argparse
    • Python Fire
    • LightningCLI
  • TensorFlow Definitions (absl-py)
  • Hydra - the OmegaConf which holds all the configuration files, as well as overridden values.

• Models - ClearML automatically logs and updates the models and all snapshot paths saved with the following frameworks:

  • TensorFlow
  • Keras
  • PyTorch
  • scikit-learn
  • XGBoost
  • FastAI
  • MegEngine
  • CatBoost
  • MONAI

• Metrics, scalars, plots, debug images reported through supported frameworks, including:

  • Matplotlib
  • Tensorboard
  • TensorboardX

• Execution details including:

  • Git information
  • Uncommitted code modifications - In cases where no git repository is detected (e.g. when a single python script is executed outside a git repository, or when running from a Jupyter Notebook), ClearML logs the contents of the executed script
  • Python environment
  • Execution configuration

Control Automatic Logging

By default, when ClearML is integrated into your script, it automatically captures information from supported frameworks, and parameters from supported argument parsers. But, you may want to have more control over what your experiment logs.

Frameworks

To control a task's framework logging, use the auto_connect_frameworks parameter of the Task.init method. Turn off all automatic logging by setting the parameter to False. For finer grained control of logged frameworks, input a dictionary, with framework-boolean pairs.

For example:

auto_connect_frameworks={
    'matplotlib': True, 'tensorflow': False, 'tensorboard': False, 'pytorch': True,
    'xgboost': False, 'scikit': True, 'fastai': True, 'lightgbm': False,
    'hydra': True, 'detect_repository': True, 'tfdefines': True, 'joblib': True,
    'megengine': True, 'catboost': True
}

You can also input wildcards as dictionary values. ClearML will log a model created by a framework only if its local path matches at least one wildcard.

For example, in the code below, ClearML will log PyTorch models only if their paths have the .pt extension. The unspecified frameworks' values default to true so all their models are automatically logged.

auto_connect_frameworks={'pytorch' : '*.pt'}

For TensorBoard, you can specify whether to log hyperparameters. By default, ClearML automatically logs TensorBoard's parameters, but you can disable the logging with the following code:

auto_connect_frameworks={'tensorboard': {'report_hparams': False}} 

Argument Parsers

To control a task's logging of parameters from supported argument parsers, use the auto_connect_arg_parser parameter of Task.init(). Completely disable all automatic logging by setting the parameter to False.

auto_connect_arg_parser=False

For finer grained control of logged parameters, input a dictionary with parameter-boolean pairs. The False value excludes the specified parameter. Unspecified parameters default to True.

For example, the following code will not log the Example_1 parameter, but will log all other arguments.

auto_connect_arg_parser={"Example_1": False}

To exclude all unspecified parameters, set the * key to False.

For example, the following code will log only the Example_2 parameter.

auto_connect_arg_parser={"Example_2": True, "*": False}

An empty dictionary completely disables all automatic logging of parameters from argument parsers:

auto_connect_arg_parser={}

Task Reuse

Every Task.init call will create a new task for the current execution. In order to mitigate the clutter that a multitude of debugging tasks might create, a task will be reused if:

• The last time it was executed (on this machine) was under 24 hours ago (configurable, see sdk.development.task_reuse_time_window_in_hours in the ClearML configuration reference)
• The previous task execution did not have any artifacts / models

It's possible to always create a new task by passing reuse_last_task_id=False.

See full Task.init reference here.

Continuing Task Execution

You can continue the execution of a previously run task using the continue_last_task parameter of the Task.init method. This will retain all of its previous artifacts / models / logs.

The task will continue reporting its outputs based on the iteration in which it had left off. For example: a task's last train/loss scalar reported was for iteration 100, when continued, the next report will be as iteration 101.

:::note Reproducibility Continued tasks may not be reproducible. In order to guarantee task reproducibility, you must ensure that all steps are done in the same order (e.g. maintaining learning rate profile, ensuring data is fed in the same order). :::

Pass one of the following in the continue_last_task parameter:

• False (default) - Overwrite the execution of the previous Task (unless you pass reuse_last_task_id=False, see Task Reuse).
• True - Continue the previously run Task.
• Task ID (string) - The ID of the task to be continued.
• Initial iteration offset (integer) - Specify the initial iteration offset. By default, the task will continue one iteration after the last reported one. Pass 0, to disable the automatic last iteration offset. To also specify a task ID, use the reuse_last_task_id parameter.

You can also continue a task previously executed in offline mode, using the Task.import_offline_session method. See Offline Mode.

Empty Task Creation

A task can also be created without the need to execute the code itself. Unlike the runtime detections, all the environment and configuration details need to be provided explicitly.

For example:

task = Task.create(
    project_name='example', 
    task_name='task template',
    repo='https://github.com/allegroai/clearml.git',
    branch='master',
    script='examples/reporting/html_reporting.py',
    working_directory='.',
    docker=None,
)

See full Task.create reference here.

Tracking Task Progress

Track a task's progress by setting the task progress property using the Task.set_progress method. Set a task's progress to a numeric value between 0 - 100. Access the task's current progress, using the Task.get_progress method.

task = Task.init(project_name="examples", task_name="Track experiment progress")
task.set_progress(0)
# task doing stuff
task.set_progress(50)
print(task.get_progress())
# task doing more stuff
task.set_progress(100)

While the task is running, the WebApp will show the task's progress indication in the experiment table, next to the task's status. If a task failed or was aborted, you can view how much progress it had made.

Additionally, you can view a task's progress in its INFO tab in the WebApp.

Accessing Tasks

A task can be identified by its project and name, and by a unique identifier (UUID string). The name and project of a task can be changed after an experiment has been executed, but its ID can't be changed.

Programmatically, task objects can be retrieved by querying the system based on either the task ID or a project and name combination using the Task.get_task class method. If a project / name combination is used, and multiple tasks have the exact same name, the function will return the last modified task.

For example:

• Accessing a task object with a task ID:

  a_task = Task.get_task(task_id='123456deadbeef')
  

• Accessing a task with a project and name:

  a_task = Task.get_task(project_name='examples', task_name='artifacts')
  

Once a task object is obtained, it's possible to query the state of the task, reported scalars, etc. The task's outputs, such as artifacts and models, can also be retrieved.

Querying / Searching Tasks

Search and filter tasks programmatically. Input search parameters into the Task.get_tasks method, which returns a list of task objects that match the search. Pass allow_archived=False to filter out archived tasks.

For example:

task_list = Task.get_tasks(
    task_ids=None,  # type Optional[Sequence[str]]
    project_name=None,  # Optional[str]
    task_name=None,  # Optional[str]
    allow_archived=True, # [bool]
    task_filter=None,  # Optional[Dict]#
    # tasks with tag `included_tag` or without tag `excluded_tag`
    tags=['included_tag', '-excluded_tag'] 
)

It's possible to also filter tasks by passing filtering rules to task_filter.

For example:

task_filter={
    # filter out archived tasks
    'system_tags': ['-archived'],
    # only completed & published tasks
    'status': ['completed', 'published'],
    # only training type tasks
    'type': ['training'],
    # match text in task comment or task name
    'search_text': 'reg_exp_text',
    # order return task lists by their update time in ascending order
    'order_by': ['last_update']
}

:::tip Order tasks by metrics You can order the returned tasks by performance in a specific metric with 'order_by': [last_metrics.<md5-encoded-metric-title>.<md5-encoded-metric-variant>.<value_type>].

• <md5-encoded-metric-title> and <md5-encoded-metric-variant> - MD5 encoded metric and variant names. In Python, you can encode the strings with hashlib.md5(str("<metric_name_string>").encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()
• <value_type> - Specify which metric values to use. The options are: value (last value), min_value, or max_value

Use the - prefix to order the results in descending order.

title = hashlib.md5(str("testing").encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()
series = hashlib.md5(str("epoch_accuracy").encode("utf-8")).hexdigest()

tasks = Task.get_tasks(
  project_name='Example Project', 
  # order tasks by metric performance in descending order
  task_filter={'order_by': [f'-last_metrics.{title}.{series}.max_value']}
)

:::

See Task.get_tasks for all task_filter options.

Tag Filters

The tags field supports advanced queries through combining tag names and operators into a list.

The supported operators are:

• not
• and
• or

Input the operators in the following format: "__$<op>". To exclude a tag, you can also use the - prefix before the tag name, unless the tag name begins with the dash character (-), in which case you can use "__$not".

The or, and and operators apply to all tags that follow them until another operator is specified. The not operator applies only to the immediately following tag.

The default operator for a query is or, unless and is placed at the beginning of the query.

Examples

• The following query will return tasks that have at least one of the provided tags, since the default operator is or ("a" OR "b" OR "c")

  task_list = Task.get_tasks(tags=["a", "b", "c"])
  

• The following query will return tasks that have all three provided tags, since the and operator was placed in the beginning of the list, making it the default operator ("a" AND "b" AND "c").

  task_list = Task.get_tasks(tags=["__$and", "a", "b", "c"])
  

• The following query will return tasks that have neither tag a nor tag c, but do have tag b (NOT "a" AND "b" AND NOT "c").

  task_list = Task.get_tasks(tags=["__$not", "a", "b", "__$not" "c"])
  

• The following query will return tasks with either tag a or tag b or both c and d tags ("a" OR "b" OR ("c" AND "d")).

  task_list = Task.get_tasks(tags=["a", "b", "__$and", "c", "d"])
  

• The following query will return tasks that have either tag a or tag b and both tag c and tag d (("a" OR "b") AND "c" AND "d").

  task_list = Task.get_tasks(
    tags=["__$and", "__$or", "a", "b", "__$and", "c", "d"]
  )
  

Cloning and Executing Tasks

Once a task object is created, it can be copied (cloned). Task.clone() returns a copy of the original task (source_task). By default, the cloned task is added to the same project as the original, and it's called "Clone Of ORIGINAL_NAME", but the name / project / comment (description) of the cloned task can be directly overridden.

task = Task.init(project_name='examples', task_name='original task',)
cloned_task = Task.clone(
    source_task=task,  # type: Optional[Union[Task, str]]
    # override default name
    name='newly created task',  # type: Optional[str]
    comment=None,  # type: Optional[str]
    # insert cloned task into a different project
    project='<new_project_id>',  # type: Optional[str]
)

A newly cloned task has a draft status, so you can modify any configuration. For example, run a different git version of the code, with a new lr value, for a different number of epochs and using a new base model:

# Set parameters (replaces existing hyperparameters in task)
cloned_task.set_parameters({'epochs':7, 'lr': 0.5})

# Override git repo information
cloned_task.set_repo(repo="https://github.com/allegroai/clearml.git", branch="my_branch_name")
# Remove input model and set a new one
cloned_task.remove_input_models(models_to_remove=["<model_id>"])
cloned_task.set_input_model(model_id="<new_intput_model_id>")

Once a task is modified, launch it by pushing it into an execution queue with the Task.enqueue() class method. Then a ClearML Agent assigned to the queue will pull the task from the queue and execute it.

Task.enqueue(
    task=cloned_task,  # type: Union[Task, str]
    queue_name='default',  # type: Optional[str] 
    queue_id=None  # type: Optional[str]
)

See enqueue example.

Advanced Flows

Remote Execution

A compelling workflow is:

1. Run code on a development machine for a few iterations, or just set up the environment.
2. Move the execution to a beefier remote machine for the actual training.

Use the Task.execute_remotely method to implement this workflow. This method stops the current manual execution, and then re-runs it on a remote machine.

For example:

task.execute_remotely(
    queue_name='default',  # type: Optional[str]
    clone=False,  # type: bool
    exit_process=True  # type: bool
)

Once the method is called on the machine, it stops the local process and enqueues the current task into the default queue. From there, an agent can pull and launch it.

See the Remote Execution example.

Remote Function Execution

A specific function can also be launched on a remote machine with Task.create_function_task().

For example:

def run_me_remotely(some_argument):
    print(some_argument)

a_func_task = task.create_function_task(
    func=run_me_remotely,  # type: Callable
    func_name='func_id_run_me_remotely',  # type:Optional[str]
    task_name='a func task',  # type:Optional[str]
    # everything below will be passed directly to our function as arguments
    some_argument=123
)

Arguments passed to the function will be automatically logged in the experiment's CONFIGURATION tab under the HYPERPARAMETERS > Function section. Like any other arguments, they can be changed from the UI or programmatically.

:::note Function Task Creation Function tasks must be created from within a regular task, created by calling Task.init :::

Distributed Execution

ClearML supports distributed remote execution through multiple worker nodes using Task.launch_multi_node(). This method creates multiple copies of a task and enqueues them for execution.

Each copy of the task is called a node. The original task that initiates the nodes' execution is called the master node.

Task = task.init(task_name ="my_task", project_name="my_project")
task.execute_remotely(queue="default")
task.launch_multi_node(total_num_nodes=3, port=29500, queue=None, wait=False, addr=None)

# rest of code

• total_num_nodes - The total number of workers (including the master node) to create.
• port - Network port the master node listens on. This value will be overridden if the CLEARML_MULTI_NODE_MASTER_DEF_PORT or MASTER_PORT environment variables are set.
• addr - Address of the master node's worker. This value will be overridden if CLEARML_MULTI_NODE_MASTER_DEF_ADDR or MASTER_ADDR environment variables are set. Left unspecified, the private IP of the machine the master node is running on will be used.
• queue - The execution queue to use for launching the worker nodes. If None, the nodes will be enqueued to the same queue as the master node was enqueued on.
• wait - If True, the master node will wait for the other nodes to start

When the method is executed, the following environment variables are set:

• MASTER_ADDR - Address of the machine where the master node is running
• MASTER_PORT - Network port the master node is listening on
• WORLD_SIZE - Total number of nodes, including the master
• RANK - Rank of the current node (master has rank 0)

The multi_node_instance task configuration entry of each task holds the multi-node execution information:

• total_num_nodes - Total number of nodes, including the master node
• queue - Queue where the nodes will be enqueued

The method returns a dictionary containing relevant information regarding the multi-node run:

• master_addr - Address of the machine where the master node is running
• master_port - Network port the master node is listening on
• total_num_nodes - Total number of nodes, including the master node
• queue - Queue that the nodes are enqueued to, excluding the master node
• node_rank - Rank of the current node
• wait - If True, the master node will wait for the other nodes to start

:::important Task.launch_multi_node() should be called before an underlying distributed computation framework (e.g. torch.distributed.init_process_group). :::

Example: PyTorch Distributed

You can use Task.launch_multi_node() in conjunction with a distributed model training framework such as PyTorch's distributed communication package.

from clearml import Task
import torch
import torch.distributed as dist

def run(rank, size):
    print('World size is ', size)
    tensor = torch.zeros(1)
    if rank == 0:
        for i in range(1, size):
            tensor += 1
            dist.send(tensor=tensor, dst=i)
            print('Sending from rank ', rank, ' to rank ', i, ' data: ', tensor[0])
    else:
        dist.recv(tensor=tensor, src=0)
        print('Rank ', rank, ' received data: ', tensor[0])
            
if __name__ == '__main__':
    task = Task.init(project_name='examples', task_name="distributed example")
    task.execute_remotely(queue_name='queue')
    config = task.launch_multi_node(4)
    dist.init_process_group('gloo')
    run(config.get('node_rank'), config.get('total_num_nodes'))

Offline Mode

You can work with tasks in Offline Mode, in which all the data and logs that the Task captures are stored in a local session folder, which can later be uploaded to the ClearML Server.

You can enable offline mode in one of the following ways:

• Before initializing a task, use the Task.set_offline class method and set the offline_mode argument to True

  from clearml import Task
  
  # Use the set_offline class method before initializing a Task
  Task.set_offline(offline_mode=True)
  # Initialize a Task
  task = Task.init(project_name="examples", task_name="my_task")
  

• Before running a task, set CLEARML_OFFLINE_MODE=1

:::caution Offline mode only works with tasks created using Task.init() and not with those created using Task.create(). :::

All the information captured by the Task is saved locally. Once the task script finishes execution, it's zipped.

The task's console output displays the task ID and a path to the folder with the captured information:

ClearML Task: created new task id=offline-372657bb04444c25a31bc6af86552cc9
...
...
ClearML Task: Offline session stored in /home/user/.clearml/cache/offline/b786845decb14eecadf2be24affc7418.zip

Upload the execution data that the Task captured offline to the ClearML Server using one of the following:

• clearml-task CLI

  clearml-task --import-offline-session "path/to/session/.clearml/cache/offline/b786845decb14eecadf2be24affc7418.zip"
  

  Pass the path to the zip folder containing the captured information with the --import-offline-session parameter

• Task.import_offline_session class method

  from clearml import Task
  
  Task.import_offline_session(session_folder_zip="path/to/session/.clearml/cache/offline/b786845decb14eecadf2be24affc7418.zip")
  

  In the session_folder_zip argument, insert the path to the zip folder containing the session.

  To upload the session from the same script that created it, first close the task then disable offline mode:

  Task.set_offline(offline_mode=True)
  task = Task.init(project_name="examples", task_name="my_task")
  # task code
  task.close()
  Task.set_offline(False)
  Task.import_offline_session(task.get_offline_mode_folder())
  

  You can also use the offline task to update the execution of an existing previously executed task by providing the previously executed task's ID. To avoid overwriting metrics, you can specify the initial iteration offset with iteration_offset.

  Task.import_offline_session(
    session_folder_zip="path/to/session/.clearml/cache/offline/b786845decb14eecadf2be24affc7418.zip", 
    previous_task_id="12345679", 
    iteration_offset=1500
  )
  

Both options will upload the Task's full execution details and outputs and return a link to the Task's results page on the ClearML Server.

Setting Random Seed

To ensure task reproducibility, ClearML controls the deterministic behaviors of the tensorflow, pytorch, and random packages by setting a fixed initial seed.

ClearML uses 1337 as the default initial seed. To set a different value for your task, use the Task.set_random_seed class method and provide the new seed value, before initializing the task.

You can disable the deterministic behavior entirely by passing Task.set_random_seed(None).

Artifacts

Artifacts are the output files created by a task. ClearML uploads and logs these products, so they can later be easily accessed, modified, and used.

Logging Artifacts

To log an artifact in a task, use upload_artifact().

For example:

• Upload a local file containing the preprocessing results of the data:

  task.upload_artifact(name='data', artifact_object='/path/to/preprocess_data.csv')
  

• Upload an entire folder with all its content by passing the folder, which will be zipped and uploaded as a single zip file:

  task.upload_artifact(name='folder', artifact_object='/path/to/folder')
  

• Register links to network-stored objects (i.e. a URL where the scheme is supported by ClearML such as http://, https://, s3://, gs://, or azure://). The artifact will only be added as a URL and will not be uploaded.

  task.upload_artifact(name='link', artifact_object='azure://bucket/folder')
  

• Serialize and upload a Python object. ClearML automatically chooses the file format based on the object's type, or you can explicitly specify the format as follows:

  • dict - .json (default), .yaml
  • pandas.DataFrame - .csv.gz (default), .parquet, .feather, .pickle
  • numpy.ndarray - .npz (default), .csv.gz
  • PIL.Image - Any PIL-supported extensions (default .png)

  For example:

  person_dict = {'name': 'Erik', 'age': 30}
  
  # upload as JSON artifact
  task.upload_artifact(name='person dictionary json', artifact_object=person_dict)
  
  # upload as YAML artifact
  task.upload_artifact(
    name='person dictionary yaml', 
    artifact_object=person_dict, 
    extension_name="yaml"
  )
  

See more details in the Artifacts Reporting example and in the SDK reference.

Using Artifacts

A task's artifacts are accessed through the task's artifact property which lists the artifacts' locations.

The artifacts can subsequently be retrieved from their respective locations by using:

• get_local_copy() - Downloads the artifact and caches it for later use, returning the path to the cached copy.
• get() - Returns a Python object constructed from the downloaded artifact file.

The code below demonstrates how to access a file artifact using the previously generated preprocessed data:

# get instance of task that created artifact, using task ID
preprocess_task = Task.get_task(task_id='the_preprocessing_task_id')
# access artifact
local_csv = preprocess_task.artifacts['data'].get_local_copy()

See more details in the Using Artifacts example.

Models

The following is an overview of working with models through a Task object. It is also possible to work directly with model objects (see Models (SDK)).

Logging Models Manually

To manually log a model in a task, create an instance of the OutputModel class. An OutputModel object is always registered as an output model of the task it is constructed from.

For example:

from clearml import OutputModel, Task

# Instantiate a Task 
task = Task.init(project_name="myProject", task_name="myTask")

# Instantiate an OutputModel with a task object argument
output_model = OutputModel(task=task, framework="PyTorch")

Updating Models Manually

The snapshots of manually uploaded models aren't automatically captured. To update a task's model, use the Task.update_output_model method:

task.update_output_model(model_path='path/to/model')

It's possible to modify the following parameters:

• Model location
• Model name
• Model description
• Iteration number
• Model tags

Models can also be manually updated independently, without any task. See OutputModel.update_weights.

Using Models

Accessing a task's previously trained model is quite similar to accessing task artifacts. A task's models are accessed through the task's models property which lists the input models and output model snapshots' locations.

The models can subsequently be retrieved from their respective locations by using get_local_copy() which downloads the model and caches it for later use, returning the path to the cached copy (if using TensorFlow, the snapshots are stored in a folder, so the local_weights_path will point to a folder containing the requested snapshot).

prev_task = Task.get_task(task_id='the_training_task')
last_snapshot = prev_task.models['output'][-1]
local_weights_path = last_snapshot.get_local_copy()

Notice that if one of the frameworks loads an existing weights file, the running task will automatically update its "Input Model", pointing directly to the original training task's model. This makes it easy to get the full lineage of every trained and used model in your system!

Models loaded by the ML framework appear in an experiment's Artifacts tab under the "Input Models" section in the ClearML UI.

Setting Upload Destination

ClearML automatically captures the storage location of Models created by frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, and scikit-learn. By default, it stores the local path they are saved at.

To automatically store all created models by a specific experiment, modify the Task.init function as such:

task = Task.init(
  project_name='examples', 
  task_name='storing model', 
  output_uri='s3://my_models/'
)

To automatically store all models created by any experiment at a specific location, edit the clearml.conf (see ClearML Configuration Reference) and set sdk.developmenmt.default_output_uri to the desired storage (see Storage). This is especially helpful when using clearml-agent to execute code.

Configuration

Manual Hyperparameter Logging

Setting Parameters

To define parameters manually use the Task.set_parameters method to specify name-value pairs in a parameter dictionary.

Parameters can be designated into sections: specify a parameter's section by prefixing its name, delimited with a slash (i.e. section_name/parameter_name:value). General is the default section.

Call the set_parameter method to set a single parameter.

task = Task.init(project_name='examples', task_name='parameters')

# override parameters with provided dictionary 
task.set_parameters({'Args/epochs':7, 'lr': 0.5})

# setting a single parameter
task.set_parameter(name='decay',value=0.001)

:::caution Overwriting Parameters The set_parameters method replaces any existing hyperparameters in the task. :::

Adding Parameters

To update the parameters in a task, use the Task.set_parameters_as_dict method. Arguments and values are input as a dictionary. Like in set_parameters above, the parameter's section can be specified.

task = Task.task_get(task_id='123456789')

# add parameters
task.set_parameters_as_dict({'my_args/lr':0.3, 'epochs':10})

Accessing Parameters

To access all task parameters, use the Task.get_parameters method. This method returns a flattened dictionary of the 'section/parameter': 'value' pairs.

task = Task.get_task(project_name='examples', task_name='parameters')

# will print a flattened dictionary of the 'section/parameter': 'value' pairs
print(task.get_parameters())

Access a specific parameter with the Task.get_parameter method specifying the parameter name and section.

param = task.get_parameter(name="Args/batch_size")

:::note Case sensitivity The parameters and their section names are case-sensitive :::

Tracking Python Objects

ClearML can track Python objects (such as dictionaries and custom classes) as they evolve in your code, and log them to your task's configuration using the Task.connect method. Once objects are connected to a task, ClearML automatically logs all object elements (e.g. class members, dictionary key-values pairs).

class Person:
    def __init__(self, name, age):
        self.name = name
        self.age = age
        
me = Person('Erik', 5)

params_dictionary = {'epochs': 3, 'lr': 0.4}

task = Task.init(project_name='examples',task_name='argparser')

task.connect(me)
task.connect(params_dictionary)

Configuration Objects

To log configuration more elaborate than a key-value dictionary (such as nested dictionaries or configuration files), use Task.connect_configuration(). This method saves configuration objects as blobs (i.e. ClearML is not aware of their internal structure).

# connect a configuration dictionary
model_config_dict = {
   'value': 13.37,  'dict': {'sub_value': 'string'},  'list_of_ints': [1, 2, 3, 4],
}
model_config_dict = task.connect_configuration(
  name='dictionary', configuration=model_config_dict
)
 
# connect a configuration file
config_file_yaml = task.connect_configuration(
  name="yaml file", configuration='path/to/configuration/file.yaml'
)

User Properties

A task's user properties do not impact task execution, so you can add / modify the properties at any stage. Add user properties to a task with the Task.set_user_properties method.

For example, the code below sets the "backbone" property in a task:

task.set_user_properties(
  {"name": "backbone", "description": "network type", "value": "great"}
)

Scalars

After invoking Task.init in a script, ClearML automatically captures scalars logged by supported frameworks (see automatic logging).

ClearML also supports explicitly logging scalars using the Logger class.

# get logger object for current task
logger = task.get_logger()
# report scalar to task
logger.report_scalar(
  title='scalar metrics', series='series', value=scalar_value, iteration=iteration
)
# report single value metric
logger.report_single_value(name="scalar_name", value=scalar_value)

See Manual Reporting for more information.

Retrieving Scalar Values

Scalar Summary

Use Task.get_last_scalar_metrics() to get a summary of all scalars logged in the task.

This call returns a nested dictionary of the last, maximum, and minimum values reported for each scalar metric reported to the task, ordered by title and series:

{
 "title": {
     "series": {
         "last": 0.5,
         "min": 0.1,
         "max": 0.9
         }
     }
 }

Get Sample Values

Use get_reported_scalars() to retrieve a sample of the logged scalars for each metric/series.

Use the max_samples argument to specify the maximum number of samples per series to return (up to a maximum of 5000).

To fetch all scalar values, use Task.get_all_reported_scalars().

Set the x-axis units with the x_axis argument. The options are:

• iter - Iteration (default)
• timestamp - Milliseconds since epoch
• iso_time - Wall time

task.get_reported_scalars(max_samples=0, x_axis='iter')

This returns a nested dictionary of the scalar graph values:

{
  "title": {
    "series": {
      "x": [0, 1, 2],
      "y": [10, 11, 12]
    }
  }
}

:::info This call is not cached. If the Task has many reported scalars, it might take a long time for the call to return. :::

Get Single Value Scalars

To get the values of a reported single-value scalars, use Task.get_reported_single_value() and specify the scalar's name.

To get all reported single scalar values, use Task.get_reported_single_values(), which returns a dictionary of scalar name and value pairs:

{'<scalar_name_1>': <value_1>, '<scalar_name_2>': <value_2>}

SDK Reference

For detailed information, see the complete Task SDK reference page.