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233 changes: 233 additions & 0 deletions recipes_source/regional_aot.py
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"""
Reducing AoT cold start compilation time with regional compilation
============================================================================

**Author:** `Sayak Paul <https://github.com/sayakpaul>`, `Charles Bensimon <https://github.com/cbensimon>`, `Angela Yi <https://github.com/angelay>`

In our [regional compilation recipe](https://docs.pytorch.org/tutorials/recipes/regional_compilation.html), we showed
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@angelayi angelayi Sep 5, 2025

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Maybe we can add to this tutorial saying something like, "if you want to learn how to do it using the AOT technologies, check out this page"

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how to reduce cold start compilation times while retaining (almost) full compilation benefits. This was demonstrated for
just-in-time (JiT) compilation.

This recipe shows how to apply similar principles when compiling a model ahead-of-time (AoT). If you
are not familiar with AoT and `torch.export`, we recommend you to check out [this tutorial](https://docs.pytorch.org/tutorials/recipes/torch_export_aoti_python.html).

Prerequisites
----------------

* Pytorch 2.6 or later
* Familiarity with regional compilation
* Familiarity with AoT and `torch.export`

Setup
-----
Before we begin, we need to install ``torch`` if it is not already
available.

.. code-block:: sh

pip install torch

.. note::
This feature is available starting with the 2.6 release.
"""

from time import perf_counter

######################################################################
# Steps
# -----
#
# In this recipe, we will follow pretty much the same steps as the regional compilation recipe mentioned above:
#
# 1. Import all necessary libraries.
# 2. Define and initialize a neural network with repeated regions.
# 3. Measure the compilation time of the full model and the regional compilation with AoT.
#
# First, let's import the necessary libraries for loading our data:
#
#

import torch
torch.set_grad_enabled(False)


##########################################################
# We will use the same neural network structure as the regional compilation recipe.
#
# We will use a network, composed of repeated layers. This mimics a
# large language model, that typically is composed of many Transformer blocks. In this recipe,
# we will create a ``Layer`` using the ``nn.Module`` class as a proxy for a repeated region.
# We will then create a ``Model`` which is composed of 64 instances of this
# ``Layer`` class.
#
class Layer(torch.nn.Module):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.linear1 = torch.nn.Linear(10, 10)
self.relu1 = torch.nn.ReLU()
self.linear2 = torch.nn.Linear(10, 10)
self.relu2 = torch.nn.ReLU()

def forward(self, x):
a = self.linear1(x)
a = self.relu1(a)
a = torch.sigmoid(a)
b = self.linear2(a)
b = self.relu2(b)
return b


class Model(torch.nn.Module):
def __init__(self):
super().__init__()
self.linear = torch.nn.Linear(10, 10)
self.layers = torch.nn.ModuleList([Layer() for _ in range(64)])

def forward(self, x):
# In regional compilation, the self.linear is outside of the scope of `torch.compile`.
x = self.linear(x)
for layer in self.layers:
x = layer(x)
return x


####################################################
# Since we're compiling the model ahead-of-time, we need to prepare representative
# input examples, that we expect the model to see during actual deployments.
#
# Let's create an instance of `Model` and pass it some sample input data.
#

model = Model().cuda()
input = torch.randn(10, 10, device="cuda")
output = model(input)
print(f"{output.shape=}")

####################################################
# Now, let's compile our model ahead-of-time. We will use `input` created above to pass
# to `torch.export`. This will yield a `torch.export.ExportedProgram` which we can compile.

path = torch._inductor.aoti_compile_and_package(
torch.export.export(
model, args=input, kwargs={},
)
)

####################################################
# We can load from this `path` and use it to perform inference.

compiled_binary = torch._inductor.aoti_load_package(path)
output_compiled = compiled_binary(input)
print(f"{output_compiled.shape=}")

###################################################
# Compiling model regions ahead-of-time, on the other hand, requires a few key changes.
#
# Since the compute pattern is shared by all the blocks that
# are repeated in a model (``Layer`` instances in this cases), we can just
# compile a single block and let the inductor reuse it.

model = Model().cuda()
path = torch._inductor.aoti_compile_and_package(
torch.export.export(
model.layers[0],
args=input,
kwargs={},
inductor_configs={
# compile artifact w/o saving params in the artifact
"aot_inductor.package_constants_in_so": False,
}
)
)

###################################################
# An exported program (``torch.export.ExportedProgram``) contains the Tensor computation,
# a state_dict containing tensor values of all lifted parameters and buffer alongside
# other metadata. We specify the ``aot_inductor.package_constants_in_so`` to be ``False`` to
# not serialize the model parameters in the generated artifact.
#
# Now, when loading the compiled binary, we can reuse the existing parameters of
# each block. This lets us take advantage of the compiled binary obtained above.
#

for layer in model.layers:
compiled_layer = torch._inductor.aoti_load_package(path)
compiled_layer.load_constants(
layer.state_dict(), check_full_update=True, user_managed=True
)
layer.forward = compiled_layer

#####################################################
# Just like JiT regional compilation, compiling regions within a model ahead-of-time
# leads to significantly reduced cold start times. The actual number will vary from
# model to model.
#
# Even though full model compilation offers the fullest scope of optimizations,
# for practical purposes and depending on the type of model, we have seen regional
# compilation (both JiT and AoT) providing similar speed benefits, while drastically
# reducing the cold start times.

###################################################
# Next, let's measure the compilation time of the full model and the regional compilation.
#
# ``torch.compile`` is a JIT compiler, which means that it compiles on the first invocation.
# In the code below, we measure the total time spent in the first invocation. While this method is not
# precise, it provides a good estimate since the majority of the time is spent in
# compilation.


def measure_latency(fn, input):
# Reset the compiler caches to ensure no reuse between different runs
torch.compiler.reset()
with torch._inductor.utils.fresh_inductor_cache():
start = perf_counter()
fn(input)
torch.cuda.synchronize()
end = perf_counter()
return end - start

def aot_compile_model(regional=False):
input = torch.randn(10, 10, device="cuda")
model = Model().cuda()

inductor_configs = {}
if regional:
inductor_configs = {"aot_inductor.package_constants_in_so": False}
path = torch._inductor.aoti_compile_and_package(
torch.export.export(
model.layers[0] if regional else model,
args=input,
kwargs={},
inductor_configs=inductor_configs,
)
)

if regional:
for layer in model.layers:
compiled_layer = torch._inductor.aoti_load_package(path)
compiled_layer.load_constants(
layer.state_dict(), check_full_update=True, user_managed=True
)
layer.forward = compiled_layer
else:
compiled_layer = torch._inductor.aoti_load_package(path)

return model

input = torch.randn(10, 10, device="cuda")
full_model_compilation_latency = measure_latency(aot_compile_model(), input)
print(f"Full model compilation time = {full_model_compilation_latency:.2f} seconds")

regional_compilation_latency = measure_latency(aot_compile_model(regional=True), input)
print(f"Regional compilation time = {regional_compilation_latency:.2f} seconds")

assert regional_compilation_latency < full_model_compilation_latency

############################################################################
# Conclusion
# -----------
#
# This recipe shows how to control the cold start time when compiling your model ahead-of-time.
# This becomes effective when your model has repeated blocks, like typically seen in large generative
# models.