add-workflow

name	add-workflow
description	Guide for adding a new RolloutWorkflow to AReaL. Use when user wants to create a new workflow.

Add Workflow

Add a new RolloutWorkflow implementation to AReaL.

When to Use

This skill is triggered when:

• User asks "how do I add a workflow?"
• User wants to create a new RolloutWorkflow
• User mentions implementing a custom rollout

Prerequisites

Before starting, ensure you understand:

• The workflow's purpose and requirements
• Input/output data format
• Reward function to use

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Create Workflow File

Create areal/workflow/<name>.py:

import uuid
from typing import Any, Callable

import torch

from areal.api.cli_args import GenerationHyperparameters
from areal.api.engine_api import InferenceEngine
from areal.api.io_struct import ModelRequest, ModelResponse
from areal.api.reward_api import AsyncRewardWrapper
from areal.api.workflow_api import RolloutWorkflow
from areal.utils import logging

logger = logging.getLogger("MyWorkflow")


class MyWorkflow(RolloutWorkflow):
    """Description of your workflow."""

    def __init__(
        self,
        gconfig: GenerationHyperparameters,
        tokenizer,
        reward_fn: Callable,
    ):
        self.gconfig = gconfig.new_with_stop_and_pad_token_ids(tokenizer)
        self.tokenizer = tokenizer
        self.async_reward_fn = AsyncRewardWrapper(reward_fn)

    async def arun_episode(
        self,
        engine: InferenceEngine,
        data: dict[str, Any],
    ) -> dict[str, torch.Tensor]:
        """Run a single episode. MUST be async and non-blocking."""

        # 1. Prepare input_ids from data
        input_ids = self.tokenizer.apply_chat_template(
            data["messages"],
            tokenize=True,
            add_generation_prompt=True,
        )

        # 2. Build ModelRequest
        req = ModelRequest(
            rid=uuid.uuid4().hex,
            input_ids=list(input_ids),
            gconfig=self.gconfig.new(n_samples=1),
            tokenizer=self.tokenizer,
        )

        # 3. Generate completion (async)
        resp: ModelResponse = await engine.agenerate(req)

        # 4. Compute reward (async)
        prompt_str = self.tokenizer.decode(input_ids)
        completion_str = self.tokenizer.decode(resp.output_tokens)
        reward = await self.async_reward_fn(
            prompt_str,
            completion_str,
            resp.input_tokens,
            resp.output_tokens,
            **data,
        )

        # 5. Return results in expected format
        return {
            "input_ids": torch.tensor(resp.input_tokens),
            "output_ids": torch.tensor(resp.output_tokens),
            "reward": torch.tensor(reward),
        }

Step 2: Register in init.py

Add to areal/workflow/__init__.py:

from areal.workflow.<name> import MyWorkflow

__all__ = [
    # ... existing exports
    "MyWorkflow",
]

Step 3: Update Entry Script

Update your training script to use the new workflow:

trainer.train(
    workflow="areal.workflow.<name>.MyWorkflow",
    # ... other args
)

Step 4: Add Tests

Create areal/tests/test_<name>_workflow.py:

import pytest
from areal.workflow.<name> import MyWorkflow

@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_workflow_basic():
    # Test basic functionality
    pass

Reference Implementations

Workflow	File	Description
MultiTurnWorkflow	areal/workflow/multi_turn.py	Multi-turn conversation
RLVRWorkflow	areal/workflow/rlvr.py	RL with verifiable rewards
VisionRLVRWorkflow	areal/workflow/vision_rlvr.py	Vision + RLVR

Key Requirements

1. Async: arun_episode must be async def and non-blocking
2. No sync I/O: Use aiofiles for file operations
3. Wrap rewards: Use AsyncRewardWrapper for reward functions
4. Tensor format: Output tensors should be [batch, seq_len, ...]
5. Use helpers: concat_padded_tensors for combining outputs

Common Mistakes

• ❌ Using open() instead of aiofiles.open()
• ❌ Forgetting to await async calls
• ❌ Not wrapping reward function with AsyncRewardWrapper
• ❌ Wrong tensor shape conventions

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