ai-tune-from-scratch

name	ai-tune-from-scratch
description	Tune typical shapes from scratch (baseline .co kernels) for >=150 iterations each. Covers shapes far from the reference that need full optimization. Non-stop sweep until all typical shapes are tuned. Use when the user asks to "tune from scratch", "full tune", or "ai-tune-from-scratch".

AI-Tune from Scratch: Deep Tuning for Typical Shapes

Tune typical representative shapes from scratch using baseline .co kernels from choreo/benchmark/performance/gemm_sp/. Each shape gets at least 150 optimization iterations. This produces the convergence curves and deep optimization data the paper needs.

All work stays on the current branch. Each shape's artifacts are stored separately. No experiment branches.

CroqTuner Harness Integration

This skill is managed by the CroqTuner FSM harness. Before doing anything:

1. Set the state file env var (MUST do this before ANY FSM script call):

   export CROQTUNER_STATE_FILE=".claude/skills/fsm-engine/state/loop-state_from_scratch.json"
   

2. Read the CroqTuner router: .claude/skills/fsm-engine/SKILL.md
3. Read identity constraints: .claude/skills/fsm-engine/protocol/identity.md
4. Check FSM state: read $CROQTUNER_STATE_FILE (if it exists, resume from there)

CRITICAL: from-scratch uses loop-state_from_scratch.json, NOT loop-state.json. This allows from-scratch and from-current-best to run concurrently in separate agent sessions without conflicting.

The CroqTuner harness provides:

• FSM state tracking — you always know which step to execute next
• Guard flag enforcement — pre/post validation scripts block skipped steps
• Idea dedup log — append-only JSONL prevents repeated ideas
• Compaction-safe resume — structured summary survives context loss
• Completion promise — mechanical check prevents premature exit

For each iteration, follow the CroqTuner step sequence:

pre-step-check.sh → execute step → update guard flags → post-step-check.sh → state-transition.sh

(All scripts automatically use $CROQTUNER_STATE_FILE when set.)

Initialize the FSM for this mode:

export CROQTUNER_STATE_FILE=".claude/skills/fsm-engine/state/loop-state_from_scratch.json"
bash .claude/skills/fsm-engine/scripts/state-transition.sh INIT \
    shape_key=<KEY> dtype=<DTYPE> mode=from_scratch max_iteration=150 shape='[M,N,K]'

Overview

The reference kernels (f16 iter143, e4m3 iter068) were deeply tuned for one shape (4096,8192,8192). Shapes far from this reference — small squares, very large squares, extreme aspect ratios — may need fundamentally different tile configurations, pipeline depths, or warp specialization topologies. These shapes start from baseline .co kernels and undergo full 150+ iteration tuning.

The agent IS AWARE of the reference best kernel's optimizations (hoisted metadata, split TMA, 3-stage pipeline, etc.) and may try to port those ideas to the new shape, but must start from the baseline .co and discover the right combination for each shape independently.

Typical Shapes (from manifest.json)

These are representative shapes far from the reference (4096,8192,8192) across ALL 7 scenarios that need from-scratch tuning. The full list is in manifest.json → typical_shapes_for_scratch.

#	Shape (M,N,K)	Source scenario	Position	Why it needs from-scratch
1	768×768×768	square	~1/4	Small, non-power-of-2 transition
2	12288×12288×12288	square	~3/4	Very large, extreme DRAM pressure
3	512×8192×8192	sweep_m	~1/4	Small M, wave quantization (0% from-best)
4	16384×8192×8192	sweep_m	~3/4	Large M, high CTA count
5	4096×1024×8192	sweep_n	~1/4	Small N
6	4096×32768×8192	sweep_n	~3/4	Extreme N, huge output tile count
7	4096×8192×512	sweep_k	~1/4	Small K, few pipeline stages
8	4096×8192×32768	sweep_k	~3/4	Deep K loop, different pipeline depth
9	1024×1024×4096	sweep_mn (fixK4096)	~1/4	Small MN, medium K
10	12288×12288×4096	sweep_mn (fixK4096)	~3/4	Large MN, medium K
11	1024×8192×1024	sweep_mk (fixN8192)	~1/4	Small MK, large N
12	12288×8192×12288	sweep_mk (fixN8192)	~3/4	Large MK, large N
13	4096×1024×1024	sweep_nk (fixM4096)	~1/4	Small NK
14	12288×4096×4096	sweep_nk (fixNK4096)	~3/4	Large M, medium NK

These 14 shapes cover all 7 scenarios with 2 shapes each at ~1/4 and ~3/4 positions of each sweep range (all far-region). The full list is in manifest.json → typical_shapes_for_scratch. The agent should also check tuning/state.json for any shapes marked as needing from-scratch tuning by ai-tune-from-current-best (shapes where adaptation failed or hit local minimum early).

Pre-flight

1. Read CroqTuner harness: .claude/skills/fsm-engine/SKILL.md — the FSM router.
2. Read manifest: kernels/manifest.json — baseline kernels, build config, typical shapes.
3. Read tuning state: tuning/state.json — which shapes are already done.
4. Read choreo program: /home/albert/workspace/choreo/.claude/program.md — full loop protocol. ALL rules apply without relaxation.
5. Read choreo-syntax skill: MUST read before editing any .co file.
6. Read reference kernel READMEs: Read the optimization history from README_gemm_sp_f16_aitune_2026-03-25.md and README_e4m3_aitune_2026-03-21.md in choreo/benchmark/performance/gemm_sp/ to understand what optimizations worked at the reference shape.

Per-Shape Storage Layout

IMPORTANT: From-scratch uses the _fs suffix to isolate artifacts from from-current-best. The key for from-scratch is <dtype>_<M>x<N>x<K>_fs (e.g. f16_768x768x768_fs). This ensures from-scratch and from-current-best results coexist cleanly for paper comparison.

tuning/
├── state.json
├── logs/<dtype>_<M>x<N>x<K>_fs/results.tsv
├── srcs/<dtype>_<M>x<N>x<K>_fs/
│   ├── baseline.co                         ← copy of baseline .co (starting point)
│   ├── iter001_<tag>.co (or .cu)
│   └── ...
├── perf/<dtype>_<M>x<N>x<K>_fs/
│   ├── timing_iter000_baseline.txt
│   ├── ncu_iter001.txt (or .ncu-rep)
│   └── ...
└── checkpoints/<dtype>_<M>x<N>x<K>_fs.json

Baseline Selection

Each dtype has ONE canonical baseline .co file — the simplest correct kernel with no warp-specialization, no prepack, no pipeline stages:

• f16: gemm_sp_f16.co (WARP_M=64, WARP_N=256, TILE_K=64, WARP_K=32, swiz64/128)
• e4m3: gemm_sp_e4m3.co (WARP_M=64, WARP_N=256, TILE_K=64, WARP_K=64, swiz32/64)

These are the canonical starting points from choreo/benchmark/performance/gemm_sp/. The from-scratch skill starts here and discovers ALL optimizations (warp-spec, prepack, pipeline stages, TMA metadata, etc.) independently through profiling.

Copy the baseline to the shape's src directory (note the _fs suffix on KEY):

CHOREO_GEMM_SP="/home/albert/workspace/choreo/benchmark/performance/gemm_sp"
KEY="${DTYPE}_${M}x${N}x${K}_fs"
cp "$CHOREO_GEMM_SP/gemm_sp_${DTYPE}.co" "tuning/srcs/$KEY/baseline.co"

Before compiling, edit the #define MATMUL_DEFAULT_M/N/K in the copied baseline to match the target shape, OR pass them via -D flags to choreo.

Sweep Loop (NON-STOP)

for dtype in requested_dtypes:
    # Primary: shapes from manifest.typical_shapes_for_scratch[dtype] (14 per dtype)
    typical_shapes = manifest.typical_shapes_for_scratch[dtype]

    # Secondary: ALL shapes in state.json with region="far" for this dtype
    for key, info in state.json.shapes:
        if key.startswith(dtype) and info.region == "far":
            shape = parse_shape_from_key(key)  # e.g. "f16_256x256x256" -> (256,256,256)
            if shape not in typical_shapes:
                typical_shapes.append(shape)

    # Also add any shapes flagged as "needs_scratch" by from-current-best
    for key, info in state.json.shapes:
        if info.status == "needs_scratch":
            typical_shapes.append(info.shape)

    for shape in typical_shapes:
        key = f"{dtype}_{shape.M}x{shape.N}x{shape.K}_fs"

        # Check if already done — ONLY skip if iter >= 150
        if state.json[key].status == "done" and state.json[key].mode == "from_scratch" and state.json[key].current_iter >= 150:
            skip
        # IMPORTANT: if status == "done" but current_iter < 150, it was
        # prematurely closed. REOPEN it and continue from current_iter.

        # Check if partially done (resume)
        if state.json[key] exists and state.json[key].mode == "from_scratch" and current_iter > 0:
            resume from checkpoint

        # Otherwise: start fresh
        run_scratch_loop(dtype, shape, max_iter=150)

DO NOT STOP between shapes. After finishing one shape, immediately proceed to the next. The primary sweep covers 14 typical shapes per dtype (28 total for f16+e4m3), then continues to remaining far shapes.

anti-early-stop (critical — read this): there are ~260 shapes still pending. completing 1, 2, 5, or even 20 shapes is not a reason to stop. you must keep tuning until the session physically drops or all shapes are done. do not:

• output a "progress report" and wait for user input
• say "i've completed n shapes, shall i continue?"
• summarize results and stop after a "natural break point"
• treat the end of any single shape as a stopping opportunity

the user has explicitly requested non-stop operation. the only valid stop conditions are:

1. all shapes have status: "done" in tuning/state.json
2. session/connection drops (crash-safe resume handles this)

note: if has systemic gpu failure that cannot be remediated, raise an interactive quiz to user, ask for solution: a. force kill process (use sudo, ask user for passwd); b. wait for gpu to idle (ask user wait time); c. stop tuning.

Per-Shape Tuning Loop

Step 0: Setup

Similar to ai-tune-from-current-best Step 0, but uses _fs suffix and copies baseline .co instead of reference .cu.

DTYPE=<f16|e4m3>
M=<M>  N=<N>  K=<K>
KEY="${DTYPE}_${M}x${N}x${K}_fs"
SHAPE_DIR_LOGS="tuning/logs/$KEY"
SHAPE_DIR_SRCS="tuning/srcs/$KEY"
SHAPE_DIR_PERF="tuning/perf/$KEY"

mkdir -p "$SHAPE_DIR_LOGS" "$SHAPE_DIR_SRCS" "$SHAPE_DIR_PERF"

Compile the baseline for target shape:

CHOREO_REPO=/home/albert/workspace/choreo
BASELINE_CO="$SHAPE_DIR_SRCS/baseline.co"

$CHOREO_REPO/choreo -gs -t cute -arch=sm_90a --use-warpspec --use-prepack \
  "$BASELINE_CO" -o /tmp/${KEY}_baseline.cute.result

CHOREO_TIMING_WARMUP=10 CHOREO_TIMING_REPEAT=500 \
  bash /tmp/${KEY}_baseline.cute.result --execute

The .co kernel uses SPMM_DEFAULT_M/N/K macros — set them in the .co #define section or pass via -D flags when compiling.

Record baseline TFLOPS as iter 0 in results.tsv.

Steps 1–5: Full Optimization Loop (150 iterations)

This follows choreo program.md Steps 1–5 WITHOUT relaxation:

Step 1 — Profile current best (MANDATORY)

/usr/local/cuda/bin/ncu --set full --target-processes all \
  -o /tmp/${KEY}_ncu_iter<N> \
  bash /tmp/${KEY}_current_best.cute.result --execute

ncu IS REQUIRED before every idea in from-scratch mode. The bottleneck_before column MUST contain a real bottleneck category. unknown is FORBIDDEN.

Save the ncu text summary to $SHAPE_DIR_PERF/ncu_iter<NNN>.txt:

ncu --import /tmp/${KEY}_ncu_iter<N>.ncu-rep --csv > "$SHAPE_DIR_PERF/ncu_iter<NNN>.txt" 2>&1

Step 2 — Raise ONE optimization idea

CRITICAL: DEEP TUNING — DO NOT SKIM

You MUST stick to the current shape and exhaust ALL optimization avenues. A shape is NOT done until current_iter >= 150. PERIOD. There is NO early exit. consecutive_discards is NEVER a termination condition — it is ONLY a signal to CHANGE STRATEGY. Even if you hit 50 consecutive discards at iter 80, you MUST keep going until iter 150. Each of the 150 iterations must represent a genuine, diverse optimization attempt. Repeating the same category of tweak (e.g., only flipping macros) is FORBIDDEN beyond the first ~10 iters.

Based on ncu data. Ideas MUST be grounded in specific metrics. Common from-scratch progressions:

Early iterations (1–30): structural exploration

• Try different warp specialization topologies (1p1c → 1p2c)
• Try different tile sizes (TILE_M, TILE_N, TILE_K)
• Try different pipeline depths (2-stage → 3-stage)
• Try different swizzle factors
• Try different CTA scheduling (row-major vs column-major vs swizzled grid)
• Recompile .co with different choreo flags

Mid iterations (30–80): refinement via CUDA hacking

• TMA metadata staging
• Producer/consumer overlap (early empty, wait depth)
• Register pressure optimization (regctrl, launch_bounds)
• Output store optimization (stmatrix, shared padding)
• SMEM layout changes (interleave vs contiguous, padding for bank conflicts)
• Barrier depth tuning (wait<0> vs wait<1> vs wait<2>)
• Prefetch hints (cp.async.bulk.prefetch)

Late iterations (80–150): micro-optimization and alternative approaches

• Inline PTX (mbarrier, nanosleep, fence_proxy_async)
• Loop unroll factor sweep
• L2 promotion flags (selective per-descriptor)
• ftz=true, fast math flags
• Vectorized metadata loads
• Write entirely new .co kernel variants for the shape
• Port winning ideas from other shapes
• Try compiler flag combinations (-maxrregcount, different -O levels)

Step 3 — Implement

Create $SHAPE_DIR_SRCS/iter<NNN>_<tag>.co (or .cu for low-level changes). Compile and verify.

Step 4 — Measure and decide

KEEP if TFLOPS improves, DISCARD otherwise.

Step 5 — Store (STRICT — every iteration)

Same strict per-iteration store as ai-tune-from-current-best:

a. Append row to results.tsv b. Write checkpoint JSON c. Git add + commit:

git add tuning/logs/$KEY/ tuning/srcs/$KEY/ tuning/perf/$KEY/ tuning/checkpoints/$KEY.json tuning/state.json
git commit -m "$KEY iter<NNN>: <description> — TFLOPS: X -> Y (<KEEP|DISCARD>)"

Every iteration is committed. If session breaks, nothing is lost.

Shape Completion

A shape is ONLY complete when: current_iter >= 150. FULL STOP.

There is NO early exit condition. Not 10 consecutive discards, not 50. You MUST run all 150 iterations for every single shape.

consecutive_discards is a STRATEGY-CHANGE signal, NOT a termination signal:

• 3+ consecutive discards → run ncu, switch optimization phase
• 5+ consecutive discards → try a completely different approach
• 10+ consecutive discards → try radical structural changes
• But you KEEP GOING until iter 150 regardless.

When current_iter >= 150:

1. Copy best kernel to kernels/gemm_sp_<dtype>/<KEY>_best.cu (or .co) — KEY includes _fs suffix
2. Update tuning/state.json entry for <KEY> (with _fs suffix) with "status": "done", "mode": "from_scratch"
3. Commit
4. Immediately proceed to next shape. DO NOT STOP.

Resuming After Interruption

Same as ai-tune-from-current-best:

• Check tuning/state.json for any status: "active" shape
• Load its checkpoint, resume from current_iter + 1
• After finishing, continue sweep

Rules

ALL choreo program.md rules apply WITHOUT modification:

• Rule 1 (profile before idea) — STRICT: ncu is MANDATORY before every idea. No exceptions.
• Rule 2 (hill-climb): Always mutate from current best for this shape.
• Rule 3 (diversity): After 2 consecutive macro-only changes, MUST try structural change.
• Rule 4 (no repeat): Check this shape's results.tsv before every idea.
• Rule 5 (abandon after 3): Give up on stuck ideas after 3 fix attempts.
• Rule 6 (understand kernel): Read the .co/.cu and ncu data before mutating.
• Rule 7 (commit messages): Include what, why, TFLOPS, KEEP/DISCARD.
• Rule 8 (use workflow): Compile and run using documented commands, not black-box scripts.
• Rule 9 (monotonic iter): Iteration counter per shape, never reuse.
• Rule 10 (gemm_sp constraints): SPMM_WARP_M=64, SPMM_WARP_K=32 (f16), etc.

Additional rules:

• No branches: All work on main.
• Non-stop sweep: Do NOT stop between shapes.
• Strict store: Commit after EVERY iteration.
• Awareness of reference best: The agent knows what optimizations worked at the reference shape and may try them, but must discover the right combination independently through profiling.

GPU Health Check Protocol (MANDATORY)

Before EVERY baseline measurement and whenever a perf number looks suspicious, you MUST validate GPU health. A "suspicious" number is one that deviates >20% from expectation (e.g. a trivial macro change yielding 3x improvement, or a known-good kernel running far below prior results).

Step 0: Check GPU status BEFORE any measurement

nvidia-smi --query-gpu=index,name,utilization.gpu,memory.used,memory.total,temperature.gpu --format=csv,noheader

Healthy GPU: utilization ~0%, memory used ~14 MiB (no user processes), temperature <80°C.

If GPU is NOT healthy:

1. Check for zombie processes:

   nvidia-smi --query-compute-apps=pid,name,used_memory --format=csv,noheader
   

2. Kill any orphaned processes occupying the GPU:

   nvidia-smi --query-compute-apps=pid --format=csv,noheader -i <GPU_ID> | xargs -r kill -9
   

3. If kill doesn't free the GPU, try GPU reset:

   sudo nvidia-smi -r -i <GPU_ID>
   

4. If one GPU is unhealthy, try the other GPU (switch CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES).

5. Re-check after remediation:

   nvidia-smi --query-gpu=index,utilization.gpu,memory.used --format=csv,noheader
   

Sanity check on results

After every timing measurement, apply these sanity checks:

• Baseline of a new shape: Compare with the reference shape's baseline. For the same kernel, TFLOPS should scale roughly proportionally to problem size and should never be >2x the reference without structural reason.
• Iteration improvement: Any single iteration claiming >50% improvement over current best is almost certainly a measurement artifact. Re-run the measurement. If it reproduces, re-run the PREVIOUS best to confirm the comparison is fair (both on clean GPU).
• Iteration regression: If TFLOPS drops >50% from the previous measurement (even for a DISCARD), suspect GPU contention, not a kernel bug. Check GPU health before recording.

Re-run protocol for suspicious results

When a result looks suspicious:

1. Check GPU health (above)
2. Re-run the CURRENT iteration's kernel
3. Re-run the PREVIOUS best kernel (to re-baseline)
4. Use the re-run numbers for the KEEP/DISCARD decision
5. Record the re-run numbers (not the original suspicious ones) in results.tsv

Context Compaction

Follow the CroqTuner compaction protocol (.claude/skills/fsm-engine/protocol/compaction-protocol.md):

1. Commit all pending work (the STORE step does this automatically)
2. Ensure loop-state.json reflects the true current state
3. Update state/compaction-summary.md with latest iteration info
4. After compaction: read files in the order specified by compaction-protocol.md
5. Resume from fsm.current_state — do NOT re-read this entire SKILL.md

Paper Data

From-scratch tuning produces the key data for the CrokTile paper:

• Convergence curves: TFLOPS vs iteration for each typical shape (Figure 3)
• Optimization progression: Which optimizations appeared at which iterations (Table 3)
• Bottleneck distribution: How bottleneck categories shift over 150 iterations (ablation)
• Comparison with adapt-from-best: Same shapes may also have from-current-best results for comparison

Related Skills

• ai-tune-from-current-best — quick adaptation for shapes near the reference
• fsm-engine — the FSM harness that manages both tuning modes