pai-configure-inference

# Configuring the Inference Pipeline Pipeline order: observation → preprocessors → runner → postprocessors → action output. See the [pre/post-processing guide](https://github.com/openvinotoolkit/physicalai/blob/main/docs/how-to/inference/configure-pre-post-processing.md) and [manifest schema](https://github.com/openvinotoolkit/physicalai/blob/main/docs/reference/manifest-schema.md). ## Workflow 1. **Read the manifest slice** for `preprocessors`, `postprocessors`, and `model.runner`. - Done when: you know whether specs use `type` (registry short name) or `class_path`. 2. **Prefer `type` for built-ins** registered by your installed Runtime package (e.g. normalize/denormalize patterns in the docs). 3. **Use `class_path` + `init_args`** for explicit classes: ```yaml preprocessors: - class_path: physicalai.inference.preprocessors.StatsNormalizer init_args: artifact: stats.safetensors ``` - Done when: `init_args` paths resolve relative to the export directory via `resolve_artifact`. 4. **Validate the manifest with a representative export** by constructing `InferenceModel` and running a fake observation; verify preprocessing precedes the runner and postprocessing follows it. - Done when: the model returns an action with the expected shape. 5. **Nested components** in `init_args` must stay within Runtime's configured depth limit; avoid cyclic specs. ## Validation loop Run a one-observation smoke inference in the user's project after each manifest change; do not connect robot hardware to test a config edit. ## Required checks - Processor order matches training/export semantics (normalization before runner, denormalization after). - Artifact file names in manifests do not traverse paths (`..`, absolute paths). - A named `type` exists in the installed package; use `class_path` only for trusted local components. - Runner is `single_pass` (`SinglePass`), the only built-in runner; do not invent other runner types. Its use stays consistent with the `predict_action_chunk` vs `select_action` docs. ## References - [Manifest schema](https://github.com/openvinotoolkit/physicalai/blob/main/docs/reference/manifest-schema.md) - [Using a manifest](https://github.com/openvinotoolkit/physicalai/blob/main/docs/how-to/inference/use-manifest.md)