| name | cluster-config |
| description | First-run setup. Detect SLURM account/partition/QoS from env and write configs/cluster/local.toml so every other skill can preflight. |
When to use
- First time running any KempnerForge skill on a new machine or cluster.
- Any other skill reports a MISS that points at
configs/cluster/local.toml (account, partition, shared_fs_root, etc.).
- Switching to a different cluster or account on the same checkout.
This is the only skill that writes configs/cluster/local.toml. Every other skill is a read-only consumer.
Preflight
Run:
uv run python scripts/check_env.py
If the exit code is non-zero, print stdout to the user verbatim and stop. The baseline checks (uv, repo layout) must pass before this skill can proceed.
Context (auto-generated, do not edit)
Config target: configs/cluster/local.toml (gitignored)
Schema reference: configs/cluster/local.toml.example
Writer entry point: scripts/check_env.py do_init()
Writer modes: interactive (default) or --non-interactive with per-field flags for agent-driven writes
Precedence (do_init): CLI flag > env var > static default
Precedence (check_env runtime): explicit --cluster-config override > env var > local.toml
Discovered defaults: SLURM_CLUSTER_NAME, SLURM_ACCOUNT, SLURM_PARTITION, SLURM_QOS
Fields written: [cluster].name, [cluster].scheduler, [slurm].{account, partition, qos, default_time, default_nodes, default_gpus_per_node, require_account, require_qos}, [network].{ib_interface, shared_fs_root}, [paths].checkpoints_root, [credentials].{wandb_entity, hf_user}
Procedure
Dispatch on whether configs/cluster/local.toml already exists.
Flow A — config is missing (first run)
Collect values directly in chat, then call the non-interactive writer in one shot. Do not hand control back to a terminal prompt loop.
-
Read $SLURM_CLUSTER_NAME, $SLURM_ACCOUNT, $SLURM_PARTITION, $SLURM_QOS and echo them as suggested defaults.
-
Ask the user to confirm or override each field in one message. Use the field-by-field guidance below. Leave QoS blank if unused.
-
Run the writer with explicit flags:
uv run python scripts/check_env.py --init --non-interactive \
--cluster-name=<name> \
--slurm-account=<acct> --slurm-partition=<part> --slurm-qos=<qos> \
--shared-fs-root=<path> --checkpoints-root=<path> \
--wandb-entity=<entity> --hf-user=<user>
Omit any flag the user left at its default. The script falls back to env vars, then static defaults.
-
Verify:
uv run python scripts/check_env.py --requires slurm,multi-node
Expect OK or WARN for each tag. A MISS means a value needs correcting (usually shared_fs_root does not exist on disk or is not a distributed FS). Re-run step 3 with --force and the corrected flags.
-
Confirm the file is gitignored:
git check-ignore -v configs/cluster/local.toml
Should print configs/cluster/.gitignore:3:local.toml and exit 0.
Flow B — config already exists
Validate the existing file, surface any problems, and only rewrite if the user wants to change something.
-
Run validation:
uv run python scripts/check_env.py --requires slurm,multi-node
-
If every tag is OK or WARN: summarize what the file says (cluster, account, partition, qos, shared_fs_root, checkpoints_root) and ask the user whether any field needs updating. If they say no, stop. Do not rewrite.
-
If any tag is MISS, or the user wants to change a field: collect the new value(s) in chat, then rewrite with --force:
uv run python scripts/check_env.py --init --non-interactive --force \
--<field>=<new_value> [...]
Only pass the flags whose values are changing. The unchanged fields will fall back through env vars and static defaults, so pass flags for every field the user wants preserved (read the current file first and forward those values explicitly).
-
Re-verify with --requires slurm,multi-node.
Field-by-field guidance
- cluster_name: free-form label for logging. Example:
kempner_h100.
- scheduler:
slurm if sbatch is on PATH, otherwise none. The script auto-detects if the flag is omitted.
- slurm_account / slurm_partition / slurm_qos: take from
sacctmgr show assoc user=$USER. Leave QoS blank if the cluster does not require one.
- require_account (default
true): set false for clusters where sbatch runs without --account.
- require_qos (default
false): set true only on clusters that reject jobs without --qos.
- ib_interface: leave as
auto unless the user knows a specific interface. check_env --requires multi-node probes /sys/class/infiniband to verify.
- shared_fs_root: distributed FS root all ranks share (NFS / Lustre / GPFS). The repo checkout must live under this path for multi-node runs.
- checkpoints_root: typically
<shared_fs_root>/checkpoints for multi-node, or <repo>/checkpoints for single-node.
- wandb_entity / hf_user: never an API key. Tokens live in env vars (
WANDB_API_KEY, HF_TOKEN).
Verification
cat configs/cluster/local.toml and sanity-check each section against what the user specified.uv run python scripts/check_env.py --requires slurm returns OK.uv run python scripts/check_env.py --requires multi-node returns OK or WARN (WARN is fine for single-node-only users).git status shows no tracked changes under configs/cluster/local.toml.
Gotchas
- Use
--non-interactive from an agent session. Without it, --init reads from stdin and blocks when stdin is not a TTY.
--non-interactive without --force refuses to overwrite an existing file (exit 2). This is intentional: in Flow B, read the file first before rewriting.- When rewriting, pass a flag for every field the user wants preserved. Unspecified flags fall back to env vars and then static defaults; an unset env var will blank the field.
- Credentials section stores names only, never tokens. If the user tries to paste an API key, stop them and point at the
WANDB_API_KEY / HF_TOKEN env vars.
- On multi-cluster setups with a single checkout, users can keep multiple config files and pass
--cluster-config <path> to select one.
Related skills
/kempnerforge:smoke-test — next step after cluster-config on any GPU node./kempnerforge:slurm-launch — wraps sbatch and depends on [slurm] section being populated.
