add-transform

name	add-transform
description	Full checklist for adding a new transform to AlbumentationsX. Use when the user asks to add, implement, or create a new transform/augmentation.

Add Transform

Follow this checklist in order. Do not skip steps.

1. Choose the right module

Put the transform in the most specific matching subpackage:

• albumentations/augmentations/geometric/ — spatial transforms (flip, rotate, warp, etc.)
• albumentations/augmentations/pixel/ — pixel-level (color, brightness, noise, etc.)
• albumentations/augmentations/dropout/ — masking/dropout
• albumentations/augmentations/blur/ — blurring
• albumentations/augmentations/crops/ — cropping
• albumentations/augmentations/mixing/ — multi-image mixing
• albumentations/augmentations/transforms3d/ — 3D/volume
• albumentations/augmentations/other/ — everything else

2. Functional layer first

Add the pure function in the corresponding functional.py file (no class state, no RNG):

def my_transform(img: np.ndarray, param1: float, param2: int) -> np.ndarray:
    ...

• Accept np.ndarray, return np.ndarray
• No randomness — all random values come from get_params / get_params_dependent_on_data
• Prefer cv2 over numpy for performance (see benchmarking rules)
• Use cv2.LUT for lookup-based pixel ops (fastest)
• Use @uint8_io / @float32_io decorators if dtype conversion is needed

3. Write the transform class

• Do not add docstrings to apply or apply_to_* methods; the transform class docstring and transforms_interface are sufficient.

class MyTransform(DualTransform):  # or ImageOnlyTransform / NoOp
    """First paragraph (120–160 chars): elevator pitch — what the transform does, how it works in one sentence, when to use it. No "Parameters: x, y", "Targets:", return type, or "Supports uint8/float32"; no "Used by X". Two lines, wrap at 120.

    More detail about what the transform does.

    Args:
        param_range: (min, max) tuple controlling X. Default: (0.1, 0.3).
        fill: Padding value for image. Default: 0.
        fill_mask: Padding value for masks. Default: 0.
        p: Probability. Default: 0.5.

    Targets:
        image, mask, bboxes, keypoints, volume, mask3d

    Image types:
        uint8, float32

    Examples:
        >>> import numpy as np
        >>> import albumentations as A
        >>> image = np.random.randint(0, 256, (100, 100, 3), dtype=np.uint8)
        >>> mask = np.random.randint(0, 2, (100, 100), dtype=np.uint8)
        >>> bboxes = np.array([[10, 10, 50, 50]], dtype=np.float32)
        >>> bbox_labels = [1]
        >>> keypoints = np.array([[20, 30]], dtype=np.float32)
        >>> keypoint_labels = [0]
        >>>
        >>> transform = A.Compose([
        ...     A.MyTransform(param_range=(0.1, 0.3), p=1.0)
        ... ], bbox_params=A.BboxParams(coord_format='pascal_voc', label_fields=['bbox_labels']),
        ...    keypoint_params=A.KeypointParams(coord_format='xy', label_fields=['keypoint_labels']))
        >>>
        >>> result = transform(
        ...     image=image, mask=mask,
        ...     bboxes=bboxes, bbox_labels=bbox_labels,
        ...     keypoints=keypoints, keypoint_labels=keypoint_labels,
        ... )
    """

    class InitSchema(BaseTransformInitSchema):
        param_range: Annotated[tuple[float, float], AfterValidator(nondecreasing)]
        # NO default values here (except discriminator fields)

    def __init__(self, param_range: tuple[float, float], p: float = 0.5):
        super().__init__(p=p)
        self.param_range = param_range

    def apply(self, img: ImageType, param1: float, **params: Any) -> ImageType:
        # NO default values for param1 here
        return fpixel.my_transform(img, param1)

    def get_params(self) -> dict[str, Any]:
        return {
            "param1": self.py_random.uniform(*self.param_range),
        }

Critical rules:

• NO get_transform_init_args_names() override — the base class auto-infers init arg names from __init__ via MRO introspection. Do not define this method.
• NO "Random" prefix in the class name
• Parameter ranges use _range suffix: brightness_range, not brightness_limit
• fill not fill_value, fill_mask not fill_mask_value
• border_mode not mode or pad_mode
• NO default values in InitSchema (except Pydantic discriminator fields)
• Range parameters are always tuple[T, T], never T | tuple[T, T] — no union with a scalar. Users always pass a tuple.
• NO default argument values in apply_* methods (other than self, **params)
• All randomness in get_params or get_params_dependent_on_data, never in apply_*
• Use self.py_random for simple random ops, self.random_generator only when numpy arrays needed
• Never use np.random.* or random.* module directly
• Prefer relative parameters (fractions of image size) over fixed pixel values
• Use ImageType for image/mask/volume type hints, np.ndarray only for bboxes/keypoints
• Use descriptive variable names — avoid single-letter or generic names like x, y, dx, dy, cx, cy. Prefer pixel_cols, norm_x, center_col, run_starts, col_x, etc. Names should read like documentation.
• Images and volumes under Compose always have channels — images are (H, W, C), image batches are (N, H, W, C), volumes are (D, H, W, C), and volume batches are (N, D, H, W, C).
• Grayscale under Compose is (H, W, 1), not (H, W). Do not add functional-layer compatibility branches for 2D grayscale images in code reached through Compose.
• Branch on ndim to distinguish image vs batch vs volume paths when needed, not to infer whether channels exist.
• Helper functions belong in functional.py, never in the transform class file.

4. Add batch optimization (apply_to_images)

Override apply_to_images only if you can beat the default per-image loop. Priority patterns:

Pre-compute expensive setup once per batch (kernels, LUTs, gradient maps):

def apply_to_images(self, images: ImageType, *args: Any, **params: Any) -> ImageType:
    kernel = create_kernel(params["size"])  # once, not N times
    return self._apply_to_batch(images, lambda img: convolve(img, kernel))

Direct 4D indexing for simple array ops:

def apply_to_images(self, images: ImageType, channels_to_drop: list[int], **params: Any) -> ImageType:
    result = images.copy()
    result[:, :, :, channels_to_drop] = self.fill
    return result

Pre-allocated loop as fallback when params vary per image:

def apply_to_images(self, images: ImageType, *args: Any, **params: Any) -> ImageType:
    result = np.empty_like(images)
    for i, image in enumerate(images):
        result[i] = self.apply(image, **params)
    return result

DO NOT reshape (N,H,W,1) to (H,W,N) to call cv2 once — this is 2–4× slower in practice (transpose → non-contiguous copy + cv2 sequential channel processing).

5. Export the transform

Add to albumentations/__init__.py:

from albumentations.augmentations.<module>.transforms import MyTransform

Add to albumentations/augmentations/<module>/__init__.py if one exists.

6. Write tests

Add to tests/test_transforms.py or tests/test_<category>.py:

@pytest.mark.parametrize(
    ("param_range", "expected_..."),
    [
        ((0.1, 0.3), ...),
        ((0.5, 0.8), ...),
    ],
)
def test_my_transform(param_range, expected_...):
    image = TestDataFactory.create_image((100, 100, 3), dtype=np.uint8, seed=137)
    aug = A.MyTransform(param_range=param_range, p=1.0)
    result = aug(image=image)
    # use np.testing assertions, not plain assert
    np.testing.assert_...

Also add it to the parametrized lists in tests/utils.py:

• get_dual_transforms() if it's a DualTransform
• get_image_only_transforms() if it's ImageOnlyTransform

Check edge cases: uint8, float32, single channel, multichannel.

7. Verify checklist

• No get_transform_init_args_names() override (auto-inferred from __init__)
• No "Random" prefix in class name
• _range suffix on range params
• fill / fill_mask (not fill_value / fill_mask_value)
• No defaults in InitSchema
• No defaults in apply_* method args
• All random ops in get_params / get_params_dependent_on_data
• Using self.py_random or self.random_generator (not np.random / random)
• ImageType for image type hints
• Custom apply_to_images if expensive setup can be shared across batch
• Docstring has Args, Targets, Image types, Examples sections
• Examples section uses plural "Examples" (not "Example")
• Exported in albumentations/__init__.py
• Tests added (parametrized, seed=137, np.testing assertions)
• Pre-commit passes: pre-commit run --all-files
• Tests pass: uv run pytest -m "not slow"