offline-packing-env-vars

name	offline-packing-env-vars
description	Bilingual guide for the OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR and OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA environment variables that control LLaVA-OneVision2 training-side packing — what each gate does, why both must be enabled together, MBS=1 requirement, and the dead OFFLINE_PACKING_VQA branch
compatibility	opencode
metadata	{"domain":"training-pipeline","framework":"llava-onevision2","repo":"llava-onevision2"}

Purpose / 用途

Use this skill when you set up or debug training-side sample packing for LLaVA-OneVision2 — i.e. when you need to decide which env vars to export in a training shell script (Stage-1 / Stage-1.5 / Stage-2) and want to understand why both OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR and OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA must be 1 to actually get padding-free attention.

在配置或调试 LLaVA-OneVision2 训练侧的样本 packing 时使用——比如要决定在训练 shell 脚本（Stage-1 / Stage-1.5 / Stage-2）中导出哪些环境变量，以及为什么必须 OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR=1 和 OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA=1 同时打开才能真正获得 padding-free 的 attention。

This skill is specifically for:

• Choosing the correct env var combination in training scripts
• Diagnosing cross-sample attention leakage in packed runs
• Understanding why cu_lengths is a dummy [[0]] in some runs and a real [B, P+1] tensor in others
• Avoiding the well-known OFFLINE_PACKING_VQA red herring (it is dead code)

Companion skill: cu-lengths-attention-flow covers the consumer side (how cu_lengths is fed into ViT/LLM attention). This skill covers the producer + gate side.

姊妹 skill：cu-lengths-attention-flow 讲消费端（cu_lengths 如何送入 ViT/LLM attention）。本 skill 讲生产端 + 开关。

---

TL;DR / 一句话总结

For packed training to work end-to-end, both env vars must be 1:

export OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR='1'   # data-layer gate: build real cu_lengths
export OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA='1'   # batch-layer gate: forward real cu_lengths to model

Setting only one is a silent bug. OFFLINE_PACKING_VQA is dead code; do not rely on it.

---

The Three Env Vars / 三个环境变量真相表

Env var	Status	Default	Read at	Effect
OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR	ALIVE	0	aiak_training_llm/data/multimodal/task_encoder.py:194	Inside PackedCaptioningSample handling, unroll each packed entry into a MultiMixQASample (BMR-style, with full prompt/caption messages). When 0, falls through to the legacy CaptioningSample branch which loses the multi-turn structure.
OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA	ALIVE	0	aiak_training_llm/data/multimodal/task_encoder.py:363	Inside batch(), replace dummy cu_lengths = [[0]] with the real per-sample s.cu_lengths stacked across the batch. Without this, the consumer side cannot construct PackedSeqParams.
OFFLINE_PACKING_VQA	DEAD	n/a	nowhere in aiak_training_llm/	Mentioned in README + several legacy shells under examples/llava_onevision1_5/ and examples/llava_onevision2/quick_start_video_2b/, but no source file reads it. Setting it has zero runtime effect. Treat as documentation noise.

💡 The OFFLINE_PACKING_VQA red herring is the #1 source of confusion. Newcomers see it in shell scripts and assume it controls VQA packing. It does not. There is no third packing branch in task_encoder.py — only the BMR branch and the legacy captioning fallback.

💡 OFFLINE_PACKING_VQA 这个红鲱鱼是头号困惑源。新人在 shell 脚本里看到它，以为它控制 VQA packing。并不。task_encoder.py 里没有第三个 packing 分支——只有 BMR 分支和老的 captioning fallback。

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Two-Stage Gate Architecture / 两段式 Gate 架构

Packing in this codebase is split into two orthogonal gates that must both fire. Understanding this is the whole point of the skill.

本仓库的 packing 拆成两个正交的 gate，必须都触发。理解这一点就是本 skill 的核心。

Gate 1 — Data Layer (OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR)

Where: aiak_training_llm/data/multimodal/task_encoder.py, inside the PackedCaptioningSample branch of the encoder dispatch (encode_sample ~line 186).

What it does:

• For each entry inside the packed sample (for idx in range(n_orig_sample):), if OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR == 1, it builds a MultiMixQASample carrying the full chat-format messages ({role: user, content: prompt}, {role: assistant, content: caption}) and routes it through encode_multi_mix_qa().
• If OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR != 1, it falls back to a plain CaptioningSample and encode_captioning() — losing the multi-turn / multi-image structure required for SFT.
• After the per-entry loop, regardless of the BMR flag, it calls self.pack_selected_samples(l_Qwen2VLImageTaskSample) (line 277), which constructs the per-sub-sample cumulative lengths cu_lengths = [0, len₁, len₁+len₂, ...] and attaches them to the resulting ImageTaskSamplePacked (line 473).

Net effect: enables the correct per-sub-sample encoding and produces real s.cu_lengths on each sample.

作用：启用正确的逐子样本编码，并在每个样本上产出真正的 s.cu_lengths。

⚠️ Even with BMR off, pack_selected_samples still attaches a cu_lengths tensor to the sample. But the sub-samples were encoded via the wrong path (legacy captioning), so the resulting boundaries don't match what the LLM actually sees. BMR off + PACKED_DATA on is a hidden corruption, not just a missing-feature.

⚠️ 即使 BMR 关掉，pack_selected_samples 仍然会给样本挂上 cu_lengths 张量。但子样本走的是错误的编码路径（老 captioning），结果 boundary 和 LLM 实际看到的 token 序列对不上。BMR 关 + PACKED_DATA 开是隐性数据损坏，不只是缺特性。

Gate 2 — Batch Layer (OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA)

Where: aiak_training_llm/data/multimodal/task_encoder.py:359-365, inside batch() (the collate function).

What it does:

# Cumulative sample lengths are needed for packing, otherwise use dummy values.
cu_lengths = torch.tensor([[0]], dtype=torch.int32)
max_lengths = torch.tensor([[0]], dtype=torch.int32)

if self.is_packing_enabled or int(os.environ.get("OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA", 0)) == 1:
    cu_lengths = torch.stack([s.cu_lengths for s in samples])
    max_lengths = torch.tensor([s.max_length for s in samples], dtype=torch.int32)

• Default: emit a dummy cu_lengths of shape [1, 1] containing only [[0]].
• When OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA == 1 (or the energon online-packing flag is set): stack the real per-sample cu_lengths produced by Gate 1 into shape [B, P+1].

Net effect: decides whether the consumer (model forward) sees real packing offsets or a dummy that says "no packing".

作用：决定消费端（模型 forward）看到的是真实的 packing 偏移，还是一个表示"没有 packing"的 dummy。

Why both gates must fire / 为什么必须两个都开

The consumer side at aiak_training_llm/train/pretrain/pretrain_llava_onevision2.py:153-168:

packed_seq_params = None
...
if cu_lengths.shape == torch.Size([1, 1]):
    pass                        # treat as not packed
else:
    assert cu_lengths.shape[0] == 1, "micro-batch-size must be 1 for packing"
    packed_seq_params = PackedSeqParams(
        qkv_format="thd",
        cu_seqlens_q=cu_lengths[0],
        cu_seqlens_kv=cu_lengths[0],
        ...
    )

So:

BMR	PACKED_DATA	Result
0	0	No packing. Each sample treated independently. Slow but correct (if data is unpacked).
1	0	SILENT BUG. Data is encoded as packed sub-samples (BMR), cu_lengths is built, but batch() discards it as dummy [[0]]. Consumer sees shape == [1,1] → packed_seq_params = None → flash-attn applies a single causal mask across the entire packed sequence → cross-sub-sample attention leakage. Loss looks fine; model silently learns wrong attention.
0	1	HIDDEN CORRUPTION. Sub-samples encoded via legacy path, boundaries in cu_lengths don't align with token sequence. Consumer applies varlen attention with wrong offsets.
1	1	CORRECT. BMR encodes properly, PACKED_DATA forwards the real offsets, consumer builds PackedSeqParams, flash-attn applies per-sub-sample causal mask via cu_seqlens_q/kv.

🔥 The "BMR=1, PACKED_DATA=0" footgun is the most dangerous combination. Training does not crash. Loss curves look reasonable. But every sub-sample in a packed sequence can attend to every other sub-sample's prefix. Use this skill's TL;DR snippet to avoid it.

🔥 "BMR=1, PACKED_DATA=0" 这个组合最危险。训练不会挂，loss 曲线看着也正常。但 packed 序列里每个子样本都能 attend 到别的子样本的 prefix。用本 skill 顶部的 TL;DR 片段避开它。

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MBS=1 Hard Requirement / MBS=1 硬性要求

pretrain_llava_onevision2.py:157:

assert cu_lengths.shape[0] == 1, "micro-batch-size must be 1 for packing"

When packing is on, cu_lengths has shape [B, P+1] where B = micro_batch_size and P = number of sub-samples in a packed sequence. The current PackedSeqParams construction only handles B=1 (it indexes cu_lengths[0]). Therefore:

• --micro-batch-size 1 is mandatory for any packed training run.
• Increase throughput via --global-batch-size (gradient accumulation), pipeline parallelism, or longer --seq-length, not via MBS.
• If you forget, the assert fires immediately on the first batch.

打开 packing 时，cu_lengths 形状是 [B, P+1]，B = micro batch size，P = 一个 packed 序列里的子样本数。当前 PackedSeqParams 构造只处理 B=1（取 cu_lengths[0]）。所以：

• 打包训练必须 --micro-batch-size 1。
• 想提吞吐就调 --global-batch-size（梯度累积）、PP 并行、或更长的 --seq-length，不要调 MBS。
• 忘了的话第一个 batch 就 assert 挂掉。

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End-to-End Flow / 端到端流程图

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Offline preprocessing (auto_pipe.sh, separate skill)            │
│   Produces WebDataset shards with PackedCaptioningSample format │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                               │
                    Energon dataloader yields PackedCaptioningSample
                               │
                               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ task_encoder.encode_sample()                                    │
│   if OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR == 1:                  ◄── GATE 1     │
│     for each sub-sample → MultiMixQASample → encode_multi_mix_qa │
│   else:                                                         │
│     for each sub-sample → CaptioningSample → encode_captioning  │
│   pack_selected_samples(l_samples)                              │
│     → ImageTaskSamplePacked with cu_lengths=[0,L1,L1+L2,...]   │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                               │
                               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ task_encoder.batch()                                            │
│   if is_packing_enabled or OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA==1:  ◄── GATE 2 │
│     cu_lengths = stack([s.cu_lengths for s in samples])         │
│   else:                                                         │
│     cu_lengths = [[0]]    # dummy, signals "not packed"         │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                               │ batch dict broadcast via tensor_parallel
                               ▼
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ pretrain_llava_onevision2.get_batch_on_this_tp_rank()           │
│   if cu_lengths.shape == [1,1]: packed_seq_params = None        │
│   else:                                                         │
│     assert cu_lengths.shape[0] == 1   # MBS=1 required          │
│     packed_seq_params = PackedSeqParams(                        │
│       qkv_format="thd",                                         │
│       cu_seqlens_q=cu_lengths[0],                               │
│       cu_seqlens_kv=cu_lengths[0], ...)                         │
└──────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────────┘
                               │
                               ▼
                Model forward → flash-attn varlen
                (see cu-lengths-attention-flow skill)

---

Recipe: Correct Stage-N Script Snippet / 正确的训练脚本片段

# ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
# Packing env vars — both REQUIRED for padding-free training
# Set both to '1' when DATA_PATH points to offline-packed shards
#   (PackedCaptioningSample format, e.g. produced by auto_pipe.sh)
# Leave both as '0' (or unset) for unpacked datasets.
# Mixed states are silent bugs — see offline-packing-env-vars skill.
# ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
export OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR='1'
export OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA='1'

# Hard requirement when packing is on
MBS=1
# Throughput knobs: GBS via grad-accum, longer SEQ_LEN, more PP — not MBS

For an A/B control run that uses the same packed dataset but disables packing semantics (to measure the leakage cost), set both to '0'. Setting only BMR=1 or only PACKED_DATA=1 is not a valid configuration — it is a bug.

如果想做 A/B 对照，用同一份 packed 数据但关闭 packing 语义（为了量化 leakage 损失），两个都设 '0'。只开一个不是合法配置，是 bug。

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Concrete Stage-1 A/B Pair (this repo) / 本仓库的 Stage-1 A/B 对照

• examples/llava_onevision2/quick_start_4b/stage_1_alignment_p16m3_packed.sh — production: BMR=1, PACKED_DATA=1.
• examples/llava_onevision2/quick_start_4b/stage_1_alignment_p16m3_packed_bmr_only.sh — A/B control: BMR=1, PACKED_DATA=0. Note: this is the dangerous combo described above; it is named bmr_only deliberately to study the leakage effect, not as a recommended setting.

If you copy _bmr_only.sh for a real production run, you will get cross-sub-sample attention leakage. Always confirm intent.

如果你把 _bmr_only.sh 拷去做正式训练，就会得到跨子样本 attention leakage。务必确认是有意为之。

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Diagnostics / 排查清单

If your packed training looks "off" (loss too low / too smooth / model overfits prefixes):

1. grep -n 'OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR\|OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA' your_script.sh — both should be '1'.
2. Add a one-shot print in task_encoder.batch() after line 365: print('cu_lengths.shape:', cu_lengths.shape). Expect [1, P+1] with P >= 2. If you see [1, 1], Gate 2 is closed.
3. Add a print in pretrain_llava_onevision2.py after line 168: print('packed_seq_params:', packed_seq_params). Should be a real PackedSeqParams, not None.
4. Confirm MBS=1 in the shell (--micro-batch-size 1). Otherwise the assert at line 157 fires and you wouldn't be reading this.
5. Confirm dataset is actually packed: cat $DATA_PATH/.../webdataset/.nv-meta/.info.yaml — look for shard structure produced by auto_pipe.sh (PackedCaptioningSample).
6. Do not add OFFLINE_PACKING_VQA=1 thinking it helps. It does nothing in this codebase.

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Cross-References / 交叉引用

• Producer pipeline (how the packed shards are built): distributed-offline-packing skill.
• Consumer attention semantics (how cu_lengths is interpreted by ViT and LLM): cu-lengths-attention-flow skill.
• Dataloader length-balancing across ranks: length-pool-sort-dataset skill.

Source File Index / 源文件索引

File	Lines	What
aiak_training_llm/data/multimodal/task_encoder.py	186-279	PackedCaptioningSample branch + Gate 1 (OFFLINE_PACKING_BMR)
aiak_training_llm/data/multimodal/task_encoder.py	359-365	batch() Gate 2 (OFFLINE_PACKED_DATA)
aiak_training_llm/data/multimodal/task_encoder.py	401-477	pack_selected_samples — builds real cu_lengths
aiak_training_llm/train/pretrain/pretrain_llava_onevision2.py	145-168	Consumer: cu_lengths.shape check + PackedSeqParams construction + MBS=1 assert
aiak_training_llm/train/pretrain/pretrain_llava_onevision2.py	171-207	SP padding for packed_seq_params (TP/SP-only path)