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53958d4
Add an ml extra for gradients in SQL, and three ML demos
alxmrs Oct 17, 2026
3eee986
Address review: complete SQL statements, nanoGPT's model, introductions
alxmrs Oct 18, 2026
a4ef3b2
Train the GPT with nanoGPT's AdamW behind --optimizer adamw
alxmrs Oct 18, 2026
8ddc585
Define attention once, as a view, and its loss separately
alxmrs Oct 18, 2026
e459a8c
Split the GPT into a model view and a separate loss
alxmrs Oct 18, 2026
403a1f5
Fix lint: format the GraphCast script, and type two values for mypy
alxmrs Oct 18, 2026
65706fd
Differentiate the softmax's window MAX directly with ddxdb 0.3.1
alxmrs Oct 18, 2026
a2eb466
Require ddxdb 0.3.2 and record its faster GPT steps
alxmrs Oct 18, 2026
a61842c
Require ddxdb 0.3.3 and record its faster gradients
alxmrs Oct 21, 2026
574e9c2
Require ddxdb 0.4.0, on DataFusion 55
alxmrs Oct 21, 2026
229b842
Record the demos on ddxdb 0.4.0 and in-memory tables
alxmrs Oct 21, 2026
03c1d51
Take gradients on DuckDB through ddx
alxmrs Oct 25, 2026
d5c03ab
Size the GPT from the command line, and record where its time goes
alxmrs Oct 25, 2026
ff7352b
Move the GraphCast demo to its own PR
alxmrs Oct 25, 2026
1c08ea4
Build the GPT's block from attention, mlp and residual, as nanoGPT does
alxmrs Oct 25, 2026
dc515a5
Run the ML demos in CI, and say how to contribute one
alxmrs Oct 25, 2026
508ae96
Say that a mask is absent rows, and an infinity only tests it
alxmrs Oct 25, 2026
28f3cb0
Require ddxdb 0.4.2, and record the demos on it
alxmrs Oct 25, 2026
38aaf91
Address review: fail on new refusals, run AdamW, lock JAX and ddx's D…
alxmrs Oct 27, 2026
883108b
Merge main, with Context.prepare, into ml-demos
alxmrs Oct 27, 2026
1361a59
Require ddxdb 0.4.3, which trains the GPT on DuckDB
alxmrs Oct 28, 2026
ef30a6e
Run the GPT's CTEs once each on DataFusion, so it trains past one layer
alxmrs Oct 28, 2026
f7c39f5
Require ddxdb 0.4.5, which frees each step's tables after their last …
alxmrs Oct 29, 2026
d543b55
Run the ML demos on einfold 0.1.0rc1, and require ddxdb 0.4.6
alxmrs Oct 30, 2026
8a7aa90
Address review: ignore grad( in literals, and skip JAX on Intel macOS
alxmrs Oct 30, 2026
cb935d0
Require einfold 0.1.0rc2, and install the test extra for the ML demos
alxmrs Oct 30, 2026
714ba63
Write the GPT as functions of relations, as nanoGPT's modules are
alxmrs Oct 30, 2026
6debe24
Write the GPT as plain SQL again, without the shared-CTE workaround
alxmrs Oct 30, 2026
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41 changes: 40 additions & 1 deletion .github/workflows/ci.yml
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -81,4 +81,43 @@ jobs:
- name: Run unit tests
env:
VIRTUAL_ENV: ${{ github.workspace }}/.venv
run: uv run --no-project pytest -v . -m "not integration"
# The ML demos run in their own job, below.
run: uv run --no-project pytest -v . -m "not integration" --ignore=tests/test_ml_demos.py

ml-demos:
# Each ML demo in benchmarks/ml, at its smallest size, checked against
# JAX (tests/test_ml_demos.py).
name: "ml demos"
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- uses: actions/checkout@v4

- uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable

- name: Setup sccache
uses: mozilla-actions/sccache-action@v0.0.9

- name: Configure sccache
run: |
echo "SCCACHE_GHA_ENABLED=true" >> $GITHUB_ENV
echo "RUSTC_WRAPPER=sccache" >> $GITHUB_ENV

- name: Cache Cargo
uses: actions/cache@v4
with:
path: ~/.cargo
key: cargo-cache-${{ steps.rust-toolchain.outputs.cachekey }}-${{ hashFiles('Cargo.lock') }}

- uses: astral-sh/setup-uv@v5
with:
python-version: "3.12"
enable-cache: true

- name: Install xarray_sql
run: uv sync --dev --extra test --no-install-package xarray-sql
- name: build rust
run: uv run --no-project maturin develop --uv
- name: Run the demos
env:
VIRTUAL_ENV: ${{ github.workspace }}/.venv
run: uv run --no-project pytest -v tests/test_ml_demos.py
322 changes: 322 additions & 0 deletions benchmarks/ml/01_attention.py
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,322 @@
# /// script
# requires-python = ">=3.11"
# dependencies = [
# "xarray-sql[ml,duckdb]",
# "ddxdb[duckdb]",
# "einfold[datafusion]>=0.1.0rc2",
# "jax",
# ]
#
# [tool.uv.sources]
# xarray-sql = { path = "../../", editable = true }
# ///
"""Demo 1: causal attention in SQL, on several engines, with its gradient.

Attention, the core of a transformer, is ``softmax(Q·Kᵀ/√d)·V``: each
token's output is an average of the value vectors ``V``, weighted by how
well the token's query in ``Q`` matches each earlier token's key in ``K``.
Here ``Q``, ``K`` and ``V`` are tables of ``(t, d, x)`` (token, feature,
value), registered from xarray Datasets, and attention is two sums over
joins: the scores, a sum of ``Q`` times ``K`` over features, and the
average of ``V`` weighted by ``exp(score)``.

As a SQL engine runs it, this is the naive plan: it stores every one of
the N×N scores. FlashAttention (Dao et al., 2022,
https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.14135) computes the same result without storing
them, by streaming blocks of keys past blocks of queries and keeping a
running softmax. einfold (https://github.com/xqlsystems/einfold), a query
optimizer that rewrites SQL plans into array algorithms, finds that plan
from this SQL, in both of the spellings below, with no rule written for
attention: its rule fuses any softmax-weighted average whose scores are
computed from a join, and the same rule fuses the control below, which is
not attention. This is the first of einfold's three target demos
(``docs/demos.md`` in its repository). The script checks:

* **forward**: each spelling of the model on each *host* (einfold's word
for an engine that runs a plan; here DataFusion, DataFusion with
einfold, and DuckDB), checked against the same attention in JAX,
Google's library for differentiable array programs;
* **gradient**: a loss that reads the model, and its gradient with
respect to every value of Q, K and V, as one SQL statement. ddx (https://github.com/xqlsystems/ddx),
which differentiates SQL queries, computes it, and ``jax.grad`` checks
it;
* **masks are absent rows**: an infinity in V reaches only the queries
allowed to see it, as SQL's semantics require of any faster plan;
* **a control that is not attention**: the Nadaraya–Watson estimator, a
Gaussian-kernel weighted average used in regridding. Any rule that
speeds up attention must speed up this query too;
* **einfold finds the fused plan**: each spelling, and the control, runs
as one of einfold's fused pipelines.

Run ``uv run benchmarks/ml/01_attention.py --help`` for the options.
"""

from __future__ import annotations

import jax
import jax.numpy as jnp
import numpy as np
import xarray as xr
from _bench import Report, assert_close, cli, hosts
from _hosts import EinFold

import xarray_sql as xql

jax.config.update("jax_enable_x64", True)

D = 64 # features per head; the scores are scaled by 1/√64 = 1/8.

# The model and its loss are separate, as in a neural network written in
# Python (compare attention() and loss() below). The model is a view, a
# named query: each spelling of attention defines the view ``attention``,
# and the forward pass and the loss read it as if it were a table.

# Attention in einfold's window spelling. The causal mask is a join
# predicate: a masked (i, j) pair is a row that does not exist. Subtracting
# each row's max only keeps exp() from overflowing: it cancels out of the
# ratio w / z, so its gradient sums to zero, and ddx differentiates it
# like any other window.
ATTENTION_WINDOW = """
Comment thread
alxmrs marked this conversation as resolved.
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW attention AS
WITH scores AS (
SELECT q.t AS i, k.t AS j, SUM(q.x * k.x) / 8.0 AS s
FROM q JOIN k ON q.d = k.d
WHERE q.t >= k.t
GROUP BY q.t, k.t),
weights AS (
SELECT i, j, exp(s - MAX(s) OVER (PARTITION BY i)) AS w
FROM scores),
norm AS (
SELECT i, SUM(w) AS z FROM weights GROUP BY i)
SELECT w.i AS t, v.d, SUM(w.w / n.z * v.x) AS x
FROM weights w
JOIN v ON w.j = v.t
JOIN norm n ON w.i = n.i
GROUP BY w.i, v.d
"""

# The same attention as ddx spells it: each row's max as a GROUP BY,
# joined back to the scores.
ATTENTION_GROUP_BY = """
CREATE OR REPLACE VIEW attention AS
WITH scores AS (
SELECT q.t AS i, k.t AS j, SUM(q.x * k.x) / 8.0 AS s
FROM q JOIN k ON q.d = k.d
WHERE q.t >= k.t
GROUP BY q.t, k.t),
row_max AS (
SELECT i, MAX(s) AS m FROM scores GROUP BY i),
weights AS (
SELECT s.i, s.j, exp(s.s - r.m) AS w
FROM scores s JOIN row_max r ON s.i = r.i),
norm AS (
SELECT i, SUM(w) AS z FROM weights GROUP BY i)
SELECT w.i AS t, v.d, SUM(w.w / n.z * v.x) AS x
FROM weights w
JOIN v ON w.j = v.t
JOIN norm n ON w.i = n.i
GROUP BY w.i, v.d
"""

SPELLINGS = {"window": ATTENTION_WINDOW, "group by": ATTENTION_GROUP_BY}

# The forward pass: run the model.
FORWARD = "SELECT t, d, x FROM attention ORDER BY t, d"

# The loss, half the output's squared norm, calls the model by reading the
# view. The SELECT asks for its gradient with respect to every value of Q,
# K and V. The three grad() calls differentiate one loss, so ddx runs one
# backward pass for all three, as jax.grad(loss, argnums=(0, 1, 2)) does.
GRADIENT = """
WITH loss AS (
SELECT SUM(x * x) / 2 AS l FROM attention)
SELECT q.t, q.d,
grad(loss, q.x) AS dq,
grad(loss, k.x) AS dk,
grad(loss, v.x) AS dv
Comment thread
alxmrs marked this conversation as resolved.
FROM q
JOIN k ON q.t = k.t AND q.d = k.d
JOIN v ON q.t = v.t AND q.d = v.d
ORDER BY q.t, q.d
"""

# Nadaraya–Watson: at each target point, the average of the sources' y
# weighted by a Gaussian kernel of their distance (bandwidth h = 0.5).
# Structurally attention: a weighted average with weights exp(score).
NADARAYA_WATSON = """
WITH kernel AS (
SELECT t.p, s.q, exp(-(power(t.x - s.x, 2) + power(t.y - s.y, 2)) / 0.25) AS w
FROM target t CROSS JOIN source s)
SELECT k.p, SUM(k.w * s.v) / SUM(k.w) AS v
FROM kernel k JOIN source s ON k.q = s.q
GROUP BY k.p
ORDER BY k.p
"""


def attention(q, k, v):
"""The reference: causal softmax attention, as JAX writes it."""
n = q.shape[0]
scores = q @ k.T / np.sqrt(D)
causal = jnp.tril(jnp.ones((n, n), dtype=bool))
weights = jax.nn.softmax(jnp.where(causal, scores, -jnp.inf), axis=-1)
return weights @ v


def loss(q, k, v):
return jnp.sum(attention(q, k, v) ** 2) / 2


def table(values: np.ndarray) -> xr.Dataset:
"""A (t, d) matrix as the XQL table ``(t, d, x)``."""
t, d = values.shape
return xr.Dataset(
{"x": (("t", "d"), values)},
coords={"t": np.arange(t), "d": np.arange(d)},
)


def matrix(rows, name: str = "x") -> np.ndarray:
"""The rows of a ``(t, d, …)`` result as a (t, d) matrix."""
return xql.to_dataset(rows, dims=["t", "d"])[name].values


def main():
parser = cli(__doc__.splitlines()[0], sizes=[64, 256], size_name="tokens")
args = parser.parse_args()
report = Report("attention", "tokens", args.reps)
rng = np.random.default_rng(0)

for n in args.sizes:
q, k, v = (rng.normal(size=(n, D)) for _ in range(3))
want = attention(q, k, v)
want_grads = jax.grad(loss, argnums=(0, 1, 2))(q, k, v)

for host in hosts(args.hosts):
for name, data in zip("qkv", (q, k, v)):
host.load(name, table(data))

for spelling, model in SPELLINGS.items():
host.execute(model)
rows = report.time(
f"forward ({spelling})", host, n, host.query, FORWARD
)
report.check(assert_close("forward", matrix(rows), want))
report.note("operators", host.operators(FORWARD))

step = f"gradient ({spelling})"
if not host.differentiates:
report.skip(step, host, n, "no ddx backend")
continue
rows = report.attempt(step, host, n, host.query, GRADIENT)
if rows is None:
continue
errors = [
assert_close(f"d/d{name}", matrix(rows, f"d{name}"), ref)
for name, ref in zip("qkv", want_grads)
]
report.check(max(errors))

check_masks_are_absent_rows(args.hosts)
check_nadaraya_watson(args.hosts, report)
check_einfold_fuses(args.hosts)
report.finish(args.csv)


def check_masks_are_absent_rows(host_names):
"""An infinity in V at token j reaches the queries at or after j, and
no others: a masked pair is skipped, not multiplied by a zero weight,
which would turn 0·∞ into NaN. (xarray-sql reads NaN as missing data,
a NULL that SUM skips, so an infinity is the value that tells.)"""
n, j = 16, 9
rng = np.random.default_rng(1)
q, k, v = (rng.normal(size=(n, D)) for _ in range(3))
v[j, 0] = np.inf
print(f"\n masks: +inf in V at token {j}, feature 0")
for host in hosts(host_names):
for name, data in zip("qkv", (q, k, v)):
host.load(name, table(data))
for spelling, model in SPELLINGS.items():
host.execute(model)
out = matrix(host.query(FORWARD))
assert np.isfinite(out[:j]).all(), (host.name, spelling)
assert np.isposinf(out[j:, 0]).all(), (host.name, spelling)
assert np.isfinite(out[:, 1:]).all(), (host.name, spelling)
print(f" {spelling:<9} {host.name:<11} ok")


def check_nadaraya_watson(host_names, report):
"""The control: a kernel-weighted average that is not attention."""
rng = np.random.default_rng(2)
targets, sources = rng.uniform(size=(64, 2)), rng.uniform(size=(256, 2))
y = np.sin(4 * sources[:, 0]) + np.cos(3 * sources[:, 1])
dist2 = ((targets[:, None, :] - sources[None, :, :]) ** 2).sum(-1)
w = np.exp(-dist2 / 0.25)
want = (w @ y) / w.sum(axis=1)

target = xr.Dataset(
{"x": ("p", targets[:, 0]), "y": ("p", targets[:, 1])},
coords={"p": np.arange(len(targets))},
)
source = xr.Dataset(
{"x": ("q", sources[:, 0]), "y": ("q", sources[:, 1]), "v": ("q", y)},
coords={"q": np.arange(len(sources))},
)
for host in hosts(host_names):
host.load("target", target)
host.load("source", source)
rows = report.time(
f"nadaraya-watson ({len(sources)} sources)",
host,
len(targets),
host.query,
NADARAYA_WATSON,
)
got = xql.to_dataset(rows, dims=["p"])["v"].values
report.check(assert_close("nadaraya-watson", got, want))


def check_einfold_fuses(host_names):
"""einfold runs each spelling of attention, and the control, as one
fused pipeline, computed tile by tile with a running softmax, rather
than as the joins and aggregates the SQL describes."""
if EinFold.name not in host_names:
return
print("\n einfold's plans")
host = EinFold()
rng = np.random.default_rng(3)
for name in "qkv":
host.load(name, table(rng.normal(size=(128, D))))
for spelling, model in SPELLINGS.items():
host.execute(model)
before = host.einfold.plans_with_pipelines()
host.query(FORWARD)
assert host.einfold.plans_with_pipelines() > before, spelling
print(f" {spelling:<16} fused")
targets, sources = rng.uniform(size=(16, 2)), rng.uniform(size=(64, 2))
host.load(
"target",
xr.Dataset(
{"x": ("p", targets[:, 0]), "y": ("p", targets[:, 1])},
coords={"p": np.arange(len(targets))},
),
)
host.load(
"source",
xr.Dataset(
{
"x": ("q", sources[:, 0]),
"y": ("q", sources[:, 1]),
"v": ("q", sources.sum(axis=1)),
},
coords={"q": np.arange(len(sources))},
),
)
before = host.einfold.plans_with_pipelines()
host.query(NADARAYA_WATSON)
assert host.einfold.plans_with_pipelines() > before, "nadaraya-watson"
print(f" {'nadaraya-watson':<16} fused")


if __name__ == "__main__":
main()
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