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Kermt Pretrain Scratch

NVIDIAOfficialPublished by NVIDIA

  • Skill
  • Workflow
  • Data and AI
  • Apache-2.0
  • Medium risk
  • Has scripts

From the author

Pretrain a fresh KERMT model from scratch on a user-provided corpus. Builds a new vocabulary from the corpus, instantiates the model architecture from defaults, and launches pretrain_ddp.py inside the kermt container (detached for long runs). Unlike kermt-continue-pretrain, no starting checkpoint is loaded — the model is randomly initialized.
— the description by NVIDIA

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill orchestrates the end-to-end pretraining of a KERMT model from scratch. Unlike continuing an existing model, this process initializes the model randomly and builds a new vocabulary directly from the user-provided corpus. It is a computationally intensive workflow designed for domain-specific chemistry research where existing checkpoints are insufficient. The skill handles data validation, vocabulary generation, and the launch of distributed training within a containerized environment.

What it does

  • Validates the user-provided SMILES corpus for pretraining compatibility.
  • Generates a fresh vocabulary based on the provided dataset.
  • Configures model architecture using default settings.
  • Launches a detached distributed training process using the KERMT container.
  • Provides a detailed run manifest for reproducibility and tracking.
  • Offers monitoring guidance for long-running training sessions.

When to use it

  • When you need to train a model on a custom chemistry domain not covered by released checkpoints.
  • When you require a full end-to-end reproduction of a pretraining configuration.
  • When you have sufficient compute resources for a multi-day training job.

Advantages

  • Enables complete control over the model's training data and vocabulary.
  • Supports multiple pretraining objectives including vocab, cmim, and hybrid modes.
  • Ensures reproducibility through detailed manifest generation and command replay.
  • Automates complex containerized orchestration for distributed training.

Usage examples

“Pretrain a new KERMT model from scratch using my_corpus.csv with the hybrid objective.”
The agent validates the CSV, builds a fresh vocabulary, estimates the required compute time, and launches the training process in a detached container.
“Start a scratch pretraining run on my_data.csv and log to wandb.”
The agent initiates the pretraining workflow, configuring the environment for Weights & Biases logging and providing the run directory for monitoring.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/nvidia/kermt-pretrain-scratch/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip kermt-pretrain-scratch.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by NVIDIA

kermt-pretrain-scratch

Pretrain a brand-new KERMT model from scratch on a user-provided corpus. Useful when you want to retrain a model on a custom chemistry domain rather than extending one of the released checkpoints. Significantly more expensive than kermt-continue-pretrain — no warm start, so the loss curves need to descend from scratch over many epochs.

Skill and runtime paths

Set SKILL_DIR to the absolute path of this installed skill directory. Export KERMT_REPO as the absolute path to the KERMT checkout used for model execution. The bundled container helper mounts that checkout at /workspace and this skill at /skill (read-only). Commands inside the container use /skill/scripts/; defaults are bundled in config/.

Hardware requirements

Same as kermt-continue-pretrain:

  • GPUs: 1–N CUDA-capable. The runner auto-detects via torch.cuda.device_count(); --gpus 0,2 overrides. Single-GPU fallback: --batch_size 32 --save_interval 500. Multi-GPU keeps defaults (--batch_size 256 etc.). Note: --gpus N uses torch.cuda indexing, which can differ from nvidia-smi's display order on multi-GPU hosts (PCI bus vs. CUDA enumeration). To target a specific physical GPU, set CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES before invoking, or run python -c "import torch; print([torch.cuda.get_device_name(i) for i in range(torch.cuda.device_count())])" to confirm which device you're picking.

  • VRAM: the default --batch-size 256 is sized for A100-class hardware (80 GB VRAM). On smaller GPUs, downscale to avoid OOM:

    GPU classVRAMSuggested --batch-size
    L4, T4, V100 16 GB16–24 GB32–64
    A100 40 GB, L40, A4040–48 GB128
    A100 80 GB, H100, H20080 GB256 (default)

    These are rough starting points — pass --batch-size N to override.

  • Disk: tens of GB for shards + vocab + checkpoints, scaled by epochs.

  • Wall time: this is the big difference. Pretraining from scratch on an 11M-mol corpus at 100 epochs typically takes days even on a multi-GPU box. The skill prints an estimate before launching; confirm with the user.

When to invoke

  • User wants to train a new model on a custom corpus (e.g. domain-specific chemistry that the released ckpts don't cover).

  • User wants to reproduce a pretrain config end-to-end without depending on a released ckpt.

For continuing an existing released ckpt, use kermt-continue-pretrain. For adding a cMIM decoder to an encoder-only grover_base ckpt, use kermt-add-cmim-pretrain.

Inputs

Required:

  • --csv <path> — the pretrain corpus CSV with a smiles column. Single file by convention; multi-file corpora deferred. Use --val-csv for a separate validation set.

  • --pretrain-target-mode {vocab|cmim|hybrid} — which pretrain objective to use. No default — must be set explicitly so the user makes an informed choice:

    • vocab — original GROVER-style atom + bond vocab prediction (encoder-only output, lightweight).

    • cmim — contrastive + SMILES reconstruction objective. Requires building a SMILES vocab from the corpus.

    • hybrid — both vocab and contrastive objectives jointly (the state-of-the-art config from the KERMT manuscript).

Optional:

  • --val-csv <path> — separate validation CSV. Without it, prepare_data auto-splits the input by --val-frac 0.1 (random shuffle with --seed).

  • Training-hyperparameter overrides: --epochs N / --batch-size N / --init-lr F / --max-lr F / --final-lr F / --warmup-epochs F / --weight-decay F / --dropout F / --save-interval N / --seed N. Anything not given is filled from config/defaults_pretrain.json.

  • --vocab-loss-weight F (hybrid only) / --latent-dim N / --contrastive-temperature F (cmim and hybrid only).

  • --wandb-project NAME / --wandb-run-name NAME — optional Weights & Biases logging. When --wandb-project is set, rank 0 logs train/val losses; the run name is honored only alongside a project. Off by default.

  • --gpus 0,2 — restrict to a GPU subset.

Workflow

Let $KERMT_REPO be the path to your kermt repo checkout.

  1. Pre-flight: ensure container + system probe (same as kermt-continue-pretrain step 1). Refuse to proceed if check_system reports gaps.

  2. Compute run directory.

    RUN_DIR=$KERMT_REPO/runs/pretrain-scratch_$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H-%M-%SZ)
  3. Validate the corpus (no ckpt to validate, so this is the only input check):

    "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/kermt_container.sh" run --data <user-csv> -- \
        "python /skill/scripts/check_data.py --mode pretrain --csv /data/<basename>"

    Abort on ok: false.

  4. Prepare the data — no vocab pass-through (we want fresh vocab from corpus):

    "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/kermt_container.sh" run --data <user-csv> --run-dir $RUN_DIR -- \
        "python /skill/scripts/prepare_data.py --mode pretrain \\
             --csv /data/<basename> --out /runs/data \\
             [--val-csv /data/<val-basename>] [--val-frac 0.1] [--seed 0]"

    Outputs land at $RUN_DIR/data/prepare_data.json with vocab_source: "built_fresh".

  5. Estimate runtime + warn loudly. This is critical for pretrain-from-scratch:

    • "Pretraining from scratch is days-scale even on multi-GPU; the released KERMT checkpoints were each trained on millions of molecules for hundreds of GPU-hours. If you mainly want to leverage existing knowledge for a downstream task, consider kermt-continue-pretrain from a released ckpt instead, which converges in hours instead of days."

    • Show the corpus size × epochs × GPU count → estimated wall time.

    • Ask for explicit confirmation unless --yes was given.

  6. Launch the runner detached.

    "$SKILL_DIR/scripts/kermt_container.sh" run_detached \\
        --name kermt-pretrain-scratch-<ts> \\
        --run-dir $RUN_DIR -- \\
        "python /skill/scripts/run_pretrain_local.py \\
             --from-scratch --pretrain-target-mode <vocab|cmim|hybrid> \\
             --prepare-manifest /runs/data/prepare_data.json \\
             --out /runs \\
             [--epochs N --batch-size N ...]"

    Note: NO --ckpt flag (the runner refuses if both --from-scratch and --ckpt are given). The runner uses the arch group from config/defaults_pretrain.json to size the model.

  7. Report to the user. Always include all of the following — do not omit the TensorBoard line under output-length pressure:

    • Container name + id

    • $RUN_DIR/run.json (the manifest with workflow: pretrain-scratch, from_scratch: true, vocab_check: null, arch from defaults, full cmd_replay)

    • Log file: $RUN_DIR/logs/pretrain_ddp.log

    • TensorBoard: $RUN_DIR/logs/tb (open with tensorboard --logdir $RUN_DIR/logs/tb)

    • Suggest kermt-monitor <RUN_DIR> for progress.

Hard rules

  • Never accept a --ckpt flag. From-scratch is exclusive with input ckpt — the runner enforces this; the skill should too.

  • Never silently default --pretrain-target-mode. This is a significant architectural choice (vocab = lightweight, hybrid = SOTA). Prompt the user if not given on the CLI.

  • Strong warning before launching. From-scratch pretrain is the most expensive workflow. The user needs to know what they're committing to.

Common errors

  • --pretrain-target-mode is required when --from-scratch is set → user forgot the mode flag. Prompt.

  • --from-scratch is incompatible with --ckpt → user provided both; ask which one they meant.

  • defaults_pretrain.json has no arch group → repo state issue (should never happen on a fresh clone); points the user at running kermt-setup again.

What's in the manifest after a from-scratch run

Same reproducibility fields as continue-pretrain (repo.commit, kermt_image, cmd_replay, args_applied), plus:

  • workflow: "pretrain-scratch"

  • from_scratch: true

  • inputs.ckpt: null

  • ckpt_symlink: null

  • vocab_check: null (not verified — vocab built from corpus is authoritative for from-scratch)

  • arch: the values pulled from config/defaults_pretrain.json's arch group (with any future CLI overrides applied).

Replayability

Same as continue-pretrain: cmd_replay is a copy-pasteable command. If ok_to_replay: false, the kermt repo working tree was dirty at launch time — check repo.commit and git checkout it first.

Files

scripts/check_checkpoint.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2025 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0

"""Validate a KERMT checkpoint for a given agent workflow.

Mode-dispatched. Emits a single JSON object to stdout that the calling skill
parses to decide whether to proceed (`ok: true`) or surface a structured error
back to the user (`ok: false` with `errors[]`). The JSON shape is stable
across modes; only the contract for what counts as `ok` differs per mode.

Modes
-----
continue_pretrain   Continuing pretraining from an existing pretrain ckpt.
                    Requires encoder + at least one pretrain head
                    (vocab_head for grover_base / cmim, or contrast_head for
                    cmim / hybrid). Rejects encoder-only or finetuned ckpts.

upgrade_to_hybrid   Adding a cMIM decoder onto a grover_base ckpt to convert
                    it to a hybrid pretrain. Requires encoder; rejects ckpts
                    that already carry a contrast_head or task_ffn (would be
                    workflow 4 instead).

finetune_init       Starting a finetune from a pretrained ckpt. Requires
                    encoder. Pretrain heads (vocab / contrast) are tolerated
                    but unused. Already-finetuned ckpts (task FFN heads
                    present) are REJECTED — finetune-on-finetune via the
                    agent skill isn't supported because saved-task
                    identity can't be machine-verified against the new
                    training data.

inference           Running predictions with a previously-finetuned ckpt.
                    Requires encoder + task_ffn. Reports task_output_dims
                    so the runner can compare against the user's task spec.

embed               Extracting embeddings. Requires encoder only. Anything
                    additional in the ckpt is ignored.

Output (stdout)
---------------
{
  "ok": true | false,
  "model_type": "grover_base" | "cmim" | "hybrid" | "finetuned" | "unknown",
  "has_encoder": bool,
  "has_vocab_head": bool,
  "has_contrast_head": bool,
  "has_task_ffn": bool,
  "task_output_dims": [int, ...],   // empty unless has_task_ffn
  "arch": {                          // ckpt-derived; runner uses these, ignores defaults_*.json arch
    "hidden_size": int | null,
    "depth": int | null,
    "num_attn_head": int | null,
    "latent_dim": int | null,
    "activation": str | null,
    "backbone": str | null,
    "embedding_output_type": str | null,
    "self_attention": bool | null
  },
  "saved_args": { ... } | null,      // raw args dict if present, else null
  "errors": [str, ...],              // mode-contract violations / load failures
  "warnings": [str, ...]             // non-fatal observations (e.g. arch fallback)
}

Exit code: 0 on `ok: true`, 1 on `ok: false`. Loader exceptions are caught and
surfaced into `errors[]` with `ok: false` (still exit 1), never raised.

CLI
---
    check_checkpoint.py --mode <mode> --ckpt <path>
"""
from __future__ import annotations

import argparse
import json
import sys
import traceback
from argparse import Namespace
from pathlib import Path
from typing import Any

import torch

if str(Path(__file__).resolve().parent) not in sys.path:
    sys.path.insert(0, str(Path(__file__).resolve().parent))
from _utils import load_checkpoint  # noqa: E402


# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
# State-dict key prefix conventions (kermt/model/models.py).
# ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

# Encoder weights appear under one of these prefixes depending on the ckpt's
# era and task class:
#   - `grover.*`           : legacy grover_base ckpts (predate the cMIM rename)
#   - `kermt.*`            : current grover_base / hybrid / finetune ckpts
#   - `latent_dist.kermt.*`: cmim ckpts (encoder lives only inside latent_dist)
ENCODER_PREFIXES = ("kermt.", "grover.", "latent_dist.kermt.")
VOCAB_HEAD_PREFIX = "vocab_module."
CONTRAST_DECODER_PREFIX = "decoder."  # SMILES transformer decoder, cmim/hybrid only
LATENT_DIST_PREFIX = "latent_dist."    # cmim/hybrid; encoder may share via latent_dist.kermt.*
TASK_FFN_PREFIXES = (
    "mol_atom_from_atom_ffn.",
    "mol_atom_from_bond_ffn.",
)
TASK_FFN_TASK_SPECIFIC_PREFIXES = (
    "mol_atom_from_atom_ffn_task_specific.",
    "mol_atom_from_bond_ffn_task_specific.",
)


ARCH_KEYS = (
    "hidden_size",
    "depth",
    "num_attn_head",
    "latent_dim",
    "activation",
    "backbone",
    "embedding_output_type",
    "self_attention",
)


def _strip_ddp_prefix(state_dict: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any]:
    """Strip `module.` prefix from every key if the dict is DDP-wrapped."""
    if state_dict and all(k.startswith("module.") for k in state_dict):
        return {k[len("module."):]: v for k, v in state_dict.items()}
    return state_dict


def _classify_model(state_dict: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any]:
    keys = list(state_dict.keys())
    has_encoder = any(k.startswith(ENCODER_PREFIXES) for k in keys)
    has_vocab_head = any(k.startswith(VOCAB_HEAD_PREFIX) for k in keys)
    has_contrast_head = any(k.startswith(CONTRAST_DECODER_PREFIX) for k in keys)
    has_task_ffn = any(k.startswith(TASK_FFN_PREFIXES) for k in keys)

    if has_encoder and has_task_ffn:
        model_type = "finetuned"
    elif has_encoder and has_contrast_head and has_vocab_head:
        model_type = "hybrid"
    elif has_encoder and has_contrast_head and not has_vocab_head:
        model_type = "cmim"
    elif has_encoder and not has_contrast_head:
        # Includes:
        #  - modern repo-trained Grover base (kermt.* + vocab_module.*)
        #  - legacy original-Grover base (grover.encoders.* with no heads saved)
        #  - any encoder-stripped ckpt extracted from a larger model
        # The `has_vocab_head` flag discriminates the sub-cases for skills that
        # need it. The continue_pretrain mode contract relies on this — a
        # grover_base with vocab heads can continue, an encoder-only one cannot.
        model_type = "grover_base"
    else:
        model_type = "unknown"

    return {
        "model_type": model_type,
        "has_encoder": has_encoder,
        "has_vocab_head": has_vocab_head,
        "has_contrast_head": has_contrast_head,
        "has_task_ffn": has_task_ffn,
    }


def _vocab_sizes(state_dict: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any]:
    """Extract vocab head sizes from state-dict weight shapes.

    The pretrain heads have the following layout per kermt/model/models.py:
      - Atom vocab predictors:  vocab_module.av_task_atom.*  + vocab_module.av_task_bond.*
        (two readout streams sharing the same vocab_size). Output dim of each
        final-Linear is the atom vocab size.
      - Bond vocab predictors:  vocab_module.bv_task_atom.*  + vocab_module.bv_task_bond.*
        Output dim is the bond vocab size.
      - SMILES vocab decoder:   decoder.output_projection.weight  (cmim / hybrid only).
        Output dim is the smiles vocab size.

    Returns {atom: int|None, bond: int|None, smiles: int|None}. Each is None
    when the corresponding head isn't present in the ckpt (e.g. legacy
    encoder-only grover_base has none; cmim has smiles but not atom/bond).
    """
    sizes: dict[str, Any] = {"atom": None, "bond": None, "smiles": None}

    def _head_out_dim(prefix: str) -> int | None:
        # Pick the highest-numbered 2-D Linear weight under `prefix.*` — that's
        # the final output layer.
        candidates = [
            k for k in state_dict
            if k.startswith(prefix) and k.endswith(".weight")
            and hasattr(state_dict[k], "ndim") and state_dict[k].ndim == 2
        ]
        if not candidates:
            return None
        def _layer_index(k: str) -> int:
            # ".weight" -> ".<idx>.weight"; pick the rightmost numeric component.
            parts = k.split(".")
            for tok in reversed(parts[:-1]):
                if tok.isdigit():
                    return int(tok)
            return -1
        final = max(candidates, key=_layer_index)
        return int(state_dict[final].shape[0])

    sizes["atom"] = _head_out_dim("vocab_module.av_task_atom.")
    sizes["bond"] = _head_out_dim("vocab_module.bv_task_atom.")
    sizes["smiles"] = _head_out_dim("decoder.output_projection.")
    # If the decoder's output_projection isn't a Linear (e.g. some saves wrap
    # it differently), fall back to a search over decoder.* heads.
    if sizes["smiles"] is None:
        sizes["smiles"] = _head_out_dim("decoder.token_embedding.")
    return sizes


def _task_output_dims(state_dict: dict[str, Any]) -> list[int]:
    """Return one entry per (logical task × readout) head's final-Linear out-dim.

    Two layouts:
      - **MTL** (`mol_atom_from_atom_ffn_task_specific.<i>.*`): one entry per
        task-specific head's final-Linear out-dim. Typically `[1, 1, ..., 1]`
        for regression with N tasks across 2 readouts.
      - **Non-MTL** (`mol_atom_from_atom_ffn.*` only): one entry per shared FFN's
        final-Linear out-dim. Typically `[num_tasks, num_tasks]` (one per readout).

    When both layouts coexist in the same ckpt (MTL configuration: shared FFN
    feeds task-specific heads), only the task-specific dims are reported — the
    shared FFN there is an intermediate layer, not the model output.
    """
    has_task_specific = any(k.startswith(TASK_FFN_TASK_SPECIFIC_PREFIXES) for k in state_dict)

    heads: dict[str, list[str]] = {}
    for k in state_dict:
        if k.startswith(TASK_FFN_TASK_SPECIFIC_PREFIXES):
            parts = k.split(".")
            root = ".".join(parts[:2])  # e.g. "mol_atom_from_atom_ffn_task_specific.0"
            heads.setdefault(root, []).append(k)
        elif k.startswith(TASK_FFN_PREFIXES) and not k.startswith(TASK_FFN_TASK_SPECIFIC_PREFIXES):
            if has_task_specific:
                continue  # shared FFN is intermediate when task-specific heads exist
            root = k.split(".")[0]  # e.g. "mol_atom_from_atom_ffn"
            heads.setdefault(root, []).append(k)

    dims: list[int] = []
    for root in sorted(heads):
        weight_keys = sorted(
            (k for k in heads[root] if k.endswith(".weight")
             and hasattr(state_dict[k], "ndim") and state_dict[k].ndim == 2),
            key=lambda k: int(k.split(".")[-2]) if k.split(".")[-2].isdigit() else -1,
        )
        if weight_keys:
            dims.append(int(state_dict[weight_keys[-1]].shape[0]))
    return dims


def _arch_from_args(args_obj: Any) -> dict[str, Any]:
    """Pull arch params from the saved args Namespace / dict, leaving missing keys as None."""
    arch: dict[str, Any] = {k: None for k in ARCH_KEYS}
    if args_obj is None:
        return arch
    # args_obj is typically argparse.Namespace; tolerate dict form too.
    args_dict = vars(args_obj) if isinstance(args_obj, Namespace) else dict(args_obj) if isinstance(args_obj, dict) else {}
    for k in ARCH_KEYS:
        if k in args_dict:
            arch[k] = args_dict[k]
    return arch


def _arch_from_shapes(state_dict: dict[str, Any], arch: dict[str, Any]) -> tuple[dict[str, Any], list[str]]:
    """Fill in still-missing arch params by introspecting state-dict tensor shapes.

    Only fills entries that are currently None — does not override anything pulled
    from saved_args. Returns the updated arch + a list of warnings for any key that
    could not be inferred.
    """
    warnings: list[str] = []

    if arch["hidden_size"] is None:
        # First 2-D linear weight under any encoder prefix.
        candidates = [
            k for k in state_dict
            if k.startswith(ENCODER_PREFIXES)
            and k.endswith(".weight")
            and hasattr(state_dict[k], "ndim")
            and state_dict[k].ndim == 2
        ]
        if candidates:
            arch["hidden_size"] = int(state_dict[candidates[0]].shape[0])
        else:
            warnings.append("hidden_size could not be inferred from state_dict shapes")

    if arch["latent_dim"] is None:
        # Look for a Linear inside latent_dist that's not the shared encoder.
        candidates = [
            k for k in state_dict
            if k.startswith(LATENT_DIST_PREFIX)
            and not k.startswith("latent_dist.kermt.")
            and k.endswith(".weight")
            and state_dict[k].ndim == 2
        ]
        if candidates:
            arch["latent_dim"] = int(state_dict[candidates[0]].shape[0])
        # Encoder-only models have no latent distribution; latent_dim remains None.

    # depth, num_attn_head, activation, backbone, embedding_output_type, self_attention
    # are not robustly inferable from shapes alone; report a warning for each that's
    # still None so the caller can prompt the user or refuse to proceed.
    for k in ("depth", "num_attn_head", "activation", "backbone", "embedding_output_type", "self_attention"):
        if arch[k] is None:
            warnings.append(f"{k} not present in saved_args and cannot be inferred from state_dict shapes")

    return arch, warnings


def _apply_mode_contract(mode: str, classification: dict[str, Any]) -> list[str]:
    """Return a list of error messages if `classification` violates the mode contract."""
    errors: list[str] = []
    mt = classification["model_type"]
    has_enc = classification["has_encoder"]
    has_vocab = classification["has_vocab_head"]
    has_contrast = classification["has_contrast_head"]
    has_ffn = classification["has_task_ffn"]

    if not has_enc:
        errors.append("checkpoint has no encoder weights — cannot use it for any KERMT workflow")
        return errors

    if mode == "continue_pretrain":
        if not (has_vocab or has_contrast):
            errors.append(
                f"continue_pretrain requires the ckpt to still carry pretrain heads (vocab "
                f"and/or contrast), but this ckpt has neither (model_type='{mt}', "
                f"has_vocab_head=False, has_contrast_head=False). Either provide a ckpt with "
                f"its pretrain heads attached, or convert this encoder-only ckpt to a hybrid "
                f"via mode 'upgrade_to_hybrid'."
            )
        if has_ffn:
            errors.append(
                "continue_pretrain expects a pretrain ckpt; this ckpt has task FFN heads "
                "(it has been finetuned). Use a pretrain checkpoint — finetune+continue is "
                "not a supported workflow."
            )
    elif mode == "upgrade_to_hybrid":
        if has_contrast:
            errors.append(
                f"upgrade_to_hybrid converts grover_base -> hybrid by adding a cMIM decoder. "
                f"This ckpt already has a contrast head (classified as '{mt}'). "
                f"To continue pretraining it, use mode 'continue_pretrain'."
            )
        if has_ffn:
            errors.append("upgrade_to_hybrid does not support finetuned checkpoints.")
    elif mode == "finetune_init":
        # Requires an encoder. Pretrain heads (vocab / contrast) are unused
        # at finetune time but harmless. Task FFN heads (i.e. an already-
        # finetuned ckpt) are NOT accepted — finetune-on-finetune isn't
        # supported by the kermt-finetune skill because the saved-task
        # identity can't be machine-verified against the new training data
        # (dimension match doesn't prove target identity, dataset identity,
        # or absence of train/test contamination).
        if has_ffn:
            errors.append(
                f"finetune_init requires a pretrain ckpt (grover_base / cmim / hybrid); "
                f"this ckpt is classified as '{mt}' with task FFN heads attached. "
                f"To resume a finetune on the SAME dataset, call "
                f"`python main.py finetune --checkpoint_path <ckpt> ...` directly — the "
                f"kermt-finetune skill doesn't support resume."
            )
    elif mode == "inference":
        if not has_ffn:
            errors.append(
                "inference requires a finetuned ckpt with task FFN heads. "
                f"This ckpt is classified as '{mt}' with no task heads. "
                "Run finetune (mode 'finetune_init') first."
            )
    elif mode == "embed":
        # Encoder is sufficient.
        pass
    else:
        errors.append(f"unknown mode '{mode}'")

    return errors


def validate(mode: str, ckpt_path: str) -> dict[str, Any]:
    result: dict[str, Any] = {
        "ok": False,
        "model_type": "unknown",
        "has_encoder": False,
        "has_vocab_head": False,
        "has_contrast_head": False,
        "has_task_ffn": False,
        "task_output_dims": [],
        "vocab_sizes": {"atom": None, "bond": None, "smiles": None},
        "arch": {k: None for k in ARCH_KEYS},
        "saved_args": None,
        "errors": [],
        "warnings": [],
    }

    # 1. Load the checkpoint.
    try:
        ckpt = load_checkpoint(ckpt_path)
    except FileNotFoundError:
        result["errors"].append(f"checkpoint not found: {ckpt_path}")
        return result
    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001
        result["errors"].append(f"failed to load checkpoint {ckpt_path}: {type(exc).__name__}: {exc}")
        return result

    if not isinstance(ckpt, dict) or "state_dict" not in ckpt:
        result["errors"].append(
            "checkpoint is not in the expected save_model_for_restart format "
            "(expected a dict with a 'state_dict' key)."
        )
        return result

    state_dict = _strip_ddp_prefix(ckpt["state_dict"])
    args_obj = ckpt.get("args")

    # 2. Classify and check mode contract.
    classification = _classify_model(state_dict)
    result.update(classification)

    contract_errors = _apply_mode_contract(mode, classification)
    result["errors"].extend(contract_errors)

    # 3. Task output dims (for inference / informational).
    if classification["has_task_ffn"]:
        result["task_output_dims"] = _task_output_dims(state_dict)

    # 3b. Vocab head sizes (for continue-pretrain vocab-size verification).
    result["vocab_sizes"] = _vocab_sizes(state_dict)

    # 4. Arch derivation: args first, shape introspection for what's still missing.
    arch = _arch_from_args(args_obj)
    arch, shape_warnings = _arch_from_shapes(state_dict, arch)
    result["arch"] = arch
    result["warnings"].extend(shape_warnings)

    # 5. Saved args as serializable dict (best-effort).
    if args_obj is not None:
        try:
            result["saved_args"] = vars(args_obj) if isinstance(args_obj, Namespace) else dict(args_obj)
            # Drop non-JSON-serializable values; agent skill only needs human-readable scalars.
            result["saved_args"] = {
                k: v for k, v in result["saved_args"].items()
                if isinstance(v, (str, int, float, bool, type(None), list, dict))
            }
        except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001
            result["warnings"].append(f"could not serialize saved_args: {type(exc).__name__}: {exc}")

    result["ok"] = not result["errors"]
    return result


def main(argv: list[str] | None = None) -> int:
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Validate a KERMT checkpoint for a given workflow.")
    parser.add_argument("--mode", required=True,
                        choices=["continue_pretrain", "upgrade_to_hybrid", "finetune_init", "inference", "embed"])
    parser.add_argument("--ckpt", required=True, help="Path to the .pt checkpoint")
    args = parser.parse_args(argv)

    try:
        result = validate(args.mode, args.ckpt)
    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001
        # Last-resort safety net: keep stdout JSON-clean, dump trace to stderr.
        print(traceback.format_exc(), file=sys.stderr)
        print(json.dumps({
            "ok": False,
            "model_type": "unknown",
            "errors": [f"unhandled exception in validator: {type(exc).__name__}: {exc}"],
            "warnings": [],
            "arch": {k: None for k in ARCH_KEYS},
            "has_encoder": False,
            "has_vocab_head": False,
            "has_contrast_head": False,
            "has_task_ffn": False,
            "task_output_dims": [],
            "vocab_sizes": {"atom": None, "bond": None, "smiles": None},
            "saved_args": None,
        }, indent=2))
        return 1

    print(json.dumps(result, indent=2))
    return 0 if result["ok"] else 1


if __name__ == "__main__":
    sys.exit(main())

Requirements and compatibility

Written for: Claude Code, OpenAI Codex

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs Python

The author says: Requires docker, nvidia-container-toolkit, and a CUDA-capable NVIDIA GPU. Designed for Claude Code, Codex, and Nemotron.

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Attribution and licence

Published by
NVIDIA
Publisher
NVIDIA (Official)
Source
NVIDIA/skills · skills/bionemo-kermt-pretrain-scratch · commit fce3cca
Licence
Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE-APACHE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
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The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download kermt-pretrain-scratch.zip