torch.export Tutorial

Author: William Wen, Zhengxu Chen, Angela Yi

Warning

torch.export and its related features are in prototype status and are subject to backwards compatibility breaking changes. This tutorial provides a snapshot of torch.export usage as of PyTorch 2.3.

torch.export() is the PyTorch 2.X way to export PyTorch models into standardized model representations, intended to be run on different (i.e. Python-less) environments. The official documentation can be found here.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to use torch.export() to extract ExportedProgram’s (i.e. single-graph representations) from PyTorch programs. We also detail some considerations/modifications that you may need to make in order to make your model compatible with torch.export.

Contents

Basic Usage

torch.export extracts single-graph representations from PyTorch programs by tracing the target function, given example inputs. torch.export.export() is the main entry point for torch.export.

In this tutorial, torch.export and torch.export.export() are practically synonymous, though torch.export generally refers to the PyTorch 2.X export process, and torch.export.export() generally refers to the actual function call.

The signature of torch.export.export() is:

export(
    f: Callable,
    args: Tuple[Any, ...],
    kwargs: Optional[Dict[str, Any]] = None,
    *,
    dynamic_shapes: Optional[Dict[str, Dict[int, Dim]]] = None
) -> ExportedProgram

torch.export.export() traces the tensor computation graph from calling f(*args, **kwargs) and wraps it in an ExportedProgram, which can be serialized or executed later with different inputs. Note that while the output ExportedGraph is callable and can be called in the same way as the original input callable, it is not a torch.nn.Module. We will detail the dynamic_shapes argument later in the tutorial.

import torch
from torch.export import export

class MyModule(torch.nn.Module):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        self.lin = torch.nn.Linear(100, 10)

    def forward(self, x, y):
        return torch.nn.functional.relu(self.lin(x + y), inplace=True)

mod = MyModule()
exported_mod = export(mod, (torch.randn(8, 100), torch.randn(8, 100)))
print(type(exported_mod))
print(exported_mod.module()(torch.randn(8, 100), torch.randn(8, 100)))

Let’s review some attributes of ExportedProgram that are of interest.

The graph attribute is an FX graph traced from the function we exported, that is, the computation graph of all PyTorch operations. The FX graph has some important properties:

• The operations are “ATen-level” operations.

• The graph is “functionalized”, meaning that no operations are mutations.

The graph_module attribute is the GraphModule that wraps the graph attribute so that it can be ran as a torch.nn.Module.

print(exported_mod)
print(exported_mod.graph_module)

The printed code shows that FX graph only contains ATen-level ops (such as torch.ops.aten) and that mutations were removed. For example, the mutating op torch.nn.functional.relu(..., inplace=True) is represented in the printed code by torch.ops.aten.relu.default, which does not mutate. Future uses of input to the original mutating relu op are replaced by the additional new output of the replacement non-mutating relu op.

Other attributes of interest in ExportedProgram include:

• graph_signature – the inputs, outputs, parameters, buffers, etc. of the exported graph.

• range_constraints – constraints, covered later

print(exported_mod.graph_signature)

See the torch.export documentation for more details.

Graph Breaks

Although torch.export shares components with torch.compile, the key limitation of torch.export, especially when compared to torch.compile, is that it does not support graph breaks. This is because handling graph breaks involves interpreting the unsupported operation with default Python evaluation, which is incompatible with the export use case. Therefore, in order to make your model code compatible with torch.export, you will need to modify your code to remove graph breaks.

A graph break is necessary in cases such as:

• data-dependent control flow

class Bad1(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        if x.sum() > 0:
            return torch.sin(x)
        return torch.cos(x)

import traceback as tb
try:
    export(Bad1(), (torch.randn(3, 3),))
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

• accessing tensor data with .data

class Bad2(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        x.data[0, 0] = 3
        return x

try:
    export(Bad2(), (torch.randn(3, 3),))
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

• calling unsupported functions (such as many built-in functions)

class Bad3(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        x = x + 1
        return x + id(x)

try:
    export(Bad3(), (torch.randn(3, 3),))
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

• unsupported Python language features (e.g. throwing exceptions, match statements)

class Bad4(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        try:
            x = x + 1
            raise RuntimeError("bad")
        except:
            x = x + 2
        return x

try:
    export(Bad4(), (torch.randn(3, 3),))
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

Non-Strict Export

To trace the program, torch.export uses TorchDynamo, a byte code analysis engine, to symbolically analyze the Python code and build a graph based on the results. This analysis allows torch.export to provide stronger guarantees about safety, but not all Python code is supported, causing these graph breaks.

To address this issue, in PyTorch 2.3, we introduced a new mode of exporting called non-strict mode, where we trace through the program using the Python interpreter executing it exactly as it would in eager mode, allowing us to skip over unsupported Python features. This is done through adding a strict=False flag.

Looking at some of the previous examples which resulted in graph breaks:

• Accessing tensor data with .data now works correctly

class Bad2(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        x.data[0, 0] = 3
        return x

bad2_nonstrict = export(Bad2(), (torch.randn(3, 3),), strict=False)
print(bad2_nonstrict.module()(torch.ones(3, 3)))

• Calling unsupported functions (such as many built-in functions) traces

through, but in this case, id(x) gets specialized as a constant integer in the graph. This is because id(x) is not a tensor operation, so the operation is not recorded in the graph.

class Bad3(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        x = x + 1
        return x + id(x)

bad3_nonstrict = export(Bad3(), (torch.randn(3, 3),), strict=False)
print(bad3_nonstrict)
print(bad3_nonstrict.module()(torch.ones(3, 3)))

• Unsupported Python language features (such as throwing exceptions, match

statements) now also get traced through.

class Bad4(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        try:
            x = x + 1
            raise RuntimeError("bad")
        except:
            x = x + 2
        return x

bad4_nonstrict = export(Bad4(), (torch.randn(3, 3),), strict=False)
print(bad4_nonstrict.module()(torch.ones(3, 3)))

However, there are still some features that require rewrites to the original module:

Control Flow Ops

torch.export actually does support data-dependent control flow. But these need to be expressed using control flow ops. For example, we can fix the control flow example above using the cond op, like so:

from functorch.experimental.control_flow import cond

class Bad1Fixed(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        def true_fn(x):
            return torch.sin(x)
        def false_fn(x):
            return torch.cos(x)
        return cond(x.sum() > 0, true_fn, false_fn, [x])

exported_bad1_fixed = export(Bad1Fixed(), (torch.randn(3, 3),))
print(exported_bad1_fixed.module()(torch.ones(3, 3)))
print(exported_bad1_fixed.module()(-torch.ones(3, 3)))

There are limitations to cond that one should be aware of:

• The predicate (i.e. x.sum() > 0) must result in a boolean or a single-element tensor.

• The operands (i.e. [x]) must be tensors.

• The branch function (i.e. true_fn and false_fn) signature must match with the operands and they must both return a single tensor with the same metadata (for example, dtype, shape, etc.).

• Branch functions cannot mutate input or global variables.

• Branch functions cannot access closure variables, except for self if the function is defined in the scope of a method.

For more details about cond, check out the cond documentation.

Constraints/Dynamic Shapes

Ops can have different specializations/behaviors for different tensor shapes, so by default, torch.export requires inputs to ExportedProgram to have the same shape as the respective example inputs given to the initial torch.export.export() call. If we try to run the ExportedProgram in the example below with a tensor with a different shape, we get an error:

class MyModule2(torch.nn.Module):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        self.lin = torch.nn.Linear(100, 10)

    def forward(self, x, y):
        return torch.nn.functional.relu(self.lin(x + y), inplace=True)

mod2 = MyModule2()
exported_mod2 = export(mod2, (torch.randn(8, 100), torch.randn(8, 100)))

try:
    exported_mod2.module()(torch.randn(10, 100), torch.randn(10, 100))
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

We can relax this constraint using the dynamic_shapes argument of torch.export.export(), which allows us to specify, using torch.export.Dim (documentation), which dimensions of the input tensors are dynamic.

For each tensor argument of the input callable, we can specify a mapping from the dimension to a torch.export.Dim. A torch.export.Dim is essentially a named symbolic integer with optional minimum and maximum bounds.

Then, the format of torch.export.export()’s dynamic_shapes argument is a mapping from the input callable’s tensor argument names, to dimension –> dim mappings as described above. If there is no torch.export.Dim given to a tensor argument’s dimension, then that dimension is assumed to be static.

The first argument of torch.export.Dim is the name for the symbolic integer, used for debugging. Then we can specify an optional minimum and maximum bound (inclusive). Below, we show a usage example.

In the example below, our input inp1 has an unconstrained first dimension, but the size of the second dimension must be in the interval [4, 18].

from torch.export import Dim

inp1 = torch.randn(10, 10, 2)

class DynamicShapesExample1(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        x = x[:, 2:]
        return torch.relu(x)

inp1_dim0 = Dim("inp1_dim0")
inp1_dim1 = Dim("inp1_dim1", min=4, max=18)
dynamic_shapes1 = {
    "x": {0: inp1_dim0, 1: inp1_dim1},
}

exported_dynamic_shapes_example1 = export(DynamicShapesExample1(), (inp1,), dynamic_shapes=dynamic_shapes1)

print(exported_dynamic_shapes_example1.module()(torch.randn(5, 5, 2)))

try:
    exported_dynamic_shapes_example1.module()(torch.randn(8, 1, 2))
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

try:
    exported_dynamic_shapes_example1.module()(torch.randn(8, 20, 2))
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

try:
    exported_dynamic_shapes_example1.module()(torch.randn(8, 8, 3))
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

Note that if our example inputs to torch.export do not satisfy the constraints given by dynamic_shapes, then we get an error.

inp1_dim1_bad = Dim("inp1_dim1_bad", min=11, max=18)
dynamic_shapes1_bad = {
    "x": {0: inp1_dim0, 1: inp1_dim1_bad},
}

try:
    export(DynamicShapesExample1(), (inp1,), dynamic_shapes=dynamic_shapes1_bad)
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

We can enforce that equalities between dimensions of different tensors by using the same torch.export.Dim object, for example, in matrix multiplication:

inp2 = torch.randn(4, 8)
inp3 = torch.randn(8, 2)

class DynamicShapesExample2(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x, y):
        return x @ y

inp2_dim0 = Dim("inp2_dim0")
inner_dim = Dim("inner_dim")
inp3_dim1 = Dim("inp3_dim1")

dynamic_shapes2 = {
    "x": {0: inp2_dim0, 1: inner_dim},
    "y": {0: inner_dim, 1: inp3_dim1},
}

exported_dynamic_shapes_example2 = export(DynamicShapesExample2(), (inp2, inp3), dynamic_shapes=dynamic_shapes2)

print(exported_dynamic_shapes_example2.module()(torch.randn(2, 16), torch.randn(16, 4)))

try:
    exported_dynamic_shapes_example2.module()(torch.randn(4, 8), torch.randn(4, 2))
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

We can also describe one dimension in terms of other. There are some restrictions to how detailed we can specify one dimension in terms of another, but generally, those in the form of A * Dim + B should work.

class DerivedDimExample1(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x, y):
        return x + y[1:]

foo = DerivedDimExample1()

x, y = torch.randn(5), torch.randn(6)
dimx = torch.export.Dim("dimx", min=3, max=6)
dimy = dimx + 1
derived_dynamic_shapes1 = ({0: dimx}, {0: dimy})

derived_dim_example1 = export(foo, (x, y), dynamic_shapes=derived_dynamic_shapes1)

print(derived_dim_example1.module()(torch.randn(4), torch.randn(5)))

try:
    derived_dim_example1.module()(torch.randn(4), torch.randn(6))
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()


class DerivedDimExample2(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, z, y):
        return z[1:] + y[1::3]

foo = DerivedDimExample2()

z, y = torch.randn(4), torch.randn(10)
dx = torch.export.Dim("dx", min=3, max=6)
dz = dx + 1
dy = dx * 3 + 1
derived_dynamic_shapes2 = ({0: dz}, {0: dy})

derived_dim_example2 = export(foo, (z, y), dynamic_shapes=derived_dynamic_shapes2)
print(derived_dim_example2.module()(torch.randn(7), torch.randn(19)))

We can actually use torch.export to guide us as to which dynamic_shapes constraints are necessary. We can do this by relaxing all constraints (recall that if we do not provide constraints for a dimension, the default behavior is to constrain to the exact shape value of the example input) and letting torch.export error out.

inp4 = torch.randn(8, 16)
inp5 = torch.randn(16, 32)

class DynamicShapesExample3(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x, y):
        if x.shape[0] <= 16:
            return x @ y[:, :16]
        return y

dynamic_shapes3 = {
    "x": {i: Dim(f"inp4_dim{i}") for i in range(inp4.dim())},
    "y": {i: Dim(f"inp5_dim{i}") for i in range(inp5.dim())},
}

try:
    export(DynamicShapesExample3(), (inp4, inp5), dynamic_shapes=dynamic_shapes3)
except Exception:
    tb.print_exc()

We can see that the error message gives us suggested fixes to our dynamic shape constraints. Let us follow those suggestions (exact suggestions may differ slightly):

def suggested_fixes():
    inp4_dim1 = Dim('shared_dim')
    # suggested fixes below
    inp4_dim0 = Dim('inp4_dim0', max=16)
    inp5_dim1 = Dim('inp5_dim1', min=17)
    inp5_dim0 = inp4_dim1
    # end of suggested fixes
    return {
        "x": {0: inp4_dim0, 1: inp4_dim1},
        "y": {0: inp5_dim0, 1: inp5_dim1},
    }

dynamic_shapes3_fixed = suggested_fixes()
exported_dynamic_shapes_example3 = export(DynamicShapesExample3(), (inp4, inp5), dynamic_shapes=dynamic_shapes3_fixed)
print(exported_dynamic_shapes_example3.module()(torch.randn(4, 32), torch.randn(32, 64)))

Note that in the example above, because we constrained the value of x.shape[0] in dynamic_shapes_example3, the exported program is sound even though there is a raw if statement.

If you want to see why torch.export generated these constraints, you can re-run the script with the environment variable TORCH_LOGS=dynamic,dynamo, or use torch._logging.set_logs.

import logging
torch._logging.set_logs(dynamic=logging.INFO, dynamo=logging.INFO)
exported_dynamic_shapes_example3 = export(DynamicShapesExample3(), (inp4, inp5), dynamic_shapes=dynamic_shapes3_fixed)

# reset to previous values
torch._logging.set_logs(dynamic=logging.WARNING, dynamo=logging.WARNING)

We can view an ExportedProgram’s symbolic shape ranges using the range_constraints field.

print(exported_dynamic_shapes_example3.range_constraints)

Custom Ops

torch.export can export PyTorch programs with custom operators.

Currently, the steps to register a custom op for use by torch.export are:

• Define the custom op using torch.library (reference) as with any other custom op

from torch.library import Library, impl, impl_abstract

m = Library("my_custom_library", "DEF")

m.define("custom_op(Tensor input) -> Tensor")

@impl(m, "custom_op", "CompositeExplicitAutograd")
def custom_op(x):
    print("custom_op called!")
    return torch.relu(x)

• Define a "Meta" implementation of the custom op that returns an empty tensor with the same shape as the expected output

@impl_abstract("my_custom_library::custom_op")
def custom_op_meta(x):
    return torch.empty_like(x)

• Call the custom op from the code you want to export using torch.ops

class CustomOpExample(torch.nn.Module):
    def forward(self, x):
        x = torch.sin(x)
        x = torch.ops.my_custom_library.custom_op(x)
        x = torch.cos(x)
        return x

• Export the code as before

exported_custom_op_example = export(CustomOpExample(), (torch.randn(3, 3),))
exported_custom_op_example.graph_module.print_readable()
print(exported_custom_op_example.module()(torch.randn(3, 3)))

Note in the above outputs that the custom op is included in the exported graph. And when we call the exported graph as a function, the original custom op is called, as evidenced by the print call.

If you have a custom operator implemented in C++, please refer to this document to make it compatible with torch.export.

Decompositions

The graph produced by torch.export by default returns a graph containing only functional ATen operators. This functional ATen operator set (or “opset”) contains around 2000 operators, all of which are functional, that is, they do not mutate or alias inputs. You can find a list of all ATen operators here and you can inspect if an operator is functional by checking op._schema.is_mutable, for example:

print(torch.ops.aten.add.Tensor._schema.is_mutable)
print(torch.ops.aten.add_.Tensor._schema.is_mutable)

By default, the environment in which you want to run the exported graph should support all ~2000 of these operators. However, you can use the following API on the exported program if your specific environment is only able to support a subset of the ~2000 operators.

def run_decompositions(
    self: ExportedProgram,
    decomposition_table: Optional[Dict[torch._ops.OperatorBase, Callable]]
) -> ExportedProgram

run_decompositions takes in a decomposition table, which is a mapping of operators to a function specifying how to reduce, or decompose, that operator into an equivalent sequence of other ATen operators.

The default decomposition table for run_decompositions is the Core ATen decomposition table which will decompose the all ATen operators to the Core ATen Operator Set which consists of only ~180 operators.

class M(torch.nn.Module):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        self.linear = torch.nn.Linear(3, 4)

    def forward(self, x):
        return self.linear(x)

ep = export(M(), (torch.randn(2, 3),))
print(ep.graph)

core_ir_ep = ep.run_decompositions()
print(core_ir_ep.graph)

Notice that after running run_decompositions the torch.ops.aten.t.default operator, which is not part of the Core ATen Opset, has been replaced with torch.ops.aten.permute.default which is part of the Core ATen Opset.

Most ATen operators already have decompositions, which are located here. If you would like to use some of these existing decomposition functions, you can pass in a list of operators you would like to decompose to the get_decompositions function, which will return a decomposition table using existing decomposition implementations.

class M(torch.nn.Module):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        self.linear = torch.nn.Linear(3, 4)

    def forward(self, x):
        return self.linear(x)

ep = export(M(), (torch.randn(2, 3),))
print(ep.graph)

from torch._decomp import get_decompositions
decomp_table = get_decompositions([torch.ops.aten.t.default, torch.ops.aten.transpose.int])
core_ir_ep = ep.run_decompositions(decomp_table)
print(core_ir_ep.graph)

If there is no existing decomposition function for an ATen operator that you would like to decompose, feel free to send a pull request into PyTorch implementing the decomposition!

ExportDB

torch.export will only ever export a single computation graph from a PyTorch program. Because of this requirement, there will be Python or PyTorch features that are not compatible with torch.export, which will require users to rewrite parts of their model code. We have seen examples of this earlier in the tutorial – for example, rewriting if-statements using cond.

ExportDB is the standard reference that documents supported and unsupported Python/PyTorch features for torch.export. It is essentially a list a program samples, each of which represents the usage of one particular Python/PyTorch feature and its interaction with torch.export. Examples are also tagged by category so that they can be more easily searched.

For example, let’s use ExportDB to get a better understanding of how the predicate works in the cond operator. We can look at the example called cond_predicate, which has a torch.cond tag. The example code looks like:

def cond_predicate(x):
    """
    The conditional statement (aka predicate) passed to ``cond()`` must be one of the following:
    - ``torch.Tensor`` with a single element
    - boolean expression
    NOTE: If the `pred` is test on a dim with batch size < 2, it will be specialized.
    """
    pred = x.dim() > 2 and x.shape[2] > 10
    return cond(pred, lambda x: x.cos(), lambda y: y.sin(), [x])

More generally, ExportDB can be used as a reference when one of the following occurs:

1. Before attempting torch.export, you know ahead of time that your model uses some tricky Python/PyTorch features and you want to know if torch.export covers that feature.

2. When attempting torch.export, there is a failure and it’s unclear how to work around it.

ExportDB is not exhaustive, but is intended to cover all use cases found in typical PyTorch code. Feel free to reach out if there is an important Python/PyTorch feature that should be added to ExportDB or supported by torch.export.

Running the Exported Program

As torch.export is only a graph capturing mechanism, calling the artifact produced by torch.export eagerly will be equivalent to running the eager module. To optimize the execution of the Exported Program, we can pass this exported artifact to backends such as Inductor through torch.compile, AOTInductor, or TensorRT.

class M(torch.nn.Module):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        self.linear = torch.nn.Linear(3, 3)

    def forward(self, x):
        x = self.linear(x)
        return x

inp = torch.randn(2, 3, device="cuda")
m = M().to(device="cuda")
ep = torch.export.export(m, (inp,))

# Run it eagerly
res = ep.module()(inp)
print(res)

# Run it with torch.compile
res = torch.compile(ep.module(), backend="inductor")(inp)
print(res)

import torch._export
import torch._inductor

# Note: these APIs are subject to change
# Compile the exported program to a .so using ``AOTInductor``
with torch.no_grad():
so_path = torch._inductor.aot_compile(ep.module(), [inp])

# Load and run the .so file in Python.
# To load and run it in a C++ environment, see:
# https://pytorch.org/docs/main/torch.compiler_aot_inductor.html
res = torch._export.aot_load(so_path, device="cuda")(inp)

Conclusion

We introduced torch.export, the new PyTorch 2.X way to export single computation graphs from PyTorch programs. In particular, we demonstrate several code modifications and considerations (control flow ops, constraints, etc.) that need to be made in order to export a graph.