pymc-devs / pymc-devs/pytensor

XTensorType.dims and .shape are silently mutable, leaving ndim out of sync

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Description

Reproduction

from pytensor.xtensor import xtensor

a = xtensor("a", dtype="float64", dims=("obs", "feature"))
b = xtensor("b", dtype="float64", dims=("feature",))

a.type.dims = ("g1", "g2", "obs", "feature")
a.type.shape = (None, None, None, None)

print(f"ndim={a.type.ndim}, len(dims)={len(a.type.dims)}")  # ndim=2, len=4

c = a @ b  # triggers shape rewrites; see traceback below

The @ operation triggers shape inference (shape.py:233) which iterates range(inp.type.ndim) to index into type.shape. Since ndim=2 but shape has 4 elements, indices 2 and 3 crash:

shape.py:233: tuple(input_shape_of(inp, j) for j in range(inp.type.ndim))
shape.py:275: if isinstance(var.type, HasShape) and var.type.shape[idx] is not None
IndexError: tuple index out of range

Expected behavior

dims and shape should be read-only properties. Mutating either should raise AttributeError.

Actual behavior

Both are plain instance attributes. ndim is computed once at __init__ and never updated.

Environment

pytensor 3.2.4 (PyPI) and 3.2.4 main branch — both affected

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start at the XTensorType definition and inspect shape.py at lines 233 and 275, where ndim and shape become inconsistent during shape inference. Reproduce the example, then verify that assigning to dims or shape raises AttributeError and that the matmul case no longer fails with an index error.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
72/100

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