treeverse / treeverse/dvc

Re-run previous experiments at current HEAD

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A: experiments feature request p2-medium
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Python
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Description

During my use of dvc exp I have repeatedly run into situations where I would like to adjust post-processing methods based on the results of previous experiments (for example, adding extra metrics to my output dataset). Ideally, I would like to be able to commit those changes, then re-run previous experiments against those changes. To put it another way, the ability to rebase existing experiments against my current HEAD, then re-run them.

@pmrowla suggested a good manual approach to it in Discord:

$ git merge --squash --no-commit <past_experiment_sha>
$ dvc exp run

It would be convenient to be able to queue up all the experiments from a previous commit instead of retrieving experiments one by one. The most common use case for me would be to queue experiments from HEAD^ into HEAD.

I will note this gets sticky if there are changes to the same files between the experiment and the most recent commit (or I suppose anywhere you would have an issue calling git merge). Seems like an easy trap to fall into if you aren't careful to keep input parameter changes separate from pre/post-processing codes, although seems like that should be considered best practice anyway.

Cheers,
-Edward

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Research direction

Start with the existing dvc exp and dvc exp run entry points, and compare them with the documented manual git merge --squash --no-commit <past_experiment_sha> workflow. Define how experiments from a previous commit should be queued and rerun at the current HEAD, including behavior when the same files changed.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
cli
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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