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@houminz houminz commented Sep 24, 2025

What does this PR do?

Add concise overview of what this PR aims to achieve or accomplish. Reference related GitHub issues and PRs that help with the review.

This PR continues the work started in PR #3567 by deprecating and removing the left_right padding mode

  1. Implement no-padding mode for Megatron engine using nested tensors in sft trainer
  2. Deprecating left_right padding mode for FSDP/Megatron engine
  3. Introduces a transformation layer within Actor/Critic workers, see more here
    • Input Format:​​ Actor/Critic workers continue to receive data in left_rightpadded format.
    • ​​Transformation:​​ This layer dynamically converts left_rightpadded data into the no-padding format using nested tensors.
    • Engine Format:​​ FSDP and Megatron engines now operate exclusively using the no-padding data format by default.

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Code Review

This pull request continues the work of replacing DataProto with Tensordict by deprecating and removing the left_right padding mode. The changes are consistently applied across dataset implementations, model engine logic, configurations, and tests, making no_padding the new default. The overall refactoring appears solid and well-executed. I've identified one issue: some debugging print statements were left in a test file and should be removed.

1. add transformation layer in actor/critic worker
2. support nested tensor in megatron engine
3. pass test_engine.py test for megatron/fsdp engines
@houminz houminz force-pushed the houmin/rl-no-padding branch from e4cff49 to fd0c68a Compare October 10, 2025 09:43
@houminz houminz requested a review from ISEEKYAN as a code owner October 10, 2025 09:43
@houminz houminz force-pushed the houmin/rl-no-padding branch from fd0c68a to 85093d6 Compare October 10, 2025 09:47
@houminz houminz changed the title [WIP] [misc] feat: prototype deprecate DataProto and replace with Tensordict: part 3 [misc] feat: prototype deprecate DataProto and replace with Tensordict: part 3 Oct 10, 2025
@vermouth1992 vermouth1992 merged commit 7ddb9b2 into volcengine:main Oct 13, 2025
73 of 77 checks passed
masoudhashemi pushed a commit to masoudhashemi/verl that referenced this pull request Oct 19, 2025
…t: part 3 (volcengine#3600)

### What does this PR do?

> Add **concise** overview of what this PR aims to achieve or
accomplish. Reference related GitHub issues and PRs that help with the
review.

This PR continues the work started in PR volcengine#3567 by deprecating and
removing the left_right padding mode
1. Implement no-padding mode for Megatron engine using nested tensors in
sft trainer
2. Deprecating left_right padding mode for FSDP/Megatron engine
3. Introduces a transformation layer within Actor/Critic workers, see
more
[here](https://github.com/volcengine/verl/blob/main/docs/workers/model_engine.rst)
- **Input Format**:​​ Actor/Critic workers continue to receive data in
left_rightpadded format.
- ​​**Transformation**:​​ This layer dynamically converts
left_rightpadded data into the no-padding format using nested tensors.
- **Engine Format**:​​ FSDP and Megatron engines now operate exclusively
using the no-padding data format by default.


### Checklist Before Starting

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# Add code snippet or script demonstrating how to use this
```

### Design & Code Changes

> Demonstrate the high-level design if this PR is complex, and list the
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techkang pushed a commit to techkang/verl that referenced this pull request Oct 31, 2025
…t: part 3 (volcengine#3600)

### What does this PR do?

> Add **concise** overview of what this PR aims to achieve or
accomplish. Reference related GitHub issues and PRs that help with the
review.

This PR continues the work started in PR volcengine#3567 by deprecating and
removing the left_right padding mode
1. Implement no-padding mode for Megatron engine using nested tensors in
sft trainer
2. Deprecating left_right padding mode for FSDP/Megatron engine
3. Introduces a transformation layer within Actor/Critic workers, see
more
[here](https://github.com/volcengine/verl/blob/main/docs/workers/model_engine.rst)
- **Input Format**:​​ Actor/Critic workers continue to receive data in
left_rightpadded format.
- ​​**Transformation**:​​ This layer dynamically converts
left_rightpadded data into the no-padding format using nested tensors.
- **Engine Format**:​​ FSDP and Megatron engines now operate exclusively
using the no-padding data format by default.


### Checklist Before Starting

- [x] Search for similar PRs. Paste at least one query link here: ...
- [x] Format the PR title as `[{modules}] {type}: {description}` (This
will be checked by the CI)
- `{modules}` include `fsdp`, `megatron`, `sglang`, `vllm`, `rollout`,
`trainer`, `ci`, `training_utils`, `recipe`, `hardware`, `deployment`,
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`env`, `tool`, `ckpt`, `doc`, `data`
- If this PR involves multiple modules, separate them with `,` like
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### Test

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implementation, new model support), validate by experiment(s) and show
results like training curve plots, evaluation results, etc.

### API and Usage Example

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```python
# Add code snippet or script demonstrating how to use this
```

### Design & Code Changes

> Demonstrate the high-level design if this PR is complex, and list the
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### Checklist Before Submitting

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mtian8 pushed a commit to mtian8/verl that referenced this pull request Nov 1, 2025
…t: part 3 (volcengine#3600)

### What does this PR do?

> Add **concise** overview of what this PR aims to achieve or
accomplish. Reference related GitHub issues and PRs that help with the
review.

This PR continues the work started in PR volcengine#3567 by deprecating and
removing the left_right padding mode
1. Implement no-padding mode for Megatron engine using nested tensors in
sft trainer
2. Deprecating left_right padding mode for FSDP/Megatron engine
3. Introduces a transformation layer within Actor/Critic workers, see
more
[here](https://github.com/volcengine/verl/blob/main/docs/workers/model_engine.rst)
- **Input Format**:​​ Actor/Critic workers continue to receive data in
left_rightpadded format.
- ​​**Transformation**:​​ This layer dynamically converts
left_rightpadded data into the no-padding format using nested tensors.
- **Engine Format**:​​ FSDP and Megatron engines now operate exclusively
using the no-padding data format by default.


### Checklist Before Starting

- [x] Search for similar PRs. Paste at least one query link here: ...
- [x] Format the PR title as `[{modules}] {type}: {description}` (This
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- `{modules}` include `fsdp`, `megatron`, `sglang`, `vllm`, `rollout`,
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# Add code snippet or script demonstrating how to use this
```

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wangboxiong320 pushed a commit to wangboxiong320/verl that referenced this pull request Nov 1, 2025
…t: part 3 (volcengine#3600)

### What does this PR do?

> Add **concise** overview of what this PR aims to achieve or
accomplish. Reference related GitHub issues and PRs that help with the
review.

This PR continues the work started in PR volcengine#3567 by deprecating and
removing the left_right padding mode
1. Implement no-padding mode for Megatron engine using nested tensors in
sft trainer
2. Deprecating left_right padding mode for FSDP/Megatron engine
3. Introduces a transformation layer within Actor/Critic workers, see
more
[here](https://github.com/volcengine/verl/blob/main/docs/workers/model_engine.rst)
- **Input Format**:​​ Actor/Critic workers continue to receive data in
left_rightpadded format.
- ​​**Transformation**:​​ This layer dynamically converts
left_rightpadded data into the no-padding format using nested tensors.
- **Engine Format**:​​ FSDP and Megatron engines now operate exclusively
using the no-padding data format by default.


### Checklist Before Starting

- [x] Search for similar PRs. Paste at least one query link here: ...
- [x] Format the PR title as `[{modules}] {type}: {description}` (This
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`env`, `tool`, `ckpt`, `doc`, `data`
- If this PR involves multiple modules, separate them with `,` like
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- If this PR breaks any API (CLI arguments, config, function signature,
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  - Example: `[BREAKING][fsdp, megatron] feat: dynamic batching`

### Test

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# Add code snippet or script demonstrating how to use this
```

### Design & Code Changes

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