cs249r_book/tinytorch/quarto/tito/data.qmd

---
title: "Progress & Data Management"
---

<div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 2rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; margin: 2rem 0; text-align: center;">
<h2 style="margin: 0 0 1rem 0; color: #495057;">Track Your Journey</h2>
<p style="margin: 0; font-size: 1.1rem; color: #6c757d;">Understanding progress tracking, data management, and reset commands</p>
</div>

**Purpose**: Learn how TinyTorch tracks your progress, where your data lives, and how to manage it effectively.


## Your Learning Journey: Two Tracking Systems

TinyTorch uses a clean, simple approach to track your ML systems engineering journey:

::: {#fig-tito-progress-tracking fig-env="figure" fig-pos="htb" fig-cap="**Progress tracking flow.** Build modules, export them to the package, unlock historical milestones as progressive tests pass, and track progress through tito commands. Two parallel signals — module progress and milestone achievement — advance together." fig-alt="Six boxes left to right: Build Modules and Complete 01-20 in blue; Export to Package, Unlock Milestones, and Achieve 1958-2018 in green; Track Progress in orange. Neutral arrows connect them. Phase labels underneath read BUILD, UNLOCK, MONITOR."}

![](../assets/images/svg/tito-progress-tracking.svg)

:::

### The Two Systems

<div style="display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr; gap: 1.5rem; margin: 2rem 0;">

<div style="background: #e3f2fd; padding: 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; border-left: 4px solid #2196f3;">
<h4 style="margin: 0 0 0.5rem 0; color: #1976d2;"> Module Progress</h4>
<p style="margin: 0.5rem 0; font-size: 0.95rem; color: #37474f;">What you BUILD (01-20)</p>
<ul style="margin: 0.5rem 0 0 0; padding-left: 1.5rem; font-size: 0.9rem; color: #546e7a;">
<li>Tensor, Autograd, Optimizers</li>
<li>Layers, Training, DataLoader</li>
<li>Convolutions, Transformers</li>
<li>Your complete ML framework</li>
</ul>
</div>

<div style="background: #f3e5f5; padding: 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; border-left: 4px solid #9c27b0;">
<h4 style="margin: 0 0 0.5rem 0; color: #7b1fa2;"> Milestone Achievements</h4>
<p style="margin: 0.5rem 0; font-size: 0.95rem; color: #37474f;">What you ACHIEVE (01-06)</p>
<ul style="margin: 0.5rem 0 0 0; padding-left: 1.5rem; font-size: 0.9rem; color: #546e7a;">
<li>Perceptron (1958)</li>
<li>XOR Crisis (1969)</li>
<li>MLP Revival (1986)</li>
<li>CNN Revolution (1998)</li>
<li>Transformer Era (2017)</li>
<li>MLPerf (2018)</li>
</ul>
</div>

</div>

**Simple relationship**:
- Complete modules → Unlock milestones → Achieve historical ML recreations
- Build capabilities → Validate with history → Track achievements



## Where Your Data Lives

All your progress is stored in the `.tito/` folder:

```
TinyTorch/
├── .tito/ ← Your progress data
│ ├── config.json ← User preferences
│ ├── progress.json ← Module completion (01-20)
│ ├── milestones.json ← Milestone achievements (01-06)
│ └── backups/ ← Automatic safety backups
│ ├── 01_tensor_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.py
│ ├── 02_activations_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.py
│ └── ...
├── modules/ ← Where you edit
├── tinytorch/ ← Where code exports
└── ...
```

### Understanding Each File

<div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 1.5rem; border: 1px solid #dee2e6; border-radius: 0.5rem; margin: 1.5rem 0;">

**`config.json`** - User Preferences

```json
{
 "logo_theme": "standard"
}
```
- UI preferences
- Display settings
- Personal configuration

**`progress.json`** - Module Completion
```text
{
 "version": "1.0",
 "completed_modules": [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7],
 "completion_dates": {
 "1": "2025-11-16T10:00:00",
 "2": "2025-11-16T11:00:00",
 ...
 }
}
```
- Tracks which modules (01-20) you've completed
- Records when you completed each
- Updated by `tito module complete XX`

**`milestones.json`** - Milestone Achievements
```json
{
 "version": "1.0",
 "completed_milestones": ["03"],
 "completion_dates": {
 "03": "2025-11-16T15:00:00"
 }
}
```
- Tracks which milestones (01-06) you've achieved
- Records when you achieved each
- Updated by `tito milestone run XX`

**`backups/`** - Module Backups
- Automatic backups before operations
- Timestamped copies of your implementations
- Safety net for module development
- Format: `XX_name_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.py`

</div>
## Progress Views

### Module Progress: `tito module status`

<div style="background: #e8eaf6; padding: 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; border-left: 4px solid #5e35b1; margin: 1.5rem 0;">


```bash
tito module status
```

**Shows your module completion progress**:

```
╭─────────────── TinyTorch Progress ────────────────╮
│ │
│ Modules Completed: 7/20 (35%) │
│ Milestones Achieved: 1/6 (17%) │
│ Last Activity: Module 07 (2 hours ago) │
│ │
│ Next Steps: │
│ • Complete modules 08-09 to unlock Milestone 04 │
│ │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯

Module Progress:
 01 Tensor
 02 Activations
 03 Layers
 04 Losses
 05 DataLoader
 06 Autograd
 07 Optimizers
 08 Training
 09 Convolutions
 10 Tokenization
 ...

Milestone Achievements:
 03 - MLP Revival (1986)
 04 - CNN Revolution (1998) [Ready after modules 08-09]
 05 - Transformer Era (2017)
 06 - MLPerf (2018)
```

**Use this to**:
- Check module completion
- See next recommended steps
- Track your learning journey

</div>
### Milestone Achievements: `tito milestone status`

<div style="background: #f3e5f5; padding: 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; border-left: 4px solid #9c27b0; margin: 1.5rem 0;">


```bash
tito milestone status
```

**Shows your milestone achievements**:
- Which historical recreations you've completed
- Which milestones are unlocked
- What prerequisites remain

</div>
## Data Management Commands

### Reset a Module

<div style="background: #fff5f5; padding: 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; border-left: 4px solid #e74c3c; margin: 1.5rem 0;">

**Need to start a module over?** The reset command lets you reset a specific module cleanly.


#### Reset a Specific Module

```bash
tito module reset XX
```

**What this does**:
- Resets the specified module to its clean state
- Creates a backup of your current implementation
- Keeps other modules untouched
- Asks for confirmation before proceeding

**Example**:
```bash
tito module reset 03
```

**Example output**:
```
️ Warning: This will reset Module 03 (Layers)

This will:
 • Backup current implementation
 • Reset module to clean state
 • Clear module completion status

Your code will be backed up to .tito/backups/

Continue? [y/N]: y

 Creating backup at .tito/backups/03_layers_20251116_143000.py
 Resetting module to clean state

 Reset Complete!

You're ready to start fresh on Module 03.
Run: tito module start 03
```

#### Automatic Backups

Before any reset, TinyTorch automatically:
- Creates timestamped backup of your implementation
- Stores it in `.tito/backups/`
- Format: `XX_name_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.py`
- Allows manual restore if needed

</div>
## Data Safety & Recovery

### Automatic Backups

TinyTorch automatically backs up your work:

<div style="background: #f0fdf4; padding: 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; border-left: 4px solid #22c55e; margin: 1.5rem 0;">

**When backups happen**:
1. **Before module start**: Backs up existing work
2. **Before reset**: Creates full `.tito/` backup
3. **Before module reset**: Saves current implementation

**Where backups go**:

```
.tito/backups/
├── 01_tensor_20251116_100000.py
├── 01_tensor_20251116_143000.py
├── 03_layers_20251115_180000.py
└── ...
```

**How to use backups**:
```bash
# Backups are timestamped - find the one you need
ls -la .tito/backups/

# Manually restore if needed
cp .tito/backups/03_layers_20251115_180000.py modules/03_layers/layers_dev.py
```

</div>
### What If .tito/ Is Deleted?

<div style="background: #fffbeb; padding: 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; border-left: 4px solid #f59e0b; margin: 1.5rem 0;">

**No problem!** TinyTorch recovers gracefully:


```bash
# If .tito/ is deleted, next command recreates it
tito system health
```

**What happens**:
1. TinyTorch detects missing `.tito/` folder
2. Creates fresh folder structure
3. Initializes empty progress tracking
4. Your code in `modules/` and `tinytorch/` is safe
5. You can continue from where you left off

**Important**: Your actual code (source in `src/`, notebooks in `modules/`, package in `tinytorch/`) is separate from progress tracking (in `.tito/`). Deleting `.tito/` only resets progress tracking, not your implementations.

</div>
## Data Health Checks

### Verify Data Integrity

<div style="background: #e3f2fd; padding: 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; border-left: 4px solid #2196f3; margin: 1.5rem 0;">


```bash
tito system health
```

**Now includes data health checks**:

```
╭────────── TinyTorch System Check ──────────╮
│ │
│ Environment setup │
│ Dependencies installed │
│ TinyTorch in development mode │
│ Data files intact │
│ .tito/progress.json valid │
│ .tito/milestones.json valid │
│ .tito/config.json valid │
│ Backups directory exists │
│ │
╰───────────────────────────────────────────────╯

All systems ready!
```

**If data is corrupted**:
```
 Data files corrupted
 .tito/progress.json is malformed

Fix by removing and recreating:
 rm .tito/progress.json
 tito system health # Recreates the file

Or restore from backup:
 cp .tito_backup_YYYYMMDD/.tito/progress.json .tito/
```

</div>
## Best Practices

### Regular Progress Checks

<div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 1.5rem; border: 1px solid #dee2e6; border-radius: 0.5rem; margin: 1.5rem 0;">

**Good habits**:

1. **Check status regularly**:

 ```bash
 tito module status
 tito milestone status
 ```
 See where you are, what's next

2. **Verify environment before work**:
 ```bash
 tito system health
 ```
 Catch issues early

3. **Let automatic backups work**:
 - Don't disable them
 - They're your safety net
 - Cleanup happens automatically

4. **Reset modules when needed**:
 ```bash
 tito module reset XX # Reset a specific module
 ```

5. **Version control for code**:
 ```bash
 git commit -m "Completed Module 05: DataLoader"
 ```
 `.tito/` is gitignored - use git for code versions

</div>
## Understanding What Gets Tracked

### Modules (Build Progress)

**Tracked when**: You run `tito module complete XX`

**What's recorded**:
- Module number (1-20)
- Completion timestamp
- Test results (passed/failed)

**Visible in**:
- `tito module status`
- `.tito/progress.json`

### Milestones (Achievement Progress)

**Tracked when**: You run `tito milestone run XX`

**What's recorded**:
- Milestone ID (01-06)
- Achievement timestamp
- Number of attempts (if multiple runs)

**Visible in**:
- `tito milestone status`
- `.tito/milestones.json`

### What's NOT Tracked

<div style="background: #fffbeb; padding: 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; border-left: 4px solid #f59e0b; margin: 1.5rem 0;">

**TinyTorch does NOT track**:
- Your actual code implementations (source in `src/`, notebooks in `modules/`, package in `tinytorch/`)
- How long you spent on each module
- How many times you edited files
- Your test scores or grades
- Personal information
- Usage analytics

**Why**: TinyTorch is a local, offline learning tool. Your privacy is protected. All data stays on your machine.

</div>



## Common Data Scenarios

### Scenario 1: "I want to reset a specific module"

<div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 1.5rem; border: 1px solid #dee2e6; border-radius: 0.5rem; margin: 1.5rem 0;">


```bash
# Reset module 03 to start fresh
tito module reset 03

# Start working on it again
tito module start 03
```

**Result**: Module 03 reset to clean state, backup created, other modules untouched

</div>
### Scenario 2: "I want to re-run a milestone"

<div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 1.5rem; border: 1px solid #dee2e6; border-radius: 0.5rem; margin: 1.5rem 0;">


```bash
# Just run the milestone again
tito milestone run 03
```

**Result**: Milestone re-runs using your current implementations

</div>
### Scenario 3: "I accidentally deleted .tito/"

<div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 1.5rem; border: 1px solid #dee2e6; border-radius: 0.5rem; margin: 1.5rem 0;">


```bash
# Just run any tito command
tito system health

# OR

# If you have a backup
cp -r .tito_backup_YYYYMMDD/ .tito/
```

**Result**: `.tito/` folder recreated, either fresh or from backup

</div>
### Scenario 4: "I want to share my progress with a friend"

<div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 1.5rem; border: 1px solid #dee2e6; border-radius: 0.5rem; margin: 1.5rem 0;">


```bash
# Copy your progress folder
cp -r .tito/ ~/Desktop/my-tinytorch-progress/
```

**Result**: Friend can see your progress by copying to their `.tito/` folder

</div>
## FAQ

### Q: Will resetting delete my code?

**A**: No! Reset commands only affect progress tracking in `.tito/`. Your source code in `src/`, notebooks in `modules/`, and exported code in `tinytorch/` are never touched.

### Q: Can I manually edit progress.json?

**A**: Yes, but not recommended. Use `tito` commands instead. Manual edits might break validation.

### Q: What if I want to re-export a module?

**A**: Just run `tito module complete XX` again. It will re-run tests and re-export. Progress tracking remains unchanged.

### Q: How do I see my completion dates?

**A**: Run `tito module status` for a formatted view, or check `.tito/progress.json` and `.tito/milestones.json` directly.

### Q: Can I delete backups?

**A**: Yes, backups in `.tito/backups/` can be deleted manually. They're safety nets, not requirements.

### Q: Is my data shared anywhere?

**A**: No. TinyTorch is completely local. No data leaves your machine. No tracking, no analytics, no cloud sync.


## Next Steps

<div style="background: #f8f9fa; padding: 2rem; border-radius: 0.5rem; margin: 2rem 0; text-align: center;">
<h3 style="margin: 0 0 1rem 0; color: #495057;">Keep Building!</h3>
<p style="margin: 0 0 1.5rem 0; color: #6c757d;">Now that you understand data management, focus on what matters: building ML systems</p>
<a href="modules.qmd" style="display: inline-block; background: #007bff; color: white; padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.25rem; text-decoration: none; font-weight: 500; margin-right: 1rem;">Module Workflow →</a>
<a href="milestones.qmd" style="display: inline-block; background: #9c27b0; color: white; padding: 0.75rem 1.5rem; border-radius: 0.25rem; text-decoration: none; font-weight: 500;">Milestone System →</a>
</div>


*Your progress is tracked, your data is safe, and your journey is yours. TinyTorch keeps track of what you've built and achieved - you focus on learning ML systems engineering.*