cs249r_book/mlsysim/docs/contributing.qmd

---
title: "Contributing to MLSys·im"
subtitle: "Add hardware specs, write solvers, build tutorials, and grow the MLSys Zoo."
---

MLSys·im grows stronger with every new hardware spec, solver, tutorial, and bug report. This
guide explains how to contribute -- whether you are a student who spotted a wrong datasheet
number, an instructor designing a teaching scenario, or a researcher who needs a new
analytical solver.

::: {.callout-note}
## Before you start

MLSys·im is maintained as part of the [ML Systems textbook](https://mlsysbook.ai) project.
All contributions go through GitHub. If you are not familiar with Git and pull requests,
[GitHub's guide](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart/contributing-to-projects)
is a good starting point.

**Repository:** [harvard-edge/cs249r_book]({{< var github_repo >}})
:::

---

## At a Glance

| Contribution | Difficulty | Impact | Where it lives |
|:---|:---:|:---|:---|
| Report a bug or wrong spec | Beginner | High -- specs affect all users | GitHub Issues |
| Add hardware to the Silicon Zoo | Intermediate | High -- expands coverage | `mlsysim/hardware/` |
| Add a model to the Model Zoo | Intermediate | Medium -- new workloads | `mlsysim/models/` |
| Add a fleet or fabric | Intermediate | Medium -- new topologies | `mlsysim/systems/` |
| Add a grid or rack profile | Intermediate | Medium -- new infra | `mlsysim/infrastructure/` |
| Write a tutorial | Intermediate | High -- improves learning | `docs/tutorials/` |
| Add or improve a solver | Advanced | High -- new analysis capabilities | `engine/solvers/` |

---

## 1. Reporting Issues

The fastest way to contribute: open an issue on GitHub.

**Good bug reports include:**

- Which spec is wrong (e.g., "A100 peak TFLOP/s in `Hardware.Cloud.A100`")
- The correct value and your source (official datasheet URL preferred)
- The version of MLSys·im you are using (`python -c "import mlsysim; print(mlsysim.__version__)"`)

**Good feature requests include:**

- What hardware, model, or solver you want added and why
- A link to the official specification or paper

---

## 2. Adding Hardware to the Silicon Zoo {#sec-hardware}

Every chip in the Silicon Zoo lives in one of five categories: `Cloud`, `Workstation`,
`Mobile`, `Edge`, or `Tiny`. Each entry follows a strict format with mandatory provenance
metadata.

::: {.callout-tip}
## Background reading
The [Hardware Acceleration](../../slides/vol1/11_hw_acceleration/) and
[Compute Infrastructure](../../slides/vol2/02_compute_infrastructure/) slide decks cover
the accelerator landscape and datasheet specs that feed into MLSys·im's hardware registry.
:::

### Step 1: Add a YAML spec under `hardware/data/`

Chip and board specs live in the **Silicon Zoo** — there is no shared constants
file to park them in (units live in `core/units.py`, physical constants in
`physics/constants.py`). Add one YAML file under the right tier, for
example `mlsysim/hardware/data/cloud/MyAccelerator.yaml`. The loader validates
the file against `HardwareNode` at import time and exposes it through the same
Python API (`Hardware.Cloud.MyAccelerator`).

```yaml
__key__: MyAccelerator
name: Example Accelerator
release_year: 2026
compute:
  peak_flops: 312 TFLOPs / s
  precision_flops:
    fp32: 19.5 TFLOPs / s
    int8: 624 TOPS
memory:
  capacity: 80 GiB
  bandwidth: 2039 GB / s
interconnect:
  name: PCIe Gen4 x16
  bandwidth: 32 GB / s
tdp: 400 W
metadata:
  provenance:
    kind: datasheet
    ref: Example accelerator datasheet
    url: https://...
    verified: "2026-05-30"
```

Reuse shared records from `mlsysim/core/provenance_catalog.py` when several entries
share one source. See `mlsysim/PROVENANCE.md` and run
`python -m mlsysim.tools.audit_provenance --scope all --strict` before opening a PR.

The YAML data layer is intentionally strict: duplicate YAML keys, duplicate
`__key__` values, missing data directories, and unknown schema fields fail
loading. If the value is a technology-class reference, use `@tech:` rather than
copying a shared fact into many devices, for example
`latency: "@tech:Interconnect.NVLink.latency"`.

### Step 2: Verify with the registry contract tests

The loader contract and duplicate-spec gates run automatically:
`tests/test_registry_loader_contract.py` and
`tests/test_registry_no_duplicate_specs.py`. The legacy `core/constants.py`
junk drawer was deleted outright; `tests/test_constants_allowlist.py` enforces
that neither it nor a compat shim for it ever comes back.

### Step 3: Use the canonical path in downstream examples

Examples import `Hardware.Cloud.A100`, not `A100_FLOPS_FP16_TENSOR`. Downstream
content should use the same canonical registry paths as package tutorials.

### Provenance rules

Every registry entry requires `metadata.provenance` (`Provenance` model in
`core/provenance.py`). Use `kind` honestly: `datasheet`, `literature`, `estimate`
(needs `notes`), `convention`, or `illustrative`.

1. Link to an **official primary source** (manufacturer datasheet, not a blog post)
2. Set `verified` (YYYY-MM-DD) on datasheet and literature entries
3. State **which variant** in `ref` or `notes` (e.g., SXM5 vs. PCIe)
4. When a spec varies across SKUs, use the **most conservative published value** unless the
   variant is specified in the node name

### Formatting for QMD and LEGO cells

Display helpers live in `mlsysim.fmt` — keep physics in `mlsysim.physics.*`:

| Helper | Use when |
|:-------|:---------|
| `fmt(q, precision=1)` | Human-readable quantities in prose |
| `fmt_int(n)` | Integer counts without spurious decimals |
| `check(condition, message)` | Assert invariants in tutorials and LEGO cells |
| `MarkdownStr` | Inline QMD values that must not be LaTeX-escaped |

Registry operands come from zoos; derived values from `mlsysim.physics.calc_*` or solvers.

---

## 3. Adding Models to the Model Zoo {#sec-models}

Models live in category YAML files under `mlsysim/models/data/`: `language.yaml`,
`vision.yaml`, `tiny.yaml`, `recommendation.yaml`, `statespace.yaml`, and
`generativevision.yaml`. Each entry includes a `__type__` tag selecting the
validated workload class (`TransformerWorkload`, `CNNWorkload`, `SSMWorkload`,
`DiffusionWorkload`, `SparseTransformerWorkload`, or plain `Workload`).

::: {.callout-tip}
## Background reading
The [Network Architectures](../../slides/vol1/06_nn_architectures/) and
[Neural Network Computation](../../slides/vol1/05_nn_computation/) slide decks explain the
architectural parameters (layers, heads, hidden dimensions) that define each workload.
:::

### Transformer workloads

```yaml
Llama3_8B:
  __type__: TransformerWorkload
  name: Llama-3.1-8B
  architecture: Transformer
  parameters: 8030000000 param
  inference_flops: 16060000000 flop
  layers: 32
  hidden_dim: 4096
  heads: 32
  kv_heads: 8
```

For `inference_flops`, the standard approximation is $2P$ FLOPs per token for transformer
forward passes (multiply-accumulate counted as 2 operations). When a more precise count
is available from the paper, use it and note the source in a comment.

### CNN workloads

```yaml
ResNet50:
  __type__: CNNWorkload
  name: ResNet-50
  architecture: CNN
  parameters: 25600000 param
  inference_flops: 4100000000 flop
  layers: 50
```

---

## 4. Adding Systems and Infrastructure {#sec-systems}

MLSys·im models the full deployment stack: individual accelerators compose into **nodes**,
nodes compose into **racks** and **fleets**, and fleets connect via **network fabrics**.
Infrastructure captures the **grid**, datacenter environment, pricing, and capacity
facts that those systems run within.

::: {.callout-tip}
## Background reading
The [Network Fabrics](../../slides/vol2/03_network_fabrics/) and
[Fleet Orchestration](../../slides/vol2/08_fleet_orchestration/) slide decks explain the
network topologies and cluster compositions that MLSys·im models analytically.
:::

### Adding a fleet or fabric (`systems/registry.py`)

```python
# A new reference node
DGX_B200 = Node(
    name="DGX B200",
    accelerator=Hardware.Cloud.B200,
    accelerators_per_node=8,
    intra_node_bw=1800 * ureg.GB / ureg.second,
    nics_per_node=8,
)

# A new cluster built from that node
Training_2K = Fleet(
    name="Training Cluster (2048 GPUs)",
    node=DGX_B200,
    count=256,  # 256 nodes x 8 GPUs = 2048
    fabric=Fabrics.InfiniBand_NDR,
)
```

### Adding a grid profile (`infrastructure/data/grids.yaml`)

Grid profiles capture the carbon intensity, cooling efficiency (PUE), and water usage
(WUE) of a datacenter region.

```yaml
Iceland:
  name: Iceland (Geothermal)
  carbon_intensity_g_kwh: 28
  pue: 1.06
  wue: 0.0
  primary_source: geothermal
  metadata:
    provenance: "@prov:IEA_WEO_2023"
```

::: {.callout-tip}
## Background reading
The [Sustainable AI](../../slides/vol2/15_sustainable_ai/) slide deck covers PUE, WUE, and
carbon intensity -- the exact quantities that `GridProfile` captures.
:::

---

## 5. Writing a Tutorial {#sec-tutorials}

The best tutorials teach **one insight** through **one concrete example**. Before writing,
answer three questions:

1. **What is the one thing the reader will understand after this tutorial?**
2. **What would they have guessed incorrectly before reading it?**
3. **What surprising number will they compute?**

### Tutorial structure

Follow the pattern established in [Hello, Roofline](tutorials/00_hello_roofline.qmd),
[Geography is a Systems Variable](tutorials/07_geography.qmd),
[Two Phases of Inference](tutorials/02_two_phases.qmd), and
[Scaling to 1000 GPUs](tutorials/06_scaling_1000_gpus.qmd):

```markdown
---
title: "Short, specific title"
subtitle: "Payoff sentence: what you learn in 10 words."
---

[2-3 sentence hook: what problem does this solve?]

By the end of this tutorial you will understand:
- [Concept 1]
- [Concept 2]
- [Concept 3]

::: {.callout-tip}
## Background concept
[1-paragraph intuition before any code]
:::

## 1. Setup
[import block -- path hack MUST be hidden with #| echo: false]

## 2. First Example
[minimal working code + output]

## 3-N. Build Understanding
[progressive complexity, callouts explaining surprising results]

## What You Learned
[bullet list recap]

## Next Steps
[2-3 links to related content]
```

### Code style in tutorials

- **Use clean imports**: Start with `import mlsysim`. The package is `pip install`-ed in the docs build environment (see `.github/workflows/mlsysim-preview-dev.yml`), so no path manipulation is needed.
- **Use Zoo entries**: Pull from `mlsysim.Hardware.Cloud.A100`, `mlsysim.Models.Language.Llama3_70B`, etc. -- no hardcoded constants in tutorial code
- **Print with units**: Always use pint's `~` format spec: `f"{value.to('ms'):~.2f}"`
- **Comment sparingly**: Code should be readable without comments; add a callout if explanation is needed

### Linking to slide decks

When your tutorial covers a topic with an existing slide deck, link to it so readers can
deepen their understanding. Relevant slide decks for common tutorial topics:

| Tutorial topic | Slide deck |
|:---|:---|
| Roofline analysis | [Hardware Acceleration](../../slides/vol1/11_hw_acceleration/) |
| Benchmarking & MFU | [Benchmarking](../../slides/vol1/12_benchmarking/), [Performance Engineering](../../slides/vol2/09_performance_engineering/) |
| LLM serving (TTFT/ITL) | [Model Serving](../../slides/vol1/13_model_serving/), [Inference at Scale](../../slides/vol2/10_inference/) |
| Distributed training | [Model Training](../../slides/vol1/08_training/), [Distributed Training](../../slides/vol2/05_distributed_training/) |
| Collective communication | [Collective Communication](../../slides/vol2/06_collective_communication/) |
| Fault tolerance | [Fault Tolerance](../../slides/vol2/07_fault_tolerance/) |
| Sustainability & carbon | [Sustainable AI](../../slides/vol2/15_sustainable_ai/) |
| Model compression | [Model Compression](../../slides/vol1/10_model_compression/) |
| Network architectures | [Network Architectures](../../slides/vol1/06_nn_architectures/) |

---

## 6. Adding or Improving a Solver {#sec-solvers}

MLSys·im ships 32 analytical solvers (see `mlsysim.solvers`), each grounded in
peer-reviewed literature. All inherit from the 3-Tier base classes
(`ForwardModel`, `BaseSolver`, `BaseOptimizer`) and implement `solve(**kwargs)`.
The six foundational ones:

| Solver | What it computes | Key references |
|:---|:---|:---|
| `SingleNodeModel` | Roofline bounds, MFU/HFU | Williams et al. (2009) |
| `DistributedModel` | 3D/4D parallelism, all-reduce, pipeline bubbles | Shoeybi et al. (2019), Narayanan et al. (2019) |
| `ReliabilityModel` | MTBF, failure probability, Young-Daly checkpointing | Young (1974), Daly (2006) |
| `SustainabilityModel` | Energy, carbon, water (PUE, WUE) | Patterson et al. (2021) |
| `EconomicsModel` | CapEx, OpEx, TCO | Barroso et al. (2018) |
| `ServingModel` | TTFT, ITL, KV-cache pressure | Pope et al. (2023), Patel et al. (2024), Agrawal et al. (2024) |

::: {.callout-tip}
## Background reading
The [Performance Engineering](../../slides/vol2/09_performance_engineering/) and
[Distributed Training](../../slides/vol2/05_distributed_training/) slide decks cover
the analytical models (roofline, all-reduce cost, pipeline bubbles) that the solvers
implement.
:::

### Solver contribution checklist

1. **Place canonical equations in `mlsysim/physics/`** -- every solver equation must be
   independently callable and unit-tested
2. **Inherit from `BaseSolver`** and implement `solve(**kwargs) -> dict`
3. **Use pint units throughout** -- all inputs and outputs must carry physical units
4. **Cite the source paper** in a docstring on the solver class
5. **Add tests** (e.g. in `tests/test_solver_invariants.py` or a new test file) covering at least one known-good result from the paper
6. **Document the solver** by adding a page under `docs/api/`

### Example: extending a solver

All formulas live in `mlsysim/physics/` so they can be tested in isolation:

```python
# In mlsysim/mlsysim/physics/
def ring_allreduce_time(message_bytes, num_nodes, bandwidth):
    """Ring all-reduce latency: 2(N-1)/N * M/B.

    Reference: Thakur et al. (2005), "Optimization of Collective
    Communication Operations in MPICH."
    """
    return 2 * (num_nodes - 1) / num_nodes * message_bytes / bandwidth
```

---

## 7. Running Tests

Before submitting a pull request, ensure the test suite passes:

```bash
# Install development dependencies
pip install -e ".[dev]"

# Run the full test suite (from the mlsysim package root)
pytest tests/ -v

# Run a specific test file
pytest tests/test_solver_invariants.py -v
```

Key areas of the test suite:

| Test file | What it validates |
|:---|:---|
| `test_engine.py` | Single-node inference, OOM exceptions, precision switching |
| `test_hardware.py` | Registry access, ridge point calculation, JSON serialization |
| `test_solver_invariants.py` / `test_solver_module_exports.py` | Solver behavior and the public `mlsysim.solvers` surface |
| `test_empirical.py` | Empirical validation against published numbers |
| `test_registry_loader_contract.py` / `test_constants_allowlist.py` | YAML loader contract and the retired-constants gate |

---

## 8. Submitting a Pull Request

1. **Fork** the repository on GitHub
2. **Create a branch** with a descriptive name: `git checkout -b feat/add-b200-hardware`
3. **Make your changes** following the patterns in this guide
4. **Run tests** to confirm nothing is broken
5. **Open a PR** against the `dev` branch with:
   - A clear description of what changed and why
   - A link to the source document for any new spec values
   - Output showing your change working (`python -c "..."` snippet)

### Branch naming conventions

| Type | Pattern | Example |
|:---|:---|:---|
| New feature | `feat/<scope>` | `feat/add-mi300x-hardware` |
| Bug fix | `fix/<scope>` | `fix/a100-bandwidth-typo` |
| Documentation | `docs/<scope>` | `docs/tutorial-kv-cache` |
| Tests | `test/<scope>` | `test/reliability-solver` |

---

## 9. Architecture Overview

Understanding the module layout helps you find the right file to edit.

```
mlsysim/
  core/
    constants.py    # Retired shim: re-exports units only (CI allowlist enforced)
    loader.py       # YAML loading, duplicate-key checks, registry generation
    provenance.py   # Sourced values and provenance helpers
    registry/       # Base Registry pattern
    types.py        # Shared schema types
    units.py        # Unit registry and exported Pint units
  engine/           # Solvers, scenario evaluation, calibration, explainers
  physics/          # Canonical calc_* implementations (roofline, all-reduce, TCO, …)
  hardware/data/    # Hardware.* YAML zoo
  models/data/      # Models.* YAML zoo
  datasets/data/    # Datasets.* YAML zoo
  systems/registry.py    # Systems.Nodes / Racks / Fabrics / Clusters / Storage / Pods
  infrastructure/   # Infrastructure.* grids and pricing
  scenarios/        # Runnable Scenarios.* bundles and ReferenceStats.* anchors
  platforms/registry.py  # Platforms.* zoo
  tests/            # pytest suite (includes registry migration gates)
  examples/         # Standalone scripts
  docs/             # Quarto documentation site
```

## Community Standards

MLSys·im is a pedagogical tool used in courses at Harvard and beyond. Contributions should:

- **Prioritize accuracy over completeness** -- a wrong spec is worse than a missing one
- **Cite sources** -- every number needs a URL to an official datasheet or peer-reviewed paper
- **Explain the analytical reasoning** -- a tutorial that teaches *why* is better than one
  that shows *how*
- **Use units everywhere** -- pint prevents dimensional errors; do not bypass it with raw floats

Thank you for helping make MLSys·im more accurate and useful for the next generation of
ML systems engineers.