axolotl/docs/dataset-formats/conversation.qmd

---
title: Conversation
description: Conversation format for supervised fine-tuning.
order: 3
---

## sharegpt

UPDATE: ShareGPT is being deprecated in the next release. Please see `chat_template` section below.

conversations where `from` is `human`/`gpt`. (optional: first row with role `system` to override default system prompt)

```{.json filename="data.jsonl"}
{"conversations": [{"from": "...", "value": "..."}]}
```

Note: `type: sharegpt` opens special configs:
- `conversation`: enables conversions to many Conversation types. Refer to the 'name' [here](https://github.com/lm-sys/FastChat/blob/main/fastchat/conversation.py) for options.
- `roles`: allows you to specify the roles for input and output. This is useful for datasets with custom roles such as `tool` etc to support masking.
- `field_human`: specify the key to use instead of `human` in the conversation.
- `field_model`: specify the key to use instead of `gpt` in the conversation.

```yaml
datasets:
    path: ...
    type: sharegpt

    conversation: # Options (see Conversation 'name'): https://github.com/lm-sys/FastChat/blob/main/fastchat/conversation.py
    field_human: # Optional[str]. Human key to use for conversation.
    field_model: # Optional[str]. Assistant key to use for conversation.
    # Add additional keys from your dataset as input or output roles
    roles:
      input: # Optional[List[str]]. These will be masked based on train_on_input
      output: # Optional[List[str]].
```

## pygmalion

```{.json filename="data.jsonl"}
{"conversations": [{"role": "...", "value": "..."}]}
```

## sharegpt.load_role

conversations where `role` is used instead of `from`

```{.json filename="data.jsonl"}
{"conversations": [{"role": "...", "value": "..."}]}
```

## sharegpt.load_guanaco

conversations where `from` is `prompter` `assistant` instead of default sharegpt

```{.json filename="data.jsonl"}
{"conversations": [{"from": "...", "value": "..."}]}
```

## sharegpt.load_ultrachat

conversations where the turns field is 'messages', human is 'user' and gpt is 'assistant'.

```{.json filename="data.jsonl"}
{"messages": [{"user": "...", "assistant": "..."}]}
```

## sharegpt_jokes

creates a chat where bot is asked to tell a joke, then explain why the joke is funny

```{.json filename="data.jsonl"}
{"conversations": [{"title": "...", "text": "...", "explanation": "..."}]}
```


## chat_template

Chat Template strategy uses a jinja2 template that converts a list of messages into a prompt. Support using tokenizer's template, a supported template, or custom jinja2.

```{.json filename="data.jsonl"}
{"conversations": [{"role": "...", "content": "..."}]}
```

See `config.qmd` for full configs and supported templates.

### Migrating from sharegpt

Most configs can be adapted as follows:

```yaml
# old
chat_template: chatml
datasets:
  - path: ...
    type: sharegpt
    conversation: chatml

# new (if using tokenizer's chat_template)
datasets:
  - path: ...
    type: chat_template

    field_messages: conversations
    message_field_role: from
    message_field_content: value

# new (if setting a new chat_template like chatml, gemma, etc)
chat_template: chatml
datasets:
  - path: ...
    type: chat_template

    field_messages: conversations
    message_field_role: from
    message_field_content: value
```

We recommend checking the below examples for other usecases.

### Examples

1. Using the default chat template in the tokenizer_config.json on OpenAI messages format, training on only last message.

```yaml
datasets:
  - path: ...
    type: chat_template
```

2. Using the `gemma` chat template to override the tokenizer_config.json's chat template on OpenAI messages format, training on all assistant messages.

```yaml
chat_template: gemma # this overwrites the tokenizer's chat_template
datasets:
  - path: ...
    type: chat_template
    roles_to_train: ["assistant"]
```

3. Using the tokenizer_config.json's chat template or `chatml` as fallback if the former's chat template does not exist, on OpenAI messages format, training on all assistant messages.

```yaml
chat_template: tokenizer_default_fallback_chatml # this overwrites the tokenizer's chat_template
datasets:
  - path: ...
    type: chat_template
    roles_to_train: ["assistant"]
```

4. Using a custom jinja template on OpenAI messages format, training on all assistant messages.

```yaml
# chat_template: jinja # `jinja` will be implied if the `chat_template_jinja` is set and this field is empty
chat_template_jinja: "{{ bos_token }}{% for message in messages %}{% if (message['role'] == 'system') %}{{'<|system|>' + '\n' + message['content'] + '<|end|>' + '\n'}}{% elif (message['role'] == 'user') %}{{'<|user|>' + '\n' + message['content'] + '<|end|>' + '\n' + '<|assistant|>' + '\n'}}{% elif message['role'] == 'assistant' %}{{message['content'] + '<|end|>' + '\n'}}{% endif %}{% endfor %}"

datasets:
  - path: ...
    type: chat_template
    roles_to_train: ["assistant"]
```

5. (Advanced) Using fine-grained control over tokens and turns to train in a conversation

For a data sample that looks like:

```{.json filename="data.jsonl"}
{
  "conversations": [
    {"from": "system", "value": "You are an AI assistant.", "train": false},
    {"from": "human", "value": "Hello", "train": false},
    {"from": "assistant", "value": "Hello", "train": true},
    {"from": "human", "value": "How are you?", "train": true},
    {
      "from": "assistant",
      "value": "I'm doing very well, thank you!",
      "train_detail": [
        {"begin_offset": 0, "end_offset": 8, "train": false},
        {"begin_offset": 9, "end_offset": 18, "train": true},
        {"begin_offset": 19, "end_offset": 30, "train": false},
      ],
    },
    {
        "from": "human",
        "value": "I'm doing very well, thank you!",
        "train": true,
    },
    {"from": "assistant", "value": "Hi there!", "train": true}
  ]
}
```

The configuration would look like:

```yaml
datasets:
  - path: ...
    type: chat_template
    chat_template: tokenizer_default
    field_messages: conversations
    message_field_role: from
    message_field_content: value
    roles_to_train: []
    train_on_eos: turn
    message_field_training: train
    message_field_training_detail: train_detail
```

Tip: It is not necessary to use both `message_field_training` and `message_field_training_detail` at a time.