axolotl/README.md

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## 🎉 Latest Updates

- 2025/06: Magistral with mistral-common tokenizer support has been added to Axolotl. See [examples](https://github.com/axolotl-ai-cloud/axolotl/tree/main/examples/magistral) to start training your own Magistral models with Axolotl!
- 2025/05: Quantization Aware Training (QAT) support has been added to Axolotl. Explore the [docs](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/qat.html) to learn more!
- 2025/04: Llama 4 support has been added in Axolotl. See [examples](https://github.com/axolotl-ai-cloud/axolotl/tree/main/examples/llama-4) to start training your own Llama 4 models with Axolotl's linearized version!
- 2025/03: Axolotl has implemented Sequence Parallelism (SP) support. Read the [blog](https://huggingface.co/blog/axolotl-ai-co/long-context-with-sequence-parallelism-in-axolotl) and [docs](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/sequence_parallelism.html) to learn how to scale your context length when fine-tuning.
- 2025/03: (Beta) Fine-tuning Multimodal models is now supported in Axolotl. Check out the [docs](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/multimodal.html) to fine-tune your own!
- 2025/02: Axolotl has added LoRA optimizations to reduce memory usage and improve training speed for LoRA and QLoRA in single GPU and multi-GPU training (DDP and DeepSpeed). Jump into the [docs](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/lora_optims.html) to give it a try.
- 2025/02: Axolotl has added GRPO support. Dive into our [blog](https://huggingface.co/blog/axolotl-ai-co/training-llms-w-interpreter-feedback-wasm) and [GRPO example](https://github.com/axolotl-ai-cloud/grpo_code) and have some fun!
- 2025/01: Axolotl has added Reward Modelling / Process Reward Modelling fine-tuning support. See [docs](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/reward_modelling.html).

## ✨ Overview

Axolotl is a tool designed to streamline post-training for various AI models.

Features:

- **Multiple Model Support**: Train various models like LLaMA, Mistral, Mixtral, Pythia, and more. We are compatible with HuggingFace transformers causal language models.
- **Training Methods**: Full fine-tuning, LoRA, QLoRA, GPTQ, QAT, Preference Tuning (DPO, IPO, KTO, ORPO), RL (GRPO), Multimodal, and Reward Modelling (RM) / Process Reward Modelling (PRM).
- **Easy Configuration**: Re-use a single YAML file between dataset preprocess, training, evaluation, quantization, and inference.
- **Performance Optimizations**: [Multipacking](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/multipack.html), [Flash Attention](https://github.com/Dao-AILab/flash-attention), [Xformers](https://github.com/facebookresearch/xformers), [Flex Attention](https://pytorch.org/blog/flexattention/), [Liger Kernel](https://github.com/linkedin/Liger-Kernel), [Cut Cross Entropy](https://github.com/apple/ml-cross-entropy/tree/main), [Sequence Parallelism (SP)](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/sequence_parallelism.html), [LoRA optimizations](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/lora_optims.html), [Multi-GPU training (FSDP1, FSDP2, DeepSpeed)](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/multi-gpu.html), [Multi-node training (Torchrun, Ray)](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/multi-node.html), and many more!
- **Flexible Dataset Handling**: Load from local, HuggingFace, and cloud (S3, Azure, GCP, OCI) datasets.
- **Cloud Ready**: We ship [Docker images](https://hub.docker.com/u/axolotlai) and also [PyPI packages](https://pypi.org/project/axolotl/) for use on cloud platforms and local hardware.



## 🚀 Quick Start

**Requirements**:

- NVIDIA GPU (Ampere or newer for `bf16` and Flash Attention) or AMD GPU
- Python 3.11
- PyTorch ≥2.5.1

### Installation

#### Using pip

```bash
pip3 install -U packaging==23.2 setuptools==75.8.0 wheel ninja
pip3 install --no-build-isolation axolotl[flash-attn,deepspeed]

# Download example axolotl configs, deepspeed configs
axolotl fetch examples
axolotl fetch deepspeed_configs  # OPTIONAL
```

#### Using Docker

Installing with Docker can be less error prone than installing in your own environment.
```bash
docker run --gpus '"all"' --rm -it axolotlai/axolotl:main-latest
```

Other installation approaches are described [here](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/installation.html).

### Your First Fine-tune

```bash
# Fetch axolotl examples
axolotl fetch examples

# Or, specify a custom path
axolotl fetch examples --dest path/to/folder

# Train a model using LoRA
axolotl train examples/llama-3/lora-1b.yml
```

That's it! Check out our [Getting Started Guide](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/getting-started.html) for a more detailed walkthrough.


## 📚 Documentation

- [Installation Options](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/installation.html) - Detailed setup instructions for different environments
- [Configuration Guide](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/config-reference.html) - Full configuration options and examples
- [Dataset Loading](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/dataset_loading.html) - Loading datasets from various sources
- [Dataset Guide](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/dataset-formats/) - Supported formats and how to use them
- [Multi-GPU Training](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/multi-gpu.html)
- [Multi-Node Training](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/multi-node.html)
- [Multipacking](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/multipack.html)
- [API Reference](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/api/) - Auto-generated code documentation
- [FAQ](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/faq.html) - Frequently asked questions

## 🤝 Getting Help

- Join our [Discord community](https://discord.gg/HhrNrHJPRb) for support
- Check out our [Examples](https://github.com/axolotl-ai-cloud/axolotl/tree/main/examples/) directory
- Read our [Debugging Guide](https://docs.axolotl.ai/docs/debugging.html)
- Need dedicated support? Please contact [✉️wing@axolotl.ai](mailto:wing@axolotl.ai) for options

## 🌟 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see our [Contributing Guide](https://github.com/axolotl-ai-cloud/axolotl/blob/main/.github/CONTRIBUTING.md) for details.

## ❤️ Sponsors

Thank you to our sponsors who help make Axolotl possible:

- [Modal](https://www.modal.com?utm_source=github&utm_medium=github&utm_campaign=axolotl) - Modal lets you run
jobs in the cloud, by just writing a few lines of Python. Customers use Modal to deploy Gen AI models at large scale,
fine-tune large language models, run protein folding simulations, and much more.

Interested in sponsoring? Contact us at [wing@axolotl.ai](mailto:wing@axolotl.ai)

## 📜 License

This project is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License - see the [LICENSE](LICENSE) file for details.