Sravan Avvaru a615306f39 feat(python): add on_transform_error fault tolerance to StreamingDataset (#3763)
Closes #3704

## Problem

Transforms can fail on bad data (e.g. nulls/NaNs from incomplete user
surveys). Today any transform exception aborts iteration, and there is
no way to skip invalid rows during loading.

## Solution

New `on_transform_error` parameter on `StreamingDataset`:

- `"raise"` (default, matches current behavior and the convention in
tf.data / WebDataset / Ray Data)
- `"skip"` — drop the failing rows and continue
- `"warn"` — like skip, plus a logged warning per failing batch
- a WebDataset-style callable `handler(exc) -> bool`, so users can skip
only expected error types

Key design points:

- **Row-granular skipping**: when a batch fails, the transform is re-run
on single-row slices so only the rows that actually fail are dropped
(avoids Ray-style whole-block loss). Skips are counted in a new
`rows_skipped` property.
- **No crash on uneven skips**: the round-robin loop now ends the epoch
at the last cycle where every split still has a row, instead of hitting
`IndexError` when a split runs dry early.
- **Exact resumability under skips**: checkpoints are now
position-based. `state_dict` gains `positions_consumed_per_split` (exact
for owned splits), and a new `merge_state_dicts` static method combines
per-rank states via elementwise max for elastic resume across topology
changes. Old checkpoints without the new key still load. Positions equal
sample counts when nothing is skipped, so existing behavior is
unchanged.
- **Guardrail**: transforms returning the wrong number of rows now raise
a clear `ValueError` instead of silently corrupting split accounting.

### Answers to the issue's open questions

- *Can we do this?* Yes — all transforms funnel through one guarded call
in the Stage 2 pipeline.
- *What do other libraries do?* tf.data `ignore_errors()`, WebDataset
`handler=`, Ray `max_errored_blocks`; MosaicML StreamingDataset offers
nothing (skipping conflicts with its determinism model). This design
follows the common conventions: raise by default, opt-in skipping,
count/log drops.
- *Error handling or pre-filtering?* Both: the existing `filter=`
remains the recommended tool for predictable bad data (splits are built
post-filter, so all guarantees hold — now documented);
`on_transform_error` covers failures not expressible as a predicate.
- *Impact on splits / elastic determinism?* Per-split sample sequences
stay deterministic (skips are data-dependent, not topology-dependent).
With unequal bad-row counts across splits the last few global steps of
an epoch can differ across topologies (bounded by the skew), which is
documented on the parameter. With equal counts per split, full
determinism is preserved — covered by a test.

## Testing

15 new tests in `test_elastic_dataloader.py` covering: default raise,
invalid values, uniform and uneven skips (including epoch-end
truncation), warn logging, selective callable handlers, wrong-row-count
guardrail, determinism across runs and across world sizes (1/2/3/4) with
skips, exact mid-epoch resume with skips on the same topology, elastic
resume via `merge_state_dicts` (ws=2 → ws=1), merge validation, and
backward-compat loading of old checkpoints.

Note: relying on CI for the test run — my local machine OOMs during the
final link of the native extension. The change itself is pure Python.

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-08-10 09:22:06 -07:00
2023-03-17 18:15:19 -07:00
2025-03-10 09:01:23 -07:00

LanceDB Cloud Public Beta

LanceDB Website Blog Discord Twitter LinkedIn

LanceDB

The Multimodal AI Lakehouse

How to Install Detailed DocumentationTutorials and RecipesContributors

The ultimate multimodal data platform for AI/ML applications.

LanceDB is designed for fast, scalable, and production-ready vector search. It is built on top of the Lance columnar format. You can store, index, and search over petabytes of multimodal data and vectors with ease. LanceDB is a central location where developers can build, train and analyze their AI workloads.


Demo: Multimodal Search by Keyword, Vector or with SQL

LanceDB Multimodal Search

Star LanceDB to get updates!

Click here to see how fast we're growing!

Key Features:

  • Fast Vector Search: Search billions of vectors in milliseconds with state-of-the-art indexing.
  • Comprehensive Search: Support for vector similarity search, full-text search and SQL.
  • Multimodal Support: Store, query and filter vectors, metadata and multimodal data (text, images, videos, point clouds, and more).
  • Advanced Features: Zero-copy, automatic versioning, manage versions of your data without needing extra infrastructure. GPU support in building vector index.

Products:

  • Open Source & Local: 100% open source, runs locally or in your cloud. No vendor lock-in.
  • Cloud and Enterprise: Production-scale vector search with no servers to manage. Complete data sovereignty and security.

Ecosystem:

  • Columnar Storage: Built on the Lance columnar format for efficient storage and analytics.
  • Seamless Integration: Python, Node.js, Rust, and REST APIs for easy integration. Native Python and Javascript/Typescript support.
  • Rich Ecosystem: Integrations with LangChain 🦜🔗, LlamaIndex 🦙, Apache-Arrow, Pandas, Polars, DuckDB and more on the way.

How to Install:

Follow the Quickstart doc to set up LanceDB locally.

API & SDK: We also support Python, Typescript and Rust SDKs

Interface Documentation
Python SDK https://lancedb.github.io/lancedb/python/python/
Typescript SDK https://lancedb.github.io/lancedb/js/globals/
Rust SDK https://docs.rs/lancedb/latest/lancedb/index.html
REST API https://docs.lancedb.com/api-reference/rest

Join Us and Contribute

We welcome contributions from everyone! Whether you're a developer, researcher, or just someone who wants to help out.

If you have any suggestions or feature requests, please feel free to open an issue on GitHub or discuss it on our Discord server.

Check out the GitHub Issues if you would like to work on the features that are planned for the future. If you have any suggestions or feature requests, please feel free to open an issue on GitHub.

Contributors

Stay in Touch With Us


Website Blog Discord Twitter LinkedIn

S
Description
Languages
Rust 36.1%
HTML 30.5%
Python 25.5%
TypeScript 7.5%
Shell 0.2%
Other 0.1%