
Axolotl Skill
FreeExpert guidance for fine-tuning LLMs with Axolotl.
Free · Opens the source repo
What Axolotl Skill does
The Axolotl Skill provides comprehensive assistance for developers and researchers working with Axolotl, a framework designed for fine-tuning large language models (LLMs). This skill is particularly useful for those looking to leverage advanced techniques such as LoRA and QLoRA, which are essential for optimizing model performance while managing computational resources effectively. With a focus on YAML configurations, the skill offers guidance on over 100 models and various methodologies like DPO, KTO, ORPO, and GRPO, making it a versatile tool for anyone involved in LLM development.
Users can access a wealth of information through the skill's structured documentation, which includes quick reference patterns and example code snippets. These resources are derived from official documentation, ensuring that users receive accurate and up-to-date information. The skill also emphasizes best practices for implementing Axolotl solutions, debugging code, and understanding Axolotl features and APIs, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced developers.
The skill's quick reference section highlights common usage patterns, such as configuring model settings for distributed training and optimizing data handling. This allows users to quickly find solutions to common challenges they may face while working with Axolotl. Additionally, the skill provides a clear pathway for users to explore specific features or dive deeper into the documentation for more complex requirements.
Overall, the Axolotl Skill is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to enhance their capabilities in fine-tuning LLMs, offering structured guidance and practical examples to streamline the development process.
When to use it
Use this skill when you are working on fine-tuning LLMs with Axolotl or need help with its features and APIs.
When not to use it
This skill may not be suitable for those looking for general machine learning guidance unrelated to Axolotl or LLMs.
What you can build with it
Fine-Tuning a Model
When you need to fine-tune a large language model using Axolotl, this skill provides the necessary YAML configurations and best practices.
Debugging Code
If you encounter issues while implementing Axolotl solutions, the skill offers guidance on common debugging patterns.
Learning Best Practices
For developers new to Axolotl, the skill serves as a resource for learning best practices and efficient model training techniques.
How to install Axolotl Skill
View source1. Install with the skills CLI
npx skills add davila7/claude-code-templates/fine-tuning-axolotl --agent claude-code2. Or install it manually
Download the skill folder and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or .claude/skills/ to scope it to one repo. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new skill.
Anthropic's agentic coding CLI, and the reference implementation of Agent Skills. Drop a skill folder into ~/.claude/skills and Claude Code loads it automatically whenever a task matches the skill's description. Claude Code docs
Inside SKILL.md
Written by davila7Axolotl Skill
Comprehensive assistance with axolotl development, generated from official documentation.
When to Use This Skill
This skill should be triggered when:
- Working with axolotl
- Asking about axolotl features or APIs
- Implementing axolotl solutions
- Debugging axolotl code
- Learning axolotl best practices
Quick Reference
Common Patterns
Pattern 1: To validate that acceptable data transfer speeds exist for your training job, running NCCL Tests can help pinpoint bottlenecks, for example:
./build/all_reduce_perf -b 8 -e 128M -f 2 -g 3
Pattern 2: Configure your model to use FSDP in the Axolotl yaml. For example:
fsdp_version: 2
fsdp_config:
offload_params: true
state_dict_type: FULL_STATE_DICT
auto_wrap_policy: TRANSFORMER_BASED_WRAP
transformer_layer_cls_to_wrap: LlamaDecoderLayer
reshard_after_forward: true
Pattern 3: The context_parallel_size should be a divisor of the total number of GPUs. For example:
context_parallel_size
Pattern 4: For example: - With 8 GPUs and no sequence parallelism: 8 different batches processed per step - With 8 GPUs and context_parallel_size=4: Only 2 different batches processed per step (each split across 4 GPUs) - If your per-GPU micro_batch_size is 2, the global batch size decreases from 16 to 4
context_parallel_size=4
Pattern 5: Setting save_compressed: true in your configuration enables saving models in a compressed format, which: - Reduces disk space usage by approximately 40% - Maintains compatibility with vLLM for accelerated inference - Maintains compatibility with llmcompressor for further optimization (example: quantization)
save_compressed: true
Pattern 6: Note It is not necessary to place your integration in the integrations folder. It can be in any location, so long as it’s installed in a package in your python env. See this repo for an example: https://github.com/axolotl-ai-cloud/diff-transformer
integrations
Pattern 7: Handle both single-example and batched data. - single example: sample[‘input_ids’] is a list[int] - batched data: sample[‘input_ids’] is a list[list[int]]
utils.trainer.drop_long_seq(sample, sequence_len=2048, min_sequence_len=2)
Example Code Patterns
Example 1 (python):
cli.cloud.modal_.ModalCloud(config, app=None)
Example 2 (python):
cli.cloud.modal_.run_cmd(cmd, run_folder, volumes=None)
Example 3 (python):
core.trainers.base.AxolotlTrainer(
*_args,
bench_data_collator=None,
eval_data_collator=None,
dataset_tags=None,
**kwargs,
)
Example 4 (python):
core.trainers.base.AxolotlTrainer.log(logs, start_time=None)
Example 5 (python):
prompt_strategies.input_output.RawInputOutputPrompter()
Reference Files
This skill includes comprehensive documentation in references/:
- api.md - Api documentation
- dataset-formats.md - Dataset-Formats documentation
- other.md - Other documentation
Use view to read specific reference files when detailed information is needed.
Working with This Skill
For Beginners
Start with the getting_started or tutorials reference files for foundational concepts.
For Specific Features
Use the appropriate category reference file (api, guides, etc.) for detailed information.
For Code Examples
The quick reference section above contains common patterns extracted from the official docs.
Resources
references/
Organized documentation extracted from official sources. These files contain:
- Detailed explanations
- Code examples with language annotations
- Links to original documentation
- Table of contents for quick navigation
scripts/
Add helper scripts here for common automation tasks.
assets/
Add templates, boilerplate, or example projects here.
Notes
- This skill was automatically generated from official documentation
- Reference files preserve the structure and examples from source docs
- Code examples include language detection for better syntax highlighting
- Quick reference patterns are extracted from common usage examples in the docs
Updating
To refresh this skill with updated documentation:
- Re-run the scraper with the same configuration
- The skill will be rebuilt with the latest information
Frequently asked questions about Axolotl Skill
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