Files
microsoft-SkillOpt/skillopt/optimizer/slow_update.py
Cuzyoung 4a1b984d87 refactor: rename teacher/student to optimizer/target, remove best skills, fix slow update
- Rename teacher -> optimizer, student -> target across all code, configs, docs, prompts
- CLI: --teacher_model -> --optimizer_model, --student_model -> --target_model
- Remove best_skill files, keep only initial skills
- Fix slow update gate (force write into skill)
- Fix SLOW_UPDATE marker stripping
- Remove deep_reflect and meta_reflect mechanisms
- Update .env.example with export prefix and azure_cli docs
- Add endpoint empty validation in azure_openai.py

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
2026-05-24 19:15:10 +00:00

394 lines
14 KiB
Python

"""ReflACT Slow Update — epoch-level longitudinal skill refinement.
At the end of each epoch, the slow update compares rollout performance of the
same sample set under the previous epoch's skill vs. the current epoch's skill
(Markov: only adjacent epochs). A optimizer analyzes regressions, improvements,
and persistent failures, then writes a free-form guidance block into a
**protected** section of the skill document. This section cannot be modified by
step-level analyst edits — only the slow update process overwrites it.
Public API
----------
- :func:`inject_empty_slow_update_field` — add empty placeholder (epoch 1)
- :func:`extract_slow_update_field` — read current content
- :func:`replace_slow_update_field` — overwrite content
- :func:`has_slow_update_field` — check if markers are present
- :func:`build_comparison_text` — format side-by-side rollout results
- :func:`run_slow_update` — optimizer call to produce guidance
"""
from __future__ import annotations
import json
import os
import traceback
from skillopt.model import chat_optimizer
from skillopt.prompts import load_prompt
from skillopt.utils import extract_json
# ── Protected field markers ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
SLOW_UPDATE_START = "<!-- SLOW_UPDATE_START -->"
SLOW_UPDATE_END = "<!-- SLOW_UPDATE_END -->"
# ── Field manipulation helpers ──────────────────────────────────────────────
def has_slow_update_field(skill: str) -> bool:
return SLOW_UPDATE_START in skill and SLOW_UPDATE_END in skill
def inject_empty_slow_update_field(skill: str) -> str:
if has_slow_update_field(skill):
return skill
block = (
f"\n\n{SLOW_UPDATE_START}\n"
f"{SLOW_UPDATE_END}\n"
)
return skill.rstrip() + block
def extract_slow_update_field(skill: str) -> str:
start = skill.find(SLOW_UPDATE_START)
end = skill.find(SLOW_UPDATE_END)
if start == -1 or end == -1:
return ""
inner_start = start + len(SLOW_UPDATE_START)
return skill[inner_start:end].strip()
def _strip_all_slow_update_fields(skill: str) -> str:
"""Remove every SLOW_UPDATE_START/END pair (and content between) from *skill*."""
while True:
start = skill.find(SLOW_UPDATE_START)
if start == -1:
break
end = skill.find(SLOW_UPDATE_END, start)
if end == -1:
# Orphan start marker — remove it
skill = skill[:start] + skill[start + len(SLOW_UPDATE_START):]
break
skill = skill[:start] + skill[end + len(SLOW_UPDATE_END):]
# Clean up stray end markers
skill = skill.replace(SLOW_UPDATE_END, "")
# Collapse excess blank lines left behind
while "\n\n\n" in skill:
skill = skill.replace("\n\n\n", "\n\n")
return skill.rstrip()
def replace_slow_update_field(skill: str, new_content: str) -> str:
# Remove all existing slow update regions first to guarantee exactly one.
skill = _strip_all_slow_update_fields(skill)
block = (
f"\n\n{SLOW_UPDATE_START}\n"
f"{new_content.strip()}\n"
f"{SLOW_UPDATE_END}\n"
)
return skill + block
# ── Comparison text builder ─────────────────────────────────────────────────
_MAX_TRAJ_CHARS = 3000
def _clip_text(value, limit: int) -> str:
if value is None:
return ""
return str(value)[:limit]
def _read_trajectory(rollout_dir: str, task_id: str) -> str:
"""Read and format a single trajectory from a rollout directory."""
conv_path = os.path.join(rollout_dir, "predictions", task_id, "conversation.json")
if not os.path.exists(conv_path):
return "(trajectory not available)"
try:
with open(conv_path) as f:
conversation = json.load(f)
except Exception:
return "(trajectory read error)"
if not conversation:
return "(empty trajectory)"
lines: list[str] = []
for entry in conversation:
if not isinstance(entry, dict):
continue
if entry.get("type") == "tool_call":
cmd = _clip_text(entry.get("cmd"), 500)
obs = _clip_text(entry.get("obs"), 800)
lines.append(f"[action] {cmd}")
lines.append(f"[obs] {obs}")
elif "action" in entry and "env_feedback" in entry:
step = entry.get("step", "?")
reasoning = _clip_text(entry.get("reasoning"), 300)
action = _clip_text(entry.get("action"), 200)
feedback = _clip_text(entry.get("env_feedback"), 500)
if reasoning:
lines.append(f"[step {step} think] {reasoning}")
lines.append(f"[step {step} action] {action}")
lines.append(f"[step {step} obs] {feedback}")
elif entry.get("role") == "system":
msg = _clip_text(entry.get("content"), 1000)
lines.append(f"[verification] {msg}")
else:
msg = _clip_text(entry.get("content"), 500)
role = entry.get("role", "agent")
lines.append(f"[{role}] {msg}")
text = "\n".join(lines)
if len(text) > _MAX_TRAJ_CHARS:
half = _MAX_TRAJ_CHARS // 2
text = text[:half] + "\n...[truncated]...\n" + text[-half:]
return text
# ── Structured comparison pairs ─────────────────────────────────────────────
def build_comparison_pairs(
results_prev: list[dict],
results_curr: list[dict],
items: list[dict],
prev_rollout_dir: str = "",
curr_rollout_dir: str = "",
) -> list[dict]:
"""Build a structured list of per-sample comparison entries.
Each entry bundles the original item, both rollout results, the change
category, and both trajectories into one dict — the single source of
truth for this sample's longitudinal comparison.
Returns
-------
list[dict]
One dict per sample with keys:
``id, task, category, prev, curr, prev_trajectory, curr_trajectory``
"""
prev_by_id = {str(r["id"]): r for r in results_prev}
curr_by_id = {str(r["id"]): r for r in results_curr}
pairs: list[dict] = []
for item in items:
tid = str(item.get("id", ""))
prev = prev_by_id.get(tid, {})
curr = curr_by_id.get(tid, {})
prev_ok = bool(prev.get("hard", 0))
curr_ok = bool(curr.get("hard", 0))
if not prev_ok and curr_ok:
category = "improved"
elif prev_ok and not curr_ok:
category = "regressed"
elif not prev_ok and not curr_ok:
category = "persistent_fail"
else:
category = "stable_success"
pairs.append({
"id": tid,
"task": item.get("question", item.get("task_description", item.get("instruction", tid))),
"category": category,
"prev": {
"hard": int(prev_ok),
"soft": float(prev.get("soft", 0.0)),
"predicted_answer": prev.get("predicted_answer", prev.get("answer", "N/A")),
"fail_reason": prev.get("fail_reason", ""),
},
"curr": {
"hard": int(curr_ok),
"soft": float(curr.get("soft", 0.0)),
"predicted_answer": curr.get("predicted_answer", curr.get("answer", "N/A")),
"fail_reason": curr.get("fail_reason", ""),
},
"prev_trajectory": (
_read_trajectory(prev_rollout_dir, tid) if prev_rollout_dir else ""
),
"curr_trajectory": (
_read_trajectory(curr_rollout_dir, tid) if curr_rollout_dir else ""
),
})
return pairs
def save_comparison_pairs(pairs: list[dict], out_path: str) -> None:
"""Persist comparison pairs to JSON (without trajectory text to save space)."""
slim = []
for p in pairs:
slim.append({
"id": p["id"],
"task": p["task"][:300],
"category": p["category"],
"prev": p["prev"],
"curr": p["curr"],
})
with open(out_path, "w") as f:
json.dump(slim, f, ensure_ascii=False, indent=2)
def format_comparison_text(pairs: list[dict]) -> str:
"""Format structured comparison pairs into optimizer-readable text."""
by_cat: dict[str, list[dict]] = {
"regressed": [],
"persistent_fail": [],
"improved": [],
"stable_success": [],
}
for p in pairs:
by_cat.setdefault(p["category"], []).append(p)
total = len(pairs)
parts = [
f"## Longitudinal Comparison Summary\n"
f"Total samples: {total}\n"
f"- Improved (wrong→right): {len(by_cat['improved'])}\n"
f"- Regressed (right→wrong): {len(by_cat['regressed'])}\n"
f"- Persistent failures (wrong→wrong): {len(by_cat['persistent_fail'])}\n"
f"- Stable successes (right→right): {len(by_cat['stable_success'])}\n"
]
categories = [
("regressed", "Regressions (right→wrong) — HIGHEST PRIORITY", True),
("persistent_fail", "Persistent Failures (wrong→wrong)", True),
("improved", "Improvements (wrong→right)", True),
("stable_success", "Stable Successes (right→right)", False),
]
for cat_key, label, show_traj in categories:
entries = by_cat[cat_key]
if not entries:
parts.append(f"### {label}\n(none)\n")
continue
lines = [f"### {label}"]
for e in entries:
prev = e["prev"]
curr = e["curr"]
lines.append(
f"\n#### Task {e['id']}: {e['task'][:300]}\n"
f"- Prev epoch: {'PASS' if prev['hard'] else 'FAIL'} "
f"(soft={prev['soft']:.2f}) — answer: {str(prev['predicted_answer'])[:200]}\n"
f"- Curr epoch: {'PASS' if curr['hard'] else 'FAIL'} "
f"(soft={curr['soft']:.2f}) — answer: {str(curr['predicted_answer'])[:200]}"
)
if curr.get("fail_reason"):
lines.append(f"- Curr fail reason: {curr['fail_reason'][:300]}")
if prev.get("fail_reason") and not prev["hard"]:
lines.append(f"- Prev fail reason: {prev['fail_reason'][:300]}")
if show_traj:
if e.get("prev_trajectory"):
lines.append(
f"\n**Previous epoch trajectory:**\n```\n{e['prev_trajectory']}\n```"
)
if e.get("curr_trajectory"):
lines.append(
f"\n**Current epoch trajectory:**\n```\n{e['curr_trajectory']}\n```"
)
parts.append("\n".join(lines))
return "\n\n".join(parts)
# ── Optimizer call ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
def run_slow_update(
skill_content: str,
results_prev: list[dict],
results_curr: list[dict],
items: list[dict],
*,
prev_skill: str = "",
prev_slow_update_content: str = "",
prev_rollout_dir: str = "",
curr_rollout_dir: str = "",
comparison_pairs: list[dict] | None = None,
system_prompt: str | None = None,
) -> dict | None:
"""Run the slow update optimizer call for one epoch boundary.
Parameters
----------
skill_content : str
Current epoch's skill (after fast updates).
results_prev : list[dict]
Rollout results of the 20 samples under previous epoch's skill.
results_curr : list[dict]
Rollout results of the 20 samples under current epoch's skill.
items : list[dict]
The 20 sample items used for comparison.
prev_skill : str
Previous epoch's skill content.
prev_slow_update_content : str
The slow update guidance from the previous epoch (to reflect on).
prev_rollout_dir : str
Path to previous epoch rollout output (contains predictions/).
curr_rollout_dir : str
Path to current epoch rollout output (contains predictions/).
system_prompt : str | None
Custom system prompt override.
Returns
-------
dict | None
Conforms to :class:`~skillopt.types.SlowUpdateResult`:
``{"reasoning": str, "slow_update_content": str}`` or ``None``.
"""
actual_system = system_prompt if system_prompt is not None else load_prompt("slow_update")
pairs = comparison_pairs
if pairs is None:
pairs = build_comparison_pairs(
results_prev, results_curr, items,
prev_rollout_dir=prev_rollout_dir,
curr_rollout_dir=curr_rollout_dir,
)
comparison_text = format_comparison_text(pairs)
prev_skill_display = prev_skill
if len(prev_skill_display) > 6000:
prev_skill_display = prev_skill_display[:6000] + "\n...[truncated]..."
prev_guidance_section = (
prev_slow_update_content.strip()
if prev_slow_update_content and prev_slow_update_content.strip()
else "(No previous guidance — this is the first slow update.)"
)
user = (
f"## Previous Epoch's Skill\n{prev_skill_display}\n\n"
f"## Current Epoch's Skill\n{skill_content}\n\n"
f"## Previous Slow Update Guidance\n"
f"The following guidance was active during the current epoch. "
f"Reflect on its effectiveness before writing the new version.\n\n"
f"{prev_guidance_section}\n\n"
f"## Longitudinal Comparison (same 20 tasks, two skill versions)\n"
f"{comparison_text}"
)
try:
response, _ = chat_optimizer(
system=actual_system,
user=user,
max_completion_tokens=4096,
retries=3,
stage="slow_update",
)
result = extract_json(response)
if result and result.get("slow_update_content"):
return {
"reasoning": str(result.get("reasoning", "")).strip(),
"slow_update_content": str(result["slow_update_content"]).strip(),
}
except Exception: # noqa: BLE001
traceback.print_exc()
return None