# PEFT Integration TRL supports [PEFT](https://github.com/huggingface/peft) (Parameter-Efficient Fine-Tuning) methods for memory-efficient model training. PEFT enables fine-tuning large language models by training only a small number of additional parameters while keeping the base model frozen, significantly reducing computational costs and memory requirements. This guide covers how to use PEFT with different TRL trainers, including LoRA, QLoRA, and prompt tuning techniques. For a complete working example, see the [SFT with LoRA/QLoRA notebook](https://github.com/huggingface/trl/blob/main/examples/notebooks/sft_trl_lora_qlora.ipynb). ## Installation To use PEFT with TRL, install the required dependencies: ```bash pip install trl[peft] ``` For QLoRA support (4-bit and 8-bit quantization), also install: ```bash pip install bitsandbytes ``` ## Quick Start All TRL trainers support PEFT through the `peft_config` argument. The simplest way to enable PEFT is by using the command-line interface with the `--use_peft` flag: ```bash python trl/scripts/sft.py \ --model_name_or_path Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B \ --dataset_name trl-lib/Capybara \ --use_peft \ --lora_r 32 \ --lora_alpha 16 \ --output_dir Qwen2-0.5B-SFT-LoRA ``` Alternatively, you can pass a PEFT config directly in your Python code: ```python from peft import LoraConfig from trl import SFTTrainer # Configure LoRA peft_config = LoraConfig( r=32, lora_alpha=16, lora_dropout=0.05, bias="none", task_type="CAUSAL_LM", ) # Configure training - note the higher learning rate for LoRA (10x base rate) training_args = SFTConfig( learning_rate=2.0e-4, # 10x the base rate (2.0e-5) for LoRA ... ) # Create trainer with PEFT trainer = SFTTrainer( model=model, train_dataset=dataset, peft_config=peft_config, ) ``` ## Three Ways to Configure PEFT TRL provides three different methods to configure PEFT, each suited for different use cases: ### 1. Using CLI Flags (Simplest) The easiest way to enable PEFT is to use the `--use_peft` flag with the command-line interface. This method is ideal for quick experiments and standard configurations: ```bash python trl/scripts/sft.py \ --model_name_or_path Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B \ --dataset_name trl-lib/Capybara \ --use_peft \ --lora_r 32 \ --lora_alpha 16 \ --lora_dropout 0.05 \ --output_dir Qwen2-0.5B-SFT-LoRA ``` **Pros**: Quick setup, no code required **Cons**: Limited to LoRA, fewer customization options ### 2. Passing peft_config to Trainer (Recommended) For more control, pass a PEFT configuration directly to the trainer. This is the recommended approach for most use cases: ```python from peft import LoraConfig from trl import SFTConfig, SFTTrainer peft_config = LoraConfig( r=32, lora_alpha=16, lora_dropout=0.05, bias="none", task_type="CAUSAL_LM", target_modules=["q_proj", "v_proj", "k_proj", "o_proj"], ) trainer = SFTTrainer( model=model, args=training_args, train_dataset=dataset, peft_config=peft_config, # Pass config here ) ``` **Pros**: Full control, supports all PEFT methods (LoRA, Prompt Tuning, etc.) **Cons**: Requires Python code ### 3. Applying PEFT to Model Directly (Advanced) For maximum flexibility, you can apply PEFT to your model before passing it to the trainer: ```python from peft import LoraConfig, get_peft_model from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM from trl import SFTConfig, SFTTrainer # Load base model model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained("Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B") # Apply PEFT configuration peft_config = LoraConfig( r=32, lora_alpha=16, lora_dropout=0.05, bias="none", task_type="CAUSAL_LM", ) model = get_peft_model(model, peft_config) # Pass PEFT-wrapped model to trainer trainer = SFTTrainer( model=model, # Already has PEFT applied args=training_args, train_dataset=dataset, # Note: no peft_config needed here ) ``` **Pros**: Maximum control, useful for custom model architectures or complex setups **Cons**: More verbose, requires understanding of PEFT internals ## Learning Rate Considerations When using LoRA or other PEFT methods, you typically need to use a **higher learning rate** (approximately 10x) compared to full fine-tuning. This is because PEFT methods train only a small fraction of parameters, requiring a larger learning rate to achieve similar parameter updates. **Recommended learning rates:** | Trainer | Full Fine-Tuning | With LoRA (10x) | |---------|------------------|-----------------| | **SFT** | `2.0e-5` | `2.0e-4` | | **DPO** | `5.0e-7` | `5.0e-6` | | **GRPO** | `1.0e-6` | `1.0e-5` | | **Prompt Tuning** | N/A | `1.0e-2` to `3.0e-2` | > **Why 10x?** LoRA adapters have significantly fewer trainable parameters than the full model. A higher learning rate compensates for this reduced parameter count, ensuring effective training. For detailed explanation, see [this blog post](https://thinkingmachines.ai/blog/lora/). For additional best practices on using LoRA effectively, refer to the [LoRA Without Regret](lora_without_regret) documentation. ## PEFT with Different Trainers TRL's trainers support PEFT configurations for various training paradigms. Below are detailed examples for each major trainer. ### Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT) The `SFTTrainer` is used for supervised fine-tuning on instruction datasets. #### With LoRA ```bash python trl/scripts/sft.py \ --model_name_or_path Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B \ --dataset_name trl-lib/Capybara \ --learning_rate 2.0e-4 \ --num_train_epochs 1 \ --per_device_train_batch_size 2 \ --gradient_accumulation_steps 8 \ --use_peft \ --lora_r 32 \ --lora_alpha 16 \ --output_dir Qwen2-0.5B-SFT-LoRA ``` #### Python Example ```python from peft import LoraConfig from trl import SFTConfig, SFTTrainer # Configure LoRA peft_config = LoraConfig( r=32, lora_alpha=16, lora_dropout=0.05, bias="none", task_type="CAUSAL_LM", target_modules=["q_proj", "v_proj"], # optional: specify target modules ) # Configure training with higher learning rate for LoRA training_args = SFTConfig( learning_rate=2.0e-4, # 10x the base rate for LoRA ... ) # Create trainer with PEFT config trainer = SFTTrainer( model="Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B", # can pass model name or loaded model args=training_args, train_dataset=dataset, peft_config=peft_config, # pass PEFT config here ) trainer.train() ``` ### Direct Preference Optimization (DPO) The [`DPOTrainer`] implements preference learning from human feedback. #### With LoRA ```bash python trl/scripts/dpo.py \ --model_name_or_path Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B-Instruct \ --dataset_name trl-lib/ultrafeedback_binarized \ --learning_rate 5.0e-6 \ --per_device_train_batch_size 2 \ --gradient_accumulation_steps 8 \ --use_peft \ --lora_r 32 \ --lora_alpha 16 \ --output_dir Qwen2-0.5B-DPO-LoRA ``` #### Python Example ```python from peft import LoraConfig from trl import DPOConfig, DPOTrainer # Configure LoRA peft_config = LoraConfig( r=32, lora_alpha=16, lora_dropout=0.05, bias="none", task_type="CAUSAL_LM", ) # Configure training with higher learning rate for LoRA training_args = DPOConfig( learning_rate=5.0e-6, # 10x the base rate for DPO with LoRA ... ) # Create trainer with PEFT config trainer = DPOTrainer( model="Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B", # can pass model name or loaded model args=training_args, train_dataset=dataset, peft_config=peft_config, # pass PEFT config here ) trainer.train() ``` **Note:** When using PEFT with DPO, you don't need to provide a separate reference model (`ref_model`). The trainer automatically uses the frozen base model as the reference. ### Group Relative Policy Optimization (GRPO) The `GRPOTrainer` optimizes policies using group-based rewards. #### With LoRA ```bash python trl/scripts/grpo.py \ --model_name_or_path Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B \ --dataset_name trl-lib/math-reasoning \ --learning_rate 1.0e-5 \ --per_device_train_batch_size 2 \ --use_peft \ --lora_r 32 \ --lora_alpha 16 \ --output_dir Qwen2-0.5B-GRPO-LoRA ``` #### Python Example ```python from peft import LoraConfig from trl import GRPOConfig, GRPOTrainer # Configure LoRA peft_config = LoraConfig( r=32, lora_alpha=16, lora_dropout=0.05, bias="none", task_type="CAUSAL_LM", ) # Configure training with higher learning rate for LoRA training_args = GRPOConfig( learning_rate=1.0e-5, # 10x the base rate for GRPO with LoRA ... ) # Create trainer with PEFT config trainer = GRPOTrainer( model="Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B", # can pass model name or loaded model args=training_args, train_dataset=dataset, peft_config=peft_config, # pass PEFT config here ) trainer.train() ``` ### Proximal Policy Optimization (PPO) #### Multi-Adapter RL Training You can use a single base model with multiple PEFT adapters for the entire PPO algorithm - including retrieving reference logits, computing active logits, and calculating rewards. This approach is useful for memory-efficient RL training. > [!WARNING] > This feature is experimental and convergence has not been extensively tested. We encourage the community to share feedback and report any issues. **Requirements** Install PEFT and optionally bitsandbytes for 8-bit models: ```bash pip install peft bitsandbytes ``` **Training Workflow** The multi-adapter approach requires three stages: 1. **Supervised Fine-Tuning (SFT)**: Train a base model on your target domain (e.g., IMDB dataset) using `SFTTrainer` 2. **Reward Model Training**: Train a reward model adapter using PEFT and `RewardTrainer` (see [reward modeling example](https://github.com/huggingface/trl/tree/main/examples/scripts/reward_modeling.py)) 3. **PPO Training**: Fine-tune new adapters using PPO with the reward adapter > [!IMPORTANT] > Use the same base model (architecture and weights) for stages 2 & 3. **Basic Usage** After training your reward adapter and pushing it to the Hub: ```python from peft import LoraConfig from trl.experimental.ppo import PPOTrainer, AutoModelForCausalLMWithValueHead model_name = "huggyllama/llama-7b" rm_adapter_id = "trl-lib/llama-7b-hh-rm-adapter" # Configure PPO adapter lora_config = LoraConfig( r=16, lora_alpha=32, lora_dropout=0.05, bias="none", task_type="CAUSAL_LM", ) # Load model with reward adapter model = AutoModelForCausalLMWithValueHead.from_pretrained( model_name, peft_config=lora_config, reward_adapter=rm_adapter_id, ) trainer = PPOTrainer(model=model, ...) ``` In your training loop, compute rewards using: ```python rewards = trainer.model.compute_reward_score(**inputs) ``` **Advanced Features** **Quantized Base Models** For memory-efficient training, load the base model in 8-bit or 4-bit while keeping adapters in float32: ```python from transformers import BitsAndBytesConfig model = AutoModelForCausalLMWithValueHead.from_pretrained( model_name, peft_config=lora_config, reward_adapter=rm_adapter_id, quantization_config=BitsAndBytesConfig(load_in_8bit=True), ) ``` ## QLoRA: Quantized Low-Rank Adaptation QLoRA combines 4-bit quantization with LoRA to enable fine-tuning of very large models on consumer hardware. This technique can reduce memory requirements by up to 4x compared to standard LoRA. ### How QLoRA Works 1. **4-bit Quantization**: The base model is loaded in 4-bit precision using `bitsandbytes` 2. **Frozen Weights**: The quantized model weights remain frozen during training 3. **LoRA Adapters**: Only the LoRA adapter parameters are trained in higher precision 4. **Memory Efficiency**: Enables fine-tuning of models like Llama-70B on a single consumer GPU ### Using QLoRA with TRL Simply combine `load_in_4bit=True` with PEFT configuration: #### Command Line ```bash python trl/scripts/sft.py \ --model_name_or_path meta-llama/Llama-2-7b-hf \ --dataset_name trl-lib/Capybara \ --load_in_4bit \ --use_peft \ --lora_r 32 \ --lora_alpha 16 \ --per_device_train_batch_size 1 \ --gradient_accumulation_steps 16 \ --output_dir Llama-2-7b-QLoRA ``` #### Python Example ```python import torch from peft import LoraConfig from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, BitsAndBytesConfig from trl import SFTConfig, SFTTrainer # Configure 4-bit quantization bnb_config = BitsAndBytesConfig( load_in_4bit=True, bnb_4bit_quant_type="nf4", bnb_4bit_compute_dtype=torch.bfloat16, bnb_4bit_use_double_quant=True, ) # Load model with quantization model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained( "meta-llama/Llama-2-7b-hf", quantization_config=bnb_config, device_map="auto", ) # Configure LoRA peft_config = LoraConfig( r=32, lora_alpha=16, lora_dropout=0.05, bias="none", task_type="CAUSAL_LM", ) # Configure training with higher learning rate for LoRA training_args = SFTConfig( learning_rate=2.0e-4, # 10x the base rate for QLoRA ... ) # Create trainer with PEFT config trainer = SFTTrainer( model=model, args=training_args, train_dataset=dataset, peft_config=peft_config, ) trainer.train() ``` ### QLoRA Configuration Options The `BitsAndBytesConfig` provides several options to optimize memory and performance: ```python import torch from transformers import BitsAndBytesConfig bnb_config = BitsAndBytesConfig( load_in_4bit=True, bnb_4bit_quant_type="nf4", # or "fp4" bnb_4bit_compute_dtype=torch.bfloat16, # Compute dtype for 4-bit base models bnb_4bit_use_double_quant=True, # Nested quantization for additional memory savings ) ``` **Configuration Parameters:** - `bnb_4bit_quant_type`: Quantization data type (`"nf4"` or `"fp4"`). NF4 is recommended. - `bnb_4bit_compute_dtype`: The dtype used for computation. Use `bfloat16` for better training stability. - `bnb_4bit_use_double_quant`: Enable nested quantization to save additional ~0.4 bits per parameter. ### 8-bit Quantization For slightly higher precision with reduced memory savings, you can use 8-bit quantization: ```python from transformers import BitsAndBytesConfig, AutoModelForCausalLM bnb_config = BitsAndBytesConfig(load_in_8bit=True) model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained( "meta-llama/Llama-2-7b-hf", quantization_config=bnb_config, device_map="auto", ) ``` Or via command line: ```bash python trl/scripts/sft.py \ --model_name_or_path meta-llama/Llama-2-7b-hf \ --load_in_8bit \ --use_peft \ --lora_r 32 \ --lora_alpha 16 ``` ## Prompt Tuning Prompt tuning is another PEFT technique that learns soft prompts (continuous embeddings) prepended to the input, while keeping the entire model frozen. This is particularly effective for large models. ### How Prompt Tuning Works 1. **Virtual Tokens**: Adds learnable continuous embeddings (virtual tokens) to the input 2. **Frozen Model**: The entire base model remains frozen 3. **Task-Specific Prompts**: Each task learns its own prompt embeddings 4. **Extreme Efficiency**: Only the prompt embeddings are trained (typically 8-20 tokens) ### Using Prompt Tuning with TRL ```python from peft import PromptTuningConfig, PromptTuningInit, TaskType from trl import SFTConfig, SFTTrainer # Configure Prompt Tuning peft_config = PromptTuningConfig( task_type=TaskType.CAUSAL_LM, prompt_tuning_init=PromptTuningInit.TEXT, num_virtual_tokens=8, prompt_tuning_init_text="Classify if the tweet is a complaint or not:", tokenizer_name_or_path="Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B", ) # Configure training with higher learning rate for Prompt Tuning training_args = SFTConfig( learning_rate=2.0e-2, # Prompt Tuning typically uses 1e-2 to 3e-2 ... ) # Create trainer with PEFT config trainer = SFTTrainer( model=model, args=training_args, train_dataset=dataset, peft_config=peft_config, # pass PEFT config here ) trainer.train() ``` ### Prompt Tuning Configuration ```python from peft import PromptTuningConfig, PromptTuningInit, TaskType peft_config = PromptTuningConfig( task_type=TaskType.CAUSAL_LM, # Task type prompt_tuning_init=PromptTuningInit.TEXT, # Initialize from text num_virtual_tokens=8, # Number of virtual tokens prompt_tuning_init_text="Your initialization text here", tokenizer_name_or_path="model_name", ) ``` **Configuration Parameters:** - `task_type`: The task type (`TaskType.CAUSAL_LM` for language modeling) - `prompt_tuning_init`: Initialization method (`TEXT`, `RANDOM`) - `num_virtual_tokens`: Number of virtual tokens to prepend (typically 8-20) - `prompt_tuning_init_text`: Text to initialize the virtual tokens (when using `TEXT` init) - `tokenizer_name_or_path`: Tokenizer for initializing from text ### Prompt Tuning vs LoRA | Feature | Prompt Tuning | LoRA | |---------|---------------|------| | **Parameters Trained** | ~0.001% | ~0.1-1% | | **Memory Usage** | Minimal | Low | | **Training Speed** | Fastest | Fast | | **Model Modification** | None | Adapter layers | | **Best For** | Large models, many tasks | General fine-tuning | | **Learning Rate** | Higher (1e-2 to 3e-2) | Standard (1e-4 to 3e-4) | ## Advanced PEFT Configurations ### LoRA Configuration Parameters ```python from peft import LoraConfig peft_config = LoraConfig( r=16, # LoRA rank lora_alpha=32, # LoRA scaling factor lora_dropout=0.05, # Dropout probability bias="none", # Bias training strategy task_type="CAUSAL_LM", # Task type target_modules=["q_proj", "v_proj"], # Modules to apply LoRA modules_to_save=None, # Additional modules to train ) ``` **Key Parameters:** - `r`: LoRA rank (typical values: 8, 16, 32, 64). Higher rank = more parameters but potentially better performance. - `lora_alpha`: Scaling factor (typically 2x the rank). Controls the magnitude of LoRA updates. - `lora_dropout`: Dropout probability for LoRA layers (typical: 0.05-0.1). - `target_modules`: Which modules to apply LoRA to. Common choices: - `["q_proj", "v_proj"]`: Attention query and value (memory efficient) - `["q_proj", "k_proj", "v_proj", "o_proj"]`: All attention projections - `["q_proj", "k_proj", "v_proj", "o_proj", "gate_proj", "up_proj", "down_proj"]`: All linear layers - `modules_to_save`: Additional modules to fully train (e.g., `["embed_tokens", "lm_head"]`) ### Target Module Selection You can specify which modules to apply LoRA to. Common patterns: ```python # Minimal (most memory efficient) target_modules=["q_proj", "v_proj"] # Attention only target_modules=["q_proj", "k_proj", "v_proj", "o_proj"] # All linear layers (best performance, more memory) target_modules=["q_proj", "k_proj", "v_proj", "o_proj", "gate_proj", "up_proj", "down_proj"] ``` ### Using Command-Line Arguments TRL scripts accept PEFT parameters via command line: ```bash python trl/scripts/sft.py \ --model_name_or_path Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B \ --dataset_name trl-lib/Capybara \ --use_peft \ --lora_r 32 \ --lora_alpha 16 \ --lora_dropout 0.05 \ --lora_target_modules q_proj v_proj \ --output_dir output ``` Available flags: - `--use_peft`: Enable PEFT - `--lora_r`: LoRA rank (default: 16) - `--lora_alpha`: LoRA alpha (default: 32) - `--lora_dropout`: LoRA dropout (default: 0.05) - `--lora_target_modules`: Target modules (space-separated) - `--lora_modules_to_save`: Additional modules to train - `--use_rslora`: Enable Rank-Stabilized LoRA - `--use_dora`: Enable Weight-Decomposed LoRA (DoRA) - `--load_in_4bit`: Enable 4-bit quantization (QLoRA) - `--load_in_8bit`: Enable 8-bit quantization ## Saving and Loading PEFT Models ### Saving After training, save your PEFT adapters: ```python # Save the adapters trainer.save_model("path/to/adapters") # Or manually model.save_pretrained("path/to/adapters") ``` This saves only the adapter weights (~few MB) rather than the full model (~several GB). ### Loading Load a PEFT model for inference: ```python from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM from peft import PeftModel # Load base model base_model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained("Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B") # Load PEFT adapters model = PeftModel.from_pretrained(base_model, "path/to/adapters") # Optionally merge adapters into base model for faster inference model = model.merge_and_unload() ``` ### Pushing to Hub You can easily share your PEFT adapters on the Hugging Face Hub: ```python # Push adapters to Hub model.push_to_hub("username/model-name-lora") # Load from Hub from peft import PeftModel model = PeftModel.from_pretrained(base_model, "username/model-name-lora") ``` ## Multi-GPU Training PEFT works seamlessly with TRL's multi-GPU support through `accelerate`: ```bash # Configure accelerate accelerate config # Launch training accelerate launch trl/scripts/sft.py \ --model_name_or_path Qwen/Qwen2-0.5B \ --dataset_name trl-lib/Capybara \ --use_peft \ --lora_r 32 \ --lora_alpha 16 ``` For QLoRA with multiple GPUs, the base model is automatically sharded: ```bash accelerate launch trl/scripts/sft.py \ --model_name_or_path meta-llama/Llama-2-70b-hf \ --load_in_4bit \ --use_peft \ --lora_r 32 ``` ### Naive Pipeline Parallelism (NPP) for Large Models For very large models (>60B parameters), TRL supports Naive Pipeline Parallelism (NPP), which distributes the model and adapters across multiple GPUs. The activations and gradients are communicated across GPUs, supporting both `int8` and other data types. ![NPP](https://huggingface.co/datasets/trl-lib/documentation-images/resolve/main/trl-npp.png) **How to Use NPP** Load your model with a custom `device_map` to split it across multiple devices: ```python from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM from peft import LoraConfig # Create custom device map (see accelerate documentation) device_map = { "model.embed_tokens": 0, "model.layers.0": 0, # ... distribute layers across GPUs "lm_head": 0, # Must be on GPU 0 } model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained( "meta-llama/Llama-2-70b-hf", device_map=device_map, peft_config=lora_config, ) ``` > [!IMPORTANT] > - Keep the `lm_head` module on the first GPU (device 0) to avoid errors > - See this [tutorial on device maps](https://github.com/huggingface/blog/blob/main/accelerate-large-models.md) for proper configuration > - Run training scripts directly (not with `accelerate launch`): `python script.py` > - Data Parallelism is not yet supported with NPP ## Resources ### TRL Examples and Notebooks - **[SFT with LoRA/QLoRA Notebook](https://github.com/huggingface/trl/blob/main/examples/notebooks/sft_trl_lora_qlora.ipynb)** - Complete working example showing both LoRA and QLoRA implementations - **[TRL Examples Directory](https://github.com/huggingface/trl/tree/main/examples)** - Collection of training scripts demonstrating PEFT with different trainers - **[TRL Cookbook Recipes](https://github.com/huggingface/cookbook/tree/main/notebooks/transformers)** - Step-by-step guides for common PEFT training scenarios ### Documentation - [PEFT Documentation](https://huggingface.co/docs/peft) - Official PEFT library documentation - [TRL Documentation](https://huggingface.co/docs/trl) - Complete TRL documentation with trainer guides - [LoRA Without Regret](lora_without_regret) - Best practices for using LoRA effectively ### Research Papers - [LoRA Paper](https://huggingface.co/papers/2106.09685) - Original LoRA methodology and results - [QLoRA Paper](https://huggingface.co/papers/2305.14314) - Efficient finetuning with 4-bit quantization - [Prompt Tuning Paper](https://huggingface.co/papers/2104.08691) - The Power of Scale for Parameter-Efficient Prompt Tuning