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fix(autocast): do not lose magnitude or sign when narrowing initializers - #2575

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What does this PR do?

Type of change: Bug fix

Two ways AutoCast loses information when it narrows a float initializer. They are in different files but are the same operation, so they are together here; happy to split if you would rather.

1. FP64 values outside the FP32 range become infinities — graphsanitizer.py

GraphSanitizer narrows FP64 initializers and Constant values with a bare astype(np.float32), so anything past the FP32 range becomes ±inf. numpy raises overflow encountered in cast for it; nothing acted on that.

initializer FP64 on main this PR
lower -DBL_MAX -inf -3.4e38
upper DBL_MAX inf 3.4e38

An infinity does not stay put — it turns into a NaN at the first inf - inf or 0 * inf downstream. DBL_MAX is an ordinary way to spell "no bound" on a Clip, and FP64 models are what this sanitizer exists to handle, so this is reachable from a valid model.

Now clamped to the FP32 range with the tensor named in a warning, matching what PrecisionConverter._convert_initializer already does when it narrows FP32 to FP16. Values too small for FP32 still flush to zero — ordinary narrowing, and it does not propagate the way an infinity does.

2. A value that underflows the target precision loses its sign — precisionconverter.py

_convert_initializer replaces a value too small for the target type with that type's smallest subnormal, but used the positive subnormal regardless of the original sign:

np_array = np.where((np_array != 0.0) & (np.abs(np_array) < data_lowest), data_lowest, np_array)

For FP16, -1e-10 came back as +5.96e-08. The magnitude is negligible either way; the sign is not, for anything that compares against zero. Now np.copysign(data_lowest, np_array).

Testing

Three tests, each failing on main and passing here:

  • test_convert_fp64_initializers_clamps_out_of_range_values — ±DBL_MAX initializers stay finite
  • test_convert_fp64_nodes_clamps_out_of_range_values — the Constant node path had the same bare cast
  • test_underflowing_fp16_initializers_keep_their_sign — parametrized over use_standalone_type_inference, asserts a negative value does not come back positive

tests/unit/onnx is 653 passed locally with 11 failures that also occur on pristine main in this environment (int4 paths needing cupy, three TestColumnMajorTransformation tests needing MSVC build tools). ruff check reports the same single pre-existing PLR0917 in each touched file before and after.

Before your PR is "Ready for review"

  • Is this change backward compatible?: ✅ — values in range convert identically; only out-of-range and underflowing values change, and both changes replace a silently wrong result
  • If you copied code from any other sources or added a new PIP dependency, did you follow guidance in CONTRIBUTING.md: N/A
  • Did you write any new necessary tests?: ✅
  • Did you update Changelog?: ✅
  • Did you get Claude approval on this PR?: N/A

Additional Information

Branched from main. Independent of #2553, #2554 and #2567 — no overlapping files.

Summary by CodeRabbit

  • Bug Fixes
    • FP64 initializer and constant values exceeding the FP32 range are clamped to the largest finite FP32 value, preserving their sign. A warning identifies the affected tensor. Existing positive and negative infinities remain unchanged.
    • Values too small for the target precision retain their sign when converted to the smallest representable subnormal, preserving whether the result is positive or negative.

GraphSanitizer narrowed FP64 initializers and Constant values with a bare
astype(np.float32), so anything past the FP32 range became +/-inf. numpy raises
"overflow encountered in cast" for it, but nothing acted on that, and an
infinity then poisons whatever arithmetic the tensor feeds. DBL_MAX is an
ordinary way to spell "no bound" on a Clip, so this is reachable from a valid
model rather than only a contrived one.

Clamp to the FP32 range instead and name the tensor in a warning, matching what
PrecisionConverter._convert_initializer already does when it narrows FP32 to
FP16.

Values too small for FP32 still flush to zero, which is ordinary narrowing and
does not propagate the way an infinity does.

Signed-off-by: Siddhardha Nanda <99672439+SID-6921@users.noreply.github.com>
When an initializer value is too small for the target precision,
_convert_initializer replaces it with that type's smallest subnormal. The
replacement was the positive subnormal regardless of the original sign, so a
tiny negative value came back positive -- -1e-10 became +5.96e-08 for FP16.

The magnitude is negligible either way; the sign is not, for anything that
compares against zero.

Signed-off-by: Siddhardha Nanda <99672439+SID-6921@users.noreply.github.com>
Copilot AI balanced review requested due to automatic review settings September 28, 2026 23:40
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SID-6921 requested review from a team as code owners September 28, 2026 23:40
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SID-6921 requested a review from gcunhase September 28, 2026 23:40
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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

AutoCast clamps finite FP64 values outside the FP32 range before conversion. Underflow replacement now preserves the input value’s sign. Tests cover FP64 initializer and node tensor values, as well as positive and negative underflow to FP16.

Changes

AutoCast numeric conversion fixes

Layer / File(s) Summary
Clamp out-of-range FP64 values
modelopt/onnx/autocast/graphsanitizer.py, tests/unit/onnx/autocast/test_graphsanitizer.py, CHANGELOG.rst
FP64 initializers and Constant and ConstantOfShape tensor values are clamped to the FP32 range before conversion. Tests cover out-of-range finite values and preservation of existing infinities. The changelog records the clamping behavior and warning.
Preserve signs in underflow replacement
modelopt/onnx/autocast/precisionconverter.py, tests/unit/onnx/autocast/test_precisionconverter.py
Initializer values replaced because they are smaller than the target precision’s smallest subnormal now retain their sign. Tests check positive and negative FP16 smallest subnormal results in both type-inference modes.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 2 (Simple) | ~10 minutes

Change: Bug fix


Merge Risk: ⚪ Minimal · up to acbd7

Oversized finite values are bounded before FP32 conversion, while supported underflow replacement retains its sign. No material merge-blocking risk is evident; the change is reasonable to merge with normal checks.

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 6
✅ Passed checks (6 passed)
Check name Status Explanation
Description Check Passed Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check Passed The title accurately summarizes the main changes: preserving magnitude and sign when narrowing initializers during AutoCast conversion.
Docstring Coverage Passed Docstring coverage is 84.62% which is sufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 13 functions across 4 files.
Linked Issues check Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Security Anti-Patterns Passed The PR changes only ONNX autocast code, tests, and the changelog. The added Python lines contain no torch.load(..., weights_only=False), unsafe numpy.load, hardcoded trust_remote_code=True, eval(), ex…


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👉 Steps to fix this

Actionable comments posted: 2


  • 🪄 Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR
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Inline comments:
Review comments at @modelopt/onnx/autocast/graphsanitizer.py:
- Line 532: Update the `fp64_data` clamping step to clamp only finite values
outside the FP32 range, preserving infinities and other non-finite values
unchanged.
- Line 606: Update the _narrow_to_fp32 call in the Constant handling path to
identify the output tensor in its warning: use node.output[0], falling back to
node.name when the output name is empty.

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Comment thread modelopt/onnx/autocast/graphsanitizer.py Outdated
Comment thread modelopt/onnx/autocast/graphsanitizer.py Outdated
The guard tested only finite out-of-range values but np.clip then flattened
everything, so an infinity the model already held survived on its own and was
turned into the FP32 maximum as soon as the same tensor also carried an
oversized finite value. Clamp only the finite out-of-range elements.

Narrowing an infinity the author put there is not this function's decision; the
cast maps it to an FP32 infinity, which is what the model asked for.

The warning also said "Initializer" for a Constant node's value. It now names
the tensor, which is the initializer name or the node's output.

Signed-off-by: Siddhardha Nanda <99672439+SID-6921@users.noreply.github.com>

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🧹 Nitpick comments (1)
tests/unit/onnx/autocast/test_graphsanitizer.py (1)

296-327: 🎯 Functional Correctness | 🔵 Trivial | ⚡ Quick win

Add an overflow assertion for ConstantOfShape.

_convert_fp64_nodes() sends both node types through _narrow_to_fp32, but the overflow test covers only Constant. The existing ConstantOfShape test checks only the dtype. A node-specific dispatch regression could therefore convert a finite oversized value to FP32 infinity without failing the tests.

Suggested fix
-    fp64_shape_value = numpy_helper.from_array(np.array([2.5], dtype=np.float64))
+    fp64_shape_value = numpy_helper.from_array(
+        np.array([np.finfo(np.float64).max], dtype=np.float64)
+    )
...
     shape_attr = next(attr for attr in const_shape_nodes[0].attribute if attr.name == "value")
     assert shape_attr.t.data_type == TensorProto.FLOAT
+    shape_value = numpy_helper.to_array(shape_attr.t)
+    assert np.all(np.isfinite(shape_value))
+    assert shape_value == np.finfo(np.float32).max
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Review comment at @tests/unit/onnx/autocast/test_graphsanitizer.py around lines
296 - 327:
Extend the existing ConstantOfShape test to use an FP64 value larger than the
FP32 range, then assert the converted tensor is finite and equals the FP32
maximum. Keep the existing dtype assertion and use the test’s current node and
attribute setup.

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Nitpick comments:
Review comments at @tests/unit/onnx/autocast/test_graphsanitizer.py:
- Around line 296-327: Extend the existing ConstantOfShape test to use an FP64
value larger than the FP32 range, then assert the converted tensor is finite and
equals the FP32 maximum. Keep the existing dtype assertion and use the test’s
current node and attribute setup.

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_convert_fp64_nodes sends Constant and ConstantOfShape through the same helper,
but only Constant was asserted, so a dispatch regression could send a
ConstantOfShape value to infinity without failing anything. Parametrize over
both rather than add a near-duplicate test.

Signed-off-by: Siddhardha Nanda <99672439+SID-6921@users.noreply.github.com>
@SID-6921

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Checking in — CI is green and this has been open since late September with only automated review so far. Happy to address any feedback whenever a maintainer has a chance to look.

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⚠️ Outside diff range comments (1)

🟡 Minor · Clamp FP64 values before converting them to FP32. · test_graphsanitizer.py:238-333

tests/unit/onnx/autocast/test_graphsanitizer.py:238-333
🎯 Functional Correctness | 🟡 Minor | ⚡ Quick win

Clamp FP64 values before converting them to FP32.

_convert_fp64_initializers() and _convert_fp64_nodes() both narrow finite FP64 values with astype(np.float32). An FP64 maximum therefore becomes +inf or -inf, while the new tests require ±np.finfo(np.float32).max. Use one shared helper for both paths and preserve existing infinities.

Suggested fix
+    @staticmethod
+    def _clamp_fp64_to_fp32(data: np.ndarray) -> np.ndarray:
+        fp32_max = np.finfo(np.float32).max
+        finite = np.isfinite(data)
+        return np.where(
+            finite, np.clip(data, -fp32_max, fp32_max), data
+        ).astype(np.float32)
+
     def _convert_fp64_initializers(self) -> bool:
...
-                fp32_data = fp64_data.astype(np.float32)
+                fp32_data = self._clamp_fp64_to_fp32(fp64_data)
...
-                        fp32_data = fp64_data.astype(np.float32)
+                        fp32_data = self._clamp_fp64_to_fp32(fp64_data)
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Review comment at @tests/unit/onnx/autocast/test_graphsanitizer.py around lines
238 - 333:
Update GraphSanitizer’s _convert_fp64_initializers() and _convert_fp64_nodes()
to use one shared conversion helper that clamps finite FP64 values to the FP32
representable range before narrowing, while preserving existing positive and
negative infinities.

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Outside diff comments:
Review comments at @tests/unit/onnx/autocast/test_graphsanitizer.py:
- Around line 238-333: Update GraphSanitizer’s _convert_fp64_initializers() and
_convert_fp64_nodes() to use one shared conversion helper that clamps finite
FP64 values to the FP32 representable range before narrowing, while preserving
existing positive and negative infinities.

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_convert_fp64_initializers() and _convert_fp64_nodes() cast FP64 data
straight to FP32, silently turning any finite value larger than FP32's
max into infinity. Add a shared _clamp_to_fp32_range() helper that
clamps only such out-of-range finite values (preserving any infinity
already present) and warns with the affected tensor's name, matching
the behavior the existing test suite expects.

Signed-off-by: Siddhardha Nanda <99672439+SID-6921@users.noreply.github.com>
AAnoosheh added a commit that referenced this pull request Oct 9, 2026
### What does this PR do?

Type of change: Bug fix

`MFTLoss.forward` flattens both logit tensors to `(batch * positions,
vocab)` and its docstring only assumes the class dimension is last, so
leading dimensions are clearly meant to be allowed:

```python
soft_log_probs = soft_log_probs.view(-1, soft_log_probs.size(-1))   # (new B, C)
target_logits  = target_logits.view(-1, target_logits.size(-1))     # (new B, C)
soft_targets = self._prepare_corrected_distributions(target_logits, labels, ...)
```

The labels were passed through untouched, and
`_prepare_corrected_distributions` rejects anything that is not 1-D:

```
ValueError: Logits must be a 2D tensor and labels must be a 1D tensor.
```

So the shapes a language model actually produces — `(batch, seq_len,
vocab)` logits against `(batch, seq_len)` labels — cannot be used:

| logits | labels | on `main` | this PR |
|---|---|---|---|
| `(2, 8, 50)` | `(2, 8)` | `ValueError` | converges, matches the
flattened form exactly |
| `(16, 50)` | `(16,)` | works | unchanged |

That is the setting Minifinetuning (arXiv:2506.15702) is for, so in
practice a caller had to flatten the labels themselves and nothing
documented that.

Flattening them alongside the logits fixes it, and the docstring now
says what shape the labels are expected in.

### Testing

`test_mft_loss_accepts_sequence_shaped_logits` drives `MFTLoss` at `(2,
8, 50)` / `(2, 8)` and asserts the result equals the pre-flattened `(16,
50)` / `(16,)` call. It fails on `main` with the `ValueError` above and
passes here.

Worth noting why this was not caught: the existing
`test_distillation_model_mft` drives `MFTLoss` through a vision model,
whose logits are already `(batch, classes)` and labels already
`(batch,)`, so the flattening never does anything there.

`tests/unit/torch/distill` is 30 passed, 1 skipped locally. The skip is
`plugins/test_huggingface_kd.py`, which needs `transformers` and is not
installed in my environment; it exercises `LogitsDistillationLoss`,
which this change does not touch.

### Before your PR is "*Ready for review*"

- Is this change backward compatible?: ✅ — already-1-D labels reshape to
themselves, so existing callers are unaffected
- If you copied code from any other sources or added a new PIP
dependency, did you follow guidance in `CONTRIBUTING.md`: N/A
- Did you write any new necessary tests?: ✅
- Did you update
[Changelog](https://github.com/NVIDIA/Model-Optimizer/blob/main/CHANGELOG.rst)?:
✅
- Did you get Claude approval on this PR?: N/A

### Additional Information

Unrelated to my open ONNX PRs (#2553, #2554, #2567, #2575, #2583) — no
shared files.

One thing I noticed next door and did not touch, in case it is of
interest: `LogitsDistillationLoss` defaults to `reduction="mean"`, while
`MFTLoss` in the same file defaults to `"batchmean"`. PyTorch warns on
every call that `"mean"` is not the KL divergence value and that it will
be changed to behave as `"batchmean"` in a future major release, so the
default path is currently a factor of the vocabulary size away from the
other two reductions and will shift silently when that lands. Changing a
training default is your call rather than mine, so I have left it alone
— happy to open a separate issue if useful.


<!-- This is an auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai
-->
## Summary by CodeRabbit

* **Bug Fixes**
* Improved handling of sequence-shaped labels when calculating
distillation loss, ensuring results match equivalent flattened inputs.
* **Tests**
* Added coverage verifying consistent loss results for sequence-shaped
and flattened inputs.
<!-- end of auto-generated comment: release notes by coderabbit.ai -->

---------

Signed-off-by: Siddhardha Nanda <99672439+SID-6921@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Asha Anoosheh <aanoosheh@nvidia.com>

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