cubecl_runtime/metadata_cache.rs
1//! Cache of per-launch **metadata info buffers** (kernel shapes, strides and
2//! scalars) keyed by the exact info bytes they were built from (see
3//! [`InfoCacheKey`]).
4//!
5//! Info depends only on shapes and scalar arguments — not on the tensor data
6//! pointers, which are separate kernel arguments — so two launches with identical
7//! info, even of different kernels, can share one read-only device buffer. Caching those
8//! buffers removes a fresh allocation and a host→device copy from every launch,
9//! and it is what makes hardware graph capture clean: a stable-shape decode's
10//! launches all hit warm buffers, so nothing is allocated or copied inside the
11//! capture window (a device allocation mid-capture is illegal).
12//!
13//! [`MetadataCachePolicy`] owns every decision: whether a given metadata info is
14//! worth caching at all (small enough, and the cache enabled) and how many
15//! entries to keep before the least-recently-used one is evicted. Its two knobs,
16//! `max_entries` and `max_cached_size`, are tuned by the backend. The current
17//! [`CacheMode`] feeds into those same decisions — during graph capture the
18//! policy caches everything and evicts nothing — so the runtime never has to
19//! special-case capture: it just asks the policy and follows the answer.
20//!
21//! A captured graph records the device pointer of every info buffer its launches
22//! touch, so those buffers must outlive the graph. While a capture is recording,
23//! every entry the launch path touches — a fresh miss *or* a hit on a buffer
24//! built earlier in normal operation — is **pinned** to the graph being built.
25//! Pinned entries are never evicted, so the pointer a graph recorded stays valid
26//! for its whole life even if the cache would otherwise reclaim it.
27//! [`capture_commit`](MetadataInfoCache::capture_commit) seals those pins under
28//! the graph's id at `end_capture`, and
29//! [`graph_release`](MetadataInfoCache::graph_release) drops them when the graph
30//! is destroyed, freeing any buffer no other live graph still pins. Pins are
31//! refcounted, so an info buffer shared by two graphs survives until both are
32//! gone.
33//!
34//! The runtime drives it in three steps, so a value is only ever cloned into the
35//! cache when it will actually be kept:
36//!
37//! 1. ask [`MetadataInfoCache::should_cache`] — if `false`, create the value and
38//! return it directly, never touching the cache;
39//! 2. otherwise [`get`](MetadataInfoCache::get) — a hit returns the cached value;
40//! 3. on a miss, create the value and [`insert`](MetadataInfoCache::insert) it.
41
42use alloc::vec::Vec;
43use cubecl_environment::collections::{HashMap, HashSet};
44
45use crate::id::GraphId;
46
47/// Identifies a cached info buffer: the exact metadata words (shapes, strides,
48/// scalars) the buffer was built from — nothing else.
49///
50/// The kernel is deliberately **not** part of the key. An info buffer is
51/// read-only metadata whose bytes are fully determined by these words, so two
52/// launches (even of different kernels) with identical info want a byte-identical
53/// buffer and can safely share one. Keying on the words alone means a hit needs
54/// only the caller's borrowed slice — no owned key to clone on the hot path — and
55/// buffers are reused across kernels, not just within one.
56pub type InfoCacheKey = Vec<u64>;
57
58/// How the cache should behave for the current launch. Fed into the
59/// [`MetadataCachePolicy`], so it shapes every decision, not just a setting.
60#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
61pub enum CacheMode {
62 /// Normal operation: cache only info small enough to be worth it, and evict
63 /// the least-recently-used entry once the cache is full.
64 Normal,
65 /// Graph-capture warmup/recording: cache every info buffer regardless of
66 /// size and never evict, so the capture window finds every buffer warm and
67 /// no entry a recorded launch depends on is dropped mid-capture.
68 Capture,
69}
70
71/// Every caching decision, in one place. Given an info's size and the current
72/// [`CacheMode`], the policy decides whether that info is cached at all
73/// ([`should_cache`](Self::should_cache)) and, through its
74/// [`capacity`](Self::capacity), when the cache must evict to stay bounded. How
75/// those decisions are carried out (lookups, eviction) is the cache's job and
76/// differs per runtime; *what* to do lives here.
77///
78/// `max_entries` and `max_cached_size` are the backend-tunable knobs.
79#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy)]
80pub struct MetadataCachePolicy {
81 max_entries: usize,
82 max_cached_size: usize,
83 mode: CacheMode,
84}
85
86impl Default for MetadataCachePolicy {
87 fn default() -> Self {
88 // 4096 entries, ~256 metadata words (2048 bytes): a handful of tensors'
89 // shapes and strides. Larger infos (many tensors / high rank) are
90 // cheaper to rebuild than to hash and look up.
91 Self::new(4096, 2048)
92 }
93}
94
95impl MetadataCachePolicy {
96 /// Build a policy in [`CacheMode::Normal`]. `max_entries` caps the number of
97 /// cached entries; `max_cached_size` (bytes) is the largest info still worth
98 /// caching in normal operation.
99 pub fn new(max_entries: usize, max_cached_size: usize) -> Self {
100 Self {
101 max_entries,
102 max_cached_size,
103 mode: CacheMode::Normal,
104 }
105 }
106
107 /// Switch the mode driving the policy's decisions (see [`CacheMode`]).
108 pub fn mode(&mut self, mode: CacheMode) {
109 self.mode = mode;
110 }
111
112 /// Whether an info of `size` bytes should go through the cache at all. In
113 /// [`CacheMode::Normal`] a too-large info (or a disabled cache) is skipped:
114 /// the runtime should create it directly, without a lookup or a store. In
115 /// [`CacheMode::Capture`] everything is cached so the capture window stays
116 /// warm.
117 pub fn should_cache(&self, size: usize) -> bool {
118 match self.mode {
119 CacheMode::Capture => true,
120 CacheMode::Normal => self.max_entries > 0 && size <= self.max_cached_size,
121 }
122 }
123
124 /// The entry bound the cache must hold to, or `None` when unbounded. In
125 /// [`CacheMode::Capture`] the cache is unbounded and never evicts (dropping
126 /// an entry could free a buffer a recorded launch still needs); in
127 /// [`CacheMode::Normal`] it is capped at `max_entries`.
128 pub fn capacity(&self) -> Option<usize> {
129 match self.mode {
130 CacheMode::Capture => None,
131 CacheMode::Normal => Some(self.max_entries),
132 }
133 }
134
135 /// Whether entries touched right now must be pinned to the graph being
136 /// captured. True in [`CacheMode::Capture`]: a graph records the device
137 /// pointer of every info buffer its launches touch, so those entries must
138 /// not be evicted for the graph's lifetime — even after the cache returns to
139 /// [`CacheMode::Normal`], and even if the buffer lives in the regular
140 /// (non-persistent) pool and so is not otherwise retained by the graph.
141 pub fn pins_entries(&self) -> bool {
142 matches!(self.mode, CacheMode::Capture)
143 }
144}
145
146#[derive(Debug)]
147struct Entry<V> {
148 value: V,
149 /// Clock tick of this entry's most recent use (insert or hit); the smallest
150 /// marks the least-recently-used entry, evicted first.
151 last_used: u64,
152 /// Number of live captured graphs that pinned this entry. While `> 0` the
153 /// entry is never evicted, so every graph that recorded this info buffer
154 /// keeps replaying against the exact buffer it captured. Dropped back toward
155 /// zero as those graphs are destroyed (see [`MetadataInfoCache::graph_release`]).
156 locks: u32,
157}
158
159/// A cache of metadata info buffers keyed by [`InfoCacheKey`], generic over the
160/// value type `V` (a device buffer handle for a compute backend). Evicting an
161/// entry drops its `V`; when `V` is a memory handle that returns the buffer to
162/// the pool, so the cache never pins more device memory than its live entries.
163///
164/// All policy is delegated to [`MetadataCachePolicy`]; this type only carries
165/// out its decisions. See the [module docs](self) for the intended
166/// `should_cache` → `get` → `insert` flow.
167#[derive(Debug)]
168pub struct MetadataInfoCache<V> {
169 entries: HashMap<InfoCacheKey, Entry<V>>,
170 policy: MetadataCachePolicy,
171 /// Monotonic logical clock; advanced once per [`get`](Self::get).
172 clock: u64,
173 /// Keys touched during the in-progress capture, each pinned exactly once,
174 /// awaiting association with a [`GraphId`] at
175 /// [`capture_commit`](Self::capture_commit) (or release at
176 /// [`capture_discard`](Self::capture_discard) if the capture is abandoned).
177 pending: HashSet<InfoCacheKey>,
178 /// The keys each live captured graph pinned, so
179 /// [`graph_release`](Self::graph_release) can drop that graph's locks when it
180 /// is destroyed.
181 graph_locks: HashMap<GraphId, Vec<InfoCacheKey>>,
182}
183
184impl<V> MetadataInfoCache<V> {
185 /// Create a cache governed by `policy`.
186 pub fn new(policy: MetadataCachePolicy) -> Self {
187 Self {
188 entries: HashMap::new(),
189 policy,
190 clock: 0,
191 pending: HashSet::new(),
192 graph_locks: HashMap::new(),
193 }
194 }
195
196 /// Switch the [`CacheMode`] driving the policy (see
197 /// [`MetadataCachePolicy::mode`]).
198 pub fn mode(&mut self, mode: CacheMode) {
199 self.policy.mode(mode);
200 }
201
202 /// Whether an info of `size` bytes should be cached — see
203 /// [`MetadataCachePolicy::should_cache`]. When `false`, skip the cache
204 /// entirely and create the value directly.
205 pub fn should_cache(&self, size: usize) -> bool {
206 self.policy.should_cache(size)
207 }
208
209 /// Number of entries currently cached.
210 pub fn len(&self) -> usize {
211 self.entries.len()
212 }
213
214 /// Whether the cache holds no entries.
215 pub fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
216 self.entries.is_empty()
217 }
218
219 /// Drop every cached entry (releasing every held `V`).
220 pub fn clear(&mut self) {
221 self.entries.clear();
222 }
223
224 /// Drop every entry no live graph pins (releasing their held `V`s),
225 /// keeping the pinned ones — their device pointers are recorded inside
226 /// captured graphs that will replay against them.
227 ///
228 /// The explicit-cleanup hook. Cached info buffers are live slices in the
229 /// dynamic memory pools, and a pool rebuild
230 /// ([`MemoryManagement::install_pools`](crate::memory_management::MemoryManagement::install_pools))
231 /// refuses while anything is alive in them — without this, the first
232 /// launches on a stream would make its pools permanently
233 /// un-reconfigurable.
234 pub fn clear_unpinned(&mut self) {
235 self.entries.retain(|_, entry| entry.locks > 0);
236 }
237}
238
239impl<V: Clone> MetadataInfoCache<V> {
240 /// Look up `key`, advancing the logical clock by one tick. On a hit the
241 /// entry is marked used — its recency resets — and the value is cloned out.
242 /// During a capture ([`pins_entries`](MetadataCachePolicy::pins_entries)) a
243 /// hit also pins the entry to the graph being recorded, once per capture.
244 ///
245 /// Call only when [`should_cache`](Self::should_cache) is `true`; on a miss
246 /// create the value and hand it to [`insert`](Self::insert).
247 pub fn get(&mut self, key: &[u64]) -> Option<V> {
248 self.clock += 1;
249 let clock = self.clock;
250 // Pin once per capture. Check membership first (borrowed, no alloc); only
251 // when this is a fresh pin do we materialize an owned key for `pending`.
252 // `pending`/`entries` are disjoint fields, so both borrows coexist.
253 let pin = self.policy.pins_entries() && !self.pending.contains(key);
254 let entry = self.entries.get_mut(key)?;
255 entry.last_used = clock;
256 if pin {
257 self.pending.insert(key.to_vec());
258 entry.locks += 1;
259 }
260 Some(entry.value.clone())
261 }
262
263 /// Store `value` under `key` after a [`get`](Self::get) miss. During a
264 /// capture the new entry is pinned to the graph being recorded; otherwise it
265 /// evicts the least-recently-used *unpinned* entry first if the cache is at
266 /// [capacity](MetadataCachePolicy::capacity) (a capture is unbounded and
267 /// never evicts).
268 ///
269 /// Because the runtime only reaches here on a
270 /// [`should_cache`](Self::should_cache) miss, the value it clones in is
271 /// always kept — no wasted clones.
272 pub fn insert(&mut self, key: InfoCacheKey, value: V) {
273 if let Some(capacity) = self.policy.capacity() {
274 if capacity == 0 {
275 return;
276 }
277 if self.entries.len() >= capacity {
278 self.evict_least_recently_used();
279 }
280 }
281 // A miss during capture pins the fresh entry to the graph being recorded.
282 let locks = if self.policy.pins_entries() {
283 self.pending.insert(key.clone());
284 1
285 } else {
286 0
287 };
288 self.entries.insert(
289 key,
290 Entry {
291 value,
292 last_used: self.clock,
293 locks,
294 },
295 );
296 }
297
298 /// Seal the entries pinned during the just-finished capture under `graph`,
299 /// so [`graph_release`](Self::graph_release) can drop their locks when the
300 /// graph is destroyed. Call once from `end_capture` after the graph is built.
301 pub fn capture_commit(&mut self, graph: GraphId) {
302 if !self.pending.is_empty() {
303 let keys = self.pending.drain().collect();
304 self.graph_locks.insert(graph, keys);
305 }
306 }
307
308 /// Drop the locks taken during a capture that was abandoned (never turned
309 /// into a graph), so the touched entries become evictable again. The entries
310 /// themselves stay as ordinary cached values.
311 pub fn capture_discard(&mut self) {
312 let keys: Vec<_> = self.pending.drain().collect();
313 for key in keys {
314 if let Some(entry) = self.entries.get_mut(&key) {
315 entry.locks = entry.locks.saturating_sub(1);
316 }
317 }
318 }
319
320 /// Release the entries a destroyed `graph` pinned. An entry no other live
321 /// graph still pins is removed, freeing its buffer — this is how the cache
322 /// is cleaned up when a graph is destroyed.
323 pub fn graph_release(&mut self, graph: GraphId) {
324 let Some(keys) = self.graph_locks.remove(&graph) else {
325 return;
326 };
327 for key in keys {
328 let drop_entry = match self.entries.get_mut(&key) {
329 Some(entry) => {
330 entry.locks = entry.locks.saturating_sub(1);
331 entry.locks == 0
332 }
333 None => false,
334 };
335 if drop_entry {
336 self.entries.remove(&key);
337 }
338 }
339 }
340
341 /// Drop the entry whose last use is oldest (largest "time since last use"),
342 /// skipping entries pinned to a live graph.
343 fn evict_least_recently_used(&mut self) {
344 let victim = self
345 .entries
346 .iter()
347 .filter(|(_, entry)| entry.locks == 0)
348 .min_by_key(|(_, entry)| entry.last_used)
349 .map(|(key, _)| key.clone());
350 if let Some(key) = victim {
351 self.entries.remove(&key);
352 }
353 }
354}
355
356#[cfg(test)]
357mod tests {
358 use super::*;
359
360 fn key(n: u64) -> InfoCacheKey {
361 alloc::vec![n]
362 }
363
364 fn cache(max_entries: usize) -> MetadataInfoCache<u32> {
365 MetadataInfoCache::new(MetadataCachePolicy::new(max_entries, 64))
366 }
367
368 #[test]
369 fn normal_mode_gates_on_size() {
370 let cache = cache(8);
371 assert!(cache.should_cache(64), "within max_cached_size");
372 assert!(!cache.should_cache(65), "over max_cached_size");
373 }
374
375 /// An explicit cleanup drops every entry except the ones live graphs pin:
376 /// the unpinned buffers are what keeps the dynamic pools from ever being
377 /// rebuilt, and the pinned ones are what recorded graphs replay against.
378 #[test]
379 fn clear_unpinned_keeps_only_graph_pinned_entries() {
380 let mut cache = cache(8);
381 cache.insert(key(0), 0);
382
383 // A capture touches entry 1 (fresh) and seals it under a graph.
384 cache.mode(CacheMode::Capture);
385 cache.insert(key(1), 1);
386 cache.capture_commit(GraphId::new());
387 cache.mode(CacheMode::Normal);
388
389 cache.insert(key(2), 2);
390 assert_eq!(cache.len(), 3);
391
392 cache.clear_unpinned();
393 assert!(cache.get(&key(0)).is_none(), "unpinned entries are dropped");
394 assert!(cache.get(&key(2)).is_none(), "unpinned entries are dropped");
395 assert_eq!(
396 cache.get(&key(1)),
397 Some(1),
398 "a graph-pinned entry survives: its pointer is recorded in the graph"
399 );
400 }
401
402 #[test]
403 fn capture_mode_caches_any_size() {
404 let mut cache = cache(8);
405 cache.mode(CacheMode::Capture);
406 assert!(cache.should_cache(10_000));
407 }
408
409 #[test]
410 fn hit_returns_value_and_records_use() {
411 let mut cache = cache(8);
412 let k = key(1);
413 assert!(cache.get(&k).is_none());
414 cache.insert(k.clone(), 42);
415 assert_eq!(cache.get(&k), Some(42));
416 }
417
418 #[test]
419 fn normal_mode_evicts_least_recently_used() {
420 // Capacity 2: fill it, keep entry 0 hot so entry 1 is the LRU, then
421 // insert a third entry and expect entry 1 evicted, entry 0 kept.
422 let mut cache = cache(2);
423 cache.insert(key(0), 0);
424 cache.insert(key(1), 1);
425
426 // Touch entry 0 so entry 1 becomes least-recently-used.
427 assert_eq!(cache.get(&key(0)), Some(0));
428
429 cache.insert(key(2), 2);
430 assert_eq!(cache.len(), 2, "stayed at capacity");
431 assert_eq!(cache.get(&key(0)), Some(0), "recently used entry kept");
432 assert!(cache.get(&key(1)).is_none(), "least-recently-used evicted");
433 assert_eq!(cache.get(&key(2)), Some(2), "new entry cached");
434 }
435
436 #[test]
437 fn capture_mode_is_unbounded() {
438 let mut cache = cache(2);
439 cache.mode(CacheMode::Capture);
440 for i in 0..10 {
441 cache.insert(key(i), i as u32);
442 }
443 assert_eq!(cache.len(), 10, "capture must cache every buffer");
444 }
445
446 #[test]
447 fn zero_capacity_disables_caching() {
448 let mut cache = cache(0);
449 assert!(!cache.should_cache(8), "disabled cache never caches");
450 cache.insert(key(0), 0);
451 assert!(cache.is_empty());
452 }
453
454 /// Capture one entry into a graph, then thrash the cache well past capacity
455 /// in normal mode: the pinned entry must survive (its buffer is still
456 /// replayed against), and only after the graph is released can it be evicted.
457 #[test]
458 fn pinned_entry_survives_eviction_until_graph_released() {
459 let mut cache = cache(2);
460 let graph = GraphId::new();
461
462 // Capture pins entry 0.
463 cache.mode(CacheMode::Capture);
464 cache.insert(key(0), 0);
465 cache.capture_commit(graph);
466
467 // Back to normal: flood the cache far past capacity (get-then-insert,
468 // as the launch path does, so recency advances per entry).
469 cache.mode(CacheMode::Normal);
470 for i in 1..20 {
471 cache.get(&key(i));
472 cache.insert(key(i), i as u32);
473 }
474 assert_eq!(cache.get(&key(0)), Some(0), "pinned entry never evicted");
475
476 // Destroying the graph releases the pin and drops the entry.
477 cache.graph_release(graph);
478 assert!(cache.get(&key(0)).is_none(), "released entry cleaned up");
479 }
480
481 /// A cache hit during capture (on a buffer built earlier in normal mode)
482 /// must pin that entry — otherwise later eviction would free a buffer the
483 /// graph still replays against. This is the finding-#1 regression guard.
484 #[test]
485 fn capture_hit_on_normal_entry_pins_it() {
486 let mut cache = cache(2);
487 let graph = GraphId::new();
488
489 // Built in normal mode (e.g. regular pool), cached.
490 cache.insert(key(0), 0);
491
492 // Captured: the launch hits the existing entry, which must pin it.
493 cache.mode(CacheMode::Capture);
494 assert_eq!(cache.get(&key(0)), Some(0));
495 cache.capture_commit(graph);
496
497 cache.mode(CacheMode::Normal);
498 for i in 1..20 {
499 cache.get(&key(i));
500 cache.insert(key(i), i as u32);
501 }
502 assert_eq!(cache.get(&key(0)), Some(0), "hit-pinned entry survives");
503 }
504
505 /// An entry shared by two graphs stays until both are destroyed (refcount).
506 #[test]
507 fn pin_is_refcounted_across_graphs() {
508 let mut cache = cache(8);
509 let (g1, g2) = (GraphId::new(), GraphId::new());
510
511 cache.mode(CacheMode::Capture);
512 cache.insert(key(0), 0);
513 cache.capture_commit(g1);
514
515 // Second capture hits the same entry.
516 assert_eq!(cache.get(&key(0)), Some(0));
517 cache.capture_commit(g2);
518
519 cache.mode(CacheMode::Normal);
520 cache.graph_release(g1);
521 assert_eq!(cache.get(&key(0)), Some(0), "still pinned by g2");
522 cache.graph_release(g2);
523 assert!(cache.get(&key(0)).is_none(), "gone once both released");
524 }
525
526 /// An abandoned capture releases its pins but keeps the entries as ordinary
527 /// cached values (they become evictable again).
528 #[test]
529 fn capture_discard_unpins_without_removing() {
530 let mut cache = cache(8);
531 cache.mode(CacheMode::Capture);
532 cache.insert(key(0), 0);
533 cache.capture_discard();
534
535 // Entry still present, but now evictable: flood past capacity in normal.
536 cache.mode(CacheMode::Normal);
537 assert_eq!(cache.get(&key(0)), Some(0), "kept as a normal entry");
538 for i in 1..20 {
539 cache.get(&key(i));
540 cache.insert(key(i), i as u32);
541 }
542 assert!(cache.get(&key(0)).is_none(), "no longer pinned, evicted");
543 }
544}