Experiment evidence and artifacts

What TauGrid saves from a run, where it goes, and how to retrieve it

Every run should save enough information for you to answer four questions:

  • What code and settings produced this result?
  • Did the model improve during the run?
  • Where are the checkpoint and output files?
  • Can I compare, reproduce, or resume this run later?

What TauGrid saves

Saved dataExamplesWhere it is saved
Run detailsProject, run ID, config, and input referencesTauGrid experiment index
Metrics over timeLoss, accuracy, throughput, and GPU useMetric files
Metric summaryFirst and latest step, minimum, maximum, and point countTauGrid experiment index
Output filesCheckpoints, models, images, tables, profiles, and reportsThe directory set by storage.output
Run historyAttempts, retries, resumes, and final statusTauGrid experiment index and Kubernetes workload

The output files stay on the storage chosen by the platform team. TauGrid keeps an index so you can find and compare them.

How metric storage works

TauGrid saves the complete metric history close to the run. This keeps the data available even when a dashboard or external data service is offline.

  1. The run writes complete metric files. A file becomes visible only after the write finishes. Readers never receive a half-written file.
  2. TauGrid stores the points in a consistent format. Each run uses the same fields for names, steps, times, and values. The saved files use Parquet, which works well for large metric histories.
  3. A retry does not create another copy. TauGrid recognizes a repeated write and reuses the saved record. If the content changed, TauGrid reports the conflict instead of replacing the old data.
  4. TauGrid builds a short summary. For each metric, it records the number of points, the step range, the minimum and maximum values, and the latest valid value. Invalid numbers such as NaN and infinity are counted separately.
  5. Dashboards can use an optional copy. Platform teams can send metric points to ADX/Kusto for dashboards and searches across many workspaces. The files saved with the run remain the source of truth.

Each metric point includes:

FieldWhat it tells you
project, run_group_id, run_idWhich experiment and run produced the point
metric_nameWhat was measured, such as loss or accuracy
step, wall_timeWhen the point occurred in training and on the clock
value, unitThe measured number and its unit, when one applies
source, split, tagsWhere the point came from and useful labels such as dataset split or workspace

You can review the same metric history in the TauGrid Portal. The saved run data remains the source of truth.

Save output files

Set storage.output to a directory on the workspace storage:

storage:
  data_pvc: blob-training
  output: /data/projects/vision-lab/runs/train-042

The run can write directly to that directory. Use staged publishing when output files should appear only after all writes finish:

storage:
  data_pvc: blob-training
  output: /data/projects/vision-lab/runs/train-042
  publish: staged

With staged publishing, the run writes files to TAU_OUTPUT_STAGING_DIR. TauGrid checks the files, copies them into the durable output directory, and marks the set as complete. Commands only return a completed set.

Retrieve output files

List the files saved by a run:

tau run get <run-name> -n <workspace-namespace>

Fetch one file:

tau run get <run-name> -n <workspace-namespace> \
  --artifact reports/evaluation.json -o raw

Set storage.checkpoint when a run produces a model that you plan to serve. The value points to one file or directory inside the run’s output. TauGrid records its location so this command can find it later:

tau serve deploy --from-finetune <run-name>

Try a live example

Run the live experiment evidence example to publish loss and accuracy, inspect the saved files with tau run get, and view the metric history in the TauGrid Portal.

See Observability for platform telemetry, Prepare ADX/Kusto for optional dashboards across many workspaces, and Retry and resume for recovery state.