"""Orchestrate the staged curriculum (see TRAINING.md's "Curriculum training" section): run each stage, evaluate the result against a reference bot, and either advance to the next stage or retry the same one. State is persisted to curriculum_state.json (committed to git) so the script is safe to Ctrl-C and re-run — it picks up exactly where it left off. Each attempt reuses run_training.sh (pull, train, export, commit+push) so every attempt's checkpoint, log, and exported policy is versioned like any other run; this script additionally evaluates the result and commits the updated eval_history.json + curriculum_state.json. The gate is deliberately lenient ("block only on a clear regression," not "require improvement") — see TRAINING.md. A 40-episode eval can call a real improvement a regression on sample noise alone (this happened with run11: it was the first model to deliberately score, but lost its head-to-head evals). A strict improvement-required gate would have retried that stage forever for the wrong reason. When a stage does fail MAX_RETRIES times in a row, the script stops and asks for a human look rather than retrying indefinitely or silently advancing past a bad stage. Usage: .venv/bin/python curriculum.py # run/resume the curriculum .venv/bin/python curriculum.py --seed-checkpoint checkpoints/run11/final.zip .venv/bin/python curriculum.py --force-retry # after fixing something, retry the blocked stage .venv/bin/python curriculum.py --skip-to-next-stage # human judgment call: good enough, move on anyway Typically started via curriculum.sh, which runs this in a detached tmux session the way start_training.sh does for a single run. """ import argparse import json import pathlib import subprocess import sys TRAINING_DIR = pathlib.Path(__file__).resolve().parent STATE_PATH = TRAINING_DIR / "curriculum_state.json" EVAL_HISTORY_PATH = TRAINING_DIR / "eval_history.json" ROOKIE_REFERENCE = TRAINING_DIR.parent / "Game" / "bots" / "rookie.json" MAX_RETRIES = 2 EVAL_EPISODES = 100 # "Clear regression" = the reference beats the candidate by at least this # many percentage points of win rate. Below this, noise in a 100-episode # sample is a more likely explanation than the stage actually failing (see # module docstring) — advance rather than retry. REGRESSION_MARGIN = 0.15 # Standing flags applied to every attempt, mirroring next_run.sh: reset-std # reopens exploration every attempt (harmless on fresh starts — train.py # only applies it on --resume), ent-coef keeps it from re-collapsing. STANDING_ARGS = ["--reset-std", "0.3", "--ent-coef", "0.001"] STAGES = [ { "name": "score", "flags": [ "--opponent-mode", "inert", "--attack-goal-bias", "1.0", "--no-allow-vertical", "--no-allow-pitch-roll", ], "grounded": True, }, { "name": "defend", "flags": [ "--opponent-mode", "self_play", "--no-allow-vertical", "--no-allow-pitch-roll", ], "grounded": True, }, { "name": "no_draws", "flags": ["--draw-penalty", "5"], "grounded": False, }, { "name": "mechanics", "flags": [], "grounded": False, }, { "name": "aggression", # Deliberately resumes from stage 2 (curric-s2-defend), not stage 4 # (see resume_from_experiment/reference_experiment below) — the # locomotion-mask inference bugfix (8c15c46) revealed that stage 3's # full-3D unmask was a clear regression, not an improvement: fairly # evaluated, curric-s2-defend beats both curric-s3-no_draws (26-60) # and curric-s4-mechanics (24-57). Rather than compound that # regression, this stage keeps the locomotion mask ON (matching # stage 2's own regime) and just retunes ball-pursuit reward weights, # so it can't reopen the same grounded-to-3D transition that caused # the earlier failure. Full 3D flight is parked as a separate, # later initiative. "flags": [ "--opponent-mode", "self_play", "--no-allow-vertical", "--no-allow-pitch-roll", "--velocity-to-ball-weight", "0.05", # up from 0.02 "--ball-distance-penalty", "0.006", # up from 0.002 "--ball-touch-reward", "0.5", # up from 0.4 ], "grounded": True, "resume_from_experiment": "curric-s2-defend", "reference_experiment": "curric-s2-defend", }, { "name": "unmask", # Re-opens full 3D controls (no more --no-allow-vertical/ # --no-allow-pitch-roll) on top of the aggression retune, instead of # keeping locomotion masked indefinitely. The mask blocked *thrust*- # driven flight outright; the new airborne_penalty (dense, scaled by # height above the floor — see ship_ai_controller.gd) is meant to # teach the policy to prefer staying grounded through incentives # rather than a hard constraint, so it can start learning when the # other axes are actually useful (aerial saves, wall recoveries) # instead of never touching them. This resumes the exact regime # shift (grounded checkpoint -> full 3D) that regressed stage 3 — # the mitigation this time is airborne_penalty plus a much longer # run (24h / ~240M steps vs stage 3's 20M) to actually re-converge # instead of stalling mid-shift like stage 3 did in a fifth of the # time. "flags": [ "--opponent-mode", "self_play", "--velocity-to-ball-weight", "0.05", "--ball-distance-penalty", "0.006", "--ball-touch-reward", "0.5", "--airborne-penalty", "0.003", ], "grounded": False, "timesteps": 240_000_000, # ~24h at the standing n-parallel/speedup (20M took ~2h) }, ] def load_state() -> dict: if STATE_PATH.exists(): return json.loads(STATE_PATH.read_text()) return {"stage_index": 0, "attempt": 0, "status": "in_progress", "log": []} def save_state(state: dict) -> None: STATE_PATH.write_text(json.dumps(state, indent=2) + "\n") def experiment_name(stage_index: int, attempt: int) -> str: name = f"curric-s{stage_index + 1}-{STAGES[stage_index]['name']}" return name if attempt == 0 else f"{name}-retry{attempt}" def resume_checkpoint(stage_index: int, attempt: int, seed_checkpoint: str | None) -> str | None: if attempt > 0: # Retry: keep training the same stage's own last attempt. prev = experiment_name(stage_index, attempt - 1) return str(TRAINING_DIR / "checkpoints" / prev / "final.zip") if stage_index == 0: # Deliberately fresh by default: the curriculum exists because # resuming self-play across a regime change (run10, run11) didn't # work, so stage 1 starts from a random policy under its own # regime unless --seed-checkpoint says otherwise. return seed_checkpoint prev_experiment = _resume_source_experiment(stage_index) return str(TRAINING_DIR / "checkpoints" / prev_experiment / "final.zip") def reference_bot(stage_index: int) -> str: if stage_index == 0: return str(ROOKIE_REFERENCE) prev_experiment = _reference_source_experiment(stage_index) return str(TRAINING_DIR.parent / "Game" / "bots" / f"{prev_experiment}.json") # A stage normally chains off "whatever passed at the previous index," but a # stage can instead name an explicit resume_from_experiment/reference_experiment # to skip a since-regressed branch (see the "aggression" stage) without # rewriting history for the stages it's skipping past. def _resume_source_experiment(stage_index: int) -> str: override = STAGES[stage_index].get("resume_from_experiment") return override if override else _passing_experiment_for_stage(stage_index - 1) def _reference_source_experiment(stage_index: int) -> str: override = STAGES[stage_index].get("reference_experiment") return override if override else _passing_experiment_for_stage(stage_index - 1) def _passing_experiment_for_stage(stage_index: int) -> str: state = load_state() for entry in state["log"]: if entry["stage_index"] == stage_index and entry["decision"] == "pass": return entry["experiment"] raise RuntimeError(f"No passing attempt recorded for stage {stage_index} ({STAGES[stage_index]['name']})") def _grounded_for_experiment(experiment: str) -> bool: if experiment == "rookie": return False for index, stage in enumerate(STAGES): if experiment_name(index, 0) == experiment: return stage["grounded"] raise ValueError(f"Unknown experiment for groundedness lookup: {experiment}") def run_stage_attempt(stage_index: int, attempt: int, args) -> str: exp = experiment_name(stage_index, attempt) resume = resume_checkpoint(stage_index, attempt, args.seed_checkpoint) # A stage can override the run's timesteps budget (see "floor-lock", # which deliberately runs much longer than the ~20M/~2h every stage so # far has used); otherwise it falls back to curriculum.py's own --timesteps. timesteps = STAGES[stage_index].get("timesteps", args.timesteps) cmd = [ "./run_training.sh", exp, "--timesteps", str(timesteps), "--n-parallel", str(args.n_parallel), "--speedup", str(args.speedup), *STANDING_ARGS, *STAGES[stage_index]["flags"], ] if resume: cmd += ["--resume", resume] print(f"\n=== Stage {stage_index + 1}/{len(STAGES)} ({STAGES[stage_index]['name']}), " f"attempt {attempt + 1}/{MAX_RETRIES + 1}: {exp} ===") print(" ".join(cmd)) subprocess.run(cmd, cwd=TRAINING_DIR, check=True) return exp def reference_grounded(stage_index: int) -> bool: if stage_index == 0: # rookie.json predates the locomotion mask entirely — always full 3D. return False return _grounded_for_experiment(_reference_source_experiment(stage_index)) def evaluate_attempt(experiment: str, reference: str, episodes: int, stage_index: int) -> dict: candidate = TRAINING_DIR.parent / "Game" / "bots" / f"{experiment}.json" cmd = [".venv/bin/python", "evaluate.py", str(candidate), reference, "--episodes", str(episodes)] # Must match how each side was actually trained — see ai_ship_controller.gd's # allow_vertical/allow_pitch_roll and evaluate.py's --grounded-a/-b. if STAGES[stage_index]["grounded"]: cmd.append("--grounded-a") if reference_grounded(stage_index): cmd.append("--grounded-b") print(" ".join(cmd)) subprocess.run(cmd, cwd=TRAINING_DIR, check=True) history = json.loads(EVAL_HISTORY_PATH.read_text()) return history[-1] def decide(record: dict) -> str: win_rate_candidate = record["wins_a"] / record["episodes"] win_rate_reference = record["wins_b"] / record["episodes"] if win_rate_reference - win_rate_candidate >= REGRESSION_MARGIN: return "fail" return "pass" def commit_progress(experiment: str) -> None: subprocess.run(["git", "add", "curriculum_state.json", "eval_history.json"], cwd=TRAINING_DIR, check=True) result = subprocess.run(["git", "diff", "--cached", "--quiet"], cwd=TRAINING_DIR) if result.returncode == 0: return subprocess.run( ["git", "commit", "-m", f"chore(training): curriculum progress after {experiment}"], cwd=TRAINING_DIR, check=True, ) subprocess.run(["git", "push"], cwd=TRAINING_DIR, check=True) def main(): parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__, formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter) parser.add_argument("--timesteps", type=int, default=20_000_000) parser.add_argument("--n-parallel", type=int, default=14) parser.add_argument("--speedup", type=int, default=16) parser.add_argument("--seed-checkpoint", default=None, help="Resume stage 1 from this checkpoint instead of a fresh policy") parser.add_argument("--force-retry", action="store_true", help="Retry a blocked stage after human review") parser.add_argument("--skip-to-next-stage", action="store_true", help="Human judgment call: treat the blocked stage as good enough, advance anyway") args = parser.parse_args() state = load_state() if state["status"] == "blocked": if args.skip_to_next_stage: print(f"Human override: advancing past stage {state['stage_index'] + 1} " f"({STAGES[state['stage_index']]['name']}) despite exhausted retries.") state["log"].append({ "stage_index": state["stage_index"], "experiment": experiment_name(state["stage_index"], state["attempt"]), "attempt": state["attempt"], "decision": "pass", "override": "skip_to_next_stage", }) state["stage_index"] += 1 state["attempt"] = 0 state["status"] = "in_progress" save_state(state) elif args.force_retry: print(f"Human override: retrying stage {state['stage_index'] + 1} " f"({STAGES[state['stage_index']]['name']}) after review.") state["attempt"] += 1 state["status"] = "in_progress" save_state(state) else: print(f"BLOCKED at stage {state['stage_index'] + 1} ({STAGES[state['stage_index']]['name']}) " f"after {MAX_RETRIES + 1} attempts — see curriculum_state.json's log for eval results.") print("Re-run with --force-retry (after adjusting flags/timesteps) or " "--skip-to-next-stage (advance anyway) once you've looked at why.") sys.exit(1) while state["stage_index"] < len(STAGES): stage_index = state["stage_index"] attempt = state["attempt"] experiment = run_stage_attempt(stage_index, attempt, args) reference = reference_bot(stage_index) record = evaluate_attempt(experiment, reference, EVAL_EPISODES, stage_index) decision = decide(record) print(f"{experiment}: candidate {record['wins_a']}-{record['wins_b']} reference " f"({record['draws']} draws) over {record['episodes']} episodes -> {decision}") state["log"].append({ "stage_index": stage_index, "experiment": experiment, "attempt": attempt, "eval": record, "decision": decision, }) if decision == "pass": state["stage_index"] += 1 state["attempt"] = 0 state["status"] = "in_progress" save_state(state) commit_progress(experiment) continue if attempt >= MAX_RETRIES: state["status"] = "blocked" save_state(state) commit_progress(experiment) print(f"\nBLOCKED: stage {stage_index + 1} ({STAGES[stage_index]['name']}) failed " f"{MAX_RETRIES + 1} attempts in a row. Stopping for human review — see " f"curriculum_state.json. Re-run with --force-retry or --skip-to-next-stage.") sys.exit(1) state["attempt"] += 1 save_state(state) commit_progress(experiment) print("\nCurriculum complete — all stages passed.") state["status"] = "done" save_state(state) if __name__ == "__main__": main()