Nvidia Tensorrt LLM Ad Conf Check

AutoDeploy Config Checker

Verify that AutoDeploy YAML configs were applied at runtime by cross-referencing with server logs and optionally graph dumps.

Input

• TensorRT-LLM source directory (required) — path to the TensorRT-LLM repo root. Used to read the latest default.yaml and source code for up-to-date log patterns (the bundled reference doc may be stale).
• YAML config file path(s) (required) — one or more AutoDeploy YAML configs. When multiple files are provided, they are deep-merged left-to-right (later files override earlier ones for overlapping keys).
• Server log file path (required) — log output from the AutoDeploy server run.
• Graph dump directory (optional) — AD_DUMP_GRAPHS_DIR output directory containing per-transform graph snapshots (NNN_stage_transform.txt). Provides additional evidence for resolving UNKNOWN results.
• Nsys trace file (optional) — Nsight Systems profile (.nsys-rep or .sqlite) from the server run. Useful for verifying executor-level configs that produce no log output (e.g., enable_chunked_prefill, multi-stream concurrency, CUDA graph capture/replay).
• Table output file path (optional) — path to write human-friendly table results.
• JSON output file path (optional) — path to write machine-friendly JSON results.

Output

Human-friendly table (always presented to user)

• Verification table — one row per config key with columns: Config (key=value), Result (APPLIED / FAILED / SKIPPED / DISABLED / UNKNOWN), Evidence (log line or graph analysis proving the result).
• Summary line — total counts per status (e.g., Total configs checked: 29 | APPLIED: 23 | UNKNOWN: 4 | ...).
• FAILED/WARNING details — expanded information for any configs that failed or had warnings.

Machine-friendly JSON (when JSON output path is given)

JSON file with two top-level keys:

• results — array of objects, each with config, value, status, evidence.
• summary — object with total (int) and counts (object mapping status to count, only non-zero statuses included).

Workflow

1. [Collect Inputs] Ask the user for the following inputs:

   • TensorRT-LLM source directory (required) — path to the TensorRT-LLM repo root. Used to cross-check default.yaml and source code for the latest log patterns.
   • YAML config file path(s) (required) — one or more AutoDeploy configs used for the run. When multiple YAMLs are provided, they are deep-merged left-to-right: later files override earlier ones for overlapping keys. Tell the user: "If you have multiple configs (e.g., a default config and a user override), list them in priority order — lowest priority first, highest priority last."
   • Server log file path (required) — the log output from the server
   • Graph dump directory (optional but recommended) — the AD_DUMP_GRAPHS_DIR output directory containing per-transform graph snapshots. Files are named NNN_stage_transform.txt and show the graph AFTER each transform. When provided, graph analysis provides additional evidence (e.g., verifying sharded weights, collective ops, fused ops). This is especially useful for resolving UNKNOWN results.
   • Nsys trace file (optional) — Nsight Systems profile (.nsys-rep or .sqlite) from the server run. Useful for verifying executor-level configs that produce no log output (e.g., enable_chunked_prefill, multi-stream concurrency, CUDA graph capture/replay).
   • TensorRT-LLM source reference paths:
     • Example configs: <trtllm_src>/examples/auto_deploy/model_registry/configs/*.yaml
     • Default transform config (all available transforms and their defaults): <trtllm_src>/tensorrt_llm/_torch/auto_deploy/config/default.yaml

2. [Update Reference Doc] Before checking configs, ensure the bundled reference doc is up-to-date with the TensorRT-LLM source.

   Launch the ad-conf-check-update agent with:

   • <trtllm_src> — the TensorRT-LLM source directory from step 1
   • <skill_dir> — the directory containing this SKILL.md file

   The agent compares <trtllm_src>/tensorrt_llm/_torch/auto_deploy/config/default.yaml and the AutoDeploy source code against <skill_dir>/references/config_log_patterns.md. If any configs were added, removed, renamed, or if log patterns have changed, the agent updates the reference doc in-place and reports what changed.

   After the agent completes:

   • If the reference doc was updated, inform the user: "Updated references/config_log_patterns.md to match the latest TensorRT-LLM source — see the agent's change summary below." Then show the agent's summary.
   • If no changes were needed, briefly note: "Reference doc is up-to-date with the TensorRT-LLM source."

3. [Parse Configs] Run the parser script to flatten the YAML configs (<skill_dir> is the directory containing this SKILL.md file):

   Input: The TensorRT-LLM default.yaml as the base, followed by the user's YAML config path(s) from step 1. Always include default.yaml first so that user configs override the defaults.

   python3 <skill_dir>/scripts/parse_config.py <trtllm_src>/tensorrt_llm/_torch/auto_deploy/config/default.yaml <yaml_path1> [<yaml_path2> ...]
   

   This deep-merges the YAML files left-to-right (later files override earlier ones) and flattens nested keys into dotted notation (e.g., kv_cache_config.enable_block_reuse). By including default.yaml first, every known config key appears in the output even if the user only overrode a subset.

   Output: Flat JSON with all config {key, value} pairs. Example:

   {
     "yaml_files": ["default.yaml", "user_override.yaml"],
     "total_configs": 15,
     "configs": [
       {"key": "compile_backend", "value": "torch-cudagraph"},
       {"key": "kv_cache_config.free_gpu_memory_fraction", "value": "0.85"},
       {"key": "transforms.compile_model.piecewise_enabled", "value": "True"}
     ]
   }
   

4. [Quick Scan] Check each config against the server log using parallel agents.

   Input: Config list from step 3, server log path from step 1, and references/config_log_patterns.md.

   Split the configs from step 3 into 3 groups by section and launch 3 agents in parallel, each checking its group:

   Agent	Config group	Keys starting with	Reference section
   Agent 1	Top-level configs	runtime, compile_backend, attn_backend, max_seq_len, max_num_tokens, max_batch_size, cuda_graph_batch_sizes, enable_chunked_prefill, model_factory, dtype, etc.	"Top-Level Config Parameters"
   Agent 2	KV cache configs	kv_cache_config.*	"kv_cache_config Parameters"
   Agent 3	Transform configs	transforms.* (or any key matching a transform name like compile_model, detect_sharding, multi_stream_*, fuse_*, gather_logits_*, etc.)	"Transform Parameters"

   Each agent receives:

   • Its subset of {key, value} pairs
   • The server log file path
   • The reference doc references/config_log_patterns.md (including verification source tags: [log], [graph], [nsys])
   • The nsys trace file path (if provided)

   Each agent, for every config in its group:

   1. Reads the reference doc to find the relevant keywords and patterns for this config key.
   2. Greps the server log for those patterns. Key search strategies:
      • For transform configs: grep for [stage=..., transform=<name>] and check the [SUMMARY] line (matches=N → APPLIED if N>0, SKIPPED if N=0).
      • For configs with success/failure indicators: grep for those specific strings.
      • For configs with no known log pattern: grep for key=value or the key name near the value.
      • For configs with enabled: false: mark as DISABLED without log search.
   3. Assigns a status based on what was found:
      • APPLIED — log confirms the config took effect
      • FAILED — log shows the config was attempted but fell back or errored
      • SKIPPED — transform ran but found nothing to do (0 matches)
      • DISABLED — config explicitly set enabled: false
      • UNKNOWN — no log evidence found (config may still be active but unlogged)
   4. Records the evidence (the matching log line or lack thereof).

   Output: Each agent returns a list of {config, value, status, evidence} entries for its group. Merge all 3 lists into the combined result.

5. [Double Check] For any UNKNOWN entries from step 4, investigate further before presenting results to the user (FAILED entries already have concrete log evidence and do not need double-checking):

   Input: List of UNKNOWN config entries from step 4 output, the server log file, and references/config_log_patterns.md.

   • Re-read references/config_log_patterns.md for alternative patterns
   • Grep the log more broadly for the transform name: [stage=..., transform=<name>]
   • Look for [APPLY] prefixed lines and [SUMMARY] lines for that transform
   • Check for "Falling back", "Skipping", or "failed" near the transform logs
   • If graph dump directory was provided:
     • Graph files are named NNN_stage_transform.txt — each contains the FX graph AFTER that transform. Compare before/after by reading consecutive files.
     • Graph evidence can upgrade UNKNOWN to APPLIED (e.g., collective ops after lm_head confirm sharding, fused custom ops confirm fusion transforms).
     • Graph analysis verifies: sharding (collective ops, weight shape changes), attention backend (op types), MoE fusion (fused op presence), GEMM fusion (linear op count changes), RMSNorm/SwiGLU/RoPE pattern matching (custom op presence).
     • See references/graph_verification_patterns.md for the full list of graph-based checks.
   • If nsys trace was provided, check for executor-level configs tagged [nsys] in the reference doc (e.g., enable_chunked_prefill, enable_block_reuse, multi-stream concurrency, CUDA graph capture/replay)

   Output: For each investigated UNKNOWN entry, either additional evidence found (with status upgrade) or confirmation that the config is genuinely unlogged.

6. [Report] Present the final results to the user.

   ALWAYS show the full detailed table. Do NOT summarize or condense. Present one row per config with columns:

   • Config — the config key and its value (e.g., compile_backend = torch-cudagraph)
   • Result — one of: APPLIED, FAILED, SKIPPED, DISABLED, UNKNOWN
   • Evidence — the log line or pattern that proves the result

   After the table, show the summary line (e.g., Total configs checked: 29 | APPLIED: 23 | ...) and any FAILED/WARNING details. Include any additional findings from the Double Check step (step 5).

   If the user requested output files, write:

   • Table output — the human-friendly table as plain text
   • JSON output — machine-friendly JSON with results array and summary object

Key Patterns to Know

• Every transform logs: [stage=<stage>, transform=<name>] [SUMMARY] matches=N | time: ...
• Piecewise success chain: dual-mode enabled -> prepared with N submodules -> captured graphs
• Piecewise failure: "model is not a GraphModule...Falling back to eager execution"
• Sharding: "Using allreduce strategy: SYMM_MEM", "Applied N TP shards from config"

Gotchas

• Every YAML key must appear in the output. Check all configs from the YAML, not just ones with known patterns. If a config key has no entry in the reference doc, grep the log for the key name and value. New/unknown configs should still be reported — never silently skip them.
• UNKNOWN does not mean the config was ignored. Some configs (e.g., enable_chunked_prefill, enable_block_reuse) are consumed at executor/runtime level and produce no log output. UNKNOWN means "no log evidence found", not "config was not applied".
• Deprecated config names may cause FAILED. For example, torch_dtype is deprecated in favor of dtype, and cuda_graph_batch_sizes (top-level) is replaced by cuda_graph_config.batch_sizes. Look for deprecation warning messages in the log. Old keys may be silently ignored.
• Runtime may adjust configured values. For example, max_seq_len may be configured as 262144 but adjusted down to 16384 at runtime due to memory constraints. Report this as APPLIED with a WARNING annotation.
• ANSI color codes in logs. AutoDeploy uses colored log output. Strip or ignore ANSI escape sequences when matching patterns.
• Reference doc is auto-updated. Step 2 runs the ad-conf-check-update agent to sync references/config_log_patterns.md with the latest TensorRT-LLM source before any config checking begins. If the agent reports changes, review its summary to understand what shifted.