simpo-training

Files (4)

• SKILL.md
• datasets.md · references/
• hyperparameters.md · references/
• loss-functions.md · references/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# SimPO - Simple Preference Optimization

## Quick start

SimPO is a reference-free preference optimization method that outperforms DPO without needing a reference model.

**Installation**:
```bash
# Create environment
conda create -n simpo python=3.10 && conda activate simpo

# Install PyTorch 2.2.2
# Visit: https://pytorch.org/get-started/locally/

# Install alignment-handbook
git clone https://github.com/huggingface/alignment-handbook.git
cd alignment-handbook
python -m pip install .

# Install Flash Attention 2
python -m pip install flash-attn --no-build-isolation
```

**Training** (Mistral 7B):
```bash
ACCELERATE_LOG_LEVEL=info accelerate launch \
  --config_file accelerate_configs/deepspeed_zero3.yaml \
  scripts/run_simpo.py \
  training_configs/mistral-7b-base-simpo.yaml
```

## Common workflows

### Workflow 1: Train from base model (Mistral 7B)

**Config** (`mistral-7b-base-simpo.yaml`):
```yaml
# Model
model_name_or_path: mistralai/Mistral-7B-v0.1
torch_dtype: bfloat16

# Dataset
dataset_mixer:
  HuggingFaceH4/ultrafeedback_binarized: 1.0
dataset_splits:
  - train_prefs
  - test_prefs

# SimPO hyperparameters
beta: 2.0                  # Reward scaling (2.0-10.0)
gamma_beta_ratio: 0.5       # Target margin (0-1)
loss_type: sigmoid          # sigmoid or hinge
sft_weight: 0.0             # Optional SFT regularization

# Training
learning_rate: 5e-7         # Critical: 3e-7 to 1e-6
num_train_epochs: 1
per_device_train_batch_size: 1
gradient_accumulation_steps: 8

# Output
output_dir: ./outputs/mistral-7b-simpo
```

**Launch training**:
```bash
accelerate launch --config_file accelerate_configs/deepspeed_zero3.yaml \
  scripts/run_simpo.py training_configs/mistral-7b-base-simpo.yaml
```

### Workflow 2: Fine-tune instruct model (Llama 3 8B)

**Config** (`llama3-8b-instruct-simpo.yaml`):
```yaml
model_name_or_path: meta-llama/Meta-Llama-3-8B-Instruct

dataset_mixer:
  argilla/ultrafeedback-binarized-preferences-cleaned: 1.0

beta: 2.5
gamma_beta_ratio: 0.5
learning_rate: 5e-7
sft_weight: 0.1             # Add SFT loss to preserve capabilities

num_train_epochs: 1
per_device_train_batch_size: 2
gradient_accumulation_steps: 4
output_dir: ./outputs/llama3-8b-simpo
```

**Launch**:
```bash
accelerate launch --config_file accelerate_configs/deepspeed_zero3.yaml \
  scripts/run_simpo.py training_configs/llama3-8b-instruct-simpo.yaml
```

### Workflow 3: Reasoning-intensive tasks (lower LR)

**For math/code tasks**:
```yaml
model_name_or_path: deepseek-ai/deepseek-math-7b-base

dataset_mixer:
  argilla/distilabel-math-preference-dpo: 1.0

beta: 5.0                   # Higher for stronger signal
gamma_beta_ratio: 0.7       # Larger margin
learning_rate: 3e-7         # Lower LR for reasoning
sft_weight: 0.0

num_train_epochs: 1
per_device_train_batch_size: 1
gradient_accumulation_steps: 16
```

## When to use vs alternatives

**Use SimPO when**:
- Want simpler training than DPO (no reference model)

From Tommy-yw/RunbookHermes, MIT.

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