Papers › FlexModel: A Framework for Interpretability of Distributed Large Language Models

FlexModel: A Framework for Interpretability of Distributed Large Language Models

5 Dec 2023arXiv:2312.03140archive 2025-07-28

Matthew Choi, Muhammad Adil Asif, John Willes, David Emerson

With the growth of large language models, now incorporating billions of parameters, the hardware prerequisites for their training and deployment have seen a corresponding increase. Although existing tools facilitate model parallelization and distributed training, deeper model interactions, crucial for interpretability and responsible AI techniques, still demand thorough knowledge of distributed computing. This often hinders contributions from researchers with machine learning expertise but limited distributed computing background. Addressing this challenge, we present FlexModel, a software package providing a streamlined interface for engaging with models distributed across multi-GPU and multi-node configurations. The library is compatible with existing model distribution libraries and encapsulates PyTorch models. It exposes user-registerable HookFunctions to facilitate straightforward interaction with distributed model internals, bridging the gap between distributed and single-device model paradigms. Primarily, FlexModel enhances accessibility by democratizing model interactions and promotes more inclusive research in the domain of large-scale neural networks. The package is found at https://github.com/VectorInstitute/flex_model.

PaperPDFCodeCode Syntology ran

In Syntology Open this paper in Syntology's Atlas, the map of the papers in Syntology's graph and their citations.

For agents, Syntology's MCP tool lists every function and class Syntology harvested from this paper and whether it ran (how to connect): get_harvested_code_for_paper(arxiv_id="2312.03140")

Code

Syntology Ran 6 of 8 code samples harvested from 1 repository linked to this paper; 2 have no recorded run. Of those that ran: 6 ran with no contract checked.

By repository: official repository: 8 samples from 1 repository, 6 ran. The run record, sample by sample. “Ran” means executed on a synthesized input, not that the code is correct or reproduces the paper.

vectorinstitute/flex_model officialmentioned in paperpytorchMIT report

Repository list and official/mentioned flags are the archive's, frozen 2025-07-28. Reachability, where shown, is from one Syntology probe window (2026-09-16 to 2026-09-18); repositories not probed show nothing. GitHub stars are not tracked.

Code Syntology ran Syntology

8 samples harvested; 6 ran; 0 honoured the contract we drafted; 2 have no recorded run. Read from Syntology's graph 2026-09-24; that is when this build read the record, not when the samples ran.

6ran
2unverified

Licence: 0 of the 8 samples are pointer only, meaning Syntology does not serve that copy's text. This page shows no code text for any sample; each one links to its file in the repository.

Harvested from VectorInstitute/flex_model. “Ran” means the sample executed on a synthesized input. It does not mean the output is correct, and nothing here reproduces the paper's results. “Honoured” and “violated” refer to a contract Syntology drafted from the code itself; “our draft was wrong” and “fixture could not drive it” are failures of Syntology's instrument, not of the code.

Each sample ends with its code_sha256, Syntology's identity for that exact code. An agent fetches the stored sample with Syntology's MCP tool get_code(code_sha256="…") (how to connect); click an identity to copy that call.

Repository labels, per sample. official repository: The archive marks this repository official for the paper. named in the paper: The archive records that the paper mentions this repository; it is not marked official. community (archive-listed): In the archive's code links for this paper, not marked official and not recorded as mentioned in the paper. found in paper text by Syntology: Syntology found this repository in the paper's own text; whether it is the authors' implementation is not asserted. community: Not in the archive's code links for this paper; a community repository Syntology harvested. Samples from a repository marked official are listed first. Licence labels name the repository's licence as recorded at harvest. “Pointer only” means Syntology does not serve that copy's text, for one of four reasons: no licence file was found; the licence was not identified; the licence is recorded as permissive but that copy's record is not marked cleared; or the licence is outside the permissive list Syntology serves text under (MIT, Apache-2.0, BSD and similar). Some licences outside that list permit redistribution, such as WTFPL, and GPL-3.0 under its conditions; they are simply not on the list. Hover a licence label for the reason. File links open the file on GitHub at the default branch, which may have changed since the harvest.

default_editing_function VectorInstitute/flex_model/flex_model/core/hook_function.py official repository ran MIT (permissive) · 40542584b263a1da · report
fsdp_config VectorInstitute/flex_model/demos/induction_heads_multigpu.py official repository ran fingerprinted MIT (permissive) · 54084cd3249575b2 · report
get_module_names VectorInstitute/flex_model/demos/induction_heads_multigpu.py official repository ran MIT (permissive) · 5fd7f383d759e3c4 · report
hook_function_identity VectorInstitute/flex_model/profiling/utils.py official repository ran MIT (permissive) · a603a99ef55a4b64 · report
register_leaf_node_type VectorInstitute/flex_model/flex_model/traverse/nodes.py official repository ran MIT (permissive) · d00e16db14b58dd5 · report
validate_args VectorInstitute/flex_model/profiling/profile_hooks.py official repository ran MIT (permissive) · b8ac7d2d09d54a42 · report
initialize_distributed_state VectorInstitute/flex_model/flex_model/distributed/distributed_state.py official repository unverified MIT (permissive) · eb799e48282e2db5 · report
setup_model VectorInstitute/flex_model/demos/induction_heads_multigpu.py official repository unverified MIT (permissive) · 22b6cdaad2f0133a · report

Tasks

Distributed Computing

1 archive task tag without a task page not shown.

Results from the paper archive 2025-07-28

No leaderboard rows for this paper in the archive.

Report a problem or propose a change · a person checks every report against the paper or source before anything changes; decisions are listed on /corrections