Pyfmto
pyfmto is a Python library for federated many-task optimization research
Install / Use
/learn @Xiaoxu-Zhang/PyfmtoREADME
PyFMTO
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PyFMTO is a pure Python library for federated many-task optimization research
<table align="center"> <tr> <td align="center"> <img src="https://github.com/Xiaoxu-Zhang/zxx-assets/raw/main/pyfmto-demo.gif" width="95%"/><br> Run experiments </td> <td align="center"> <img src="https://github.com/Xiaoxu-Zhang/zxx-assets/raw/main/pyfmto-iplot.gif" width="95%"/><br> Plot tasks </td> </tr> </table>Usage
PyFMTO's CLI is available in any working directory, just make sure:
- The Python environment is properly set up and activated
- The PyFMTO is installed
- A valid configuration file is provided in the current working directory
For more details, please refer to:
Quick Start
Create an environment and install PyFMTO:
conda create -n fmto python=3.10
conda activate fmto
pip install pyfmto
Clone the fmto repository (why?):
git clone https://github.com/Xiaoxu-Zhang/fmto.git
cd fmto
Start the experiments:
pyfmto run
Generate reports:
pyfmto report
The reports will be saved in the folder out/results/<today>
Command-line Interface (CLI)
PyFMTO provides a command-line interface (CLI) for running experiments, analyzing results and get helps. The CLI layers are as follows:
pyfmto
├── -h/--help
├── run
├── report
├── list algorithms/problems/reports
└── show algorithms.<alg_name>/problems.<prob_name>
Examples:
-
Get help:
pyfmto -h # or ↓ # pyfmto --help # pyfmto list -h -
Run experiments:
pyfmto run # or ↓ # pyfmto run -c config.yaml -
Generate reports:
pyfmto report # or ↓ # pyfmto report -c config.yaml -
List something:
pyfmto list algorithms # or ↓ # pyfmto list problems -
Show supported configurations:
pyfmto show algorithms.<alg_name> # or ↓ # pyfmto show problems.<prob_name>
Notes:
Every subcommand support
-c/--config <config_file>In the subcommands
listandshow, strings 'algorithms', 'problems', and 'reports' can be replaced with any prefix of length ≥ 1. PyFMTO matches the prefix to the corresponding category. For example:
pyfmto list algorithmsis equivalent to:
pyfmto list apyfmto list alpyfmto list alg- ...
pyfmto show problems.<prob_name>is equivalent to:
pyfmto show p.<prob_name>pyfmto show prob.<prob_name>- ...
Use PyFMTO in Python
from pyfmto import Launcher, Reporter, ConfigLoader
if __name__ == '__main__':
conf = ConfigLoader()
launcher = Launcher(conf.launcher)
reports = Reporter(conf.reporter)
reports.to_excel()
Architecture and Ecosystem
<div align="center"> <img src="https://github.com/Xiaoxu-Zhang/zxx-assets/raw/main/pyfmto-architecture.svg" width="90%"> </div>Where the filled area represents the fully developed modules. And the non-filled area represents the base modules that can be inherited and extended.
The bottom layer listed the core technologies used in PyFMTO for computing, communicating, plotting and testing.
About fmto
The repository fmto is the official collection of
published FMTO algorithms. The relationship between the fmto and PyFMTO is as follows:
The fmto is designed to provide a platform for researchers to compare and evaluate the
performance of different FMTO algorithms. The repository is built on top of the PyFMTO library,
which provides a flexible and extensible framework for implementing FMTO algorithms.
It also serves as a practical example of how to structure and perform experiments. The repository includes the following components:
- A collection of published FMTO algorithms.
- A config file (config.yaml) that provides guidance on how to set up and configure the experiments.
- A template algorithm named "DEMO" that you can use as a basis for implementing your own algorithm.
- A template problem named "demo" that you can use as a basis for implementing your own problem.
The config.yaml, algorithms/DEMO and problems/demo provided detailed instructions, you can
even start your research without additional documentation. The fmto repository is currently in
the early stages of development. I'm actively working on improving existing algorithms and adding
new algorithms.
Algorithm's Components
An algorithm includes two parts: the client and the server. The client is responsible for optimizing the local problem and the server is responsible for aggregating the knowledge from the clients. The required components for client and server are as follows:
# myalg_client.py
from pyfmto import Client, Server
class MyClient(Client):
def __init__(self, problem, **kwargs):
super().__init__(problem)
def optimize():
# implement the optimizer
pass
class MyServer(Server):
def __init__(self, **kwargs):
super().__init__():
def aggregate(self) -> None:
# implement the aggregate logic
pass
def handle_request(self, pkg) -> Any:
# handle the requests of clients to exchange data
pass
Problem's Components
There are two types of problems: single-task problems and multitask problems. A single-task problem is a problem that has only one objective function. A multitask problem is a problem that has multiple single-task problems. To define a multitask problem, you should implement several SingleTaskProblem and then define a MultiTaskProblem to aggregate them.
Note: There are some classical SingleTaskProblem defined in
pyfmto.problems.benchmarksmodule. You can use them directly.
import numpy as np
from numpy import ndarray
from pyfmto.problem import SingleTaskProblem, MultiTaskProblem
from typing import Union
class MySTP(SingleTaskProblem):
def __init__(self, dim=2, **kwargs):
super().__init__(dim=dim, obj=1, lb=0, ub=1, **kwargs)
def _eval_single(self, x: ndarray):
pass
class MyMTP(MultiTaskProblem):
is_realworld = False
intro = "user defined MTP"
notes = "a demo of user-defined MTP"
references = ['ref1', 'ref2']
def __init__(self, dim=10, **kwargs):
super().__init__(dim, **kwargs)
def _init_tasks(self, dim, **kwargs) -> list[SingleTaskProblem]:
# Duplicate MySTP for 10 here as an example
return [MySTP(dim=dim, **kwargs) for _ in range(10)]
Tools
load_problem
from pyfmto import load_problem
# init a problem with customized args
prob = load_problem('arxiv2017', dim=2, fe_init=20, fe_max=50, npd=5)
# problem instance can be print
print(prob)
Visualization
SingleTaskProblem Visualization
from pyfmto.problem.benchmarks import Ackley
task = Ackley()
task.plot_2d(f'visualize2D')
task.plot_3d(f'visualize3D')
task.iplot_3d() # interactive plotting
MultiTaskProblem Visualization
The right side interactive plotting at the beginning is generated by the following code:
from pyfmto import load_problem
if __name__ == '__main__':
prob = load_problem('arxiv2017', dim=2)
prob.iplot_tasks_3d(tasks_id=[2, 5, 12, 18])
Contributing
See contributing for instructions on how to contribute to PyFMTO.
Bugs/Requests
Please send bug reports and feature requests through github issue tracker. PyFMTO is currently under development now, and it's open to any constructive suggestions.
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Xiaoxu Zhang
Distributed under the terms of the Apache 2.0 license.
Acknowledgements
Foundations
This project is supported, in part, by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 62006143; the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province under Grants ZR2025MS1012 and ZR2020MF152. I would like to express our sincere gratitude to Smart Healthcare and Big Data Laboratory, Shandong Women's University, for providing research facilities and technical support.
Mentorship and Team Support
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the **Computational Intelligence and Appli
