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ProgramGrad

CI Python Status License: MIT

Gradients over programs, not only tensors.

ProgramGrad is a small research-oriented framework for differentiable discrete program decisions. It records the hard execution trace of a Python-like algorithm, builds a differentiable soft shadow trace, and reports what each surrogate gradient means.

It is not a PyTorch replacement. It is a trace laboratory for branches, loops, argmax choices, thresholds, and reasoning/search programs.

What is implemented

  • Scalar reverse-mode Tensor with operator overloads.
  • Finite-difference gradcheck.
  • Trace IR for ops, branches, searches, loop frames, and semantic ledger entries.
  • soft_if, diff_if, soft_argmax, soft_select, and bounded loop relaxation.
  • Hard-soft fidelity reports: output gap, path agreement, entropy, temperature.
  • SVG and JSON trace export.
  • Demos for learnable branch thresholds and tiny differentiable tree search.

Install

ProgramGrad is not published to PyPI yet. Install it from a checkout:

git clone https://github.com/sanowl/ProgramGrad.git
cd ProgramGrad
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install -e .

Or install directly from GitHub:

python -m pip install "git+https://github.com/sanowl/ProgramGrad.git"

Example

from programgrad import Tensor, soft_if, trace

x = Tensor(0.7, name="x")
threshold = Tensor(1.0, requires_grad=True, name="threshold")

with trace(mode="dual", relaxation="soft_gate", fidelity=True) as tr:
    score = x - threshold
    y = soft_if(score, true_value=2 * x, false_value=x**2, beta=5.0)
    loss = (y - 1.4) ** 2
    loss.backward()

print(threshold.grad)
print(tr.show())
tr.export_svg("threshold_trace.svg")

The trace reports the hard branch, the soft gate, the hard-soft output gap, and a ledger warning that the gradient is a surrogate gradient rather than the true derivative of a discontinuous branch.

Trace screenshots

The demo traces are intentionally inspectable. They show the hard decision, soft surrogate value, fidelity gap, and semantic gradient warning.

Learnable branch threshold

ProgramGrad threshold trace

Tiny differentiable tree search

ProgramGrad tree search trace

Run tests

python -m unittest discover -s tests -v

Run demos

python examples/learnable_threshold.py
python examples/tiny_tree_search.py

Each demo prints the trace ledger and writes an SVG trace in the current directory. The CI workflow runs both demos after installing the package.

Project position

ProgramGrad focuses on interpretability and semantics, not speed or broad operator coverage. Existing AD systems are excellent for tensor programs and compiler lowering. ProgramGrad targets a narrower gap: making the gradient of an algorithmic decision understandable.

The public thesis is:

ProgramGrad is a research-oriented framework for differentiable program traces. It studies how hard algorithmic decisions can be paired with soft surrogate traces, semantic gradient contracts, and fidelity metrics, especially for reasoning and search algorithms.