Dynamic workflows#

A workflow whose directed acyclic graph (DAG) is computed at run-time is a dynamic() workflow.

The tasks in a dynamic workflow are executed at runtime using dynamic inputs. A dynamic workflow shares similarities with the workflow(), as it uses a Python-esque domain-specific language to declare dependencies between the tasks or define new workflows.

A key distinction lies in the dynamic workflow being assessed at runtime. This means that the inputs are initially materialized and forwarded to the dynamic workflow, resembling the behavior of a task. However, the return value from a dynamic workflow is a Promise object, which can be materialized by the subsequent tasks.

Think of a dynamic workflow as a combination of a task and a workflow. It is used to dynamically decide the parameters of a workflow at runtime and is both compiled and executed at run-time.

Dynamic workflows become essential when you need to do the following:

Modify the logic of the code at runtime
Change or decide on feature extraction parameters on the fly
Build AutoML pipelines
Tune hyperparameters during execution

Defining a dynamic workflow#

You can define a dynamic workflow using the @dynamic decorator.

Within the @dynamic context, each invocation of a task() or a derivative of the Task class leads to deferred evaluation using a Promise, rather than the immediate materialization of the actual value. While nesting other @dynamic and @workflow constructs within this task is possible, direct interaction with the outputs of a task/workflow is limited, as they are lazily evaluated. If you need to interac with the outputs, we recommend separating the logic in a dynamic workflow and creating a new task to read and resolve the outputs.

The example below uses a dynamic workflow to count the common characters between any two strings.

To begin, we import the required libraries:

from flytekit import dynamic, task, workflow

We define a task that returns the index of a character, where A-Z/a-z is equivalent to 0-25:

@task
def return_index(character: str) -> int:
    if character.islower():
        return ord(character) - ord("a")
    else:
        return ord(character) - ord("A")

We also create a task that prepares a list of 26 characters by populating the frequency of each character:

@task
def update_list(freq_list: list[int], list_index: int) -> list[int]:
    freq_list[list_index] += 1
    return freq_list

We define a task to calculate the number of common characters between the two strings:

@task
def derive_count(freq1: list[int], freq2: list[int]) -> int:
    count = 0
    for i in range(26):
        count += min(freq1[i], freq2[i])
    return count

We define a dynamic workflow to accomplish the following:

Initialize an empty 26-character list to be passed to the update_list task.
Iterate through each character of the first string (s1) and populate the frequency list.
Iterate through each character of the second string (s2) and populate the frequency list.
Determine the number of common characters by comparing the two frequency lists.

The looping process depends on the number of characters in both strings, which is unknown until runtime:

@dynamic
def count_characters(s1: str, s2: str) -> int:
    # s1 and s2 should be accessible

    # Initialize empty lists with 26 slots each, corresponding to every alphabet (lower and upper case)
    freq1 = [0] * 26
    freq2 = [0] * 26

    # Loop through characters in s1
    for i in range(len(s1)):
        # Calculate the index for the current character in the alphabet
        index = return_index(character=s1[i])
        # Update the frequency list for s1
        freq1 = update_list(freq_list=freq1, list_index=index)
        # index and freq1 are not accessible as they are promises

    # looping through the string s2
    for i in range(len(s2)):
        # Calculate the index for the current character in the alphabet
        index = return_index(character=s2[i])
        # Update the frequency list for s2
        freq2 = update_list(freq_list=freq2, list_index=index)
        # index and freq2 are not accessible as they are promises

    # Count the common characters between s1 and s2
    return derive_count(freq1=freq1, freq2=freq2)

A dynamic workflow is modeled as a task in the Union backend, but the body of the function is executed to produce a workflow at runtime. In both dynamic and static workflows, the output of tasks are Promise objects.

FlytePropeller executes the dynamic task within its Kubernetes pod, resulting in a compiled DAG, which is then accessible in the console. It uses the information acquired during the dynamic task’s execution to schedule and execute each node within the dynamic task. Visualization of the dynamic workflow’s graph in the console is only available after the dynamic task has completed its execution.

When a dynamic task is executed, it generates the entire workflow as its output, termed the futures file. This name reflects the fact that the workflow has yet to be executed, so all subsequent outputs are considered futures.

Note

Local execution works when a @dynamic decorator is used because Flytekit treats it as a task that runs with native Python inputs.

Finally, we define a workflow that triggers the dynamic workflow:

@workflow
def dynamic_wf(s1: str, s2: str) -> int:
    return count_characters(s1=s1, s2=s2)

You can run the workflow locally as follows:

if __name__ == "__main__":
    print(dynamic_wf(s1="Pear", s2="Earth"))

Advantages of dynamic workflows#

Flexibility#

Dynamic workflows streamline the process of building pipelines, offering the flexibility to design workflows according to the unique requirements of your project. This level of adaptability is not achievable with static workflows.

Lower pressure on `etcd`#

The workflow Custom Resource Definition (CRD) and the states associated with static workflows are stored in etcd, the Kubernetes database. This database maintains Union workflow CRDs as key-value pairs, tracking the status of each node’s execution.

However, etcd has a hard limit on data size, encompassing the workflow and node status sizes, so it is important to ensure that static workflows don’t excessively consume memory.

In contrast, dynamic workflows offload the workflow specification (including node/task definitions and connections) to the blobstore. Still, the statuses of nodes are stored in the workflow CRD within etcd.

Dynamic workflows help alleviate some of the pressure on etcd storage space, providing a solution to mitigate storage constraints.

Dynamic workflows vs. map tasks#

Dynamic tasks come with overhead for large fan-out tasks as they store metadata for the entire workflow. In contrast, map tasks prove efficient for such extensive fan-out scenarios since they refrain from storing metadata, resulting in less noticeable overhead.

Using dynamic workflows to achieve recursion#

Merge sort is a perfect example to showcase how to seamlessly achieve recursion using dynamic workflows. Union imposes limitations on the depth of recursion to prevent misuse and potential impacts on the overall stability of the system.

from typing import Tuple

from flytekit import conditional, dynamic, task, workflow


@task
def split(numbers: list[int]) -> Tuple[list[int], list[int], int, int]:
    return (
        numbers[0 : int(len(numbers) / 2)],
        numbers[int(len(numbers) / 2) :],
        int(len(numbers) / 2),
        int(len(numbers)) - int(len(numbers) / 2),
    )


@task
def merge(sorted_list1: list[int], sorted_list2: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    result = []
    while len(sorted_list1) > 0 and len(sorted_list2) > 0:
        # Compare the current element of the first array with the current element of the second array.
        # If the element in the first array is smaller, append it to the result and increment the first array index.
        # Otherwise, do the same with the second array.
        if sorted_list1[0] < sorted_list2[0]:
            result.append(sorted_list1.pop(0))
        else:
            result.append(sorted_list2.pop(0))

    # Extend the result with the remaining elements from both arrays
    result.extend(sorted_list1)
    result.extend(sorted_list2)

    return result


@task
def sort_locally(numbers: list[int]) -> list[int]:
    return sorted(numbers)


@dynamic
def merge_sort_remotely(numbers: list[int], run_local_at_count: int) -> list[int]:
    split1, split2, new_count1, new_count2 = split(numbers=numbers)
    sorted1 = merge_sort(numbers=split1, numbers_count=new_count1, run_local_at_count=run_local_at_count)
    sorted2 = merge_sort(numbers=split2, numbers_count=new_count2, run_local_at_count=run_local_at_count)
    return merge(sorted_list1=sorted1, sorted_list2=sorted2)


@workflow
def merge_sort(numbers: list[int], numbers_count: int, run_local_at_count: int = 5) -> list[int]:
    return (
        conditional("terminal_case")
        .if_(numbers_count <= run_local_at_count)
        .then(sort_locally(numbers=numbers))
        .else_()
        .then(merge_sort_remotely(numbers=numbers, run_local_at_count=run_local_at_count))
    )

By simply adding the @dynamic annotation, the merge_sort_remotely function transforms into a plan of execution, generating a workflow with four distinct nodes. These nodes run remotely on potentially different hosts, with Union ensuring proper data reference passing and maintaining execution order with maximum possible parallelism.

@dynamic is essential in this context because the number of times merge_sort needs to be triggered is unknown at compile time. The dynamic workflow calls a static workflow, which subsequently calls the dynamic workflow again, creating a recursive and flexible execution structure.

Dynamic workflows

Contents

Dynamic workflows#

Defining a dynamic workflow#

Advantages of dynamic workflows#

Flexibility#

Lower pressure on etcd#

Dynamic workflows vs. map tasks#

Using dynamic workflows to achieve recursion#

Lower pressure on `etcd`#