1. Project Overview & Quickstart (alexzhang13/rlm)
File: README.md
Recursive Language Models (RLMs)
Overview
Recursive Language Models (RLMs) are a task-agnostic inference paradigm for language models (LMs) to handle near-infinite length contexts by enabling the LM to programmatically examine, decompose, and recursively call itself over its input. RLMs replace the canonical llm.completion(prompt, model) call with a rlm.completion(prompt, model) call, acting as a "language model". RLMs offload the context as a variable in a REPL environment that the LM can interact with and launch sub-LM calls inside of.
RLMs are a bet on future "language model" design choices. We argue for a CodeAct-style harness (i.e. all language models should have access to a code environment) with sub-(R)LM calls as functions in code, and context / prompts as objects in code. RLMs explicitly defer code execution with sub-calls as functions to the language model itself, which is incredibly flexible and lends itself well to scale if trained correctly. We want to move away from the JSON tool-calling standard for both sub-agents and generic tool calls. The naming comes from the fact that such a system is itself a "language model" (a probabilistic mapping from text to text) that builds around and relies on recursive sub-LLM calls.
This repository provides both an extensible inference engine and training environment for using RLMs around standard API-based and local LLMs. The initial experiments and idea were proposed in a blogpost in 2025, with expanded results in an arXiv preprint.
We now also include a verifiers training environment based on Prime Intellect's prime-rl in the training/ folder. Train your own RLMs, which directly can be plugged into our inference engine!
[!NOTE]
This repository contains inference code for RLMs with support for various sandbox environments. Open-source contributions are welcome. This repository is maintained by the authors of the paper from the MIT OASYS lab.
Quick Setup
[!NOTE]
rlmsrequires Python 3.11 or later.
You can try out RLMs quickly by installing from PyPi:
pip install rlmsThe default RLM client uses a REPL environment that runs on the host process through Python exec calls. It uses the same virtual environment as the host process (i.e. it will have access to the same dependencies), but with some limitations in its available global modules. As an example, we can call RLM completions using GPT-5-nano:
from rlm import RLM
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={"model_name": "gpt-5-nano"},
verbose=True, # For printing to console with rich, disabled by default.
)
print(rlm.completion("Print me the first 100 powers of two, each on a newline.").response)Manual Setup
Set up the dependencies with uv (or your virtual environment of choice):
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
uv init && uv venv --python 3.12 # change version as needed
uv pip install -e .This project includes a Makefile to simplify common tasks.
make install: Install base dependencies.make check: Run linter, formatter, and tests.
To run a quick test, the following will run an RLM query with the OpenAI client using your environment variable OPENAI_API_KEY (feel free to change this). This will generate console output as well as a log which you can use with the visualizer to explore the trajectories.
make quickstartREPL Environments
We support two types of REPL environments -- isolated, and non-isolated. Non-isolated environments (default) run code execution on the same machine as the RLM (e.g. through exec), which is pretty reasonable for some local low-risk tasks, like simple benchmarking, but can be problematic if the prompts or tool calls can interact with malicious users. Fully isolated environments use cloud-based sandboxes (e.g. Prime Sandboxes, Modal Sandboxes) to run code generated by the RLM, ensuring complete isolation from the host process. Environments can be added, but we natively support the following: local (default), ipython, docker, modal, prime, daytona, e2b.
rlm = RLM(
environment="...", # "local", "ipython", "docker", "modal", "prime", "daytona", "e2b"
environment_kwargs={...},
)Local Environments
The default local environment LocalREPL runs in the same process as the RLM itself, with specified global and local namespaces for minimal security. Using this REPL is generally safe, but should not be used for production settings. It also shares the same virtual environment (e.g. Conda or uv) as the host process.
IPython (*requires `pip install 'rlms[ipython]'`*)
IPythonREPL runs cells inside a real IPython session โ either in-process (default) or in a separate ipykernel subprocess. Subprocess mode adds hard cell_timeout enforcement and full namespace isolation from the RLM host. See the IPythonREPL docs for details.
Docker (*requires [Docker installed](https://docs.docker.com/desktop/setup/install/)*)
We also support a Docker-based environment called DockerREPL that launches the REPL environment as a Docker image. By default, we use the python:3.11-slim image, but the user can specify custom images as well. The container runs fully isolated from the host; a lightweight host-side proxy bridges LM access back into the container.
DockerREPL supports the full feature set of the local environment: single LM calls (llm_query / llm_query_batched), recursive sub-RLM calls (rlm_query / rlm_query_batched, including parallel batched sub-calls bounded by max_concurrent_subcalls), custom_tools / custom_sub_tools, persistent=True multi-turn sessions (versioned context_N / history_N reused across completion() calls), and compaction=True auto-summarization of the running history. For isolated environments, custom tools should be passed as Python code strings or JSON-serializable values (host callables cannot cross the process boundary).
Isolated Environments
We support several different REPL environments that run on separate, cloud-based machines. Whenever a recursive sub-call is made in these instances, it is requested from the host process.
Modal Sandboxes
To use Modal Sandboxes as the REPL environment, you need to install and authenticate your Modal account.
uv add modal # add modal library
modal setup # authenticate accountPrime Intellect Sandboxes
[!NOTE]
Prime Intellect Sandboxes are currently a beta feature. See the documentation for more information. We noticed slow runtimes when using these sandboxes, which is currently an open issue.
To use Prime Sandboxes, install the SDK and set your API key:
uv pip install -e ".[prime]"
export PRIME_API_KEY=...Model Providers
We currently support most major clients (OpenAI, Anthropic), as well as the router platforms (OpenRouter, Portkey). For local models, we recommend using vLLM (which interfaces with the OpenAI client). To view or add support for more clients, start by looking at rlm/clients/.
Training
We provide a simple RL training harness for training RLMs used in this repo (specifically the local REPL). The implementation uses no sandboxes for simplicity and slots easily your use case, but an ideal setup would use sandboxes for safety. Training logic is isolated to the training/ folder, which exposes rlm.RLM as a verifiers Environment and plugs straight into prime-rl. See the training README for the launch command. The harness uses subprocess-isolated local REPL execution (no cloud sandboxes), matching the local environment above.
A worked example with an example .toml lives in training/environments/oolong/ (OOLONG long-context QA). New training environments can be added the same way โ author a verifiers env that wraps your task (see the verifiers docs), then reference it from a config.
Relevant Reading
- [Dec '25] Recursive Language Models arXiv
- [Oct '25] Recursive Language Models Blogpost
If you use this code or repository in your research, please cite:
@misc{zhang2026recursivelanguagemodels,
title={Recursive Language Models},
author={Alex L. Zhang and Tim Kraska and Omar Khattab},
year={2026},
eprint={2512.24601},
archivePrefix={arXiv},
primaryClass={cs.AI},
url={https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.24601},
}RLMs being used in the wild
There are many amazing demos and production-ready use cases of RLMs. We provide a list of notable examples that explicitly use RLMs as a central piece of their design.
- DSPy.RLM
- Prime Agent
- Ax
- context-labs/HALO: RLM-based Automatic Agent Optimization Loop
- viplismism/rlm-cli: CLI for Recursive Language Models
- alphaXiv Official Blog. Reinforcing Recursive Language Models
- Daytona. Building Deep Recursive Language Models
- Symbolica. SotA ARC-AGI-2 Results with REPL Agents
- Google Cloud Community Articles. RLMs in ADK
- Prime Intellect Blog. Recursive Language Models: the paradigm of 2026
Optional: Trajectory metadata, logging, and debugging
RLMChatCompletion has an optional metadata field (default None) that holds the full trajectory (run config + all iterations and sub-calls) so you can reconstruct the run. Pass an RLMLogger to capture it:
- In-memory only (trajectory on
completion.metadata):logger=RLMLogger()(nolog_dir). - Also save to disk (JSONL for the visualizer):
logger=RLMLogger(log_dir="./logs").
Visualizing logs. We also provide a simple visualizer to inspect code, sub-LM, and root-LM calls. Use RLMLogger(log_dir="./logs") so each completion writes a .jsonl file:
from rlm.logger import RLMLogger
from rlm import RLM
logger = RLMLogger(log_dir="./logs")
rlm = RLM(..., logger=logger)To run the visualizer locally, we use Node.js and shadcn/ui:
cd visualizer/
npm run dev # default localhost:3001File: docs/api/rlm.md
layout: default title: RLM Class parent: API Reference nav_order: 1
RLM Class Reference
{: .no_toc }
Complete API documentation for the core RLM class.
{: .fs-6 .fw-300 }
Table of Contents
{: .no_toc .text-delta }
- TOC
{:toc}
Overview
The RLM class is the main entry point for Recursive Language Model completions. It wraps an LM client and execution environment to enable iterative, code-augmented reasoning.
from rlm import RLM
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={"model_name": "gpt-5-nano"},
)Constructor
RLM(
backend: str = "openai",
backend_kwargs: dict | None = None,
environment: str = "local",
environment_kwargs: dict | None = None,
depth: int = 0,
max_depth: int = 1,
max_iterations: int = 30,
max_budget: float | None = None,
max_timeout: float | None = None,
max_tokens: int | None = None,
max_errors: int | None = None,
custom_system_prompt: str | None = None,
other_backends: list[str] | None = None,
other_backend_kwargs: list[dict] | None = None,
logger: RLMLogger | None = None,
verbose: bool = False,
persistent: bool = False,
custom_tools: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
custom_sub_tools: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
compaction: bool = False,
compaction_threshold_pct: float = 0.85,
on_subcall_start: Callable | None = None,
on_subcall_complete: Callable | None = None,
on_iteration_start: Callable | None = None,
on_iteration_complete: Callable | None = None,
)Parameters
`backend`
{: .no_toc }
Type: Literal["openai", "portkey", "openrouter", "vllm", "anthropic"]
Default: "openai"
The LM provider backend to use for the root model.
# OpenAI
rlm = RLM(backend="openai", ...)
# Anthropic
rlm = RLM(backend="anthropic", ...)
# Local vLLM server
rlm = RLM(backend="vllm", ...)`backend_kwargs`
{: .no_toc }
Type: dict[str, Any] | None
Default: None
Configuration passed to the LM client. Required fields vary by backend:
| Backend | Required | Optional |
|---|---|---|
openai |
model_name |
api_key, base_url |
anthropic |
model_name |
api_key |
portkey |
model_name, api_key |
base_url |
openrouter |
model_name |
api_key |
vllm |
model_name, base_url |
โ |
backend_kwargs = {
"api_key": "sk-...",
"model_name": "gpt-4o",
"base_url": "https://api.openai.com/v1", # Optional
}`environment`
{: .no_toc }
Type: Literal["local", "docker", "modal", "prime", "daytona", "e2b"]
Default: "local"
The execution environment for running generated code.
| Environment | Description |
|---|---|
local |
Same-process execution with sandboxed builtins (default) |
docker |
Containerized execution in Docker |
modal |
Cloud sandbox via Modal |
prime |
Cloud sandbox via Prime Intellect |
daytona |
Cloud sandbox via Daytona |
e2b |
Cloud sandbox via E2B |
`environment_kwargs`
{: .no_toc }
Type: dict[str, Any] | None
Default: None
Configuration for the execution environment:
Local:
environment_kwargs = {
"setup_code": "import numpy as np", # Run before each completion
}Docker:
environment_kwargs = {
"image": "python:3.11-slim", # Docker image
}Modal:
environment_kwargs = {
"app_name": "my-rlm-app", # Modal app name
"timeout": 600, # Sandbox timeout in seconds
"image": modal.Image..., # Custom Modal image (optional)
}`max_depth`
{: .no_toc }
Type: int
Default: 1
Maximum recursion depth for nested RLM calls. When max_depth > 1, the REPL provides rlm_query() and rlm_query_batched() functions that spawn child RLMs with their own REPL environments.
When depth >= max_depth, rlm_query() falls back to a plain llm_query() call (no REPL, no iteration).
# Enable one level of recursive sub-calls
rlm = RLM(..., max_depth=2)`max_iterations`
{: .no_toc }
Type: int
Default: 30
Maximum number of REPL iterations before forcing a final answer.
Each iteration consists of:
- LM generates response (potentially with code blocks)
- Code blocks are executed
- Results are appended to conversation history
# For complex tasks, allow more iterations
rlm = RLM(..., max_iterations=50)`max_budget`
{: .no_toc }
Type: float | None
Default: None
Maximum total USD cost for a completion. If exceeded, raises BudgetExceededError. Requires a backend that reports cost.
`max_timeout`
{: .no_toc }
Type: float | None
Default: None
Maximum wall-clock seconds for a completion. If exceeded, raises TimeoutExceededError. The partial answer (if any) is available on the exception.
`max_tokens`
{: .no_toc }
Type: int | None
Default: None
Maximum total tokens (input + output) for a completion. If exceeded, raises TokenLimitExceededError.
`max_errors`
{: .no_toc }
Type: int | None
Default: None
Maximum consecutive REPL errors before aborting. The error counter resets on a successful execution. If exceeded, raises ErrorThresholdExceededError.
`custom_system_prompt`
{: .no_toc }
Type: str | None
Default: None
Override the default RLM system prompt. The default prompt instructs the LM on:
- How to use the
contextvariable - How to call
llm_query()/llm_query_batched()for plain LM calls - How to call
rlm_query()/rlm_query_batched()for recursive sub-calls - How to signal completion by setting
answer["content"]andanswer["ready"] = True
custom_prompt = """You are a data analysis expert.
Use the REPL to analyze the context variable.
When done, run a ```repl``` block that does:
answer["content"] = "your final answer here"
answer["ready"] = True
"""
rlm = RLM(..., custom_system_prompt=custom_prompt)`other_backends` / `other_backend_kwargs`
{: .no_toc }
Type: list[str] | None / list[dict] | None
Default: None
Register additional LM backends. The first other_backend is used as the default for depth-routed sub-calls (e.g. llm_query() calls from code at depth > 0 are routed to the other backend). Additional backends are registered by model name and can be selected explicitly.
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={"model_name": "gpt-4o"},
other_backends=["anthropic"],
other_backend_kwargs=[
{"model_name": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514"},
],
)
# Inside REPL, code can call:
# llm_query(prompt) # Routed to other_backend (Claude) at depth > 0
# llm_query(prompt, model="gpt-4o") # Explicit model override`logger`
{: .no_toc }
Type: RLMLogger | None
Default: None
Logger for capturing trajectory metadata. When provided, the returned RLMChatCompletion.metadata field contains the full trajectory (iterations, code blocks, sub-calls).
from rlm.logger import RLMLogger
# In-memory only (trajectory on result.metadata)
logger = RLMLogger()
# Also save to disk (JSONL for the visualizer)
logger = RLMLogger(log_dir="./logs")
rlm = RLM(..., logger=logger)`verbose`
{: .no_toc }
Type: bool
Default: False
Enable rich console output showing:
- Metadata at startup
- Each iteration's response
- Code execution results
- Final answer and statistics
`persistent`
{: .no_toc }
Type: bool
Default: False
When enabled, reuses the same environment across multiple completion() calls. This enables multi-turn conversations where each call adds a new context and the model retains all previous variables and state.
Contexts are versioned (context_0, context_1, ...) with context always aliasing context_0. Conversation histories from previous calls are available as history_0, history_1, etc.
Supports the context manager protocol for automatic cleanup:
with RLM(..., persistent=True) as rlm:
result1 = rlm.completion("First context")
result2 = rlm.completion("Second context") # Can access context_0 and context_1`custom_tools`
{: .no_toc }
Type: dict[str, Any] | None
Default: None
Custom functions and data available in the REPL environment. Callable values are added to globals (callable by the model), non-callable values are added to locals (accessible as variables).
Two formats are supported:
custom_tools = {
# Plain value
"fetch_data": my_fetch_function,
"API_KEY": "sk-...",
# With description (shown in system prompt)
"calculator": {
"tool": calc_function,
"description": "Performs arithmetic calculations",
},
}Reserved names (llm_query, rlm_query, context, history, answer, SHOW_VARS, and their batched variants) cannot be used as tool names.
`custom_sub_tools`
{: .no_toc }
Type: dict[str, Any] | None
Default: None
Separate set of custom tools for child RLMs spawned via rlm_query(). If None, children inherit the parent's custom_tools. Pass an empty dict {} to disable custom tools for children.
`compaction`
{: .no_toc }
Type: bool
Default: False
When enabled, automatically summarizes the conversation history when token usage exceeds compaction_threshold_pct of the model's context window. The full history (including summaries) is available in the REPL as the history variable.
`compaction_threshold_pct`
{: .no_toc }
Type: float
Default: 0.85
Fraction of the model's context window that triggers compaction. Only used when compaction=True.
Event Callbacks
{: .no_toc }
Optional callbacks for monitoring execution progress:
| Callback | Signature | Triggered when |
|---|---|---|
on_iteration_start |
(depth: int, iteration_num: int) |
An iteration begins |
on_iteration_complete |
(depth: int, iteration_num: int, duration: float) |
An iteration completes |
on_subcall_start |
(depth: int, model: str, prompt_preview: str) |
A child RLM is spawned |
on_subcall_complete |
(depth: int, model: str, duration: float, error: str | None) |
A child RLM finishes |
Methods
`completion()`
Main entry point for RLM completions.
def completion(
self,
prompt: str | dict[str, Any],
root_prompt: str | None = None,
) -> RLMChatCompletionParameters
prompt
{: .no_toc }
The context/input to process. Becomes the context variable in the REPL.
# String input
result = rlm.completion("Analyze this text...")
# Structured input (serialized to JSON)
result = rlm.completion({
"documents": [...],
"query": "Find relevant sections",
})
# List input
result = rlm.completion(["doc1", "doc2", "doc3"])root_prompt
{: .no_toc }
Optional short prompt shown to the root LM on every iteration. Useful for Q&A tasks where the question should be visible throughout.
# The context is the document, but the LM sees the question each iteration
result = rlm.completion(
prompt=long_document,
root_prompt="What is the main theme of this document?"
)Returns
RLMChatCompletion dataclass:
@dataclass
class RLMChatCompletion:
root_model: str # Model name used
prompt: str | dict # Original input
response: str # Final answer
usage_summary: UsageSummary # Token usage
execution_time: float # Total seconds
metadata: dict | None # Full trajectory when logger is providedExample
result = rlm.completion(
"Calculate the factorial of 100 and return the number of digits."
)
print(result.response) # "158"
print(result.execution_time) # 12.34
print(result.metadata) # Trajectory dict (if logger provided), else None
print(result.usage_summary.to_dict())
# {'model_usage_summaries': {'gpt-4o': {'total_calls': 5, ...}}}`close()`
Clean up persistent environment resources. Called automatically when using the context manager protocol (with RLM(...) as rlm:).
Response Types
`RLMChatCompletion`
from rlm.core.types import RLMChatCompletion
result: RLMChatCompletion = rlm.completion(...)
result.root_model # "gpt-4o"
result.prompt # Original input
result.response # Final answer string
result.execution_time # Total time in seconds
result.usage_summary # UsageSummary object
result.metadata # Full trajectory dict (if logger provided)`UsageSummary`
from rlm.core.types import UsageSummary
usage: UsageSummary = result.usage_summary
usage.to_dict()
# {
# "model_usage_summaries": {
# "gpt-4o": {
# "total_calls": 5,
# "total_input_tokens": 15000,
# "total_output_tokens": 2000
# }
# }
# }REPL Functions
The following functions are available to model-generated code inside the REPL:
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
llm_query(prompt, model=None) |
Single plain LM completion. Fast, no REPL or iteration. |
llm_query_batched(prompts, model=None) |
Multiple plain LM completions concurrently. A single failed call doesn't fail the batch โ that slot returns "Error: llm() call failed - <msg>", the rest return normally. |
rlm_query(prompt, model=None) |
Spawn a child RLM with its own REPL for deeper thinking. Falls back to llm_query at max depth. |
rlm_query_batched(prompts, model=None) |
Spawn multiple child RLMs. Falls back to llm_query_batched at max depth. |
answer |
A dict ({"content": "", "ready": False}). Set answer["content"] to your final answer and answer["ready"] = True to terminate the run. |
SHOW_VARS() |
List all user-created variables in the REPL. |
print(...) |
Print output visible to the model in the next iteration. |
Error Handling
RLM follows a "fail fast" philosophy:
# Missing required argument
rlm = RLM(backend="vllm", backend_kwargs={"model_name": "llama"})
# Raises: AssertionError: base_url is required for vLLM
# Unknown backend
rlm = RLM(backend="unknown")
# Raises: ValueError: Unknown backend: unknownIf the RLM exhausts max_iterations without the model setting answer["ready"] = True, it prompts the LM one more time to provide a final answer based on the conversation history.
RLM raises explicit exceptions when limits are exceeded:
| Exception | Raised when | Key attributes |
|---|---|---|
BudgetExceededError |
max_budget exceeded |
spent, budget |
TimeoutExceededError |
max_timeout exceeded |
elapsed, timeout, partial_answer |
TokenLimitExceededError |
max_tokens exceeded |
tokens_used, token_limit, partial_answer |
ErrorThresholdExceededError |
max_errors consecutive errors |
error_count, threshold, last_error, partial_answer |
CancellationError |
KeyboardInterrupt during completion |
partial_answer |
All exceptions are importable from the top-level package:
from rlm import RLM, TimeoutExceededError, CancellationError
try:
result = rlm.completion(prompt)
except TimeoutExceededError as e:
print(f"Timed out after {e.elapsed:.1f}s, partial: {e.partial_answer}")
except CancellationError as e:
print(f"Cancelled, partial: {e.partial_answer}")Thread Safety
Each completion() call:
- Spawns its own
LMHandlersocket server - Creates a fresh environment instance (unless persistent)
- Cleans up both when done
This makes completion() calls independent, but the RLM instance itself should not be shared across threads without external synchronization.
Example: Full Configuration
import os
from rlm import RLM
from rlm.logger import RLMLogger
logger = RLMLogger(log_dir="./logs")
rlm = RLM(
# Primary model
backend="anthropic",
backend_kwargs={
"api_key": os.getenv("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"),
"model_name": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
},
# Execution environment
environment="local",
# Additional model for sub-calls (routed at depth > 0)
other_backends=["openai"],
other_backend_kwargs=[{
"api_key": os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"),
"model_name": "gpt-4o-mini",
}],
# Recursion: allow one level of child RLMs via rlm_query()
max_depth=2,
max_iterations=40,
# Limits
max_timeout=120.0,
max_budget=1.0,
max_errors=5,
# Custom tools available in the REPL
custom_tools={
"fetch_data": {"tool": my_fetch_fn, "description": "Fetch data from API"},
},
# Compaction for long conversations
compaction=True,
compaction_threshold_pct=0.85,
# Debugging
logger=logger,
verbose=True,
)
result = rlm.completion(
prompt=massive_document,
root_prompt="Summarize the key findings",
)
print(result.response)
print(result.metadata) # Full trajectory (iterations, sub-calls, etc.)File: docs/architecture.md
layout: default title: Architecture nav_order: 3
Architecture
{: .no_toc }
How the RLM runtime, LM handler, code execution, and recursive sub-calls fit together.
{: .fs-6 .fw-300 }
Table of Contents
{: .no_toc .text-delta }
- TOC
{:toc}
Overview
An RLM completion involves three cooperating pieces:
- RLM (
rlm/core/rlm.py) โ the main loop that drives iteration. - LMHandler (
rlm/core/lm_handler.py) โ a per-completion TCP server that routes LM API calls. - LocalREPL (
rlm/environments/local_repl.py) โ the Python execution environment where model-generated code runs.
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โ RLM.completion(prompt) โ
โ โ
โ 1. Spawn LMHandler (TCP server on localhost, auto port) โ
โ 2. Create LocalREPL (in-process exec() namespace) โ
โ 3. Iterate: โ
โ a. Send message history โ LM backend โ get response โ
โ b. Extract ```repl``` code blocks from response โ
โ c. Execute code in LocalREPL โ
โ d. Append stdout/stderr to message history โ
โ e. Repeat until answer["ready"] is True or limits exceeded โ
โ 4. Tear down handler and environment โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโLM Handler
What it is
The LMHandler is a multi-threaded TCP socket server that sits between
the execution environment and the actual LM API backends. Every call toRLM.completion() spins up a fresh handler (unless the environment is
persistent and already has one).
Why a socket server?
The handler exists so that code running inside the execution environment
can make LM calls back to the host process without directly importing or
calling the LM client. This is essential for isolated environments (Docker,
Modal) that run in separate processes or machines โ they communicate with
the handler over TCP. The local environment uses the same protocol for
consistency, even though it runs in-process.
Lifecycle
# Inside RLM._spawn_completion_context():
client = get_client(backend, backend_kwargs) # 1. Create LM client
lm_handler = LMHandler(client, other_backend_client=โฆ) # 2. Wrap in handler
lm_handler.start() # 3. Start TCP server (daemon thread)
# โฆ run completion loop โฆ
lm_handler.stop() # 4. Shut down server- The server binds to
127.0.0.1with port0(OS auto-assigns an available port). - It runs in a daemon thread so it doesn't block process exit.
- Each incoming connection is handled by a new thread (
ThreadingTCPServer).
Wire protocol
All messages use a simple framing: 4-byte big-endian length prefix + UTF-8 JSON payload.
โโโโโโโโโโโโฌโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโ
โ 4 bytes โ N bytes โ
โ len (BE) โ JSON payload (UTF-8) โ
โโโโโโโโโโโโดโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโโImplemented in socket_send() / socket_recv() in rlm/core/comms_utils.py.
Client routing
The handler can hold multiple LM clients and routes requests based on themodel and depth fields in the request:
def get_client(self, model=None, depth=0):
if model and model in self.clients:
return self.clients[model] # Explicit model override
if depth == 1 and self.other_backend_client:
return self.other_backend_client # Depth-based routing
return self.default_client # FallbackThis lets you use a different (e.g. cheaper/faster) model for sub-LM calls
by specifying other_backends / other_backend_kwargs in the RLM constructor.
Code Execution Environment (LocalREPL)
In-process `exec()` โ not a subprocess
LocalREPL executes model-generated code in the same Python interpreter
process as the RLM, using Python's built-in exec(). There is no
subprocess, no fork, and no IPC for code execution.
# Simplified from LocalREPL.execute_code():
combined = {**self.globals, **self.locals}
exec(code, combined, combined)What this means in practice
- Fast: No process spawn overhead. Code execution is as fast as native Python.
- Persistent namespace: Variables created in one code block are visible in the next. The
self.localsdict accumulates state across iterations. - Shared memory: Helper functions like
llm_query()andrlm_query()are plain Python closures inself.globals. When model code callsllm_query("..."), it's a direct function call within the same process. - Limited sandbox: Dangerous builtins (
eval,exec,compile,input) are removed from the namespace. This is a soft sandbox โ it prevents accidental misuse but is not a security boundary.
Namespace layout
globals (shared across all executions):
โโโ __builtins__ โ _SAFE_BUILTINS (eval/exec/input removed)
โโโ llm_query() โ plain LM call via handler
โโโ llm_query_batched() โ batched plain LM calls
โโโ rlm_query() โ recursive RLM sub-call (or fallback to llm_query)
โโโ rlm_query_batched() โ batched recursive sub-calls
โโโ SHOW_VARS() โ list user-created variables
โโโ <custom_tools> โ user-provided callable tools
locals (accumulates user variables):
โโโ context โ alias for context_0
โโโ context_0 โ first context payload
โโโ context_1, โฆ โ additional contexts (persistent mode)
โโโ history โ conversation history (persistent/compaction mode)
โโโ answer โ {"content": "", "ready": False}; set ready=True to finish
โโโ โ anything created by model codeScaffold restoration
After each exec(), LocalREPL restores all reserved names to prevent model
code from corrupting the environment. If the model writesllm_query = "oops" or context = None, the next execution will still
have the real functions and data. See _restore_scaffold().
How `llm_query()` and `rlm_query()` Work
These are the two functions available to model-generated code for making LM calls.
They have very different behaviors:
`llm_query(prompt, model=None)` โ Plain LM call
Always makes a single, direct LM completion. No REPL, no iteration โ just
prompt in, text out. Fast and lightweight.
Model code: answer = llm_query("Summarize this text: ...")
โ
โผ
LocalREPL._llm_query()
โ Creates LMRequest(prompt=..., depth=self.depth)
โ Opens TCP socket to handler
โผ
LMHandler (TCP server)
โ get_client(model, depth) โ selects backend
โ client.completion(prompt) โ calls LM API
โผ
Response flows back over socket
โ
โผ
Returns response string to model code`rlm_query(prompt, model=None)` โ Recursive RLM sub-call
Spawns a child RLM that gets its own REPL and can reason iteratively
over the prompt โ just like the parent. Use this when the subtask needs
multi-step reasoning, code execution, or its own iterative problem-solving.
Falls back to llm_query when recursion is not available (i.e. the current
depth has reached max_depth).
Model code: answer = rlm_query("Solve this complex problem: ...")
โ
โผ
LocalREPL._rlm_query()
โ if self.subcall_fn is not None: โ set when max_depth > 1
โ calls self.subcall_fn(prompt, model)
โ else:
โ falls back to _llm_query()
โ
โผ (when subcall_fn exists)
RLM._subcall(prompt, model)
โ next_depth = self.depth + 1
โ if next_depth >= max_depth:
โ โ plain client.completion() (leaf call, no REPL)
โ else:
โ โ create child RLM(depth=next_depth, ...)
โ โ child.completion(prompt) โ full RLM with its own handler + REPL
โ
โผ
Returns RLMChatCompletion to parent`llm_query_batched` / `rlm_query_batched`
Same semantics as above, but for multiple prompts. llm_query_batched sends
all prompts as a single batched request to the handler, which processes them
concurrently with asyncio.gather. rlm_query_batched calls subcall_fn
sequentially for each prompt (each child RLM is a blocking call).
Failure handling is per-prompt. A single failed call does not fail the
whole batch โ that slot returns the string "Error: llm() call failed - <msg>"
(with the underlying error message) while the other prompts return their real
responses. Results stay aligned with the input prompts by index, so the list is
always the same length as prompts.
Recursive Sub-Calls (Depth > 1)
How depth works
max_depth=3
RLM (depth=0)
โโ rlm_query() โ child RLM (depth=1)
โโ rlm_query() โ child RLM (depth=2)
โโ rlm_query() โ plain LM call (depth=3 >= max_depth, no REPL)depth=0is the root RLM that the user calls.- Each child increments depth by 1.
- When
next_depth >= max_depth,_subcall()does a plainclient.completion()instead of creating a child RLM. This is the leaf case โ no REPL, no iteration. llm_query()always does a plain LM call regardless of depth. Onlyrlm_query()triggers recursion.
Each child gets its own handler and environment
When a child RLM is created via _subcall(), its completion() method calls_spawn_completion_context() which creates:
- A new
LMHandlerlistening on a different auto-assigned port. - A new
LocalREPLwith its own isolated namespace.
Parent RLM (depth=0)
โโโ LMHandler #1 on port 52301
โโโ LocalREPL #1 (depth=1)
โ โโโ globals: {llm_query, rlm_query, ...}
โ โโโ locals: {context: "parent prompt", ...}
โ โโโ subcall_fn = RLM._subcall โ enables rlm_query()
โ
โโโ When model code calls rlm_query("subtask"):
โ
โโโ Child RLM (depth=1)
โโโ LMHandler #2 on port 52302 โ NEW handler, NEW port
โโโ LocalREPL #2 (depth=2) โ NEW namespace
โ โโโ locals: {context: "subtask", ...}
โ โโโ subcall_fn = child._subcall (or None if at max_depth-1)
โ
โโโ Runs its own iteration loop, returns RLMChatCompletionThe child's handler and environment are torn down when the child's completion() finishes.
Resource limits propagate
The parent passes remaining budget/timeout/tokens to the child, not the
original totals. This prevents a child from consuming all of the parent's resources:
# In _subcall():
remaining_timeout = self.max_timeout - elapsed # not self.max_timeout
remaining_budget = self.max_budget - spent # not self.max_budget
child = RLM(..., max_timeout=remaining_timeout, max_budget=remaining_budget)Metadata flows back
Each child RLM can have its own RLMLogger. When the child completes, its
full trajectory metadata (iterations, code blocks, sub-calls) is captured in
the returned RLMChatCompletion.metadata dict. The parent's logger records
this as part of the REPL result's rlm_calls list, creating a nested
metadata tree.
Putting It All Together
Here's the complete request flow for a depth-2 RLM call:
User: rlm.completion("Analyze this data")
โ
โผ
RLM (depth=0)
โโ _spawn_completion_context()
โ โโ LMHandler #1 starts on port 52301
โ โโ LocalREPL #1 created with context="Analyze this data"
โ
โโ Iteration 1: LM generates code
โ โ ```repl
โ โ answer = rlm_query("What patterns exist in: " + context[:5000])
โ โ ```
โ โ
โ โโ LocalREPL.execute_code() runs the code via exec()
โ โ
โ โโ rlm_query() โ _rlm_query() โ subcall_fn()
โ โ โ
โ โ โโ RLM._subcall("What patterns exist in: ...")
โ โ โ
โ โ โโ depth=1 < max_depth=2, so create child RLM
โ โ โ
โ โ โโ Child RLM (depth=1)
โ โ โโ LMHandler #2 on port 52302
โ โ โโ LocalREPL #2 with context="What patterns..."
โ โ โ
โ โ โโ Child iteration 1: LM generates code
โ โ โ โ result = llm_query("Extract key metrics: " + context)
โ โ โ โ
โ โ โ โโ llm_query() โ TCP to Handler #2 โ LM API โ response
โ โ โ
โ โ โโ Child iteration 2: LM sets answer["content"]=result, answer["ready"]=True
โ โ โ
โ โ โโ Returns RLMChatCompletion to parent
โ โ
โ โโ child_response = child_completion.response
โ
โโ Iteration 2: LM uses child_response, sets answer["content"]=final, answer["ready"]=True
โ
โโ LMHandler #1 stops
โโ Returns RLMChatCompletion to userKey takeaways
| Aspect | Detail |
|---|---|
| Code execution | In-process exec() in the same Python interpreter. Not a subprocess. |
| LM calls from code | Go through a local TCP socket server (LMHandler), even for in-process execution. |
| Handler per completion | Each completion() call gets its own handler on an auto-assigned port. |
| Child RLMs | Created by _subcall(), each with its own handler + LocalREPL. Fully independent. |
llm_query vs rlm_query |
llm_query = always plain LM call. rlm_query = recursive child RLM (or fallback). |
| Depth limit | At max_depth, rlm_query falls back to llm_query. No further recursion. |
| Resource isolation | Children get remaining budget/timeout, not the full amount. |
| Namespace isolation | Each LocalREPL has its own globals/locals. No shared state between parent and child. |
File: docs/getting-started.md
layout: default title: Getting Started nav_order: 2
Getting Started
{: .no_toc }
A complete guide to installing and configuring RLM for your projects.
{: .fs-6 .fw-300 }
Table of Contents
{: .no_toc .text-delta }
- TOC
{:toc}
Installation
Prerequisites
- Python 3.11 or higher
- An API key from a supported LLM provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)
Using uv (Recommended)
# Install uv
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
# Create and activate virtual environment
uv init && uv venv --python 3.12
source .venv/bin/activate
# Install RLM in editable mode
uv pip install -e .Optional: Modal Support
For cloud-based sandboxed execution:
# Install Modal extra
uv pip install -e ".[modal]"
# Authenticate Modal
modal setupOptional: Docker Support
For containerized execution, ensure Docker is installed and running:
# Verify Docker is available
docker --versionYour First RLM Call
Step 1: Set Up API Keys
Create a .env file in your project root:
# .env
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-ant-...
PORTKEY_API_KEY=...Step 2: Basic Usage
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv
from rlm import RLM
load_dotenv()
# Create RLM instance
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={
"api_key": os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"),
"model_name": "gpt-4o",
},
)
# Make a completion call
result = rlm.completion("Calculate the 50th Fibonacci number using Python.")
print(result.response)Step 3: Enable Verbose Output
See what the RLM is doing step by step:
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={
"api_key": os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"),
"model_name": "gpt-4o",
},
verbose=True, # Enable rich console output
)This will display:
- Each iteration's LM response
- Code blocks being executed
- Stdout/stderr from execution
- Final answer when reached
Understanding the RLM Class
Constructor Arguments
| Argument | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
backend |
str |
"openai" |
LM provider backend |
backend_kwargs |
dict |
None |
Backend-specific configuration |
environment |
str |
"local" |
Execution environment type |
environment_kwargs |
dict |
None |
Environment configuration |
max_depth |
int |
1 |
Maximum recursion depth for rlm_query() |
max_iterations |
int |
30 |
Max REPL iterations per call |
max_budget |
float |
None |
Max total USD cost (if provider reports cost) |
max_timeout |
float |
None |
Max wall-clock seconds per completion |
max_tokens |
int |
None |
Max total tokens (input + output) per completion |
max_errors |
int |
None |
Max consecutive REPL errors before abort |
custom_system_prompt |
str |
None |
Override default system prompt |
other_backends |
list |
None |
Additional backends for sub-calls |
other_backend_kwargs |
list |
None |
Configs for additional backends |
logger |
RLMLogger |
None |
Logger for trajectory tracking and metadata capture |
verbose |
bool |
False |
Enable console output |
persistent |
bool |
False |
Reuse environment across completion() calls |
custom_tools |
dict |
None |
Custom functions/data available in REPL |
custom_sub_tools |
dict |
None |
Custom tools for child RLMs (defaults to custom_tools) |
compaction |
bool |
False |
Auto-summarize history when context fills up |
compaction_threshold_pct |
float |
0.85 |
Context usage fraction that triggers compaction |
The `completion()` Method
result = rlm.completion(
prompt="Your input text or context",
root_prompt="Optional: A short prompt visible to the root LM"
)Parameters:
prompt: The main context/input (string or dict). This becomes thecontextvariable in the REPL.root_prompt: Optional hint shown to the root LM (useful for Q&A tasks).
Returns: RLMChatCompletion with:
response: The final answer stringusage_summary: Token usage statisticsexecution_time: Total time in secondsroot_model: Model name usedprompt: Original inputmetadata: Full trajectory dict (ifloggerwas provided, elseNone)
Depth>1 Recursion
Depth>1 recursive subcalls are supported. The REPL provides two LM call functions:
llm_query(prompt)โ Always makes a plain, single LM completion. Fast and lightweight. Use for simple extraction, summarization, or Q&A.rlm_query(prompt)โ Spawns a child RLM with its own REPL and iterative reasoning. Use for subtasks that need multi-step thinking or code execution. Falls back tollm_querywhendepth >= max_depth.
Both have batched variants (llm_query_batched, rlm_query_batched) for processing multiple prompts concurrently.
See Architecture for details on how handlers, environments, and recursive sub-calls work.
Limits and Exceptions
RLM raises explicit exceptions when limits are exceeded:
BudgetExceededErrorTimeoutExceededErrorTokenLimitExceededErrorErrorThresholdExceededErrorCancellationError(onKeyboardInterrupt)
All exceptions are importable from the top-level package (from rlm import TimeoutExceededError, ...).
Choosing an Environment
RLM supports several execution environments:
Local (Default)
Code runs in the same Python process with sandboxed builtins.
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={"model_name": "gpt-4o"},
environment="local",
)Pros: Fast, no setup required
Cons: Less isolation from host process
Docker
Code runs in a Docker container with full isolation. A lightweight host-side
proxy bridges LM access back into the container, so the container never needs
API keys or direct network access to the model provider.
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={"model_name": "gpt-4o"},
environment="docker",
environment_kwargs={
"image": "python:3.11-slim", # Custom image
},
)DockerREPL supports the same capabilities as the local environment:
llm_query/llm_query_batchedโ single LM completionsrlm_query/rlm_query_batchedโ recursive sub-RLM calls (withmax_depth > 1),
including parallel batched sub-calls bounded bymax_concurrent_subcallscustom_tools/custom_sub_toolsโ injected functions/data (pass as Python
code strings or JSON-serializable values, since host callables cannot cross
the container boundary)persistent=Trueโ multi-turn sessions; the container and its namespace are
kept alive acrosscompletion()calls, with versionedcontext_N/history_Ncompaction=Trueโ auto-summarizes the runninghistorywhen context fills up
Pros: Containerized isolation, reproducible, full feature parity with local
Cons: Requires Docker, slower startup
Modal
Code runs in Modal's cloud sandboxes for full isolation.
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={"model_name": "gpt-4o"},
environment="modal",
environment_kwargs={
"app_name": "my-rlm-app",
"timeout": 600,
},
)Pros: Cloud-native, scalable, fully isolated
Cons: Requires Modal account, network latency
Choosing a Backend
OpenAI
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={
"api_key": os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"),
"model_name": "gpt-4o",
# Optional: custom base URL
# "base_url": "https://api.openai.com/v1",
},
)Anthropic
rlm = RLM(
backend="anthropic",
backend_kwargs={
"api_key": os.getenv("ANTHROPIC_API_KEY"),
"model_name": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
},
)Portkey (Router)
rlm = RLM(
backend="portkey",
backend_kwargs={
"api_key": os.getenv("PORTKEY_API_KEY"),
"model_name": "@openai/gpt-5-nano", # Portkey model format
},
)OpenRouter
rlm = RLM(
backend="openrouter",
backend_kwargs={
"api_key": os.getenv("OPENROUTER_API_KEY"),
"model_name": "openai/gpt-4o",
},
)vLLM (Local)
rlm = RLM(
backend="vllm",
backend_kwargs={
"base_url": "http://localhost:8000/v1", # Required
"model_name": "meta-llama/Llama-3-70b",
},
)Custom Tools
You can provide custom functions and data that the RLM can use in its REPL environment. This allows you to give the model access to domain-specific tools, APIs, or helper functions.
Basic Usage
def fetch_weather(city: str) -> str:
"""Fetch weather data for a city."""
# Your API call here
return f"Weather in {city}: Sunny, 72ยฐF"
def calculate_shipping(weight: float, distance: float) -> float:
"""Calculate shipping cost."""
return weight * 0.5 + distance * 0.1
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={"model_name": "gpt-4o"},
custom_tools={
"fetch_weather": fetch_weather,
"calculate_shipping": calculate_shipping,
"API_KEY": "your-api-key", # Non-callable values become variables
},
)
result = rlm.completion("What's the weather in Tokyo and calculate shipping for 10kg over 500km?")Inside the REPL, the model can now call:
weather = fetch_weather("Tokyo")
cost = calculate_shipping(10, 500)Tool Descriptions
You can provide descriptions for your tools that will be included in the system prompt, helping the model understand what each tool does:
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={"model_name": "gpt-4o"},
custom_tools={
# Dict format: {"tool": callable_or_value, "description": "..."}
"fetch_weather": {"tool": fetch_weather, "description": "Fetch current weather data for a city name"},
"calculate_shipping": {"tool": calculate_shipping, "description": "Calculate shipping cost given weight (kg) and distance (km)"},
"API_KEY": {"tool": "your-api-key", "description": "API key for the weather service"},
},
)The descriptions are automatically added to the system prompt:
6. Custom tools and data available in the REPL:
- `fetch_weather`: Fetch current weather data for a city name
- `calculate_shipping`: Calculate shipping cost given weight (kg) and distance (km)
- `API_KEY`: API key for the weather serviceIsolated Environments (Modal, Daytona)
For isolated environments, custom tools must be serializable. You can provide:
- Code strings - Python code that defines the function:
custom_tools = {
"helper": '''
def helper(x):
return x * 2
''',
}- Serializable data - JSON-compatible values (strings, numbers, dicts, lists):
custom_tools = {
"CONFIG": {"api_url": "https://api.example.com", "timeout": 30},
"ALLOWED_CITIES": ["Tokyo", "London", "New York"],
}Logging and Debugging
Enable Logging
from rlm import RLM
from rlm.logger import RLMLogger
# Create logger
logger = RLMLogger(log_dir="./logs")
rlm = RLM(
backend="openai",
backend_kwargs={"model_name": "gpt-4o"},
logger=logger,
verbose=True,
)
result = rlm.completion("...")
# Logs saved to ./logs/rlm_TIMESTAMP_UUID.jsonlLog File Format
Logs are JSON-lines files with:
{"type": "metadata", "root_model": "gpt-4o", "max_iterations": 30, ...}
{"type": "iteration", "iteration": 1, "response": "...", "code_blocks": [...]}
{"type": "iteration", "iteration": 2, "response": "...", "final_answer": "..."}Visualizer
Use the included visualizer to explore trajectories:
cd visualizer/
npm install
npm run dev # Opens at localhost:3001Upload .jsonl log files to visualize:
- Iteration timeline
- Code execution results
- Sub-LM call traces
- Token usage
Next Steps
- API Reference - Complete RLM class documentation
- Architecture - How the handler, REPL, and recursive sub-calls work
- Environments - Deep dive into each environment
- Backends - Detailed backend configuration
File: visualizer/README.md
Vibe-coded visualizer with shadcn for viewing RLM trajectories.
This is a Next.js project bootstrapped with create-next-app.
Getting Started
First, run the development server:
npm run dev
# or
yarn dev
# or
pnpm dev
# or
bun devOpen http://localhost:3000 with your browser to see the result.
You can start editing the page by modifying app/page.tsx. The page auto-updates as you edit the file.
This project uses next/font to automatically optimize and load Geist, a new font family for Vercel.
Learn More
To learn more about Next.js, take a look at the following resources:
- Next.js Documentation - learn about Next.js features and API.
- Learn Next.js - an interactive Next.js tutorial.
You can check out the Next.js GitHub repository - your feedback and contributions are welcome!
Deploy on Vercel
The easiest way to deploy your Next.js app is to use the Vercel Platform from the creators of Next.js.
Check out our Next.js deployment documentation for more details.
2. Official Technical Reference & Guides (alexzhang13/alexzhang13.github.io)
al-folio
User community
The vibrant community of al-folio users is growing!
Academics around the world use this theme for their homepages, blogs, lab pages, as well as webpages for courses, workshops, conferences, meetups, and more.
Check out the community webpages below.
Feel free to add your own page(s) by sending a PR.
| Academics | โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
|
| --- | --- |
| Labs | โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
โ
|
| Courses | CMU PGM (S-19)
CMU DeepRL (S-21, F-21, S-22, F-22, S-23, F-23)
CMU MMML (F-20, F-22)
CMU AMMML (S-22, S-23)
CMU ASI (S-23)
CMU Distributed Systems (S-24) |
| Conferences & workshops | ICLR Blog Post Track (2023, 2024)
ML Retrospectives (NeurIPS: 2019, 2020; ICML: 2020)
HAMLETS (NeurIPS: 2020)
ICBINB (NeurIPS: 2020, 2021)
Neural Compression (ICLR: 2021)
Score Based Methods (NeurIPS: 2022)
Images2Symbols (CogSci: 2022)
Medical Robotics Junior Faculty Forum (ISMR: 2023)
Beyond Vision: Physics meets AI (ICIAP: 2023)
Workshop on Diffusion Models (NeurIPS: 2023) |
Lighthouse PageSpeed Insights
Desktop
Run the test yourself: Google Lighthouse PageSpeed Insights
Mobile
Run the test yourself: Google Lighthouse PageSpeed Insights
Table Of Contents
- al-folio
Getting started
Want to learn more about Jekyll? Check out this tutorial. Why Jekyll? Read Andrej Karpathy's blog post! Why write a blog? Read Rachel Thomas blog post.
Installing and Deploying
For installation and deployment details please refer to INSTALL.md.
Customizing
For customization details please refer to CUSTOMIZE.md.
Features
Light/Dark Mode
This template has a built-in light/dark mode. It detects the user preferred color scheme and automatically switches to it. You can also manually switch between light and dark mode by clicking on the sun/moon icon in the top right corner of the page.
CV
There are currently 2 different ways of generating the CV page content. The first one is by using a json file located in assets/json/resume.json. It is a known standard for creating a CV programmatically. The second one, currently used as a fallback when the json file is not found, is by using a yml file located in _data/cv.yml. This was the original way of creating the CV page content and since it is more human readable than a json file we decided to keep it as an option.
What this means is, if there is no resume data defined in _config.yml and loaded via a json file, it will load the contents of _data/cv.yml as fallback.
People
You can create a people page if you want to feature more than one person. Each person can have its own short bio, profile picture, and you can also set if every person will appear at the same or opposite sides.
Publications
Your publications' page is generated automatically from your BibTex bibliography. Simply edit _bibliography/papers.bib. You can also add new *.bib files and customize the look of your publications however you like by editing _pages/publications.md. By default, the publications will be sorted by year and the most recent will be displayed first. You can change this behavior and more in the Jekyll Scholar section in _config.yml file.
You can add extra information to a publication, like a PDF file in the assets/pdf/ directory and add the path to the PDF file in the BibTeX entry with the pdf field. Some of the supported fields are: abstract, altmetric, arxiv, bibtex_show, blog, code, dimensions, doi, eprint, html, isbn, pdf, pmid, poster, slides, supp, video, and website.
Collections
This Jekyll theme implements collections to let you break up your work into categories. The theme comes with two default collections: news and projects. Items from the news collection are automatically displayed on the home page. Items from the projects collection are displayed on a responsive grid on projects page.
You can easily create your own collections, apps, short stories, courses, or whatever your creative work is. To do this, edit the collections in the _config.yml file, create a corresponding folder, and create a landing page for your collection, similar to _pages/projects.md.
Layouts
al-folio comes with stylish layouts for pages and blog posts.
The iconic style of Distill
The theme allows you to create blog posts in the distill.pub style:
For more details on how to create distill-styled posts using <d-*> tags, please refer to the example.
Full support for math & code
al-folio supports fast math typesetting through MathJax and code syntax highlighting using GitHub style. Also supports chartjs charts, mermaid diagrams, and TikZ figures.
Photos, Audio, Video and more
Photo formatting is made simple using Bootstrap's grid system. Easily create beautiful grids within your blog posts and project pages, also with support for video and audio embeds:
Other features
GitHub's repositories and user stats
al-folio uses github-readme-stats and github-profile-trophy to display GitHub repositories and user stats on the /repositories/ page.
Edit the _data/repositories.yml and change the github_users and github_repos lists to include your own GitHub profile and repositories to the /repositories/ page.
You may also use the following codes for displaying this in any other pages.
{% if site.data.repositories.github_users %}
{% for user in site.data.repositories.github_users %} {% include repository/repo_user.liquid username=user %} {% endfor %}
{% endif %}
{% if site.repo_trophies.enabled %} {% for user in site.data.repositories.github_users %} {% if site.data.repositories.github_users.size > 1 %}
<h4>{{ user }}</h4>
{% endif %}
{% include repository/repo_trophies.liquid username=user %}
{% endfor %} {% endif %}
{% if site.data.repositories.github_repos %}
{% for repo in site.data.repositories.github_repos %} {% include repository/repo.liquid repository=repo %} {% endfor %}
{% endif %}Theming
A variety of beautiful theme colors have been selected for you to choose from. The default is purple, but you can quickly change it by editing the --global-theme-color variable in the _sass/_themes.scss file. Other color variables are listed there as well. The stock theme color options available can be found at _sass/_variables.scss. You can also add your own colors to this file assigning each a name for ease of use across the template.
Social media previews
al-folio supports preview images on social media. To enable this functionality you will need to set serve_og_meta to true in your _config.yml. Once you have done so, all your site's pages will include Open Graph data in the HTML head element.
You will then need to configure what image to display in your site's social media previews. This can be configured on a per-page basis, by setting the og_image page variable. If for an individual page this variable is not set, then the theme will fall back to a site-wide og_image variable, configurable in your _config.yml. In both the page-specific and site-wide cases, the og_image variable needs to hold the URL for the image you wish to display in social media previews.
Atom (RSS-like) Feed
It generates an Atom (RSS-like) feed of your posts, useful for Atom and RSS readers. The feed is reachable simply by typing after your homepage /feed.xml. E.g. assuming your website mountpoint is the main folder, you can type yourusername.github.io/feed.xml
Related posts
By default, there will be a related posts section on the bottom of the blog posts. These are generated by selecting the max_related most recent posts that share at least min_common_tags tags with the current post. If you do not want to display related posts on a specific post, simply add related_posts: false to the front matter of the post. If you want to disable it for all posts, simply set enabled to false in the related_blog_posts section in _config.yml.
Code quality checks
Currently, we run some checks to ensure that the code quality and generated site are good. The checks are done using GitHub Actions and the following tools:
- Prettier - check if the formatting of the code follows the style guide
- lychee - check for broken links
- Axe (need to run manually) - do some accessibility testing
We decided to keep Axe runs manual because fixing the issues are not straightforward and might be hard for people without web development knowledge.
FAQ
For frequently asked questions, please refer to FAQ.md.
Contributing
Contributions to al-folio are very welcome! Before you get started, please take a look at the guidelines.
If you would like to improve documentation or fix a minor inconsistency or bug, please feel free to send a PR directly to master. For more complex issues/bugs or feature requests, please open an issue using the appropriate template.
Maintainers
Our most active contributors are welcome to join the maintainers team. If you are interested, please reach out!
| Maruan | Rohan Deb Sarkar | Amir Pourmand | George |
|---|
All Contributors
Star History
License
The theme is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.
Originally, al-folio was based on the *folio theme (published by Lia Bogoev and under the MIT license). Since then, it got a full re-write of the styles and many additional cool features.