Environments

Introduction

An environment is the dependency and launch context expected by a model or benchmark: Python packages, CUDA/Torch bucket, optional system tools, checkpoint layout, device assumptions, and command shape.

The repository still uses runtime_profile as a metadata field because it points to a concrete environment record in worldfoundry/data/models/runtime/profiles/<model-id>.yaml. In reader-facing docs, this page calls the same concept an environment.

WorldFoundry uses conda as the single supported environment path. The documented workflow creates one named conda environment for the main framework and separate conda environments only when an upstream simulator or official runtime requires isolation.

1. Start with bash scripts/setup/bootstrap_worldfoundry.sh for model inference.
2. Use bash scripts/setup/model_env_install.sh --list to inspect every model-to-env mapping, or --model <model-id> when you need the exact env for one model.
3. Stay in the unified env when the resolved profile is worldfoundry-unified-<tier>.
4. Switch to a dedicated env only when runtime/environments/<category>/<model-id>.yaml records an ABI or simulator constraint.
5. Use benchmark-specific scripts only for official metrics, reference metrics, or physics stacks.

Clone-to-run Setup Scripts

Run these scripts from the repository root. They are part of the public release surface, not local machine notes.

• scripts/setup/bootstrap_worldfoundry.sh — First command after cloning the repo. Creates/verifies the unified env, writes tmp/worldfoundry_unified_env.sh, optionally installs model-specific envs, optionally prepares model assets, and prints the Workspace launch command.
• scripts/setup/unified_install.sh — Main GPU runtime only. Creates worldfoundry-unified-<cuda-tier> and installs requirements/worldfoundry-unified.txt, PyTorch CUDA wheels, optional flash-attn, and import/CUDA checks.
• scripts/setup/model_env_install.sh — Per-model environment resolution. Reads worldfoundry/data/models/runtime/environments/**; routes compatible profiles back to the unified env and creates dedicated envs only for hard ABI conflicts.
• scripts/inference/prepare_model_infer.sh — Checkpoint/Hugging Face preparation per model. Defaults to a plan/check-local flow. Add --download only after reviewing license, gated access, and storage requirements.
• scripts/workspace/run_workspace.sh — Start the browser Workspace from an activated runtime. Keeps PYTHONPATH=., WORLDFOUNDRY_WORKSPACE_MAX_JOBS, and WORLDFOUNDRY_CKPT_DIR explicit.

Recommended fresh-clone path:

git clone https://github.com/OpenEnvision/WorldFoundry.git
cd WorldFoundry

bash scripts/setup/bootstrap_worldfoundry.sh
source tmp/worldfoundry_unified_env.sh
conda activate "${WORLDFOUNDRY_UNIFIED_ENV_PREFIX}"

Environment prefixes are machine-local artifacts. If an existing checkout reports a missing python3.x, missing native module, or libssl/libcrypto error, recreate the environment or run the public verifier:

bash scripts/setup/bootstrap_worldfoundry.sh --verify-only

Review a model before downloading checkpoints:

bash scripts/setup/bootstrap_worldfoundry.sh \
  --with-model matrix-game-2 \
  --prepare-model matrix-game-2

Download public assets only when ready:

export HF_TOKEN=<your-token-if-needed>
bash scripts/setup/bootstrap_worldfoundry.sh \
  --with-model matrix-game-2 \
  --prepare-model matrix-game-2 \
  --download-model-assets

--download-model-assets forwards to each model's preparation script. It does not bypass Hugging Face gates; users must accept model terms upstream and provide HF_TOKEN or HUGGING_FACE_HUB_TOKEN themselves.

For a multi-model workstation, install the unified env once and then verify exceptions explicitly:

bash scripts/setup/bootstrap_worldfoundry.sh \
  --with-model lingbot-world \
  --with-model octo \
  --prepare-model lingbot-world \
  --prepare-model octo

Start the Workspace after setup:

source tmp/worldfoundry_unified_env.sh
conda activate "${WORLDFOUNDRY_UNIFIED_ENV_PREFIX}"
PYTHONPATH=. WORLDFOUNDRY_WORKSPACE_MAX_JOBS=8 \
python -m worldfoundry.studio.workspace_app --host 127.0.0.1 --port 7870

Use explicit roots when datasets or checkpoints should live on shared storage:

bash scripts/setup/bootstrap_worldfoundry.sh \
  --home /path/to/worldfoundry-home \
  --data-root /path/to/worldfoundry-data \
  --model-root /path/to/worldfoundry-models

Runtime Variables

bootstrap_worldfoundry.sh and unified_install.sh write the same sourceable env file. Keep this file local to the machine; it contains paths but no secrets.

Prefer native Hugging Face loading (from_pretrained, snapshot_download, and standard HF cache variables) for public checkpoints. Use WORLDFOUNDRY_CKPT_DIR for upstream runtimes that require a fixed directory layout or for local soft links that preserve official paths without duplicating large files.

Dedicated Model Environment Exceptions

Start from worldfoundry-unified-<cuda-tier> for every model. Create a dedicated environment only for the profiles below, where the upstream runtime has a real ABI or framework-family conflict with the unified CUDA stack.

Install one exception with:

bash scripts/setup/model_env_install.sh --model <model-id>

For model setup, prefer scripts/inference/prepare_model_infer.sh; it installs the resolved environment first and then checks or downloads assets. Use scripts/setup/model_env_install.sh directly only when you want to prepare the conda env without touching checkpoints.

EvalCrafter is the only benchmark with a WorldFoundry-managed dedicated metric profile. Other benchmark-specific native stacks are listed below and are not claimed as configured until their own preflight passes.

Unified Environment With Extra Runtime Requirements

The models below should still use worldfoundry-unified-<cuda-tier>, but their docs should call out extra local assets, compiled wheels, or external services. These are not reasons to clone an external repository; the code path is in-tree.

Benchmark Metric Environments

Most benchmark official validation runs and official-result normalizers run in the unified environment. Full official metric suites can require a separate conda profile when their dependency stack would disturb model inference. Install those profiles through the same public setup entrypoint:

The complete per-benchmark mapping for all 42 Video Generation and World Model entries is in the benchmark runtime environment matrix. That matrix also records external API services, native extensions, checkpoint stacks, and the currently verified scope; needs_new_env: false alone is not a full-suite readiness claim.

bash scripts/setup/model_env_install.sh --model evalcrafter

EvalCrafter's supported three-metric CLIP path and final_result.txt import run in worldfoundry-unified-<tier>. The separate worldfoundry-evalcrafter-metrics profile mirrors the official revision's Python 3.9.17, pip 23.2.1, Torch 2.0.1, torchvision 0.15.2, TensorFlow 2.12.0, PaddlePaddle-GPU 2.5.1, MMCV 2.0.1, and MMAction2 1.1.0 package pins. It exists to prepare the upstream dependency surface, not to imply that WorldFoundry orchestrates the full scorer.

A separate environment is never inferred from a successful import. The catalog and runtime profile must name its Python executable or setup command, assets, and verified scope. If no reproducible environment recipe exists, the affected metric remains blocked rather than being reported through a fallback score.

The in-tree code keeps reusable foundation models under worldfoundry/base_models. These components are available for future full-suite work; their presence does not mean the bounded EvalCrafter runner currently executes them:

For the supported subset, stage CLIP ViT-B/32 under the standard checkpoint root or set its explicit override:

export WORLDFOUNDRY_CLIP_VIT_B32_MODEL_DIR="${WORLDFOUNDRY_HFD_ROOT}/openai--clip-vit-base-patch32"

See the EvalCrafter benchmark page for the no-proxy download and smoke command. The complete upstream suite also expects direct 0000.mp4 through 0699.mp4 files, but WorldFoundry does not currently claim that full path.

Embodied Simulator Environments

The host setup is Docker plus the unified WorldFoundry environment:

bash scripts/setup/bootstrap_worldfoundry.sh
source tmp/worldfoundry_unified_env.sh
docker pull ghcr.io/allenai/vla-evaluation-harness/robotwin:latest
worldfoundry-eval embodied run \
  --config worldfoundry/data/benchmarks/eval_configs/embodied/robotwin/eval.yaml \
  --pull-docker

Benchmark configs that have a docker.image entry, either directly or through worldfoundry/data/benchmarks/runtime_profiles/official/<benchmark>.yaml, are launched through worldfoundry/evaluation/tasks/embodied/docker_runner.py. Inside the container, simulator dependencies are provided by the image. On the host, only mount datasets/checkpoints/results and provide the policy server endpoint.

Troubleshooting

When working with complex setups involving CUDA, simulators, or external evaluators, you may encounter environment issues:

1. CUDA Mismatch

Symptom: CUDA error: no kernel image is available for execution on the device or PyTorch cannot find a GPU. Solution: Ensure your NVIDIA driver is up-to-date and supports the CUDA version installed by Conda. If you are on an older driver, you can force the installation script to use an older CUDA wheel bucket:

bash scripts/setup/unified_install.sh --cuda cu121

2. Missing System Dependencies (e.g., for OpenGL/3D)

Symptom: Errors relating to libGL.so.1, EGL, or headless rendering failures when running embodied simulators or 3D benchmarks. Solution: Install the required system-level graphics libraries. On Ubuntu/Debian:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y libgl1-mesa-glx libglib2.0-0

3. Flash Attention Installation Fails

Symptom: The unified install script hangs or fails during flash-attn compilation. Solution: flash-attn is extremely sensitive to mismatched CUDA compiler (nvcc) versions. Ensure your nvcc --version matches the PyTorch CUDA version. Alternatively, you can disable flash-attn installation by passing --skip-flash-attn (if supported by your environment) or installing a pre-compiled wheel from the official release page.