discord-cluster-manager

This is the code for the Discord bot we'll be using to queue jobs to a cluster of GPUs that our generous sponsors have provided. Our goal is to be able to queue kernels that can run end to end in seconds that way things feel interactive and social.

The key idea is that we're using Github Actions as a job scheduling engine and primarily making the Discord bot interact with the cluster via issuing Github Actions and and monitoring their status and while we're focused on having a nice user experience on discord.gg/gpumode, we're happy to accept PRs that make it easier for other Discord communities to hook GPUs.

Demo!

Supported schedulers

• GitHub Actions
• Modal
• Slurm (not implemented yet)

How to run and develop the bot locally

To run and develop the bot locally, you need to add it to your own server. Follow the steps here and here to create a bot application and then add it to your server.

Here is a visual walk-through of the steps (after clicking on the New Application button):

• The bot needs the Message Content Intent and Server Members Intent permissions turned on.

  Click here for visual.

  

• The bot also needs applications.commands and bot scopes.

  Click here for visual.

  

• The bot also needs to permissions to read and write messages which is easy to setup if you click on this link. Finally, generate an invite link for the bot and enter it into any browser.

  Click here for visual.

  

Note

Bot permissions involving threads/mentions/messages should suffice, but you can naively give it Administrator since it's just a test bot in your own testing Discord server.

Database

The leaderboard persists information in a Postgres database. To develop locally, set Postgres up on your machine. Then start a Postgres shell with psql, and create a database:

$ psql -U postgres
Password for user postgres: ********
psql (16.6 (Ubuntu 16.6-1.pgdg22.04+1))
Type "help" for help.

postgres=# CREATE DATABASE clusterdev;

We are using Yoyo Migrations to manage tables, indexes, etc. in our database. To create tables in your local database, apply the migrations in src/discord-cluster-manager/migrations with the following command line:

yoyo apply src/discord-cluster-manager/migrations \
  -d postgresql://user:password@localhost/clusterdev

Click here for a transcript of a yoyo apply session

$ yoyo apply . -d postgresql://user:password@localhost/clusterdev

[20241208_01_p3yuR-initial-leaderboard-schema]
Shall I apply this migration? [Ynvdaqjk?]: y

Selected 1 migration:
  [20241208_01_p3yuR-initial-leaderboard-schema]
Apply this migration to postgresql://user:password@localhost/clusterdev [Yn]: y
Save migration configuration to yoyo.ini?
This is saved in plain text and contains your database password.

Answering 'y' means you do not have to specify the migration source or database connection for future runs [yn]: n

Applying migrations to our staging and prod environments also happens using yoyo apply, just with a different database URL.

To make changes to the structure of the database, create a new migration:

yoyo new src/discord-cluster-manager/migrations -m "short_description"

...and then edit the generated file. Please do not edit existing migration files: the existing migration files form a sort of changelog that is supposed to be immutable, and so yoyo will refuse to reapply the changes.

We are following an expand/migrate/contract pattern to allow database migrations without downtime. When you want to make a change to the structure of the database, first determine if it is expansive or contractive.

• Expansive changes are those that have no possibility of breaking a running application. Examples include: adding a new nullable column, adding a non-null column with a default value, adding an index, adding a table, etc.
• Contractive changes are those that could break a running application. Examples include: dropping a table, dropping a column, adding a not null constraint to a column, adding a unique index, etc.

After an expansive phase, data gets migrated to the newly added elements. Code also begins using the newly added elements. This is the migration step. Finally, when all code is no longer using elements that are obsolete, these can be removed. (Or, if adding a unique or not null constraint, after checking that the data satisfies the constraint, then the constraint can be safely added.)

Expand, migrate, and contract steps may all be written using yoyo.

Environment Variables

After this, you should be able to create a .env file with the following environment variables:

• DISCORD_DEBUG_TOKEN : The token of the bot you want to run locally
• DISCORD_DEBUG_CLUSTER_STAGING_ID : The ID of the staging server you want to connect to
• GITHUB_TOKEN : A Github token with permissions to trigger workflows, for now only new branches from discord-cluster-manager are tested, since the bot triggers workflows on your behalf
• DATABASE_URL : The URL you use to connect to Postgres.

Below is where to find these environment variables:

• DISCORD_DEBUG_TOKEN or DISCORD_TOKEN: Found in your bot's page within the Discord Developer Portal:

  Click here for visual.

  

• DISCORD_DEBUG_CLUSTER_STAGING_ID or DISCORD_CLUSTER_STAGING_ID: Right-click your staging Discord server and select Copy Server ID:

  Click here for visual.

  

• GITHUB_TOKEN: Found in Settings -> Developer Settings (or here).

• DATABASE_URL: This contains the connection details for your local database, and has the form postgresql://user:password@localhost/clusterdev.

How to run the bot

1. Install dependencies with pip install -r requirements.txt
2. Create a .env file with the environment variables listed above
3. python src/discord-cluster-manager/bot.py --debug

Usage instructions

Note

To test functionality of the Modal runner, you also need to be authenticated with Modal. Modal provides free credits to get started.

To test functionality of the GitHub runner, you may need direct access to this repo.

• /run modal <gpu_type> which you can use to pick a specific gpu, right now defaults to T4
• /run github <NVIDIA/AMD> which picks one of two workflow files
• /resync to clear all the commands and resync them
• /ping to check if the bot is online

How to test the bot

Use the /verifyruns command to test basic functionality of the cluster bot. To check database connectivity, use the /verifydb command.

[!IMPORTANT] You need to have multiple environment variables set to run the bot on your own server:

You can run the bot in two modes:

• Production mode: python discord-bot.py
• Debug/staging mode: python discord-bot.py --debug

When running in debug mode, the bot will use your DISCORD_DEBUG_TOKEN and DISCORD_DEBUG_CLUSTER_STAGING_ID and display as "Cluster Bot (Staging)" to clearly indicate it's not the production instance.

How to add a new GPU to the cluster

If you'd like to donate a GPU to our efforts, we can make you a CI admin in Github and have you add an org level runner https://github.com/organizations/gpu-mode/settings/actions/runners

Acknowledgements

• Thank you to AMD for sponsoring an MI250 node
• Thank you to NVIDIA for sponsoring an H100 node
• Thank you to Nebius for sponsoring credits and an H100 node
• Thank you Modal for credits and speedy spartup times
• Luca Antiga did something very similar for the NeurIPS LLM efficiency competition, it was great!
• Midjourney was a similar inspiration in terms of UX