hotkernel 0.1.0__tar.gz

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+ __pycache__/
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+ *.pyc
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+ .venv/
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+ venvs/
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+ dist/
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+ build/
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+ *.egg-info/
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+ .ruff_cache/
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+ .pytest_cache/
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+ results/profiles/*.nsys-rep
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+ results/profiles/*.ncu-rep
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+ results/profiles/*.sqlite
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+ *.cubin
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+ *.gif.tmp
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+ .DS_Store
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+ Thumbs.db
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+ docs/plan-*.md
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+
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+ Metadata-Version: 2.5
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+ Name: hotkernel
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+ Version: 0.1.0
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+ Summary: Find the hot kernel, cool it down: an Nsight/SASS MCP server with a verify-and-record contract and a kernel-speedrun loop for coding agents.
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+ Project-URL: Homepage, https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel
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+ Project-URL: Issues, https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/issues
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+ Author: Xinhua Gu
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+ License-Expression: Apache-2.0
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+ License-File: LICENSE
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+ Keywords: claude-code,codex,cuda,gpu,kernel,mcp,nsight,profiling,triton
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+ Classifier: Development Status :: 3 - Alpha
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+ Classifier: Environment :: GPU :: NVIDIA CUDA
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+ Classifier: Intended Audience :: Developers
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+ Classifier: Programming Language :: Python :: 3
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+ Classifier: Topic :: Software Development :: Debuggers
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+ Requires-Python: >=3.11
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+ Requires-Dist: mcp>=1.2
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+ Provides-Extra: dev
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+ Requires-Dist: pytest>=8; extra == 'dev'
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+ Requires-Dist: ruff>=0.6; extra == 'dev'
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+ Description-Content-Type: text/markdown
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+
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+ <div align="center">
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+
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+ # hotkernel
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+
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+ **Find the hot kernel, cool it down.**
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+
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+ An MCP server that gives your coding agent hands on Nsight and SASS, a verify-and-record contract it cannot fudge, and a kernel-speedrun loop it runs on its own on the GPU on your desk.
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+
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+ [![PyPI](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/hotkernel)](https://pypi.org/project/hotkernel/)
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+ [![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Apache--2.0-blue)](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/LICENSE)
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+ ![MCP](https://img.shields.io/badge/MCP-Claude%20Code%20·%20Codex%20·%20any%20MCP%20client-black)
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+
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+ English | [中文](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/README_zh.md)
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+
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+ </div>
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+
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+ Ask Claude to "make this kernel faster" today and it guesses: it cannot see the Nsight report, does not know which kernel eats 60% of the step, has never read the SASS the compiler produced, and cannot benchmark its own rewrite on your card. hotkernel is the missing pair of hands. Nine tools wrap `nsys`, `ncu`, `cuobjdump`, `torch.profiler` and a strict verify-and-record contract; one skill turns them into a loop: profile, pick the hot kernel, read its SASS, check it against the roofline, rewrite it in Triton, verify against the baseline, record the verdict, keep or revert, repeat.
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+
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+ **Three targets, three autonomous agent runs, one RTX 5090: rmsnorm 3.2× faster than eager PyTorch, softmax 1.2× faster than `torch.softmax`, gemv level with cuBLAS. Every kernel the agent kept runs at 95–105% of the card's measured streaming bandwidth.**¹
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+
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+ > ¹ Each range comes from three independent `verify()` calls of the agent's final kernel against the baseline, n=7 interleaved runs each, on one RTX 5090 at 575 W under WSL2. Speedups are relative to the baseline scripts in `examples/`: eager PyTorch for rmsnorm, `torch.softmax` for softmax, `torch.mv` (cuBLAS) for gemv. "Measured streaming bandwidth" is device memcpy on the same card under the same timer, 1501 GB/s (84% of the 1792 GB/s spec), see [the calibration](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/docs/platform-matrix.md). Raw logs for every number are in [`results/`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/tree/main/results).
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+
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+ ## Install
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+
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+ ```bash
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+ claude mcp add -e HOTKERNEL_PYTHON=$HOME/venvs/mytorch/bin/python hotkernel -- uvx hotkernel # Claude Code
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+ codex mcp add --env HOTKERNEL_PYTHON=$HOME/venvs/mytorch/bin/python hotkernel -- uvx hotkernel # Codex
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+ ```
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+
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+ Any other MCP client: `{"command": "uvx", "args": ["hotkernel"], "env": {"HOTKERNEL_PYTHON": "..."}}`. `HOTKERNEL_PYTHON` is the interpreter that has your PyTorch and Triton; the server itself stays torch-free.
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+
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+ The loop is a skill: copy [`skills/kernel-speedrun/`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/tree/main/skills/kernel-speedrun) into your agent's skills directory (Claude Code: `~/.claude/skills/`).
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+
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+ ## Before / after
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+
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+ All rows: RTX 5090 @ 575 W, bf16, timing protocol 3, three independent `verify()` runs of n=7 each.
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+
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+ | Target | Baseline | Baseline mean | Agent's kernel mean | Speedup | Share of measured bandwidth | Agent time | What the agent wrote |
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+ |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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+ | rmsnorm 4096×8192 | eager PyTorch (5 kernels) | 0.287–0.300 ms | 0.088–0.095 ms | **3.17–3.32×** | 95–101% | 10 min, 7 experiments (a second 3-minute run found the same kernel) | one Triton program per row, row in registers, one read and one write |
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+ | softmax 4096×8192 | `torch.softmax` | 0.107–0.111 ms | 0.090–0.093 ms | **1.17–1.21×** | 96–99% | 6 min, 4 experiments | one program per row, max, exp and sum in registers, 8 warps |
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+ | gemv 8192×8192 | `torch.mv` (cuBLAS) | 0.088–0.091 ms | 0.085–0.088 ms | **1.03–1.05×**, 2 of 3 runs significant: level with cuBLAS | 101–105%² | 7 min, 3 experiments | autotuned row-block GEMV, 2 rows × 1024 columns per program |
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+
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+ > ² gemv is almost all reads; the copy ceiling is half reads and half writes, so a read-only kernel can sit slightly above it.
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+
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+ Every row on [LEADERBOARD.md](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/LEADERBOARD.md) was written by `record()`, including the runs that did not win and a deliberately wrong candidate that `verify()` rejected as `incorrect`. Each agent run's full transcript is in `results/<target>/agent-run-*/`.
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+
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+ ## What the agent gets
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+
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+ | Tool | What it does | Needs |
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+ |---|---|---|
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+ | `gpu_info` | card, driver, memory, power limit, compute capability | `nvidia-smi` |
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+ | `roofline` | ridge point for this card; memory- or compute-bound verdict and attainable time for a kernel given flops and bytes, against the spec sheet or the measured bandwidth | nothing |
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+ | `torch_trace` | top CUDA kernels of a script by device time, via `torch.profiler` | your torch |
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+ | `profile` | run a command under Nsight Systems or Nsight Compute, parsed | `nsys` / `ncu` |
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+ | `top_kernels` | the n heaviest kernels from a saved report, with ncu throughput and occupancy | nothing |
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+ | `disasm` | PTX or SASS of a cubin, or of the latest Triton-cache kernel by name | `cuobjdump` |
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+ | `bench` | run a script n times, collect its `{"ms": …, "ok": …}` line, return mean/std/min | your torch |
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+ | `verify` | run baseline and candidate interleaved, n times each; speedup and a verdict: `faster`, `slower`, `inconclusive`, `incorrect` (any `ok=false`, no speedup reported), `invalid` (shape, dtype, seed or timing protocol changed) | your torch |
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+ | `record` | write the verify result to `results/<target>/`, regenerate the leaderboard from the logs, and say whether the change beats the run's best so far | nothing |
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+
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+ `torch_trace`, `bench`, `verify` and `record` work on any machine with PyTorch. Nsight is optional and only makes the picture sharper.
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+
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+ ## The loop
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+
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+ The skill in [`skills/kernel-speedrun/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/skills/kernel-speedrun/SKILL.md) is the whole method:
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+
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+ 1. `bench` the baseline. That is the number to beat.
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+ 2. `torch_trace` or `profile` to find the kernel that actually dominates.
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+ 3. `roofline` with the kernel's flops and bytes: memory-bound kernels want fusion, compute-bound kernels want tensor cores and bigger tiles.
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+ 4. `disasm` the Triton kernel after its first compile: register spills, uncoalesced loads, long dependency chains are all visible in SASS.
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+ 5. One hypothesis, one change, then `verify(candidate, baseline, n=7)`. It returns `faster` only when the gap beats `2 * sqrt(std_b²/n + std_c²/n)` and every candidate run passed the correctness check.
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+ 6. `record()` the result, win or lose. It writes the log and the leaderboard; the agent never edits the board. Keep the change only if `record()` says it beats the run's best so far, otherwise revert.
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+ 7. Stop after three changes in a row that do not beat the best, or when the kernel is within 10% of the measured bandwidth floor.
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+
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+ It is [autoresearch](https://github.com/karpathy/autoresearch) with kernel wall-clock as the metric instead of training loss.
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+
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+ ## Measured, not claimed
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+
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+ LLMs writing CUDA kernels have a credibility problem: the AI CUDA Engineer claimed 10 to 100× in 2025 and was found to be bypassing its own correctness checks, and KernelBench exists because "the kernel compiles" and "the kernel is correct and faster" are different things. hotkernel's answer is structural:
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+
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+ - **The contract lives in the baseline.** Shape, dtype, seed, reference, tolerances and the timer are in the baseline file the agent cannot edit; the candidate only supplies a function. `verify` returns `invalid` if anything in the contract differs.
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+ - **The timer was wrong twice and fixed in the open.** Version 1 reused one input and let the 96 MB L2 pose as DRAM. Version 2 flushed L2 by zeroing a buffer and charged every call ~45 µs of someone else's write-backs; the softmax agent noticed that Nsight and `verify` disagreed by 2×. Version 3 rotates buffers larger than twice the L2 and was calibrated against five streaming kernels, which all land at 79–84% of the spec sheet, matching ncu's hardware counters. Old rows are kept and marked as not counted.
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+ - **Wrong is loud.** `verify` reports no speedup for a run whose `ok` is false, every row carries n and std, and the baseline is in the repo so anyone can rerun it.
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+
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+ ## Platforms
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+
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+ - **NVIDIA GPU required.** Reference card: RTX 5090 (sm_120). The roofline table covers 5090, 4090, 3090 and H100, each with its source; add yours in `src/hotkernel/gpus.py`.
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+ - **WSL2 is the reference platform.** All nine tools are verified on an RTX 5090 under WSL2 Ubuntu 24.04, driver 617.42: `nsys` 2026.1.3 and `ncu` 2026.2.1 extracted into user space from NVIDIA's apt repo (no sudo), `cuobjdump` and `nvdisasm` straight from the Triton wheel (no CUDA toolkit needed). `ncu` needs the GPU performance-counter permission once (NVIDIA Control Panel, Developer settings). Versions, commands and raw outputs: [`docs/platform-matrix.md`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/docs/platform-matrix.md).
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+ - **Native Windows:** the server runs (pure Python). If your torch lives in WSL2, start the server through `wsl.exe`; the platform matrix has the exact `claude mcp add` line.
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+ - **Triton on RTX 50 series:** FlashAttention 2/3/4 do not run on sm_120, which is exactly why hand-tuned Triton kernels matter on these cards.
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+
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+ ## License
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+
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+ Apache-2.0.
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
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+ <div align="center">
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+
3
+ # hotkernel
4
+
5
+ **Find the hot kernel, cool it down.**
6
+
7
+ An MCP server that gives your coding agent hands on Nsight and SASS, a verify-and-record contract it cannot fudge, and a kernel-speedrun loop it runs on its own on the GPU on your desk.
8
+
9
+ [![PyPI](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/hotkernel)](https://pypi.org/project/hotkernel/)
10
+ [![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Apache--2.0-blue)](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/LICENSE)
11
+ ![MCP](https://img.shields.io/badge/MCP-Claude%20Code%20·%20Codex%20·%20any%20MCP%20client-black)
12
+
13
+ English | [中文](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/README_zh.md)
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+
15
+ </div>
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+
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+ Ask Claude to "make this kernel faster" today and it guesses: it cannot see the Nsight report, does not know which kernel eats 60% of the step, has never read the SASS the compiler produced, and cannot benchmark its own rewrite on your card. hotkernel is the missing pair of hands. Nine tools wrap `nsys`, `ncu`, `cuobjdump`, `torch.profiler` and a strict verify-and-record contract; one skill turns them into a loop: profile, pick the hot kernel, read its SASS, check it against the roofline, rewrite it in Triton, verify against the baseline, record the verdict, keep or revert, repeat.
18
+
19
+ **Three targets, three autonomous agent runs, one RTX 5090: rmsnorm 3.2× faster than eager PyTorch, softmax 1.2× faster than `torch.softmax`, gemv level with cuBLAS. Every kernel the agent kept runs at 95–105% of the card's measured streaming bandwidth.**¹
20
+
21
+ > ¹ Each range comes from three independent `verify()` calls of the agent's final kernel against the baseline, n=7 interleaved runs each, on one RTX 5090 at 575 W under WSL2. Speedups are relative to the baseline scripts in `examples/`: eager PyTorch for rmsnorm, `torch.softmax` for softmax, `torch.mv` (cuBLAS) for gemv. "Measured streaming bandwidth" is device memcpy on the same card under the same timer, 1501 GB/s (84% of the 1792 GB/s spec), see [the calibration](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/docs/platform-matrix.md). Raw logs for every number are in [`results/`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/tree/main/results).
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+
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+ ## Install
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+
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+ ```bash
26
+ claude mcp add -e HOTKERNEL_PYTHON=$HOME/venvs/mytorch/bin/python hotkernel -- uvx hotkernel # Claude Code
27
+ codex mcp add --env HOTKERNEL_PYTHON=$HOME/venvs/mytorch/bin/python hotkernel -- uvx hotkernel # Codex
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+ ```
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+
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+ Any other MCP client: `{"command": "uvx", "args": ["hotkernel"], "env": {"HOTKERNEL_PYTHON": "..."}}`. `HOTKERNEL_PYTHON` is the interpreter that has your PyTorch and Triton; the server itself stays torch-free.
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+
32
+ The loop is a skill: copy [`skills/kernel-speedrun/`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/tree/main/skills/kernel-speedrun) into your agent's skills directory (Claude Code: `~/.claude/skills/`).
33
+
34
+ ## Before / after
35
+
36
+ All rows: RTX 5090 @ 575 W, bf16, timing protocol 3, three independent `verify()` runs of n=7 each.
37
+
38
+ | Target | Baseline | Baseline mean | Agent's kernel mean | Speedup | Share of measured bandwidth | Agent time | What the agent wrote |
39
+ |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
40
+ | rmsnorm 4096×8192 | eager PyTorch (5 kernels) | 0.287–0.300 ms | 0.088–0.095 ms | **3.17–3.32×** | 95–101% | 10 min, 7 experiments (a second 3-minute run found the same kernel) | one Triton program per row, row in registers, one read and one write |
41
+ | softmax 4096×8192 | `torch.softmax` | 0.107–0.111 ms | 0.090–0.093 ms | **1.17–1.21×** | 96–99% | 6 min, 4 experiments | one program per row, max, exp and sum in registers, 8 warps |
42
+ | gemv 8192×8192 | `torch.mv` (cuBLAS) | 0.088–0.091 ms | 0.085–0.088 ms | **1.03–1.05×**, 2 of 3 runs significant: level with cuBLAS | 101–105%² | 7 min, 3 experiments | autotuned row-block GEMV, 2 rows × 1024 columns per program |
43
+
44
+ > ² gemv is almost all reads; the copy ceiling is half reads and half writes, so a read-only kernel can sit slightly above it.
45
+
46
+ Every row on [LEADERBOARD.md](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/LEADERBOARD.md) was written by `record()`, including the runs that did not win and a deliberately wrong candidate that `verify()` rejected as `incorrect`. Each agent run's full transcript is in `results/<target>/agent-run-*/`.
47
+
48
+ ## What the agent gets
49
+
50
+ | Tool | What it does | Needs |
51
+ |---|---|---|
52
+ | `gpu_info` | card, driver, memory, power limit, compute capability | `nvidia-smi` |
53
+ | `roofline` | ridge point for this card; memory- or compute-bound verdict and attainable time for a kernel given flops and bytes, against the spec sheet or the measured bandwidth | nothing |
54
+ | `torch_trace` | top CUDA kernels of a script by device time, via `torch.profiler` | your torch |
55
+ | `profile` | run a command under Nsight Systems or Nsight Compute, parsed | `nsys` / `ncu` |
56
+ | `top_kernels` | the n heaviest kernels from a saved report, with ncu throughput and occupancy | nothing |
57
+ | `disasm` | PTX or SASS of a cubin, or of the latest Triton-cache kernel by name | `cuobjdump` |
58
+ | `bench` | run a script n times, collect its `{"ms": …, "ok": …}` line, return mean/std/min | your torch |
59
+ | `verify` | run baseline and candidate interleaved, n times each; speedup and a verdict: `faster`, `slower`, `inconclusive`, `incorrect` (any `ok=false`, no speedup reported), `invalid` (shape, dtype, seed or timing protocol changed) | your torch |
60
+ | `record` | write the verify result to `results/<target>/`, regenerate the leaderboard from the logs, and say whether the change beats the run's best so far | nothing |
61
+
62
+ `torch_trace`, `bench`, `verify` and `record` work on any machine with PyTorch. Nsight is optional and only makes the picture sharper.
63
+
64
+ ## The loop
65
+
66
+ The skill in [`skills/kernel-speedrun/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/skills/kernel-speedrun/SKILL.md) is the whole method:
67
+
68
+ 1. `bench` the baseline. That is the number to beat.
69
+ 2. `torch_trace` or `profile` to find the kernel that actually dominates.
70
+ 3. `roofline` with the kernel's flops and bytes: memory-bound kernels want fusion, compute-bound kernels want tensor cores and bigger tiles.
71
+ 4. `disasm` the Triton kernel after its first compile: register spills, uncoalesced loads, long dependency chains are all visible in SASS.
72
+ 5. One hypothesis, one change, then `verify(candidate, baseline, n=7)`. It returns `faster` only when the gap beats `2 * sqrt(std_b²/n + std_c²/n)` and every candidate run passed the correctness check.
73
+ 6. `record()` the result, win or lose. It writes the log and the leaderboard; the agent never edits the board. Keep the change only if `record()` says it beats the run's best so far, otherwise revert.
74
+ 7. Stop after three changes in a row that do not beat the best, or when the kernel is within 10% of the measured bandwidth floor.
75
+
76
+ It is [autoresearch](https://github.com/karpathy/autoresearch) with kernel wall-clock as the metric instead of training loss.
77
+
78
+ ## Measured, not claimed
79
+
80
+ LLMs writing CUDA kernels have a credibility problem: the AI CUDA Engineer claimed 10 to 100× in 2025 and was found to be bypassing its own correctness checks, and KernelBench exists because "the kernel compiles" and "the kernel is correct and faster" are different things. hotkernel's answer is structural:
81
+
82
+ - **The contract lives in the baseline.** Shape, dtype, seed, reference, tolerances and the timer are in the baseline file the agent cannot edit; the candidate only supplies a function. `verify` returns `invalid` if anything in the contract differs.
83
+ - **The timer was wrong twice and fixed in the open.** Version 1 reused one input and let the 96 MB L2 pose as DRAM. Version 2 flushed L2 by zeroing a buffer and charged every call ~45 µs of someone else's write-backs; the softmax agent noticed that Nsight and `verify` disagreed by 2×. Version 3 rotates buffers larger than twice the L2 and was calibrated against five streaming kernels, which all land at 79–84% of the spec sheet, matching ncu's hardware counters. Old rows are kept and marked as not counted.
84
+ - **Wrong is loud.** `verify` reports no speedup for a run whose `ok` is false, every row carries n and std, and the baseline is in the repo so anyone can rerun it.
85
+
86
+ ## Platforms
87
+
88
+ - **NVIDIA GPU required.** Reference card: RTX 5090 (sm_120). The roofline table covers 5090, 4090, 3090 and H100, each with its source; add yours in `src/hotkernel/gpus.py`.
89
+ - **WSL2 is the reference platform.** All nine tools are verified on an RTX 5090 under WSL2 Ubuntu 24.04, driver 617.42: `nsys` 2026.1.3 and `ncu` 2026.2.1 extracted into user space from NVIDIA's apt repo (no sudo), `cuobjdump` and `nvdisasm` straight from the Triton wheel (no CUDA toolkit needed). `ncu` needs the GPU performance-counter permission once (NVIDIA Control Panel, Developer settings). Versions, commands and raw outputs: [`docs/platform-matrix.md`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/docs/platform-matrix.md).
90
+ - **Native Windows:** the server runs (pure Python). If your torch lives in WSL2, start the server through `wsl.exe`; the platform matrix has the exact `claude mcp add` line.
91
+ - **Triton on RTX 50 series:** FlashAttention 2/3/4 do not run on sm_120, which is exactly why hand-tuned Triton kernels matter on these cards.
92
+
93
+ ## License
94
+
95
+ Apache-2.0.
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
1
+ <div align="center">
2
+
3
+ # hotkernel
4
+
5
+ **找到最耗时的 kernel,把它变快。**
6
+
7
+ 一个 MCP server:让你的编程 agent 能读 Nsight 和 SASS,给它一套它没法作弊的"验证并记录"协议,再配一个它能在你桌上那张显卡上自己跑的 kernel 速通循环。
8
+
9
+ [![PyPI](https://img.shields.io/pypi/v/hotkernel)](https://pypi.org/project/hotkernel/)
10
+ [![License](https://img.shields.io/badge/license-Apache--2.0-blue)](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/LICENSE)
11
+ ![MCP](https://img.shields.io/badge/MCP-Claude%20Code%20·%20Codex%20·%20any%20MCP%20client-black)
12
+
13
+ [English](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/README.md) | 中文
14
+
15
+ </div>
16
+
17
+ 今天你让 Claude"把这个 kernel 跑快点",它只能靠猜:它看不到 Nsight 的报告,不知道哪个 kernel 吃掉了一步的 60%,没读过编译器生成的 SASS,也没法在你的卡上测自己改的版本。hotkernel 就是它缺的那双手。九个工具包住 `nsys`、`ncu`、`cuobjdump`、`torch.profiler` 和一套严格的验证与记录协议;一个 skill 把它们串成循环:剖析、选最耗时的 kernel、读它的 SASS、对照 roofline、用 Triton 重写、对着基线验证、记录裁决、保留或回滚、再来。
18
+
19
+ **三个目标,三次 agent 自主运行,一张 RTX 5090:rmsnorm 比 PyTorch 朴素实现快 3.2 倍,softmax 比 `torch.softmax` 快 1.2 倍,gemv 与 cuBLAS 持平。agent 保留下来的每个 kernel 都跑到了这张卡实测流式带宽的 95% 到 105%。**¹
20
+
21
+ > ¹ 每个区间来自对 agent 最终 kernel 的三次独立 `verify()`,每次与基线交替各跑 7 次,一张 RTX 5090,575 W,WSL2。加速比只相对 `examples/` 里的基线脚本:rmsnorm 是 PyTorch 朴素实现,softmax 是 `torch.softmax`,gemv 是 `torch.mv`(cuBLAS)。"实测流式带宽"是同一张卡、同一计时器下的显存拷贝速度,1501 GB/s(规格 1792 GB/s 的 84%),见[标定](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/docs/platform-matrix.md)。每个数字的原始日志都在 [`results/`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/tree/main/results)。
22
+
23
+ ## 安装
24
+
25
+ ```bash
26
+ claude mcp add -e HOTKERNEL_PYTHON=$HOME/venvs/mytorch/bin/python hotkernel -- uvx hotkernel # Claude Code
27
+ codex mcp add --env HOTKERNEL_PYTHON=$HOME/venvs/mytorch/bin/python hotkernel -- uvx hotkernel # Codex
28
+ ```
29
+
30
+ 其他 MCP 客户端:`{"command": "uvx", "args": ["hotkernel"], "env": {"HOTKERNEL_PYTHON": "..."}}`。`HOTKERNEL_PYTHON` 指向装了你 PyTorch 和 Triton 的解释器;server 本身不依赖 torch。
31
+
32
+ 循环是一个 skill:把 [`skills/kernel-speedrun/`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/tree/main/skills/kernel-speedrun) 复制到你 agent 的 skills 目录(Claude Code 是 `~/.claude/skills/`)。
33
+
34
+ ## 改前 / 改后
35
+
36
+ 所有行:RTX 5090 @ 575 W,bf16,计时协议 3,三次独立 `verify()`,每次 n=7。
37
+
38
+ | 目标 | 基线 | 基线均值 | agent 的 kernel 均值 | 加速比 | 占实测带宽 | agent 用时 | agent 写了什么 |
39
+ |---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
40
+ | rmsnorm 4096×8192 | PyTorch 朴素实现(5 个 kernel) | 0.287–0.300 ms | 0.088–0.095 ms | **3.17–3.32 倍** | 95–101% | 10 分钟 7 次实验(另一次 3 分钟的运行找到了同一个 kernel) | 每行一个 Triton 程序,整行放寄存器,一读一写 |
41
+ | softmax 4096×8192 | `torch.softmax` | 0.107–0.111 ms | 0.090–0.093 ms | **1.17–1.21 倍** | 96–99% | 6 分钟 4 次实验 | 每行一个程序,max、exp、sum 都在寄存器里,8 个 warp |
42
+ | gemv 8192×8192 | `torch.mv`(cuBLAS) | 0.088–0.091 ms | 0.085–0.088 ms | **1.03–1.05 倍**,三次中两次显著:与 cuBLAS 持平 | 101–105%² | 7 分钟 3 次实验 | 自动调参的分行块 GEMV,每个程序 2 行 × 1024 列 |
43
+
44
+ > ² gemv 几乎全是读;拷贝上限是一半读一半写,所以纯读的 kernel 可以略高于它。
45
+
46
+ [LEADERBOARD.md](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/LEADERBOARD.md) 上的每一行都由 `record()` 写入,包括没赢的运行,以及一个被 `verify()` 判为 `incorrect` 的故意写错的候选。每次 agent 运行的完整对话记录在 `results/<目标>/agent-run-*/`。
47
+
48
+ ## agent 拿到的工具
49
+
50
+ | 工具 | 做什么 | 依赖 |
51
+ |---|---|---|
52
+ | `gpu_info` | 显卡、驱动、显存、功耗墙、计算能力 | `nvidia-smi` |
53
+ | `roofline` | 这张卡的拐点;给定 flops 和 bytes,判断带宽瓶颈还是算力瓶颈并给出可达时间,可对照规格或实测带宽 | 无 |
54
+ | `torch_trace` | 用 `torch.profiler` 列出脚本里按设备时间排序的 CUDA kernel | 你的 torch |
55
+ | `profile` | 在 Nsight Systems 或 Nsight Compute 下跑命令,返回解析后的报告 | `nsys` / `ncu` |
56
+ | `top_kernels` | 从已保存的报告里取最重的 n 个 kernel,附 ncu 吞吐和占用率 | 无 |
57
+ | `disasm` | 给 cubin 或 Triton 缓存里最新的同名 kernel 出 PTX 或 SASS | `cuobjdump` |
58
+ | `bench` | 把脚本跑 n 次,收集它打印的 `{"ms": …, "ok": …}`,返回均值、标准差、最小值 | 你的 torch |
59
+ | `verify` | 基线和候选交替各跑 n 次;给出加速比和裁决:`faster`、`slower`、`inconclusive`、`incorrect`(任一次 `ok=false`,不报加速比)、`invalid`(shape、dtype、种子或计时协议被改) | 你的 torch |
60
+ | `record` | 把 verify 结果写到 `results/<目标>/`,从日志重新生成排行榜,并告诉 agent 这次改动是否超过本轮最好成绩 | 无 |
61
+
62
+ `torch_trace`、`bench`、`verify`、`record` 在任何装了 PyTorch 的机器上都能用。Nsight 是可选的,只是让图更清楚。
63
+
64
+ ## 循环
65
+
66
+ [`skills/kernel-speedrun/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/skills/kernel-speedrun/SKILL.md) 就是全部方法:
67
+
68
+ 1. `bench` 基线,这是要打败的数字。
69
+ 2. `torch_trace` 或 `profile` 找到真正占大头的 kernel。
70
+ 3. 用 kernel 的 flops 和 bytes 调 `roofline`:带宽瓶颈的要融合,算力瓶颈的要上 tensor core、加大分块。
71
+ 4. Triton kernel 第一次编译后 `disasm`:寄存器溢出、访存不合并、长依赖链在 SASS 里都看得见。
72
+ 5. 一个假设、一处改动,然后 `verify(candidate, baseline, n=7)`。只有差距超过 `2 * sqrt(std_b²/n + std_c²/n)` 且候选每次都通过正确性检查,才返回 `faster`。
73
+ 6. 无论输赢都 `record()`。它写日志和排行榜,agent 从不改排行榜。只有 `record()` 说这次超过了本轮最好成绩才保留,否则回滚。
74
+ 7. 连续三次改动都没超过最好成绩,或 kernel 已在实测带宽地板的 10% 以内,就停。
75
+
76
+ 它就是把 [autoresearch](https://github.com/karpathy/autoresearch) 的指标从训练 loss 换成 kernel 墙钟时间。
77
+
78
+ ## 实测,不是宣称
79
+
80
+ 让 LLM 写 CUDA kernel 这件事有信誉问题:2025 年 AI CUDA Engineer 宣称 10 到 100 倍,后来被发现绕过了自己的正确性检查;KernelBench 之所以存在,就是因为"编译通过"和"又对又快"是两回事。hotkernel 的回答是结构性的:
81
+
82
+ - **协议写在基线里。** shape、dtype、种子、参考实现、容差和计时器都在 agent 不能改的基线文件里,候选只提供一个函数。协议里任何一项不一致,`verify` 就返回 `invalid`。
83
+ - **计时器错过两次,都是公开改正的。** 第一版复用同一个输入,让 96 MB 的 L2 冒充了显存带宽。第二版用清零缓冲区的方式清 L2,结果每次调用多算了约 45 微秒别人的写回;是 softmax 的 agent 发现 Nsight 和 `verify` 差了一倍。第三版轮换总量超过 L2 两倍的缓冲区,并用五个流式 kernel 标定,它们都落在规格带宽的 79% 到 84%,与 ncu 硬件计数器一致。旧数据保留,标注为不计入。
84
+ - **错了会很响。** `ok` 为假的运行 `verify` 不报加速比,每一行都带 n 和标准差,基线就在仓库里,谁都能重跑。
85
+
86
+ ## 平台
87
+
88
+ - **需要 NVIDIA 显卡。** 参考卡 RTX 5090(sm_120)。roofline 表覆盖 5090、4090、3090 和 H100,每行附来源;在 `src/hotkernel/gpus.py` 里加你的卡。
89
+ - **WSL2 是参考平台。** 九个工具全部在 RTX 5090、WSL2 Ubuntu 24.04、驱动 617.42 上验证过:`nsys` 2026.1.3 和 `ncu` 2026.2.1 从 NVIDIA 的 apt 源解包到用户目录(不需要 sudo),`cuobjdump` 和 `nvdisasm` 直接来自 Triton 的 wheel(不需要装 CUDA toolkit)。`ncu` 需要一次性开放 GPU 性能计数器权限(NVIDIA 控制面板,开发者设置)。版本、命令和原始输出见 [`docs/platform-matrix.md`](https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/blob/main/docs/platform-matrix.md)。
90
+ - **原生 Windows:** server 能跑(纯 Python)。如果你的 torch 在 WSL2 里,通过 `wsl.exe` 启动 server;平台矩阵里有完整的 `claude mcp add` 命令。
91
+ - **RTX 50 系上的 Triton:** FlashAttention 2/3/4 在 sm_120 上都跑不了,这正是手调 Triton kernel 在这些卡上重要的原因。
92
+
93
+ ## 许可证
94
+
95
+ Apache-2.0。
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
1
+ [project]
2
+ name = "hotkernel"
3
+ version = "0.1.0"
4
+ description = "Find the hot kernel, cool it down: an Nsight/SASS MCP server with a verify-and-record contract and a kernel-speedrun loop for coding agents."
5
+ readme = "README.md"
6
+ license = "Apache-2.0"
7
+ requires-python = ">=3.11"
8
+ authors = [{ name = "Xinhua Gu" }]
9
+ keywords = ["mcp", "cuda", "triton", "nsight", "gpu", "profiling", "kernel", "claude-code", "codex"]
10
+ classifiers = [
11
+ "Development Status :: 3 - Alpha",
12
+ "Environment :: GPU :: NVIDIA CUDA",
13
+ "Intended Audience :: Developers",
14
+ "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
15
+ "Topic :: Software Development :: Debuggers",
16
+ ]
17
+ dependencies = [
18
+ "mcp>=1.2",
19
+ ]
20
+
21
+ [project.optional-dependencies]
22
+ dev = ["pytest>=8", "ruff>=0.6"]
23
+
24
+ [project.scripts]
25
+ hotkernel = "hotkernel.server:main"
26
+
27
+ [project.urls]
28
+ Homepage = "https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel"
29
+ Issues = "https://github.com/xinhuagu/hotkernel/issues"
30
+
31
+ [build-system]
32
+ requires = ["hatchling"]
33
+ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
34
+
35
+ [tool.hatch.build.targets.wheel]
36
+ packages = ["src/hotkernel"]
37
+
38
+ [tool.hatch.build.targets.sdist]
39
+ include = ["src/hotkernel", "skills", "README.md", "README_zh.md", "LICENSE", "pyproject.toml"]
40
+
41
+ [tool.ruff]
42
+ line-length = 100
43
+ target-version = "py311"