tf.estimator.Estimator

Estimator class to train and evaluate TensorFlow models.

Inherits From: Estimator

tf.estimator.Estimator(
    model_fn, model_dir=None, config=None, params=None, warm_start_from=None
)

The Estimator object wraps a model which is specified by a model_fn, which, given inputs and a number of other parameters, returns the ops necessary to perform training, evaluation, or predictions.

All outputs (checkpoints, event files, etc.) are written to model_dir, or a subdirectory thereof. If model_dir is not set, a temporary directory is used.

The config argument can be passed tf.estimator.RunConfig object containing information about the execution environment. It is passed on to the model_fn, if the model_fn has a parameter named "config" (and input functions in the same manner). If the config parameter is not passed, it is instantiated by the Estimator. Not passing config means that defaults useful for local execution are used. Estimator makes config available to the model (for instance, to allow specialization based on the number of workers available), and also uses some of its fields to control internals, especially regarding checkpointing.

The params argument contains hyperparameters. It is passed to the model_fn, if the model_fn has a parameter named "params", and to the input functions in the same manner. Estimator only passes params along, it does not inspect it. The structure of params is therefore entirely up to the developer.

None of Estimator's methods can be overridden in subclasses (its constructor enforces this). Subclasses should use model_fn to configure the base class, and may add methods implementing specialized functionality.

See estimators for more information.

To warm-start an Estimator:

estimator = tf.estimator.DNNClassifier(
    feature_columns=[categorical_feature_a_emb, categorical_feature_b_emb],
    hidden_units=[1024, 512, 256],
    warm_start_from="/path/to/checkpoint/dir")

For more details on warm-start configuration, see tf.estimator.WarmStartSettings.

model_fn Model function. Follows the signature:

  • features -- This is the first item returned from the input_fn passed to train, evaluate, and predict. This should be a single tf.Tensor or dict of same.
  • labels -- This is the second item returned from the input_fn passed to train, evaluate, and predict. This should be a single tf.Tensor or dict of same (for multi-head models). If mode is tf.estimator.ModeKeys.PREDICT, labels=None will be passed. If the model_fn's signature does not accept mode, the model_fn must still be able to handle labels=None.
  • mode -- Optional. Specifies if this is training, evaluation or prediction. See tf.estimator.ModeKeys. params -- Optional dict of hyperparameters. Will receive what is passed to Estimator in params parameter. This allows to configure Estimators from hyper parameter tuning.
  • config -- Optional estimator.RunConfig object. Will receive what is passed to Estimator as its config parameter, or a default value. Allows setting up things in your model_fn based on configuration such as num_ps_replicas, or model_dir.
  • Returns -- tf.estimator.EstimatorSpec
model_dir Directory to save model parameters, graph and etc. This can also be used to load checkpoints from the directory into an estimator to continue training a previously saved model. If PathLike object, the path will be resolved. If None, the model_dir in config will be used if set. If both are set, they must be same. If both are None, a temporary directory will be used.
config estimator.RunConfig configuration object.
params dict of hyper parameters that will be passed into model_fn. Keys are names of parameters, values are basic python types.
warm_start_from Optional string filepath to a checkpoint or SavedModel to warm-start from, or a tf.estimator.WarmStartSettings object to fully configure warm-starting. If None, only TRAINABLE variables are warm-started. If the string filepath is provided instead of a tf.estimator.WarmStartSettings, then all variables are warm-started, and it is assumed that vocabularies and tf.Tensor names are unchanged.

ValueError parameters of model_fn don't match params.
ValueError if this is called via a subclass and if that class overrides a member of Estimator.

config

export_savedmodel

model_dir

model_fn Returns the model_fn which is bound to self.params.
params

Methods

eval_dir

View source

eval_dir(
    name=None
)

Shows the directory name where evaluation metrics are dumped.

Args
name Name of the evaluation if user needs to run multiple evaluations on different data sets, such as on training data vs test data. Metrics for different evaluations are saved in separate folders, and appear separately in tensorboard.

Returns
A string which is the path of directory contains evaluation metrics.

evaluate

View source

evaluate(
    input_fn, steps=None, hooks=None, checkpoint_path=None, name=None
)

Evaluates the model given evaluation data input_fn.

For each step, calls input_fn, which returns one batch of data. Evaluates until:

Args
input_fn A function that constructs the input data for evaluation. See Premade Estimators for more information. The function should construct and return one of the following:

  • A tf.data.Dataset object: Outputs of Dataset object must be a tuple (features, labels) with same constraints as below.
  • A tuple (features, labels): Where features is a tf.Tensor or a dictionary of string feature name to Tensor and labels is a Tensor or a dictionary of string label name to Tensor. Both features and labels are consumed by model_fn. They should satisfy the expectation of model_fn from inputs.
steps Number of steps for which to evaluate model. If None, evaluates until input_fn raises an end-of-input exception.
hooks List of tf.train.SessionRunHook subclass instances. Used for callbacks inside the evaluation call.
checkpoint_path Path of a specific checkpoint to evaluate. If None, the latest checkpoint in model_dir is used. If there are no checkpoints in model_dir, evaluation is run with newly initialized Variables instead of ones restored from checkpoint.
name Name of the evaluation if user needs to run multiple evaluations on different data sets, such as on training data vs test data. Metrics for different evaluations are saved in separate folders, and appear separately in tensorboard.

Returns
A dict containing the evaluation metrics specified in model_fn keyed by name, as well as an entry global_step which contains the value of the global step for which this evaluation was performed. For canned estimators, the dict contains the loss (mean loss per mini-batch) and the average_loss (mean loss per sample). Canned classifiers also return the accuracy. Canned regressors also return the label/mean and the prediction/mean.

Raises
ValueError If steps <= 0.

experimental_export_all_saved_models

View source

experimental_export_all_saved_models(
    export_dir_base, input_receiver_fn_map, assets_extra=None, as_text=False,
    checkpoint_path=None
)

Exports a SavedModel with tf.MetaGraphDefs for each requested mode.

For each mode passed in via the input_receiver_fn_map, this method builds a new graph by calling the input_receiver_fn to obtain feature and label Tensors. Next, this method calls the Estimator's model_fn in the passed mode to generate the model graph based on those features and labels, and restores the given checkpoint (or, lacking that, the most recent checkpoint) into the graph. Only one of the modes is used for saving variables to the SavedModel (order of preference: tf.estimator.ModeKeys.TRAIN, tf.estimator.ModeKeys.EVAL, then tf.estimator.ModeKeys.PREDICT), such that up to three tf.MetaGraphDefs are saved with a single set of variables in a single SavedModel directory.

For the variables and tf.MetaGraphDefs, a timestamped export directory below export_dir_base, and writes a SavedModel into it containing the tf.MetaGraphDef for the given mode and its associated signatures.

For prediction, the exported MetaGraphDef will provide one SignatureDef for each element of the export_outputs dict returned from the model_fn, named using the same keys. One of these keys is always tf.saved_model.signature_constants.DEFAULT_SERVING_SIGNATURE_DEF_KEY, indicating which signature will be served when a serving request does not specify one. For each signature, the outputs are provided by the corresponding tf.estimator.export.ExportOutputs, and the inputs are always the input receivers provided by the serving_input_receiver_fn.

For training and evaluation, the train_op is stored in an extra collection, and loss, metrics, and predictions are included in a SignatureDef for the mode in question.

Extra assets may be written into the SavedModel via the assets_extra argument. This should be a dict, where each key gives a destination path (including the filename) relative to the assets.extra directory. The corresponding value gives the full path of the source file to be copied. For example, the simple case of copying a single file without renaming it is specified as {'my_asset_file.txt': '/path/to/my_asset_file.txt'}.

Args
export_dir_base A string containing a directory in which to create timestamped subdirectories containing exported SavedModels.
input_receiver_fn_map dict of tf.estimator.ModeKeys to input_receiver_fn mappings, where the input_receiver_fn is a function that takes no arguments and returns the appropriate subclass of InputReceiver.
assets_extra A dict specifying how to populate the assets.extra directory within the exported SavedModel, or None if no extra assets are needed.
as_text whether to write the SavedModel proto in text format.
checkpoint_path The checkpoint path to export. If None (the default), the most recent checkpoint found within the model directory is chosen.

Returns
The path to the exported directory as a bytes object.

Raises
ValueError if any input_receiver_fn is None, no export_outputs are provided, or no checkpoint can be found.

export_saved_model

View source

export_saved_model(
    export_dir_base, serving_input_receiver_fn, assets_extra=None, as_text=False,
    checkpoint_path=None, experimental_mode=ModeKeys.PREDICT
)

Exports inference graph as a SavedModel into the given dir.

For a detailed guide on SavedModel, see Using the SavedModel format.

This method builds a new graph by first calling the serving_input_receiver_fn to obtain feature Tensors, and then calling this Estimator's model_fn to generate the model graph based on those features. It restores the given checkpoint (or, lacking that, the most recent checkpoint) into this graph in a fresh session. Finally it creates a timestamped export directory below the given export_dir_base, and writes a SavedModel into it containing a single tf.MetaGraphDef saved from this session.

The exported MetaGraphDef will provide one SignatureDef for each element of the export_outputs dict returned from the model_fn, named using the same keys. One of these keys is always tf.saved_model.signature_constants.DEFAULT_SERVING_SIGNATURE_DEF_KEY, indicating which signature will be served when a serving request does not specify one. For each signature, the outputs are provided by the corresponding tf.estimator.export.ExportOutputs, and the inputs are always the input receivers provided by the serving_input_receiver_fn.

Extra assets may be written into the SavedModel via the assets_extra argument. This should be a dict, where each key gives a destination path (including the filename) relative to the assets.extra directory. The corresponding value gives the full path of the source file to be copied. For example, the simple case of copying a single file without renaming it is specified as {'my_asset_file.txt': '/path/to/my_asset_file.txt'}.

The experimental_mode parameter can be used to export a single train/eval/predict graph as a SavedModel. See experimental_export_all_saved_models for full docs.

Args
export_dir_base A string containing a directory in which to create timestamped subdirectories containing exported SavedModels.
serving_input_receiver_fn A function that takes no argument and returns a tf.estimator.export.ServingInputReceiver or tf.estimator.export.TensorServingInputReceiver.
assets_extra A dict specifying how to populate the assets.extra directory within the exported SavedModel, or None if no extra assets are needed.
as_text whether to write the SavedModel proto in text format.
checkpoint_path The checkpoint path to export. If None (the default), the most recent checkpoint found within the model directory is chosen.
experimental_mode tf.estimator.ModeKeys value indicating with mode will be exported. Note that this feature is experimental.

Returns
The path to the exported directory as a bytes object.

Raises
ValueError if no serving_input_receiver_fn is provided, no export_outputs are provided, or no checkpoint can be found.

get_variable_names

View source

get_variable_names()

Returns list of all variable names in this model.

Returns
List of names.

Raises
ValueError If the Estimator has not produced a checkpoint yet.

get_variable_value

View source

get_variable_value(
    name
)

Returns value of the variable given by name.

Args
name string or a list of string, name of the tensor.

Returns
Numpy array - value of the tensor.

Raises
ValueError If the Estimator has not produced a checkpoint yet.

latest_checkpoint

View source

latest_checkpoint()

Finds the filename of the latest saved checkpoint file in model_dir.

Returns
The full path to the latest checkpoint or None if no checkpoint was found.

predict

View source

predict(
    input_fn, predict_keys=None, hooks=None, checkpoint_path=None,
    yield_single_examples=True
)

Yields predictions for given features.

Please note that interleaving two predict outputs does not work. See: issue/20506

Args
input_fn A function that constructs the features. Prediction continues until input_fn raises an end-of-input exception (tf.errors.OutOfRangeError or StopIteration). See Premade Estimators for more information. The function should construct and return one of the following:

  • tf.data.Dataset object -- Outputs of Dataset object must have same constraints as below.
  • features -- A tf.Tensor or a dictionary of string feature name to Tensor. features are consumed by model_fn. They should satisfy the expectation of model_fn from inputs.
  • A tuple, in which case the first item is extracted as features.
predict_keys list of str, name of the keys to predict. It is used if the tf.estimator.EstimatorSpec.predictions is a dict. If predict_keys is used then rest of the predictions will be filtered from the dictionary. If None, returns all.
hooks List of tf.train.SessionRunHook subclass instances. Used for callbacks inside the prediction call.
checkpoint_path Path of a specific checkpoint to predict. If None, the latest checkpoint in model_dir is used. If there are no checkpoints in model_dir, prediction is run with newly initialized Variables instead of ones restored from checkpoint.
yield_single_examples If False, yields the whole batch as returned by the model_fn instead of decomposing the batch into individual elements. This is useful if model_fn returns some tensors whose first dimension is not equal to the batch size.

Yields
Evaluated values of predictions tensors.

Raises
ValueError If batch length of predictions is not the same and yield_single_examples is True.
ValueError If there is a conflict between predict_keys and predictions. For example if predict_keys is not None but tf.estimator.EstimatorSpec.predictions is not a dict.

train

View source

train(
    input_fn, hooks=None, steps=None, max_steps=None, saving_listeners=None
)

Trains a model given training data input_fn.

Args
input_fn A function that provides input data for training as minibatches. See Premade Estimators for more information. The function should construct and return one of the following:

  • A tf.data.Dataset object: Outputs of Dataset object must be a tuple (features, labels) with same constraints as below.
  • A tuple (features, labels): Where features is a tf.Tensor or a dictionary of string feature name to Tensor and labels is a Tensor or a dictionary of string label name to Tensor. Both features and labels are consumed by model_fn. They should satisfy the expectation of model_fn from inputs.
hooks List of tf.train.SessionRunHook subclass instances. Used for callbacks inside the training loop.
steps Number of steps for which to train the model. If None, train forever or train until input_fn generates the tf.errors.OutOfRange error or StopIteration exception. steps works incrementally. If you call two times train(steps=10) then training occurs in total 20 steps. If OutOfRange or StopIteration occurs in the middle, training stops before 20 steps. If you don't want to have incremental behavior please set max_steps instead. If set, max_steps must be None.
max_steps Number of total steps for which to train model. If None, train forever or train until input_fn generates the tf.errors.OutOfRange error or StopIteration exception. If set, steps must be None. If OutOfRange or StopIteration occurs in the middle, training stops before max_steps steps. Two calls to train(steps=100) means 200 training iterations. On the other hand, two calls to train(max_steps=100) means that the second call will not do any iteration since first call did all 100 steps.
saving_listeners list of CheckpointSaverListener objects. Used for callbacks that run immediately before or after checkpoint savings.

Returns
self, for chaining.

Raises
ValueError If both steps and max_steps are not None.
ValueError If either steps or max_steps <= 0.

eager compatibility

Calling methods of Estimator will work while eager execution is enabled. However, the model_fn and input_fn is not executed eagerly, Estimator will switch to graph mode before calling all user-provided functions (incl. hooks), so their code has to be compatible with graph mode execution. Note that input_fn code using tf.data generally works in both graph and eager modes.