Constructing an External Task Definition (Lepton)

A lepton is a generalization of an electron (task). Leptons are used instead of electrons when the task definition is in a separate file, such as a Python module or a compiled C library. Leptons are particularly useful for workflows comprised of tasks in different languages. This example demonstrates how to construct a Lepton from a task definition in a Python module.

Prerequisites

Create a module containing the task definition.

import covalent as ct
import os

test_module = """
def entrypoint(x: int, y: int) -> int:
    return x + y
"""

with open("test_module.py", "w") as f:
    f.write(test_module)

Procedure

1. Make test_module available to the Python interpreter by appending the directory containing the module to sys.path just before running the task. To do this, use a Covalent call dependency:

cwd = os.getcwd()

def set_pythonpath(directory):
    import sys
    print(f"Appending {directory} to module search path")
    sys.path.append(directory)

calldep = ct.DepsCall(set_pythonpath, args=[cwd])

2. Create the lepton object:

library_path = "test_module"
task = ct.Lepton(
    language = "python",
    library_name = library_path,
    function_name = "entrypoint",
    call_before=[calldep]
)

3. Use the task definition in a workflow (lattice) as if it were an electron object:

@ct.lattice
def workflow(x: int) -> int:
    return task(x, 1)

result = ct.dispatch_sync(workflow)(2)
print(result)

Lattice Result
==============
status: COMPLETED
result: 3
input args: ['2']
input kwargs: {}
error: None

start_time: 2023-01-30 03:45:22.440202
end_time: 2023-01-30 03:45:22.631020

results_dir: /Users/mini-me/agnostiq/covalent/doc/source/how_to/coding/results
dispatch_id: af941ee1-0089-4090-910e-bf804834361f

Node Outputs
------------
entrypoint(0): 3
:parameter:2(1): 2
:parameter:1(2): 1

See Also

Using C Code (Leptons)