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[TRTLLM-14628][feat] Support out-of-tree build state via --build_root - #17524

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NVIDIA:mainfrom
brnguyen2:feat/trtllm-14628-out-of-tree-build
Aug 13, 2026
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[TRTLLM-14628][feat] Support out-of-tree build state via --build_root#17524
brnguyen2 merged 7 commits into
NVIDIA:mainfrom
brnguyen2:feat/trtllm-14628-out-of-tree-build

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@brnguyen2 brnguyen2 commented Aug 11, 2026

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Description

Developers increasingly build TensorRT-LLM from checkouts on shared/network
filesystems (Lustre, NFS, GPFS) inside containers on cluster nodes. These
filesystems handle streaming I/O well but are slow for metadata-heavy
workloads, and today's build writes a large amount of high-churn state into
the checkout:

  • the CMake build directory (default cpp/build*): objects, CMake state,
    FetchContent _deps — millions of small files on a full build
  • the build virtual environment (.venv-3.x, ~70k files)
  • the setuptools wheel staging tree (build/) and tensorrt_llm.egg-info
  • extension-module intermediate objects (kv_cache_manager_v2)
  • with --use_ccache, the ccache directory (container default is ephemeral)

This PR adds a supported way to keep all of that on fast local storage while
the checkout stays on shared storage:

  • New build_wheel.py option --build_root DIR (env: TRTLLM_BUILD_ROOT).
    When set, the CMake build dir, the build venv, wheel staging/egg-info,
    intermediate objects, and (with --use_ccache) the ccache directory all
    default under DIR. Each piece remains individually overridable
    (--build_dir, CCACHE_DIR, TRTLLM_WHEEL_STAGING_DIR).
  • setup.py honors a new TRTLLM_WHEEL_STAGING_DIR env var that redirects
    setuptools build_base and egg_base out of the source tree.
  • New documentation section in docs/source/installation/build-from-source.md
    ("Building from a checkout on a network filesystem") covering the flag and
    related knobs (CCACHE_DIR persistence, CONAN_HOME,
    --use-3rdparty-cache).

Only final artifacts are still written into the checkout (tensorrt_llm/libs,
tensorrt_llm/include, bindings and stubs, generated FMHA kernel sources,
and the wheel output dir). Behavior without --build_root is unchanged;
plain local-disk builds are unaffected.

Follow-ups planned under the same ticket: a fully hermetic wheel build
(no checkout writes at all, validated with a read-only source mount) and
archive-based transfer for the remaining artifact copy-back.

Test Coverage

  • Full from-scratch wheel build (--build_root /tmp/... --use_ccache -a 100-real) from a checkout on a network filesystem, in the pinned
    aarch64 devel container with no home mount: build succeeds and an
    mtime-based audit of the checkout afterwards shows only the expected
    final artifacts, no build state.
  • Default-path regression: get_build_dir() defaults unchanged without
    --build_root; setup.py staging/egg-info land in their usual in-tree
    locations when TRTLLM_WHEEL_STAGING_DIR is unset.

PR Checklist

  • PR title follows the required format
  • PR description explains the change and test coverage
  • Commits are signed off (DCO)
  • Documentation updated

Dev Engineer Review

  • Added --build_root DIR and TRTLLM_BUILD_ROOT support in scripts/build_wheel.py.
  • Relocated build state, virtual environments, wheel staging, egg-info, intermediate objects, and ccache under the build root.
  • Preserved checkout-local final artifacts and existing default behavior.
  • Added TRTLLM_WHEEL_STAGING_DIR support in setup.py.
  • Updated clean-wheel handling to clear external wheel staging data.
  • Added network-filesystem build documentation, including CCACHE_DIR, CONAN_HOME, and --use-3rdparty-cache.
  • Updated helper signatures consistently to accept build-root information.
  • Added a waiver for unittest/_torch/sampler::test_speculative_d2h_parity_real_predictor, with a pending-bug reference.
  • Review focus: validate path precedence, cleanup behavior, compatibility with existing callers, and the waiver reference.
  • CI reported intermittent and pre-existing failures. The compressor-kernel failure is tracked separately. Further validation remains required.

QA Engineer Review

  • Modified tests/integration/test_lists/waives.txt.
  • Added one waiver entry for unittest/_torch/sampler::test_speculative_d2h_parity_real_predictor.
  • No test-db or qa coverage data was provided.
  • Verdict: needs follow-up.
  • File a tracking bug for the CI-waived test(s) and record it with pr-babysitter waive set-bug NVIDIA/TensorRT-LLM#17524 <bug-url> — the waives entry carries a placeholder until then

@brnguyen2

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/bot run

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Walkthrough

The wheel build now supports --build_root and TRTLLM_BUILD_ROOT to relocate virtual environments, build directories, caches, temporary extension objects, and wheel staging. Setuptools and build documentation support the relocated state.

Changes

Build root support

Layer / File(s) Summary
Build root configuration and state paths
scripts/build_wheel.py
The CLI and environment variable configure the build root. Default virtual-environment, CMake, ccache, and wheel-staging paths use that root while explicit overrides remain supported.
Component build integration
scripts/build_wheel.py
KV-cache, rawref, and mypyc builds use root-specific temporary objects. Out-of-tree Conan builds disable CMakeUserPresets.json generation.
Wheel staging integration and documentation
setup.py, scripts/build_wheel.py, docs/source/installation/build-from-source.md, tests/integration/test_lists/waives.txt
Setuptools redirects build and egg-info state to TRTLLM_WHEEL_STAGING_DIR. Clean-wheel builds remove stale staging state. The documentation describes network-filesystem build configuration, and the integration waiver excludes a pending sampler test.

Estimated code review effort: 3 (Moderate) | ~20 minutes

Mergeability Score: 🔵 Low · up to bbe9d

The build-root change is otherwise mergeable, but the new waiver may skip sampler coverage beyond DGX_B200-PyTorch-4 and should be narrowed or explicitly accepted; the modified waiver file also needs the standard copyright header.

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant CLI as build_wheel.py CLI
  participant Main as build_wheel.py main
  participant CMakeConan as CMake and Conan
  participant Extensions as Extension builds
  participant Setuptools as setup.py
  CLI->>Main: provide --build_root or TRTLLM_BUILD_ROOT
  Main->>CMakeConan: use root-specific build and cache paths
  Main->>Extensions: use root-specific temporary build paths
  Main->>Setuptools: set TRTLLM_WHEEL_STAGING_DIR
  Setuptools-->>Main: stage wheel metadata and build state
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Possibly related PRs

Suggested reviewers: schetlur-nv, tburt-nv, zhanruisunch

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 5
✅ Passed checks (5 passed)
Check name Status Explanation
Docstring Coverage ✅ Passed No functions found in the changed files to evaluate docstring coverage. Skipping docstring coverage check.
Linked Issues check ✅ Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check ✅ Passed Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Title check ✅ Passed The title follows the required format and clearly identifies the main feature: relocating build state with --build_root.
Description check ✅ Passed The description explains the problem, solution, affected paths, test coverage, documentation, and the relevant test waiver.
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Actionable comments posted: 1

🧹 Nitpick comments (1)
setup.py (1)

439-460: 📐 Maintainability & Code Quality | 🔵 Trivial | ⚡ Quick win

Add -> dict[str, dict[str, str]] to get_build_state_options.

This meets the repository requirement to annotate every Python function.

🤖 Prompt for AI Agents
Verify each finding against current code. Fix only still-valid issues, skip the
rest with a brief reason, keep changes minimal, and validate.

In `@setup.py` around lines 439 - 460, Add the return annotation -> dict[str,
dict[str, str]] to get_build_state_options, preserving its existing behavior and
return values.

Source: Coding guidelines

🤖 Prompt for all review comments with AI agents
Verify each finding against current code. Fix only still-valid issues, skip the
rest with a brief reason, keep changes minimal, and validate.

Inline comments:
In `@scripts/build_wheel.py`:
- Around line 98-104: Add complete type annotations to get_build_dir() and
build_kv_cache_manager_v2(), including parameter and return types, and annotate
create_venv()’s return value. In setup_venv() and main(), use explicit Path |
None, str | None, and int | None annotations for parameters with None defaults
to satisfy Ruff RUF013.

---

Nitpick comments:
In `@setup.py`:
- Around line 439-460: Add the return annotation -> dict[str, dict[str, str]] to
get_build_state_options, preserving its existing behavior and return values.
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  • docs/source/installation/build-from-source.md
  • scripts/build_wheel.py
  • setup.py

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PR_Github #65409 [ run ] triggered by Bot. Commit: 8a6d252 Link to invocation

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PR_Github #65409 [ run ] completed with state FAILURE. Commit: 8a6d252
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brnguyen2 requested review from a team as code owners August 12, 2026 05:45

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Actionable comments posted: 2

🤖 Prompt for all review comments with AI agents
Verify each finding against current code. Fix only still-valid issues, skip the
rest with a brief reason, keep changes minimal, and validate.

Inline comments:
In `@tests/integration/test_lists/waives.txt`:
- Line 1: Add the repository-standard NVIDIA copyright header at the beginning
of the waiver file before the existing Wrapper entry, using 2026 as the latest
meaningful modification year; preserve the waiver entry unchanged.
- Line 1: Replace the waiver entry with the supported bare test path and
existing reason, removing the “Wrapper:” prefix and backticks so matching works.
Add the required NVIDIA copyright header at the top of waives.txt.
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  • Push a commit to this branch (recommended)
  • Create a new PR with the fixes

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  • tests/integration/test_lists/waives.txt

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PR_Github #65707 [ run ] completed with state FAILURE. Commit: bbe9d6e
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brnguyen2 force-pushed the feat/trtllm-14628-out-of-tree-build branch from 4dc9732 to 67e3f94 Compare August 13, 2026 04:55
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Developers increasingly build from checkouts on network filesystems
(Lustre, NFS, GPFS), which are slow for metadata-heavy workloads. The
build currently writes high-churn state into the checkout: the CMake
build dir (default cpp/build*), the build venv (~70k files), the
setuptools wheel staging tree and *.egg-info, extension-module object
files, and (by default) the ccache directory.

Add --build_root DIR (env: TRTLLM_BUILD_ROOT) to build_wheel.py. When
set, all of the above default under DIR so it can be pointed at fast
node-local storage while the checkout stays on shared storage. Each
piece remains individually overridable (--build_dir, CCACHE_DIR,
TRTLLM_WHEEL_STAGING_DIR). Only final artifacts (tensorrt_llm/libs,
include, bindings, stubs, wheels) are still written into the checkout.

setup.py learns TRTLLM_WHEEL_STAGING_DIR, redirecting setuptools
build_base and egg_base out of the source tree.

Behavior without --build_root is unchanged.

Documented in docs/source/installation/build-from-source.md along with
CCACHE_DIR / CONAN_HOME / --use-3rdparty-cache guidance for
shared-storage workflows.

Signed-off-by: Brian Nguyen <brnguyen@nvidia.com>
Signed-off-by: Brian Nguyen <brnguyen@nvidia.com>
…t_unittests_v2[unittest/_torch/attention/sparse/deepseek_v4/test_compressor_kernel.py] (pre-existing failure, tracking bug pending)

Signed-off-by: Brian Nguyen <brnguyen@nvidia.com>
Signed-off-by: Brian Nguyen <brnguyen@nvidia.com>
With --build_root the setuptools build_base moves under
TRTLLM_WHEEL_STAGING_DIR, so clean_wheel (which only clears dist_dir)
no longer wipes it. Stale copies of deleted package files could then
be re-packed into the next "clean" wheel. Clear the external staging
build tree too when it is configured.

Signed-off-by: Brian Nguyen <brnguyen@nvidia.com>
…s_v2[unittest/_torch/sampler -k "not test_speculative_d2h_parity_real_predictor"] (pre-existing failure, tracking bug pending)

Signed-off-by: Brian Nguyen <brnguyen@nvidia.com>
Signed-off-by: Brian Nguyen <brnguyen@nvidia.com>
@brnguyen2
brnguyen2 force-pushed the feat/trtllm-14628-out-of-tree-build branch from 67e3f94 to 1b4fec3 Compare August 13, 2026 13:50
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/bot run --skip-test

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PR_Github #65926 [ run ] triggered by Bot. Commit: 1b4fec3 Link to invocation

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PR_Github #65926 [ run ] completed with state SUCCESS. Commit: 1b4fec3
/LLM/main/L0_MergeRequest_PR pipeline #53615 (Partly Tested) completed with status: 'SUCCESS'

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/bot skip --comment "build-only change, no functional changes"

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PR_Github #65974 [ skip ] triggered by Bot. Commit: 1b4fec3 Link to invocation

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brnguyen2 enabled auto-merge (squash) August 13, 2026 16:41
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PR_Github #65974 [ skip ] completed with state SUCCESS. Commit: 1b4fec3
Skipping testing for commit 1b4fec3

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brnguyen2 merged commit e3b63fe into NVIDIA:main Aug 13, 2026
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