This PR adds an autoload mechanism for out-of-tree backends, simplifies
TVM's Python library loading, and removes `TVMError` in favor of native
Python errors.
## Autoload out-of-tree backends
Out-of-tree packages can register an autoload callable under the
`tvm.backends` entry-point group (mirroring torch's device-backend
autoload). At `import tvm` startup each entry point is discovered and
its callable invoked once, after the core runtime and the `tvm`
namespace are fully initialized, so an extension can register
ops/targets/funcs or load extra libraries.
```toml
[project.entry-points."tvm.backends"]
tvm_foo = "tvm_foo:_autoload"
```
A failing extension is caught and surfaced via `warnings.warn` so it
cannot break `import tvm`. Autoload can be disabled with
`TVM_DEVICE_BACKEND_AUTOLOAD=0`.
## Simplify library loading
The library-loading path in `base.py` is consolidated around a single
`_LOADED_LIBS` dict (basename to ctypes handle) so downstream and
autoloaded extensions can skip already-loaded libraries; the per-backend
runtime DSO list is folded into `load_backend_libs`. Accumulated cruft
is removed: the Python-3.9 check, the readline shim, the `_FFI_MODE`
ctypes check, the `base.__version__` re-export, and `py_str` (call sites
inline `.decode("utf-8")`).
## Remove TVMError in favor of native Python errors
`TVMError` added a layer atop `RuntimeError` that downstream code had to
import and learn. It is removed; the registered FFI error kinds
(`InternalError`, `RPCError`, `OpError`, `DiagnosticError`,
`ScheduleError`) now subclass `RuntimeError` directly while staying
registered, so the FFI keeps throwing the right kinds. All `TVMError`
imports, `except`/`raise`/`isinstance` uses, and
`pytest.raises(tvm.TVMError)` sites move to the `RuntimeError` builtin.
## Summary
This PR adds the initial TIRx support needed for low-level programming
of Blackwell-class GPU architectures. As part of the ongoing TIRx
refactor, it introduces TVMScript support for directly scripting
advanced hardware features without relying on scheduling as the primary
programming interface.
The change keeps existing `s_tir` script support intact while making
direct scripting a first-class path for TIRx programs.
## Main Changes
- Add TIRx operator dispatch and layout infrastructure.
- Add TVMScript support for new low-level TIRx operations.
- Add analysis, transform, and lowering support for TIRx IR nodes.
- Add CUDA/Blackwell-oriented codegen and intrinsic coverage.
- Add Python and C++ integration points for TIRx scripting and runtime
support.
## Validation
- `pre-commit run --all-files`
- `ninja -C build -j32`
- `CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=2 pytest tests/python/tirx/ -n 16`
- `1723 passed, 47 skipped, 32 warnings`
- `CUDA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=2 python -m pytest -v
tests/python/all-platform-minimal-test`
- `37 passed, 105 skipped`
- `TVM_TEST_TARGETS=llvm python -m pytest -v tests/python/tirx-analysis
tests/python/tirx-base tests/python/tirx-transform -n 16`
- `664 passed, 25 skipped, 9 xfailed, 1 xpassed`
## Local CI Notes
Some full CI-equivalent jobs were not locally reproducible because this
machine is missing parts of the Apache TVM CI environment, including
`llvm-config-15/17`, Vulkan, ROCm, Maven, Sphinx, Doxygen, Emscripten,
and ARM/QEMU cross-toolchain components. Metal-specific tests were
skipped locally because no Metal runtime is available.
This PR brings up the tirx namespace. We have been spliting out the
original tir namespace to include high-level component s_tir and this PR
updates the remaining low-level part as tirx namespace
The current unittest folder is too large and contains too many files and
too many components. This PR refactors the unittest folder by moving the
files to the corresponding folders.
Tianqi Chen