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Tianqi Chen 96cba60464 [PYTHON] Autoload backends; simplify library loading; remove TVMError for native errors (#19727)
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.
2026-06-11 13:50:38 -04:00
..