pyvene: Causal Interventions for Neural Networks

pyvene is Stanford NLP's library for performing causal interventions on PyTorch models. It provides a declarative, dict-based framework for activation patching, causal tracing, and interchange intervention training - making intervention experiments reproducible and shareable.

GitHub: stanfordnlp/pyvene (840+ stars) Paper: pyvene: A Library for Understanding and Improving PyTorch Models via Interventions (NAACL 2024)

When to Use pyvene

Use pyvene when you need to:

• Perform causal tracing (ROME-style localization)
• Run activation patching experiments
• Conduct interchange intervention training (IIT)
• Test causal hypotheses about model components
• Share/reproduce intervention experiments via HuggingFace
• Work with any PyTorch architecture (not just transformers)

Consider alternatives when:

• You need exploratory activation analysis → Use TransformerLens
• You want to train/analyze SAEs → Use SAELens
• You need remote execution on massive models → Use nnsight
• You want lower-level control → Use nnsight

Installation

bash
pip install pyvene

Standard import:

python
import pyvene as pv

Core Concepts

IntervenableModel

The main class that wraps any PyTorch model with intervention capabilities:

python
import pyvene as pv
from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, AutoTokenizer

# Load base model
model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained("gpt2")
tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("gpt2")

# Define intervention configuration
config = pv.IntervenableConfig(
    representations=[
        pv.RepresentationConfig(
            layer=8,
            component="block_output",
            intervention_type=pv.VanillaIntervention,
        )
    ]
)

# Create intervenable model
intervenable = pv.IntervenableModel(config, model)

Intervention Types

| Type | Description | Use Case | |------|-------------|----------| | VanillaIntervention | Swap activations between runs | Activation patching | | AdditionIntervention | Add activations to base run | Steering, ablation | | SubtractionIntervention | Subtract activations | Ablation | | ZeroIntervention | Zero out activations | Component knockout | | RotatedSpaceIntervention | DAS trainable intervention | Causal discovery | | CollectIntervention | Collect activations | Probing, analysis |

Component Targets

python
# Available components to intervene on
components = [
    "block_input",      # Input to transformer block
    "block_output",     # Output of transformer block
    "mlp_input",        # Input to MLP
    "mlp_output",       # Output of MLP
    "mlp_activation",   # MLP hidden activations
    "attention_input",  # Input to attention
    "attention_output", # Output of attention
    "attention_value_output",  # Attention value vectors
    "query_output",     # Query vectors
    "key_output",       # Key vectors
    "value_output",     # Value vectors
    "head_attention_value_output",  # Per-head values
]

Workflow 1: Causal Tracing (ROME-style)

Locate where factual associations are stored by corrupting inputs and restoring activations.

Step-by-Step

python
import pyvene as pv
from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, AutoTokenizer
import torch

model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained("gpt2-xl")
tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("gpt2-xl")

# 1. Define clean and corrupted inputs
clean_prompt = "The Space Needle is in downtown"
corrupted_prompt = "The ##### ###### ## ## ########"  # Noise

clean_tokens = tokenizer(clean_prompt, return_tensors="pt")
corrupted_tokens = tokenizer(corrupted_prompt, return_tensors="pt")

# 2. Get clean activations (source)
with torch.no_grad():
    clean_outputs = model(**clean_tokens, output_hidden_states=True)
    clean_states = clean_outputs.hidden_states

# 3. Define restoration intervention
def run_causal_trace(layer, position):
    """Restore clean activation at specific layer and position."""
    config = pv.IntervenableConfig(
        representations=[
            pv.RepresentationConfig(
                layer=layer,
                component="block_output",
                intervention_type=pv.VanillaIntervention,
                unit="pos",
                max_number_of_units=1,
            )
        ]
    )

    intervenable = pv.IntervenableModel(config, model)

    # Run with intervention
    _, patched_outputs = intervenable(
        base=corrupted_tokens,
        sources=[clean_tokens],
        unit_locations={"sources->base": ([[[position]]], [[[position]]])},
        output_original_output=True,
    )

    # Return probability of correct token
    probs = torch.softmax(patched_outputs.logits[0, -1], dim=-1)
    seattle_token = tokenizer.encode(" Seattle")[0]
    return probs[seattle_token].item()

# 4. Sweep over layers and positions
n_layers = model.config.n_layer
seq_len = clean_tokens["input_ids"].shape[1]

results = torch.zeros(n_layers, seq_len)
for layer in range(n_layers):
    for pos in range(seq_len):
        results[layer, pos] = run_causal_trace(layer, pos)

# 5. Visualize (layer x position heatmap)
# High values indicate causal importance

Checklist

• ] Prepare clean prompt with target factual association
• ] Create corrupted version (noise or counterfactual)
• ] Define intervention config for each (layer, position)
• ] Run patching sweep
• ] Identify causal hotspots in heatmap

Workflow 2: Activation Patching for Circuit Analysis

Test which components are necessary for a specific behavior.

Step-by-Step

python
import pyvene as pv
from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, AutoTokenizer
import torch

model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained("gpt2")
tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("gpt2")

# IOI task setup
clean_prompt = "When John and Mary went to the store, Mary gave a bottle to"
corrupted_prompt = "When John and Mary went to the store, John gave a bottle to"

clean_tokens = tokenizer(clean_prompt, return_tensors="pt")
corrupted_tokens = tokenizer(corrupted_prompt, return_tensors="pt")

john_token = tokenizer.encode(" John")[0]
mary_token = tokenizer.encode(" Mary")[0]

def logit_diff(logits):
    """IO - S logit difference."""
    return logits[0, -1, john_token] - logits[0, -1, mary_token]

# Patch attention output at each layer
def patch_attention(layer):
    config = pv.IntervenableConfig(
        representations=[
            pv.RepresentationConfig(
                layer=layer,
                component="attention_output",
                intervention_type=pv.VanillaIntervention,
            )
        ]
    )

    intervenable = pv.IntervenableModel(config, model)

    _, patched_outputs = intervenable(
        base=corrupted_tokens,
        sources=[clean_tokens],
    )

    return logit_diff(patched_outputs.logits).item()

# Find which layers matter
results = []
for layer in range(model.config.n_layer):
    diff = patch_attention(layer)
    results.append(diff)
    print(f"Layer {layer}: logit diff = {diff:.3f}")

Workflow 3: Interchange Intervention Training (IIT)

Train interventions to discover causal structure.

Step-by-Step

python
import pyvene as pv
from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM
import torch

model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained("gpt2")

# 1. Define trainable intervention
config = pv.IntervenableConfig(
    representations=[
        pv.RepresentationConfig(
            layer=6,
            component="block_output",
            intervention_type=pv.RotatedSpaceIntervention,  # Trainable
            low_rank_dimension=64,  # Learn 64-dim subspace
        )
    ]
)

intervenable = pv.IntervenableModel(config, model)

# 2. Set up training
optimizer = torch.optim.Adam(
    intervenable.get_trainable_parameters(),
    lr=1e-4
)

# 3. Training loop (simplified)
for base_input, source_input, target_output in dataloader:
    optimizer.zero_grad()

    _, outputs = intervenable(
        base=base_input,
        sources=[source_input],
    )

    loss = criterion(outputs.logits, target_output)
    loss.backward()
    optimizer.step()

# 4. Analyze learned intervention
# The rotation matrix reveals causal subspace
rotation = intervenable.interventions["layer.6.block_output"][0].rotate_layer

DAS (Distributed Alignment Search)

python
# Low-rank rotation finds interpretable subspaces
config = pv.IntervenableConfig(
    representations=[
        pv.RepresentationConfig(
            layer=8,
            component="block_output",
            intervention_type=pv.LowRankRotatedSpaceIntervention,
            low_rank_dimension=1,  # Find 1D causal direction
        )
    ]
)

Workflow 4: Model Steering (Honest LLaMA)

Steer model behavior during generation.

python
import pyvene as pv
from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, AutoTokenizer

model = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained("meta-llama/Llama-2-7b-hf")
tokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained("meta-llama/Llama-2-7b-hf")

# Load pre-trained steering intervention
intervenable = pv.IntervenableModel.load(
    "zhengxuanzenwu/intervenable_honest_llama2_chat_7B",
    model=model,
)

# Generate with steering
prompt = "Is the earth flat?"
inputs = tokenizer(prompt, return_tensors="pt")

# Intervention applied during generation
outputs = intervenable.generate(
    inputs,
    max_new_tokens=100,
    do_sample=False,
)

print(tokenizer.decode(outputs[0]))

Saving and Sharing Interventions

python
# Save locally
intervenable.save("./my_intervention")

# Load from local
intervenable = pv.IntervenableModel.load(
    "./my_intervention",
    model=model,
)

# Share on HuggingFace
intervenable.save_intervention("username/my-intervention")

# Load from HuggingFace
intervenable = pv.IntervenableModel.load(
    "username/my-intervention",
    model=model,
)

Common Issues & Solutions

Issue: Wrong intervention location

python
# WRONG: Incorrect component name
config = pv.RepresentationConfig(
    component="mlp",  # Not valid!
)

# RIGHT: Use exact component name
config = pv.RepresentationConfig(
    component="mlp_output",  # Valid
)

Issue: Dimension mismatch

python
# Ensure source and base have compatible shapes
# For position-specific interventions:
config = pv.RepresentationConfig(
    unit="pos",
    max_number_of_units=1,  # Intervene on single position
)

# Specify locations explicitly
intervenable(
    base=base_tokens,
    sources=[source_tokens],
    unit_locations={"sources->base": ([[[5]]], [[[5]]])},  # Position 5
)

Issue: Memory with large models

python
# Use gradient checkpointing
model.gradient_checkpointing_enable()

# Or intervene on fewer components
config = pv.IntervenableConfig(
    representations=[
        pv.RepresentationConfig(
            layer=8,  # Single layer instead of all
            component="block_output",
        )
    ]
)

Issue: LoRA integration

python
# pyvene v0.1.8+ supports LoRAs as interventions
config = pv.RepresentationConfig(
    intervention_type=pv.LoRAIntervention,
    low_rank_dimension=16,
)

Key Classes Reference

| Class | Purpose | |-------|---------| | IntervenableModel | Main wrapper for interventions | | IntervenableConfig | Configuration container | | RepresentationConfig | Single intervention specification | | VanillaIntervention | Activation swapping | | RotatedSpaceIntervention | Trainable DAS intervention | | CollectIntervention | Activation collection |

Supported Models

pyvene works with any PyTorch model. Tested on:

• GPT-2 (all sizes)
• LLaMA / LLaMA-2
• Pythia
• Mistral / Mixtral
• OPT
• BLIP (vision-language)
• ESM (protein models)
• Mamba (state space)

Reference Documentation

For detailed API documentation, tutorials, and advanced usage, see the references/ folder:

| File | Contents | |------|----------| | references/README.md | Overview and quick start guide | | references/api.md | Complete API reference for IntervenableModel, intervention types, configurations | | references/tutorials.md | Step-by-step tutorials for causal tracing, activation patching, DAS |

External Resources

Tutorials

• pyvene 101
• Causal Tracing Tutorial
• IOI Circuit Replication
• DAS Introduction

Papers

• Locating and Editing Factual Associations in GPT - Meng et al. (2022)
• Inference-Time Intervention - Li et al. (2023)
• Interpretability in the Wild - Wang et al. (2022)

Official Documentation

• Official Docs
• API Reference

Comparison with Other Tools

| Feature | pyvene | TransformerLens | nnsight | |---------|--------|-----------------|---------| | Declarative config | Yes | No | No | | HuggingFace sharing | Yes | No | No | | Trainable interventions | Yes | Limited | Yes | | Any PyTorch model | Yes | Transformers only | Yes | | Remote execution | No | No | Yes (NDIF) |