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---
stage: Create
group: Incubation
info: Machine Learning Experiment Tracking is a GitLab Incubation Engineering program. No technical writer assigned to this group.
---
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# MLFlow client integration **(FREE)**
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> [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-org/-/epics/8560) in GitLab 15.11 as an [Experiment](../../../policy/alpha-beta-support.md#experiment) release [with a flag](../../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `ml_experiment_tracking`. Disabled by default.
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NOTE:
Model experiment tracking is an [experimental feature ](../../../policy/alpha-beta-support.md ).
Refer to < https: / / gitlab . com / gitlab-org / gitlab / - / issues / 381660 > for feedback and feature requests.
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[MLFlow ](https://mlflow.org/ ) is one of the most popular open source tools for Machine Learning Experiment Tracking.
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GitLab works as a backend to the MLFlow Client, [logging experiments ](../ml/experiment_tracking/index.md ).
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Setting up your integrations requires minimal changes to existing code.
GitLab plays the role of proxy server, both for artifact storage and tracking data. It reflects the
MLFlow [Scenario 5 ](https://www.mlflow.org/docs/latest/tracking.html#scenario-5-mlflow-tracking-server-enabled-with-proxied-artifact-storage-access ).
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## Enable MLFlow client integration
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Prerequisites:
- A [personal access token ](../../../user/profile/personal_access_tokens.md ) for the project, with minimum access level of `api` .
- The project ID. To find the project ID, on the top bar, select **Main menu > Projects** and find your project. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > General** .
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To enable MLFlow client integration:
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1. Set the tracking URI and token environment variables on the host that runs the code.
This can be your local environment, CI pipeline, or remote host. For example:
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```shell
export MLFLOW_TRACKING_URI="http://< your gitlab endpoint > /api/v4/projects/< your project id > /ml/mlflow"
export MLFLOW_TRACKING_TOKEN="< your_access_token > "
```
1. If your training code contains the call to `mlflow.set_tracking_uri()` , remove it.
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When running the training code, MLFlow creates experiments, runs, log parameters, metrics, metadata
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and artifacts on GitLab.
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After experiments are logged, they are listed under `/<your project>/-/ml/experiments` .
Runs are registered as:
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- Model Candidates, which can be explored by selecting an experiment.
- Tags, which are registered as metadata.
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## Supported MlFlow client methods and caveats
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GitLab supports these methods from the MLFlow client. Other methods might be supported but were not
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tested. More information can be found in the [MLFlow Documentation ](https://www.mlflow.org/docs/1.28.0/python_api/mlflow.html ).
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| Method | Supported | Version Added | Comments |
|--------------------------|------------------|----------------|----------|
| `get_experiment` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `get_experiment_by_name` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `set_experiment` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `get_run` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `start_run` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `log_artifact` | Yes with caveat | 15.11 | (15.11) `artifact_path` must be empty string. Does not support directories.
| `log_artifacts` | Yes with caveat | 15.11 | (15.11) `artifact_path` must be empty string. Does not support directories.
| `log_batch` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `log_metric` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `log_metrics` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `log_param` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `log_params` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `log_figure` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `log_image` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `log_text` | Yes with caveat | 15.11 | (15.11) Does not support directories.
| `log_dict` | Yes with caveat | 15.11 | (15.11) Does not support directories.
| `set_tag` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `set_tags` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `set_terminated` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `end_run` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `update_run` | Yes | 15.11 | |
| `log_model` | Partial | 15.11 | (15.11) Saves the artifacts, but not the model data. `artifact_path` must be empty.
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## Limitations
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- The API GitLab supports is the one defined at MLFlow version 1.28.0.
- API endpoints not listed above are not supported.
- During creation of experiments and runs, ExperimentTags are stored, even though they are not displayed.
- MLFlow Model Registry is not supported.
