tiny-llm

tiny-llm is a hands-on course for systems engineers who want to understand LLM inference end to end. You can think of it as an LLM-serving counterpart to CMU's Needle project: build the path that loads a Qwen3 model, turns tokens into logits, and generates text.

The course begins with array and matrix operations, then introduces kernels and serving machinery as the running model needs them. Keeping the implementation small enough to read end to end makes it possible to connect the equations to memory traffic, kernel occupancy, KV-cache growth, batching, and request scheduling.

The course is built on MLX arrays and the MLX extension runtime, without using high-level neural-network layers. When a chapter teaches an operator, your solution implements that operator in Python, C++, or Metal rather than calling the corresponding optimized MLX operation. MLX remains the correctness oracle and performance baseline.

The Learning Path

The course follows a four-week learning path:

• Week 1: From Matmul to Text. Build a Qwen3 model directly from mlx.core array operations: attention, RoPE, GQA, RMSNorm, the MLP, sampling, and the autoregressive loop.
• Week 2: A Step Closer to vLLM. Add a KV cache, establish a synchronized MLX baseline, and let matched benchmarks choose each optimization. The path moves from quantized decode matvec to fused model kernels, tiled prefill, and split-K where the measured Qwen shapes need it.
• Week 3: Build a Mini vLLM. Introduce continuous batching and chunked admission, then make paged KV the canonical serving layout. Decode attention and FlashAttention learn to read pages directly so the scheduler does not rebuild dense history on every step.
• Week 4: Build a Coding Agent. Start with a bounded, validated agent loop, then connect it to a small workspace. The course is publishing one reviewed checkpoint at a time; Days 1 through 8 now cover inspection, approved edits, one validation command, simple effect receipts, and one visible checkpoint-and-resume boundary, receipt-backed context compaction, and one visible inspect-and-steer pause, and deterministic evaluation of observable outcomes, then tokenizer/KV-prefix reuse for two isolated steered branches and one explicit evidence-backed selection.

Why MLX and Qwen3?

Apple silicon provides a practical local environment with one shared memory space and direct access to Metal kernels. Students can inspect the complete path on one machine instead of depending on an expensive CUDA GPU setup.

Qwen3-4B is large enough to expose real weight-bandwidth, attention, and cache costs, but small enough to iterate on locally. Its grouped-query attention, QK normalization, BF16 activations, and 4-bit weights also keep the exercises close to current model-serving work.

Start Here

The book is published at skyzh.github.io/tiny-llm. Begin with the environment setup, or verify an existing checkout with:

pdm install -v
pdm run check-installation
pdm run test-refsol -- -- -k week_1

The tiny_llm package is where students implement the exercises. tiny_llm_ref contains the reference solution used by the tests and benchmark appendix. The book summary lists the chapter order; implementation, test, and publication readiness is tracked below.

Roadmap

The table tracks implementation (Code), tests (Test), rendered chapters (Doc), and Chi's review of learner-facing material (Audit). Week 4 is publishing one reviewed day at a time; Days 1 through 8 are currently available to learners. The Audit column reflects Chi's personal editorial pass on the published course content and is independent of code/test/doc readiness.

Day 3 can send file contents to the model, modify files after approval, and run one exact configured command. Use a disposable workspace without secrets and read the Week 4 overview before running the loop. Day 4 checkpoints a complete tool-observation boundary with the scripted model's fake cache metadata, then restores a fresh model without replaying the completed edit or command. Day 5 compacts older completed effects in the model-visible transcript while their exact receipts retain the full action, result, and changed artifacts. Day 6 inspects one complete-observation checkpoint, appends one visible operator instruction, and resumes a fresh model without replaying the completed effect. Day 7 evaluates one completed run from declared final, file, result, and receipt facts without grading hidden reasoning or exact transcript shape. Day 8 reuses one real tokenizer/KV checkpoint for two differently steered, effect-isolated continuations, evaluates both with Day 7's harness, and makes one explicit passing selection without pretending completed effects were rewound.

Week + Chapter	Topic	Code	Test	Doc	Audit
1.1	Attention	✅	✅	✅	✅
1.2	RoPE	✅	✅	✅	✅
1.3	Grouped Query Attention	✅	✅	✅	✅
1.4	RMSNorm and MLP	✅	✅	✅	✅
1.5	Load the Model	✅	✅	✅	✅
1.6	Generate Responses (aka Decoding)	✅	✅	✅	✅
1.7	Sampling	✅	✅	✅	✅
2.1	KV Cache	✅	✅	✅	🚧
2.2	Benchmarking and Profiling	✅	✅	✅	🚧
2.3	Quantize the Model	✅	✅	✅	🚧
2.4	Fused Model Kernels	✅	✅	✅	🚧
2.5	Fused Decode Attention	✅	✅	✅	🚧
2.6	SIMD-Matrix Prefill	✅	✅	✅	🚧
2.7	Split-K Prefill	✅	✅	✅	🚧
3.1	Continuous Batching	✅	✅	✅	🚧
3.2	Chunked Prefill	✅	✅	✅	🚧
3.3	Paged KV Cache	✅	✅	✅	🚧
3.4	Direct Paged Attention	✅	✅	✅	🚧
3.5	Paged FlashAttention	✅	✅	✅	🚧
3.6 (optional)	Speculative Decoding	✅	✅	✅	🚧
3.x (optional)	MoE (Mixture of Experts)	✅	✅	✅	🚧
4.1	Validated Agent Loop	✅	✅	✅	🚧
4.2	Inspect a Workspace	✅	✅	✅	🚧
4.3	Edit, Validate, and Record	✅	✅	✅	🚧
4.4	Checkpoint and Resume	✅	✅	✅	🚧
4.5	Compact Completed Work	✅	✅	✅	🚧
4.6	Inspect and Steer a Paused Agent	✅	✅	✅	🚧
4.7	Evaluate Observable Outcomes	✅	✅	✅	🚧
4.8	Fork, Steer, and Select	✅	✅	✅	🚧

Other topics not covered include quantized or compressed KV caches, cross-request prefix caching, fine-tuning, and long-context techniques.

Community

Join skyzh's Discord server to study with the tiny-llm community.