Fix Tracker gradient through solve on RecursiveArrayTools v4#3663
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…1331) In RecursiveArrayTools v4, `AbstractVectorOfArray <: AbstractArray`, so the generic `sol isa AbstractArray` branch in the Tracker `@grad` for `solve_up` was hit by `ODESolution` and returned the nested `sol.u` (a `Vector{Vector{Float64}}`). Tracker then tracked that vector-of- vectors, and `sum(solve(...))` reduced the outer vector element-wise instead of producing a scalar — triggering `Tracker.gradient`'s "Function output is not scalar" check. Detect `AbstractVectorOfArray` first and `stack` (`Array(sol)`) it into a flat matrix before handing it to Tracker, restoring the pre-RAT-v4 behavior where `convert(AbstractArray, sol)` did `stack(sol.u)`. This fixes the Tracker outer-AD gradient tests in SciMLSensitivity.jl#1331 — save_idxs, save_everystep=false, non-integer saveat, VecOfArray, and BouncingBall — which were previously marked `@test_broken false` on Julia 1.12+ but in fact were broken by the RAT-v4 supertype change rather than by Julia 1.12. The follow-up PR in SciMLSensitivity.jl drops the guards and lets those tests run. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com> Co-Authored-By: Chris Rackauckas <accounts@chrisrackauckas.com>
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…3665) * Fix Tracker gradient on RAT v4 by preserving the ODESolution wrapper In RecursiveArrayTools v4 `AbstractVectorOfArray <: AbstractArray`, so the `sol isa AbstractArray` branch in `Tracker.@Grad function DiffEqBase.solve_up` now matches ODESolution and returns the nested `sol.u :: Vector{Vector{Float64}}` directly. Tracker tracks the vector-of-vectors, and downstream `sum(solve(...))` reduces the outer vector element-wise into a `Vector{Float64}`, breaking `Tracker.gradient(loss, p)` callers with "Function output is not scalar". Return the ODESolution wrapper itself for `AbstractVectorOfArray` inputs so callers reduce through the RAT v4 AbstractArray interface and get a scalar as before. Earlier attempt (#3663) stacked into a fresh matrix via `Array(sol)`; that was reverted in #3664 because it changed the return type and broke downstream consumers. Preserving the wrapper keeps the contract. Refs SciML/SciMLSensitivity.jl#1331. Co-Authored-By: Chris Rackauckas <accounts@chrisrackauckas.com> * Update DiffEqBaseTrackerExt.jl --------- Co-authored-by: ChrisRackauckas-Claude <accounts@chrisrackauckas.com>
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Summary
Fixes the Tracker outer-AD gradient failures tracked in
SciMLSensitivity.jl#1331. The issue was filed as "Tracker tests fail on Julia 1.12+", but bisecting the actual failure shows the trigger is the
RecursiveArrayToolsmajor version bump, not Julia.In RAT v4,
AbstractVectorOfArray <: AbstractArray, so the genericsol isa AbstractArraybranch in the Tracker@grad function DiffEqBase.solve_upnow matchesODESolutionand returns the nestedsol.u— aVector{Vector{Float64}}. Tracker tracks that vector-of-vectors directly, and downstreamsum(solve(...))reduces the outer vector element-wise into aVector{Float64}, soTracker.gradient(loss, p)trips itslosscheckwith"Function output is not scalar".On RAT v3,
AbstractVectorOfArraywas not anAbstractArray, so the same code path fell through toconvert(AbstractArray, sol), which RAT v3 implemented asstack(VA.u)— a flatMatrix{Float64}. That matrix tracked correctly andsumreduced to a scalar.Fix
Detect
AbstractVectorOfArrayfirst in the Tracker@gradandArray(sol)(i.e.stack(sol.u)) it before handing the value to Tracker. This restores the pre-RAT-v4 behavior with no changes to the API.RecursiveArrayToolsis already a direct[deps]ofDiffEqBase(compat"4"), so no compat changes are needed.Repro
On the current package set (Julia 1.12.6, Tracker 0.2.38, RAT 4.3.0, SciMLSensitivity master):
With this PR all five originally-failing tests in SciMLSensitivity's
test/concrete_solve_derivatives.jl(save_idxs,save_everystep=false, non-integersaveat=2.3,VecOfArray,BouncingBall) pass with@test_broken false; continueguards removed.Test plan
@test_broken falseTracker guards intest/concrete_solve_derivatives.jland the originally-failing tests pass.