SkyRL-v0: Training Real-World AI Agents for Complex Tasks via Reinforcement Learning
Overview
SkyRL-v0 is an open-source reinforcement learning framework developed by the Berkeley Sky Computing Lab, designed to train AI agents for long-horizon tasks in real-world environments. Validated on benchmarks like SWE-Bench, it supports model training from 7B to 14B parameters through innovations in asynchronous rollouts and memory optimization.
Latest Updates
-
May 6, 2025: Official release of SkyRL-v0 with multi-turn tool integration capabilities
Key Innovations
Technical Breakthroughs
-
Long-Horizon Optimization: Hierarchical reward shaping addresses credit assignment in complex workflows -
Hardware Flexibility: Native support for H100/H200 GPUs and multi-node training clusters -
Toolchain Integration: Seamless compatibility with SGLang async inference and vLLM optimizations
Practical Applications
-
Automated software engineering (SWE-Bench) -
Multi-step scientific simulations -
Industrial process optimization
Technical Architecture
Dependency Management
Revolutionary uv
+ ray
integration enables isolated dependency environments across distributed systems:
Feature | Traditional Approach | SkyRL Solution |
---|---|---|
Dependency Conflicts | Manual resolution | Auto-isolation |
Multi-Node Sync | Custom scripts | Native support |
CUDA Compatibility | Error-prone | Smart detection |
Core Components
├── SkyRL-OpenHands # Remote runtime connector
├── examples/sky # Reproduction scripts
└── training_pipeline # Core logic
Implementation Guide
System Requirements
-
uv
package manager (Installation guide) -
CUDA 12.4+ with proper driver configuration
Troubleshooting Tips
# Fix torch-memory-saver installation
sudo ln -s /usr/local/cuda-12.4/compat/libcuda.so /usr/lib/libcuda.so
sudo ln -s /usr/local/cuda-12.4/compat/libcuda.so.1 /usr/lib/libcuda.so.1
Quick Start
# Clone essential components
git clone https://github.com/NovaSky-AI/SkyRL-OpenHands
# Environment validation
uv run --isolated --frozen pip show torch
Training Specifications
Model | Hardware Config | Estimated Time |
---|---|---|
SkyRL-Agent-7B-v0 | 8x H100 GPUs | 16 hours |
SkyRL-Agent-8B-v0 | 8x H200 GPUs | 27 hours |
SkyRL-Agent-14B-v0 | 8x H200 GPUs | 20 hours |
Performance Evaluation
SWE-Bench Results
Model | Base Version | Baseline | SkyRL Performance | Improvement |
---|---|---|---|---|
7B Model | OpenHands-7B | 11% | 14.6% | +32.7% |
8B Model | Qwen3-8B | 3.6% | 9.4% | +161% |
14B Model | Qwen3-14B | 18% | 21.6% | +20% |
Key Metrics
-
Training Efficiency: 25% faster on H200 vs H100 for 14B models -
Memory Utilization: 85%+ GPU memory efficiency via vLLM optimizations -
Scalability: Linear scaling from single-GPU to 32-GPU clusters
Ecosystem Support
Infrastructure Partners
-
Compute Providers: Lambda Labs GPU Cloud, Anyscale, Databricks -
Technical Collaborators: SGLang async framework, vLLM optimization team -
Community Channels: GitHub Discussions, Hugging Face Hub, Discord
Core Contributors
-
System Architecture: Berkeley Sky Computing Lab -
Algorithm Design: Ying Sheng (SGLang) -
Performance Optimization: Kaichao You (vLLM)
Roadmap
-
2025 Q3: Visual training monitor dashboard -
2025 Q4: Mixture-of-Experts architecture support -
2026 Q1: Physics simulation environment integration
Technical Insights
Challenges in Long-Horizon Training
Traditional RL struggles with:
-
Sparse reward signals in multi-step tasks -
Memory bottlenecks in extended sequences -
Inefficient exploration strategies
SkyRL-v0 Solutions
-
Hierarchical reward decomposition -
Attention-based memory compression (40% reduction in 14B models) -
3.8x improvement in valid exploration paths for SWE-Bench tasks
Industry Applications
-
Automated bug resolution workflows -
Cross-version compatibility testing -
Deployment orchestration systems
Resources
@software{SkyRL2025,
author = {Berkeley Sky Computing Lab},
title = {SkyRL-v0: Real-World Long-Horizon Agent Training Framework},
year = {2025},
url = {https://github.com/NovaSky-AI/SkyRL}
}
“`
All technical claims are verifiable through the SWE-Bench evaluation protocol and open-source implementation. For detailed reproduction steps, refer to the experiment documentation.