> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/openai/parameter-golf/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Submission Requirements

> What every valid parameter-golf submission must include, from file structure to the submission.json format.

All submissions — whether record or non-record — must meet the requirements described on this page. Pull requests that are missing required files or contain broken scripts will not be accepted.

## Artifact size limit

The submission artifact is computed as **code bytes + compressed model bytes**. The cap is decimal 16 MB:

```
code bytes + compressed model bytes < 16,000,000 bytes
```

<Note>
  The limit is 16,000,000 decimal bytes, not 16 MiB (16,777,216 bytes). Compressed model size is measured as the int8 + zlib roundtrip output of your model weights.
</Note>

## Required files

Every submission folder must contain the following four files:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="README.md" icon="file-text">
    Explains the submission in reasonable detail — architecture, training config, key metrics, and the command used to reproduce the run.
  </Card>

  <Card title="submission.json" icon="braces">
    Structured metadata including your name, GitHub ID, `val_bpb`, and byte counts. See format below.
  </Card>

  <Card title="train.log" icon="scroll">
    The exact training log automatically produced by your training script. Do not edit or truncate it.
  </Card>

  <Card title="train_gpt.py" icon="code">
    The training script snapshot used for the run. It must compile and run successfully from within the records folder.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Warning>
  Broken scripts will not be accepted. Verify that `train_gpt.py` runs end-to-end from within the records folder before submitting.
</Warning>

## Folder structure and naming

Submissions live under one of two tracks:

```
records/
├── track_10min_16mb/          # Leaderboard (SOTA) records
│   └── 2026-03-17_RunName/
│       ├── README.md
│       ├── submission.json
│       ├── train.log
│       └── train_gpt.py
└── track_non_record_16mb/     # Non-record and unlimited compute
    └── 2026-03-18_RunName/
        ├── README.md
        ├── submission.json
        ├── train.log
        └── train_gpt.py
```

Folder names use an ISO-8601 date prefix followed by a short descriptive name:

```
2026-03-17_NaiveBaseline
2026-03-18_Quasi10Bfrom50B_SP1024_9x512_KV4_4h_pgut3
```

## submission.json format

The `submission.json` file provides structured metadata for the leaderboard. All fields are required unless noted.

```json theme={null}
{
  "author": "Your Name",
  "github_id": "your-github-id",
  "name": "Run Name",
  "blurb": "Brief description of your approach",
  "date": "2026-03-18T14:56:29Z",
  "val_loss": 2.07269931,
  "val_bpb": 1.2243657,
  "bytes_total": 15863489,
  "bytes_code": 47642
}
```

The baseline submission uses exactly this structure:

```json theme={null}
{
  "author": "Baseline",
  "github_id": "openai",
  "name": "Naive Baseline",
  "blurb": "SP-1024 9x512 KV4 run on pgut1 using the published Hugging Face fineweb10B_sp1024 export and the current train_gpt.py; score is the default final int8+zlib roundtrip metric under the 16,000,000-byte cap.",
  "date": "2026-03-18T14:56:29Z",
  "val_loss": 2.07269931,
  "val_bpb": 1.2243657,
  "bytes_total": 15863489,
  "bytes_code": 47642
}
```

<Info>
  `val_bpb` is the **post-quantization roundtrip** bits-per-byte score, printed as `final_int8_zlib_roundtrip_exact val_bpb` in your train log. This is the official score used for the leaderboard.
</Info>

## Evaluation constraints

The following constraints apply to all submissions during evaluation:

* No external downloads or network calls during evaluation
* No access to training data during evaluation (unless those bits are counted within the 16 MB limit)
* No data from outside the allowed FineWeb validation set

<Warning>
  The artifact must be fully self-contained and reproducible. Any submission that requires network access or external dependencies at evaluation time will be rejected.
</Warning>

## Submitting

Submit your entry as a **pull request** that adds only your new folder to the appropriate `/records` subfolder. The PR should not modify any other files in the repository.

<Tip>
  See [Record Submissions](/submission/record-submissions) and [Non-Record Submissions](/submission/non-record-submissions) for track-specific requirements on top of these baseline requirements.
</Tip>