Model

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A decision model is a program that makes decisions, i.e.: solves decision problems. The model takes in an input (representing the problem data and options) and returns an output, which is the solution to the decision problem. The nextmv.Model class is the base class for all models. It holds the necessary logic to handle all decisions.

Your programs DO NOT need to use the nextmv.Model functionality to work with Nextmv Cloud.

As explained in the Deploy App section, a valid application in Nextmv is that which:

Reads from stdin or a file.
Writes to stdout or a file.
Conforms to the statistics convention for registering statistics.
Contains an app.yaml manifest.

The nextmv.Model class is provided for two purposes:

As an opinionated way to structure your models.
As a feature to be able to push Python models to Nextmv Cloud directly, as they are converted to valid Nextmv applications.

With that clarified, let's see how to use the nextmv.Model class.

When creating your own decision model, you must create a class that inherits from nextmv.Model and implement the solve method.

Python

import nextmv

class YourCustomModel(nextmv.Model):
    def solve(self, input: nextmv.Input) -> nextmv.Output:
        """Implement the logic to solve the decision problem here."""
        pass

Example

Here is an example of a simple knapsack problem, using highspy (HiGHS open-source solver).

Consider the following input and options to configure the solver:

Python

import nextmv


sample_input = {
  "items": [
    {"id": "cat","value": 100,"weight": 20},
    {"id": "dog","value": 20,"weight": 45},
    {"id": "water","value": 40,"weight": 2},
    {"id": "phone","value": 6,"weight": 1},
    {"id": "book","value": 63,"weight": 10},
    {"id": "rx","value": 81,"weight": 1},
    {"id": "tablet","value": 28,"weight": 8},
    {"id": "coat","value": 44,"weight": 9},
    {"id": "laptop","value": 51,"weight": 13},
    {"id": "keys","value": 92,"weight": 1},
    {"id": "nuts","value": 18,"weight": 4}
  ],
  "weight_capacity": 50
}
options = nextmv.Options(
    nextmv.Option("duration", int, 30, "Max runtime duration (in seconds).", False),
)

You can define a DecisionModel that packs the knapsack with the most valuable items without exceeding the weight capacity.

Python

import time
from importlib.metadata import version

import highspy
import nextmv

class DecisionModel(nextmv.Model):
    def solve(self, input: nextmv.Input) -> nextmv.Output:
        """Solves the given problem and returns the solution."""

        start_time = time.time()

        # Creates the solver.
        solver = highspy.Highs()
        solver.silent()  # Solver output ignores stdout redirect, silence it.
        solver.setOptionValue("time_limit", input.options.duration)

        # Initializes the linear sums.
        weights = 0.0
        values = 0.0

        # Creates the decision variables and adds them to the linear sums.
        items = []
        for item in input.data["items"]:
            item_variable = solver.addVariable(0.0, 1.0, item["value"])
            items.append({"item": item, "variable": item_variable})
            weights += item_variable * item["weight"]
            values += item_variable * item["value"]

        # This constraint ensures the weight capacity of the knapsack will not be
        # exceeded.
        solver.addConstr(weights <= input.data["weight_capacity"])

        # Sets the objective function: maximize the value of the chosen items.
        status = solver.maximize(values)

        # Determines which items were chosen.
        chosen_items = [
            item["item"] for item in items if solver.val(item["variable"]) > 0.9
        ]

        input.options.version = version("highspy")

        statistics = nextmv.Statistics(
            run=nextmv.RunStatistics(duration=time.time() - start_time),
            result=nextmv.ResultStatistics(
                value=sum(item["value"] for item in chosen_items),
                custom={
                    "status": str(status),
                    "variables": solver.numVariables,
                    "constraints": solver.numConstrs,
                },
            ),
        )

        return nextmv.Output(
            options=input.options,
            solution={"items": chosen_items},
            statistics=statistics,
        )

To solve the problem, you can run the model with the input and options:

Python

import json

import nextmv


model = DecisionModel()
input = nextmv.Input(data=sample_input, options=options)
output = model.solve(input)
print(json.dumps(output.solution, indent=2))

Bash

$ python main.py -duration 5
{
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "cat",
      "value": 100,
      "weight": 20
    },
    {
      "id": "water",
      "value": 40,
      "weight": 2
    },
    {
      "id": "phone",
      "value": 6,
      "weight": 1
    },
    {
      "id": "book",
      "value": 63,
      "weight": 10
    },
    {
      "id": "rx",
      "value": 81,
      "weight": 1
    },
    {
      "id": "coat",
      "value": 44,
      "weight": 9
    },
    {
      "id": "keys",
      "value": 92,
      "weight": 1
    },
    {
      "id": "nuts",
      "value": 18,
      "weight": 4
    }
  ]
}

Push to Nextmv Cloud

If you want to run the model as a Nextmv Cloud app, you need two components:

A model configuration. This configuration tells Nextmv Cloud how to load the model.
An app manifest. Every Nextmv Cloud app must have a manifest that establishes how to run the app. It holds information such as the runtime, and files that the app needs.

Continuing with the knapsack problem, you can define the model configuration for it. From the config, there is a convenience function to create the manifest.

Python

import nextmv
import nextmv.cloud


model_configuration = nextmv.ModelConfiguration(
    name="highs_model",
    requirements=[ # Acts as a requirements.txt file.
        "highspy==1.8.1", # Works like a line in a requirements.txt file.
        "nextmv==0.25.0"
    ],
    options=options,
)
manifest = nextmv.cloud.Manifest.from_model_configuration(model_configuration)

Once the model, options, model configuration, and manifest are defined, you can push the app to Nextmv Cloud.

Python

import nextmv.cloud


client = nextmv.cloud.Client(api_key=os.getenv("NEXTMV_API_KEY"))
application = nextmv.cloud.Application(client=client, id="<YOUR_APP_ID>")
application.push(
    model=model, # The implementation of the `nextmv.Model` class.
    model_configuration=model_configuration,
    manifest=manifest,
    verbose=True,
)

Learn how to work with a decision Model.

Example

Push to Nextmv Cloud

Output

Managing an app

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