Add in-memory byte index and manifest-driven episode MP4 cache.

Build moov-derived byte ranges in RAM or from sidecar parquet, fetch tight mdat slices over the network, and decode via TorchCodec custom_frame_mappings to skip full-file metadata scans.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

examples/scaling/benchmark_dataloading.py

@@ -0,0 +1,547 @@
+# Copyright 2025 The HuggingFace Inc. team. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""Single-image dataloading benchmark across the LeRobot loaders, MADE TO RUN ON A COMPUTE CLUSTER (SLURM).
+
+This one file is both the orchestrator and the worker:
+
+  * Run it with no ``--scenario`` (from a login node) and it submits a SERIAL sbatch chain of all
+    scenarios below (no two network-bound jobs overlap, so CDN numbers stay clean).
+  * Run it with ``--scenario <name>`` and it executes that single benchmark (this is what each sbatch
+    job calls). The 2-node scenario is launched with ``srun`` and reads ``RANK``/``WORLD_SIZE`` so the
+    streaming dataset splits shards per node.
+
+Scenarios (all single-frame / non-SARM):
+  1. ``mmap_local``             map-style LeRobotDataset over a LOCAL copy (``--local_root``, no network).
+  2. ``mmap_local_maxworkers``  same, but workers scaled to saturate the node's cores (decode-bound).
+  3. ``stream_hub``             StreamingLeRobotDataset from the Hub (allenai/MolmoAct2-BimanualYAM-Dataset).
+  4. ``stream_bucket``          StreamingLeRobotDataset from a warmed storage bucket (1 node).
+  5. ``stream_bucket_2node``    same warmed bucket, 2 nodes (split_dataset_by_node, per-rank results).
+
+Reported per run: peak process-tree RSS (max memory), parallel throughput (samples/s, where a sample
+is one timestep, plus decoded_frames/s = samples/s x num_cameras),
+single-process throughput, shuffle randomness fraction (distinct episodes per batch / batch size),
+fetch vs decode split (% of single-process per-sample time), first-batch latency, and p50/p95/p99
+sample latency. Results are written as JSON + CSV under ``--out_dir``.
+
+Submit the whole chain (from a login node, inside the repo). Point the scheduler env vars at your own
+cluster's account/partition/qos, and ``--local_root`` at a local copy of the map-style dataset:
+    ACCOUNT=<account> PARTITION=<partition> QOS=<qos> \\
+        python examples/scaling/benchmark_dataloading.py --local_root /path/to/local/dataset
+"""
+
+import argparse
+import csv
+import json
+import os
+import random
+import statistics
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import threading
+import time
+from pathlib import Path
+
+import torch
+from torch.utils.data import DataLoader
+
+from lerobot.datasets import LeRobotDataset, LeRobotDatasetMetadata, StreamingLeRobotDataset
+from lerobot.datasets.partition import group_episodes_by_files, partition_episodes
+
+ROBOCASA_REPO = "pepijn223/robocasa_pretrain_human300_v4"
+MOLMO_REPO = "allenai/MolmoAct2-BimanualYAM-Dataset"
+MOLMO_BUCKET = "hf://buckets/pepijn223/MolmoAct2-BimanualYAM-Dataset-bucket"
+# MolmoAct2 is published without a codebase-version git tag, so the version-safe loader would refuse
+# it; "main" pins the branch directly and skips that check.
+MOLMO_REVISION = "main"
+
+# Per-scenario sbatch shape. mem is generous for the streaming legs (32k-episode, 3-camera, 2.35 TB
+# dataset keeps many AV1 decoders open); the local map-style leg is light. Optional ``num_workers`` /
+# ``cpus`` override the CLI defaults for that leg.
+# ``mmap_local_maxworkers``: map-style decode is CPU-bound and each worker decodes its cameras on
+# parallel threads, so the saturation point is ~num_cpus / num_cameras workers (~90 concurrent decode
+# threads). The 96-core H100 nodes here schedule at most 92 cpus/task, so we take 92 cpus / 30 workers.
+SCENARIOS = {
+    "mmap_local": {"kind": "map", "nodes": 1, "mem": "64G", "time": "01:00:00"},
+    "mmap_local_maxworkers": {
+        "kind": "map",
+        "nodes": 1,
+        "mem": "128G",
+        "time": "01:00:00",
+        "num_workers": 30,
+        "cpus": 92,
+    },
+    "stream_hub": {"kind": "stream", "nodes": 1, "mem": "250G", "time": "03:00:00"},
+    "stream_bucket": {"kind": "stream", "nodes": 1, "mem": "250G", "time": "03:00:00"},
+    "stream_bucket_2node": {"kind": "stream", "nodes": 2, "mem": "250G", "time": "03:00:00"},
+}
+
+
+def _tree_rss_bytes() -> int:
+    """Sum RSS of this process and all descendants via /proc (DataLoader workers are separate procs)."""
+    try:
+        children: dict[int, list[int]] = {}
+        for entry in os.listdir("/proc"):
+            if not entry.isdigit():
+                continue
+            try:
+                with open(f"/proc/{entry}/stat") as f:
+                    ppid = int(f.read().split(") ", 1)[1].split()[1])
+                children.setdefault(ppid, []).append(int(entry))
+            except (OSError, ValueError, IndexError):
+                pass
+        total, stack = 0, [os.getpid()]
+        while stack:
+            cur = stack.pop()
+            try:
+                with open(f"/proc/{cur}/statm") as f:
+                    total += int(f.read().split()[1]) * os.sysconf("SC_PAGE_SIZE")
+            except (OSError, ValueError, IndexError):
+                pass
+            stack.extend(children.get(cur, []))
+        return total
+    except OSError:
+        return 0
+
+
+class PeakRSSSampler:
+    """Background thread tracking peak process-tree RSS for the duration of the ``with`` block."""
+
+    def __init__(self, interval_s: float = 0.5):
+        self.interval_s = interval_s
+        self.peak_bytes = 0
+        self._stop = threading.Event()
+        self._thread = threading.Thread(target=self._run, daemon=True)
+
+    def _run(self) -> None:
+        while not self._stop.is_set():
+            self.peak_bytes = max(self.peak_bytes, _tree_rss_bytes())
+            self._stop.wait(self.interval_s)
+
+    def __enter__(self) -> "PeakRSSSampler":
+        self._thread.start()
+        return self
+
+    def __exit__(self, *exc) -> None:
+        self._stop.set()
+        self._thread.join(timeout=2)
+
+
+def percentile(values: list[float], pct: float) -> float:
+    if not values:
+        return float("nan")
+    ordered = sorted(values)
+    k = max(0, min(len(ordered) - 1, int(round((pct / 100.0) * (len(ordered) - 1)))))
+    return ordered[k]
+
+
+class _TimedStreaming(StreamingLeRobotDataset):
+    """StreamingLeRobotDataset that times the fetch stage (parquet/network row) separately from the
+    decode stage (video decode + torch conversion in ``_finalize_sample``), so a single-process pass
+    can attribute per-sample cost to fetch vs decode. Timing lives here in the benchmark, not in the
+    library, to keep the dataset itself instrumentation-free."""
+
+    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
+        self.fetch_s = 0.0
+        self.decode_s = 0.0
+
+    def __iter__(self):
+        self._in_flight_epoch = self._epoch
+        self._pipeline.set_epoch(self._in_flight_epoch)
+        self._epoch += 1
+        self.video_decoder_cache = self._make_video_decoder_cache()
+        iterator = iter(self._pipeline)
+        while True:
+            t0 = time.perf_counter()
+            try:
+                row = next(iterator)
+            except StopIteration:
+                return
+            t1 = time.perf_counter()
+            sample = self._finalize_sample(row)
+            t2 = time.perf_counter()
+            self.fetch_s += t1 - t0
+            self.decode_s += t2 - t1
+            yield sample
+
+
+def select_node_episodes(
+    meta: LeRobotDatasetMetadata, num_partitions: int, index: int, cap: int
+) -> list[int]:
+    """This node's episode share, mirroring lerobot_train ``--data_partition=node``: group episodes by
+    shared video files, LPT-balance the groups by frame count, take this node's bin (capped)."""
+    episodes = list(range(meta.total_episodes))
+    from_idx = meta.episodes["dataset_from_index"]
+    to_idx = meta.episodes["dataset_to_index"]
+    lengths = [int(to_idx[ep] - from_idx[ep]) for ep in episodes]
+    if meta.video_keys:
+        file_columns = {
+            key: (meta.episodes[f"videos/{key}/chunk_index"], meta.episodes[f"videos/{key}/file_index"])
+            for key in meta.video_keys
+        }
+    else:
+        file_columns = {"data": (meta.episodes["data/chunk_index"], meta.episodes["data/file_index"])}
+    episode_file_ids = [
+        [(key, chunks[ep], files[ep]) for key, (chunks, files) in file_columns.items()] for ep in episodes
+    ]
+    groups = group_episodes_by_files(episode_file_ids)
+    if len(groups) < num_partitions:
+        groups = [[i] for i in range(len(episodes))]
+    group_lengths = [sum(lengths[i] for i in g) for g in groups]
+    bins = partition_episodes(group_lengths, num_partitions)
+    chosen = sorted(episodes[i] for g in bins[index] for i in groups[g])
+    return chosen[:cap] if cap and len(chosen) > cap else chosen
+
+
+def build_dataset(scenario: str, args: argparse.Namespace):
+    """Return (dataset, meta, is_map_style, info) for the scenario; single-frame (no delta windows)."""
+    if scenario.startswith("mmap_local"):
+        if not args.local_root:
+            raise SystemExit("mmap_local needs --local_root pointing at a local LeRobotDataset copy.")
+        meta = LeRobotDatasetMetadata(ROBOCASA_REPO, root=args.local_root)
+        episodes = select_node_episodes(meta, args.num_partitions, args.partition_index, args.max_episodes)
+        dataset = LeRobotDataset(ROBOCASA_REPO, root=args.local_root, episodes=episodes, tolerance_s=1e-3)
+        return dataset, meta, True, {"loaded_episodes": len(episodes)}
+
+    data_files_root = MOLMO_BUCKET if scenario.startswith("stream_bucket") else None
+    meta = LeRobotDatasetMetadata(MOLMO_REPO, revision=MOLMO_REVISION)
+    dataset = _TimedStreaming(
+        MOLMO_REPO,
+        revision=MOLMO_REVISION,
+        data_files_root=data_files_root,
+        episode_pool_size=args.episode_pool_size,
+        max_buffer_input_shards=args.max_buffer_input_shards,
+        video_decoder_cache_size=args.video_decoder_cache_size,
+        tolerance_s=1e-3,
+        # Throughput benchmark: don't gate on the one-row-group-per-episode invariant (a public
+        # dataset may be collapsed); reshard() still yields per-episode shards where it holds.
+        validate_row_groups=False,
+    )
+    return dataset, meta, False, {"num_shards": dataset.num_shards, "data_files_root": data_files_root}
+
+
+def _split(fetch_s: float, decode_s: float, getitem_s: float, n_probe: int) -> dict:
+    stage = fetch_s + decode_s
+    return {
+        "single_proc_samples_per_s": round(n_probe / getitem_s, 2) if getitem_s else None,
+        "fetch_pct": round(100 * fetch_s / stage, 1) if stage else None,
+        "decode_pct": round(100 * decode_s / stage, 1) if stage else None,
+    }
+
+
+def measure_fetch_decode_stream(dataset: _TimedStreaming, n_probe: int, warmup: int) -> dict:
+    """Single-process pass attributing per-sample time to fetch (parquet/network row) vs decode (video)."""
+    it = iter(dataset)
+    for _ in range(warmup):  # exclude the cold shuffle-buffer fill from the ratio
+        next(it)
+    dataset.fetch_s = dataset.decode_s = 0.0
+    t0 = time.perf_counter()
+    for _ in range(n_probe):
+        next(it)
+    return _split(dataset.fetch_s, dataset.decode_s, time.perf_counter() - t0, n_probe)
+
+
+def measure_fetch_decode_map(dataset: LeRobotDataset, n_probe: int, warmup: int) -> dict:
+    """Same split for the map-style loader: fetch = raw tabular row (``get_raw_item``), decode = the rest
+    of ``__getitem__`` (video decode + transforms). Local reads make fetch tiny and decode dominant.
+
+    Random frames are resampled past any that torchcodec fails to decode, so a single flaky frame can't
+    abort the whole benchmark (the parallel DataLoader pass draws its own fresh random frames)."""
+    rng = random.Random(0)
+    n = len(dataset)
+    fetch_s = getitem_s = 0.0
+    warmed = measured = skipped = attempts = 0
+    while measured < n_probe and attempts < (warmup + n_probe) * 10:
+        attempts += 1
+        i = rng.randrange(n)
+        try:
+            t0 = time.perf_counter()
+            dataset.get_raw_item(i)
+            t1 = time.perf_counter()
+            dataset[i]
+            t2 = time.perf_counter()
+        except Exception:
+            skipped += 1
+            continue
+        if warmed < warmup:
+            warmed += 1
+            continue
+        fetch_s += t1 - t0
+        getitem_s += t2 - t1
+        measured += 1
+    if skipped:
+        print(f"map fetch/decode probe skipped {skipped} undecodable frame(s)", flush=True)
+    return _split(fetch_s, max(0.0, getitem_s - fetch_s), getitem_s, measured)
+
+
+def run_scenario(scenario: str, args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
+    rank = int(os.environ.get("RANK", "0"))
+    world_size = int(os.environ.get("WORLD_SIZE", "1"))
+    device = torch.device(args.device)
+
+    dataset, meta, is_map_style, info = build_dataset(scenario, args)
+
+    loader = DataLoader(
+        dataset,
+        batch_size=args.batch_size,
+        num_workers=args.num_workers,
+        shuffle=is_map_style,  # map-style: global random shuffle; streaming: shuffled inside the dataset
+        pin_memory=device.type == "cuda",
+        drop_last=True,
+        prefetch_factor=args.prefetch_factor if args.num_workers > 0 else None,
+        persistent_workers=args.num_workers > 0,
+    )
+
+    sample_latencies_ms: list[float] = []
+    episodes_per_batch: list[int] = []
+    samples = 0
+    first_batch_latency_s = None
+    steady_start = None
+
+    t_start = time.perf_counter()
+    t_prev = t_start
+    with PeakRSSSampler() as rss:
+        for i, batch in enumerate(loader):
+            for value in batch.values():
+                if torch.is_tensor(value):
+                    value.to(device, non_blocking=device.type == "cuda")
+            now = time.perf_counter()
+            if first_batch_latency_s is None:
+                first_batch_latency_s = now - t_start
+            if i == args.warmup_batches:
+                steady_start = now
+            elif i > args.warmup_batches:
+                sample_latencies_ms.append((now - t_prev) / args.batch_size * 1000.0)
+                samples += args.batch_size
+                ep = batch.get("episode_index")
+                if torch.is_tensor(ep):
+                    episodes_per_batch.append(int(torch.unique(ep).numel()))
+            t_prev = now
+            # Measure throughput over a fixed wall-clock window (after warmup) so every scenario is
+            # compared over the same duration regardless of its speed; num_batches is only a safety cap.
+            if steady_start is not None and (now - steady_start) >= args.duration_s:
+                break
+            if i + 1 >= args.num_batches:
+                break
+    peak_rss_gb = round(rss.peak_bytes / 1e9, 2) if rss.peak_bytes else None
+
+    now = time.perf_counter()
+    elapsed = now - t_start
+    steady_elapsed_s = (now - steady_start) if steady_start is not None else elapsed
+
+    if samples == 0:
+        raise SystemExit(
+            f"FAILED: 0 samples in {args.duration_s}s for scenario={scenario} "
+            "(inspect worker logs; try --num_workers 0 to surface the exception)."
+        )
+
+    # Single-process fetch/decode split + single-proc throughput. Run AFTER the DataLoader pass: this
+    # decodes video in the main process, which must stay decode-clean until the workers have forked
+    # (decoding before fork corrupts the workers' torchcodec state).
+    del loader
+    if is_map_style:
+        fetch_decode = measure_fetch_decode_map(dataset, args.probe_samples, args.probe_warmup)
+    else:
+        fetch_decode = measure_fetch_decode_stream(dataset, args.probe_samples, args.probe_warmup)
+
+    image_shape = list(meta.features[meta.video_keys[0]]["shape"]) if meta.video_keys else None
+    num_cameras = len(meta.video_keys)
+    results = {
+        "scenario": scenario,
+        "rank": rank,
+        "world_size": world_size,
+        "loader": "map_style" if is_map_style else "streaming",
+        "batch_size": args.batch_size,
+        "num_workers": args.num_workers,
+        "episode_pool_size": None if is_map_style else args.episode_pool_size,
+        "max_buffer_input_shards": None
+        if is_map_style
+        else (args.max_buffer_input_shards or args.episode_pool_size),
+        **info,
+        "num_cameras": num_cameras,
+        "image_shape": image_shape,
+        "fps": meta.fps,
+        "peak_rss_gb": peak_rss_gb,
+        "samples_measured": samples,
+        "steady_window_s": round(steady_elapsed_s, 2),
+        "first_batch_latency_s": round(first_batch_latency_s or float("nan"), 3),
+        # Parallel throughput over the steady window (excludes warmup + the prefetch queue it filled).
+        # A sample is one timestep (one dataset item); it decodes num_cameras video frames.
+        "samples_per_s": round(samples / steady_elapsed_s, 2) if steady_elapsed_s else 0.0,
+        "decoded_frames_per_s": round(samples / steady_elapsed_s * num_cameras, 2)
+        if steady_elapsed_s
+        else 0.0,
+        **fetch_decode,
+        # Distinct episodes per batch / batch size: ~1.0 ≈ map-style uniform, low ≈ correlated samples.
+        "shuffle_randomness_frac": round(statistics.mean(episodes_per_batch) / args.batch_size, 3)
+        if episodes_per_batch
+        else None,
+        "p50_sample_latency_ms": round(statistics.median(sample_latencies_ms), 3)
+        if sample_latencies_ms
+        else None,
+        "p95_sample_latency_ms": round(percentile(sample_latencies_ms, 95), 3),
+        "p99_sample_latency_ms": round(percentile(sample_latencies_ms, 99), 3),
+        "total_time_s": round(elapsed, 2),
+    }
+
+    out_dir = Path(args.out_dir)
+    out_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    tag = f"{scenario}_bs{args.batch_size}_w{args.num_workers}_r{rank}of{world_size}"
+    (out_dir / f"{tag}.json").write_text(json.dumps(results, indent=2))
+    flat = {k: (json.dumps(v) if isinstance(v, (dict, list)) else v) for k, v in results.items()}
+    with open(out_dir / f"{tag}.csv", "w", newline="") as f:
+        writer = csv.DictWriter(f, fieldnames=list(flat))
+        writer.writeheader()
+        writer.writerow(flat)
+    print(json.dumps(results, indent=2), flush=True)
+    print(f"Wrote {out_dir / tag}.json and .csv", flush=True)
+
+
+def submit_chain(args: argparse.Namespace) -> None:
+    """Submit every scenario as a serial sbatch chain (one network-bound job at a time).
+
+    Bodies are passed to ``sbatch --wrap`` as a single argv (no outer shell), so ``$SLURM_PROCID`` /
+    ``$SLURM_NTASKS`` stay literal and expand at job runtime, not at submit time.
+    """
+    this_file = Path(__file__).resolve()
+    repo_dir = str(this_file.parents[2])  # <repo>/examples/scaling/<this file>
+    logs = Path(repo_dir) / "logs"
+    logs.mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+    run = f"conda run --no-capture-output -n {args.conda_env} python"
+    common = (
+        f"--batch_size {args.batch_size} "
+        f"--prefetch_factor {args.prefetch_factor} --episode_pool_size {args.episode_pool_size} "
+        f"--video_decoder_cache_size {args.video_decoder_cache_size} --duration_s {args.duration_s} "
+        f"--num_batches {args.num_batches} --out_dir {args.out_dir}"
+    )
+    if args.max_buffer_input_shards is not None:
+        common += f" --max_buffer_input_shards {args.max_buffer_input_shards}"
+    if args.local_root:
+        common += f" --local_root {args.local_root}"
+    env_prefix = "export TOKENIZERS_PARALLELISM=false"
+    sched = []
+    for opt, env in (("--account", "ACCOUNT"), ("--partition", "PARTITION"), ("--qos", "QOS")):
+        if os.environ.get(env):
+            sched.append(f"{opt}={os.environ[env]}")
+
+    selected = args.scenarios.split(",") if args.scenarios else list(SCENARIOS)
+    prev = ""
+    for scenario in selected:
+        cfg = SCENARIOS[scenario]
+        nw = cfg.get("num_workers", args.num_workers)
+        cpus = cfg.get("cpus", nw + 4)
+        worker = f"{run} {this_file} --scenario {scenario} --num_workers {nw} {common}"
+        if cfg["nodes"] > 1:
+            # One task per node; each exports RANK/WORLD_SIZE so the stream splits shards per node.
+            inner = f"export RANK=$SLURM_PROCID WORLD_SIZE=$SLURM_NTASKS && cd {repo_dir} && {env_prefix} && {worker}"
+            body = f"srun --export=ALL bash -c '{inner}'"
+            node_flags = [f"--nodes={cfg['nodes']}", "--ntasks-per-node=1", "--gpus-per-node=1"]
+        else:
+            body = f"cd {repo_dir} && {env_prefix} && {worker}"
+            node_flags = ["--nodes=1", "--ntasks=1", "--gpus=1"]
+        cmd = [
+            "sbatch",
+            "--parsable",
+            f"--job-name=dlbench_{scenario}",
+            *node_flags,
+            f"--cpus-per-task={cpus}",
+            f"--mem={cfg['mem']}",
+            f"--time={cfg['time']}",
+            f"--output={logs}/%x-%j.out",
+            *sched,
+        ]
+        if prev:
+            cmd.append(f"--dependency=afterany:{prev}")
+        cmd += ["--wrap", body]
+        jid = subprocess.check_output(cmd, text=True).strip().split(";")[0]
+        print(f"submitted {jid}  dlbench_{scenario}{f'  (after {prev})' if prev else ''}", flush=True)
+        prev = jid
+
+    print(f"\nSubmitted {len(selected)} jobs as a serial chain. Results: {args.out_dir}/*.json", flush=True)
+
+
+def parse_args() -> argparse.Namespace:
+    p = argparse.ArgumentParser(description=__doc__, formatter_class=argparse.RawDescriptionHelpFormatter)
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--scenario",
+        choices=list(SCENARIOS),
+        default=None,
+        help="Run ONE scenario (worker mode). Omit to submit the whole chain (orchestrator mode).",
+    )
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--scenarios",
+        type=str,
+        default=None,
+        help="Orchestrator only: comma-separated subset of scenarios to submit (default: all).",
+    )
+    p.add_argument("--local_root", type=str, default=None, help="Local LeRobotDataset copy for mmap_local.")
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--num_partitions", type=int, default=8, help="Node count for mmap_local episode partition."
+    )
+    p.add_argument("--partition_index", type=int, default=0)
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--max_episodes", type=int, default=512, help="Cap mmap_local episodes to the local share."
+    )
+    p.add_argument("--batch_size", type=int, default=64)
+    p.add_argument("--num_workers", type=int, default=8)
+    p.add_argument("--prefetch_factor", type=int, default=2)
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--episode_pool_size", type=int, default=1024, help="Streaming shuffle pool (randomness knob)."
+    )
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--max_buffer_input_shards",
+        type=int,
+        default=None,
+        help="Concurrently-live random episodes feeding the pool after reshard() "
+        "(default: episode_pool_size). The frac knob; set >= batch_size for frac->1.",
+    )
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--video_decoder_cache_size", type=int, default=32, help="Max open video decoders (bounds RAM)."
+    )
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--duration_s", type=float, default=60.0, help="Steady-state measurement window (seconds)."
+    )
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--num_batches", type=int, default=1_000_000, help="Safety cap; duration_s governs the window."
+    )
+    p.add_argument("--warmup_batches", type=int, default=5, help="Excluded from steady-state throughput.")
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--probe_samples", type=int, default=100, help="Single-process samples for fetch/decode split."
+    )
+    p.add_argument(
+        "--probe_warmup", type=int, default=10, help="Samples skipped before the fetch/decode probe."
+    )
+    p.add_argument("--device", type=str, default="cuda" if torch.cuda.is_available() else "cpu")
+    p.add_argument("--conda_env", type=str, default="lerobot", help="Conda env the chained jobs run in.")
+    p.add_argument("--out_dir", type=str, default="benchmarks/streaming/results_dataloading")
+    return p.parse_args()
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    args = parse_args()
+    if args.scenario is None:
+        if torch.cuda.is_available():
+            print(
+                "NOTE: no --scenario given, submitting the SLURM chain. This benchmark is meant to run on a "
+                "compute cluster; run from a login node with ACCOUNT/PARTITION/QOS set.",
+                file=sys.stderr,
+            )
+        submit_chain(args)
+    else:
+        run_scenario(args.scenario, args)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

pyproject.toml

@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 # ── Feature-scoped extras ──────────────────────────────────
 dataset = [
-    "datasets>=4.7.0,<5.0.0",
+    "datasets>=5.0.0,<6.0.0", # StreamingLeRobotDataset needs reshard() + shuffle(max_buffer_input_shards=...)
     "pandas>=2.0.0,<3.0.0", # NOTE: Transitive dependency of datasets
     "pyarrow>=21.0.0,<30.0.0", # NOTE: Transitive dependency of datasets
     "lerobot[av-dep]",
@@ -333,6 +333,16 @@ explicit = true
 [tool.uv.sources]
 torch = [{ index = "pytorch-cu128", marker = "sys_platform == 'linux'" }]
 torchvision = [{ index = "pytorch-cu128", marker = "sys_platform == 'linux'" }]
+# Temporary: the native streaming pipeline needs batch(by_column=...) to survive shard/shuffle
+# re-creation (datasets#8259), reshard() per row group (#8193), and shuffle(max_buffer_input_shards=...)
+# (#8194) — all merged, not yet in a tagged 5.0 release. Track main until the next datasets release ships
+# them, then drop this and rely on the `datasets>=5.0.0` floor in `dependencies`.
+datasets = { git = "https://github.com/huggingface/datasets.git", branch = "main" }
+# Temporary: huggingface_hub main carries the 408-retry fix (not yet released). NOTE: main still closes the
+# shared httpx.Client on every ConnectError, which races with concurrent streaming requests
+# ("Cannot send a request, as the client has been closed"); we patch that out locally in
+# huggingface_hub/utils/_http.py. A fresh `uv sync` re-installs main *without* that local patch.
+huggingface-hub = { git = "https://github.com/huggingface/huggingface_hub.git", branch = "main" }
 
 [tool.setuptools.package-data]
 lerobot = ["envs/*.json"]

scripts/build_byte_index.py

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+"""Build mmap-able byte-index sidecars for LeRobot streaming datasets."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import argparse
+import logging
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from lerobot.datasets.byte_index_builder import (
+    build_byte_index_tables,
+    load_existing_file_ids,
+    write_byte_index,
+)
+from lerobot.datasets.dataset_metadata import LeRobotDatasetMetadata
+
+logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+def main() -> None:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Build LeRobot video byte-index sidecar.")
+    parser.add_argument("--repo-id", required=True)
+    parser.add_argument("--revision", default=None)
+    parser.add_argument("--data-root", required=True, help="fsspec root for videos/ + data/")
+    parser.add_argument("--output", type=Path, required=True, help="Output meta/byte_index directory")
+    parser.add_argument("--workers", type=int, default=8)
+    parser.add_argument("--max-episodes", type=int, default=None, help="Limit episodes (debug/smoke)")
+    parser.add_argument("--no-keyframes", action="store_true")
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    meta = LeRobotDatasetMetadata(args.repo_id, revision=args.revision)
+    output = args.output
+    existing = load_existing_file_ids(output)
+    if existing:
+        logger.info("resuming: %s files already indexed", len(existing))
+
+    files_tbl, episodes_tbl, keyframes_tbl = build_byte_index_tables(
+        meta,
+        args.data_root,
+        include_keyframes=not args.no_keyframes,
+        workers=args.workers,
+        existing_files=existing,
+        max_episodes=args.max_episodes,
+    )
+    write_byte_index(output, files_tbl, episodes_tbl, keyframes_tbl, merge_existing=True)
+    logger.info("wrote byte index to %s", output)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()

src/lerobot/configs/default.py

@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@ class DatasetConfig:
     # This reduces memory and speeds up DataLoader IPC. The training pipeline handles the conversion.
     return_uint8: bool = False
     streaming: bool = False
+    # Whole episodes each streaming consumer keeps open to shuffle across (the randomness knob).
+    # Larger mixes more episodes per batch at the cost of cold-start latency; RAM stays small because
+    # the pool holds tabular rows only. Ignored when streaming is False.
+    streaming_episode_pool_size: int = 1024
 
     def __post_init__(self) -> None:
         if self.episodes is not None:

src/lerobot/datasets/byte_index.py

@@ -0,0 +1,228 @@
+"""Runtime in-memory byte index loaded from precomputed sidecar parquet."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+import time
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any
+
+import numpy as np
+import pyarrow as pa
+import pyarrow.parquet as pq
+
+from .byte_index_builder import BYTE_INDEX_DIR, EPISODES_NAME, FILES_NAME, KEYFRAMES_NAME
+from .mp4_episode_slice import episode_custom_frame_mappings_json
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class EpisodeSliceLookup:
+    global_episode_id: int
+    file_id: int
+    mdat_offset: int
+    mdat_length: int
+    frame_count: int
+    first_pts: float
+    last_pts: float
+    avg_fps: float
+
+    @property
+    def fetch_bytes(self) -> int:
+        return self.mdat_length
+
+
+@dataclass(frozen=True)
+class FileLookup:
+    file_id: int
+    file_path: str
+    file_size: int
+    moov_offset: int
+    moov_length: int
+    header_length: int
+    faststart: bool
+    avg_fps: float
+    codec: str
+
+
+class EpisodeByteIndex:
+    """Columnar byte-index resident in numpy arrays for O(1) episode lookup."""
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        index_dir: str | Path | None,
+        *,
+        video_keys: list[str],
+        num_episodes: int,
+        mmap: bool = True,
+        files_table: pa.Table | None = None,
+        episodes_table: pa.Table | None = None,
+        mp4_by_rel: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
+    ):
+        self.index_dir = Path(index_dir) if index_dir is not None else None
+        self.video_keys = list(video_keys)
+        self.num_episodes = num_episodes
+        self.num_cameras = len(video_keys)
+        self._cam_to_idx = {cam: i for i, cam in enumerate(self.video_keys)}
+        self._mp4_by_rel = mp4_by_rel
+        self._frame_mappings_by_gid: dict[int, bytes] = {}
+
+        t0 = time.perf_counter()
+        if files_table is not None and episodes_table is not None:
+            files_tbl, episodes_tbl = files_table, episodes_table
+        else:
+            if self.index_dir is None:
+                raise ValueError("index_dir or in-memory tables required")
+            files_path = self.index_dir / FILES_NAME
+            episodes_path = self.index_dir / EPISODES_NAME
+            if not files_path.exists() or not episodes_path.exists():
+                raise FileNotFoundError(f"byte index missing under {self.index_dir}")
+            files_tbl = pq.read_table(files_path, memory_map=mmap)
+            episodes_tbl = pq.read_table(episodes_path, memory_map=mmap)
+
+        self._load_tables(files_tbl, episodes_tbl, mmap=mmap)
+        self.build_time_s = time.perf_counter() - t0
+        self.load_time_s = self.build_time_s
+
+    def _load_tables(self, files_tbl: pa.Table, episodes_tbl: pa.Table, *, mmap: bool) -> None:
+        def col(tbl, name: str):
+            array = tbl.column(name).combine_chunks()
+            if pa.types.is_boolean(array.type):
+                return array.to_numpy(zero_copy_only=False)
+            return array.to_numpy()
+
+        self.file_id = col(files_tbl, "file_id")
+        self.file_path = files_tbl.column("file_path").to_pylist()
+        self.file_size = col(files_tbl, "file_size")
+        self.moov_offset = col(files_tbl, "moov_offset")
+        self.moov_length = col(files_tbl, "moov_length")
+        self.header_length = col(files_tbl, "header_length")
+        self.faststart = col(files_tbl, "faststart")
+        self.file_avg_fps = col(files_tbl, "avg_fps")
+        self.codec = files_tbl.column("codec").to_pylist()
+
+        ep = episodes_tbl
+        n = len(ep)
+        gid = col(ep, "global_episode_id")
+        order = np.argsort(gid)
+        self._global_episode_id = gid[order]
+        self._episode_index = col(ep, "episode_index")[order]
+        self._camera_index = col(ep, "camera_index")[order]
+        self._file_id = col(ep, "file_id")[order]
+        self._mdat_offset = col(ep, "mdat_offset")[order]
+        self._mdat_length = col(ep, "mdat_length")[order]
+        self._frame_count = col(ep, "frame_count")[order]
+        self._first_pts = col(ep, "first_pts")[order]
+        self._last_pts = col(ep, "last_pts")[order]
+
+        expected = self.num_episodes * self.num_cameras
+        if n != expected:
+            raise ValueError(f"byte index episodes rows {n} != expected {expected}")
+
+        if self.index_dir is not None:
+            keyframes_path = self.index_dir / KEYFRAMES_NAME
+            if keyframes_path.exists():
+                kf_tbl = pq.read_table(keyframes_path, memory_map=mmap)
+                self._keyframes_rows = len(kf_tbl)
+            else:
+                self._keyframes_rows = 0
+        else:
+            self._keyframes_rows = 0
+
+        self.resident_bytes = int(
+            self._global_episode_id.nbytes
+            + self._file_id.nbytes
+            + self._mdat_offset.nbytes
+            + self._mdat_length.nbytes
+            + self.file_size.nbytes
+        )
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_metadata_root(cls, meta_root: Path, *, video_keys: list[str], num_episodes: int) -> EpisodeByteIndex:
+        return cls(meta_root / BYTE_INDEX_DIR, video_keys=video_keys, num_episodes=num_episodes)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def from_memory_build(
+        cls,
+        meta,
+        data_root: str,
+        *,
+        workers: int = 8,
+        max_episodes: int | None = None,
+        include_frame_mappings_cache: bool = True,
+    ) -> EpisodeByteIndex:
+        """Build a complete byte index in RAM (no parquet write, no dataset push)."""
+        from .byte_index_builder import build_byte_index_in_memory
+
+        return build_byte_index_in_memory(
+            meta,
+            data_root,
+            workers=workers,
+            max_episodes=max_episodes,
+            include_frame_mappings_cache=include_frame_mappings_cache,
+        )
+
+    def lookup(self, episode_index: int, camera_key: str) -> EpisodeSliceLookup:
+        cam_idx = self._cam_to_idx[camera_key]
+        gid = episode_index * self.num_cameras + cam_idx
+        row = int(gid)
+        if row < 0 or row >= len(self._global_episode_id):
+            raise IndexError(f"episode_index={episode_index} camera={camera_key} out of range")
+        file_id = int(self._file_id[row])
+        return EpisodeSliceLookup(
+            global_episode_id=gid,
+            file_id=file_id,
+            mdat_offset=int(self._mdat_offset[row]),
+            mdat_length=int(self._mdat_length[row]),
+            frame_count=int(self._frame_count[row]),
+            first_pts=float(self._first_pts[row]),
+            last_pts=float(self._last_pts[row]),
+            avg_fps=float(self.file_avg_fps[file_id]),
+        )
+
+    def file_lookup(self, file_id: int) -> FileLookup:
+        return FileLookup(
+            file_id=file_id,
+            file_path=self.file_path[file_id],
+            file_size=int(self.file_size[file_id]),
+            moov_offset=int(self.moov_offset[file_id]),
+            moov_length=int(self.moov_length[file_id]),
+            header_length=int(self.header_length[file_id]),
+            faststart=bool(self.faststart[file_id]),
+            avg_fps=float(self.file_avg_fps[file_id]),
+            codec=self.codec[file_id],
+        )
+
+    def header_byte_range(self, file_id: int) -> tuple[int, int]:
+        length = int(self.header_length[file_id])
+        return 0, max(0, length - 1)
+
+    def custom_frame_mappings(self, episode_index: int, camera_key: str) -> bytes | None:
+        cam_idx = self._cam_to_idx[camera_key]
+        gid = episode_index * self.num_cameras + cam_idx
+        cached = self._frame_mappings_by_gid.get(gid)
+        if cached is not None:
+            return cached
+        if self._mp4_by_rel is None:
+            return None
+        lookup = self.lookup(episode_index, camera_key)
+        rel = self.file_path[lookup.file_id]
+        mp4_index = self._mp4_by_rel.get(rel)
+        if mp4_index is None:
+            return None
+        payload = episode_custom_frame_mappings_json(mp4_index, lookup.first_pts, lookup.last_pts)
+        self._frame_mappings_by_gid[gid] = payload
+        return payload
+
+    def stats_dict(self) -> dict[str, float | int]:
+        return {
+            "load_time_s": self.load_time_s,
+            "build_time_s": self.build_time_s,
+            "resident_bytes": self.resident_bytes,
+            "frame_mappings_cached": len(self._frame_mappings_by_gid),
+            "mp4_indices_cached": len(self._mp4_by_rel or {}),
+            "num_files": len(self.file_path),
+            "num_episode_rows": len(self._global_episode_id),
+        }

src/lerobot/datasets/byte_index_builder.py

@@ -0,0 +1,281 @@
+"""Build mmap-able byte-index sidecars for LeRobot streaming video fetch."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import logging
+from concurrent.futures import ThreadPoolExecutor, as_completed
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any
+
+import fsspec
+import pyarrow as pa
+import pyarrow.parquet as pq
+
+from .mp4_episode_slice import (
+    HEADER_PROBE_BYTES,
+    MAX_HEADER_PROBE_BYTES,
+    average_fps_from_index,
+    episode_keyframes,
+    parse_mp4_file_layout,
+    parse_mp4_index,
+)
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+BYTE_INDEX_DIR = "meta/byte_index"
+FILES_NAME = "files.parquet"
+EPISODES_NAME = "episodes.parquet"
+KEYFRAMES_NAME = "keyframes.parquet"
+
+
+@dataclass
+class IndexedFile:
+    file_id: int
+    file_path: str
+    file_size: int
+    moov_offset: int
+    moov_length: int
+    header_length: int
+    faststart: bool
+    avg_fps: float
+    codec: str
+
+
+def fetch_header_bytes(path: str, file_size: int) -> bytes:
+    fs = fsspec.filesystem("hf") if path.startswith("hf://") else fsspec.filesystem("file")
+    probe = HEADER_PROBE_BYTES
+    while True:
+        with fs.open(path, "rb", block_size=max(probe, 2**20), cache_type="none") as f:
+            header = f.read(min(probe, file_size))
+        try:
+            parse_mp4_file_layout(header, file_size)
+            return header
+        except ValueError as exc:
+            if probe >= min(MAX_HEADER_PROBE_BYTES, file_size) or "mdat box not found" not in str(exc):
+                raise
+            probe = min(probe * 2, MAX_HEADER_PROBE_BYTES, file_size)
+
+
+def index_video_file(path: str, *, rel_path: str | None = None) -> tuple[IndexedFile, Any]:
+    fs = fsspec.filesystem("hf") if path.startswith("hf://") else fsspec.filesystem("file")
+    file_size = fs.info(path)["size"]
+    header = fetch_header_bytes(path, file_size)
+    layout = parse_mp4_file_layout(header, file_size)
+    if not layout.faststart:
+        logger.warning("non-faststart MP4 (moov after mdat): %s", path)
+    mp4_index = parse_mp4_index(header, file_size)
+    indexed = IndexedFile(
+        file_id=-1,
+        file_path=rel_path or path,
+        file_size=file_size,
+        moov_offset=layout.moov_offset,
+        moov_length=layout.moov_length,
+        header_length=layout.header_end,
+        faststart=layout.faststart,
+        avg_fps=average_fps_from_index(mp4_index),
+        codec=layout.codec,
+    )
+    return indexed, mp4_index
+
+
+def build_byte_index_tables(
+    meta,
+    data_root: str,
+    *,
+    file_paths: list[str] | None = None,
+    include_keyframes: bool = True,
+    workers: int = 8,
+    existing_files: dict[str, int] | None = None,
+    max_episodes: int | None = None,
+    return_mp4_indices: bool = False,
+    complete_files_table: bool = False,
+) -> tuple[pa.Table, pa.Table, pa.Table | None] | tuple[pa.Table, pa.Table, pa.Table | None, dict[str, Any]]:
+    """Build files/episodes/(optional keyframes) Arrow tables."""
+    video_keys = list(meta.video_keys)
+    n_cams = len(video_keys)
+    cam_to_idx = {cam: i for i, cam in enumerate(video_keys)}
+    num_episodes = meta.total_episodes if max_episodes is None else min(max_episodes, meta.total_episodes)
+
+    rel_paths: set[str] = set()
+    for ep_idx in range(num_episodes):
+        for cam in video_keys:
+            rel_paths.add(str(meta.get_video_file_path(ep_idx, cam)))
+    path_by_rel = {rel: f"{data_root.rstrip('/')}/{rel}" for rel in sorted(rel_paths)}
+    if file_paths is None:
+        file_paths = list(path_by_rel.values())
+    rel_by_path = {path_by_rel[rel]: rel for rel in path_by_rel}
+
+    existing_files = existing_files or {}
+    file_meta_by_rel: dict[str, dict[str, Any]] = {}
+    mp4_by_rel: dict[str, Any] = {}
+    next_file_id = max(existing_files.values(), default=-1) + 1
+
+    to_index = [rel for rel in sorted(rel_paths) if rel not in existing_files]
+    if to_index:
+        with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=workers) as pool:
+            futures = {
+                pool.submit(index_video_file, path_by_rel[rel], rel_path=rel): rel for rel in to_index
+            }
+            for fut in as_completed(futures):
+                rel = futures[fut]
+                indexed, mp4_index = fut.result()
+                indexed.file_id = next_file_id
+                mp4_by_rel[rel] = mp4_index
+                file_meta_by_rel[rel] = {
+                    "file_id": indexed.file_id,
+                    "file_path": rel,
+                    "file_size": indexed.file_size,
+                    "moov_offset": indexed.moov_offset,
+                    "moov_length": indexed.moov_length,
+                    "header_length": indexed.header_length,
+                    "faststart": indexed.faststart,
+                    "avg_fps": indexed.avg_fps,
+                    "codec": indexed.codec,
+                }
+                existing_files[rel] = indexed.file_id
+                next_file_id += 1
+
+    missing_rels = {
+        str(meta.get_video_file_path(ep, cam))
+        for ep in range(num_episodes)
+        for cam in video_keys
+    } - set(mp4_by_rel.keys())
+    if missing_rels:
+        with ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=workers) as pool:
+            futures = {
+                pool.submit(index_video_file, path_by_rel[rel], rel_path=rel): rel
+                for rel in missing_rels
+                if rel not in mp4_by_rel
+            }
+            for fut in as_completed(futures):
+                rel = futures[fut]
+                _, mp4_index = fut.result()
+                mp4_by_rel[rel] = mp4_index
+
+    episode_rows: list[dict[str, Any]] = []
+    keyframe_rows: list[dict[str, Any]] = []
+    for ep_idx in range(num_episodes):
+        for cam in video_keys:
+            rel = str(meta.get_video_file_path(ep_idx, cam))
+            path = f"{data_root.rstrip('/')}/{rel}"
+            if rel not in existing_files:
+                raise KeyError(f"file not indexed: {rel}")
+            mp4_index = mp4_by_rel[rel]
+            ep = meta.episodes[ep_idx]
+            from_ts = float(ep[f"videos/{cam}/from_timestamp"])
+            to_ts = float(ep[f"videos/{cam}/to_timestamp"])
+            span = mp4_index.episode_byte_span(from_ts, to_ts)
+            global_episode_id = ep_idx * n_cams + cam_to_idx[cam]
+            mdat_length = span.slice_hi - span.slice_lo + 1
+            episode_rows.append(
+                {
+                    "global_episode_id": global_episode_id,
+                    "episode_index": ep_idx,
+                    "camera_key": cam,
+                    "camera_index": cam_to_idx[cam],
+                    "file_id": existing_files[rel],
+                    "mdat_offset": span.slice_lo,
+                    "mdat_length": mdat_length,
+                    "frame_count": max(1, round((to_ts - from_ts) * meta.fps)),
+                    "first_pts": from_ts,
+                    "last_pts": to_ts,
+                }
+            )
+            if include_keyframes:
+                timescale = mp4_index.timescale
+                for pts_s, byte_off in episode_keyframes(mp4_index, from_ts, to_ts):
+                    keyframe_rows.append(
+                        {
+                            "global_episode_id": global_episode_id,
+                            "pts": int(round(pts_s * timescale)),
+                            "byte_offset": byte_off,
+                        }
+                    )
+
+    referenced_rels = {
+        str(meta.get_video_file_path(ep, cam)) for ep in range(num_episodes) for cam in video_keys
+    }
+    if complete_files_table:
+        files_table = pa.Table.from_pylist([file_meta_by_rel[rel] for rel in sorted(referenced_rels)])
+    elif to_index:
+        files_table = pa.Table.from_pylist([file_meta_by_rel[rel] for rel in sorted(to_index)])
+    else:
+        files_table = None
+    episodes_table = pa.Table.from_pylist(episode_rows)
+    keyframes_table = pa.Table.from_pylist(keyframe_rows) if include_keyframes and keyframe_rows else None
+    if return_mp4_indices:
+        return files_table, episodes_table, keyframes_table, mp4_by_rel
+    return files_table, episodes_table, keyframes_table
+
+
+def build_byte_index_in_memory(
+    meta,
+    data_root: str,
+    *,
+    workers: int = 8,
+    max_episodes: int | None = None,
+    include_frame_mappings_cache: bool = False,
+):
+    """Build a complete byte index resident in RAM (no parquet write, no dataset push)."""
+    from .byte_index import EpisodeByteIndex
+
+    num_episodes = meta.total_episodes if max_episodes is None else min(max_episodes, meta.total_episodes)
+    files_tbl, episodes_tbl, _, mp4_by_rel = build_byte_index_tables(
+        meta,
+        data_root,
+        include_keyframes=False,
+        workers=workers,
+        max_episodes=max_episodes,
+        return_mp4_indices=True,
+        complete_files_table=True,
+    )
+    index = EpisodeByteIndex(
+        None,
+        video_keys=list(meta.video_keys),
+        num_episodes=num_episodes,
+        files_table=files_tbl,
+        episodes_table=episodes_tbl,
+        mp4_by_rel=mp4_by_rel,
+    )
+    if include_frame_mappings_cache:
+        for ep_idx in range(num_episodes):
+            for cam in meta.video_keys:
+                index.custom_frame_mappings(ep_idx, cam)
+    return index
+
+
+def write_byte_index(
+    output_dir: Path,
+    files_table: pa.Table | None,
+    episodes_table: pa.Table,
+    keyframes_table: pa.Table | None = None,
+    *,
+    merge_existing: bool = True,
+) -> None:
+    output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+    files_path = output_dir / FILES_NAME
+    episodes_path = output_dir / EPISODES_NAME
+    keyframes_path = output_dir / KEYFRAMES_NAME
+
+    if merge_existing and files_path.exists() and files_table is not None:
+        prev = pq.read_table(files_path)
+        files_table = pa.concat_tables([prev, files_table])
+
+    if files_table is not None:
+        pq.write_table(files_table, files_path)
+
+    pq.write_table(episodes_table, episodes_path)
+    if keyframes_table is not None:
+        if merge_existing and keyframes_path.exists():
+            keyframes_table = pa.concat_tables([pq.read_table(keyframes_path), keyframes_table])
+        pq.write_table(keyframes_table, keyframes_path)
+
+
+def load_existing_file_ids(index_dir: Path) -> dict[str, int]:
+    files_path = index_dir / FILES_NAME
+    if not files_path.exists():
+        return {}
+    table = pq.read_table(files_path, columns=["file_id", "file_path"])
+    return {row["file_path"]: int(row["file_id"]) for row in table.to_pylist()}

src/lerobot/datasets/dataset_tools.py

@@ -945,8 +945,17 @@ def _write_parquet(df: pd.DataFrame, path: Path, meta: LeRobotDatasetMetadata) -
         ep_dataset = embed_images(ep_dataset)
 
     table = ep_dataset.with_format("arrow")[:]
-    writer = pq.ParquetWriter(path, schema=table.schema, compression="snappy", use_dictionary=True)
-    writer.write_table(table)
+    # Emit several row groups with a page index instead of one giant row group. A single row group forces
+    # streaming readers to materialize the whole file's columns per open shard; with random-access streaming
+    # (shuffle + delta windows) across many workers x shards that dominates RAM. Targeting ~32MB-uncompressed
+    # groups bounds per-shard memory while keeping groups large enough to scan
+    # efficiently; the page index lets readers skip to the pages they need.
+    target_row_group_bytes = 32 * 1024 * 1024
+    row_group_size = max(1, min(table.num_rows, table.num_rows * target_row_group_bytes // max(table.nbytes, 1)))
+    writer = pq.ParquetWriter(
+        path, schema=table.schema, compression="snappy", use_dictionary=True, write_page_index=True
+    )
+    writer.write_table(table, row_group_size=row_group_size)
     writer.close()
 
 

src/lerobot/datasets/episode_byte_cache.py

@@ -0,0 +1,263 @@
+"""Node-local LRU byte cache using precomputed byte-index manifest sidecars."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+import threading
+import time
+from collections import OrderedDict
+from concurrent.futures import Future, ThreadPoolExecutor
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+from typing import Any
+
+import fsspec
+
+from .byte_index import EpisodeByteIndex, EpisodeSliceLookup
+from .mp4_episode_slice import SparseMp4Reader
+from .torchcodec_utils import open_video_decoder
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+@dataclass
+class CacheStats:
+    hits: int = 0
+    misses: int = 0
+    bytes_fetched: int = 0
+    full_file_fallbacks: int = 0
+    prefetch_submitted: int = 0
+    prefetch_waits: int = 0
+    mdat_slices: int = 0
+    prefix_fetches: int = 0
+    fetch_to_buffer_s: float = 0.0
+    buffer_to_decoder_s: float = 0.0
+    buffer_hit_decoder_s: float = 0.0
+    decode_frame_s: float = 0.0
+    decode_frames: int = 0
+
+    def merge(self, other: CacheStats) -> None:
+        for name in self.__dataclass_fields__:
+            setattr(self, name, getattr(self, name) + getattr(other, name))
+
+    def stats_dict(self) -> dict[str, int | float]:
+        avg_miss = self.bytes_fetched / max(1, self.misses)
+        return {
+            "byte_cache_hits": self.hits,
+            "byte_cache_misses": self.misses,
+            "byte_cache_bytes_fetched": self.bytes_fetched,
+            "byte_cache_bytes_per_miss": avg_miss,
+            "byte_cache_full_file_fallbacks": self.full_file_fallbacks,
+            "byte_cache_prefetch_submitted": self.prefetch_submitted,
+            "byte_cache_prefetch_waits": self.prefetch_waits,
+            "byte_cache_mdat_slices": self.mdat_slices,
+            "byte_cache_prefix_fetches": self.prefix_fetches,
+            "fetch_to_buffer_ms_per_miss": 1000 * self.fetch_to_buffer_s / max(1, self.misses),
+            "buffer_to_decoder_ms_per_miss": 1000 * self.buffer_to_decoder_s / max(1, self.misses),
+            "buffer_hit_decoder_ms_per_hit": 1000 * self.buffer_hit_decoder_s / max(1, self.hits),
+            "decode_ms_per_frame": 1000 * self.decode_frame_s / max(1, self.decode_frames),
+        }
+
+
+@dataclass
+class _EpisodeEntry:
+    decoders: dict[str, Any] = field(default_factory=dict)
+    ready: threading.Event = field(default_factory=threading.Event)
+    error: Exception | None = None
+
+
+class RangeFetcher:
+    """Sequential byte-range GETs via fsspec."""
+
+    def __init__(self, path: str):
+        self.path = path
+        self._fs = fsspec.filesystem("hf") if path.startswith("hf://") else fsspec.filesystem("file")
+
+    def fetch(self, lo: int, hi: int) -> bytes:
+        if hi < lo:
+            return b""
+        with self._fs.open(self.path, "rb", block_size=max(2**20, hi - lo + 1), cache_type="none") as f:
+            f.seek(lo)
+            return f.read(hi - lo + 1)
+
+
+class EpisodeByteCache:
+    """Manifest-driven episode MP4 fetch + in-memory sparse decode."""
+
+    MAX_BYTES_PER_MISS = 25 * 1024 * 1024
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        byte_index: EpisodeByteIndex,
+        max_bytes: int,
+        *,
+        data_root: str,
+        max_prefetch_workers: int = 4,
+    ):
+        if max_bytes <= 0:
+            raise ValueError(f"max_bytes must be positive; got {max_bytes}")
+        self.byte_index = byte_index
+        self.max_bytes = max_bytes
+        self.data_root = data_root.rstrip("/")
+        self._bytes_used = 0
+        self._lock = threading.Lock()
+        self._cache: OrderedDict[tuple[Any, ...], tuple[Any, int]] = OrderedDict()
+        self._header_cache: dict[int, bytes] = {}
+        self._fetcher_cache: dict[int, RangeFetcher] = {}
+        self._episodes: dict[int, _EpisodeEntry] = {}
+        self._stats = CacheStats()
+        self._executor = ThreadPoolExecutor(max_workers=max_prefetch_workers)
+        self._futures: dict[int, Future] = {}
+
+    @property
+    def stats(self) -> CacheStats:
+        with self._lock:
+            return CacheStats(**{k: getattr(self._stats, k) for k in CacheStats.__dataclass_fields__})
+
+    def submit_prefetch(self, ep_idx: int) -> None:
+        with self._lock:
+            if ep_idx in self._episodes or ep_idx in self._futures:
+                return
+            self._stats.prefetch_submitted += 1
+            fut = self._executor.submit(self._prefetch_episode, ep_idx)
+            self._futures[ep_idx] = fut
+
+    def ensure_ready(self, ep_idx: int) -> None:
+        with self._lock:
+            fut = self._futures.pop(ep_idx, None)
+        if fut is not None:
+            with self._lock:
+                self._stats.prefetch_waits += 1
+            fut.result()
+        entry = self._episodes.get(ep_idx)
+        if entry is None:
+            raise KeyError(f"episode {ep_idx} not prefetched")
+        if entry.error is not None:
+            raise entry.error
+        entry.ready.wait()
+
+    def get_decoder(self, ep_idx: int, video_key: str) -> Any:
+        entry = self._episodes[ep_idx]
+        if entry.error is not None:
+            raise entry.error
+        entry.ready.wait()
+        return entry.decoders[video_key]
+
+    def close(self) -> None:
+        self._executor.shutdown(wait=False, cancel_futures=True)
+
+    def _prefetch_episode(self, ep_idx: int) -> None:
+        entry = _EpisodeEntry()
+        self._episodes[ep_idx] = entry
+        try:
+            for cam in self.byte_index.video_keys:
+                entry.decoders[cam] = self._get_or_build_decoder(ep_idx, cam)
+        except Exception as exc:
+            entry.error = exc
+        finally:
+            entry.ready.set()
+
+    def _get_or_build_decoder(self, ep_idx: int, cam: str) -> Any:
+        key = (ep_idx, cam)
+        with self._lock:
+            cached = self._cache.get(key)
+            if cached is not None:
+                self._cache.move_to_end(key)
+                self._stats.hits += 1
+                payload, _ = cached
+                t0 = time.perf_counter()
+                dec = self._decoder_from_payload(payload, ep_idx, cam)
+                with self._lock:
+                    self._stats.buffer_hit_decoder_s += time.perf_counter() - t0
+                return dec
+
+        payload, payload_bytes, dec = self._fetch_manifest_slice(ep_idx, cam)
+
+        with self._lock:
+            self._stats.misses += 1
+            if payload_bytes > self.MAX_BYTES_PER_MISS:
+                logger.warning(
+                    "byte cache miss fetched %.1f MB (>25 MB) for ep=%s cam=%s",
+                    payload_bytes / 1e6,
+                    ep_idx,
+                    cam,
+                )
+            self._evict_until(payload_bytes)
+            self._cache[key] = (payload, payload_bytes)
+            self._bytes_used += payload_bytes
+        return dec
+
+    def _fetch_manifest_slice(self, ep_idx: int, cam: str) -> tuple[SparseMp4Reader, int, Any]:
+        lookup = self.byte_index.lookup(ep_idx, cam)
+        file_info = self.byte_index.file_lookup(lookup.file_id)
+        fetcher = self._get_fetcher(lookup.file_id, file_info.file_path)
+        t_fetch = time.perf_counter()
+        header = self._get_header_bytes(lookup.file_id, fetcher, file_info.header_length)
+        lo = lookup.mdat_offset
+        hi = lo + lookup.mdat_length - 1
+        mdat = fetcher.fetch(lo, hi)
+        fetch_s = time.perf_counter() - t_fetch
+        nbytes = len(header) + len(mdat)
+        with self._lock:
+            self._stats.bytes_fetched += nbytes
+            self._stats.mdat_slices += 1
+            self._stats.fetch_to_buffer_s += fetch_s
+
+        def lazy_fetch(pos: int, end: int) -> bytes:
+            data = fetcher.fetch(pos, end)
+            with self._lock:
+                self._stats.bytes_fetched += len(data)
+            return data
+
+        reader = SparseMp4Reader(
+            file_size=file_info.file_size,
+            header=header,
+            mdat_lo=lo,
+            mdat_bytes=mdat,
+            lazy_fetch=lazy_fetch,
+        )
+        t_init = time.perf_counter()
+        dec = self._decoder_from_payload(reader, ep_idx, cam)
+        self._validate_decoder(dec, lookup)
+        init_s = time.perf_counter() - t_init
+        with self._lock:
+            self._stats.buffer_to_decoder_s += init_s
+        self._rewind_payload(reader)
+        return reader, nbytes, dec
+
+    def _get_fetcher(self, file_id: int, rel_path: str) -> RangeFetcher:
+        if file_id not in self._fetcher_cache:
+            path = rel_path if rel_path.startswith("hf://") else f"{self.data_root}/{rel_path}"
+            self._fetcher_cache[file_id] = RangeFetcher(path)
+        return self._fetcher_cache[file_id]
+
+    def _get_header_bytes(self, file_id: int, fetcher: RangeFetcher, header_length: int) -> bytes:
+        if file_id in self._header_cache:
+            return self._header_cache[file_id]
+        hi = max(0, header_length - 1)
+        header = fetcher.fetch(0, hi)
+        with self._lock:
+            self._header_cache[file_id] = header
+            self._stats.bytes_fetched += len(header)
+        return header
+
+    def _decoder_from_payload(
+        self, payload: SparseMp4Reader, ep_idx: int, cam: str
+    ) -> Any:
+        payload.seek(0)
+        mappings = self.byte_index.custom_frame_mappings(ep_idx, cam)
+        return open_video_decoder(payload, frame_mappings=mappings)
+
+    def _validate_decoder(self, dec: Any, lookup: EpisodeSliceLookup) -> None:
+        begin = float(dec.metadata.begin_stream_seconds)
+        end = float(dec.metadata.end_stream_seconds)
+        duration = max(0.01, end - begin)
+        for ts in (begin + 1e-3, begin + 0.5 * duration, end - 1e-3):
+            dec.get_frames_played_at([ts]).data
+
+    def _rewind_payload(self, payload: SparseMp4Reader) -> None:
+        payload.seek(0)
+
+    def _evict_until(self, need: int) -> None:
+        while self._bytes_used + need > self.max_bytes and self._cache:
+            _, (_, size) = self._cache.popitem(last=False)
+            self._bytes_used -= size

src/lerobot/datasets/factory.py

@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ def make_dataset(cfg: TrainPipelineConfig) -> LeRobotDataset | MultiLeRobotDatas
                 delta_timestamps=delta_timestamps,
                 image_transforms=image_transforms,
                 revision=cfg.dataset.revision,
-                max_num_shards=cfg.num_workers,
+                episode_pool_size=cfg.dataset.streaming_episode_pool_size,
                 tolerance_s=cfg.tolerance_s,
                 return_uint8=True,
             )

src/lerobot/datasets/mp4_episode_slice.py

@@ -0,0 +1,555 @@
+"""MP4 moov parsing and tight per-episode mdat byte-range fetching.
+
+LeRobot v3 concatenates episodes into shared MP4 files (faststart: moov at head).
+For streaming we fetch only the file header plus the episode's contiguous mdat span
+instead of the ``0..episode_end`` prefix.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import io
+import struct
+import threading
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+from typing import Callable
+
+KEYFRAME_PAD_S = 0.1
+HEADER_PROBE_BYTES = 4 * 1024 * 1024
+MAX_HEADER_PROBE_BYTES = 16 * 1024 * 1024
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Mp4FileLayout:
+    file_size: int
+    moov_offset: int
+    moov_length: int
+    header_end: int
+    mdat_offset: int
+    mdat_size: int
+    faststart: bool
+    codec: str
+
+
+def parse_mp4_file_layout(header_bytes: bytes, file_size: int) -> Mp4FileLayout:
+    """Return top-level MP4 layout (moov/mdat positions, faststart flag)."""
+    boxes = list(_iter_boxes(header_bytes))
+    moov_offset = mdat_offset = -1
+    moov_length = mdat_size = 0
+    for off, size, typ, _ in boxes:
+        if typ == b"moov" and moov_offset < 0:
+            moov_offset, moov_length = off, size
+        if typ == b"mdat" and mdat_offset < 0:
+            mdat_offset, mdat_size = off, size
+    if moov_offset < 0:
+        raise ValueError("moov box not found in header probe")
+    if mdat_offset < 0:
+        raise ValueError("mdat box not found in header probe; increase HEADER_PROBE_BYTES")
+    faststart = moov_offset < mdat_offset
+    header_end = mdat_offset
+    codec = _parse_video_codec(header_bytes)
+    return Mp4FileLayout(
+        file_size=file_size,
+        moov_offset=moov_offset,
+        moov_length=moov_length,
+        header_end=header_end,
+        mdat_offset=mdat_offset,
+        mdat_size=mdat_size,
+        faststart=faststart,
+        codec=codec,
+    )
+
+
+def _parse_video_codec(header_bytes: bytes) -> str:
+    moov = _find_box_payload(header_bytes, b"moov")
+    if moov is None:
+        return "unknown"
+    trak = _find_video_trak(moov)
+    if trak is None:
+        return "unknown"
+    stsd = _find_box_payload(_find_box_payload(trak, b"stbl") or b"", b"stsd")
+    if stsd is None or len(stsd) < 12:
+        return "unknown"
+    # stsd: version(1)+flags(3)+entry_count(4)+entry_size(4)+codec(4)
+    if len(stsd) >= 12:
+        return stsd[8:12].decode("latin1", errors="replace").strip("\x00")
+    return "unknown"
+
+
+def average_fps_from_index(index: Mp4VideoIndex) -> float:
+    index.ensure_tables()
+    if index.num_samples < 2:
+        return 30.0
+    duration = index.sample_pts(index.num_samples - 1)
+    if duration <= 0:
+        return 30.0
+    return index.num_samples / duration
+
+
+def episode_custom_frame_mappings_json(
+    index: Mp4VideoIndex, from_ts: float, to_ts: float, keyframe_pad_s: float = KEYFRAME_PAD_S
+) -> bytes:
+    """Build TorchCodec ``custom_frame_mappings`` JSON for one episode span."""
+    import json
+
+    index.ensure_tables()
+    lo_idx = _first_sample_at_or_after(index._pts, max(0.0, from_ts - keyframe_pad_s))
+    hi_idx = _last_sample_at_or_before(index._pts, to_ts + keyframe_pad_s)
+    hi_idx = min(hi_idx, index.num_samples - 1)
+    lo_idx = _keyframe_back(index.sync_samples, lo_idx)
+
+    sync = set(index.sync_samples)
+    timescale = index.timescale
+    # stts deltas for duration per sample (expand stts entries to per-sample delta)
+    sample_deltas: list[int] = []
+    for count, delta in index.stts:
+        sample_deltas.extend([delta] * count)
+    while len(sample_deltas) < index.num_samples:
+        sample_deltas.append(sample_deltas[-1] if sample_deltas else timescale // 30)
+
+    frames = []
+    for idx in range(lo_idx, hi_idx + 1):
+        frames.append(
+            {
+                "pts": int(round(index._pts[idx] * timescale)),
+                "duration": int(sample_deltas[idx]),
+                "key_frame": int((idx + 1) in sync) if sync else int(idx == lo_idx),
+            }
+        )
+    return json.dumps({"frames": frames}).encode()
+
+
+def episode_keyframes(
+    index: Mp4VideoIndex, from_ts: float, to_ts: float, keyframe_pad_s: float = KEYFRAME_PAD_S
+) -> list[tuple[float, int]]:
+    """Return (pts_seconds, byte_offset) for sync samples in the episode span."""
+    index.ensure_tables()
+    span = index.episode_byte_span(from_ts, to_ts, keyframe_pad_s)
+    lo_idx = _first_sample_at_or_after(index._pts, max(0.0, from_ts - keyframe_pad_s))
+    hi_idx = _last_sample_at_or_before(index._pts, to_ts + keyframe_pad_s)
+    if not index.sync_samples:
+        return [(index.sample_pts(lo_idx), index.sample_offset(lo_idx))]
+    out: list[tuple[float, int]] = []
+    for sync_one_based in index.sync_samples:
+        idx = sync_one_based - 1
+        if lo_idx <= idx <= hi_idx:
+            out.append((index.sample_pts(idx), index.sample_offset(idx)))
+    return out or [(index.sample_pts(lo_idx), index.sample_offset(lo_idx))]
+
+
+@dataclass
+class EpisodeByteSpan:
+    """Absolute file byte ranges to fetch for one episode."""
+
+    file_size: int
+    header_end: int
+    slice_lo: int
+    slice_hi: int
+
+    @property
+    def header_bytes(self) -> tuple[int, int]:
+        return 0, self.header_end - 1
+
+    @property
+    def mdat_bytes(self) -> tuple[int, int]:
+        return self.slice_lo, self.slice_hi
+
+    @property
+    def total_fetch_bytes(self) -> int:
+        header = self.header_end
+        mdat = self.slice_hi - self.slice_lo + 1
+        return header + mdat
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Mp4VideoIndex:
+    file_size: int
+    header_end: int
+    mdat_offset: int
+    mdat_size: int
+    timescale: int
+    stts: list[tuple[int, int]]
+    stsz: list[int]
+    stsc: list[tuple[int, int, int]]
+    stco: list[int]
+    sync_samples: list[int]
+    _pts: list[float] = field(default_factory=list, repr=False)
+    _offsets: list[int] = field(default_factory=list, repr=False)
+
+    def ensure_tables(self) -> None:
+        if self._pts:
+            return
+        self._pts = _pts_from_stts(self.stts, self.timescale)
+        self._offsets = _sample_byte_offsets(self.stsc, self.stco, self.stsz)
+
+    @property
+    def num_samples(self) -> int:
+        return len(self.stsz)
+
+    def sample_pts(self, index: int) -> float:
+        self.ensure_tables()
+        return self._pts[index]
+
+    def sample_offset(self, index: int) -> int:
+        self.ensure_tables()
+        index = max(0, min(index, len(self._offsets) - 1))
+        return self._offsets[index]
+
+    def sample_end(self, index: int) -> int:
+        return self.sample_offset(index) + self.stsz[index]
+
+    def episode_byte_span(self, from_ts: float, to_ts: float, keyframe_pad_s: float = KEYFRAME_PAD_S) -> EpisodeByteSpan:
+        self.ensure_tables()
+        n = self.num_samples
+        if n == 0:
+            raise ValueError("MP4 has no video samples")
+
+        pad = max(keyframe_pad_s, 0.05 * max(0.01, to_ts - from_ts))
+        lo_ts = max(0.0, from_ts - pad)
+        hi_ts = to_ts + pad
+
+        lo_idx = _first_sample_at_or_after(self._pts, lo_ts)
+        hi_idx = _last_sample_at_or_before(self._pts, hi_ts)
+        hi_idx = min(hi_idx, n - 1)
+        lo_idx = min(lo_idx, n - 1)
+
+        lo_idx = _keyframe_back(self.sync_samples, lo_idx)
+
+        slice_lo = self.sample_offset(lo_idx)
+        slice_hi = self.sample_end(min(hi_idx, len(self._offsets) - 1))
+        return EpisodeByteSpan(
+            file_size=self.file_size,
+            header_end=self.header_end,
+            slice_lo=slice_lo,
+            slice_hi=min(slice_hi, self.file_size - 1),
+        )
+
+
+class SparseMp4Reader(io.BufferedIOBase):
+    """Range-backed MP4 reader: header + one mdat span at absolute offsets."""
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        file_size: int,
+        header: bytes,
+        mdat_lo: int,
+        mdat_bytes: bytes,
+        lazy_fetch: Callable[[int, int], bytes] | None = None,
+    ):
+        self._size = file_size
+        self._header = header
+        self._mdat_lo = mdat_lo
+        self._mdat_hi = mdat_lo + len(mdat_bytes)
+        self._mdat = mdat_bytes
+        self._lazy_fetch = lazy_fetch
+        self._pos = 0
+        self._lock = threading.Lock()
+
+    def readable(self) -> bool:
+        return True
+
+    def seekable(self) -> bool:
+        return True
+
+    def tell(self) -> int:
+        return self._pos
+
+    def seek(self, offset: int, whence: int = io.SEEK_SET) -> int:
+        if whence == io.SEEK_SET:
+            self._pos = offset
+        elif whence == io.SEEK_CUR:
+            self._pos += offset
+        elif whence == io.SEEK_END:
+            self._pos = self._size + offset
+        else:
+            raise ValueError(f"invalid whence: {whence}")
+        self._pos = max(0, min(self._pos, self._size))
+        return self._pos
+
+    def read(self, size: int = -1) -> bytes:
+        if size < 0:
+            size = self._size - self._pos
+        if size <= 0:
+            return b""
+
+        out = bytearray()
+        remaining = size
+        pos = self._pos
+        while remaining > 0 and pos < self._size:
+            chunk = self._read_at(pos, remaining)
+            if not chunk:
+                break
+            out.extend(chunk)
+            pos += len(chunk)
+            remaining -= len(chunk)
+        self._pos = pos
+        return bytes(out)
+
+    def _read_at(self, pos: int, n: int) -> bytes:
+        header_len = len(self._header)
+        if pos < header_len:
+            end = min(pos + n, header_len)
+            return self._header[pos:end]
+
+        if self._mdat_lo <= pos < self._mdat_hi:
+            end = min(pos + n, self._mdat_hi)
+            off = pos - self._mdat_lo
+            return self._mdat[off : off + (end - pos)]
+
+        if self._lazy_fetch is not None:
+            with self._lock:
+                end = min(pos + n, self._size)
+                return self._lazy_fetch(pos, end - 1)
+
+        return b"\x00" * min(n, self._size - pos)
+
+
+def parse_mp4_index(header_bytes: bytes, file_size: int) -> Mp4VideoIndex:
+    """Parse moov sample tables from the file header (faststart layout)."""
+    layout = parse_mp4_file_layout(header_bytes, file_size)
+    mdat_offset, mdat_size = layout.mdat_offset, layout.mdat_size
+    moov = _find_box_payload(header_bytes, b"moov")
+    if moov is None:
+        raise ValueError("moov box not found in MP4 header probe")
+
+    trak = _find_video_trak(moov)
+    if trak is None:
+        raise ValueError("video trak not found in moov")
+
+    mdhd = _find_box_payload(trak, b"mdhd")
+    if mdhd is None:
+        raise ValueError("mdhd not found")
+    timescale = _parse_mdhd_timescale(mdhd)
+
+    stbl = _find_box_payload(trak, b"stbl")
+    if stbl is None:
+        raise ValueError("stbl not found")
+
+    stts = _parse_stts(_find_box_payload(stbl, b"stts"))
+    stsz = _parse_stsz(_find_box_payload(stbl, b"stsz"))
+    stsc = _parse_stsc(_find_box_payload(stbl, b"stsc"))
+    stco_payload = _find_box_payload(stbl, b"stco")
+    co64_payload = _find_box_payload(stbl, b"co64")
+    if stco_payload is not None:
+        stco = _parse_stco(stco_payload)
+    elif co64_payload is not None:
+        stco = _parse_co64(co64_payload)
+    else:
+        raise ValueError("stco/co64 not found")
+
+    stss_payload = _find_box_payload(stbl, b"stss")
+    sync_samples = _parse_stss(stss_payload) if stss_payload else []
+
+    return Mp4VideoIndex(
+        file_size=file_size,
+        header_end=layout.header_end,
+        mdat_offset=mdat_offset,
+        mdat_size=mdat_size,
+        timescale=timescale,
+        stts=stts,
+        stsz=stsz,
+        stsc=stsc,
+        stco=stco,
+        sync_samples=sync_samples,
+    )
+
+
+def _box_header(data: bytes, offset: int) -> tuple[int, bytes, int] | None:
+    if offset + 8 > len(data):
+        return None
+    size, typ = struct.unpack_from(">I4s", data, offset)
+    header = 8
+    if size == 1:
+        if offset + 16 > len(data):
+            return None
+        size = struct.unpack_from(">Q", data, offset + 8)[0]
+        header = 16
+    elif size == 0:
+        size = len(data) - offset
+    return size, typ, header
+
+
+def _iter_boxes(data: bytes, start: int = 0, end: int | None = None):
+    end = end if end is not None else len(data)
+    off = start
+    while off + 8 <= end:
+        hdr = _box_header(data, off)
+        if hdr is None or hdr[0] < hdr[2]:
+            break
+        size, typ, header = hdr
+        yield off, size, typ, data[off + header : off + size]
+        off += size
+
+
+def _find_box_payload(data: bytes, target: bytes) -> bytes | None:
+    for _, _, typ, payload in _iter_boxes(data):
+        if typ == target:
+            return payload
+        if typ in (b"moov", b"trak", b"mdia", b"minf", b"stbl"):
+            found = _find_box_payload(payload, target)
+            if found is not None:
+                return found
+    return None
+
+
+def _find_video_trak(moov: bytes) -> bytes | None:
+    for _, _, typ, payload in _iter_boxes(moov):
+        if typ != b"trak":
+            continue
+        hdlr = _find_box_payload(payload, b"hdlr")
+        if hdlr is not None and len(hdlr) >= 12 and hdlr[8:12] == b"vide":
+            return payload
+    return None
+
+
+def _find_mdat(header_bytes: bytes, file_size: int) -> tuple[int, int]:
+    for off, size, typ, _ in _iter_boxes(header_bytes):
+        if typ == b"mdat":
+            return off, size
+    # mdat may start beyond probe; scan from file_size hint unavailable — require probe hit
+    raise ValueError("mdat box not found in header probe; increase HEADER_PROBE_BYTES")
+
+
+def _parse_mdhd_timescale(mdhd: bytes) -> int:
+    version = mdhd[0]
+    if version == 0:
+        return struct.unpack_from(">I", mdhd, 12)[0]
+    return struct.unpack_from(">I", mdhd, 20)[0]
+
+
+def _parse_stts(stts: bytes | None) -> list[tuple[int, int]]:
+    if stts is None:
+        raise ValueError("stts missing")
+    count = struct.unpack_from(">I", stts, 4)[0]
+    out = []
+    off = 8
+    for _ in range(count):
+        sample_count, delta = struct.unpack_from(">II", stts, off)
+        out.append((sample_count, delta))
+        off += 8
+    return out
+
+
+def _parse_stsz(stsz: bytes | None) -> list[int]:
+    if stsz is None:
+        raise ValueError("stsz missing")
+    sample_size, sample_count = struct.unpack_from(">II", stsz, 4)
+    if sample_size != 0:
+        return [sample_size] * sample_count
+    off = 12
+    return list(struct.unpack_from(f">{sample_count}I", stsz, off))
+
+
+def _parse_stsc(stsc: bytes | None) -> list[tuple[int, int, int]]:
+    if stsc is None:
+        raise ValueError("stsc missing")
+    count = struct.unpack_from(">I", stsc, 4)[0]
+    out = []
+    off = 8
+    for _ in range(count):
+        first_chunk, samples_per_chunk, sample_desc = struct.unpack_from(">III", stsc, off)
+        out.append((first_chunk, samples_per_chunk, sample_desc))
+        off += 12
+    return out
+
+
+def _parse_stco(stco: bytes) -> list[int]:
+    count = struct.unpack_from(">I", stco, 4)[0]
+    return list(struct.unpack_from(f">{count}I", stco, 8))
+
+
+def _parse_co64(co64: bytes) -> list[int]:
+    count = struct.unpack_from(">I", co64, 4)[0]
+    return [struct.unpack_from(">Q", co64, 8 + i * 8)[0] for i in range(count)]
+
+
+def _parse_stss(stss: bytes) -> list[int]:
+    count = struct.unpack_from(">I", stss, 4)[0]
+    return list(struct.unpack_from(f">{count}I", stss, 8))
+
+
+def _pts_from_stts(stts: list[tuple[int, int]], timescale: int) -> list[float]:
+    pts: list[float] = []
+    t = 0
+    for count, delta in stts:
+        for _ in range(count):
+            pts.append(t / timescale)
+            t += delta
+    return pts
+
+
+def _sample_byte_offsets(
+    stsc: list[tuple[int, int, int]], stco: list[int], stsz: list[int]
+) -> list[int]:
+    if not stsc:
+        stsc = [(1, len(stsz), 1)]
+
+    offsets: list[int] = []
+    chunk_idx = 0
+    sample_idx = 0
+    sc_idx = 0
+    num_chunks = len(stco)
+
+    while chunk_idx < num_chunks and sample_idx < len(stsz):
+        first_chunk, samples_per_chunk, _ = stsc[min(sc_idx, len(stsc) - 1)]
+        if sc_idx + 1 < len(stsc):
+            next_first = stsc[sc_idx + 1][0]
+            chunks_in_entry = next_first - first_chunk
+        else:
+            chunks_in_entry = num_chunks - chunk_idx
+
+        for _ in range(chunks_in_entry):
+            if chunk_idx >= num_chunks:
+                break
+            offset = stco[chunk_idx]
+            _, samples_per_chunk, _ = stsc[min(sc_idx, len(stsc) - 1)]
+            for _ in range(samples_per_chunk):
+                if sample_idx >= len(stsz):
+                    break
+                offsets.append(offset)
+                offset += stsz[sample_idx]
+                sample_idx += 1
+            chunk_idx += 1
+        sc_idx += 1
+
+    if len(offsets) < len(stsz):
+        # Pad with last known offset progression for malformed stsc edge cases.
+        last = offsets[-1] if offsets else 0
+        while len(offsets) < len(stsz):
+            idx = len(offsets)
+            offsets.append(last)
+            last += stsz[idx]
+
+    return offsets
+
+
+def _first_sample_at_or_after(pts: list[float], ts: float) -> int:
+    lo, hi = 0, len(pts)
+    while lo < hi:
+        mid = (lo + hi) // 2
+        if pts[mid] < ts:
+            lo = mid + 1
+        else:
+            hi = mid
+    return min(lo, len(pts) - 1)
+
+
+def _last_sample_at_or_before(pts: list[float], ts: float) -> int:
+    lo, hi = 0, len(pts)
+    while lo < hi:
+        mid = (lo + hi) // 2
+        if pts[mid] <= ts:
+            lo = mid + 1
+        else:
+            hi = mid
+    return max(0, lo - 1)
+
+
+def _keyframe_back(sync_samples: list[int], sample_idx: int) -> int:
+    if not sync_samples:
+        return max(0, sample_idx - 2)
+    # stss stores 1-based sample numbers
+    one_based = sample_idx + 1
+    prev = [s for s in sync_samples if s <= one_based]
+    if prev:
+        return prev[-1] - 1
+    return 0

src/lerobot/datasets/torchcodec_utils.py

@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+"""TorchCodec helpers for sparse MP4 IO with optional custom frame mappings."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+from typing import Any
+
+import torch
+from torchcodec import FrameBatch, _core as core
+from torchcodec.decoders._video_decoder import _get_and_validate_stream_metadata
+
+
+def frame_mappings_tensors(payload: bytes) -> tuple[torch.Tensor, torch.Tensor, torch.Tensor]:
+    data = json.loads(payload)
+    frames = data["frames"]
+    pts = torch.tensor([int(f["pts"]) for f in frames], dtype=torch.int64)
+    key = torch.tensor([bool(f["key_frame"]) for f in frames], dtype=torch.bool)
+    dur = torch.tensor([int(f["duration"]) for f in frames], dtype=torch.int64)
+    return pts, key, dur
+
+
+class VideoDecoderLike:
+    """Minimal VideoDecoder surface used by episode byte cache."""
+
+    def __init__(self, decoder: torch.Tensor, *, stream_index: int | None = None):
+        self._decoder = decoder
+        (
+            self.metadata,
+            self.stream_index,
+            self._begin_stream_seconds,
+            self._end_stream_seconds,
+            self._num_frames,
+        ) = _get_and_validate_stream_metadata(decoder=decoder, stream_index=stream_index)
+
+    def get_frames_played_at(self, seconds: list[float]) -> FrameBatch:
+        return FrameBatch(*core.get_frames_by_pts(self._decoder, timestamps=seconds))
+
+
+def open_video_decoder(source: Any, *, frame_mappings: bytes | None = None) -> VideoDecoderLike:
+    """Open a decoder on sparse or full MP4 IO, skipping metadata scan when mappings exist."""
+    if frame_mappings is None:
+        decoder = core.create_from_file_like(source, "approximate")
+        core.add_video_stream(decoder)
+        return VideoDecoderLike(decoder)
+
+    mappings = frame_mappings_tensors(frame_mappings)
+    decoder = core.create_from_file_like(source, "custom_frame_mappings")
+    core.add_video_stream(decoder, custom_frame_mappings=mappings)
+    return VideoDecoderLike(decoder)

src/lerobot/datasets/video_utils.py

@@ -273,7 +273,11 @@ class VideoDecoderCache:
                 self._cache.move_to_end(video_path)
                 return entry[0]
 
-            file_handle = fsspec.open(video_path).__enter__()
+            # Bound per-handle buffering: with many decoders kept open at once (one per camera per active
+            # shard, across all workers), the default fsspec read cache balloons RAM on remote backends
+            # like hf:// buckets. A small readahead cache caps each handle's footprint without hurting the
+            # mostly-sequential reads torchcodec issues.
+            file_handle = fsspec.open(video_path, cache_type="readahead", block_size=2**20).__enter__()
             try:
                 decoder = VideoDecoder(file_handle, seek_mode="approximate")
             except Exception:
@@ -322,6 +326,7 @@ def decode_video_frames_torchcodec(
     log_loaded_timestamps: bool = False,
     decoder_cache: VideoDecoderCache | None = None,
     return_uint8: bool = False,
+    episode_decoder: Any | None = None,
 ) -> torch.Tensor:
     """Loads frames associated with the requested timestamps of a video using torchcodec.
 
@@ -343,8 +348,10 @@ def decode_video_frames_torchcodec(
     if decoder_cache is None:
         decoder_cache = _default_decoder_cache
 
-    # Use cached decoder instead of creating new one each time
-    decoder = decoder_cache.get_decoder(str(video_path))
+    if episode_decoder is not None:
+        decoder = episode_decoder
+    else:
+        decoder = decoder_cache.get_decoder(str(video_path))
 
     loaded_ts = []
     loaded_frames = []

src/lerobot/scripts/lerobot_train.py

@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ def train(cfg: TrainPipelineConfig, accelerator: "Accelerator | None" = None):
         logging.info(f"{num_total_params=} ({format_big_number(num_total_params)})")
 
     # create dataloader for offline training
-    if hasattr(active_cfg, "drop_n_last_frames"):
+    if hasattr(active_cfg, "drop_n_last_frames") and not cfg.dataset.streaming:
         shuffle = False
         # A dedicated generator (rather than the global torch RNG) lets accelerator.prepare
         # synchronize the shuffle permutation across ranks, keeping batch shards disjoint even
@@ -426,9 +426,16 @@ def train(cfg: TrainPipelineConfig, accelerator: "Accelerator | None" = None):
 
     # Prepare everything with accelerator
     accelerator.wait_for_everyone()
-    policy, optimizer, dataloader, lr_scheduler = accelerator.prepare(
-        policy, optimizer, dataloader, lr_scheduler
-    )
+    if cfg.dataset.streaming:
+        # The streaming IterableDataset is already rank-disjoint via split_dataset_by_node, so we must
+        # NOT hand the dataloader to accelerate: its IterableDatasetShard would keep only every
+        # world_size-th batch of each rank's already-disjoint stream (silently training on 1/N of the
+        # data while decoding all of it). Batches are moved to the device manually in the loop below.
+        policy, optimizer, lr_scheduler = accelerator.prepare(policy, optimizer, lr_scheduler)
+    else:
+        policy, optimizer, dataloader, lr_scheduler = accelerator.prepare(
+            policy, optimizer, dataloader, lr_scheduler
+        )
     dl_iter = cycle(dataloader)
 
     policy.train()
@@ -468,6 +475,9 @@ def train(cfg: TrainPipelineConfig, accelerator: "Accelerator | None" = None):
     for _ in range(step, cfg.steps):
         start_time = time.perf_counter()
         batch = next(dl_iter)
+        if cfg.dataset.streaming:
+            # The streaming dataloader is not accelerate-prepared (see above), so move to device here.
+            batch = {k: (v.to(device, non_blocking=True) if torch.is_tensor(v) else v) for k, v in batch.items()}
         for cam_key in dataset.meta.camera_keys:
             if cam_key in batch and batch[cam_key].dtype == torch.uint8:
                 batch[cam_key] = batch[cam_key].to(dtype=torch.float32) / 255.0

tests/datasets/test_byte_index.py

@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+"""Acceptance tests for manifest byte-index sidecars.
+
+Run on a compute node (not login-node):
+
+  srun --partition=hopper-dev --nodes=1 --ntasks=1 --cpus-per-task=8 --mem=32G --time=00:30:00 \\
+    bash -lc 'cd /admin/home/pepijn/lerobot && conda run --no-capture-output -n lerobot \\
+      env -u HF_HUB_ENABLE_HF_TRANSFER python -m pytest tests/datasets/test_byte_index.py -m integration -v'
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import json
+import socket
+
+import pytest
+
+pytest.importorskip("torchcodec")
+
+REPO = "allenai/MolmoAct2-BimanualYAM-Dataset"
+REV = "e9f21ae15074330839f2ac25ed4b49d76dfa1f9c"
+BUCKET = "hf://buckets/pepijn223/MolmoAct2-BimanualYAM-Dataset-bucket"
+MAX_EPISODES = 64
+
+COMPUTE_NODE = pytest.mark.skipif(
+    "login" in socket.gethostname(),
+    reason="run on compute node via srun (see module docstring), not login-node",
+)
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="module")
+def byte_index_dir(tmp_path_factory):
+    from lerobot.datasets.byte_index_builder import build_byte_index_tables, write_byte_index
+    from lerobot.datasets.dataset_metadata import LeRobotDatasetMetadata
+
+    out = tmp_path_factory.mktemp("byte_index")
+    meta = LeRobotDatasetMetadata(REPO, revision=REV)
+    files, episodes, _ = build_byte_index_tables(
+        meta, BUCKET, workers=4, max_episodes=MAX_EPISODES, include_keyframes=False
+    )
+    write_byte_index(out, files, episodes, None, merge_existing=False)
+    return out, meta
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+@COMPUTE_NODE
+def test_index_load_fast_and_small(byte_index_dir):
+    from lerobot.datasets.byte_index import EpisodeByteIndex
+
+    out, meta = byte_index_dir
+    index = EpisodeByteIndex(out, video_keys=meta.video_keys, num_episodes=MAX_EPISODES)
+    assert index.load_time_s < 1.0
+    assert index.resident_bytes < 1_000_000_000
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+@COMPUTE_NODE
+def test_tight_fetch_under_25mb(byte_index_dir):
+    from lerobot.datasets.byte_index import EpisodeByteIndex
+    from lerobot.datasets.byte_index_builder import build_byte_index_in_memory
+    from lerobot.datasets.episode_byte_cache import EpisodeByteCache
+
+    _, meta = byte_index_dir
+    index = build_byte_index_in_memory(meta, BUCKET, workers=4, max_episodes=MAX_EPISODES)
+    cache = EpisodeByteCache(index, max_bytes=80_000_000_000, data_root=BUCKET)
+    for ep in [0, MAX_EPISODES // 2, MAX_EPISODES - 1]:
+        cache.submit_prefetch(ep)
+        cache.ensure_ready(ep)
+    stats = cache.stats.stats_dict()
+    assert stats["byte_cache_bytes_per_miss"] < 25 * 1024 * 1024
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+@COMPUTE_NODE
+def test_in_memory_build_matches_parquet(byte_index_dir):
+    from lerobot.datasets.byte_index import EpisodeByteIndex
+    from lerobot.datasets.byte_index_builder import build_byte_index_in_memory
+
+    out, meta = byte_index_dir
+    disk = EpisodeByteIndex(out, video_keys=meta.video_keys, num_episodes=MAX_EPISODES)
+    mem = build_byte_index_in_memory(meta, BUCKET, workers=4, max_episodes=MAX_EPISODES)
+    for ep in [0, MAX_EPISODES // 2, MAX_EPISODES - 1]:
+        for cam in meta.video_keys:
+            a = disk.lookup(ep, cam)
+            b = mem.lookup(ep, cam)
+            assert a.mdat_offset == b.mdat_offset
+            assert a.mdat_length == b.mdat_length
+            assert abs(a.first_pts - b.first_pts) < 1e-6
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+@COMPUTE_NODE
+def test_custom_frame_mappings_available(byte_index_dir):
+    from lerobot.datasets.byte_index_builder import build_byte_index_in_memory
+
+    _, meta = byte_index_dir
+    index = build_byte_index_in_memory(meta, BUCKET, workers=4, max_episodes=MAX_EPISODES)
+    cam = meta.video_keys[0]
+    ep = MAX_EPISODES // 2
+    payload = index.custom_frame_mappings(ep, cam)
+    assert payload is not None
+    data = json.loads(payload)
+    assert len(data["frames"]) > 10
+    assert any(f["key_frame"] for f in data["frames"])
+    assert all("pts" in f and "duration" in f for f in data["frames"])
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+@COMPUTE_NODE
+def test_metadata_skip_decoder_init(byte_index_dir):
+    from lerobot.datasets.byte_index_builder import build_byte_index_in_memory
+    from lerobot.datasets.episode_byte_cache import EpisodeByteCache
+
+    _, meta = byte_index_dir
+    index = build_byte_index_in_memory(meta, BUCKET, workers=4, max_episodes=MAX_EPISODES)
+    cache = EpisodeByteCache(index, max_bytes=8_000_000_000, data_root=BUCKET)
+    cam = meta.video_keys[0]
+    ep = 0
+    cache.submit_prefetch(ep)
+    cache.ensure_ready(ep)
+    dec = cache.get_decoder(ep, cam)
+    assert dec.metadata.num_frames is not None
+    assert dec.metadata.num_frames > 0
+    begin = float(dec.metadata.begin_stream_seconds)
+    end = float(dec.metadata.end_stream_seconds)
+    ts = begin + 0.5 * (end - begin)
+    frame = dec.get_frames_played_at([ts]).data
+    assert frame.ndim == 4
+
+
+@pytest.mark.integration
+@COMPUTE_NODE
+def test_sparse_decode_produces_frames(byte_index_dir):
+    from lerobot.datasets.byte_index_builder import build_byte_index_in_memory
+    from lerobot.datasets.episode_byte_cache import EpisodeByteCache
+
+    _, meta = byte_index_dir
+    index = build_byte_index_in_memory(meta, BUCKET, workers=4, max_episodes=MAX_EPISODES)
+    cache = EpisodeByteCache(index, max_bytes=80_000_000_000, data_root=BUCKET)
+    cam = meta.video_keys[0]
+    ep = 0
+    cache.submit_prefetch(ep)
+    cache.ensure_ready(ep)
+    dec = cache.get_decoder(ep, cam)
+    begin = float(dec.metadata.begin_stream_seconds)
+    end = float(dec.metadata.end_stream_seconds)
+    ts = begin + 0.5 * (end - begin)
+    frame = dec.get_frames_played_at([ts]).data
+    assert frame.ndim == 4
+    assert frame.numel() > 0
+    assert float(frame.float().std()) > 1.0

tests/datasets/test_streaming.py

@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@
 # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
-import numpy as np
 import pytest
 import torch
 
@@ -25,52 +24,6 @@ from lerobot.utils.constants import ACTION
 from tests.fixtures.constants import DUMMY_REPO_ID
 
 
-def get_frames_expected_order(streaming_ds: StreamingLeRobotDataset) -> list[int]:
-    """Replicates the shuffling logic of StreamingLeRobotDataset to get the expected order of indices."""
-    rng = np.random.default_rng(streaming_ds.seed)
-    buffer_size = streaming_ds.buffer_size
-    num_shards = streaming_ds.num_shards
-
-    shards_indices = []
-    for shard_idx in range(num_shards):
-        shard = streaming_ds.hf_dataset.shard(num_shards, index=shard_idx)
-        shard_indices = [item["index"] for item in shard]
-        shards_indices.append(shard_indices)
-
-    shard_iterators = {i: iter(s) for i, s in enumerate(shards_indices)}
-
-    buffer_indices_generator = streaming_ds._iter_random_indices(rng, buffer_size)
-
-    frames_buffer = []
-    expected_indices = []
-
-    while shard_iterators:  # While there are still available shards
-        available_shard_keys = list(shard_iterators.keys())
-        if not available_shard_keys:
-            break
-
-        # Call _infinite_generator_over_elements with current available shards (key difference!)
-        shard_key = next(streaming_ds._infinite_generator_over_elements(rng, available_shard_keys))
-
-        try:
-            frame_index = next(shard_iterators[shard_key])
-
-            if len(frames_buffer) == buffer_size:
-                i = next(buffer_indices_generator)
-                expected_indices.append(frames_buffer[i])
-                frames_buffer[i] = frame_index
-            else:
-                frames_buffer.append(frame_index)
-
-        except StopIteration:
-            del shard_iterators[shard_key]  # Remove exhausted shard
-
-    rng.shuffle(frames_buffer)
-    expected_indices.extend(frames_buffer)
-
-    return expected_indices
-
-
 def test_single_frame_consistency(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
     """Test if are correctly accessed"""
     ds_num_frames = 400
@@ -120,10 +73,9 @@ def test_single_frame_consistency(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
     [False, True],
 )
 def test_frames_order_over_epochs(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory, shuffle):
-    """Test if streamed frames correspond to shuffling operations over in-memory dataset."""
+    """Each epoch covers every frame exactly once; shuffle reshuffles across epochs."""
     ds_num_frames = 400
     ds_num_episodes = 10
-    buffer_size = 100
     seed = 42
     n_epochs = 3
 
@@ -138,25 +90,17 @@ def test_frames_order_over_epochs(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory, shuffle):
     )
 
     streaming_ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
-        repo_id=repo_id, root=local_path, buffer_size=buffer_size, seed=seed, shuffle=shuffle
+        repo_id=repo_id, root=local_path, episode_pool_size=4, seed=seed, shuffle=shuffle
     )
 
-    first_epoch_indices = [frame["index"] for frame in streaming_ds]
-    expected_indices = get_frames_expected_order(streaming_ds)
-
-    assert first_epoch_indices == expected_indices, "First epoch indices do not match expected indices"
-
-    expected_indices = get_frames_expected_order(streaming_ds)
-    for _ in range(n_epochs):
-        streaming_indices = [frame["index"] for frame in streaming_ds]
-        frames_match = all(
-            s_index == e_index for s_index, e_index in zip(streaming_indices, expected_indices, strict=True)
-        )
-
-        if shuffle:
-            assert not frames_match
-        else:
-            assert frames_match
+    epochs = [[int(frame["index"]) for frame in streaming_ds] for _ in range(n_epochs)]
+    for epoch_indices in epochs:
+        assert sorted(epoch_indices) == list(range(ds_num_frames)), "epoch did not cover every frame once"
+    if shuffle:
+        assert epochs[0] != epochs[1], "shuffle did not reshuffle across epochs"
+        assert epochs[0] != list(range(ds_num_frames)), "shuffle left the stream in sequential order"
+    else:
+        assert epochs[0] == epochs[1] == epochs[2], "unshuffled epochs must repeat the same order"
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
@@ -164,15 +108,11 @@ def test_frames_order_over_epochs(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory, shuffle):
     [False, True],
 )
 def test_frames_order_with_shards(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory, shuffle):
-    """Test if streamed frames correspond to shuffling operations over in-memory dataset with multiple shards."""
+    """Multi-shard streams keep exactly-once coverage and deterministic per-seed order."""
     ds_num_frames = 100
     ds_num_episodes = 10
-    buffer_size = 10
-
     seed = 42
-    n_epochs = 3
     data_file_size_mb = 0.001
-
     chunks_size = 1
 
     local_path = tmp_path / "test"
@@ -187,31 +127,21 @@ def test_frames_order_with_shards(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory, shuffle):
         chunks_size=chunks_size,
     )
 
-    streaming_ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
-        repo_id=repo_id,
-        root=local_path,
-        buffer_size=buffer_size,
-        seed=seed,
-        shuffle=shuffle,
-        max_num_shards=4,
-    )
-
-    first_epoch_indices = [frame["index"] for frame in streaming_ds]
-    expected_indices = get_frames_expected_order(streaming_ds)
-
-    assert first_epoch_indices == expected_indices, "First epoch indices do not match expected indices"
-
-    for _ in range(n_epochs):
-        streaming_indices = [
-            frame["index"] for frame in streaming_ds
-        ]  # NOTE: this is the same as first_epoch_indices
-        frames_match = all(
-            s_index == e_index for s_index, e_index in zip(streaming_indices, expected_indices, strict=True)
+    def make_ds():
+        return StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+            repo_id=repo_id,
+            root=local_path,
+            episode_pool_size=3,
+            seed=seed,
+            shuffle=shuffle,
+            max_num_shards=4,
         )
-        if shuffle:
-            assert not frames_match
-        else:
-            assert frames_match
+
+    first = [int(frame["index"]) for frame in make_ds()]
+    again = [int(frame["index"]) for frame in make_ds()]
+
+    assert sorted(first) == list(range(ds_num_frames)), "epoch did not cover every frame once"
+    assert first == again, "same seed must reproduce the same order"
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
@@ -288,6 +218,11 @@ def test_frames_with_delta_consistency(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory, state_
 
                 check = torch.allclose(left, right) and left.shape == right.shape
 
+            else:
+                # Scalar numerics: streaming yields python floats/ints where map-style yields
+                # 0-dim tensors (long-standing accepted difference). Compare by value.
+                check = float(left) == float(right)
+
             key_checks.append((key, check))
 
         assert all(t[1] for t in key_checks), (

tests/datasets/test_streaming_distributed.py

@@ -0,0 +1,100 @@
+# Copyright 2025 The HuggingFace Inc. team. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""End-to-end distributed streaming smoke test under a real `accelerate launch`.
+
+Mirrors tests/training/test_multi_gpu.py but runs on CPU and only checks the dataloading contract: with
+two processes, `split_dataset_by_node` (auto-resolved from the Accelerate state) must give each rank a
+disjoint set of frames that together cover the dataset. Skips if the environment can't actually spawn
+>= 2 processes (e.g. local macOS multi-CPU), so it never silently passes as a single process.
+"""
+
+import json
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+
+import pytest
+
+pytest.importorskip("datasets", reason="datasets is required (install lerobot[dataset])")
+pytest.importorskip("accelerate", reason="accelerate is required (install lerobot[training])")
+
+from tests.fixtures.constants import DUMMY_REPO_ID
+
+WORKER = """
+import json, sys
+from accelerate import PartialState
+from lerobot.datasets.streaming_dataset import StreamingLeRobotDataset
+
+root, repo_id, out_dir = sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2], sys.argv[3]
+state = PartialState()
+ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+    repo_id=repo_id, root=root, shuffle=False, episode_pool_size=8, max_num_shards=8
+)
+indices = [int(frame["index"]) for frame in ds]
+payload = {"rank": state.process_index, "world": state.num_processes, "indices": indices}
+with open(f"{out_dir}/rank_{state.process_index}.json", "w") as f:
+    json.dump(payload, f)
+"""
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(shutil.which("accelerate") is None, reason="accelerate CLI not available")
+def test_accelerate_launch_ranks_are_disjoint(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    total_frames = 160
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-acc"
+    root = tmp_path / "ds"
+    lerobot_dataset_factory(
+        root=root,
+        repo_id=repo_id,
+        total_episodes=8,
+        total_frames=total_frames,
+        use_videos=False,
+        data_files_size_in_mb=0.001,
+        chunks_size=1,
+    )
+
+    worker = tmp_path / "worker.py"
+    worker.write_text(WORKER)
+    out_dir = tmp_path / "out"
+    out_dir.mkdir()
+
+    cmd = [
+        "accelerate",
+        "launch",
+        "--num_processes=2",
+        "--num_machines=1",
+        "--mixed_precision=no",
+        "--dynamo_backend=no",
+        "--cpu",
+        str(worker),
+        str(root),
+        repo_id,
+        str(out_dir),
+    ]
+    result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=600)
+    assert result.returncode == 0, (
+        f"accelerate launch failed:\nSTDOUT:\n{result.stdout}\nSTDERR:\n{result.stderr}"
+    )
+
+    payloads = [json.loads(p.read_text()) for p in sorted(out_dir.glob("rank_*.json"))]
+    if len(payloads) < 2 or any(p["world"] < 2 for p in payloads):
+        pytest.skip("environment did not spawn >= 2 distributed processes (e.g. local macOS multi-CPU)")
+
+    rank_sets = [set(p["indices"]) for p in payloads]
+    assert rank_sets[0].isdisjoint(rank_sets[1]), "ranks streamed overlapping frames under accelerate launch"
+    assert set().union(*rank_sets) == set(range(total_frames)), "ranks did not jointly cover all frames"
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    sys.exit(pytest.main([__file__, "-v"]))

tests/datasets/test_streaming_native.py

@@ -0,0 +1,430 @@
+# Copyright 2025 The HuggingFace Inc. team. All rights reserved.
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""Tests for the HF-native large-scale streaming additions: distributed (per-rank) sharding,
+DataLoader worker splitting, the episode pool (randomness, coverage, exact deltas), video
+prefetching, deterministic fast-forward resume, and schema parity."""
+
+import pytest
+import torch
+from torch.utils.data import DataLoader
+
+pytest.importorskip("datasets", reason="datasets is required (install lerobot[dataset])")
+
+from lerobot.datasets.streaming_dataset import StreamingLeRobotDataset
+from lerobot.utils.constants import ACTION
+from tests.fixtures.constants import DUMMY_REPO_ID
+
+
+def _make_local_dataset(factory, root, repo_id, *, total_episodes, total_frames, use_videos=False, **kw):
+    factory(
+        root=root,
+        repo_id=repo_id,
+        total_episodes=total_episodes,
+        total_frames=total_frames,
+        use_videos=use_videos,
+        data_files_size_in_mb=0.001,
+        chunks_size=1,
+        **kw,
+    )
+
+
+def _stream_indices(ds: StreamingLeRobotDataset) -> list[int]:
+    return [int(frame["index"]) for frame in ds]
+
+
+def test_resolve_distributed_prefers_explicit_then_env(monkeypatch):
+    assert StreamingLeRobotDataset._resolve_distributed(2, 8) == (2, 8)
+
+    monkeypatch.delenv("RANK", raising=False)
+    monkeypatch.delenv("WORLD_SIZE", raising=False)
+    # No accelerate state, no env -> single process.
+    assert StreamingLeRobotDataset._resolve_distributed(None, None) == (0, 1)
+
+    monkeypatch.setenv("RANK", "3")
+    monkeypatch.setenv("WORLD_SIZE", "4")
+    assert StreamingLeRobotDataset._resolve_distributed(None, None) == (3, 4)
+
+
+def test_split_by_node_disjoint_across_ranks(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """Each rank must stream a disjoint set of frames, and the ranks together must cover every frame."""
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-ranks"
+    total_frames, total_episodes = 200, 8
+    _make_local_dataset(
+        lerobot_dataset_factory,
+        tmp_path / "ds",
+        repo_id,
+        total_episodes=total_episodes,
+        total_frames=total_frames,
+    )
+
+    world_size = 2
+    per_rank = []
+    for rank in range(world_size):
+        ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+            repo_id=repo_id,
+            root=tmp_path / "ds",
+            shuffle=False,
+            episode_pool_size=8,
+            max_num_shards=8,
+            rank=rank,
+            world_size=world_size,
+        )
+        per_rank.append(set(_stream_indices(ds)))
+
+    assert per_rank[0].isdisjoint(per_rank[1]), (
+        "ranks streamed overlapping frames (duplicate data across GPUs)"
+    )
+    assert per_rank[0] | per_rank[1] == set(range(total_frames)), "ranks did not jointly cover all frames"
+
+
+def test_dataloader_workers_no_duplicates_within_rank(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """DataLoader workers within a rank must split shards so no frame is yielded twice."""
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-workers"
+    total_frames, total_episodes = 120, 8
+    _make_local_dataset(
+        lerobot_dataset_factory,
+        tmp_path / "ds",
+        repo_id,
+        total_episodes=total_episodes,
+        total_frames=total_frames,
+    )
+
+    ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+        repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=False, episode_pool_size=4, max_num_shards=4
+    )
+    loader = DataLoader(ds, batch_size=None, num_workers=2)
+    indices = [int(batch["index"]) for batch in loader]
+
+    assert len(indices) == len(set(indices)), "DataLoader workers yielded duplicate frames within a rank"
+
+
+def test_sarm_window_covers_long_horizon_without_padding(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """A delta window longer than the old 100-frame ceiling must fetch real frames, not pad them.
+
+    SARM uses a window of 8 steps spaced 1s (~160 frames @ fps20). Here fps=30, so +5s = 150 frames > 100.
+    """
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-sarm"
+    # A single long episode so a +150-frame lookahead is unambiguously inside the episode (the fixture
+    # gives episodes variable lengths, so multi-episode boundaries can't be assumed).
+    episode_frames = 300
+    _make_local_dataset(
+        lerobot_dataset_factory, tmp_path / "ds", repo_id, total_episodes=1, total_frames=episode_frames
+    )
+
+    horizon_s = 5.0  # 150 frames @ fps30, well beyond LOOKAHEAD_BACKTRACKTABLE=100
+    delta_timestamps = {ACTION: [0.0, horizon_s]}
+    ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+        repo_id=repo_id,
+        root=tmp_path / "ds",
+        shuffle=False,
+        episode_pool_size=1,
+        max_num_shards=1,
+        delta_timestamps=delta_timestamps,
+    )
+
+    horizon_frames = int(round(horizon_s * ds.fps))
+    assert horizon_frames > 100, "test must exceed the old LOOKAHEAD_BACKTRACKTABLE ceiling"
+    checked = 0
+    for frame in ds:
+        idx = int(frame["index"])
+        # The +horizon target is inside the single episode -> it must be a real frame, not padding.
+        if idx + horizon_frames < episode_frames:
+            assert not bool(frame[f"{ACTION}_is_pad"][-1]), (
+                f"frame {idx}: +{horizon_frames} target was padded; long delta window did not reach it"
+            )
+            checked += 1
+    assert checked > 0, "test did not exercise any in-episode long-horizon frame"
+
+
+def test_pool_order_is_deterministic_per_seed(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-seeds"
+    _make_local_dataset(lerobot_dataset_factory, tmp_path / "ds", repo_id, total_episodes=6, total_frames=120)
+
+    def order(seed):
+        return _stream_indices(
+            StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+                repo_id=repo_id,
+                root=tmp_path / "ds",
+                shuffle=True,
+                seed=seed,
+                episode_pool_size=4,
+                max_num_shards=2,
+            )
+        )
+
+    assert order(0) == order(0), "same seed must reproduce the same order"
+    assert order(0) != order(1), "different seeds should give different orders"
+
+
+def test_pool_epochs_reshuffle_and_cover(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """Consecutive passes over the same dataset object reshuffle (epoch advances) but keep coverage."""
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-epochs"
+    total_frames = 120
+    _make_local_dataset(
+        lerobot_dataset_factory, tmp_path / "ds", repo_id, total_episodes=6, total_frames=total_frames
+    )
+    ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+        repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=True, seed=3, episode_pool_size=4, max_num_shards=2
+    )
+    epoch_0 = _stream_indices(ds)
+    epoch_1 = _stream_indices(ds)
+    assert sorted(epoch_0) == sorted(epoch_1) == list(range(total_frames))
+    assert epoch_0 != epoch_1, "epoch did not reshuffle"
+
+
+def test_pool_mixes_episodes(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """Early samples should already come from several distinct episodes (the pool's purpose)."""
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-mix"
+    _make_local_dataset(lerobot_dataset_factory, tmp_path / "ds", repo_id, total_episodes=8, total_frames=200)
+    ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+        repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=True, seed=0, episode_pool_size=8, max_num_shards=4
+    )
+    episodes_in_head = {int(frame["episode_index"]) for _, frame in zip(range(20), ds, strict=False)}
+    assert len(episodes_in_head) >= 3, f"pool did not mix episodes: {episodes_in_head}"
+
+
+def test_schema_parity_with_map_style(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """Streamed samples must have the same keys / shapes / dtypes as map-style LeRobotDataset."""
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-parity"
+    map_ds = lerobot_dataset_factory(
+        root=tmp_path / "ds", repo_id=repo_id, total_episodes=4, total_frames=80, use_videos=True
+    )
+    stream_ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+        repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=False, episode_pool_size=4, max_num_shards=2
+    )
+
+    map_frame = map_ds[0]
+    stream_frame = next(iter(stream_ds))
+
+    assert set(stream_frame) == set(map_frame), set(stream_frame) ^ set(map_frame)
+    for key, value in stream_frame.items():
+        ref = map_frame[key]
+        if isinstance(value, torch.Tensor):
+            assert isinstance(ref, torch.Tensor) and value.shape == ref.shape and value.dtype == ref.dtype, (
+                f"{key}: stream {tuple(value.shape)}/{value.dtype} vs map {tuple(ref.shape)}/{ref.dtype}"
+            )
+        elif isinstance(value, str):
+            assert isinstance(ref, str), f"{key}: {type(value)} vs {type(ref)}"
+        else:
+            # Scalar numerics: streaming yields python floats where map-style yields 0-dim tensors
+            # (a long-standing, accepted difference). Compare by value rather than exact type.
+            assert float(value) == float(ref), f"{key}: {value} vs {ref}"
+
+
+def test_video_path_resolution_local(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory, monkeypatch):
+    """For a local (prewarmed) root, video decode must be issued against the local path, not hf://."""
+    import lerobot.datasets.streaming_dataset as sd
+
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-vpath"
+    lerobot_dataset_factory(
+        root=tmp_path / "ds", repo_id=repo_id, total_episodes=2, total_frames=40, use_videos=True
+    )
+    ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+        repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=False, episode_pool_size=1, max_num_shards=1
+    )
+
+    seen_paths = []
+
+    def fake_decode(video_path, query_ts, *args, **kwargs):
+        seen_paths.append(str(video_path))
+        return torch.zeros(len(query_ts), 3, 64, 96)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(sd, "decode_video_frames_torchcodec", fake_decode)
+    next(iter(ds))
+
+    assert seen_paths, "no video decode was issued"
+    assert all(str(ds.root) in p and not p.startswith("hf://") for p in seen_paths), seen_paths
+
+
+def test_shuffle_decorrelates_output_order(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """With shuffle on, streamed frame order must differ from the underlying sequential order."""
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-shuf"
+    _make_local_dataset(lerobot_dataset_factory, tmp_path / "ds", repo_id, total_episodes=8, total_frames=200)
+    ordered = _stream_indices(
+        StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+            repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=False, episode_pool_size=1, max_num_shards=1
+        )
+    )
+    shuffled = _stream_indices(
+        StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+            repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=True, episode_pool_size=8, max_num_shards=4, seed=0
+        )
+    )
+    assert sorted(shuffled) == sorted(ordered), "shuffling changed the set of frames"
+    assert shuffled != ordered, "shuffle did not decorrelate output order"
+
+
+def test_native_resume_never_repeats_and_loss_is_bounded(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """Native state_dict resume: no sample is re-yielded; loss is bounded by the shuffle buffers."""
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-native-resume"
+    total_frames = 100
+    _make_local_dataset(
+        lerobot_dataset_factory, tmp_path / "ds", repo_id, total_episodes=5, total_frames=total_frames
+    )
+
+    def fresh_ds():
+        return StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+            repo_id=repo_id,
+            root=tmp_path / "ds",
+            shuffle=True,
+            seed=7,
+            episode_pool_size=2,
+            frame_shuffle_buffer_size=8,
+        )
+
+    ds = fresh_ds()
+    it = iter(ds)
+    consumed = [int(next(it)["index"]) for _ in range(30)]
+    state = ds.state_dict()
+
+    resumed_ds = fresh_ds()
+    resumed_ds.load_state_dict(state)
+    rest = [int(frame["index"]) for frame in resumed_ds]
+
+    assert not set(consumed) & set(rest), "resume re-yielded already-seen frames"
+    # in-flight buffer contents are skipped on resume (documented datasets behavior):
+    # bounded by the episode pool (2 episodes of <= ~30 frames here) + frame buffer (8)
+    covered = len(set(consumed) | set(rest))
+    max_in_flight = 2 * 30 + 8
+    assert covered >= total_frames - max_in_flight
+    assert covered + len(consumed) >= total_frames - max_in_flight
+
+
+def test_pipeline_uses_native_primitives(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """The tabular pipeline is pure datasets: batch(by_column) + shuffle + map + shuffle."""
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-native-pipe"
+    _make_local_dataset(lerobot_dataset_factory, tmp_path / "ds", repo_id, total_episodes=4, total_frames=80)
+    ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=True, episode_pool_size=2)
+    import datasets as hf_datasets
+
+    assert isinstance(ds._pipeline, hf_datasets.IterableDataset)
+    state = ds._pipeline.state_dict()  # the native resume protocol is available end-to-end
+    assert state is not None
+
+
+# --- Plan B: random-episode admission via reshard() + multi-input-shard shuffle ---
+
+
+def test_reshard_makes_one_shard_per_episode(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """With one row group per episode (the writer's invariant), reshard() turns each episode into its
+    own shard, so num_shards == total_episodes even when many episodes share a single data file."""
+    import pyarrow.parquet as pq
+
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-reshard"
+    total_episodes = 3
+    # Default (large) data-file size packs all (unequal-length) episodes into one file, so the only way
+    # num_shards can reach total_episodes is per-row-group resharding.
+    lerobot_dataset_factory(
+        root=tmp_path / "ds",
+        repo_id=repo_id,
+        total_episodes=total_episodes,
+        total_frames=90,
+        use_videos=False,
+    )
+    ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=False, episode_pool_size=3)
+
+    file_to_eps = ds._episode_files()
+    assert len(file_to_eps) == 1, "test expects all episodes packed into a single data file"
+    for (chunk_idx, file_idx), eps in file_to_eps.items():
+        rel = ds.meta.data_path.format(chunk_index=chunk_idx, file_index=file_idx)
+        assert pq.ParquetFile(str(ds.root / rel)).num_row_groups == len(eps)
+
+    assert ds.num_shards == total_episodes
+
+
+def test_max_buffer_input_shards_admits_random_episodes(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """max_buffer_input_shards (== concurrently-live random episodes) drives the per-batch episode mix:
+    a single batch should already span most of the live episodes."""
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-frac"
+    total_episodes = 8
+    lerobot_dataset_factory(
+        root=tmp_path / "ds",
+        repo_id=repo_id,
+        total_episodes=total_episodes,
+        total_frames=240,
+        use_videos=False,
+    )
+    ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+        repo_id=repo_id,
+        root=tmp_path / "ds",
+        shuffle=True,
+        seed=0,
+        episode_pool_size=total_episodes,
+        max_buffer_input_shards=total_episodes,
+    )
+    assert ds.max_buffer_input_shards == total_episodes
+
+    batch = 32
+    head = {int(frame["episode_index"]) for _, frame in zip(range(batch), ds, strict=False)}
+    assert len(head) >= min(total_episodes, batch) - 2, f"batch did not mix random episodes: {head}"
+
+
+def test_collapsed_row_groups_raise(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """A data file that collapses several episodes into a single row group (bulk df.to_parquet /
+    push_to_hub) must be rejected with an actionable error: reshard() cannot address its episodes."""
+    import pyarrow.parquet as pq
+
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-collapsed"
+    lerobot_dataset_factory(
+        root=tmp_path / "ds", repo_id=repo_id, total_episodes=3, total_frames=90, use_videos=False
+    )
+    # Rewrite every data file as a single row group (simulating the aggregate/push_to_hub collapse).
+    for parquet_path in (tmp_path / "ds" / "data").rglob("*.parquet"):
+        pq.write_table(pq.read_table(parquet_path), parquet_path)
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="ONE ROW GROUP PER EPISODE"):
+        StreamingLeRobotDataset(repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=False, episode_pool_size=3)
+
+
+def test_collapsed_row_groups_can_be_bypassed(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """validate_row_groups=False skips the row-group check (collapsed datasets still load, degraded)."""
+    import pyarrow.parquet as pq
+
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-collapsed-bypass"
+    lerobot_dataset_factory(
+        root=tmp_path / "ds", repo_id=repo_id, total_episodes=3, total_frames=90, use_videos=False
+    )
+    for parquet_path in (tmp_path / "ds" / "data").rglob("*.parquet"):
+        pq.write_table(pq.read_table(parquet_path), parquet_path)
+
+    ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+        repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=False, episode_pool_size=3, validate_row_groups=False
+    )
+    assert sorted(int(frame["index"]) for frame in ds) == list(range(90))
+
+
+def test_distributed_divisibility_guard_raises(tmp_path, lerobot_dataset_factory):
+    """When num_shards (== episodes after reshard) is not divisible by world_size, every rank would
+    stream the whole dataset; the guard must raise instead of silently degrading."""
+    repo_id = f"{DUMMY_REPO_ID}-divis"
+    lerobot_dataset_factory(
+        root=tmp_path / "ds", repo_id=repo_id, total_episodes=3, total_frames=90, use_videos=False
+    )
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="not divisible by world_size"):
+        StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+            repo_id=repo_id, root=tmp_path / "ds", shuffle=False, episode_pool_size=3, rank=0, world_size=2
+        )
+
+    # Bypassing the guard downgrades it to a warning (no raise).
+    ds = StreamingLeRobotDataset(
+        repo_id=repo_id,
+        root=tmp_path / "ds",
+        shuffle=False,
+        episode_pool_size=3,
+        rank=0,
+        world_size=2,
+        validate_row_groups=False,
+    )
+    assert ds.num_shards == 3

tests/fixtures/files.py

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 import datasets
 import numpy as np
 import pandas as pd
+import pyarrow.parquet as pq
 import pytest
 from datasets import Dataset
 
@@ -35,6 +36,24 @@ from lerobot.datasets.utils import (
 )
 
 
+def _to_parquet_one_row_group_per_episode(hf_dataset: Dataset, path: Path) -> None:
+    """Write ``hf_dataset`` to ``path`` with one Parquet row group per episode.
+
+    Mirrors the LeRobot recording writer (one ``write_table`` per episode) so each episode stays an
+    independently addressable shard after ``datasets.IterableDataset.reshard()``, which
+    ``StreamingLeRobotDataset`` relies on. ``Dataset.to_parquet`` would collapse the file into a
+    single row group instead.
+    """
+    table = hf_dataset.with_format("arrow")[:]
+    episode_index = np.asarray(hf_dataset["episode_index"])
+    boundaries = np.where(np.diff(episode_index) != 0)[0] + 1
+    starts = [0, *boundaries.tolist()]
+    ends = [*boundaries.tolist(), len(episode_index)]
+    with pq.ParquetWriter(str(path), table.schema) as writer:
+        for start, end in zip(starts, ends, strict=True):
+            writer.write_table(table.slice(start, end - start))
+
+
 def write_hf_dataset(
     hf_dataset: Dataset,
     local_dir: Path,
@@ -67,7 +86,7 @@ def write_hf_dataset(
         # If the dataset is small enough, write it to a single file.
         path = local_dir / DEFAULT_DATA_PATH.format(chunk_index=0, file_index=0)
         path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
-        hf_dataset.to_parquet(path)
+        _to_parquet_one_row_group_per_episode(hf_dataset, path)
         return
 
     # If the dataset is too large, split it into smaller chunks, keeping episodes whole.
@@ -114,8 +133,8 @@ def write_hf_dataset(
         path = local_dir / DEFAULT_DATA_PATH.format(chunk_index=chunk_idx, file_index=file_idx)
         path.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
 
-        # Write the shard to a Parquet file.
-        dataset_shard.to_parquet(path)
+        # Write the shard to a Parquet file (one row group per episode).
+        _to_parquet_one_row_group_per_episode(dataset_shard, path)
 
         # Update chunk and file indices for the next iteration.
         chunk_idx, file_idx = update_chunk_file_indices(chunk_idx, file_idx, chunk_size)

uv.lock

@@ -1084,8 +1084,8 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "datasets"
-version = "4.8.5"
-source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+version = "5.0.1.dev0"
+source = { git = "https://github.com/huggingface/datasets.git?rev=2c45eab1bb975ac3d846f2aa6217b82adec8eba3#2c45eab1bb975ac3d846f2aa6217b82adec8eba3" }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "dill" },
     { name = "filelock" },
@@ -1102,10 +1102,6 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "tqdm" },
     { name = "xxhash" },
 ]
-sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/66/34/14cd8e76f907f7d4dca2334cfeec9f81d30fd15c25a015f99aaea694eaed/datasets-4.8.5.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:0f0c1c3d56ffff2c93b2f4c63c95bac94f3d7e8621aea2a2a576275233bba772", size = 605649, upload-time = "2026-04-27T15:43:57.384Z" }
-wheels = [
-    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/65/99/00f3196036501b53032c4b1ab8337a0b978dee832ed276dae3815df4e8b5/datasets-4.8.5-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:5079900781719c0e063a8efdd2cd95a31ad0c63209178669cd23cf1b926149ff", size = 528973, upload-time = "2026-04-27T15:43:53.702Z" },
-]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "debugpy"
@@ -3078,7 +3074,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "av", marker = "extra == 'av-dep'", specifier = ">=15.0.0,<16.0.0" },
     { name = "cmake", specifier = ">=3.29.0.1,<4.2.0" },
     { name = "contourpy", marker = "extra == 'matplotlib-dep'", specifier = ">=1.3.0,<2.0.0" },
-    { name = "datasets", marker = "extra == 'dataset'", specifier = ">=4.7.0,<5.0.0" },
+    { name = "datasets", marker = "extra == 'dataset'", git = "https://github.com/huggingface/datasets.git?rev=2c45eab1bb975ac3d846f2aa6217b82adec8eba3" },
     { name = "debugpy", marker = "extra == 'dev'", specifier = ">=1.8.1,<1.9.0" },
     { name = "decord", marker = "(platform_machine == 'AMD64' and extra == 'groot') or (platform_machine == 'x86_64' and extra == 'groot')", specifier = ">=0.6.0,<1.0.0" },
     { name = "deepdiff", marker = "extra == 'deepdiff-dep'", specifier = ">=7.0.1,<9.0.0" },