Reference code openai/gpt-2 @ 9b63575, huggingface/transformers @ 71c6f69, configuration openai-community/gpt2 @ 607a30d · checkpoint tensors not independently counted · How to read

GPT-2 model overview

  1. UTF-8 text passes through byte-level BPE, which is configured by fixed vocabulary and merge assets.
  2. Token IDs cross the preprocessing boundary and select rows from the learned token embedding table WTE.
  3. The token sequence shape determines absolute position IDs, independently of token values, which select rows from WPE on a lower positional branch.
  4. Token and position embeddings are added, then training-only embedding dropout produces x zero. Evaluation leaves the sum unchanged.
  5. Exactly 12 transformer blocks transform x zero into x_12.
  6. Final LayerNorm acts across the 768-dimensional feature axis with epsilon equal to 10 to the minus 5.
  7. The transpose view of the shared WTE matrix projects the final states to logits without adding parameters.

Token embedding vectors

×

tensortf.gather(wte, X)

Rows selected from WTE, before adding the learned position embeddings.

shape
EtE_{t} [B batch, T positions, 768 d]
Sources

Contextual evidence from Token embedding

The original TensorFlow graph creates both tables and adds their gathered rows.

openai · openai/gpt-2 / src/model.py
Pinned revision 9b63575ef427 ↗ · lines 152–157

Read code excerpt
        wpe = tf.get_variable('wpe', [hparams.n_ctx, hparams.n_embd],

… lines 153–153 omitted …

        wte = tf.get_variable('wte', [hparams.n_vocab, hparams.n_embd],

… lines 155–156 omitted …

        h = tf.gather(wte, X) + tf.gather(wpe, positions_for(X, past_length))

Contextual evidence from Token embedding

Transformers names the tables wte and wpe, matching the released checkpoint keys.

transformers · huggingface/transformers / src/transformers/models/gpt2/modeling_gpt2.py
Pinned revision 71c6f699ac9b ↗ · lines 492–577

Read code excerpt
        self.wte = nn.Embedding(config.vocab_size, self.embed_dim)
        self.wpe = nn.Embedding(config.max_position_embeddings, self.embed_dim)

… lines 494–568 omitted …

            inputs_embeds = self.wte(input_ids)

… lines 570–575 omitted …

        position_embeds = self.wpe(position_ids)
        hidden_states = inputs_embeds + position_embeds.to(inputs_embeds.device)

Contextual evidence from Embedding addition

For the base GPT-2 text path, embedding dropout follows token-plus-position addition and precedes the block loop; optional token-type embeddings are outside the base text path.

transformers · huggingface/transformers / src/transformers/models/gpt2/modeling_gpt2.py
Pinned revision 71c6f699ac9b ↗ · lines 576–608

Read code excerpt
        hidden_states = inputs_embeds + position_embeds.to(inputs_embeds.device)

… lines 578–603 omitted …

        hidden_states = self.drop(hidden_states)

… lines 605–607 omitted …

        for i, block in enumerate(self.h):

Contextual evidence from Embedding addition

The original graph gathers the two tables and adds them into the initial stream.

openai · openai/gpt-2 / src/model.py
Pinned revision 9b63575ef427 ↗ · lines 152–157

Read code excerpt
        h = tf.gather(wte, X) + tf.gather(wpe, positions_for(X, past_length))