Backends#

Starting with version 3, emcee has an interface for serializing the sampler output. This can be useful in any scenario where you want to share the results of sampling or when sampling with an expensive model because, even if the sampler crashes, the current state of the chain will always be saved.

There is currently one backend that can be used to serialize the chain to a file: emcee.backends.HDFBackend. The methods and options for this backend are documented below. It can also be used as a reader for existing samplings. For example, if a chain was saved using the backends.HDFBackend, the results can be accessed as follows:

reader = emcee.backends.HDFBackend("chain_filename.h5", read_only=True)
flatchain = reader.get_chain(flat=True)

The read_only argument is not required, but it will make sure that you don’t inadvertently overwrite the samples in the file.

class emcee.backends.Backend(dtype=None)#

A simple default backend that stores the chain in memory

get_autocorr_time(discard=0, thin=1, **kwargs)#

Compute an estimate of the autocorrelation time for each parameter

Parameters

  • thin (Optional[int]) – Use only every thin steps from the chain. The returned estimate is multiplied by thin so the estimated time is in units of steps, not thinned steps. (default: 1)

  • discard (Optional[int]) – Discard the first discard steps in the chain as burn-in. (default: 0)

Other arguments are passed directly to emcee.autocorr.integrated_time().

Returns

The integrated autocorrelation time estimate for the

chain for each parameter.

Return type

array[ndim]

get_blobs(**kwargs)#

Get the chain of blobs for each sample in the chain

Parameters

  • flat (Optional[bool]) – Flatten the chain across the ensemble. (default: False)

  • thin (Optional[int]) – Take only every thin steps from the chain. (default: 1)

  • discard (Optional[int]) – Discard the first discard steps in the chain as burn-in. (default: 0)

Returns

The chain of blobs.

Return type

array[…, nwalkers]

get_chain(**kwargs)#

Get the stored chain of MCMC samples

Parameters

  • flat (Optional[bool]) – Flatten the chain across the ensemble. (default: False)

  • thin (Optional[int]) – Take only every thin steps from the chain. (default: 1)

  • discard (Optional[int]) – Discard the first discard steps in the chain as burn-in. (default: 0)

Returns

The MCMC samples.

Return type

array[…, nwalkers, ndim]

get_last_sample()#

Access the most recent sample in the chain

get_log_prob(**kwargs)#

Get the chain of log probabilities evaluated at the MCMC samples

Parameters

  • flat (Optional[bool]) – Flatten the chain across the ensemble. (default: False)

  • thin (Optional[int]) – Take only every thin steps from the chain. (default: 1)

  • discard (Optional[int]) – Discard the first discard steps in the chain as burn-in. (default: 0)

Returns

The chain of log probabilities.

Return type

array[…, nwalkers]

grow(ngrow, blobs)#

Expand the storage space by some number of samples

Parameters

  • ngrow (int) – The number of steps to grow the chain.

  • blobs – The current array of blobs. This is used to compute the dtype for the blobs array.

has_blobs()#

Returns True if the model includes blobs

reset(nwalkers, ndim)#

Clear the state of the chain and empty the backend

Parameters

  • nwakers (int) – The size of the ensemble

  • ndim (int) – The number of dimensions

save_step(state, accepted)#

Save a step to the backend

Parameters

  • state (State) – The State of the ensemble.

  • accepted (ndarray) – An array of boolean flags indicating whether or not the proposal for each walker was accepted.

property shape#

The dimensions of the ensemble (nwalkers, ndim)

class emcee.backends.HDFBackend(filename, name='mcmc', read_only=False, dtype=None, compression=None, compression_opts=None)#

A backend that stores the chain in an HDF5 file using h5py

Note

You must install h5py to use this backend.

Parameters

  • filename (str) – The name of the HDF5 file where the chain will be saved.

  • name (str; optional) – The name of the group where the chain will be saved.

  • read_only (bool; optional) – If True, the backend will throw a RuntimeError if the file is opened with write access.

get_autocorr_time(discard=0, thin=1, **kwargs)#

Compute an estimate of the autocorrelation time for each parameter

Parameters

  • thin (Optional[int]) – Use only every thin steps from the chain. The returned estimate is multiplied by thin so the estimated time is in units of steps, not thinned steps. (default: 1)

  • discard (Optional[int]) – Discard the first discard steps in the chain as burn-in. (default: 0)

Other arguments are passed directly to emcee.autocorr.integrated_time().

Returns

The integrated autocorrelation time estimate for the

chain for each parameter.

Return type

array[ndim]

get_blobs(**kwargs)#

Get the chain of blobs for each sample in the chain

Parameters

  • flat (Optional[bool]) – Flatten the chain across the ensemble. (default: False)

  • thin (Optional[int]) – Take only every thin steps from the chain. (default: 1)

  • discard (Optional[int]) – Discard the first discard steps in the chain as burn-in. (default: 0)

Returns

The chain of blobs.

Return type

array[…, nwalkers]

get_chain(**kwargs)#

Get the stored chain of MCMC samples

Parameters

  • flat (Optional[bool]) – Flatten the chain across the ensemble. (default: False)

  • thin (Optional[int]) – Take only every thin steps from the chain. (default: 1)

  • discard (Optional[int]) – Discard the first discard steps in the chain as burn-in. (default: 0)

Returns

The MCMC samples.

Return type

array[…, nwalkers, ndim]

get_last_sample()#

Access the most recent sample in the chain

get_log_prob(**kwargs)#

Get the chain of log probabilities evaluated at the MCMC samples

Parameters

  • flat (Optional[bool]) – Flatten the chain across the ensemble. (default: False)

  • thin (Optional[int]) – Take only every thin steps from the chain. (default: 1)

  • discard (Optional[int]) – Discard the first discard steps in the chain as burn-in. (default: 0)

Returns

The chain of log probabilities.

Return type

array[…, nwalkers]

grow(ngrow, blobs)#

Expand the storage space by some number of samples

Parameters

  • ngrow (int) – The number of steps to grow the chain.

  • blobs – The current array of blobs. This is used to compute the dtype for the blobs array.

has_blobs()#

Returns True if the model includes blobs

reset(nwalkers, ndim)#

Clear the state of the chain and empty the backend

Parameters

  • nwakers (int) – The size of the ensemble

  • ndim (int) – The number of dimensions

save_step(state, accepted)#

Save a step to the backend

Parameters

  • state (State) – The State of the ensemble.

  • accepted (ndarray) – An array of boolean flags indicating whether or not the proposal for each walker was accepted.

property shape#

The dimensions of the ensemble (nwalkers, ndim)