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This walkthrough demonstrates how to create, track, and use a dataset artifact from W&B Runs.

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1. Log into W&B

Import the W&B library and log in to W&B. You will need to sign up for a free W&B account if you have not done so already. 
import wandb

wandb.login()

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2. Initialize a run

Use the wandb.init() API to generate a background process to sync and log data as a W&B Run. Provide a project name and a job type: 
# Create a W&B Run. Here we specify 'dataset' as the job type since this example
# shows how to create a dataset artifact.
run = wandb.init(project="artifacts-example", job_type="upload-dataset")

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3. Create an artifact object

Create an artifact object with the wandb.Artifact() API. Provide a name for the artifact and a description of the file type for the name and type parameters, respectively. For example, the following code snippet demonstrates how to create an artifact called ‘bicycle-dataset’ with a ‘dataset’ label: 
artifact = wandb.Artifact(name="bicycle-dataset", type="dataset")
For more information about how to construct an artifact, see Construct artifacts.

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Add the dataset to the artifact

Add a file to the artifact. Common file types include models and datasets. The following example adds a dataset named dataset.h5 that is saved locally on our machine to the artifact: 
# Add a file to the artifact's contents
artifact.add_file(local_path="dataset.h5")
Replace the filename dataset.h5 in the preceding code snippet with the path to the file you want to add to the artifact.

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4. Log the dataset

Use the W&B run objects log_artifact() method to both save your artifact version and declare the artifact as an output of the run. 
# Save the artifact version to W&B and mark it
# as the output of this run
run.log_artifact(artifact)
A 'latest' alias is created by default when you log an artifact. For more information about artifact aliases and versions, see Create a custom alias and Create new artifact versions, respectively.

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5. Download and use the artifact

The following code example demonstrates the steps you can take to use an artifact you have logged and saved to the W&B servers.
  1. First, initialize a new run object with wandb.init().
  2. Second, use the run objects use_artifact() method to tell W&B what artifact to use. This returns an artifact object.
  3. Third, use the artifacts download() method to download the contents of the artifact.
# Create a W&B Run. Here we specify 'training' for 'type'
# because we will use this run to track training.
run = wandb.init(project="artifacts-example", job_type="training")

# Query W&B for an artifact and mark it as input to this run
artifact = run.use_artifact("bicycle-dataset:latest")

# Download the artifact's contents
artifact_dir = artifact.download()
Alternatively, you can use the Public API (wandb.Api) to export (or update data) data already saved in a W&B outside of a Run. See Track external files for more information.
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