{"id":78,"library":"transformers","title":"Hugging Face Transformers","description":"The central model-definition framework for state-of-the-art ML models across text, vision, audio, video, and multimodal tasks. Provides pretrained model weights, tokenizers, pipelines, and training APIs. Interfaces with PyTorch (primary), with 400+ model architectures and 750k+ checkpoints on the Hub. MAJOR VERSION NOTE: v5 released late 2025 — first major release in 5 years. v5 is PyTorch-only (TensorFlow/Flax/JAX removed). pip install transformers installs v5 as of Feb 2026. v4 was the last stable version before this; v4.57.x is the last v4 release. Requires Python 3.10+ in v5.","status":"active","version":"5.2.0","language":"python","source_language":"en","source_url":"https://github.com/huggingface/transformers","tags":["transformers","huggingface","pytorch","llm","bert","gpt","pipeline","embeddings","fine-tuning","inference","pretrained-models"],"install":[{"cmd":"pip install transformers[torch]","lang":"bash","label":"With PyTorch (recommended)"},{"cmd":"pip install transformers","lang":"bash","label":"Core only (no backend — add torch/tf/jax separately)"},{"cmd":"pip install transformers[vision]","lang":"bash","label":"With vision dependencies (Pillow, torchvision)"},{"cmd":"pip install transformers[audio]","lang":"bash","label":"With audio dependencies (librosa, soundfile)"},{"cmd":"pip install 'transformers<5'","lang":"bash","label":"Pin to v4.x (last v4: 4.57.3) if v5 breaking changes are blocking"}],"dependencies":[{"reason":"Required for v5. TensorFlow and Flax/JAX support removed in v5. PyTorch 2.4+ recommended.","package":"torch","optional":false},{"reason":"Required. Used for model downloading, caching, and Hub interactions.","package":"huggingface_hub","optional":false},{"reason":"Required. Rust-based fast tokenizer backend. v5 consolidates all tokenizers to use this or sentencepiece.","package":"tokenizers","optional":false},{"reason":"Required for device_map='auto', multi-GPU, and most modern inference patterns.","package":"accelerate","optional":true}],"imports":[{"note":"pipeline() is the recommended high-level entry point. Handles model + tokenizer loading and pre/post processing.","wrong":"import transformers; transformers.pipeline()","symbol":"pipeline","correct":"from transformers import pipeline"},{"note":"Always use Auto classes (AutoModel, AutoTokenizer, AutoConfig) over model-specific classes for forward compatibility.","symbol":"AutoModelForCausalLM","correct":"from transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, AutoTokenizer"},{"note":"AutoFeatureExtractor is removed in v5. Use AutoImageProcessor for vision models.","wrong":"from transformers import AutoFeatureExtractor","symbol":"AutoImageProcessor (v5)","correct":"from transformers import AutoImageProcessor"}],"quickstart":{"code":"from transformers import pipeline\n\n# Text generation\ngenerator = pipeline(\"text-generation\", model=\"Qwen/Qwen2.5-0.5B-Instruct\")\nresult = generator(\"The future of AI is\", max_new_tokens=50)\nprint(result[0]['generated_text'])\n\n# Embeddings / feature extraction\nfrom transformers import AutoTokenizer, AutoModel\nimport torch\n\ntokenizer = AutoTokenizer.from_pretrained(\"bert-base-uncased\")\nmodel = AutoModel.from_pretrained(\"bert-base-uncased\")\n\ninputs = tokenizer(\"Hello, world!\", return_tensors=\"pt\")\nwith torch.no_grad():\n    outputs = model(**inputs)\n    embeddings = outputs.last_hidden_state[:, 0, :]  # [CLS] token\nprint(embeddings.shape)  # torch.Size([1, 768])\n\n# Quantized inference (v5 pattern)\nfrom transformers import AutoModelForCausalLM, BitsAndBytesConfig\nquant_config = BitsAndBytesConfig(load_in_4bit=True)\nmodel = AutoModelForCausalLM.from_pretrained(\n    \"meta-llama/Llama-3.2-3B\",\n    quantization_config=quant_config,\n    device_map=\"auto\"\n)","lang":"python","description":"pipeline() handles everything automatically. For quantization in v5, use BitsAndBytesConfig — passing load_in_4bit=True directly to from_pretrained() is removed."},"warnings":[{"fix":"Migrate to PyTorch. If TF/Flax is required, pin: pip install 'transformers<5'. Last v4 release: 4.57.3.","message":"v5 drops TensorFlow and Flax/JAX support entirely. TFAutoModel, FlaxAutoModel, and all TF/Flax model classes are removed. pip install transformers now installs v5 — existing code using TF/Flax will break on import.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"v5.0+"},{"fix":"from transformers import BitsAndBytesConfig; model = AutoModel.from_pretrained(id, quantization_config=BitsAndBytesConfig(load_in_4bit=True))","message":"load_in_4bit and load_in_8bit as direct kwargs to from_pretrained() are removed in v5. Must use BitsAndBytesConfig.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"v5.0+"},{"fix":"Replace AutoFeatureExtractor with AutoImageProcessor. Install torchvision if missing.","message":"AutoFeatureExtractor removed in v5. Use AutoImageProcessor. Fast/slow image processor distinction also eliminated — only 'fast' variants (requires torchvision) remain.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"v5.0+"},{"fix":"Replace encode_plus() with direct tokenizer() call: tokenizer(text, truncation=True, padding='max_length', max_length=128, return_tensors='pt')","message":"tokenizer.encode_plus() deprecated in v5. tokenization_utils and tokenization_utils_fast module paths removed and redirected.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"v5.0+"},{"fix":"Replace: export TRANSFORMERS_CACHE=/path with: export HF_HOME=/path","message":"TRANSFORMERS_CACHE environment variable removed in v5. Cache location now controlled by HF_HOME.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"v5.0+"},{"fix":"Upgrade to Python 3.10+. Or pin transformers<5 for Python 3.9.","message":"Python 3.10+ required in v5. Python 3.9 and below are not supported.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"v5.0+"},{"fix":"Always install with extras: pip install transformers[torch]. Or install torch separately first.","message":"pip install transformers (no extras) installs the package but does NOT install PyTorch. Importing any model then raises 'No module named torch'. This is a constant source of confusion for new users.","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":"all"},{"fix":"Set HF_HOME to a volume with sufficient space. Pre-download models using snapshot_download() or huggingface-cli download.","message":"Models are downloaded to ~/.cache/huggingface/hub on first from_pretrained() call. Large models (7B+) can be tens of GB. In CI or containers with limited disk, this causes silent failures or disk full errors.","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":"all"},{"fix":"pip install accelerate alongside transformers.","message":"device_map='auto' requires accelerate to be installed. Without it, from_pretrained(..., device_map='auto') raises ImportError. Not installed by default with transformers[torch].","severity":"gotcha","affected_versions":"all"},{"fix":"Ensure your Alpine environment has `build-base` and `rust` packages installed (e.g., `apk add build-base rust`). For newer Python versions or if issues persist, consider using official Python images based on glibc (e.g., `python:3.x-slim-bullseye` instead of `python:3.x-alpine`) or explicitly pinning `tokenizers` to a version with a compatible musl wheel if available.","message":"Building `tokenizers` (a core dependency of `transformers`) from source often fails on musl-based Linux distributions (like Alpine) due to missing C toolchain libraries (e.g., `libgcc_s.so.1`) or Rust compilation issues. This occurs when compatible pre-built wheels for the specific Python version and musl architecture are not available, forcing a source build.","severity":"breaking","affected_versions":"all"}],"env_vars":null,"last_verified":"2026-05-12T07:48:44.965Z","next_check":"2026-05-28T00:00:00.000Z","problems":[{"fix":"Migrate your code to use PyTorch-compatible classes and functions, or downgrade `transformers` to a v4 version (e.g., `pip install transformers==4.x.x`) if TensorFlow support is essential.","cause":"Transformers v5 removed all TensorFlow and Flax backend support, including the `modeling_tf_utils` module, making it a PyTorch-only library.","error":"ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'transformers.modeling_tf_utils'"},{"fix":"Upgrade your Python installation to version 3.10 or higher, or install `transformers` v4 (e.g., `pip install transformers==4.x.x`) if you need to use an older Python version.","cause":"Transformers v5 explicitly requires Python version 3.10 or newer, and your current environment is running an older Python version.","error":"ImportError: transformers requires Python 3.10 or higher."},{"fix":"Add `trust_remote_code=True` to your `from_pretrained()` call (e.g., `AutoModel.from_pretrained('org/model', trust_remote_code=True)`), but only if you understand and trust the source of the custom code.","cause":"You are attempting to load a model or tokenizer from the Hugging Face Hub that includes custom Python code, which `transformers` blocks by default for security reasons.","error":"ValueError: Loading a model with custom code requires passing `trust_remote_code=True`."},{"fix":"Double-check the model name for typos, ensure you have an an active internet connection, and if it's a private model, ensure you are logged in (`huggingface-cli login`) or provide a valid authentication token.","cause":"The specified model or its configuration/weights could not be found or accessed on the Hugging Face Hub or locally, possibly due to a typo, network issues, or a private model without proper authentication.","error":"OSError: Can't load weights for 'MODEL_NAME'. If you were trying to load it from 'https://huggingface.co/...' or from local files"}],"ecosystem":"pypi","meta_description":null,"install_score":18,"install_tag":"stale","quickstart_score":0,"quickstart_tag":"stale","pypi_latest":null,"install_checks":{"last_tested":"2026-05-12","tag":"stale","tag_description":"widespread failures or data too old to trust","results":[{"runtime":"python:3.10-alpine","python_version":"3.10","os_libc":"alpine (musl)","variant":"default","exit_code":0,"wheel_type":null,"failure_reason":null,"install_time_s":null,"import_time_s":4.5,"mem_mb":36.7,"disk_size":"244.6M"},{"runtime":"python:3.10-alpine","python_version":"3.10","os_libc":"alpine (musl)","variant":"default","exit_code":0,"wheel_type":null,"failure_reason":null,"install_time_s":null,"import_time_s":3.83,"mem_mb":38.5,"disk_size":"243.4M"},{"runtime":"python:3.10-alpine","python_version":"3.10","os_libc":"alpine 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