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# v0.6.0 - 2026-09-23

NeMo Platform v0.6.0 expands the 0.5 agent, evaluator, customization, and
Studio workflows into a broader self-managed platform release. The release adds
sandboxed NeMo Gym evaluation, retrieval evaluation support, source-checkout
agent packaging, deployment-backed agent sessions, richer Studio workflows,
workload credential delegation, and operational hardening for Kubernetes,
Docker, and local development.

## Highlights

* **Sandboxed task-driven evaluation.** Agent evaluation can run NeMo Gym tasks
  in a sandboxed host, capture model calls, project Gym trajectories to OTLP,
  publish trial traces to Intake, and use clearer Harbor and Gym result models.
* **Retrieval evaluation and retrieval SDG.** Evaluator adds BEIR and dense
  retrieval helpers, NIM embedding and ranking integrations, retrieval metrics,
  and value types. Data Designer adds retrieval synthetic-data generation for
  Nemotron models.
* **Fabric-backed agent lifecycle.** Agents can be packaged from source
  checkouts, published as images, executed as jobs with inline agent
  definitions, invoked through deployment-backed sessions, and wired to Intake
  telemetry with less manual setup.
* **Studio workflow depth.** Studio adds agent creation from uploaded
  directories, a shared Run Evaluation wizard, experiment trend and layout
  controls, and Customizer quick-start templates.
* **Auth and deployment hardening.** Workload delegation and token exchange
  support credential propagation for deployed workloads. Kubernetes workloads
  gain default pod metadata and scheduling controls, and agent deployments fail
  earlier when their image or executor configuration is invalid.
* **Release-process automation.** Fern release-version materialization can
  include release branches, stable GitHub releases are created by release
  automation, and forward-merge alerts now report failures to the on-call path.

## What's included

### Agent Evaluation

* NeMo Gym evaluations can run in a sandboxed Gym host instead of sharing the
  evaluator process. The sandboxed path supports a locked `nmp-gym-host` image,
  the `nmp-cpu-tasks` task image, broker placement controls, rollout streaming,
  and long-running rollout batches.
* Gym trials can capture model calls and project `ng_trajectory` data into OTLP
  spans. Trials with traces can publish those traces to Intake so Evaluator,
  Experiments, and optimization workflows can inspect the same evidence.
* The Gym runtime exposes more public cross-module names, clearer task and
  trial result values, typed runner reward keys, optional output aggregation,
  skill-use metrics, and better error rollups.
* Harbor task suites use a stronger trial adapter and improved resume and
  reconciliation behavior, with better error propagation into the shared agent
  evaluation result model.
* Retrieval evaluation support includes BEIR loading, dense search, NIM
  embeddings, NIM ranking, retrieval value objects, and retrieval metrics.
* Evaluator documentation now covers Gym runners, custom Gym environments,
  sandboxed Gym configuration, Fabric harness evaluation, scoring by component,
  target and runner configuration, metric authoring, and result interpretation.

### Agents and Fabric

* Fabric agents can be packaged directly from a source checkout, including
  staged relative artifacts, packaged image publication to a registry, and
  simpler CLI flows for source packages.
* Execute-agent jobs can accept inline agent definitions and have SDK support,
  CLI coverage, extension hooks, and documentation for batch execution through
  the platform jobs system.
* Deployment-backed sessions support chat lifecycle operations so long-running
  deployed agents can keep session state behind the OpenAI-compatible gateway.
* Agent telemetry can be wired automatically into Intake export paths, including
  trace attribution by agent name and richer logging for task execution,
  execute-agent jobs, and analyst runs.
* Fabric adapter IDs can be fully qualified, and agent configs can bind
  multiple models.
* Agent deployments now reject missing container images, unsupported deployment
  modes, and executor/backend mismatches before creating records. Kubernetes
  agent roots are staged into writable directories when mounted read-only.
* Agent documentation adds the `ETHOS.md` optimization contract, agent
  environment guidance, and executing agents as jobs.

### Studio

* Studio can create Fabric agents by uploading an agent directory and has
  refreshed sample-agent flows.
* Agent detail pages have cleaner evaluation tables.
* Run Evaluation is now a wizard over a shared experiment form, with support for
  uploading agent-eval data and configuration from Studio.
* Experiments gain metric trend charts, favorite markers, saved column layouts,
  and improved detail-page metrics.
* Customizer adds quick-start templates, defaults from model specs, GRPO input
  and metrics fixes, clearer job failure banners, and improved job log loading.
* Anonymizer is enabled by default in Studio feature flags for this release
  line.

### Customizer and Data Designer

* Customizer adds a reranking recipe and model-spec head type support.
* Automodel training configuration and checkpoint handling are more complete,
  including embedding contract outputs and validation coverage.
* GRPO configuration, documentation, Studio forms, hyperparameter handling, and
  serialization paths are hardened for RL and SFT workflows.
* Data Designer adds retrieval synthetic-data generation for Nemotron models,
  plus CLI and provider updates for filesystem-backed seed handling.

### Platform, CLI, and Deployment

* Auth adds workload delegation, workload token exchange, and plugin SDK helpers
  for workload identity. Scoped access-key behavior is tightened in API and test
  coverage.
* The CLI adds job log tailing, richer config help, TLS and context-delete
  support, improved setup behavior when NVIDIA Build probe models have reached
  end of life, and generated reference coverage for more plugin commands.
* Kubernetes workloads can receive executor-level default pod annotations,
  selectors, tolerations, and affinity settings.
* Model and inference paths improve Docker LoRA sidecar commands, deployment
  backed provider links to model entities, string `/v1/models` response
  handling, upstream inference-gateway error rewriting, and client `x-api-key`
  stripping before upstream proxying.
* The platform runner reports controller thread failures as unhealthy, and
  ClickHouse readiness failures are surfaced more clearly.
* Helm and Docker assets add OpenSandbox and Gym-host guidance, clearer chart
  and app-version placeholders, locked Gym-host dependencies, and release image
  maintenance.
* Release automation now supports nightly wheels, stable GitHub Release
  creation for each release scope, and forward-merge alerting.

## Install

For fresh local installs, see [Setup](/documentation/get-started/setup).
It covers the recommended PyPI install, source-checkout prerequisites, Flox
activation, the system-toolchain fallback, and provider configuration.

For self-managed Kubernetes, start with
[Install NeMo Platform Helm Chart](/documentation/kubernetes-deployment/setup/helm/install).
Sandboxed Gym evaluation and GRPO reward environments also require OpenSandbox
and job-storage configuration; see
[Configure Sandboxed Gym for Evaluator](/documentation/evaluate-models/agent-eval/gym-sandbox-configuration),
[GRPO and Reward Environments](/documentation/customizer-reference/grpo-and-reward-environments),
and [OpenSandbox](/documentation/kubernetes-deployment/setup/helm/open-sandbox).

## Upgrade from v0.5.x

From an existing local checkout:

```bash
git fetch
git checkout main
make bootstrap
flox -q activate
```

Without Flox, install the system toolchain versions printed by
`make toolchain-versions`, plus a C compiler, then run
`make TOOLCHAIN=system bootstrap` followed by `source .venv/bin/activate`.

Run setup after updating the checkout:

```bash
nemo setup
```

After setup, restart local services before using CLI, SDK, Studio, or plugin
workflows against the upgraded checkout.

If you run Kubernetes agent deployments, review your deployment executor and
default image configuration before redeploying agents. v0.6.0 rejects missing
images and deployment-mode mismatches earlier than previous releases.

If you use task-driven evaluation, update Gym and Harbor evaluation configs to
the documented runner fields before moving production suites to sandboxed Gym
execution.

## Compatibility

* Python 3.12-3.13
* macOS and Linux for local CLI, SDK, Studio, and hosted-provider workflows
* Linux x86\_64 for local NVIDIA GPU workloads
* CUDA 13-capable NVIDIA drivers for local GPU workloads
* Self-managed Kubernetes clusters deployed with Helm
* Docker for local services, Docker-backed platform jobs, local ClickHouse,
  Docker Sandboxes, local model-serving workflows, and Gym task images
* Kubernetes/Ray runtime for NeMo-RL DPO and GRPO customization jobs
* OpenSandbox and a job-storage PVC for sandboxed Gym and GRPO reward
  environments
* ClickHouse for Intake trace storage and Experiments rollups
* NVIDIA GPU access for local training, model serving, RL training, and
  GPU-backed synthetic data workflows
* Node 22.18.0+ for Studio assets
* Platform API and `nemo-platform` Python SDK `0.6.0`

## Current constraints

* **Self-managed scope.** v0.6.0 documents local setup and user-managed
  Kubernetes deployment. It is not a managed hosted-service release.
* **Research-preview optimizer.** Analyst and Experimentalist are early agentic
  workflows. They are useful for guided optimization, but quality and autonomy
  are still research-preview and require developer review.
* **Sandboxed Gym runtime.** Sandboxed Gym evaluation requires Kubernetes or a
  configured sandbox-capable environment, OpenSandbox setup for cluster runs,
  and task images that include the environment dependencies.
* **Retrieval evaluation.** Retrieval evaluation requires the relevant BEIR data
  or retrieval corpus inputs and configured embedding or ranking model access.
* **GRPO runtime.** GRPO jobs require Kubernetes/Ray execution and sandboxed
  Gym configuration. They do not have a local Docker fallback.
* **GRPO environment packaging.** `adapter-wheels-v1` packages require network
  access at job start for the built-in `verifiers_agent` path. Fully offline
  `wheels-v1` jobs need a complete wheel closure for the training image's
  Python and node architecture.
* **DPO runtime.** Customizer `rl` DPO jobs run on Kubernetes/Ray and do not
  have a local Docker fallback. DPO remains full-weight only.
* **Agent intent migration.** `AGENT-SPEC.md` is legacy. Use `ETHOS.md` for
  new work and run `nemo agents ethos migrate` for platform-owned legacy
  packages before relying on optimizer workflows.
* **Optuna HPO runtime.** Optuna-based hyperparameter optimization runs locally
  from a developer workstation. It is not available as a horizontally scaled
  cluster service in this release.
* **Access keys and workload delegation.** Scoped access keys and workload
  credential delegation require administrator configuration before workloads can
  rely on them in shared deployments.
* **Embedded ClickHouse scope.** Helm's embedded ClickHouse is intended for
  development, evaluation, and non-critical single-node deployments. Use an
  externally managed ClickHouse for production deployments that require high
  availability, backups, or larger scale.

## Links

* Repository: [https://github.com/NVIDIA-NeMo/nemo-platform](https://github.com/NVIDIA-NeMo/nemo-platform)
* Issues: [https://github.com/NVIDIA-NeMo/nemo-platform/issues](https://github.com/NVIDIA-NeMo/nemo-platform/issues)
* Execute Agents as Jobs: [/documentation/agents/execute-agents-as-jobs](/documentation/agents/execute-agents-as-jobs)
* Evaluate a NeMo Gym Environment: [/documentation/evaluate-models/agent-eval/gym-runner](/documentation/evaluate-models/agent-eval/gym-runner)
* Configure Sandboxed Gym for Evaluator: [/documentation/evaluate-models/agent-eval/gym-sandbox-configuration](/documentation/evaluate-models/agent-eval/gym-sandbox-configuration)
* Evaluate with a NeMo Fabric Harness: [/documentation/evaluate-models/agent-eval/fabric-runner](/documentation/evaluate-models/agent-eval/fabric-runner)
* Retrieval SDG: [/documentation/design-synthetic-data/retrieval-sdg](/documentation/design-synthetic-data/retrieval-sdg)
* Credential Propagation: [/documentation/access-control/deployment/credential-propagation](/documentation/access-control/deployment/credential-propagation)
* OpenSandbox setup: [/documentation/kubernetes-deployment/setup/helm/open-sandbox](/documentation/kubernetes-deployment/setup/helm/open-sandbox)
* NeMo Fabric: [https://docs.nvidia.com/nemo/fabric/about-nemo-fabric/overview/](https://docs.nvidia.com/nemo/fabric/about-nemo-fabric/overview/)
* NeMo Agent Toolkit: [https://docs.nvidia.com/nemo/agent-toolkit/latest/](https://docs.nvidia.com/nemo/agent-toolkit/latest/)