Glossary for NIM Metadata API
Use this glossary to understand key terms used throughout the NIM Metadata API documentation.
G
Browse terms starting with G.
GPU-agnostic profile
A profile that is not tied to a particular GPU and runs anywhere with
sufficient vRAM. These profiles omit gpu and gpu_device entirely and
can carry an empty tested_gpu_devices array.
Related: Core Concepts Overview
gpu_device
The PCI identifier of the GPU a profile targets, in the form
pciDeviceId:pciVendorId. This value is precise and machine-comparable,
so it is the field to match on when you evaluate hardware fit.
Related: Response Fields
I
Browse terms starting with I.
Inference backend
The serving backend a profile uses, such as tensorrt_llm, vllm, or
sglang. Treat this value as an open string rather than an enumeration,
because new values appear without notice.
Related: Notes for Automated Agents
M
Browse terms starting with M.
Metadata coverage The extent to which published NIM microservices have API-backed metadata. Metadata is attached at publish time, so coverage grows as NIM microservices are released and re-released.
Related: Current Limitations
N
Browse terms starting with N.
NIM microservice An NVIDIA NIM microservice, which is a GPU-accelerated container that packages a model, the inference stack, and a unified API. Each NIM microservice ships one or more profiles.
Related: NIM Metadata API Documentation
P
Browse terms starting with P.
Pipeline parallel size
The number of pipeline stages a profile splits the model across, recorded as
pipeline_parallel_size. It combines with tensor parallel size to
determine the total number of GPUs a profile requires.
Related: Choose a Profile for Your Hardware
Precision
The numeric precision a profile uses, such as fp8, bf16, or
fp16. Lower precision generally favors throughput, and higher precision
generally favors accuracy.
Related: Response Fields
Profile A deployable configuration of a NIM microservice that pairs the model with a GPU target, a numeric precision, an inference backend, and a parallelism layout. A single NIM microservice can publish a handful of profiles or several hundred.
Related: Core Concepts Overview
Profile identifier
The unique identifier for a profile, recorded as profile_id, and the
value you supply at deployment time. Treat it as opaque: compare it for
equality, and never parse it or derive meaning from its structure.
Related: Current Limitations
R
Browse terms starting with R.
Resource identifier
The slash-separated repository path that identifies a NIM microservice
container, recorded as resourceId. It takes the form
{org}/{repo-name} or {org}/{team-name}/{repo-name}, and it must not
contain a colon.
Related: Prerequisites
T
Browse terms starting with T.
Tag
The container tag, exactly as it appears in the catalog, such as 1.2.0
or latest. Metadata is stored per tag, so the presence of metadata for
one tag says nothing about another.
Related: Endpoints
Tensor parallel size
The number of GPUs a profile shards the model across tensor-wise, recorded
as tensor_parallel_size.
Related: Choose a Profile for Your Hardware
Tested GPU devices
The PCI identifiers a profile has been validated on, recorded as
tested_gpu_devices. An empty array means the profile was explicitly
tested on nothing, and an absent field means no testing information was
recorded.
Related: Core Concepts Overview
Throughput A recorded throughput figure for a profile. Units and measurement conditions are not standardized, so figures are not comparable across NIM microservices.
Related: Current Limitations
V
Browse terms starting with V.
vRAM floor
The minimum vRAM a profile requires per GPU, recorded as
min_vram_per_device_gb. The value is per device rather than a total
across devices, and it is the primary hardware-fit field.
Related: Response Fields
W
Browse terms starting with W.
Workspace hash
A digest over the workspace contents of a profile, recorded as
workspace_hash. Use it to verify supply-chain integrity after download.
This field is optional today, so do not assume its presence.
Related: Current Limitations