Run IDs and names

Learn about unique run IDs, run names, and display names in W&B.

When you initialize a W&B Run, W&B assigns the run a unique identifier known as a run ID. Each run also has a human-readable non-unique run name that you can customize. This section describes how to find a run’s unique identifier and run name, how to create a custom run ID, and how to customize a run’s name.

Unique run identifiers

Run IDs are unique identifiers for runs. By default, W&B generates a random and unique run ID for you when you initialize a new run. You can also specify your own unique run ID when you initialize a run.

Find a run’s unique ID in the W&B App:

1. Navigate to the W&B App.
2. Navigate to the W&B project you specified when you initialized the run.
3. Within your project’s workspace, select either the Workspace or Runs tab.
4. Select the run you want to view.
5. Choose the Overview tab.

W&B displays the unique run ID in the Run path field. The run path consists of the name of your team, the name of the project, and the run ID. The unique ID is the last part of the run path.

For example, in the following image, the unique run ID is 9mxi1arc:

Use a run’s unique ID to directly navigate to that run’s overview page in the W&B App. The following cell shows the URL path for a specific run:

W&B App URL for a specific run

https://wandb.ai/<entity>/<project>/<run-id>

Where values enclosed in angle brackets (< >) are placeholders for the actual values of the entity, project, and run ID.

Autogenerated run IDs

If you do not specify a run ID when you initialize a run, W&B generates a random run ID for you. You can find the unique ID of a run in the W&B App.

For example, consider the following code snippet that initializes a run without specifying a run ID (id parameter):

import wandb

with wandb.init(entity="<project>", project="<project>") as run:
    # Your code here

Create a custom run ID

You can specify your own run ID by passing the id parameter to the wandb.init() method.

import wandb

with wandb.init(entity="<project>", project="<project>", id="<run-id>") as run:
    # Your code here

Run name

Each run has a human-readable, non-unique run name. By default, W&B generates a random run name when you initialize a new run if you do not specify a run name for it. The name of a run appears within your project’s workspace and at the top of the run’s overview page.

Continuing from the previous example, the name of the run is glwoing-shadows-8.

You can name your run when you initialize it or rename it after initializing it.

Create a custom run name

You can specify a name for your run by passing the name parameter to the wandb.init() method.

import wandb

with wandb.init(entity="<project>", project="<project>", name="<run-name>") as run:
    # Your code here

Rename a run

Rename a run after initializing it programmatically with Python SDK or from the W&B App.

Programmatically

Use wandb.Api.Run to access a run logged to W&B. This returns a run object that you can use to update the run name. Persist the changes by calling the update() method on the run object.

Ensure to replace the values enclosed in angle brackets (< >) with your own values:

import wandb

api = wandb.Api()

# Access run by its path
run = api.run(path = "<entity>/<project>/<run-id>")

# Specify a new run name
run.name = "<new-run-name>"
run.update()

W&B App

1. Navigate to your W&B project.
2. Select the Workspace or Runs tab.
3. Search or scroll to the run you want to rename.
4. Hover over the run name, click the three vertical dots, then click Rename run.
5. To change the run name, update the Run name field.
6. Click Save.

Run display name

Each run also has a run display name that you can customize for each workspace. The display name defaults to the same value as the run name. The display name appears in the run’s workspace and runs table.

If you change a run’s display name in one workspace, it does not change the run’s display name in other workspaces or projects.

Use the run display name to override the run name displayed in that workspace without renaming the run in the project.

Rename a display name

Rename a run’s display name from the W&B App:

1. Navigate to your W&B project.
2. Select the Workspace or Runs tab.
3. Search or scroll to the run you want to rename.
4. Hover over the run name, click the three vertical dots, then click Rename run.
5. Specify a new value for the Display name field.
6. Click Save.

Customize run name truncation

By default, long run names are truncated in the middle for readability. To customize the truncation of run names:

1. Click the action ... menu at the top of the list of runs.
2. Set Run name cropping to crop the end, middle, or beginning.