ML Experimentation Reference Pack

Goal

Ground machine learning experimentation in the Microsoft CSE engineering playbook so that environment setup, repository structure, experiment tracking, dataset and model abstractions, evaluation flow, and production-readiness review are applied consistently and attributed accurately.

This pack is machine learning specific. It assumes a model is being trained, tracked, evaluated, or assessed for production. General experiment framing, hypothesis formation, and vetting belong to experiment-design.

Inputs

• The ML experimentation setup under discussion: environments, repository layout, tracking framework, or evaluation flow
• The model under assessment and its training and evaluation history, when readiness is the question
• Existing dataset versioning, parameter tracking, and environment capture practice
• The engagement stage, since the production checklist has a lifecycle precondition

Reference index

Read only the reference that matches the active concern.

Reference	Read this when
model-experimentation.md	Standing up virtual environments, repository and notebook structure, experiment tracking and reproducibility, dataset and model abstractions, or evaluation flow
ml-checklists.md	Checking ML engagement fundamentals or assessing whether a trained model is ready to move toward production
provenance.md	Confirming what is upstream guidance, what is HVE Core derivation or repository convention, and where upstream is silent

Success criteria

• Reproducibility keeps all four elements: dataset names and versions, parameters, code, and environment. Tracking a dataset name without its version is a labelling practice, not reproducibility.
• Datasets and evaluation are defined consistently enough that experiments are comparable. A tracking framework alone does not deliver comparability.
• Checklist section headings and readiness domains are preserved, and applicability caveats travel with them.
• Experiment reproducibility stays distinct from pipeline replayability, which belongs to dataops, the DataOps skill for tier behavior, pipeline invariants, validation placement, tests, drift, and operational signals.

Constraints

• Reproduce only the minimum text necessary for a specific technical point, and paraphrase everything else. Attribute every reference and describe accurately what each reference reproduces.
• Preserve checklist section headings as structural identifiers and summarize what each section covers. Do not restore the upstream item lists or reconstruct either checklist locally; link readers to the upstream page for item wording.
• Label repository conventions as substitutions rather than upstream recommendations. The uv environment convention is a repository substitution, not a playbook recommendation.
• Do not convert a checklist into an unconditional gate. Upstream scopes the production checklist to teams that have already trained a model and permits use-case-specific decisions.

Ownership boundaries

Concern	Owner
Experiment framing, hypothesis formation, vetting criteria, and red flags	experiment-design
Pipeline mechanics, data tiering, replay semantics, and DS/MLOps test technique	dataops
Data validation, drift detection, and their asymmetric remediation	dataops
Ethical and Responsible AI review	rai-planner
Telemetry naming and data sensitivity classification	telemetry-foundations and privacy-standards

Stop rules

• Stop and route to experiment-design, the general experiment selection, hypothesis, vetting, scope, and evaluation skill, when the request is about whether an experiment is worth running rather than how to run it.
• Stop and state the lifecycle precondition when the production checklist is invoked for a model that has not been built or trained.
• Stop and state the gap when upstream does not cover the request, such as a universal framework, tool, or metric choice made without project context.

Attribution

This pack declares CC-BY-4.0.

Both references derive from Microsoft CSE Code With Engineering Playbook documentation pages, which are licensed CC BY 4.0. Upstream guidance is summarized rather than reproduced; section headings and tool and file names are carried across as identifiers. The upstream project applies MIT through a separate LICENSE-CODE file to code samples only, which this pack does not reproduce. Each reference cites its own upstream URL, states that changes were made, and describes what it reproduces.

Explanatory framing, the lifecycle caveat, the readiness-domain grouping, the routing table, and the uv substitution are repository-original.

See provenance.md for the consolidated source map and derivation labels.