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[Feature] google collab A100 or base GPU exemple #1331

@guidryheal-create

Description

@guidryheal-create

Checklist

  • This feature maintains backward compatibility with the current APIs in areal/api/
  • If breaking changes are required, a refactor issue will be opened first

Background

In constrained environments (e.g. Colab, lightweight GPU instances, or restricted local setups), setting up AReaL can become difficult due to complex dependencies and system-level requirements.

While Docker is a common solution, it may introduce additional operational complexity in some cases (e.g. privileged containers, Docker socket passthrough, or nested container execution).

For this reason, a Google Colab-based execution/playground setup can provide a simpler and more accessible alternative for experimentation, learning, and quick iteration without requiring full system-level setup.


Proposed Solution

This PR introduces an example Colab-based workflow demonstrating how to run AReaL in a minimal, dependency-isolated environment.

Example notebook:
https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1Asub9UVkH_HtGOvVv1ZpuU5QKTbNVAHT?usp=sharing

Goals of this approach:

  • Provide a zero-admin setup option for users
  • Avoid system-level installation complexity
  • Enable quick experimentation with AReaL pipelines
  • Serve as a reproducible “playbook” for newcomers

Additional Notes

  • A Docker-based setup would still be a valuable addition for production-grade or reproducible deployments.

  • A future improvement could include:

    • docker-compose configuration for full stack orchestration
    • Prebuilt images for AReaL + dependencies
    • Optional Colab ↔ Docker parity for consistent environments

Summary

This PR focuses on improving accessibility by providing a lightweight Colab-based execution path, complementing (not replacing) existing Docker-based deployment strategies.

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