[Backport] Set Warp's global determinism mode under --deterministic (#7561)

[kellyguo11]

Description

Backports #7561 to release/3.0.0.

This branch cherry-picks the canonical merged commit 838fb6d66288cc5f452c3aa1b1ad57f420e0f0e4 with -x provenance. The change applied without conflicts or release-specific edits. The repository backport validator confirms an exact patch replay across all eight source paths, and the stable source/backport patch IDs match.

Field	Commit
Original merged change	838fb6d66288cc5f452c3aa1b1ad57f420e0f0e4
Release base used	1c754876008f0806fdcfda8e3a6b2f593b34d6fc
Backport commit	6044466990af2cb4b54f07f3705e37f16e6a4d58
Stable patch ID	643b6fbbd03866389488b17070db3504315b4a41

Type of change

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• Documentation update

Release backport

• This PR targets the active release/3.0.0 branch directly.

Validation

• Repository exact-patch backport validation passed; all eight source paths are preserved.
• Stable source/backport patch IDs match: 643b6fbbd03866389488b17070db3504315b4a41.
• test_entrypoints_common.py — 36 passed in an isolated uv environment.
• All changed-file pre-commit hooks passed, including changelog and Git LFS checks.
• sphinx-lint reported no problems for the modified RST files.
• git diff --check upstream/release/3.0.0...HEAD passed.
• The canonical project formatter and warning-as-error docs build cannot resolve the release lock on this macOS/arm64 host; Linux CI remains authoritative for those checks.

Checklist

• I have read and understood the contribution guidelines
• I have run the available pre-commit checks
• The original documentation update is preserved exactly
• My changes generate no new warnings
• The original regression coverage is preserved and passes
• The isaaclab_rl changelog fragment is preserved
• The original contributor is already listed in CONTRIBUTORS.md

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

This backport extends --deterministic to Warp’s process-wide determinism setting before environment construction, ensuring Newton sensor and geometry kernels receive the requested guarantee.

• Centralizes physics and Warp determinism handling in the shared entrypoint utilities.
• Applies the request to all four supported play backends before environment creation; training and benchmark paths inherit it through shared overrides.
• Preserves stronger preconfigured Warp guarantees and maps Newton’s configured mode to the corresponding Warp mode.
• Adds regression coverage and documents the camera-observation reproducibility behavior.

Confidence Score: 5/5

The PR appears safe to merge; the determinism request is applied consistently before environment creation and is covered by focused regression tests.

No actionable failures remain: supported entrypoints are covered, the pinned Warp API matches the implementation, configured modes map correctly, and stronger process-wide guarantees are intentionally preserved.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
source/isaaclab_rl/isaaclab_rl/entrypoints/common.py	Centralizes deterministic configuration and raises Warp’s global mode before environment construction without weakening an existing guarantee.
source/isaaclab_rl/isaaclab_rl/entrypoints/backends/play_rl_games.py	Requests determinism before creating the RL-Games play environment.
source/isaaclab_rl/isaaclab_rl/entrypoints/backends/play_rsl_rl.py	Requests determinism before creating the RSL-RL play environment.
source/isaaclab_rl/isaaclab_rl/entrypoints/backends/play_sb3.py	Requests determinism before creating the Stable-Baselines3 play environment.
source/isaaclab_rl/isaaclab_rl/entrypoints/backends/play_skrl.py	Requests determinism before creating the SKRL play environment.
source/isaaclab_rl/test/test_entrypoints_common.py	Covers default, configured, stronger-existing, and disabled Warp determinism behavior.
docs/source/features/reproducibility.rst	Documents Warp’s global fallback, required initialization timing, and its effect on Newton camera reproducibility.

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart LR
  CLI["--deterministic"] --> Entry["Training or play entrypoint"]
  Entry --> Request["request_determinism"]
  Request --> Physics["PhysicsCfg.deterministic = true"]
  Request --> Warp["Raise warp.config.deterministic"]
  Physics --> Env["Create environment"]
  Warp --> Env
  Env --> Kernels["Solver, sensor, geometry, and BVH kernels"]
  Kernels --> Repro["Reproducible simulation and camera observations"]

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_{Reviews (1): Last reviewed commit: "[Fix] Set Warp's global determinism mode..." | Re-trigger Greptile}

[isaaclab-review-bot]

Isaac Lab Review Bot

The backport correctly sets Warp’s global determinism mode before environment construction, but the new calls in all four play entrypoints also enable backend physics determinism, widening the behavior of play --deterministic beyond the stated Warp fix.

• Design and architecture: Centralizing determinism handling in the shared entrypoint helper satisfies Warp’s module-build-time constraint. However, reusing the combined helper in play paths couples the intended Warp-global update to a new solver-determinism request that can be rejected by a backend.
• API: The --deterministic CLI contract changes for RL playback: it now sets PhysicsCfg.deterministic in addition to configuring rendering and Warp. The documentation describes physics determinism for training entrypoints but does not clearly document this new play behavior or its possible startup rejection.
• Implementation: The Warp setting is applied before environment creation and preserves stronger existing modes. The play entrypoints should either invoke only the Warp-specific helper or explicitly document and validate the intentional expansion to physics determinism.

Minor fixes needed. Posted 1 actionable finding inline.

Automated review; human maintainers own approval decisions.

[isaaclab-review-bot]

🔵 Suggestion · Implementation — Play now also enables physics determinism

The added comment says the goal is Warp's global, but request_determinism additionally sets env_cfg.sim.physics.deterministic = True. These play scripts set num_envs/device/seed manually and never called apply_env_overrides, so play --deterministic now requests backend solver determinism for the first time (same in play_skrl/play_sb3/play_rsl_rl), which reproducibility.rst says a manager may reject at startup. Either call only the Warp helper here or document the widened play behavior.

[kellyguo11]

run-ci