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Top-p (nucleus sampling)

Top-p, or nucleus sampling, is a sampling technique that limits the model's choices to the smallest group of tokens whose cumulative probability reaches a threshold p, for example 0.9. Picture candidates ranked from most to least likely: you keep them until their probabilities sum to 90% of the total, then discard the rest and draw only within this "nucleus". The count is not fixed: if the model is confident the nucleus is small, if uncertain it widens. It is like inviting to a meeting only the people who together hold 90% of the expertise.

Definition

Top-p matters because it cuts improbable tails that produce nonsense while keeping flexibility. It is often preferred over top-k because it adapts to the model's confidence step by step.

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