> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/treeverse/dvc/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# dvc exp apply

> Apply changes from an experiment to your workspace

## Description

Apply the changes from a specific experiment to your current workspace. This command updates your working directory with the code, parameters, and data from a completed experiment, allowing you to continue working from that state or promote it to a regular Git commit.

<Warning>
  This command modifies your workspace. Any uncommitted changes will be overwritten. Commit or stash your current work before applying an experiment.
</Warning>

## Usage

```bash theme={null}
dvc exp apply <experiment>
```

## Arguments

<ParamField path="experiment" type="string" required>
  The experiment name to apply to your workspace.

  Can be:

  * Auto-generated experiment name (e.g., `exp-a1b2c`)
  * Custom experiment name (specified with `-n` during `dvc exp run`)

  ```bash theme={null}
  dvc exp apply exp-44136
  dvc exp apply my-experiment
  ```
</ParamField>

## Options

<ParamField path="--no-force" type="boolean" default="false">
  Fail if this command would overwrite conflicting changes in the workspace.

  <Note>
    The `--no-force` option is deprecated and will be removed in a future DVC release.
  </Note>
</ParamField>

## Examples

### Apply a successful experiment

```bash theme={null}
# First, view your experiments
dvc exp show

# Apply the best performing experiment
dvc exp apply exp-a1b2c
```

Output:

```bash theme={null}
Changes for experiment 'exp-a1b2c' have been applied to your workspace.
```

<Info>
  After applying, your workspace now matches the state of the experiment including code, parameters, and outputs.
</Info>

### Apply and commit

```bash theme={null}
# Apply experiment to workspace
dvc exp apply high-accuracy-run

# Review changes
git status
dvc diff

# Commit if satisfied
git add .
git commit -m "Apply high accuracy experiment"
```

Output:

```bash theme={null}
Changes for experiment 'high-accuracy-run' have been applied to your workspace.

On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  modified:   params.yaml
  modified:   dvc.lock

Committed changes successfully.
```

<Tip>
  Applying an experiment doesn't automatically create a Git commit. Review the changes first, then commit when ready.
</Tip>

### Apply with existing changes

```bash theme={null}
# You have uncommitted changes
git status
```

Output:

```bash theme={null}
On branch main
Changes not staged for commit:
  modified:   train.py
  modified:   params.yaml
```

```bash theme={null}
# Stash current work
git stash

# Apply experiment
dvc exp apply exp-d3e4f

# Review applied changes
git diff

# If needed, restore your previous work
git stash pop
```

<Warning>
  DVC automatically creates a stash at `refs/exps/apply/stash` before applying. You can revert using:

  ```bash theme={null}
  git reset --hard
  git stash apply refs/exps/apply/stash
  ```
</Warning>

### Compare before applying

```bash theme={null}
# First, compare the experiment with current workspace
dvc exp diff HEAD exp-new-model

# If the changes look good, apply them
dvc exp apply exp-new-model
```

Output:

```bash theme={null}
Metric
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    Path          Metric      HEAD    exp-new-model  diff
────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
    metrics.json  accuracy    0.85    0.92           +0.07
    metrics.json  loss        0.312   0.234          -0.078

Changes for experiment 'exp-new-model' have been applied to your workspace.
```

### Apply and create a branch

```bash theme={null}
# Create a new branch for the experiment
git checkout -b feature/new-model

# Apply experiment
dvc exp apply exp-breakthrough

# Commit changes
git add .
git commit -m "feat: Apply breakthrough model architecture"

# Push to remote
git push -u origin feature/new-model
```

<Tip>
  This workflow is useful for code review: apply the experiment to a branch, then create a pull request.
</Tip>

## What Gets Applied

When you apply an experiment, DVC updates:

### 1. Parameters

* `params.yaml` and other parameter files are updated with experiment values
* Custom parameter files specified in `dvc.yaml` are also updated

### 2. Code Changes

* Any code modifications made during the experiment are applied
* This includes changes to training scripts, preprocessing code, etc.

### 3. DVC Files

* `dvc.lock` is updated with the experiment's pipeline state
* Cached outputs from the experiment become accessible

### 4. Metrics

* Metric files are updated to reflect experiment results

<Note>
  Large data files tracked by DVC are not copied to your workspace. Instead, DVC updates pointers to the cached data. Use `dvc checkout` if you need to materialize the data files.
</Note>

## Common Workflows

### Experiment Selection Workflow

```bash theme={null}
# 1. Run multiple experiments
dvc exp run --queue -S train.lr=0.1 -n "lr-0.1"
dvc exp run --queue -S train.lr=0.01 -n "lr-0.01"
dvc exp run --queue -S train.lr=0.001 -n "lr-0.001"
dvc exp run --run-all

# 2. Compare results
dvc exp show --sort-by accuracy --sort-order desc

# 3. Apply the best one
dvc exp apply lr-0.001

# 4. Commit to Git
git add .
git commit -m "feat: Apply best learning rate experiment"
```

### Safe Experimentation Workflow

```bash theme={null}
# 1. Save current state
git stash

# 2. Apply and test experiment
dvc exp apply promising-experiment

# 3. Run additional validation
python scripts/validate.py

# 4a. If good, commit
git add .
git commit -m "Apply promising experiment"

# 4b. If not good, revert
git reset --hard HEAD
git stash apply refs/exps/apply/stash
```

### Production Promotion Workflow

```bash theme={null}
# 1. Apply production-ready experiment
git checkout main
dvc exp apply production-candidate

# 2. Tag the release
git add .
git commit -m "release: Deploy model v2.0"
git tag -a v2.0 -m "Model version 2.0 with 92% accuracy"

# 3. Push to production
git push origin main --tags
```

## Reverting Applied Changes

If you need to undo an applied experiment:

```bash theme={null}
# Revert all changes (if not committed)
git reset --hard
git stash apply refs/exps/apply/stash

# Or if already committed
git revert HEAD
```

<Info>
  DVC creates a backup stash at `refs/exps/apply/stash` before each apply operation, allowing you to recover your previous state.
</Info>

## Troubleshooting

### Merge Conflicts

If applying an experiment causes conflicts:

```bash theme={null}
# DVC will show which files have conflicts
Conflict in params.yaml
```

Resolve manually:

```bash theme={null}
# Edit conflicting files
vim params.yaml

# Mark as resolved
git add params.yaml

# Continue working
```

### Missing Experiment

If the experiment doesn't exist:

```bash theme={null}
dvc exp apply nonexistent-exp
```

Output:

```bash theme={null}
ERROR: experiment 'nonexistent-exp' not found
```

List available experiments:

```bash theme={null}
dvc exp show
```

## Related Commands

* `dvc exp show` - View available experiments
* `dvc exp diff` - Compare experiments before applying
* `dvc exp branch` - Promote experiment to a Git branch
* `dvc exp run` - Create new experiments
* `dvc checkout` - Checkout DVC-tracked files after applying