fix #1261: npe iid handling, remove batched x warning (#1262)

* remove warning for batched x

* raise ValueError on batch observation

sbi/inference/posteriors/direct_posterior.py

@@ -104,12 +104,19 @@ def sample(
                 `sbi` v0.17.2 or older. If it is set, we instantly raise an error.
             show_progress_bars: Whether to show sampling progress monitor.
         """
-
         num_samples = torch.Size(sample_shape).numel()
         x = self._x_else_default_x(x)
         x = reshape_to_batch_event(
             x, event_shape=self.posterior_estimator.condition_shape
         )
+        if x.shape[0] > 1:
+            raise ValueError(
+                ".sample() supports only `batchsize == 1`. If you intend "
+                "to sample multiple observations, use `.sample_batched()`. "
+                "If you intend to sample i.i.d. observations, set up the "
+                "posterior density estimator with an appropriate permutation "
+                "invariant embedding net."
+            )
 
         max_sampling_batch_size = (
             self.max_sampling_batch_size
@@ -132,7 +139,7 @@ def sample(
             max_sampling_batch_size=max_sampling_batch_size,
             proposal_sampling_kwargs={"condition": x},
             alternative_method="build_posterior(..., sample_with='mcmc')",
-        )[0]
+        )[0]  # [0] to return only samples, not acceptance probabilities.
 
         return samples[:, 0]  # Remove batch dimension.
 
@@ -221,9 +228,14 @@ def log_prob(
         x_density_estimator = reshape_to_batch_event(
             x, event_shape=self.posterior_estimator.condition_shape
         )
-        assert (
-            x_density_estimator.shape[0] == 1
-        ), ".log_prob() supports only `batchsize == 1`."
+        if x_density_estimator.shape[0] > 1:
+            raise ValueError(
+                ".log_prob() supports only `batchsize == 1`. If you intend "
+                "to evaluate given multiple observations, use `.log_prob_batched()`. "
+                "If you intend to evaluate given i.i.d. observations, set up the "
+                "posterior density estimator with an appropriate permutation "
+                "invariant embedding net."
+            )
 
         self.posterior_estimator.eval()
 

sbi/utils/sbiutils.py

@@ -402,21 +402,6 @@ def nle_nre_apt_msg_on_invalid_x(
             )
 
 
-def warn_on_batched_x(batch_size):
-    """Warn if more than one x was passed."""
-
-    if batch_size > 1:
-        warnings.warn(
-            f"An x with a batch size of {batch_size} was passed. "
-            "Unless you are using `sample_batched` or `log_prob_batched`, this will "
-            "be interpreted as a batch of independent and identically distributed data"
-            " X={x_1, ..., x_n}, i.e., data generated based on the same underlying"
-            "(unknown) parameter. The resulting posterior will be with respect to"
-            " the entire batch, i.e,. p(theta | X).",
-            stacklevel=2,
-        )
-
-
 def check_warn_and_setstate(
     state_dict: Dict,
     key_name: str,

sbi/utils/user_input_checks.py

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 from torch.distributions import Distribution, Uniform
 
 from sbi.sbi_types import Array
-from sbi.utils.sbiutils import warn_on_batched_x, within_support
+from sbi.utils.sbiutils import within_support
 from sbi.utils.torchutils import BoxUniform, atleast_2d
 from sbi.utils.user_input_checks_utils import (
     CustomPriorWrapper,
@@ -582,7 +582,6 @@ def process_x(x: Array, x_event_shape: Optional[torch.Size] = None) -> Tensor:
         x = x.unsqueeze(0)
 
     input_x_shape = x.shape
-    warn_on_batched_x(batch_size=input_x_shape[0])
 
     if x_event_shape is not None:
         # Number of trials can change for every new x, but single trial x shape must

tests/posterior_nn_test.py

@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
         pytest.param(
             2,
             marks=pytest.mark.xfail(
-                raises=AssertionError,
+                raises=ValueError,
                 reason=".log_prob() supports only batch size 1 for x_o.",
             ),
         ),