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Model Cards

In Chariot, a Model Card combines two sources of information:

  • Structured Chariot metadata that the platform automatically records: training details, evaluation runs, version information, ownership, and more. This data is maintained by Chariot and is guaranteed to be accurate.
  • A user-provided README.md file included with the model. Use the README for narrative documentation such as intended use, usage examples, evaluation discussion, and other context.

Together, these components provide complete documentation for models in the catalog.

README and YAML Front Matter​

The model's README.md file can include an optional YAML front matter block at the top. Front matter is a YAML-formatted section delimited by --- that contains structured metadata about the model.

Chariot reads selected keys from the front matter and maps them to catalog attributes for filtering and display. The supported fields are listed below. Many fields align with common Model Card conventions. For example, the license fields match those used on Hugging Face, enabling Chariot to ingest license metadata from imported models.

License​

Use these conventions in the YAML front matter:

  • Set license to a known license identifier when using a standard license that Chariot recognizes.
  • For a custom license, set license to other and add both license_name and license_link. Optionally, set license_link to reference a LICENSE file in the model repository (following Hugging Face conventions).
---
license: other
license_name: my-special-license
license_link: <url-to-license>
---

Chariot validates the license value against its license catalog.

Architecture​

Set architecture to describe the base architecture or model family (for example, YOLOv8_small).

Model Card Templates​

Organizations and projects can define a Model Card template, which is default Markdown content that appears when someone first creates a README.md file for a model.

  • Organization template: Applies to all models in the organization when no project-level template exists.
  • Project template: Overrides the organization template for models in that project.

Templates apply only when a model does not yet have a README.md file. When someone opens the Model Card editor for the first time, Chariot pre-fills the editor with the effective template (project template if set; otherwise, it is the organization template).

Configure templates in:

  • Admin Panel → your organization → Model Card template (organization-wide default)
  • Project → Model Card template tab (project-specific override)