The Transformer Cookbook

Andy Yang; Christopher Watson; Anton Xue; Satwik Bhattamishra; Jose Llarena; William Merrill; Emile Dos Santos Ferreira; Anej Svete; David Chiang

arXiv · 2510.00368

The Transformer Cookbook

Andy Yang·Christopher Watson·Anton Xue·Satwik Bhattamishra·Jose Llarena·William Merrill·Emile Dos Santos Ferreira·Anej Svete·David Chiang

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Abstract

We present the transformer cookbook: a collection of techniques for directly encoding algorithms into a transformer's parameters. This work addresses the steep learning curve of such endeavors, a problem exacerbated by a fragmented literature where key results are scattered across numerous papers. In particular, we synthesize this disparate body of findings into a curated set of recipes that demonstrate how to implement everything from basic arithmetic in feed-forward layers to complex data routing via self-attention. Our mise en place of formulations is for both newcomers seeking an accessible entry point and experts in need of a systematic reference. This unified presentation of transformer constructions provides a foundation for future work spanning theoretical research in computational complexity to empirical investigations in architecture design and interpretability.

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Andy Yang, Christopher Watson, Anton Xue, Satwik Bhattamishra, Jose Llarena, William Merrill, Emile Dos Santos Ferreira, Anej Svete, David Chiang. 2025-10-01. The Transformer Cookbook. https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.00368

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