diff --git a/experimental/air/cmd/compute.go b/experimental/air/cmd/compute.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d45a376f22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/experimental/air/cmd/compute.go
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+package aircmd
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+// gpuType is a wire-facing accelerator type submitted to the training service.
+// The number in the name is the partition count (e.g. GPU_8xH100 is 8 GPUs).
+type gpuType string
+
+const (
+	gpuType1xA10  gpuType = "GPU_1xA10"
+	gpuType8xH100 gpuType = "GPU_8xH100"
+	gpuType1xH100 gpuType = "GPU_1xH100"
+)
+
+// gpuTypes lists every valid type. Used for validation error messages.
+var gpuTypes = []gpuType{gpuType1xA10, gpuType1xH100, gpuType8xH100}
+
+func validGPUTypesHint() string {
+	names := make([]string, len(gpuTypes))
+	for i, g := range gpuTypes {
+		names[i] = string(g)
+	}
+	return "valid types are: " + strings.Join(names, ", ")
+}
+
+// parseGPUType resolves a YAML accelerator_type string to a gpuType. The match is
+// exact: the server's lookup is case-sensitive.
+func parseGPUType(value string) (gpuType, error) {
+	switch gpuType(value) {
+	case gpuType1xA10, gpuType8xH100, gpuType1xH100:
+		return gpuType(value), nil
+	}
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("invalid GPU type %q: %s", value, validGPUTypesHint())
+}
+
+// gpusPerNode returns the per-node GPU count, which is the partition count from
+// the name (GPU_1xH100 -> 1, GPU_8xH100 -> 8). num_accelerators must be a
+// round multiple of this since accelerators are allocated in whole nodes.
+func gpusPerNode(g gpuType) (int, error) {
+	switch g {
+	case gpuType1xA10, gpuType1xH100:
+		return 1, nil
+	case gpuType8xH100:
+		return 8, nil
+	}
+	return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid GPU type %q", string(g))
+}
+
+// computeConfig is the `compute` block of the run YAML: which accelerators to
+// use and how many.
+type computeConfig struct {
+	NumAccelerators int    `yaml:"num_accelerators"`
+	AcceleratorType string `yaml:"accelerator_type"`
+}
+
+// validate checks the compute block against the backend's constraints.
+func (c computeConfig) validate() error {
+	g, err := parseGPUType(c.AcceleratorType)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("compute.accelerator_type: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	if c.NumAccelerators <= 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("compute.num_accelerators must be positive, got %d", c.NumAccelerators)
+	}
+
+	perNode, err := gpusPerNode(g)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if c.NumAccelerators%perNode != 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("compute.num_accelerators for %s must be a multiple of %d, got %d", c.AcceleratorType, perNode, c.NumAccelerators)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/experimental/air/cmd/compute_test.go b/experimental/air/cmd/compute_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3464afbe9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/experimental/air/cmd/compute_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+package aircmd
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestParseGPUType(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		in   string
+		want gpuType
+	}{
+		{"GPU_1xA10", gpuType1xA10},
+		{"GPU_8xH100", gpuType8xH100},
+		{"GPU_1xH100", gpuType1xH100},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.in, func(t *testing.T) {
+			got, err := parseGPUType(tt.in)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.want, got)
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestParseGPUTypeInvalid(t *testing.T) {
+	// Wrong casing is rejected rather than fixed up; legacy types (h100_80gb, a10)
+	// can no longer be submitted; unknown types are rejected.
+	for _, in := range []string{"gpu_1xa10", "GPU_1XA10", "GPU_2xH100", "h100_80gb", "a10", "b200", ""} {
+		t.Run(in, func(t *testing.T) {
+			_, err := parseGPUType(in)
+			require.Error(t, err)
+			assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), "valid types are")
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestGPUsPerNode(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		in   gpuType
+		want int
+	}{
+		{gpuType1xA10, 1},
+		{gpuType1xH100, 1},
+		{gpuType8xH100, 8},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(string(tt.in), func(t *testing.T) {
+			got, err := gpusPerNode(tt.in)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.want, got)
+		})
+	}
+
+	_, err := gpusPerNode(gpuType("nonsense"))
+	require.Error(t, err)
+}
+
+func TestComputeConfigValidate(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name    string
+		cfg     computeConfig
+		wantErr string // substring; empty means the config is valid
+	}{
+		{"single node", computeConfig{NumAccelerators: 8, AcceleratorType: "GPU_8xH100"}, ""},
+		{"multiple nodes", computeConfig{NumAccelerators: 16, AcceleratorType: "GPU_8xH100"}, ""},
+		{"single-gpu partitions", computeConfig{NumAccelerators: 3, AcceleratorType: "GPU_1xH100"}, ""},
+		{"unknown type", computeConfig{NumAccelerators: 8, AcceleratorType: "b200"}, "accelerator_type"},
+		{"legacy type rejected", computeConfig{NumAccelerators: 8, AcceleratorType: "h100_80gb"}, "accelerator_type"},
+		{"non-positive count", computeConfig{NumAccelerators: 0, AcceleratorType: "GPU_1xH100"}, "must be positive"},
+		{"count not a multiple", computeConfig{NumAccelerators: 4, AcceleratorType: "GPU_8xH100"}, "multiple of 8"},
+	}
+	for _, tt := range tests {
+		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			err := tt.cfg.validate()
+			if tt.wantErr == "" {
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+				return
+			}
+			require.Error(t, err)
+			assert.Contains(t, err.Error(), tt.wantErr)
+		})
+	}
+}