integrating-models

name	integrating-models
description	Use when adding a new model or pipeline to diffusers, setting up file structure for a new model, converting a pipeline to modular format, or converting weights for a new version of an already-supported model.

Goal

Integrate a new model into diffusers end-to-end. The overall flow:

1. Gather info — ask the user for the reference repo, setup guide, a runnable inference script, and other objectives such as standard vs modular.
2. Confirm the plan — once you have everything, tell the user exactly what you'll do: e.g. "I'll integrate model X with pipeline Y into diffusers based on your script. I'll run parity tests (model-level and pipeline-level) using the parity-testing skill to verify numerical correctness against the reference."
3. Implement — write the diffusers code (model, pipeline, scheduler if needed), convert weights, register in __init__.py.
4. Parity test — use the parity-testing skill to verify component and e2e parity against the reference implementation.
5. Deliver a unit test — provide a self-contained test script that runs the diffusers implementation, checks numerical output (np allclose), and saves an image/video for visual verification. This is what the user runs to confirm everything works.

Work one workflow at a time — get it to full parity before moving on.

Setup — gather before starting

Before writing any code, gather info in this order:

1. Reference repo — ask for the github link. If they've already set it up locally, ask for the path. Otherwise, ask what setup steps are needed (install deps, download checkpoints, set env vars, etc.) and run through them before proceeding.
2. Inference script — ask for a runnable end-to-end script for a basic workflow first (e.g. T2V). Then ask what other workflows they want to support (I2V, V2V, etc.) and agree on the full implementation order together.
3. Standard vs modular — standard pipelines, modular, or both?

Use AskUserQuestion with structured choices for step 3 when the options are known.

Standard Pipeline Integration

File structure for a new model

src/diffusers/
  models/transformers/transformer_<model>.py     # The core model
  schedulers/scheduling_<model>.py               # If model needs a custom scheduler
  pipelines/<model>/
    __init__.py
    pipeline_<model>.py                          # Main pipeline
    pipeline_<model>_<variant>.py                # Variant pipelines (e.g. pyramid, distilled)
    pipeline_output.py                           # Output dataclass
  loaders/lora_pipeline.py                       # LoRA mixin (add to existing file)

tests/
  models/transformers/test_models_transformer_<model>.py
  pipelines/<model>/test_<model>.py
  lora/test_lora_layers_<model>.py

docs/source/en/api/
  pipelines/<model>.md
  models/<model>_transformer3d.md                # or appropriate name

Integration checklist

• Implement transformer model with from_pretrained support
• Implement or reuse scheduler
• Implement pipeline(s) with __call__ method
• Add LoRA support if applicable
• Register all classes in __init__.py files (lazy imports)
• Write unit tests (model, pipeline, LoRA)
• Write docs
• Run make style and make quality
• Test parity with reference implementation (see parity-testing skill)

Model conventions, attention pattern, and implementation rules

See ../../models.md for the attention pattern, implementation rules, common conventions, dependencies, and gotchas. These apply to all model work.

Model integration specific rules

Don't combine structural changes with behavioral changes. Restructuring code to fit diffusers APIs (ModelMixin, ConfigMixin, etc.) is unavoidable. But don't also "improve" the algorithm, refactor computation order, or rename internal variables for aesthetics. Keep numerical logic as close to the reference as possible, even if it looks unclean. For standard → modular, this is stricter: copy loop logic verbatim and only restructure into blocks. Clean up in a separate commit after parity is confirmed.

Test setup

• Slow tests gated with @slow and RUN_SLOW=1
• All model-level tests must use the BaseModelTesterConfig, ModelTesterMixin, MemoryTesterMixin, AttentionTesterMixin, LoraTesterMixin, and TrainingTesterMixin classes initially to write the tests. Any additional tests should be added after discussions with the maintainers. Use tests/models/transformers/test_models_transformer_flux.py as a reference.

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Modular Pipeline Conversion

See modular-conversion.md for the full guide on converting standard pipelines to modular format, including block types, build order, guider abstraction, and conversion checklist.

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Weight Conversion Tips