vllm/docs/features/quantization/README.md

# Quantization

Quantization trades off model precision for smaller memory footprint, allowing large models to be run on a wider range of devices.

!!! tip
    To get started with quantization, see [LLM Compressor](llm_compressor.md), a library for optimizing models for deployment with vLLM that supports FP8, INT8, INT4, and other quantization formats.

The following are the supported quantization formats for vLLM:

- [AutoAWQ](auto_awq.md)
- [BitsAndBytes](bnb.md)
- [GGUF](gguf.md)
- [GPTQModel](gptqmodel.md)
- [Intel Neural Compressor](inc.md)
- [INT4 W4A16](int4.md)
- [INT8 W8A8](int8.md)
- [FP8 W8A8](fp8.md)
- [NVIDIA Model Optimizer](modelopt.md)
- [Online Quantization](online.md)
- [AMD Quark](quark.md)
- [Quantized KV Cache](quantized_kvcache.md)
- [TorchAO](torchao.md)
- [FP8 ViT Encoder Attention](fp8_vit_attn.md)

## Supported Hardware

The table below shows the compatibility of various quantization implementations with different hardware platforms in vLLM:

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| Implementation            | Volta | Turing | Ampere | Ada | Hopper | AMD GPU | Intel GPU | x86 CPU |
| ------------------------- | ----- | ------ | ------ | --- | ------ | ------- | --------- | ------- |
| AWQ                       | ❌    | ✅︎     | ✅︎     | ✅︎  | ✅︎     | ❌      | ✅︎        | ✅︎      |
| GPTQ                      | ✅︎    | ✅︎     | ✅︎     | ✅︎  | ✅︎     | ❌      | ✅︎        | ✅︎      |
| Marlin (GPTQ/AWQ/FP8/FP4) | ❌    | ✅︎*    | ✅︎     | ✅︎  | ✅︎     | ❌      | ❌        | ❌      |
| INT8 (W8A8)               | ❌    | ✅︎     | ✅︎     | ✅︎  | ✅︎     | ❌      | ❌        | ✅︎      |
| FP8 (W8A8)                | ❌    | ❌     | ❌     | ✅︎  | ✅︎     | ✅︎      | ❌        | ❌      |
| bitsandbytes              | ✅︎    | ✅︎     | ✅︎     | ✅︎  | ✅︎     | ❌      | ❌        | ❌      |
| DeepSpeedFP               | ✅︎    | ✅︎     | ✅︎     | ✅︎  | ✅︎     | ❌      | ❌        | ❌      |
| GGUF                      | ✅︎    | ✅︎     | ✅︎     | ✅︎  | ✅︎     | ✅︎      | ❌        | ❌      |

- Volta refers to SM 7.0, Turing to SM 7.5, Ampere to SM 8.0/8.6, Ada to SM 8.9, and Hopper to SM 9.0.
- ✅︎ indicates that the quantization method is supported on the specified hardware.
- ❌ indicates that the quantization method is not supported on the specified hardware.
- All Intel Gaudi quantization support has been migrated to [vLLM-Gaudi](https://github.com/vllm-project/vllm-gaudi).
- *Turing does not support Marlin MXFP4.

!!! note
    For information on quantization support on Google TPU, please refer to the [TPU-Inference Recommended Models and Features](https://docs.vllm.ai/projects/tpu/en/latest/recommended_models_features/) documentation.

!!! note
    This compatibility chart is subject to change as vLLM continues to evolve and expand its support for different hardware platforms and quantization methods.

    For the most up-to-date information on hardware support and quantization methods, please refer to [vllm/model_executor/layers/quantization](../../../vllm/model_executor/layers/quantization) or consult with the vLLM development team.

## Out-of-Tree Quantization Plugins

vLLM supports registering custom, out-of-tree quantization methods using the `@register_quantization_config` decorator. This allows you to implement and use your own quantization schemes without modifying the vLLM codebase.

### Registering a Custom Quantization Method

To register a custom quantization method, create a class that inherits from `QuantizationConfig` and decorate it with `@register_quantization_config`. The `get_quant_method` dispatches to the appropriate quantize method based on the layer type:

```python
import torch
from vllm.model_executor.layers.quantization import (
    register_quantization_config,
)
from vllm.model_executor.layers.quantization.base_config import (
    QuantizationConfig,
    QuantizeMethodBase,
)
from vllm.model_executor.layers.linear import LinearBase
from vllm.model_executor.layers.fused_moe import FusedMoE

@register_quantization_config("my_quant")
class MyQuantConfig(QuantizationConfig):
    """Custom quantization config."""

    def get_name(self) -> str:
        return "my_quant"

    def get_supported_act_dtypes(self) -> list:
        return [torch.float16, torch.bfloat16]

    @classmethod
    def get_min_capability(cls) -> int:
        # Minimum GPU compute capability, -1 for no restriction
        return -1

    @staticmethod
    def get_config_filenames() -> list[str]:
        # Config files to search for in model directory
        return []

    @classmethod
    def from_config(cls, config: dict) -> "MyQuantConfig":
        # Create config from model's quantization config
        return cls()

    def get_quant_method(
        self, layer: torch.nn.Module, prefix: str
    ) -> QuantizeMethodBase | None:
        # Dispatch based on layer type
        # NOTE: you only need to implement methods you care about
        if isinstance(layer, LinearBase):
            return MyQuantLinearMethod()
        elif isinstance(layer, FusedMoE):
            return MyQuantMoEMethod(layer.moe_config)
        return None
```

### Required QuantizationConfig Methods

Your custom `QuantizationConfig` subclass must implement these abstract methods:

| Method | Description |
| ------ | ----------- |
| `get_name()` | Returns the name of the quantization method |
| `get_supported_act_dtypes()` | Returns list of supported activation dtypes (e.g., `torch.float16`) |
| `get_min_capability()` | Returns minimum GPU compute capability (e.g., 80 for Ampere, -1 for no restriction) |
| `get_config_filenames()` | Returns list of config filenames to search for in model directory |
| `from_config(config)` | Class method to create config from model's quantization config dict |
| `get_quant_method(layer, prefix)` | Returns the quantization method for a given layer, or `None` to skip |

### Implementing a Quantized Linear Method

For linear layers, return a `QuantizeMethodBase` subclass from `get_quant_method`. You can extend `UnquantizedLinearMethod` as a starting point:

```python
from vllm.model_executor.layers.linear import UnquantizedLinearMethod

class MyQuantLinearMethod(UnquantizedLinearMethod):
    """Custom quantization method for linear layers."""

    def create_weights(
        self, layer: torch.nn.Module, *weight_args, **extra_weight_attrs
    ):
        # Create quantized weights for the layer
        ...

    def apply(
        self,
        layer: torch.nn.Module,
        x: torch.Tensor,
        bias: torch.Tensor | None = None,
    ) -> torch.Tensor:
        # Apply custom quantization logic here
        ...
```

### Implementing a Quantized MoE Method

For Mixture of Experts (MoE) models, return a `FusedMoEMethodBase` subclass from `get_quant_method`. You can use `UnquantizedFusedMoEMethod` to skip MoE quantization:

```python
from vllm.model_executor.layers.fused_moe.layer import UnquantizedFusedMoEMethod
from vllm.model_executor.layers.fused_moe.fused_moe_method_base import (
    FusedMoEMethodBase,
)
from vllm.model_executor.layers.fused_moe.config import FusedMoEQuantConfig

class MyQuantMoEMethod(FusedMoEMethodBase):
    """Custom quantization method for MoE layers."""

    def create_weights(
        self,
        layer: torch.nn.Module,
        num_experts: int,
        hidden_size: int,
        intermediate_size_per_partition: int,
        params_dtype: torch.dtype,
        **extra_weight_attrs,
    ):
        # Create quantized weights for the MoE layer
        ...

    def apply(
        self,
        layer: torch.nn.Module,
        router: "FusedMoERouter",
        x: torch.Tensor,
        router_logits: torch.Tensor,
    ) -> torch.Tensor:
        # Apply MoE computation with quantized weights
        ...

    def get_fused_moe_quant_config(
        self, layer: torch.nn.Module
    ) -> FusedMoEQuantConfig | None:
        # Return the MoE quantization configuration
        ...
```

See existing implementations like `Fp8MoEMethod` in `vllm/model_executor/layers/quantization/fp8.py` for reference.

### Using the Plugin

Once registered, you can use your custom quantization method with vLLM:

```python
# Register your quantization method (import the module containing your config)
import my_quant_plugin

from vllm import LLM

# Use the custom quantization method
llm = LLM(model="your-model", quantization="my_quant")
```

For more information on the plugin system, see the [Plugin System documentation](../../design/plugin_system.md).