[UnifiedTree] feat: support runtime attach/detach (#35269)

Co-authored-by: hzh0425 <hzh0425@apache.org>

python/sglang/srt/managers/cache_controller.py

@@ -321,6 +321,11 @@ class HiCacheController:
         # Dedicated stop event for storage background threads (prefetch/backup).
         self.storage_stop_event = threading.Event()
 
+        # Storage control queues, (re)created whenever the storage threads start.
+        self.prefetch_hit_queue: Optional[Queue[StorageOperation]] = None
+        self.ack_backup_queue: Optional[Queue[StorageOperation]] = None
+        self.host_mem_release_queue: Optional[Queue[torch.Tensor]] = None
+
         self.device = self.mem_pool_device.device
         self.layer_num = self.mem_pool_device.layer_num
         self.layer_done_counter = LayerDoneCounter(self.layer_num)
@@ -417,9 +422,9 @@ class HiCacheController:
         self.prefetch_queue = Queue()
         self.backup_queue = Queue()
 
-        self.prefetch_hit_queue: Queue[StorageOperation] = Queue()
-        self.ack_backup_queue: Queue[StorageOperation] = Queue()
-        self.host_mem_release_queue: Queue[torch.Tensor] = Queue()
+        self.prefetch_hit_queue = Queue()
+        self.ack_backup_queue = Queue()
+        self.host_mem_release_queue = Queue()
 
         self.prefetch_thread.start()
         self.backup_thread.start()

python/sglang/srt/mem_cache/unified_cache/storage_attachment.py

@@ -0,0 +1,400 @@
+"""Runtime attach / detach of the HiCache (L3) storage backend.
+
+``UnifiedRadixCache`` owns the tree; this component owns the lifecycle of the
+storage backend behind it: validating the requested policies, applying the storage
+runtime config, starting and stopping the controller's storage threads, and
+cleaning up the bookkeeping a half-finished prefetch / backup leaves behind.
+
+Keeping it beside the tree rather than inside it gives the three entry points --
+startup, the admin API, and the atexit hook -- one implementation.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import logging
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Optional
+
+from sglang.srt.mem_cache.hybrid_cache.hybrid_cache_controller import (
+    HybridCacheController,
+)
+from sglang.srt.observability.metrics_collector import (
+    STAT_LOGGER_ROLE_STORAGE,
+    StorageMetricsCollector,
+    resolve_collector_class,
+)
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from sglang.srt.mem_cache.unified_radix_cache import UnifiedRadixCache
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+# Kept in sync with the server-args choices; validated here so an admin request
+# carrying a bad policy is rejected before it can touch the controller.
+_PREFETCH_POLICIES = ("best_effort", "wait_complete", "timeout")
+_WRITE_POLICIES = ("write_back", "write_through", "write_through_selective")
+
+
+class StorageAttachment:
+    """Attach / detach the storage backend of one ``UnifiedRadixCache``."""
+
+    def __init__(self, cache: UnifiedRadixCache):
+        self._cache = cache
+
+    # ---- Lifecycle entry points ----
+
+    def attach(
+        self,
+        storage_backend: str,
+        storage_backend_extra_config_json: Optional[str] = None,
+        served_model_name: Optional[str] = None,
+        hicache_storage_prefetch_policy: Optional[str] = None,
+        hicache_write_policy: Optional[str] = None,
+    ) -> tuple[bool, str]:
+        """Enable the storage backend at runtime.
+
+        Starts the storage threads inside the cache controller and turns on the
+        prefetch / backup paths. The caller must ensure there are no running or
+        queued requests, so this cannot race the scheduler thread.
+        """
+        cache = self._cache
+
+        # Validate first: a rejected request must have no side effects.
+        invalid = self._validate_policies(
+            hicache_storage_prefetch_policy, hicache_write_policy
+        )
+        if invalid is not None:
+            return False, invalid
+
+        controller = cache.cache_controller
+        if controller is None:
+            return (
+                False,
+                "HiCache is not initialized (no cache controller); "
+                "launch with --enable-hierarchical-cache to attach a backend.",
+            )
+
+        if cache.enable_storage:
+            current_backend = controller.storage_backend_type
+            if current_backend != storage_backend:
+                return (
+                    False,
+                    f"HiCache storage backend is already enabled with backend "
+                    f"'{current_backend}'. Cannot attach different backend "
+                    f"'{storage_backend}'. Detach first.",
+                )
+            # Same backend: the request degenerates to a policy update.
+            self._apply_policies(hicache_storage_prefetch_policy, hicache_write_policy)
+            return (
+                True,
+                "HiCache storage backend already enabled with same backend; "
+                "policies updated.",
+            )
+
+        # Apply policies before the controller attach, so the storage threads
+        # observe the new values as soon as they start.
+        self._apply_policies(hicache_storage_prefetch_policy, hicache_write_policy)
+
+        logger.info(f"Attaching HiCache storage backend: {storage_backend}")
+        try:
+            (
+                extra_config,
+                prefetch_threshold,
+                prefetch_timeout_base,
+                prefetch_timeout_per_ki_token,
+                hicache_storage_pass_prefix_keys,
+            ) = HybridCacheController.parse_storage_backend_extra_config(
+                storage_backend_extra_config_json
+            )
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.exception(f"Failed to parse storage_backend_extra_config_json: {e}")
+            return (
+                False,
+                f"Failed to parse storage_backend_extra_config_json "
+                f"'{storage_backend_extra_config_json}': {e}",
+            )
+
+        try:
+            controller.attach_storage_backend(
+                storage_backend=storage_backend,
+                prefetch_threshold=prefetch_threshold,
+                model_name=served_model_name,
+                storage_backend_extra_config=extra_config,
+                host_pools=controller.mem_pool_host.entries,
+            )
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.exception(
+                f"Failed to attach storage backend '{storage_backend}': {e}"
+            )
+            return False, f"Failed to attach storage backend '{storage_backend}': {e}"
+
+        self.apply_runtime_config(
+            storage_backend=storage_backend,
+            prefetch_threshold=prefetch_threshold,
+            prefetch_timeout_base=prefetch_timeout_base,
+            prefetch_timeout_per_ki_token=prefetch_timeout_per_ki_token,
+            hicache_storage_pass_prefix_keys=hicache_storage_pass_prefix_keys,
+            enable_storage=True,
+            enable_storage_metrics=cache._enable_metrics_flag,
+            extra_metric_labels=cache.extra_metric_labels,
+        )
+        return True, "Attached HiCache storage backend successfully."
+
+    def detach(self) -> tuple[bool, str]:
+        """Disable the storage backend at runtime.
+
+        The caller must ensure there are no running or queued requests. Ordering
+        matters and is the reason this is not just ``controller.detach()``:
+
+        1. drain the control queues while the bookkeeping is still intact, so
+           in-flight acks / releases can still be matched to their nodes --
+           otherwise host pages and host locks leak;
+        2. stop the storage threads;
+        3. only then release whatever prefetch / backup is still tracked, since
+           nothing can race the bookkeeping once the threads are gone;
+        4. drain once more, because step 3 only *queues* the host pages -- this
+           is what hands them back to the pool and its sidecars.
+        """
+        cache = self._cache
+        controller = cache.cache_controller
+        if controller is None:
+            return False, "HiCache storage backend is not initialized."
+
+        try:
+            cache.drain_storage_control_queues_local()
+            # Idempotent: ask the controller to clean up even when `enable_storage`
+            # is already False, since that may be leftover state from an earlier
+            # partial detach.
+            controller.detach_storage_backend()
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.exception("Failed to detach storage backend.")
+            # Never crash the server for an admin operation. The controller raises
+            # while its threads are still alive, so leave `ongoing_*` untouched --
+            # a retry must still be able to match their acks.
+            return False, f"Failed to detach HiCache storage backend: {e}"
+
+        try:
+            self._release_pending_storage_ops()
+            cache.drain_storage_control_queues_local()
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Failed post-detach cleanup of storage bookkeeping.")
+
+        cache.enable_storage = False
+        cache.enable_storage_metrics = False
+        return True, "Detached HiCache storage backend successfully."
+
+    def shutdown(self) -> None:
+        """Best-effort auto-detach on process shutdown.
+
+        Keeps startup and runtime behavior consistent: a backend attached either
+        via CLI args or via the admin API is detached on exit.
+        """
+        try:
+            if self._cache.enable_storage:
+                self.detach()
+        except Exception:
+            logger.exception("Failed to detach storage backend on process shutdown.")
+
+    def clear(self) -> bool:
+        """Drop everything the backend has stored, keeping it attached."""
+        try:
+            ok = self._cache.cache_controller.clear_storage_backend()
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.error("Failed to clear hierarchical cache storage backend: %s", e)
+            return False
+        if ok:
+            logger.info("Hierarchical cache storage backend cleared successfully!")
+        return ok
+
+    # ---- Runtime config ----
+
+    def apply_runtime_config(
+        self,
+        *,
+        storage_backend: Optional[str],
+        prefetch_threshold: int,
+        prefetch_timeout_base: float,
+        prefetch_timeout_per_ki_token: float,
+        hicache_storage_pass_prefix_keys: bool,
+        enable_storage: bool,
+        enable_storage_metrics: bool,
+        extra_metric_labels: Optional[dict[str, str]],
+    ) -> None:
+        """Publish the storage knobs onto the tree; the single storage-enable point.
+
+        Both startup and runtime attach funnel through here, so anything that must
+        happen exactly when storage turns on belongs in this method.
+        """
+        cache = self._cache
+
+        # Nodes already in the tree were built with hashing off. Fill them in as
+        # storage turns on: a node hashed against an unhashed parent restarts the
+        # page hash chain mid-sequence, so its L3 keys would cover only a suffix of
+        # the prefix they claim to represent.
+        if enable_storage and not cache.enable_storage:
+            filled = cache.tree_core.backfill_missing_hash_values()
+            if filled:
+                logger.info(
+                    "Hashed %d radix nodes that predate the storage backend.", filled
+                )
+
+        cache.enable_storage = enable_storage
+        cache.prefetch_threshold = prefetch_threshold
+        cache.prefetch_timeout_base = prefetch_timeout_base
+        cache.prefetch_timeout_per_page = (
+            cache.page_size / 1024 * prefetch_timeout_per_ki_token
+        )
+        cache.hicache_storage_pass_prefix_keys = hicache_storage_pass_prefix_keys
+        cache.enable_storage_metrics = enable_storage_metrics
+
+        if enable_storage_metrics:
+            cache.storage_metrics_collector = self._resolve_metrics_collector(
+                storage_backend, extra_metric_labels
+            )
+        else:
+            cache.storage_metrics_collector = None
+
+    def _resolve_metrics_collector(
+        self,
+        storage_backend: Optional[str],
+        extra_metric_labels: Optional[dict[str, str]],
+    ) -> Optional[StorageMetricsCollector]:
+        """Build the storage metrics collector, or relabel the existing one.
+
+        A collector is created once and kept across detach / re-attach: building a
+        second one with the same labels would register duplicate metrics.
+        """
+        cache = self._cache
+        controller = cache.cache_controller
+        attn_cp_rank, attn_cp_size = controller.get_attn_cp_rank_and_size()
+        labels = {
+            "storage_backend": storage_backend,
+            "tp_rank": controller.tp_rank,
+            "dp_rank": controller.dp_rank,
+            "pp_rank": controller.pp_rank,
+            "pp_size": controller.pp_size,
+            "attn_cp_rank": attn_cp_rank,
+            "attn_cp_size": attn_cp_size,
+        }
+        if extra_metric_labels:
+            labels.update(extra_metric_labels)
+
+        existing_collector = cache.storage_metrics_collector
+        if existing_collector is None:
+            from sglang.srt.runtime_context import get_server_args
+
+            storage_cls = resolve_collector_class(
+                get_server_args(),
+                STAT_LOGGER_ROLE_STORAGE,
+                StorageMetricsCollector,
+            )
+            return storage_cls(labels=labels)
+
+        if set(existing_collector.labels.keys()) == set(labels.keys()):
+            existing_collector.labels = labels
+        else:
+            logger.warning(
+                "Storage metrics labels changed (%s -> %s). Keep existing labels to avoid duplicate metric registration.",
+                sorted(existing_collector.labels.keys()),
+                sorted(labels.keys()),
+            )
+        return existing_collector
+
+    # ---- Internals ----
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _validate_policies(
+        hicache_storage_prefetch_policy: Optional[str],
+        hicache_write_policy: Optional[str],
+    ) -> Optional[str]:
+        """The rejection reason for an invalid policy, or None when both are ok."""
+        if (
+            hicache_storage_prefetch_policy is not None
+            and hicache_storage_prefetch_policy not in _PREFETCH_POLICIES
+        ):
+            return (
+                f"Invalid hicache_storage_prefetch_policy: "
+                f"{hicache_storage_prefetch_policy!r}. "
+                f"Expected one of {list(_PREFETCH_POLICIES)}."
+            )
+        if (
+            hicache_write_policy is not None
+            and hicache_write_policy not in _WRITE_POLICIES
+        ):
+            return (
+                f"Invalid hicache_write_policy: {hicache_write_policy!r}. "
+                f"Expected one of {list(_WRITE_POLICIES)}."
+            )
+        return None
+
+    def _apply_policies(
+        self,
+        hicache_storage_prefetch_policy: Optional[str],
+        hicache_write_policy: Optional[str],
+    ) -> None:
+        cache = self._cache
+        if hicache_storage_prefetch_policy is not None:
+            cache.prefetch_stop_policy = hicache_storage_prefetch_policy
+            logger.info(
+                f"Set hicache_storage_prefetch_policy to "
+                f"{hicache_storage_prefetch_policy}"
+            )
+        if hicache_write_policy is not None:
+            cache.cache_controller.write_policy = hicache_write_policy
+            cache.write_through_threshold = (
+                1 if hicache_write_policy == "write_through" else 2
+            )
+            cache.is_write_back = hicache_write_policy == "write_back"
+            logger.info(f"Set hicache_write_policy to {hicache_write_policy}")
+
+    def _release_pending_storage_ops(self) -> None:
+        """Release the host pages and locks that still-tracked ops hold.
+
+        A safety net only: the scheduler refuses a detach unless `ongoing_prefetch`
+        and `ongoing_backup` are already empty, so this normally finds nothing. It
+        earns its keep on the atexit path, which has no such guard.
+
+        Two deliberate departures from `release_aborted_request`, which does the
+        same bookkeeping while the storage threads are still running:
+
+        * no cross-rank barrier -- at process exit the other ranks may already be
+          gone, and a barrier there would hang;
+        * only the completed prefix of a prefetch is freed. The prefetch IO thread
+          owns ``host_indices[completed_tokens:]`` and frees it as it drains, so
+          freeing the whole range here would double-free whatever it already
+          returned. Leaking the tail of an interrupted prefetch is the safer
+          failure of the two.
+        """
+        cache = self._cache
+        controller = cache.cache_controller
+
+        for req_id in list(cache.ongoing_prefetch):
+            info = cache.ongoing_prefetch[req_id]
+            try:
+                if info.host_indices is None:
+                    # Host pages were never allocated for this operation.
+                    cache.revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
+                    continue
+                completed_tokens, _ = controller.terminate_prefetch(info.operation)
+                del cache.ongoing_prefetch[req_id]
+                cache.dec_host_lock_ref(info.anchor_node_id, info.anchor_lock_params)
+                controller.append_host_mem_release(
+                    host_indices=info.host_indices[:completed_tokens],
+                    extra_pools=[
+                        x for xfers in info.comp_xfers.values() for x in xfers
+                    ],
+                )
+                controller.prefetch_tokens_occupied = max(
+                    0, controller.prefetch_tokens_occupied - len(info.prefetch_key)
+                )
+            except Exception:
+                logger.exception("Failed to release pending prefetch %s", req_id)
+                cache.ongoing_prefetch.pop(req_id, None)
+
+        for ack_id in list(cache.ongoing_backup):
+            node_id, lock_params = cache.ongoing_backup.pop(ack_id)
+            try:
+                cache.dec_host_lock_ref(node_id, lock_params)
+            except Exception:
+                logger.exception("Failed to release host lock for backup op %s", ack_id)
+
+        cache.prefetch_loaded_tokens_by_reqid.clear()

python/sglang/srt/mem_cache/unified_cache/unified_tree_core.py

@@ -515,6 +515,27 @@ class UnifiedTreeCore(UnifiedTreeCoreInterface):
         """The hash values owned by this node, excluding its ancestors."""
         return self.node_by_id(node_id).hash_value or []
 
+    def backfill_missing_hash_values(self) -> int:
+        """Hash every node that was built while storage was disabled.
+
+        Page hashes chain from the parent's last hash, so a node whose parent has
+        none restarts the chain mid-sequence: its keys then encode only a suffix
+        of the prefix they claim to represent, which would alias unrelated
+        requests that happen to start with those tokens. Walks parent-before-child
+        so each node hashes against an already-filled parent. Returns the number
+        of nodes filled.
+        """
+        filled = 0
+        stack = [self.root_node]
+        while stack:
+            node = stack.pop()
+            # The root anchors every chain and is seeded with an empty hash list.
+            if node is not self.root_node and node.hash_value is None:
+                node.hash_value = compute_node_hash_values(node, self.page_size)
+                filled += 1
+            stack.extend(node.children.values())
+        return filled
+
     def root_node_handle(self, extra_key: Optional[str] = None) -> NodeId:
         """The NodeId anchoring matches; the single root serves every namespace."""
         return self.root_node.id

python/sglang/srt/mem_cache/unified_cache/unified_tree_core_interface.py

@@ -173,6 +173,16 @@ class UnifiedTreeCoreInterface(ABC):
         """The hash values owned by this node, excluding its ancestors."""
         ...
 
+    @abstractmethod
+    def backfill_missing_hash_values(self) -> int:
+        """Hash every node built while storage was disabled; return how many.
+
+        Called when a storage backend is attached at runtime: nodes already in
+        the tree carry no hash, and hashing their descendants against them would
+        restart the page hash chain mid-sequence.
+        """
+        ...
+
     @abstractmethod
     def root_node_handle(self, extra_key: Optional[str] = None) -> NodeId:
         """The NodeId anchoring matches for the namespace."""

python/sglang/srt/mem_cache/unified_radix_cache.py

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+import atexit
 import logging
 import threading
 import time
@@ -69,6 +70,7 @@ from sglang.srt.mem_cache.unified_cache.components import (
 from sglang.srt.mem_cache.unified_cache.session_ref_tracker import (
     UnifiedSessionRefTracker,
 )
+from sglang.srt.mem_cache.unified_cache.storage_attachment import StorageAttachment
 from sglang.srt.mem_cache.unified_cache.tree_core_registry import create_tree_core
 from sglang.srt.mem_cache.unified_cache.unified_tree_core import (  # noqa: F401
     NodeId,
@@ -77,10 +79,8 @@ from sglang.srt.mem_cache.unified_cache.unified_tree_core import (  # noqa: F401
     UnifiedTreeNode,
 )
 from sglang.srt.observability.metrics_collector import (
-    STAT_LOGGER_ROLE_STORAGE,
     StorageMetrics,
     StorageMetricsCollector,
-    resolve_collector_class,
 )
 from sglang.srt.session.streaming_session import StreamingSession
 from sglang.srt.utils.common import ceil_align
@@ -230,6 +230,8 @@ class UnifiedRadixCache(BasePrefixCache):
         # HiCache D↔H defaults (overridden by init_hicache)
         self.cache_controller: Optional[HybridCacheController] = None
         self.host_pool_group = None  # set by attach_hybrid_pool_to_unified_cache
+        # Owns the storage backend lifecycle; built by init_hicache.
+        self._storage_attachment: Optional[StorageAttachment] = None
         self.prefetch_stop_policy = "best_effort"
         self.prefetch_threshold = 256
         self.prefetch_timeout_base = 1.0
@@ -457,8 +459,12 @@ class UnifiedRadixCache(BasePrefixCache):
         self.load_back_threshold = 10
         self.prefetch_stop_policy = server_args.hicache_storage_prefetch_policy
 
+        # Runtime attach/detach of the L3 backend (startup, admin API, atexit).
+        self._storage_attachment = StorageAttachment(self)
+        atexit.register(self.shutdown)
+
         if storage_backend is not None:
-            self._apply_storage_runtime_config(
+            self._storage_attachment.apply_runtime_config(
                 storage_backend=storage_backend,
                 prefetch_threshold=storage_prefetch_threshold,
                 prefetch_timeout_base=prefetch_timeout_base,
@@ -1734,7 +1740,7 @@ class UnifiedRadixCache(BasePrefixCache):
             return False
         if operation.host_indices is None:
             self.cache_controller.terminate_prefetch(operation)
-            self._revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
+            self.revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
             return True
 
         completed_tokens, hash_value = self.cache_controller.terminate_prefetch(
@@ -1955,7 +1961,7 @@ class UnifiedRadixCache(BasePrefixCache):
         ) = self.ongoing_prefetch[rid]
         if operation.host_indices is None:
             self.cache_controller.terminate_prefetch(operation)
-            self._revoke_pending_prefetch(rid)
+            self.revoke_pending_prefetch(rid)
             return
 
         completed_tokens, _ = self.cache_controller.terminate_prefetch(operation)
@@ -2028,7 +2034,7 @@ class UnifiedRadixCache(BasePrefixCache):
             return len(host_indices) if host_indices is not None else 0
         return len(prefetch_key)
 
-    def _revoke_pending_prefetch(self, req_id: str) -> None:
+    def revoke_pending_prefetch(self, req_id: str) -> None:
         info = self.ongoing_prefetch.pop(req_id, None)
         if info is None:
             return
@@ -2090,7 +2096,7 @@ class UnifiedRadixCache(BasePrefixCache):
             if info is None:
                 return True  # aborted/cleaned; nothing to retry
             if operation.is_terminated():
-                self._revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
+                self.revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
                 return True
 
             if buffer_mode and cc.prefetch_rate_limited():
@@ -2116,7 +2122,7 @@ class UnifiedRadixCache(BasePrefixCache):
             if host_indices is None:
                 if buffer_mode:
                     return False
-                self._revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
+                self.revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
                 return True
 
             operation.storage_hit_count = alloc_len
@@ -2146,13 +2152,13 @@ class UnifiedRadixCache(BasePrefixCache):
                     continue
                 if operation.is_terminated():
                     # Aborted while the storage query was in flight.
-                    self._revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
+                    self.revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
                     continue
                 if operation.storage_hit_count < self.prefetch_threshold:
                     # Below-threshold hit: classify + feed the L3 miss
                     # accounting, then revoke (not enough benefit).
                     self._account_prefetch_outcome(operation, revoked=True)
-                    self._revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
+                    self.revoke_pending_prefetch(req_id)
                     continue
                 self._invalidate_absent_from_hit_query(operation)
                 self._account_prefetch_outcome(operation, revoked=False)
@@ -2250,62 +2256,30 @@ class UnifiedRadixCache(BasePrefixCache):
             log_metrics=True,
         )
 
-    def _apply_storage_runtime_config(
-        self,
-        *,
-        storage_backend: Optional[str],
-        prefetch_threshold: int,
-        prefetch_timeout_base: float,
-        prefetch_timeout_per_ki_token: float,
-        hicache_storage_pass_prefix_keys: bool,
-        enable_storage: bool,
-        enable_storage_metrics: bool,
-        extra_metric_labels: Optional[dict[str, str]],
-    ) -> None:
-        self.enable_storage = enable_storage
-        self.prefetch_threshold = prefetch_threshold
-        self.prefetch_timeout_base = prefetch_timeout_base
-        self.prefetch_timeout_per_page = (
-            self.page_size / 1024 * prefetch_timeout_per_ki_token
+    def drain_storage_control_queues_local(self) -> None:
+        """Drain the storage control queues without cross-rank synchronization.
+
+        For the detach / shutdown path, where best-effort cleanup matters more than
+        keeping the drained counts identical across ranks. The prefetch-hit queue is
+        deliberately skipped: servicing it would allocate host pages for a prefetch
+        that can no longer complete.
+        """
+        cc = self.cache_controller
+        # The storage queues are created by the controller when the storage threads
+        # start, so they are still None when a backend was never attached.
+        if cc is None or cc.prefetch_hit_queue is None:
+            return
+        self._drain_storage_control_queues_impl(
+            n_storage_hit=0,
+            n_backup=None,
+            n_release=None,
+            extra_release_counts={
+                name: None for name in cc.extra_host_mem_release_queues
+            },
+            log_metrics=False,
         )
-        self.hicache_storage_pass_prefix_keys = hicache_storage_pass_prefix_keys
-        self.enable_storage_metrics = enable_storage_metrics
 
-        if self.enable_storage_metrics:
-            attn_cp_rank, attn_cp_size = (
-                self.cache_controller.get_attn_cp_rank_and_size()
-            )
-            labels = {
-                "storage_backend": storage_backend,
-                "tp_rank": self.cache_controller.tp_rank,
-                "dp_rank": self.cache_controller.dp_rank,
-                "pp_rank": self.cache_controller.pp_rank,
-                "pp_size": self.cache_controller.pp_size,
-                "attn_cp_rank": attn_cp_rank,
-                "attn_cp_size": attn_cp_size,
-            }
-            if extra_metric_labels:
-                labels.update(extra_metric_labels)
-            existing_collector = self.storage_metrics_collector
-            if existing_collector is None:
-                from sglang.srt.runtime_context import get_server_args
-
-                storage_cls = resolve_collector_class(
-                    get_server_args(),
-                    STAT_LOGGER_ROLE_STORAGE,
-                    StorageMetricsCollector,
-                )
-                self.storage_metrics_collector = storage_cls(labels=labels)
-            elif set(existing_collector.labels.keys()) == set(labels.keys()):
-                existing_collector.labels = labels
-            else:
-                logger.warning(
-                    "Storage metrics labels changed (%s -> %s). Keep existing labels to avoid duplicate metric registration.",
-                    sorted(existing_collector.labels.keys()),
-                    sorted(labels.keys()),
-                )
-        else:
-            self.storage_metrics_collector = None
+    # ---- HiCache: Storage backend lifecycle (delegated) ----
 
     def attach_storage_backend(
         self,
@@ -2315,30 +2289,40 @@ class UnifiedRadixCache(BasePrefixCache):
         hicache_storage_prefetch_policy: Optional[str] = None,
         hicache_write_policy: Optional[str] = None,
     ) -> tuple[bool, str]:
-        return (
-            False,
-            "UnifiedRadixCache does not support runtime HiCache storage attach yet. "
-            "Configure hicache_storage_backend at startup instead.",
+        """Attach (enable) the HiCache storage backend at runtime."""
+        if self._storage_attachment is None:
+            return (
+                False,
+                "HiCache is not initialized; launch with "
+                "--enable-hierarchical-cache to attach a storage backend.",
+            )
+        return self._storage_attachment.attach(
+            storage_backend=storage_backend,
+            storage_backend_extra_config_json=storage_backend_extra_config_json,
+            served_model_name=served_model_name,
+            hicache_storage_prefetch_policy=hicache_storage_prefetch_policy,
+            hicache_write_policy=hicache_write_policy,
         )
 
     def detach_storage_backend(self) -> tuple[bool, str]:
-        return (
-            False,
-            "UnifiedRadixCache does not support runtime HiCache storage detach yet. "
-            "Restart without hicache_storage_backend to disable it.",
-        )
+        """Detach (disable) the HiCache storage backend at runtime."""
+        if self._storage_attachment is None:
+            return False, "HiCache storage backend is not initialized."
+        return self._storage_attachment.detach()
+
+    def shutdown(self) -> None:
+        """Best-effort auto-detach of the storage backend on process shutdown."""
+        if self._storage_attachment is not None:
+            self._storage_attachment.shutdown()
 
     def clear_storage_backend(self) -> bool:
-        try:
-            ok = self.cache_controller.clear_storage_backend()
-        except Exception as e:
-            logger.error("Failed to clear hierarchical cache storage backend: %s", e)
+        if self._storage_attachment is None:
             return False
+        ok = self._storage_attachment.clear()
         if ok:
             # L3 is empty now: every storage-presence belief is stale, and a
             # retained positive would skip that page's backup forever.
             self.storage_existence_cache.clear()
-            logger.info("Hierarchical cache storage backend cleared successfully!")
         return ok
 
     # ---- HiCache: Async Event Management ----