[diffusion] chore: enforce component attention backend application (#36907)

docs/docs/sglang-diffusion/api/cli.mdx

@@ -429,7 +429,7 @@ sglang generate \
   --component-attention-backends text_encoder=torch_sdpa
 ```
 
-The component key must match a pipeline module key such as `text_encoder`, `text_encoder_2`, `transformer`, `transformer_2`, or `connectors`. Component overrides take precedence over the global `--attention-backend` only while that component is being constructed and otherwise fail if the component cannot satisfy them. Sparse self-attention backends use a compatible dense backend for cross-attention layers. The global backend remains strict for DiT components, while auxiliary components may fall back to a compatible backend.
+The component key must match a pipeline module key such as `text_encoder`, `text_encoder_2`, `transformer`, `transformer_2`, or `connectors`. Component overrides take precedence over the global `--attention-backend` while that component is being constructed and fail if the component cannot satisfy them. A native component may explicitly defer backend selection until first use; components with fixed attention reject the override. Sparse self-attention backends use a compatible dense backend for cross-attention layers. The global backend remains strict for DiT components, while auxiliary components may fall back to a compatible backend. The Diffusers backend supports only the global backend passthrough.
 
 You can also pass dotted CLI entries:
 

docs/docs/sglang-diffusion/attention_backends.mdx

@@ -642,6 +642,10 @@ Use this override when the fallback must be pinned: unlike the global backend,
 an incompatible component override raises an error instead of selecting another
 backend. The one role-based exception is a sparse self-attention backend, which
 uses a compatible dense backend for cross-attention layers in the same component.
+The component must construct SGLang-selectable attention or explicitly defer
+selection until first use; components with fixed attention reject the override.
+Per-component overrides apply only to native pipelines. The Diffusers backend
+accepts the global `--attention-backend` passthrough instead.
 
 ### Per-request override (denoise loop)
 

python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/layers/attention/selector.py

@@ -70,6 +70,11 @@ class ComponentAttnBackendContext(NamedTuple):
     component_name: str | None
     selected_backends: dict[str, str | None]
     allow_global_backend_fallback: bool = False
+    require_backend_selection: bool = False
+
+
+class ComponentAttentionBackendNotAppliedError(ValueError):
+    """An explicit component backend did not control its attention layers."""
 
 
 component_attn_backend_context: ContextVar[ComponentAttnBackendContext | None] = (
@@ -109,6 +114,17 @@ def get_component_forced_attn_backend() -> AttentionBackendEnum | None:
     return context.backend if context is not None else None
 
 
+def claim_deferred_component_attn_backend() -> AttentionBackendEnum | None:
+    """Capture an override whose compatible backend is resolved on first use."""
+    context = get_component_attn_backend_context()
+    if context is None or context.backend is None:
+        return None
+    _record_component_attn_backend(
+        context.backend.name.lower(), "deferred first-use selection"
+    )
+    return context.backend
+
+
 def get_component_attn_backend_name() -> str | None:
     context = get_component_attn_backend_context()
     return context.component_name if context is not None else None
@@ -124,9 +140,11 @@ def _record_component_attn_backend(backend_name: str, reason: str | None) -> boo
     if context is None or context.component_name is None:
         return False
 
-    existing_reason = context.selected_backends.get(backend_name)
+    if backend_name not in context.selected_backends:
-    if backend_name not in context.selected_backends or existing_reason is None:
         context.selected_backends[backend_name] = reason
+    elif reason is None:
+        # unrestricted selection must not be hidden by a later valid fallback
+        context.selected_backends[backend_name] = None
     return True
 
 
@@ -160,6 +178,40 @@ def _log_component_attn_backend_summary(
     )
 
 
+def _validate_component_attn_backend_selection(
+    context: ComponentAttnBackendContext,
+) -> None:
+    if not context.require_backend_selection:
+        return
+
+    requested_backend = context.backend
+    assert requested_backend is not None
+    requested_name = requested_backend.name.lower()
+    component_name = context.component_name or "component"
+    if requested_name not in context.selected_backends:
+        detail = (
+            "did not construct any SGLang-selectable attention layers"
+            if not context.selected_backends
+            else f"selected {', '.join(sorted(context.selected_backends))} instead"
+        )
+        raise ComponentAttentionBackendNotAppliedError(
+            f"Attention backend '{requested_name}' was requested for component "
+            f"'{component_name}', but it {detail}"
+        )
+
+    unexplained = sorted(
+        backend_name
+        for backend_name, reason in context.selected_backends.items()
+        if backend_name != requested_name and reason is None
+    )
+    if unexplained:
+        raise ComponentAttentionBackendNotAppliedError(
+            f"Attention backend '{requested_name}' was requested for component "
+            f"'{component_name}', but it also selected "
+            f"{', '.join(unexplained)} without an allowed fallback"
+        )
+
+
 def get_attn_backend(
     head_size: int,
     dtype: torch.dtype,
@@ -372,49 +424,38 @@ def component_attn_backend_context_manager(
     attn_backend: AttentionBackendEnum | None,
     component_name: str | None = None,
     allow_global_backend_fallback: bool = False,
-    require_component_backend_selection: bool = True,
+    require_backend_selection: bool | None = None,
+    require_component_backend_selection: bool | None = None,
 ) -> Generator[None, None, None]:
     if attn_backend is None and component_name is None:
         yield
         return
 
+    if require_backend_selection is None:
+        require_backend_selection = (
+            require_component_backend_selection
+            if require_component_backend_selection is not None
+            else attn_backend is not None
+        )
+    elif require_component_backend_selection is not None:
+        raise ValueError("Specify only one component backend selection requirement")
+
     token = component_attn_backend_context.set(
         ComponentAttnBackendContext(
             attn_backend,
             component_name,
             {},
             allow_global_backend_fallback,
+            require_backend_selection,
         )
     )
-    unused_component_name: str | None = None
-    unused_backend_name: str | None = None
-    completed = False
     try:
         yield
-        completed = True
-    finally:
         context = component_attn_backend_context.get()
-        unused_component_override = (
+        _validate_component_attn_backend_selection(context)
-            completed
-            and require_component_backend_selection
-            and (
-                context is not None
-                and context.backend is not None
-                and context.component_name is not None
-                and not context.selected_backends
-            )
-        )
-        if unused_component_override:
-            unused_component_name = context.component_name
-            unused_backend_name = context.backend.name.lower()
         _log_component_attn_backend_summary(context)
+    finally:
         component_attn_backend_context.reset(token)
-    if unused_component_name is not None and unused_backend_name is not None:
-        raise ValueError(
-            f"Attention backend {unused_backend_name!r} was requested for component "
-            f"{unused_component_name!r}, but that component "
-            "did not construct an SGLang attention layer."
-        )
 
 
 @contextmanager

python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/loader/component_loaders/component_loader.py

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from transformers.quantizers import AutoHfQuantizer
 
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.distributed import get_local_torch_device
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.layers.attention.selector import (
+    ComponentAttentionBackendNotAppliedError,
     component_attn_backend_context_manager,
     get_component_attn_backend_context,
 )
@@ -217,17 +218,13 @@ class ComponentLoader(ABC):
         attn_backend: Any,
         component_attn_name: str | None,
         allow_global_backend_fallback: bool,
+        require_backend_selection: bool,
     ) -> AutoModel:
         with component_attn_backend_context_manager(
             attn_backend,
             component_name=component_attn_name,
             allow_global_backend_fallback=allow_global_backend_fallback,
-            require_component_backend_selection=(
+            require_backend_selection=require_backend_selection,
-                attn_backend is None
-                or not server_args.is_component_attention_backend_automatic(
-                    component_attn_name
-                )
-            ),
         ):
             load_kwargs = self.customized_load_kwargs_for_component(
                 server_args, component_name
@@ -245,17 +242,13 @@ class ComponentLoader(ABC):
         attn_backend: Any,
         component_attn_name: str | None,
         allow_global_backend_fallback: bool,
+        require_backend_selection: bool,
     ) -> AutoModel:
         with component_attn_backend_context_manager(
             attn_backend,
             component_name=component_attn_name,
             allow_global_backend_fallback=allow_global_backend_fallback,
-            require_component_backend_selection=(
+            require_backend_selection=require_backend_selection,
-                attn_backend is None
-                or not server_args.is_component_attention_backend_automatic(
-                    component_attn_name
-                )
-            ),
         ):
             component = self.load_native(
                 component_model_path,
@@ -271,6 +264,9 @@ class ComponentLoader(ABC):
         server_args: ServerArgs,
         component_name: str,
         transformers_or_diffusers: str,
+        *,
+        component_attn_backend: Any = None,
+        component_attn_name: str | None = None,
     ) -> tuple[AutoModel, float]:
         """
         Template method that standardizes logging around the core load implementation.
@@ -307,32 +303,55 @@ class ComponentLoader(ABC):
             component_model_path,
             gpu_mem_before_loading,
         )
-        attn_backend = None
+        if (
-        component_attn_name = None
+            component_attn_backend is None
-        if get_component_attn_backend_context() is None:
+            and component_attn_name is None
-            attn_backend, matched_backend_key = (
+            and get_component_attn_backend_context() is None
+        ):
+            component_attn_backend, matched_backend_key = (
                 server_args.resolve_component_attention_backend(component_name)
             )
             component_attn_name = matched_backend_key or component_name
-            if attn_backend is not None:
+            if component_attn_backend is not None:
                 logger.info(
                     "Using %s backend for component: %s",
-                    attn_backend.name.lower(),
+                    component_attn_backend.name.lower(),
                     matched_backend_key,
                 )
+        requested_backend = (
+            server_args.requested_component_attention_backend(component_attn_name)
+            if component_attn_name is not None
+            else None
+        )
+        require_backend_selection = requested_backend is not None
+        if require_backend_selection and (
+            component_attn_backend is None
+            or component_attn_backend.name.lower() != requested_backend
+        ):
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Component attention backend for {component_attn_name!r} no longer "
+                f"matches the explicit request {requested_backend!r}"
+            )
         try:
             component = self._load_customized_with_context(
                 component_model_path,
                 server_args,
                 component_name,
-                attn_backend,
+                component_attn_backend,
                 component_attn_name,
                 self.allow_global_attention_backend_fallback,
+                require_backend_selection,
             )
             source = "sgl-diffusion"
-        except (ComponentCheckpointUnsupportedError, ComponentResidencyError):
+        except (
+            ComponentAttentionBackendNotAppliedError,
+            ComponentCheckpointUnsupportedError,
+            ComponentResidencyError,
+        ):
             raise
         except Exception as e:
+            if require_backend_selection:
+                raise
             native_loader_required = isinstance(e, NativeComponentLoaderRequired)
             if self.should_raise_customized_load_error(server_args, component_name):
                 if native_loader_required:
@@ -360,9 +379,10 @@ class ComponentLoader(ABC):
                 server_args,
                 component_name,
                 transformers_or_diffusers,
-                attn_backend,
+                component_attn_backend,
                 component_attn_name,
                 self.allow_global_attention_backend_fallback,
+                require_backend_selection,
             )
             source = "native"
             logger.warning(
@@ -756,24 +776,13 @@ class PipelineComponentLoader:
         )
 
         try:
-            with component_attn_backend_context_manager(
-                component_attn_backend,
-                component_name=component_attn_name,
-                allow_global_backend_fallback=(
-                    loader.allow_global_attention_backend_fallback
-                ),
-                require_component_backend_selection=(
-                    component_attn_backend is None
-                    or not server_args.is_component_attention_backend_automatic(
-                        component_attn_name
-                    )
-                ),
-            ):
             return loader.load(
                 component_model_path,
                 server_args,
                 component_name,
                 transformers_or_diffusers,
+                component_attn_backend=component_attn_backend,
+                component_attn_name=component_attn_name,
             )
         except Exception:
             logger.error(

python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/dits/minimax_h3.py

@@ -52,10 +52,9 @@ from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.layers.attention.backends.attention_backend i
     AttentionRequirements,
 )
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.layers.attention.selector import (
+    claim_deferred_component_attn_backend,
     get_attn_backend,
-    get_component_forced_attn_backend,
     get_global_forced_attn_backend,
-    record_component_attn_backend,
 )
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.layers.linear import (
     ColumnParallelLinear,
@@ -2011,11 +2010,8 @@ class MiniMaxH3DiTModel(BaseDiT, LayerwiseOffloadableModuleMixin):
         )
         # Component overrides disappear when the loader context exits. Preserve
         # only that selection; process-wide overrides are resolved at first use.
-        self._component_attention_backend_override = get_component_forced_attn_backend()
+        self._component_attention_backend_override = (
-        if self._component_attention_backend_override is not None:
+            claim_deferred_component_attn_backend()
-            record_component_attn_backend(
-                self._component_attention_backend_override,
-                "deferred model-specific resolution",
         )
         self._resolved_attention_backend: AttentionBackendEnum | None = None
         self._mark_missing_params_required()

python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/pipelines/diffusers_pipeline.py

@@ -371,6 +371,12 @@ class DiffusersPipeline(ComposedPipelineBase):
         loaded_modules: dict[str, torch.nn.Module] | None = None,
         executor: PipelineExecutor | None = None,
     ):
+        if server_args.has_requested_component_attention_backends():
+            raise ValueError(
+                "--component-attention-backends is supported only by native "
+                "SGLang diffusion pipelines; use --attention-backend with the "
+                "Diffusers backend"
+            )
         self.server_args = server_args
         self.model_path = model_path
         self._stages: list[PipelineStage] = []

python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/server_args/server_args.py

@@ -251,6 +251,9 @@ class ServerArgs(DisaggServerArgsMixin):
     component_attention_backends: dict[str, str] | str | None = field(
         default_factory=dict
     )
+    _requested_component_attention_backends: dict[str, str] | None = field(
+        default=None, repr=False, compare=False
+    )
     cache_dit_config: str | dict[str, Any] | None = (
         None  # cache-dit config for diffusers
     )
@@ -958,6 +961,16 @@ class ServerArgs(DisaggServerArgsMixin):
                 self.component_attention_backends
             )
         )
+        if self._requested_component_attention_backends is None:
+            self._requested_component_attention_backends = dict(
+                self.component_attention_backends
+            )
+        else:
+            self._requested_component_attention_backends = (
+                self._normalize_component_attention_backends(
+                    self._requested_component_attention_backends
+                )
+            )
 
         # attention_backend_config
         if self.attention_backend_config is None:
@@ -1187,6 +1200,13 @@ class ServerArgs(DisaggServerArgsMixin):
                     return AttentionBackendEnum[backend.upper()], backend_key
         return None, None
 
+    def requested_component_attention_backend(self, component_name: str) -> str | None:
+        assert self._requested_component_attention_backends is not None
+        return self._requested_component_attention_backends.get(component_name)
+
+    def has_requested_component_attention_backends(self) -> bool:
+        return bool(self._requested_component_attention_backends)
+
     def is_component_attention_backend_automatic(
         self, component_name: str | None
     ) -> bool:

python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_attention_backend_selector.py

@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.layers.attention.backends.attention_backend i
     AttentionRequirements,
 )
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.layers.attention.selector import (
+    ComponentAttentionBackendNotAppliedError,
     _cached_get_attn_backend,
+    _record_component_attn_backend,
+    claim_deferred_component_attn_backend,
     component_attn_backend_context_manager,
     get_attn_backend,
     get_component_attn_backend_context,
@@ -16,6 +19,7 @@ from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.layers.attention.selector import (
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.loader.component_loaders.component_loader import (
     ComponentLoader,
     GenericComponentLoader,
+    NativeComponentLoaderRequired,
     PipelineComponentLoader,
 )
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.loader.component_loaders.text_encoder_loader import (
@@ -25,6 +29,9 @@ from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.loader.component_loaders.transformer_loader i
     TransformerLoader,
 )
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.loader.component_loaders.vae_loader import VAELoader
+from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.pipelines.diffusers_pipeline import (
+    DiffusersPipeline,
+)
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.platforms import AttentionBackendEnum
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.server_args import ServerArgs
 
@@ -142,6 +149,7 @@ class TestAttentionBackendFallback(unittest.TestCase):
                 component_backend,
                 component_name="text_encoder",
                 allow_global_backend_fallback=allow_global_backend_fallback,
+                require_backend_selection=component_backend is not None,
             ),
         ):
             return get_attn_backend(
@@ -166,7 +174,7 @@ class TestAttentionBackendFallback(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_component_override_requires_an_sglang_attention_layer(self):
         with self.assertRaisesRegex(
-            ValueError, "did not construct an SGLang attention layer"
+            ValueError, "did not construct any SGLang-selectable attention layers"
         ):
             with component_attn_backend_context_manager(
                 AttentionBackendEnum.FA, component_name="vae"
@@ -269,6 +277,17 @@ class TestAttentionBackendFallback(unittest.TestCase):
                 allow_global_backend_fallback=True,
             )
 
+    def test_explicit_component_backend_is_consumed(self):
+        backend = self._resolve(
+            AttentionBackendEnum.TORCH_SDPA,
+            explicit=True,
+            is_cross_attention=False,
+            supported={AttentionBackendEnum.FA, AttentionBackendEnum.TORCH_SDPA},
+            component_backend=AttentionBackendEnum.FA,
+        )
+
+        self.assertIs(backend, _FakeFABackend)
+
     def test_sparse_backend_falls_back_for_cross_attention(self):
         backend = self._resolve(
             AttentionBackendEnum.LASER_ATTN,
@@ -307,21 +326,40 @@ class TestComponentAttentionBackendScope(unittest.TestCase):
     def _load_with_policy(self, allow_global_backend_fallback: bool):
         captured_context = None
 
-        class _Loader:
+        class _Loader(ComponentLoader):
-            def load(self, *_args):
+            def load_customized(self, *_args):
                 nonlocal captured_context
                 captured_context = get_component_attn_backend_context()
-                return object(), 0.0
+                return object()
+
+        class _Args:
+            component_quantizations = {}
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def requested_component_attention_backend(_component_name):
+                return None
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def should_direct_gpu_weight_load_component(_component_name):
+                return False
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def should_use_fsdp_for_component(_component_name):
+                return False
 
         _Loader.allow_global_attention_backend_fallback = allow_global_backend_fallback
-        with patch.object(
+        with (
-            ComponentLoader, "for_component_type", return_value=_Loader()
+            patch.object(ComponentLoader, "for_component_type", return_value=_Loader()),
+            patch(
+                "sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.loader.component_loaders.component_loader.current_platform.get_available_gpu_memory",
+                return_value=1.0,
+            ),
         ):
             PipelineComponentLoader.load_component(
                 component_name="text_encoder",
                 component_model_path="unused",
                 transformers_or_diffusers="transformers",
-                server_args=object(),
+                server_args=_Args(),
                 component_attn_name="text_encoder",
             )
         return captured_context
@@ -344,6 +382,196 @@ class TestComponentAttentionBackendScope(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertTrue(TextEncoderLoader.allow_global_attention_backend_fallback)
         self.assertTrue(VAELoader.allow_global_attention_backend_fallback)
 
+    def test_explicit_backend_must_be_consumed(self):
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(
+            ComponentAttentionBackendNotAppliedError,
+            "did not construct any SGLang-selectable attention layers",
+        ):
+            with component_attn_backend_context_manager(
+                AttentionBackendEnum.FA,
+                component_name="image_encoder",
+                require_backend_selection=True,
+            ):
+                pass
+
+    def test_deferred_selection_satisfies_construction_contract(self):
+        with component_attn_backend_context_manager(
+            AttentionBackendEnum.FA,
+            component_name="transformer",
+            require_backend_selection=True,
+        ):
+            self.assertIs(
+                claim_deferred_component_attn_backend(),
+                AttentionBackendEnum.FA,
+            )
+
+    def test_fixed_component_load_rejects_explicit_backend(self):
+        class _Loader(ComponentLoader):
+            def load_customized(self, *_args):
+                return object()
+
+        class _Args:
+            component_quantizations = {}
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def requested_component_attention_backend(_component_name):
+                return "fa"
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def should_direct_gpu_weight_load_component(_component_name):
+                return False
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def should_use_fsdp_for_component(_component_name):
+                return False
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(ComponentLoader, "for_component_type", return_value=_Loader()),
+            patch(
+                "sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.loader.component_loaders.component_loader.current_platform.get_available_gpu_memory",
+                return_value=1.0,
+            ),
+            self.assertRaisesRegex(
+                ComponentAttentionBackendNotAppliedError,
+                "did not construct any SGLang-selectable attention layers",
+            ),
+        ):
+            PipelineComponentLoader.load_component(
+                component_name="image_encoder",
+                component_model_path="unused",
+                transformers_or_diffusers="transformers",
+                server_args=_Args(),
+                component_attn_backend=AttentionBackendEnum.FA,
+                component_attn_name="image_encoder",
+            )
+
+    def test_unexplained_mixed_backend_is_rejected(self):
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(
+            ComponentAttentionBackendNotAppliedError,
+            "also selected torch_sdpa without an allowed fallback",
+        ):
+            with component_attn_backend_context_manager(
+                AttentionBackendEnum.FA,
+                component_name="transformer",
+                require_backend_selection=True,
+            ):
+                _record_component_attn_backend("fa", None)
+                _record_component_attn_backend("torch_sdpa", None)
+                _record_component_attn_backend(
+                    "torch_sdpa", "dense cross-attention fallback"
+                )
+
+    def test_explicit_backend_preserves_customized_load_failure(self):
+        native_load_called = False
+
+        class _Loader(ComponentLoader):
+            def load_customized(self, *_args):
+                claim_deferred_component_attn_backend()
+                raise RuntimeError("customized load failed")
+
+            def load_native(self, *_args):
+                nonlocal native_load_called
+                native_load_called = True
+                return object()
+
+        class _Args:
+            component_quantizations = {}
+            pipeline_config = SimpleNamespace(native_only_components=())
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def requested_component_attention_backend(_component_name):
+                return "fa"
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def should_direct_gpu_weight_load_component(_component_name):
+                return False
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def should_use_fsdp_for_component(_component_name):
+                return False
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(ComponentLoader, "for_component_type", return_value=_Loader()),
+            patch(
+                "sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.loader.component_loaders.component_loader.current_platform.get_available_gpu_memory",
+                return_value=1.0,
+            ),
+            self.assertRaisesRegex(RuntimeError, "customized load failed"),
+        ):
+            PipelineComponentLoader.load_component(
+                component_name="text_encoder",
+                component_model_path="unused",
+                transformers_or_diffusers="transformers",
+                server_args=_Args(),
+                component_attn_backend=AttentionBackendEnum.FA,
+                component_attn_name="text_encoder",
+            )
+        self.assertFalse(native_load_called)
+
+    def test_legacy_fallback_uses_a_fresh_selection_context(self):
+        customized_context = None
+        native_context = None
+
+        class _Loader(ComponentLoader):
+            def load_customized(self, *_args):
+                nonlocal customized_context
+                customized_context = get_component_attn_backend_context()
+                _record_component_attn_backend("fa", None)
+                raise NativeComponentLoaderRequired("use native loader")
+
+            def load_native(self, *_args):
+                nonlocal native_context
+                native_context = get_component_attn_backend_context()
+                return object()
+
+        class _Args:
+            component_quantizations = {}
+            pipeline_config = SimpleNamespace(native_only_components=())
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def requested_component_attention_backend(_component_name):
+                return None
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def should_direct_gpu_weight_load_component(_component_name):
+                return False
+
+            @staticmethod
+            def should_use_fsdp_for_component(_component_name):
+                return False
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(ComponentLoader, "for_component_type", return_value=_Loader()),
+            patch(
+                "sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.loader.component_loaders.component_loader.current_platform.get_available_gpu_memory",
+                return_value=1.0,
+            ),
+        ):
+            PipelineComponentLoader.load_component(
+                component_name="text_encoder",
+                component_model_path="unused",
+                transformers_or_diffusers="transformers",
+                server_args=_Args(),
+                component_attn_name="text_encoder",
+            )
+
+        self.assertIsNotNone(customized_context)
+        self.assertIsNotNone(native_context)
+        self.assertIsNot(customized_context, native_context)
+        self.assertEqual(customized_context.selected_backends, {"fa": None})
+        self.assertEqual(native_context.selected_backends, {})
+
+    def test_diffusers_backend_rejects_component_override(self):
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(
+            ValueError, "supported only by native SGLang diffusion pipelines"
+        ):
+            DiffusersPipeline(
+                "/unused",
+                SimpleNamespace(
+                    has_requested_component_attention_backends=lambda: True
+                ),
+            )
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()

python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_image_encoder_loader.py

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ class TestImageEncoderQuantizationAdmission(unittest.TestCase):
             component_precisions={},
             encoder_parallel="replicate",
             resolve_component_attention_backend=lambda _name: (None, None),
+            requested_component_attention_backend=lambda _name: None,
             should_direct_gpu_weight_load_component=lambda _name: False,
             should_use_fsdp_for_component=lambda _name: False,
         )
@@ -252,6 +253,7 @@ class TestImageEncoderNativeLoading(unittest.TestCase):
                 native_only_components=(),
             ),
             resolve_component_attention_backend=lambda _name: (None, None),
+            requested_component_attention_backend=lambda _name: None,
             explicit_residency_mode=lambda _name: None,
             require_component_resident=mock.Mock(),
             should_use_fsdp_for_component=lambda _name: False,

python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_server_args.py

@@ -216,6 +216,21 @@ class TestServerArgsPathExpansion(unittest.TestCase):
             args.component_attention_backends,
             {"text_encoder": "torch_sdpa", "transformer": "fa"},
         )
+        self.assertEqual(
+            args._requested_component_attention_backends,
+            args.component_attention_backends,
+        )
+
+    def test_pipeline_attention_default_is_not_an_explicit_override(self):
+        args = _from_dict_without_model_resolution(
+            {"model_path": "/data/my-model"},
+            pipeline_config=LTX2PipelineConfig(),
+        )
+
+        self.assertEqual(
+            args.component_attention_backends, {"text_encoder": "torch_sdpa"}
+        )
+        self.assertFalse(args.has_requested_component_attention_backends())
 
     def test_component_attention_backend_lookup(self):
         args = self._from_dict_without_model_resolution(

python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_transformer_loader_fallback.py

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ class TestTransformerLoaderFallbackAdmission(unittest.TestCase):
             "dp_size": 1,
             "use_fsdp_inference": False,
             "resolve_component_attention_backend": mock.Mock(return_value=(None, None)),
+            "requested_component_attention_backend": mock.Mock(return_value=None),
             "should_direct_gpu_weight_load_component": mock.Mock(return_value=False),
             "should_use_fsdp_for_component": mock.Mock(return_value=fsdp_requested),
         }

python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_vae_loader.py

@@ -56,6 +56,9 @@ class _FakeServerArgs:
     def resolve_component_attention_backend(self, _component_name):
         return None, None
 
+    def requested_component_attention_backend(self, _component_name):
+        return None
+
     def should_start_component_on_cpu(self, _component_name):
         return False