diff --git a/docs/docs/sglang-diffusion/api/openai_api.mdx b/docs/docs/sglang-diffusion/api/openai_api.mdx
index acbb6bb4b..a68aa9e82 100644
--- a/docs/docs/sglang-diffusion/api/openai_api.mdx
+++ b/docs/docs/sglang-diffusion/api/openai_api.mdx
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ The server implements an OpenAI-compatible Images API under the `/v1/images` nam
 
 **Endpoint:** `POST /v1/images/generations`
 
+#### Request quality
+
+`quality` selects a model-owned sampling level when that model advertises one: use `lossless` for the reference path or `high` for a validated accelerated path. Omit it (or send OpenAI's default `auto`) to keep the runtime default. It is distinct from `output_quality`, which controls only output-file compression. The same extension is accepted by image edits and video requests.
+
 **Python Example (b64_json response):**
 
 ```python Python
diff --git a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/entrypoints/openai/image_api.py b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/entrypoints/openai/image_api.py
index 5c43879b2..73bb468f3 100644
--- a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/entrypoints/openai/image_api.py
+++ b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/entrypoints/openai/image_api.py
@@ -76,6 +76,11 @@ def _get_request_field_or_extra(request, field_name):
     return _get_extra_field(request, field_name)
 
 
+def _runtime_sampling_quality(quality: str | None) -> str | None:
+    """Keep OpenAI's automatic default out of SGLang's sampling contract."""
+    return None if quality in (None, "auto") else quality
+
+
 def _parse_extra_container(value: Any) -> dict[str, Any]:
     if isinstance(value, str):
         try:
@@ -309,6 +314,7 @@ async def generations(
             use_system_prompt=_get_extra_field(request, "use_system_prompt"),
             use_guardrails=_get_extra_field(request, "use_guardrails"),
             enable_teacache=request.enable_teacache,
+            quality=_runtime_sampling_quality(request.quality),
             output_compression=request.output_compression,
             output_quality=request.output_quality,
             diffusers_kwargs=request.diffusers_kwargs,
@@ -418,6 +424,7 @@ async def edits(
     guidance_scale: Optional[float] = Form(None),
     true_cfg_scale: Optional[float] = Form(None),
     num_inference_steps: Optional[int] = Form(None),
+    quality: Optional[str] = Form(None),
     output_quality: Optional[str] = Form("default"),
     output_compression: Optional[int] = Form(None),
     enable_teacache: Optional[bool] = Form(False),
@@ -478,6 +485,7 @@ async def edits(
             num_inference_steps=num_inference_steps,
             enable_teacache=enable_teacache,
             num_frames=num_frames,
+            quality=_runtime_sampling_quality(quality),
             output_compression=output_compression,
             output_quality=output_quality,
             enable_upscaling=enable_upscaling,
diff --git a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/entrypoints/openai/video_api.py b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/entrypoints/openai/video_api.py
index 15e637f95..cb773f77d 100644
--- a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/entrypoints/openai/video_api.py
+++ b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/entrypoints/openai/video_api.py
@@ -104,6 +104,7 @@ _MULTIPART_EXTRA_FORM_FIELDS = (
     "action_normalization",
     "condition_frame_indexes_vision",
     "condition_video_keep",
+    "quality",
 )
 
 
@@ -371,6 +372,7 @@ def _build_video_sampling_params(request_id: str, request: VideoGenerationsReque
         "upscaling_model_path": request.upscaling_model_path,
         "upscaling_scale": request.upscaling_scale,
         "output_path": request.output_path,
+        "quality": _extra_value(request, "quality"),
         "output_compression": request.output_compression,
         "output_quality": request.output_quality,
         "perf_dump_path": request.perf_dump_path,
diff --git a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/fast_path_gate.py b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/fast_path_gate.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..48beb4df1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/fast_path_gate.py
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+"""Shared decode-scoped gate for optional VAE fast paths."""
+
+from contextlib import contextmanager
+from weakref import WeakKeyDictionary
+
+import torch.nn as nn
+
+
+class VaeFastPathGate:
+    """Mutable flag shared by the wrappers installed on one VAE."""
+
+    __slots__ = ("enabled",)
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        self.enabled = False
+
+
+_VAE_FAST_PATH_GATES: WeakKeyDictionary[nn.Module, VaeFastPathGate] = (
+    WeakKeyDictionary()
+)
+
+
+def register_vae_fast_path_gate(vae: nn.Module, gate: VaeFastPathGate) -> None:
+    _VAE_FAST_PATH_GATES[vae] = gate
+
+
+@contextmanager
+def use_vae_fast_path(vae: nn.Module, enabled: bool):
+    """Enable an installed VAE fast path for one decode and always reset it."""
+    gate = _VAE_FAST_PATH_GATES.get(vae)
+    if gate is None:
+        yield
+        return
+
+    previous_enabled = gate.enabled
+    gate.enabled = enabled
+    try:
+        yield
+    finally:
+        gate.enabled = previous_enabled
diff --git a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/flux2_vae_cuda_opt.py b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/flux2_vae_cuda_opt.py
index 326987689..9f8d27fe3 100644
--- a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/flux2_vae_cuda_opt.py
+++ b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/flux2_vae_cuda_opt.py
@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@ decoder module family (``ResnetBlock2D`` GroupNorm+SiLU chains,
 
 All rewrites are mathematically exact re-associations of the original
 operators. Wrappers are installed once at VAE load and dispatch on a
-request-scoped :class:`VaeFastPathGate` (published as
-``_sgl_vae_fast_path_gate``): ``quality == "high"`` runs the fast paths, the
-``"lossless"`` default runs the original module path bit-for-bit.
+decode-scoped :class:`VaeFastPathGate`: ``quality == "high"`` runs the fast
+paths, the ``"lossless"`` default runs the original module path bit-for-bit.
 
 - channels_last: run the decoder in NHWC so cuDNN convs skip the transpose
   kernels; parameter layout is swapped at decode entry to match the gate.
@@ -28,6 +27,10 @@ import torch
 import torch.nn as nn
 import torch.nn.functional as F
 
+from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.models.vaes.fast_path_gate import (
+    VaeFastPathGate,
+    register_vae_fast_path_gate,
+)
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.utils.logging_utils import init_logger
 
 logger = init_logger(__name__)
@@ -43,19 +46,6 @@ except ImportError:  # pragma: no cover
     _HAS_TRITON = False
 
 
-class VaeFastPathGate:
-    """Mutable fast-path flag shared by every wrapper of one VAE; enabled by
-    ``DecodingStage`` while decoding a ``quality == "high"`` request."""
-
-    __slots__ = ("enabled",)
-
-    def __init__(self) -> None:
-        self.enabled = False
-
-
-GATE_ATTR = "_sgl_vae_fast_path_gate"
-
-
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Fuse A: two-pass GroupNorm(+SiLU) fusion (channels_last Triton kernel)
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -330,7 +320,7 @@ def _decoder_layout_forward(self, *args, **kwargs):
             memory_format=(torch.channels_last if want_cl else torch.contiguous_format)
         )
         self._sgl_channels_last = want_cl
-        logger.info(
+        logger.debug(
             "%s: decoder switched to %s layout.",
             self._sgl_label,
             "channels_last (NHWC)" if want_cl else "contiguous (NCHW)",
@@ -396,7 +386,7 @@ def _install_decoder_fast_paths(vae: nn.Module, label: str) -> nn.Module:
         m._sgl_folded_v = None
         m.forward = MethodType(_attn_fast_forward, m)
     n_norm = _install_norm_silu(decoder, ResnetBlock2D, gate)
-    setattr(vae, GATE_ATTR, gate)
+    register_vae_fast_path_gate(vae, gate)
     logger.info(
         "%s: installed quality-gated decoder fast paths "
         "(channels_last dispatch, %d fused upsamplers, %d fast attention "
diff --git a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/wan_vae_cuda_opt.py b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/wan_vae_cuda_opt.py
index bd3934430..d9f5857f1 100644
--- a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/wan_vae_cuda_opt.py
+++ b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/models/vaes/wan_vae_cuda_opt.py
@@ -3,20 +3,19 @@
 
 Fuses every decoder ``WanRMS_norm -> SiLU`` chain into one Triton kernel on
 the channels_last_3d layout. Wrappers are installed once at VAE load and
-dispatch on a request-scoped :class:`VaeFastPathGate` (published as
-``_sgl_vae_fast_path_gate``): ``quality == "high"`` runs the fused kernel
-(not bitwise-identical to aten, hence gated), the ``"lossless"`` default
-runs the original module path bit-for-bit. Install is all-or-nothing and
-fail-closed.
+dispatch on a decode-scoped :class:`VaeFastPathGate`: ``quality == "high"``
+runs the fused kernel (not bitwise-identical to aten, hence gated), the
+``"lossless"`` default runs the original module path bit-for-bit. Install is
+all-or-nothing and fail-closed.
 """
 
 import torch
 import torch.nn as nn
 import torch.nn.functional as F
 
-from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.models.vaes.flux2_vae_cuda_opt import (
-    GATE_ATTR,
+from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.models.vaes.fast_path_gate import (
     VaeFastPathGate,
+    register_vae_fast_path_gate,
 )
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.utils.logging_utils import init_logger
 
@@ -133,7 +132,7 @@ def maybe_optimize_wan_vae(vae: nn.Module) -> nn.Module:
     n_norm = _install_norm_silu(decoder, gate)
     if n_norm is None:
         return vae
-    setattr(vae, GATE_ATTR, gate)
+    register_vae_fast_path_gate(vae, gate)
     logger.info(
         "Wan VAE: installed quality-gated fast path (%d RMSNorm+SiLU fusions).",
         n_norm,
diff --git a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/pipelines_core/stages/decoding.py b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/pipelines_core/stages/decoding.py
index b94e2334d..5534530af 100644
--- a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/pipelines_core/stages/decoding.py
+++ b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/runtime/pipelines_core/stages/decoding.py
@@ -20,6 +20,9 @@ from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.managers.memory_managers.component_manager im
     ComponentUse,
 )
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.models.vaes.common import ParallelTiledVAE
+from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.models.vaes.fast_path_gate import (
+    use_vae_fast_path,
+)
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.pipelines_core.schedule_batch import OutputBatch, Req
 from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.pipelines_core.stages.base import (
     PipelineStage,
@@ -312,14 +315,7 @@ class DecodingStage(PipelineStage):
             assert vae is not None
             self.vae = vae
 
-            # Request-scoped VAE fast-path gate (see flux2_vae_cuda_opt):
-            # quality == "high" opts this decode into the near-lossless fast
-            # paths; the "lossless" default keeps the bit-exact original
-            # module path. VAEs without installed wrappers have no gate.
-            gate = getattr(vae, "_sgl_vae_fast_path_gate", None)
-            if gate is not None:
-                gate.enabled = getattr(batch.sampling_params, "quality", None) == "high"
-            try:
+            with use_vae_fast_path(vae, batch.sampling_params.quality == "high"):
                 frames = self.decode(batch.latents, server_args, vae_dtype=vae_dtype)
 
                 # decode trajectory latents if needed
@@ -348,9 +344,6 @@ class DecodingStage(PipelineStage):
                     trajectory_decoded = [decoded_tensor[:, i] for i in range(T)]
                 else:
                     trajectory_decoded = None
-            finally:
-                if gate is not None:
-                    gate.enabled = False
 
         frames = server_args.pipeline_config.post_decoding(frames, server_args)
 
diff --git a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_openai_image_api.py b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_openai_image_api.py
index 07a7a09b0..112fe2b67 100644
--- a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_openai_image_api.py
+++ b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_openai_image_api.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.entrypoints.openai.image_api import (
     _fallback_image_urls,
     _get_response_resize,
     _raise_if_image_variant_not_found,
+    _runtime_sampling_quality,
     _select_image_variant_cloud_url,
     _select_image_variant_path,
 )
@@ -40,6 +41,13 @@ def test_url_response_returns_one_item_per_output_path():
     ]
 
 
+def test_runtime_sampling_quality_preserves_the_openai_default():
+    assert _runtime_sampling_quality(None) is None
+    assert _runtime_sampling_quality("auto") is None
+    assert _runtime_sampling_quality("lossless") == "lossless"
+    assert _runtime_sampling_quality("high") == "high"
+
+
 def test_image_response_includes_resize_for_every_output():
     response = _build_image_response_kwargs(
         ["first.png", "second.png"],
diff --git a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_vae_fast_path_gate.py b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_vae_fast_path_gate.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..55f378759
--- /dev/null
+++ b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_vae_fast_path_gate.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import torch.nn as nn
+
+from sglang.multimodal_gen.runtime.models.vaes.fast_path_gate import (
+    VaeFastPathGate,
+    register_vae_fast_path_gate,
+    use_vae_fast_path,
+)
+
+
+def test_vae_fast_path_gate_is_decode_scoped_and_nestable():
+    vae = nn.Module()
+    gate = VaeFastPathGate()
+    register_vae_fast_path_gate(vae, gate)
+
+    with use_vae_fast_path(vae, True):
+        assert gate.enabled
+        with use_vae_fast_path(vae, False):
+            assert not gate.enabled
+        assert gate.enabled
+
+    assert not gate.enabled
diff --git a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_video_api_profiling.py b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_video_api_profiling.py
index cda5891e1..c12b21df3 100644
--- a/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_video_api_profiling.py
+++ b/python/sglang/multimodal_gen/test/unit/test_video_api_profiling.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ def test_video_api_forwards_profiling_options():
         profile=True,
         num_profiled_timesteps=3,
         profile_all_stages=False,
+        quality="high",
     )
     server_args = SimpleNamespace(
         backend="auto",
@@ -48,3 +49,4 @@ def test_video_api_forwards_profiling_options():
     assert kwargs["profile"] is True
     assert kwargs["num_profiled_timesteps"] == 3
     assert kwargs["profile_all_stages"] is False
+    assert kwargs["quality"] == "high"