# bitsandbytes [bitsandbytes](https://huggingface.co/docs/bitsandbytes/index) is the easiest option for quantizing a model to 8 and 4-bit. 8-bit quantization multiplies outliers in fp16 with non-outliers in int8, converts the non-outlier values back to fp16, and then adds them together to return the weights in fp16. This reduces the degradative effect outlier values have on a model's performance. 4-bit quantization compresses a model even further, and it is commonly used with [QLoRA](https://hf.co/papers/2305.14314) to finetune quantized LLMs. To use bitsandbytes, make sure you have the following libraries installed: ```bash pip install diffusers transformers accelerate bitsandbytes -U ``` Now you can quantize a model by passing a [`BitsAndBytesConfig`] to [`~ModelMixin.from_pretrained`]. This works for any model in any modality, as long as it supports loading with [Accelerate](https://hf.co/docs/accelerate/index) and contains `torch.nn.Linear` layers. Quantizing a model in 8-bit halves the memory-usage: ```py from diffusers import FluxTransformer2DModel, BitsAndBytesConfig quantization_config = BitsAndBytesConfig(load_in_8bit=True) model_8bit = FluxTransformer2DModel.from_pretrained( "black-forest-labs/FLUX.1-dev", subfolder="transformer", quantization_config=quantization_config ) ``` By default, all the other modules such as `torch.nn.LayerNorm` are converted to `torch.float16`. You can change the data type of these modules with the `torch_dtype` parameter if you want: ```py from diffusers import FluxTransformer2DModel, BitsAndBytesConfig quantization_config = BitsAndBytesConfig(load_in_8bit=True) model_8bit = FluxTransformer2DModel.from_pretrained( "black-forest-labs/FLUX.1-dev", subfolder="transformer", quantization_config=quantization_config, torch_dtype=torch.float32 ) model_8bit.transformer_blocks.layers[-1].norm2.weight.dtype ``` Once a model is quantized, you can push the model to the Hub with the [`~ModelMixin.push_to_hub`] method. The quantization `config.json` file is pushed first, followed by the quantized model weights. You can also save the serialized 4-bit models locally with [`~ModelMixin.save_pretrained`]. Quantizing a model in 4-bit reduces your memory-usage by 4x: ```py from diffusers import FluxTransformer2DModel, BitsAndBytesConfig quantization_config = BitsAndBytesConfig(load_in_4bit=True) model_4bit = FluxTransformer2DModel.from_pretrained( "black-forest-labs/FLUX.1-dev", subfolder="transformer", quantization_config=quantization_config ) ``` By default, all the other modules such as `torch.nn.LayerNorm` are converted to `torch.float16`. You can change the data type of these modules with the `torch_dtype` parameter if you want: ```py from diffusers import FluxTransformer2DModel, BitsAndBytesConfig quantization_config = BitsAndBytesConfig(load_in_4bit=True) model_4bit = FluxTransformer2DModel.from_pretrained( "black-forest-labs/FLUX.1-dev", subfolder="transformer", quantization_config=quantization_config, torch_dtype=torch.float32 ) model_4bit.transformer_blocks.layers[-1].norm2.weight.dtype ``` Call [`~ModelMixin.push_to_hub`] after loading it in 4-bit precision. You can also save the serialized 4-bit models locally with [`~ModelMixin.save_pretrained`]. Training with 8-bit and 4-bit weights are only supported for training *extra* parameters. Check your memory footprint with the `get_memory_footprint` method: ```py print(model.get_memory_footprint()) ``` Quantized models can be loaded from the [`~ModelMixin.from_pretrained`] method without needing to specify the `quantization_config` parameters: ```py from diffusers import FluxTransformer2DModel, BitsAndBytesConfig quantization_config = BitsAndBytesConfig(load_in_4bit=True) model_4bit = FluxTransformer2DModel.from_pretrained( "hf-internal-testing/flux.1-dev-nf4-pkg", subfolder="transformer" ) ``` ## 8-bit (LLM.int8() algorithm) Learn more about the details of 8-bit quantization in this [blog post](https://huggingface.co/blog/hf-bitsandbytes-integration)! This section explores some of the specific features of 8-bit models, such as outlier thresholds and skipping module conversion. ### Outlier threshold An "outlier" is a hidden state value greater than a certain threshold, and these values are computed in fp16. While the values are usually normally distributed ([-3.5, 3.5]), this distribution can be very different for large models ([-60, 6] or [6, 60]). 8-bit quantization works well for values ~5, but beyond that, there is a significant performance penalty. A good default threshold value is 6, but a lower threshold may be needed for more unstable models (small models or finetuning). To find the best threshold for your model, we recommend experimenting with the `llm_int8_threshold` parameter in [`BitsAndBytesConfig`]: ```py from diffusers import FluxTransformer2DModel, BitsAndBytesConfig quantization_config = BitsAndBytesConfig( load_in_8bit=True, llm_int8_threshold=10, ) model_8bit = FluxTransformer2DModel.from_pretrained( "black-forest-labs/FLUX.1-dev", subfolder="transformer", quantization_config=quantization_config, ) ``` ### Skip module conversion For some models, you don't need to quantize every module to 8-bit which can actually cause instability. For example, for diffusion models like [Stable Diffusion 3](../api/pipelines/stable_diffusion/stable_diffusion_3), the `proj_out` module can be skipped using the `llm_int8_skip_modules` parameter in [`BitsAndBytesConfig`]: ```py from diffusers import SD3Transformer2DModel, BitsAndBytesConfig quantization_config = BitsAndBytesConfig( load_in_8bit=True, llm_int8_skip_modules=["proj_out"], ) model_8bit = SD3Transformer2DModel.from_pretrained( "stabilityai/stable-diffusion-3-medium-diffusers", subfolder="transformer", quantization_config=quantization_config, ) ``` ## 4-bit (QLoRA algorithm) Learn more about its details in this [blog post](https://huggingface.co/blog/4bit-transformers-bitsandbytes). This section explores some of the specific features of 4-bit models, such as changing the compute data type, using the Normal Float 4 (NF4) data type, and using nested quantization. ### Compute data type To speedup computation, you can change the data type from float32 (the default value) to bf16 using the `bnb_4bit_compute_dtype` parameter in [`BitsAndBytesConfig`]: ```py import torch from diffusers import BitsAndBytesConfig quantization_config = BitsAndBytesConfig(load_in_4bit=True, bnb_4bit_compute_dtype=torch.bfloat16) ``` ### Normal Float 4 (NF4) NF4 is a 4-bit data type from the [QLoRA](https://hf.co/papers/2305.14314) paper, adapted for weights initialized from a normal distribution. You should use NF4 for training 4-bit base models. This can be configured with the `bnb_4bit_quant_type` parameter in the [`BitsAndBytesConfig`]: ```py from diffusers import BitsAndBytesConfig nf4_config = BitsAndBytesConfig( load_in_4bit=True, bnb_4bit_quant_type="nf4", ) model_nf4 = SD3Transformer2DModel.from_pretrained( "stabilityai/stable-diffusion-3-medium-diffusers", subfolder="transformer", quantization_config=nf4_config, ) ``` For inference, the `bnb_4bit_quant_type` does not have a huge impact on performance. However, to remain consistent with the model weights, you should use the `bnb_4bit_compute_dtype` and `torch_dtype` values. ### Nested quantization Nested quantization is a technique that can save additional memory at no additional performance cost. This feature performs a second quantization of the already quantized weights to save an additional 0.4 bits/parameter. ```py from diffusers import BitsAndBytesConfig double_quant_config = BitsAndBytesConfig( load_in_4bit=True, bnb_4bit_use_double_quant=True, ) double_quant_model = SD3Transformer2DModel.from_pretrained( "stabilityai/stable-diffusion-3-medium-diffusers", subfolder="transformer", quantization_config=double_quant_config, ) ``` ## Dequantizing `bitsandbytes` models Once quantized, you can dequantize the model to the original precision but this might result in a small quality loss of the model. Make sure you have enough GPU RAM to fit the dequantized model. ```python from diffusers import BitsAndBytesConfig double_quant_config = BitsAndBytesConfig( load_in_4bit=True, bnb_4bit_use_double_quant=True, ) double_quant_model = SD3Transformer2DModel.from_pretrained( "stabilityai/stable-diffusion-3-medium-diffusers", subfolder="transformer", quantization_config=double_quant_config, ) model.dequantize() ``` ## Resources * [End-to-end notebook showing Flux.1 Dev inference in a free-tier Colab](https://gist.github.com/sayakpaul/c76bd845b48759e11687ac550b99d8b4) * [Training](https://gist.github.com/sayakpaul/05afd428bc089b47af7c016e42004527)