Implement BGE-M3 Sparse Embeddings in SGLang (#10869)

Co-authored-by: Christian Bahls <christian.bahls@planet-ai.de>
Co-authored-by: gemini-code-assist[bot] <176961590+gemini-code-assist[bot]@users.noreply.github.com>

python/sglang/srt/environ.py

@@ -237,6 +237,9 @@ class Envs:
     SGLANG_KT_AMX_METHOD = EnvStr(None)
     SGLANG_KT_MOE_CHUNKED_PREFILL_SIZE = EnvInt(None)
 
+    # Sparse Embeddings
+    SGLANG_EMBEDDINGS_SPARSE_HEAD = EnvStr(None)
+
     # fmt: on
 
 

python/sglang/srt/layers/sparse_pooler.py

@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+import torch
+import torch.nn as nn
+import torch.nn.functional as F
+from transformers import PretrainedConfig
+
+from sglang.srt.model_executor.model_runner import ForwardBatch
+
+
+@dataclass
+class SparseEmbeddingOutput:
+    embeddings: torch.Tensor  # [batch_size, vocab_size]
+
+
+class SparsePooler(nn.Module):
+    """A layer that pools hidden states into sparse vocabulary-space embeddings.
+
+    This layer does the following:
+    1. Applies a linear transformation + ReLU to get token-level weights
+    2. Maps these weights to vocabulary positions using token IDs
+    3. Aggregates weights for repeated tokens using max pooling
+    4. Returns sparse embeddings in vocabulary space
+
+    Attributes:
+        config: Model configuration containing vocab_size and hidden_size
+        sparse_linear: Linear layer for computing token weights
+        vocab_size: Size of vocabulary for output embeddings
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, config: PretrainedConfig):
+        super().__init__()
+
+        # Validate required attributes
+        if not hasattr(config, "vocab_size"):
+            raise AttributeError(
+                f"Config {type(config)} missing required 'vocab_size' attribute"
+            )
+        if not hasattr(config, "hidden_size"):
+            raise AttributeError(
+                f"Config {type(config)} missing required 'hidden_size' attribute"
+            )
+
+        self.vocab_size = config.vocab_size
+        self.sparse_linear = nn.Linear(config.hidden_size, 1)
+        self._weights_loaded = False
+
+    def forward(
+        self, hidden_states: torch.Tensor, forward_batch: ForwardBatch
+    ) -> SparseEmbeddingOutput:
+        """
+        Forward pass for sparse pooling.
+
+        Args:
+            hidden_states: Packed sequence hidden states [total_tokens, hidden_size]
+            forward_batch: Batch information with sequence lengths and input_ids
+
+        Returns:
+            SparseEmbeddingOutput with embeddings of shape [batch_size, vocab_size]
+        """
+        if not self._weights_loaded:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "Sparse pooling weights not loaded. Call load_weights() first"
+            )
+
+        # Apply sparse linear + ReLU to get token weights
+        token_weights = F.relu(self.sparse_linear(hidden_states)).squeeze(
+            -1
+        )  # [total_tokens]
+
+        # Create batch indices for packed sequences
+        batch_indices = torch.repeat_interleave(
+            torch.arange(
+                len(forward_batch.extend_seq_lens), device=hidden_states.device
+            ),
+            forward_batch.extend_seq_lens,
+        )
+
+        # Initialize sparse embedding output
+        sparse_embedding = torch.zeros(
+            len(forward_batch.extend_seq_lens),
+            self.vocab_size,
+            dtype=token_weights.dtype,
+            device=token_weights.device,
+        )
+
+        # Map to vocabulary space using scatter_reduce with amax
+        flat_indices = batch_indices * self.vocab_size + forward_batch.input_ids
+        sparse_embedding.view(-1).scatter_reduce_(
+            0, flat_indices, token_weights, reduce="amax"
+        )
+
+        return SparseEmbeddingOutput(embeddings=sparse_embedding)
+
+    def load_weights(self, state_dict: dict):
+        """Load weights from state dict (called by the model)."""
+        self.sparse_linear.load_state_dict(state_dict)
+        self._weights_loaded = True

python/sglang/srt/managers/io_struct.py

@@ -961,7 +961,7 @@ class BatchEmbeddingOutput(BaseBatchReq):
     # The finish reason
     finished_reasons: List[BaseFinishReason]
     # The output embedding
-    embeddings: List[List[float]]
+    embeddings: Union[List[List[float]], List[Dict[int, float]]]
     # Token counts
     prompt_tokens: List[int]
     cached_tokens: List[int]

python/sglang/srt/managers/scheduler_output_processor_mixin.py

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, List, Optional, Tuple, Union
 import torch
 
 from sglang.srt.disaggregation.utils import DisaggregationMode
+from sglang.srt.environ import envs
 from sglang.srt.layers.logits_processor import LogitsProcessorOutput
 from sglang.srt.managers.io_struct import (
     AbortReq,
@@ -175,7 +176,21 @@ class SchedulerOutputProcessorMixin:
                             logprob_pt += num_input_logprobs
 
         else:  # embedding or reward model
-            embeddings = result.embeddings.tolist()
+            is_sparse = envs.SGLANG_EMBEDDINGS_SPARSE_HEAD.is_set()
+
+            embeddings = result.embeddings
+
+            if is_sparse:
+                batch_ids, token_ids = embeddings.indices()
+                values = embeddings.values()
+
+                embeddings = [{} for _ in range(embeddings.size(0))]
+                for i in range(batch_ids.shape[0]):
+                    embeddings[batch_ids[i].item()][token_ids[i].item()] = values[
+                        i
+                    ].item()
+            else:
+                embeddings = embeddings.tolist()
 
             # Check finish conditions
             for i, req in enumerate(batch.reqs):

python/sglang/srt/model_loader/loader.py

@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ from sglang.srt.model_loader.utils import (
 DEFAULT_GPU_MEMORY_FRACTION_FOR_CALIBRATION = (
     0.8  # Reserve 20% GPU memory headroom for ModelOpt calibration
 )
+from sglang.srt.environ import envs
 from sglang.srt.model_loader.weight_utils import (
     download_safetensors_index_file_from_hf,
     download_weights_from_hf,
@@ -244,10 +245,19 @@ def _initialize_model(
     quant_config = _get_quantization_config(
         model_config, load_config, packed_modules_mapping
     )
-    return model_class(
+
-        config=model_config.hf_config,
+    # Build kwargs conditionally
-        quant_config=quant_config,
+    kwargs = {
-    )
+        "config": model_config.hf_config,
+        "quant_config": quant_config,
+    }
+
+    # Only add sparse head kwargs if envs.SGLANG_EMBEDDINGS_SPARSE_HEAD.is_set()
+    if envs.SGLANG_EMBEDDINGS_SPARSE_HEAD.is_set():
+        kwargs["sparse_head"] = envs.SGLANG_EMBEDDINGS_SPARSE_HEAD.value
+        kwargs["model_path"] = model_config.model_path
+
+    return model_class(**kwargs)
 
 
 class BaseModelLoader(ABC):

python/sglang/srt/models/roberta.py

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
+import os
 from typing import Iterable, Optional, Tuple
 
 import torch
@@ -7,10 +8,12 @@ from torch import nn
 
 from sglang.srt.layers.pooler import CrossEncodingPooler, Pooler, PoolingType
 from sglang.srt.layers.quantization.base_config import QuantizationConfig
+from sglang.srt.layers.sparse_pooler import SparsePooler
 from sglang.srt.layers.vocab_parallel_embedding import VocabParallelEmbedding
 from sglang.srt.model_executor.forward_batch_info import ForwardBatch
 from sglang.srt.model_loader.weight_utils import default_weight_loader
 from sglang.srt.models.bert import BertEncoder
+from sglang.srt.utils.hf_transformers_utils import download_from_hf
 
 RobertaConfig = None
 
@@ -205,12 +208,29 @@ class XLMRobertaModel(nn.Module):
         config: RobertaConfig,
         quant_config: Optional[QuantizationConfig] = None,
         prefix: str = "",
+        sparse_head: Optional[str] = None,
+        model_path: Optional[str] = None,
     ):
         super().__init__()
         self.roberta = XLMRobertaBaseModel(
             config=config, quant_config=quant_config, prefix=prefix
         )
-        self.pooler = Pooler(pooling_type=PoolingType.CLS, normalize=True)
+        if sparse_head is not None:
+            self._is_sparse = True
+            self._model_path = model_path
+            self._sparse_head = sparse_head
+            self.pooler = SparsePooler(config=config)
+            # Zero out special tokens
+            self._special_tokens = [
+                config.bos_token_id,
+                config.eos_token_id,
+                config.pad_token_id,
+                # self.config.unk_token_id # not available in the XLMRobertaConfig
+            ]
+            self._special_tokens = [t for t in self._special_tokens if t is not None]
+        else:
+            self._is_sparse = False
+            self.pooler = Pooler(pooling_type=PoolingType.CLS, normalize=True)
 
     def forward(
         self,
@@ -223,11 +243,44 @@ class XLMRobertaModel(nn.Module):
         hidden_states = self.roberta(
             input_ids, positions, forward_batch, input_embeds, get_embedding
         )
-        return self.pooler(hidden_states, forward_batch)
+        embeddings = self.pooler(hidden_states, forward_batch)
+
+        if self._is_sparse:
+            for token_id in self._special_tokens:
+                embeddings.embeddings[:, token_id] = 0.0
+            embeddings.embeddings = embeddings.embeddings.to_sparse()
+
+        return embeddings
 
     def load_weights(self, weights: Iterable[Tuple[str, torch.Tensor]]):
         self.roberta.load_weights(weights)
 
+        if self._is_sparse:
+            sparse_dict = XLMRobertaModel._load_sparse_linear(
+                self._model_path, self._sparse_head
+            )
+            self.pooler.load_weights(sparse_dict)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _load_sparse_linear(model_path_or_dir: str, sparse_head: str) -> dict:
+        """
+        Load sparse_head from local dir or HF Hub.
+        Returns a state_dict suitable for nn.Linear.load_state_dict().
+        """
+        if os.path.isdir(model_path_or_dir):
+            path = os.path.join(model_path_or_dir, sparse_head)
+            if not os.path.exists(path):
+                raise FileNotFoundError(
+                    f"'{sparse_head}' not found in {model_path_or_dir}"
+                )
+        else:
+            # remote → use SGLang HF utility
+            local_dir = download_from_hf(model_path_or_dir, allow_patterns=sparse_head)
+            path = os.path.join(local_dir, sparse_head)
+
+        state_dict = torch.load(path)
+        return state_dict
+
 
 class XLMRobertaForSequenceClassification(nn.Module):
     def __init__(