breccia 0.1.0

Cross-framework block-scaled tensor primitive (FP8 / FP4 / MXFP8 / NVFP4 / INT4)

A cross-framework block-scaled tensor primitive for low-precision compute (FP8 / FP4 / MXFP8 / NVFP4 / INT4).

import numpy as np
import breccia

# Quantize a tensor to FP8 with per-block-K scaling (DeepSeek-v3 style).
x = np.random.randn(8, 256).astype(np.float32)
st = breccia.cast(x, breccia.Float8BlockScaling(block_k=128))

# Scaled matmul: data stays in FP8, scales fold into the FP32 accumulator.
A = breccia.cast(np.random.randn(16, 256).astype(np.float32),
                 breccia.Float8CurrentScaling())
W = breccia.cast(np.random.randn(256, 64).astype(np.float32),
                 breccia.Float8BlockScaling(block_k=128))
y = breccia.matmul(A, W)

Why

Every framework today reinvents block-scaled low-precision in incompatible ways:

• NVIDIA TransformerEngine ships four parallel recipe classes (DelayedScaling, Float8CurrentScaling, Float8BlockScaling, MXFP8BlockScaling) — NVIDIA-only.
• PyTorch torchao rolls its own AffineQuantizedTensor — PyTorch-only.
• DeepSeek-v3 has a private FP8 format. FP8-Flow-MoE (Nov 2025) has another. COAT has another for optimizer-state compression.
• Megatron, JAX, TorchTitan each re-derive scale-aware all-gather.
• AMD MI355, Trainium2, TPU v6 all have incompatible scale semantics across vendors.

No vendor can be the neutral substrate (NVIDIA can't ship for AMD, AMD can't ship for TPU). The cross-vendor gap is widening through 2026–2027 with FP4. breccia is the "safetensors of low-precision" — one neutral primitive that round-trips with each of them.

Sister library to scree:

• scree handles variable-length data (loose fragments).
• breccia handles low-precision data bound by its scale (fragments + cement).

What you get

A single core type — ScaledTensor(data, scale, recipe, layout) — plus six recipes, four layouts, five bridges, and reference + Triton kernels.

Six recipes covering 95% of today's fragmentation:

Recipe	Format	Block size	Used by
DelayedScaling	FP8 E4M3 / E5M2	per-tensor	TE main recipe
Float8CurrentScaling	FP8 E4M3 / E5M2	per-tensor	TE / torchao
Float8BlockScaling	FP8 E4M3 / E5M2	128 along K	DeepSeek-v3
MXFP8BlockScaling	FP8 + E8M0 scale	32 along K	OCP MX standard
NVFP4BlockScaling	FP4 E2M1 + FP8 scale	16 along K	NVIDIA Blackwell
INT4Scaling	INT4 ± fp16 scale	configurable	GPTQ / AWQ family

Five bridges for zero-copy interop:

Bridge	Direction	Dep
from_transformer_engine / to_transformer_engine	TE Float8Tensor ↔ ScaledTensor	transformer-engine
from_torchao / to_torchao	AffineQuantizedTensor ↔ ScaledTensor	torchao
save_safetensors / load_safetensors	safetensors file ↔ dict of ScaledTensor	safetensors
to_dlpack / from_dlpack	zero-copy across NumPy / PyTorch / MLX / JAX	built-in
from_deepseek_v3 / to_deepseek_v3	DeepSeek-v3 buffers ↔ ScaledTensor	none

Memory savings vs FP32, computed at v0.0.1 ((1024, 1024) weight):

Format	Bytes	vs FP32
FP32	4.19 MB	1.00×
FP16	2.10 MB	0.50×
FP8 (Float8CurrentScaling)	1.05 MB	0.25×
FP8 (Float8BlockScaling, b=128)	1.08 MB	0.26×
MXFP8 (block 32, E8M0 scale)	1.08 MB	0.26×
NVFP4 (block 16, E4M3 scale)	1.11 MB	0.27×
INT4 (group 128, fp16 scale)	1.06 MB	0.25×

Reproduce: python benchmarks/bench_memory.py

Accuracy (cosine similarity vs FP32 on Gaussian inputs, mean over 8 seeds):

Recipe	Cos sim
Float8CurrentScaling (E4M3)	0.9997
Float8BlockScaling(block_k=128)	0.9997
MXFP8BlockScaling	0.9974
NVFP4BlockScaling	0.9955
INT4Scaling(group_size=128)	0.9932

Reproduce: python benchmarks/bench_accuracy.py

Status

v0.1.0, first beta release.

Component	Status
ScaledTensor type + invariants	✅
6 ScalingRecipes	✅
4 Layouts	✅
cast / dequantize / matmul / requantize	✅
Bridges: TE / torchao / HF / DLPack / DeepSeek-v3	✅
NumPy + PyTorch + MLX + JAX backends	✅
Triton FP8 scaled matmul (per-tensor)	✅ validated on H100 (cos sim 0.9993 vs FP32)
Straight-through estimator (cast_ste, cast_ste_clipped)	✅
Asymmetric INT4 (zero-point)	✅
Block-scaled Triton kernel	🟡 v0.2 (per-tensor only in v0.1)
Native PyTorch FP8 acceleration (vs round-trip)	🟡 v0.2

250+ tests passing. CI on Python 3.10 / 3.11 / 3.12 (Ubuntu) + 3.11 (macOS).

Install

pip install breccia                     # NumPy backend
pip install "breccia[torch]"            # + PyTorch
pip install "breccia[mlx]"              # + MLX (Apple Silicon)
pip install "breccia[bridges]"          # + safetensors for HF bridge
pip install "breccia[torch,mlx,bridges,dev]"  # full dev setup

Examples

• examples/01_quickstart.py — cast + matmul
• examples/02_recipe_portable_train.py — train MXFP8, ship NVFP4 (same model code)
• examples/03_checkpoint_with_scale.py — save/load safetensors with scale metadata
• examples/04_te_migration.py — bridge from TransformerEngine

Documentation

• Getting started — install + first program
• Concepts — mental model: data + scale + recipe + layout
• Recipes — when to use each of the 6 recipes
• Formats — bit-level FP8 / FP4 / INT4 / E8M0 layouts
• API reference — every public function and class
• Bridges & migration — TE / torchao / HF / DLPack / DeepSeek
• Kernels — reference and Triton scaled-matmul design
• Numerics — accuracy / range trade-offs
• Architecture — internals, design decisions
• Benchmarks — methodology + reproduction
• FAQ

The name

A breccia is a sedimentary rock made of broken angular fragments held together by a cementing matrix. Low-precision data fragments + the scale matrix that gives them meaning — same structure.

It's the natural geological successor to scree: loose fragments (scree) become breccia when cemented together.

Contributing

PRs welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md for the workflow. Open a GitHub Discussion for anything beyond a small fix.

License

Apache-2.0