diff --git a/examples/inference/basic/basic_kandinsky5_i2v.py b/examples/inference/basic/basic_kandinsky5_i2v.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c30ca2f48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/inference/basic/basic_kandinsky5_i2v.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+from fastvideo import VideoGenerator
+
+OUTPUT_PATH = "video_samples_kandinsky5_i2v"
+
+IMAGE_PATH = "assets/girl.png"
+
+
+def main():
+    generator = VideoGenerator.from_pretrained(
+        "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-I2V-Pro-distilled-5s-Diffusers", 
+        # "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-I2V-Pro-sft-5s-Diffusers"
+        # "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-I2V-Lite-5s-Diffusers"
+        num_gpus=1,
+        use_fsdp_inference=False,
+        dit_cpu_offload=False,
+        vae_cpu_offload=False,
+        text_encoder_cpu_offload=True,
+        pin_cpu_memory=True,
+        # image_encoder_cpu_offload=False,
+    )
+
+    prompt = (
+        "A woman stands up and walks away"
+    )
+    _ = generator.generate_video(
+        prompt,
+        image_path=IMAGE_PATH,
+        output_path=OUTPUT_PATH,
+        save_video=True,
+        height=1024,
+        width=1024,
+        num_frames=121,
+    )
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
diff --git a/examples/inference/basic/basic_kandinsky5_t2v.py b/examples/inference/basic/basic_kandinsky5_t2v.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8042f87fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/inference/basic/basic_kandinsky5_t2v.py
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+from fastvideo import VideoGenerator
+
+OUTPUT_PATH = "video_samples_kandinsky5_t2v"
+
+def main():
+    generator = VideoGenerator.from_pretrained(
+        "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Lite-sft-5s-Diffusers",
+        # "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Pro-sft-5s-Diffusers"
+        # "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Lite-distilled16steps-5s-Diffusers"
+        # "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Pro-distilled-5s-Diffusers"
+        num_gpus=1,
+        use_fsdp_inference=False,
+        dit_cpu_offload=False,
+        vae_cpu_offload=False,
+        text_encoder_cpu_offload=True,
+        pin_cpu_memory=True,
+        # image_encoder_cpu_offload=False,
+    )
+
+    prompt = (
+        "A curious raccoon peers through a vibrant field of yellow sunflowers, its eyes "
+        "wide with interest. The playful yet serene atmosphere is complemented by soft "
+        "natural light filtering through the petals. Mid-shot, warm and cheerful tones."
+    )
+    _ = generator.generate_video(prompt, output_path=OUTPUT_PATH, save_video=True,height=512, width=768, num_frames=121)
+
+    prompt2 = (
+        "A majestic lion strides across the golden savanna, its powerful frame "
+        "glistening under the warm afternoon sun. The tall grass ripples gently in "
+        "the breeze, enhancing the lion's commanding presence. The tone is vibrant, "
+        "embodying the raw energy of the wild. Low angle, steady tracking shot, "
+        "cinematic.")
+    _ = generator.generate_video(prompt2, output_path=OUTPUT_PATH, save_video=True, height=512, width=768, num_frames=121)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/fastvideo/attention/backends/flash_attn.py b/fastvideo/attention/backends/flash_attn.py
index 5d7fb9f4a..0acf1f6cd 100644
--- a/fastvideo/attention/backends/flash_attn.py
+++ b/fastvideo/attention/backends/flash_attn.py
@@ -338,7 +338,11 @@ class FlashAttentionImpl(AttentionImpl):
                 )
 
             qkv = torch.stack([query, key, value], dim=2)
-            attn_mask_padded = F.pad(attn_mask, (qkv.shape[1] - attn_mask.shape[1], 0), value=True)
+            key_padding_mask = _key_padding_mask_from_attn_mask(attn_mask, attn_mask.shape[-1]).to(device=query.device)
+            if key_padding_mask.shape[-1] > qkv.shape[1]:
+                raise ValueError("Invalid key padding mask length for FLASH_ATTN: "
+                                 f"expected at most {qkv.shape[1]}, got {key_padding_mask.shape[-1]}")
+            attn_mask_padded = F.pad(key_padding_mask, (qkv.shape[1] - key_padding_mask.shape[-1], 0), value=True)
             output = flash_attn_no_pad(qkv, attn_mask_padded, causal=False, dropout_p=0, softmax_scale=None)
         elif self.nvfp4_fa4:
             output = self._forward_nvfp4(query, key, value)
diff --git a/fastvideo/attention/backends/nabla.py b/fastvideo/attention/backends/nabla.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a4d1e5412
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastvideo/attention/backends/nabla.py
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+"""NABLA block-sparse flex-attention backend (Kandinsky5 "nabla" checkpoints).
+
+The block mask is data-dependent: nablaT_v2 mean-pools 64-token blocks of the
+fractal-ordered sequence, thresholds the softmaxed block map, and ORs it with a
+precomputed spatio-temporal-window (STA) mask carried on the attention
+metadata. The mask spans the full sequence, so this backend does not support
+sequence parallelism — use it via LocalAttention only.
+"""
+
+import math
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+from typing import Any
+
+import torch
+
+try:
+    from torch.nn.attention.flex_attention import BlockMask, flex_attention
+    flex_attention = torch.compile(flex_attention, dynamic=False, mode="max-autotune-no-cudagraphs")
+    CAN_USE_FLEX_ATTN = True
+except ImportError:
+    CAN_USE_FLEX_ATTN = False
+
+from fastvideo.attention.backends.abstract import (
+    AttentionBackend,
+    AttentionImpl,
+    AttentionMetadata,
+    AttentionMetadataBuilder,
+)
+
+
+def nablaT_v2(
+    q: torch.Tensor,
+    k: torch.Tensor,
+    sta: torch.Tensor,
+    thr: float = 0.9,
+) -> "BlockMask":
+    q = q.transpose(1, 2).contiguous()
+    k = k.transpose(1, 2).contiguous()
+
+    # Map estimation
+    B, h, S, D = q.shape
+    s1 = S // 64
+    qa = q.reshape(B, h, s1, 64, D).mean(-2)
+    ka = k.reshape(B, h, s1, 64, D).mean(-2).transpose(-2, -1)
+    map = qa @ ka
+
+    map = torch.softmax(map / math.sqrt(D), dim=-1)
+    # Map binarization
+    vals, inds = map.sort(-1)
+    cvals = vals.cumsum_(-1)
+    mask = (cvals >= 1 - thr).int()
+    mask = mask.gather(-1, inds.argsort(-1))
+
+    mask = torch.logical_or(mask, sta)
+
+    # BlockMask creation
+    kv_nb = mask.sum(-1).to(torch.int32)
+    kv_inds = mask.argsort(dim=-1, descending=True).to(torch.int32)
+    return BlockMask.from_kv_blocks(torch.zeros_like(kv_nb), kv_inds, kv_nb, kv_inds, BLOCK_SIZE=64, mask_mod=None)
+
+
+class NablaAttentionBackend(AttentionBackend):
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_name() -> str:
+        return "NABLA_ATTN"
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_impl_cls() -> type["NablaAttentionImpl"]:
+        return NablaAttentionImpl
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_metadata_cls() -> type["NablaAttentionMetadata"]:
+        return NablaAttentionMetadata
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_builder_cls() -> type["NablaAttentionMetadataBuilder"]:
+        return NablaAttentionMetadataBuilder
+
+
+@dataclass
+class NablaAttentionMetadata(AttentionMetadata):
+    # Block-level STA window mask [1, 1, S/64, S/64], precomputed once per run.
+    sta_mask: torch.Tensor = None  # type: ignore[assignment]
+    # Cumulative-probability threshold for block-map binarization.
+    P: float = 0.9
+    visual_shape: tuple[int, int, int] = (0, 0, 0)
+
+
+class NablaAttentionMetadataBuilder(AttentionMetadataBuilder):
+
+    def __init__(self) -> None:
+        pass
+
+    def prepare(self) -> None:
+        pass
+
+    def build(
+        self,
+        current_timestep: int,
+        sta_mask: torch.Tensor,
+        P: float,
+        visual_shape: tuple[int, int, int],
+        **kwargs: Any,
+    ) -> NablaAttentionMetadata:
+        return NablaAttentionMetadata(
+            current_timestep=current_timestep,
+            sta_mask=sta_mask,
+            P=P,
+            visual_shape=visual_shape,
+        )
+
+
+class NablaAttentionImpl(AttentionImpl):
+
+    def __init__(
+        self,
+        num_heads: int,
+        head_size: int,
+        softmax_scale: float,
+        causal: bool = False,
+        num_kv_heads: int | None = None,
+        prefix: str = "",
+        **extra_impl_args,
+    ) -> None:
+        if not CAN_USE_FLEX_ATTN:
+            raise RuntimeError("NABLA attention requires torch.nn.attention.flex_attention, "
+                               "which is unavailable in this PyTorch build.")
+        if causal:
+            raise ValueError("NABLA attention does not support causal masking.")
+
+    def forward(
+        self,
+        query: torch.Tensor,
+        key: torch.Tensor,
+        value: torch.Tensor,
+        attn_metadata: NablaAttentionMetadata,
+    ) -> torch.Tensor:
+        # q/k/v: [B, S, heads, head_dim], fractal-ordered by the model; S % 64 == 0.
+        block_mask = nablaT_v2(query, key, attn_metadata.sta_mask, thr=attn_metadata.P)
+        return flex_attention(
+            query=query.transpose(1, 2),
+            key=key.transpose(1, 2),
+            value=value.transpose(1, 2),
+            block_mask=block_mask,
+        ).transpose(1, 2)
diff --git a/fastvideo/attention/backends/sdpa.py b/fastvideo/attention/backends/sdpa.py
index 5d9b21591..c8e662d47 100644
--- a/fastvideo/attention/backends/sdpa.py
+++ b/fastvideo/attention/backends/sdpa.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import torch
 from dataclasses import dataclass
+from torch.nn import functional as F
 from fastvideo.attention.backends.abstract import (  # FlashAttentionMetadata,
     AttentionBackend, AttentionImpl, AttentionMetadata, AttentionMetadataBuilder)
 from fastvideo.logger import init_logger
@@ -19,7 +20,7 @@ class SDPABackend(AttentionBackend):
 
     @staticmethod
     def get_name() -> str:
-        return "SDPA"
+        return "TORCH_SDPA"
 
     @staticmethod
     def get_impl_cls() -> type["SDPAImpl"]:
@@ -49,9 +50,51 @@ class SDPAMetadataBuilder(AttentionMetadataBuilder):
             current_timestep: int,
             attn_mask: torch.Tensor,
     ) -> SDPAMetadata:
+        # Store the mask exactly as passed. The metadata is cross-backend:
+        # call sites (HYWorld, HunyuanVideo15) build SDPAMetadata while the
+        # layer's selector may pick FLASH_ATTN, and the shared convention for
+        # padding masks is the tokenizer-style 2D [batch, key_len]. Any
+        # reshaping for torch.sdpa happens inside the SDPA impl
+        # (_normalize_attn_mask_for_sdpa).
         return SDPAMetadata(current_timestep=current_timestep, attn_mask=attn_mask)
 
 
+def _normalize_attn_mask_for_sdpa(
+    attn_mask: torch.Tensor | None,
+    query: torch.Tensor,
+    key: torch.Tensor,
+) -> torch.Tensor | None:
+    if attn_mask is None:
+        return None
+
+    attn_mask = attn_mask.to(device=query.device)
+    # F.scaled_dot_product_attention only accepts bool or float masks;
+    # tokenizers commonly produce int64 0/1 padding masks.
+    if attn_mask.dtype != torch.bool and not attn_mask.dtype.is_floating_point:
+        attn_mask = attn_mask != 0
+
+    key_len = key.shape[-2]
+    if attn_mask.shape[-1] > key_len:
+        raise ValueError("Invalid attention mask length for SDPA: "
+                         f"expected at most {key_len}, got {attn_mask.shape[-1]}")
+    if attn_mask.shape[-1] < key_len:
+        # Front-pad as "attend": double-stream layouts (HYWorld) prepend
+        # non-text tokens the tokenizer mask does not cover.
+        valid_value = True if attn_mask.dtype == torch.bool else 0.0
+        attn_mask = F.pad(attn_mask, (key_len - attn_mask.shape[-1], 0), value=valid_value)
+
+    if attn_mask.dim() == 2:
+        # In-tree producers pass 2D [batch, key_len] padding masks; lift to a
+        # broadcastable [batch, 1, 1, key_len] here so torch.sdpa does not
+        # reinterpret 2D as its documented [query_len, key_len] broadcast.
+        return attn_mask[:, None, None, :]
+    if attn_mask.dim() == 3:
+        return attn_mask[:, None, :, :]
+    if attn_mask.dim() == 4:
+        return attn_mask
+    raise ValueError(f"Unsupported attention mask shape for SDPA: {attn_mask.shape}")
+
+
 class SDPAImpl(AttentionImpl):
 
     def __init__(
@@ -82,6 +125,7 @@ class SDPAImpl(AttentionImpl):
 
         attn_mask = attn_metadata.attn_mask if (attn_metadata is not None
                                                 and hasattr(attn_metadata, "attn_mask")) else None
+        attn_mask = _normalize_attn_mask_for_sdpa(attn_mask, query, key)
         attn_kwargs = {
             "attn_mask": attn_mask,
             "dropout_p": self.dropout,
diff --git a/fastvideo/attention/layer.py b/fastvideo/attention/layer.py
index 25165baec..3cd5feb34 100644
--- a/fastvideo/attention/layer.py
+++ b/fastvideo/attention/layer.py
@@ -252,6 +252,7 @@ class LocalAttention(nn.Module):
                  causal: bool = False,
                  supported_attention_backends: tuple[AttentionBackendEnum, ...]
                  | None = None,
+                 default_backend: AttentionBackendEnum | None = None,
                  **extra_impl_args) -> None:
         super().__init__()
         if softmax_scale is None:
@@ -262,7 +263,10 @@ class LocalAttention(nn.Module):
             num_kv_heads = num_heads
 
         dtype = get_compute_dtype()
-        attn_backend = get_attn_backend(head_size, dtype, supported_attention_backends=supported_attention_backends)
+        attn_backend = get_attn_backend(head_size,
+                                        dtype,
+                                        supported_attention_backends=supported_attention_backends,
+                                        default_backend=default_backend)
         impl_cls = attn_backend.get_impl_cls()
         self.attn_impl = impl_cls(num_heads=num_heads,
                                   head_size=head_size,
diff --git a/fastvideo/attention/selector.py b/fastvideo/attention/selector.py
index 0a5222358..6a9eaea5c 100644
--- a/fastvideo/attention/selector.py
+++ b/fastvideo/attention/selector.py
@@ -84,8 +84,9 @@ def get_attn_backend(
     dtype: torch.dtype,
     supported_attention_backends: tuple[AttentionBackendEnum, ...]
     | None = None,
+    default_backend: AttentionBackendEnum | None = None,
 ) -> type[AttentionBackend]:
-    return _cached_get_attn_backend(head_size, dtype, supported_attention_backends)
+    return _cached_get_attn_backend(head_size, dtype, supported_attention_backends, default_backend)
 
 
 @cache
@@ -94,6 +95,7 @@ def _cached_get_attn_backend(
     dtype: torch.dtype,
     supported_attention_backends: tuple[AttentionBackendEnum, ...]
     | None = None,
+    default_backend: AttentionBackendEnum | None = None,
 ) -> type[AttentionBackend]:
     # Check whether a particular choice of backend was
     # previously forced.
@@ -112,6 +114,12 @@ def _cached_get_attn_backend(
         if backend_by_env_var is not None:
             selected_backend = backend_name_to_enum(backend_by_env_var)
 
+    # Layer-level default (e.g. a checkpoint that requires a specific sparse
+    # backend). Lower precedence than the global force and the env var, so
+    # users can still override it.
+    if selected_backend is None and default_backend is not None:
+        selected_backend = default_backend
+
     # get device-specific attn_backend
     from fastvideo.platforms import current_platform
 
diff --git a/fastvideo/configs/models/dits/kandinsky5.py b/fastvideo/configs/models/dits/kandinsky5.py
index 8c4414907..3ca5f7d73 100644
--- a/fastvideo/configs/models/dits/kandinsky5.py
+++ b/fastvideo/configs/models/dits/kandinsky5.py
@@ -2,14 +2,24 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 
 from fastvideo.configs.models.dits.base import DiTArchConfig, DiTConfig
+from fastvideo.platforms import AttentionBackendEnum
+
+
+def _is_kandinsky5_transformer_block(n: str, m) -> bool:
+    return ("text_transformer_blocks" in n or "visual_transformer_blocks" in n) and n.split(".")[-1].isdigit()
 
 
 @dataclass
 class Kandinsky5ArchConfig(DiTArchConfig):
-    _fsdp_shard_conditions: list = field(default_factory=lambda: [
-        lambda n, m:
-        ("text_transformer_blocks" in n or "visual_transformer_blocks" in n) and n.split(".")[-1].isdigit()
-    ])
+    _fsdp_shard_conditions: list = field(default_factory=lambda: [_is_kandinsky5_transformer_block])
+
+    # NABLA block-sparse attention for attention_type="nabla" checkpoints, plus
+    # the dense backends every DiT supports.
+    _supported_attention_backends: tuple[AttentionBackendEnum, ...] = (
+        AttentionBackendEnum.NABLA_ATTN,
+        AttentionBackendEnum.FLASH_ATTN,
+        AttentionBackendEnum.TORCH_SDPA,
+    )
 
     # Native FastVideo implementation uses the same parameter names as diffusers
     # except FFN internals: Diffusers FFN uses `in_layer/out_layer`, while
diff --git a/fastvideo/configs/models/encoders/base.py b/fastvideo/configs/models/encoders/base.py
index 6763116c1..1ce6167f2 100644
--- a/fastvideo/configs/models/encoders/base.py
+++ b/fastvideo/configs/models/encoders/base.py
@@ -43,11 +43,16 @@ class TextEncoderArchConfig(EncoderArchConfig):
     require_processor: bool = False
 
     def __post_init__(self) -> None:
-        self.tokenizer_kwargs = {
+        # update_model_arch re-runs __post_init__ after pipeline configs may
+        # have customized tokenizer_kwargs (e.g. kandinsky5/gen3c/longcat set
+        # "padding"); rebuilding the dict here would silently wipe those
+        # customizations, so only fill in defaults for keys not already set.
+        defaults = {
             "truncation": True,
             "max_length": self.text_len,
             "return_tensors": "pt",
         }
+        self.tokenizer_kwargs = defaults | self.tokenizer_kwargs
 
 
 @dataclass
diff --git a/fastvideo/configs/pipelines/__init__.py b/fastvideo/configs/pipelines/__init__.py
index b1e2a441e..3983479de 100644
--- a/fastvideo/configs/pipelines/__init__.py
+++ b/fastvideo/configs/pipelines/__init__.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.hunyuan import FastHunyuanConfig, HunyuanConfig
 from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.hunyuan15 import Hunyuan15T2V480PConfig, Hunyuan15T2V720PConfig
 from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.hunyuangamecraft import HunyuanGameCraftPipelineConfig
 from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.hyworld import HYWorldConfig
+from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.kandinsky5 import Kandinsky5I2VConfig, Kandinsky5T2VConfig
 from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.matrixgame2 import MatrixGame2I2V480PConfig
 from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.matrixgame3 import MatrixGame3I2V720PConfig
 from fastvideo.pipelines.basic.ltx2.pipeline_configs import LTX2T2VConfig
@@ -17,6 +18,6 @@ __all__ = [
     "HunyuanConfig", "FastHunyuanConfig", "HunyuanGameCraftPipelineConfig", "PipelineConfig", "Hunyuan15T2V480PConfig",
     "Hunyuan15T2V720PConfig", "WanT2V480PConfig", "WanI2V480PConfig", "WanT2V720PConfig", "WanI2V720PConfig",
     "SelfForcingWanT2V480PConfig", "LucyEditDevConfig", "CosmosConfig", "Cosmos25Config", "LTX2T2VConfig",
-    "DreamXWorld5BCamPipelineConfig", "DreamXWorld5BARPipelineConfig", "HYWorldConfig", "MatrixGame2I2V480PConfig",
-    "MatrixGame3I2V720PConfig", "get_pipeline_config_cls_from_name"
+    "DreamXWorld5BCamPipelineConfig", "DreamXWorld5BARPipelineConfig", "HYWorldConfig", "Kandinsky5T2VConfig",
+    "Kandinsky5I2VConfig", "MatrixGame2I2V480PConfig", "MatrixGame3I2V720PConfig", "get_pipeline_config_cls_from_name"
 ]
diff --git a/fastvideo/configs/pipelines/kandinsky5.py b/fastvideo/configs/pipelines/kandinsky5.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fba5ad44e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastvideo/configs/pipelines/kandinsky5.py
@@ -0,0 +1,122 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from collections.abc import Callable
+from dataclasses import dataclass, field
+from typing import Any
+
+import torch
+
+from fastvideo.configs.models import DiTConfig, EncoderConfig, VAEConfig
+from fastvideo.configs.models.dits import Kandinsky5VideoConfig
+from fastvideo.configs.models.encoders import BaseEncoderOutput, CLIPTextConfig
+from fastvideo.configs.models.encoders.reason1 import Reason1Config
+from fastvideo.configs.models.vaes import HunyuanVAEConfig
+from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.base import PipelineConfig, preprocess_text
+
+# Byte-exact copy of the upstream Kandinsky5/diffusers template, including the
+# "promt"/"scren" typos: the checkpoints were trained with this exact system  # codespell:ignore promt,scren
+# prompt, and ENCODE_START_IDX below is the tokenized length of everything
+# before the user prompt. Fixing the typos shifts user content to index 127
+# and mis-conditions every generation.
+KANDINSKY5_PROMPT_TEMPLATE = "\n".join([
+    "<|im_start|>system\nYou are a promt engineer. Describe the video in detail.",  # codespell:ignore promt
+    "Describe how the camera moves or shakes, describe the zoom and view angle, whether it follows the objects.",
+    "Describe the location of the video, main characters or objects and their action.",
+    "Describe the dynamism of the video and presented actions.",
+    "Name the visual style of the video: whether it is a professional footage, user generated content, some kind of animation, video game or scren content.",  # codespell:ignore scren
+    "Describe the visual effects, postprocessing and transitions if they are presented in the video.",
+    "Pay attention to the order of key actions shown in the scene.<|im_end|>",
+    "<|im_start|>user\n{}<|im_end|>",
+])
+KANDINSKY5_PROMPT_TEMPLATE_ENCODE_START_IDX = 129
+
+
+def kandinsky5_qwen_preprocess_text(prompt: str) -> str:
+    if not prompt.strip():
+        prompt = "."
+    return KANDINSKY5_PROMPT_TEMPLATE.format(prompt)
+
+
+def kandinsky5_qwen_postprocess_text(outputs: BaseEncoderOutput,
+                                     mask: torch.Tensor) -> tuple[torch.Tensor, torch.Tensor]:
+    if outputs.hidden_states is None:
+        raise RuntimeError("Kandinsky5 Qwen prompt embeddings require hidden_states.")
+    hidden_states = outputs.hidden_states[-1]
+    prompt_embeds = hidden_states[:, KANDINSKY5_PROMPT_TEMPLATE_ENCODE_START_IDX:]
+    mask = mask[:, KANDINSKY5_PROMPT_TEMPLATE_ENCODE_START_IDX:]
+    if prompt_embeds.shape[1] == 0:
+        prompt_embeds = hidden_states[:, -1:]
+        mask = torch.ones((mask.shape[0], 1), dtype=mask.dtype, device=mask.device)
+    return prompt_embeds, mask
+
+
+def kandinsky5_clip_postprocess_text(outputs: BaseEncoderOutput) -> torch.Tensor:
+    if outputs.pooler_output is None:
+        raise RuntimeError("Kandinsky5 CLIP pooled output is required.")
+    return outputs.pooler_output
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Kandinsky5T2VConfig(PipelineConfig):
+    """Kandinsky-5.0 Lite text-to-video pipeline configuration."""
+
+    dit_config: DiTConfig = field(default_factory=Kandinsky5VideoConfig)
+    vae_config: VAEConfig = field(default_factory=HunyuanVAEConfig)
+
+    text_encoder_configs: tuple[EncoderConfig, ...] = field(default_factory=lambda: (Reason1Config(), CLIPTextConfig()))
+    preprocess_text_funcs: tuple[Callable[[str], Any], ...] = field(
+        default_factory=lambda: (kandinsky5_qwen_preprocess_text, preprocess_text))
+    postprocess_text_funcs: tuple[Callable[..., Any], ...] = field(
+        default_factory=lambda: (kandinsky5_qwen_postprocess_text, kandinsky5_clip_postprocess_text))
+
+    dit_precision: str = "bf16"
+    vae_precision: str = "bf16"
+    text_encoder_precisions: tuple[str, ...] = field(default_factory=lambda: ("bf16", "bf16"))
+    text_encoder_max_lengths: tuple[int, ...] = field(
+        default_factory=lambda: (KANDINSKY5_PROMPT_TEMPLATE_ENCODE_START_IDX + 512, 77))
+
+    flow_shift: float | None = 5.0
+    vae_tiling: bool = True
+
+    def __post_init__(self) -> None:
+        if len(self.text_encoder_configs) != 2:
+            raise ValueError(f"Kandinsky5 pipeline requires exactly 2 text encoders (qwen and clip), "
+                             f"but got {len(self.text_encoder_configs)} encoder(s).")
+        if len(self.text_encoder_precisions) != 2:
+            raise ValueError("Kandinsky5 pipeline requires exactly 2 text encoder precisions, "
+                             f"but got {len(self.text_encoder_precisions)}.")
+        if len(self.text_encoder_max_lengths) != 2:
+            raise ValueError("Kandinsky5 pipeline requires exactly 2 text encoder max lengths, "
+                             f"but got {len(self.text_encoder_max_lengths)}.")
+
+        self.vae_config.load_encoder = False
+        self.vae_config.load_decoder = True
+
+        qwen_cfg = self.text_encoder_configs[0]
+        qwen_cfg.arch_config.output_hidden_states = True
+        qwen_cfg.arch_config.tokenizer_kwargs.update({
+            "padding": True,
+            "truncation": True,
+            "return_tensors": "pt",
+        })
+
+        clip_cfg = self.text_encoder_configs[1]
+        clip_cfg.arch_config.tokenizer_kwargs.update({
+            "padding": "max_length",
+            "max_length": 77,
+            "truncation": True,
+            "add_special_tokens": True,
+            "return_tensors": "pt",
+        })
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Kandinsky5I2VConfig(Kandinsky5T2VConfig):
+    """Kandinsky-5.0 image-to-video pipeline configuration."""
+
+    def __post_init__(self) -> None:
+        super().__post_init__()
+        # I2V needs the VAE encoder to encode the conditioning image.
+        self.vae_config.load_encoder = True
diff --git a/fastvideo/models/dits/hunyuanvideo15.py b/fastvideo/models/dits/hunyuanvideo15.py
index b8e5562eb..7b32e9e21 100644
--- a/fastvideo/models/dits/hunyuanvideo15.py
+++ b/fastvideo/models/dits/hunyuanvideo15.py
@@ -699,8 +699,8 @@ class IndividualTokenRefinerBlock(nn.Module):
         if mask is None:
             attn_output = self.attn(q, k, v) 
         else:
-            from fastvideo.attention.backends.flash_attn import FlashAttnMetadataBuilder
-            attn_metadata = FlashAttnMetadataBuilder().build(
+            from fastvideo.attention.backends.sdpa import SDPAMetadataBuilder
+            attn_metadata = SDPAMetadataBuilder().build(
                 current_timestep=0,
                 attn_mask=mask,
             )
diff --git a/fastvideo/models/dits/hyworld/hyworld.py b/fastvideo/models/dits/hyworld/hyworld.py
index 7197fdf5b..b16cd72e5 100644
--- a/fastvideo/models/dits/hyworld/hyworld.py
+++ b/fastvideo/models/dits/hyworld/hyworld.py
@@ -173,8 +173,11 @@ class HYWorldDoubleStreamBlock(MMDoubleStreamBlock):
         img_v_prope = img_v_prope.permute(0, 2, 1, 3)  # [batch, seqlen, num_heads, head_dim]
         # end hyworld
 
-        from fastvideo.attention.backends.flash_attn import FlashAttnMetadataBuilder
-        attn_metadata = FlashAttnMetadataBuilder().build(
+        # The metadata only carries the text padding mask; the executing
+        # attention kernel is still whatever the layer's selector picked
+        # (flash-attn when installed), not necessarily torch SDPA.
+        from fastvideo.attention.backends.sdpa import SDPAMetadataBuilder
+        attn_metadata = SDPAMetadataBuilder().build(
             current_timestep=0,
             attn_mask=encoder_attention_mask,
         )
@@ -192,14 +195,9 @@ class HYWorldDoubleStreamBlock(MMDoubleStreamBlock):
             )
         
         # begin hyworld
-        # attention with prope
-        from fastvideo.attention.backends.flash_attn import FlashAttnMetadataBuilder
-        attn_metadata_prope = FlashAttnMetadataBuilder().build(
-            current_timestep=0,
-            attn_mask=encoder_attention_mask,
-        )       
+        # attention with prope (same text mask, so reuse the metadata)
         # NOTE: Do NOT pass freqs_cis to prope attention - HY-WorldPlay does not apply RoPE to prope
-        with set_forward_context(current_timestep=0, attn_metadata=attn_metadata_prope):
+        with set_forward_context(current_timestep=0, attn_metadata=attn_metadata):
             img_attn_prope, _ = self.attn(
                 img_q_prope,
                 img_k_prope,
diff --git a/fastvideo/models/dits/kandinsky5.py b/fastvideo/models/dits/kandinsky5.py
index f9c3b0134..2a721e42e 100644
--- a/fastvideo/models/dits/kandinsky5.py
+++ b/fastvideo/models/dits/kandinsky5.py
@@ -10,13 +10,21 @@ import torch.nn as nn
 import torch.nn.functional as F
 
 from fastvideo.attention import LocalAttention
+from fastvideo.attention.backends.nabla import CAN_USE_FLEX_ATTN, flex_attention, nablaT_v2
 from fastvideo.configs.models.dits import Kandinsky5VideoConfig
 from fastvideo.layers.layernorm import LayerNormScaleShift
 from fastvideo.layers.linear import ReplicatedLinear
 from fastvideo.layers.mlp import MLP
+from fastvideo.logger import init_logger
 from fastvideo.models.dits.base import BaseDiT
 from fastvideo.platforms import AttentionBackendEnum
 
+logger = init_logger(__name__)
+
+if not CAN_USE_FLEX_ATTN:
+    logger.warning("torch.nn.attention.flex_attention is unavailable in this PyTorch build; "
+                   "Kandinsky5 NABLA sparse attention (Pro checkpoints) cannot be used.")
+
 FRACTAL_PIXEL_SIZE = 8
 _ARCH_CONFIG_DEFAULTS = Kandinsky5VideoConfig().arch_config
 
@@ -263,10 +271,9 @@ class Kandinsky5Modulation(nn.Module):
 
 
 def _apply_rotary(x: torch.Tensor, rope: torch.Tensor) -> torch.Tensor:
-    orig_dtype = x.dtype
     x_ = x.reshape(*x.shape[:-1], -1, 1, 2).to(torch.float32)
     x_out = (rope * x_).sum(dim=-1)
-    return x_out.reshape(*x.shape).to(orig_dtype)
+    return x_out.reshape(*x.shape).to(x.dtype)
 
 
 class Kandinsky5Attention(nn.Module):
@@ -277,6 +284,7 @@ class Kandinsky5Attention(nn.Module):
         head_dim: int,
         supported_attention_backends: tuple[AttentionBackendEnum, ...] | None,
         prefix: str = "",
+        use_nabla: bool = False,
     ):
         super().__init__()
         assert num_channels % head_dim == 0
@@ -306,6 +314,17 @@ class Kandinsky5Attention(nn.Module):
             causal=False,
             supported_attention_backends=supported_attention_backends,
         )
+        # NABLA checkpoints get a second attention layer whose backend defaults
+        # to NABLA_ATTN; FASTVIDEO_ATTENTION_BACKEND still overrides it.
+        self.nabla_attention = None
+        if use_nabla:
+            self.nabla_attention = LocalAttention(
+                num_heads=self.num_heads,
+                head_size=head_dim,
+                causal=False,
+                supported_attention_backends=supported_attention_backends,
+                default_backend=AttentionBackendEnum.NABLA_ATTN,
+            )
 
     def forward(
         self,
@@ -339,27 +358,54 @@ class Kandinsky5Attention(nn.Module):
             key = _apply_rotary(key, rotary_emb).type_as(key)
 
         if sparse_params is not None:
-            raise NotImplementedError(
-                "Sparse attention is not yet supported for Kandinsky5 in FastVideo."
-            )
+            if self.nabla_attention is None:
+                raise RuntimeError("sparse_params passed to an attention layer built without use_nabla; "
+                                   "this checkpoint/config combination is inconsistent.")
+            try:
+                # Backend impl reads sta_mask/P from the forward-context
+                # attention metadata built by the denoising stage.
+                hidden_states = self.nabla_attention(query, key, value)
+            except AssertionError as exc:
+                # Standalone parity tests call the model without a pipeline
+                # forward context; run the NABLA kernel directly.
+                if "Forward context is not set" not in str(exc):
+                    raise
+                attn_mask = nablaT_v2(query, key, sparse_params["sta_mask"], thr=sparse_params["P"])
+                hidden_states = flex_attention(
+                    query=query.transpose(1, 2),
+                    key=key.transpose(1, 2),
+                    value=value.transpose(1, 2),
+                    block_mask=attn_mask,
+                ).transpose(1, 2)
+        else:
+            try:
+                hidden_states = self.local_attention(query, key, value)
 
-        try:
-            hidden_states = self.local_attention(query, key, value)
-        except AssertionError as exc:
-            # LocalAttention requires pipeline forward context. Standalone
-            # parity tests call the model directly, so fallback to Torch SDPA.
-            if "Forward context is not set" not in str(exc):
-                raise
-            query = query.transpose(1, 2)
-            key = key.transpose(1, 2)
-            value = value.transpose(1, 2)
-            hidden_states = F.scaled_dot_product_attention(query,
-                                                           key,
-                                                           value,
-                                                           attn_mask=None,
-                                                           is_causal=False)
-            hidden_states = hidden_states.transpose(1, 2)
-        hidden_states = hidden_states.flatten(2)
+            except AssertionError as exc:
+                # LocalAttention requires pipeline forward context. Standalone
+                # parity tests call the model directly, so fallback to Torch SDPA.
+                if "Forward context is not set" not in str(exc):
+                    raise
+
+                query_shape = query.shape[:-2]
+                key_shape = key.shape[:-2]
+                query = query.reshape(query_shape[0], -1, self.num_heads,
+                                      query.shape[-1]).transpose(1, 2)
+                key = key.reshape(key_shape[0], -1, self.num_heads,
+                                  key.shape[-1]).transpose(1, 2)
+                value = value.reshape(key_shape[0], -1, self.num_heads,
+                                      value.shape[-1]).transpose(1, 2)
+                hidden_states = F.scaled_dot_product_attention(
+                    query,
+                    key,
+                    value,
+                    attn_mask=None,
+                    is_causal=False,
+                )
+                hidden_states = hidden_states.transpose(1, 2).reshape(
+                    *query_shape, self.num_heads, -1)
+                
+        hidden_states = hidden_states.flatten(-2, -1)
 
         hidden_states, _ = self.out_layer(hidden_states)
         return hidden_states
@@ -476,7 +522,8 @@ class Kandinsky5TransformerDecoderBlock(nn.Module):
                  head_dim: int,
                  supported_attention_backends: tuple[AttentionBackendEnum, ...]
                  | None = None,
-                 prefix: str = ""):
+                 prefix: str = "",
+                 use_nabla: bool = False):
         super().__init__()
         self.visual_modulation = Kandinsky5Modulation(time_dim, model_dim, 9)
 
@@ -491,7 +538,8 @@ class Kandinsky5TransformerDecoderBlock(nn.Module):
             model_dim,
             head_dim,
             supported_attention_backends=supported_attention_backends,
-            prefix=f"{prefix}.self_attention")
+            prefix=f"{prefix}.self_attention",
+            use_nabla=use_nabla)
 
         self.cross_attention_norm = LayerNormScaleShift(
             model_dim,
@@ -624,7 +672,8 @@ class Kandinsky5Transformer3DModel(BaseDiT):
                                               arch.ff_dim,
                                               head_dim,
                                               self._supported_attention_backends,
-                                              prefix=f"{config.prefix}.visual_transformer_blocks.{i}")
+                                              prefix=f"{config.prefix}.visual_transformer_blocks.{i}",
+                                              use_nabla=arch.attention_type == "nabla")
             for i in range(arch.num_visual_blocks)
         ])
 
@@ -694,6 +743,7 @@ class Kandinsky5Transformer3DModel(BaseDiT):
                                                   scale_factor)
         to_fractal = sparse_params[
             "to_fractal"] if sparse_params is not None else False
+        
         visual_embed, visual_rope = fractal_flatten(visual_embed, visual_rope,
                                                     visual_shape,
                                                     block_mask=to_fractal)
@@ -724,6 +774,7 @@ class Kandinsky5Transformer3DModel(BaseDiT):
 
         if return_dict:
             return Kandinsky5TransformerOutput(sample=x)
+        
         return x
 
     def materialize_non_persistent_buffers(self, device: torch.device,
diff --git a/fastvideo/models/encoders/qwen2_5_vl_custom.py b/fastvideo/models/encoders/qwen2_5_vl_custom.py
index 0a9b00c93..61fadec85 100644
--- a/fastvideo/models/encoders/qwen2_5_vl_custom.py
+++ b/fastvideo/models/encoders/qwen2_5_vl_custom.py
@@ -467,6 +467,18 @@ class Qwen2_5_VisionTransformerPretrainedModel(nn.Module):
         return hidden_states
 
 
+def _compute_default_rope_parameters(config, device=None, seq_len=None, **kwargs):
+    # transformers>=5 removes the "default" entry from ROPE_INIT_FUNCTIONS and
+    # moves rope_theta inside rope_parameters; replicate the 4.x default init.
+    rope_params = getattr(config, "rope_parameters", None) or getattr(config, "rope_scaling", None) or {}
+    base = rope_params.get("rope_theta", getattr(config, "rope_theta", 10000.0))
+    head_dim = getattr(config, "head_dim", None) or config.hidden_size // config.num_attention_heads
+    partial_rotary_factor = getattr(config, "partial_rotary_factor", 1.0)
+    dim = int(head_dim * partial_rotary_factor)
+    inv_freq = 1.0 / (base**(torch.arange(0, dim, 2, dtype=torch.int64).float().to(device) / dim))
+    return inv_freq, 1.0
+
+
 class Qwen2_5_VLRotaryEmbedding(nn.Module):
     def __init__(self, config: Qwen2_5_VLConfig, device=None):
         super().__init__()
@@ -479,7 +491,14 @@ class Qwen2_5_VLRotaryEmbedding(nn.Module):
         self.original_max_seq_len = config.max_position_embeddings
 
         self.config = config
-        self.rope_init_fn = ROPE_INIT_FUNCTIONS[self.rope_type]
+        if self.rope_type in ROPE_INIT_FUNCTIONS:
+            self.rope_init_fn = ROPE_INIT_FUNCTIONS[self.rope_type]
+        elif self.rope_type == "default":
+            # transformers>=5 drops the "default" entry from ROPE_INIT_FUNCTIONS.
+            self.rope_init_fn = _compute_default_rope_parameters
+        else:
+            raise KeyError(f"Unsupported rope_type '{self.rope_type}'; available: "
+                           f"{['default', *ROPE_INIT_FUNCTIONS]}")
 
         inv_freq, self.attention_scaling = self.rope_init_fn(self.config, device)
         self.register_buffer("inv_freq", inv_freq, persistent=False)
@@ -948,6 +967,16 @@ QWEN2_5_VL_ATTENTION_CLASSES = {
 # If FlashAttention2 is not available, transparently fall back to SDPA.
 if not is_flash_attn_2_available():
     QWEN2_5_VL_ATTENTION_CLASSES["flash_attention_2"] = Qwen2_5_VLSdpaAttention
+else:
+    # transformers>=5 only resolves the flash-attn functions when the model
+    # preloads them via its attention interface; this module bypasses
+    # PreTrainedModel, so _flash_attention_forward(implementation=None) raises
+    # unless we preload here.
+    try:
+        from transformers.modeling_flash_attention_utils import lazy_import_flash_attention
+        lazy_import_flash_attention("flash_attention_2")
+    except (ImportError, ValueError):
+        QWEN2_5_VL_ATTENTION_CLASSES["flash_attention_2"] = Qwen2_5_VLSdpaAttention
     
 class Qwen2_5_VLDecoderLayer(nn.Module):
     def __init__(self, config: Qwen2_5_VLConfig, layer_idx: int):
@@ -1035,7 +1064,7 @@ class Qwen2_5_VLModel(nn.Module):
     def __init__(self, config: Qwen2_5_VLConfig):
         super().__init__()
         self.config = config
-        self.padding_idx = config.pad_token_id
+        self.padding_idx = getattr(config, "pad_token_id", None)
         self.vocab_size = config.vocab_size
 
         self.embed_tokens = nn.Embedding(config.vocab_size, config.hidden_size, self.padding_idx)
@@ -1408,6 +1437,18 @@ class Qwen2_5_VLCausalLMOutputWithPast(ModelOutput):
     rope_deltas: Optional[torch.LongTensor] = None
 
 
+def _flatten_text_config(config):
+    # transformers>=5 stops forwarding text-model attributes (hidden_size,
+    # vocab_size, rope_scaling, ...) from the composite Qwen2_5_VLConfig to
+    # config.text_config; this module reads them from the top level.
+    text_config = getattr(config, "text_config", None)
+    if text_config is not None:
+        for key, value in text_config.to_dict().items():
+            if not hasattr(config, key):
+                setattr(config, key, value)
+    return config
+
+
 class Qwen2_5_VLForConditionalGenerationSimple(nn.Module):
     _tied_weights_keys = ["lm_head.weight"]
     config_class = Qwen2_5_VLConfig
@@ -1415,6 +1456,7 @@ class Qwen2_5_VLForConditionalGenerationSimple(nn.Module):
 
     def __init__(self, config):
         super().__init__()
+        config = _flatten_text_config(config)
         self.config = config
         self.visual = Qwen2_5_VisionTransformerPretrainedModel(config.vision_config)
 
diff --git a/fastvideo/models/loader/component_loader.py b/fastvideo/models/loader/component_loader.py
index 0152d33c0..ffe5fd07f 100644
--- a/fastvideo/models/loader/component_loader.py
+++ b/fastvideo/models/loader/component_loader.py
@@ -320,6 +320,19 @@ class TextEncoderLoader(ComponentLoader):
                 f"text encoder index {idx} out of range for text_encoder_configs (len={len(encoder_configs)}), model_path={model_path}"
             )
         encoder_config = encoder_configs[idx]
+        if (
+            model_config.get("architectures") == ["CLIPModel"]
+            and isinstance(model_config.get("text_config"), dict)
+        ):
+            valid_arch_fields = {
+                f.name for f in dataclasses.fields(encoder_config.arch_config)
+            }
+            model_config = {
+                key: value
+                for key, value in deepcopy(model_config["text_config"]).items()
+                if key in valid_arch_fields
+            }
+            model_config["architectures"] = ["CLIPTextModel"]
         encoder_config.update_model_arch(model_config)
         if idx < 0 or idx >= len(encoder_precisions):
             raise IndexError(
@@ -404,7 +417,9 @@ class TextEncoderLoader(ComponentLoader):
             else:
                 loaded_weights: set[str] = model.load_weights(
                     self._get_all_weights(
-                        model, model_path, to_cpu=use_cpu_offload
+                        model,
+                        model_path,
+                        to_cpu=fastvideo_args.text_encoder_cpu_offload,
                     )
                 )  # type: ignore
 
diff --git a/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/__init__.py b/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..988131360
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
diff --git a/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/kandinsky5_i2v_pipeline.py b/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/kandinsky5_i2v_pipeline.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ff8756361
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/kandinsky5_i2v_pipeline.py
@@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from fastvideo.fastvideo_args import FastVideoArgs
+from fastvideo.pipelines.composed_pipeline_base import ComposedPipelineBase
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.input_validation import InputValidationStage
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.kandinsky5 import (
+    Kandinsky5DecodingStage,
+    Kandinsky5DenoisingStage,
+    Kandinsky5ImageEncodingStage,
+    Kandinsky5LatentPreparationStage,
+    Kandinsky5NormalizationStage,
+)
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.text_encoding import TextEncodingStage
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.timestep_preparation import TimestepPreparationStage
+
+
+class Kandinsky5I2VPipeline(ComposedPipelineBase):
+    """Kandinsky-5.0 image-to-video pipeline."""
+
+    _required_config_modules = [
+        "scheduler",
+        "text_encoder",
+        "text_encoder_2",
+        "tokenizer",
+        "tokenizer_2",
+        "transformer",
+        "vae",
+    ]
+
+    def create_pipeline_stages(self, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> None:
+        self.add_stage(stage_name="input_validation_stage", stage=InputValidationStage())
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="text_encoding_stage",
+            stage=TextEncodingStage(
+                text_encoders=[
+                    self.get_module("text_encoder"),
+                    self.get_module("text_encoder_2"),
+                ],
+                tokenizers=[
+                    self.get_module("tokenizer"),
+                    self.get_module("tokenizer_2"),
+                ],
+            ),
+        )
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="timestep_preparation_stage",
+            stage=TimestepPreparationStage(scheduler=self.get_module("scheduler")),
+        )
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="latent_preparation_stage",
+            stage=Kandinsky5LatentPreparationStage(
+                scheduler=self.get_module("scheduler"),
+                transformer=self.get_module("transformer"),
+            ),
+        )
+
+        # Runs AFTER latent preparation so the initial noise is the seeded
+        # generator's first draw (official kandinsky-5 RNG order); this stage
+        # then samples the image latent and places it into the latents.
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="image_encoding_stage",
+            stage=Kandinsky5ImageEncodingStage(vae=self.get_module("vae")),
+        )
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="denoising_stage",
+            stage=Kandinsky5DenoisingStage(
+                transformer=self.get_module("transformer"),
+                scheduler=self.get_module("scheduler"),
+            ),
+        )
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="normalization_stage",
+            stage=Kandinsky5NormalizationStage(),
+        )
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="decoding_stage",
+            stage=Kandinsky5DecodingStage(vae=self.get_module("vae"), pipeline=self),
+        )
+
+
+EntryClass = Kandinsky5I2VPipeline
diff --git a/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/kandinsky5_pipeline.py b/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/kandinsky5_pipeline.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3addd931a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/kandinsky5_pipeline.py
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from fastvideo.fastvideo_args import FastVideoArgs
+from fastvideo.pipelines.composed_pipeline_base import ComposedPipelineBase
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.input_validation import InputValidationStage
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.kandinsky5 import (
+    Kandinsky5DecodingStage,
+    Kandinsky5DenoisingStage,
+    Kandinsky5LatentPreparationStage,
+)
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.text_encoding import TextEncodingStage
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.timestep_preparation import TimestepPreparationStage
+
+
+class Kandinsky5T2VPipeline(ComposedPipelineBase):
+    """Kandinsky-5.0 Lite text-to-video pipeline."""
+
+    _required_config_modules = [
+        "scheduler",
+        "text_encoder",
+        "text_encoder_2",
+        "tokenizer",
+        "tokenizer_2",
+        "transformer",
+        "vae",
+    ]
+
+    def create_pipeline_stages(self, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> None:
+        self.add_stage(stage_name="input_validation_stage", stage=InputValidationStage())
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="text_encoding_stage",
+            stage=TextEncodingStage(
+                text_encoders=[
+                    self.get_module("text_encoder"),
+                    self.get_module("text_encoder_2"),
+                ],
+                tokenizers=[
+                    self.get_module("tokenizer"),
+                    self.get_module("tokenizer_2"),
+                ],
+            ),
+        )
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="timestep_preparation_stage",
+            stage=TimestepPreparationStage(scheduler=self.get_module("scheduler")),
+        )
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="latent_preparation_stage",
+            stage=Kandinsky5LatentPreparationStage(
+                scheduler=self.get_module("scheduler"),
+                transformer=self.get_module("transformer"),
+            ),
+        )
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="denoising_stage",
+            stage=Kandinsky5DenoisingStage(
+                transformer=self.get_module("transformer"),
+                scheduler=self.get_module("scheduler"),
+            ),
+        )
+
+        self.add_stage(
+            stage_name="decoding_stage",
+            stage=Kandinsky5DecodingStage(vae=self.get_module("vae"), pipeline=self),
+        )
+
+
+EntryClass = Kandinsky5T2VPipeline
diff --git a/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/presets.py b/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/presets.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..37a3df028
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastvideo/pipelines/basic/kandinsky5/presets.py
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+"""Kandinsky-5 model family pipeline presets."""
+
+from fastvideo.api.presets import InferencePreset, PresetStageSpec
+
+_NEGATIVE_PROMPT = ("Static, 2D cartoon, cartoon, 2d animation, paintings, images, worst quality, low quality, ugly, "
+                    "deformed, walking backwards")
+
+_DENOISE_STAGE = PresetStageSpec(
+    name="denoise",
+    kind="denoising",
+    description="Main Kandinsky-5 denoising pass",
+    allowed_overrides=frozenset({
+        "num_inference_steps",
+        "guidance_scale",
+    }),
+)
+
+KANDINSKY5_T2V_LITE_5S = InferencePreset(
+    name="kandinsky5_t2v_lite_5s",
+    version=1,
+    model_family="kandinsky5",
+    description="Kandinsky-5.0 Lite T2V 5s",
+    workload_type="t2v",
+    stage_schemas=(_DENOISE_STAGE, ),
+    defaults={
+        "height": 512,
+        "width": 768,
+        "num_frames": 121,
+        "fps": 24,
+        "guidance_scale": 5.0,
+        "num_inference_steps": 50,
+        "negative_prompt": _NEGATIVE_PROMPT,
+    },
+)
+
+KANDINSKY5_T2V_LITE_DISTILLED_5S = InferencePreset(
+    name="kandinsky5_t2v_lite_distilled_5s",
+    version=1,
+    model_family="kandinsky5",
+    description="Kandinsky-5.0 Lite T2V Distilled 5s",
+    workload_type="t2v",
+    stage_schemas=(_DENOISE_STAGE, ),
+    defaults={
+        "height": 512,
+        "width": 768,
+        "num_frames": 121,
+        "fps": 24,
+        "guidance_scale": 1.0,
+        "num_inference_steps": 16,
+        "negative_prompt": _NEGATIVE_PROMPT,
+    },
+)
+
+KANDINSKY5_T2V_PRO_5S = InferencePreset(
+    name="kandinsky5_t2v_pro_5s",
+    version=1,
+    model_family="kandinsky5",
+    description="Kandinsky-5.0 Pro T2V 5s",
+    workload_type="t2v",
+    stage_schemas=(_DENOISE_STAGE, ),
+    defaults={
+        "height": 512,
+        "width": 768,
+        "num_frames": 121,
+        "fps": 24,
+        "guidance_scale": 5.0,
+        "num_inference_steps": 50,
+        "negative_prompt": _NEGATIVE_PROMPT,
+    },
+)
+
+KANDINSKY5_T2V_PRO_DISTILLED_5S = InferencePreset(
+    name="kandinsky5_t2v_pro_distilled_5s",
+    version=1,
+    model_family="kandinsky5",
+    description="Kandinsky-5.0 Pro T2V Distilled 5s",
+    workload_type="t2v",
+    stage_schemas=(_DENOISE_STAGE, ),
+    defaults={
+        "height": 512,
+        "width": 768,
+        "num_frames": 121,
+        "fps": 24,
+        "guidance_scale": 1.0,
+        "num_inference_steps": 16,
+        "negative_prompt": _NEGATIVE_PROMPT,
+    },
+)
+
+KANDINSKY5_I2V_LITE_5S = InferencePreset(
+    name="kandinsky5_i2v_lite_5s",
+    version=1,
+    model_family="kandinsky5",
+    description="Kandinsky-5.0 Lite I2V 5s",
+    workload_type="i2v",
+    stage_schemas=(_DENOISE_STAGE, ),
+    defaults={
+        "height": 512,
+        "width": 768,
+        "num_frames": 121,
+        "fps": 24,
+        "guidance_scale": 5.0,
+        "num_inference_steps": 50,
+        "negative_prompt": _NEGATIVE_PROMPT,
+    },
+)
+
+KANDINSKY5_I2V_PRO_5S = InferencePreset(
+    name="kandinsky5_i2v_pro_5s",
+    version=1,
+    model_family="kandinsky5",
+    description="Kandinsky-5.0 Pro I2V 5s",
+    workload_type="i2v",
+    stage_schemas=(_DENOISE_STAGE, ),
+    defaults={
+        "height": 512,
+        "width": 768,
+        "num_frames": 121,
+        "fps": 24,
+        "guidance_scale": 5.0,
+        "num_inference_steps": 50,
+        "negative_prompt": _NEGATIVE_PROMPT,
+    },
+)
+
+KANDINSKY5_I2V_LITE_DISTILLED_5S = InferencePreset(
+    name="kandinsky5_i2v_lite_distilled_5s",
+    version=1,
+    model_family="kandinsky5",
+    description="Kandinsky-5.0 Lite I2V Distilled 5s",
+    workload_type="i2v",
+    stage_schemas=(_DENOISE_STAGE, ),
+    defaults={
+        "height": 512,
+        "width": 768,
+        "num_frames": 121,
+        "fps": 24,
+        "guidance_scale": 1.0,
+        "num_inference_steps": 16,
+        "negative_prompt": _NEGATIVE_PROMPT,
+    },
+)
+
+KANDINSKY5_I2V_PRO_DISTILLED_5S = InferencePreset(
+    name="kandinsky5_i2v_pro_distilled_5s",
+    version=1,
+    model_family="kandinsky5",
+    description="Kandinsky-5.0 Pro I2V Distilled 5s",
+    workload_type="i2v",
+    stage_schemas=(_DENOISE_STAGE, ),
+    defaults={
+        "height": 512,
+        "width": 768,
+        "num_frames": 121,
+        "fps": 24,
+        "guidance_scale": 1.0,
+        "num_inference_steps": 16,
+        "negative_prompt": _NEGATIVE_PROMPT,
+    },
+)
+
+ALL_PRESETS = (KANDINSKY5_T2V_LITE_5S, KANDINSKY5_T2V_LITE_DISTILLED_5S, KANDINSKY5_T2V_PRO_5S,
+               KANDINSKY5_T2V_PRO_DISTILLED_5S, KANDINSKY5_I2V_LITE_5S, KANDINSKY5_I2V_LITE_DISTILLED_5S,
+               KANDINSKY5_I2V_PRO_5S, KANDINSKY5_I2V_PRO_DISTILLED_5S)
diff --git a/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/__init__.py b/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/__init__.py
index acc4c5f67..ae4b701f6 100644
--- a/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/__init__.py
+++ b/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/__init__.py
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@ from fastvideo.pipelines.basic.ltx2.stages import (  # noqa: F401
 from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.matrixgame2_denoising import MatrixGame2CausalDenoisingStage
 from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.matrixgame3_denoising import MatrixGame3DenoisingStage
 from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.hyworld_denoising import HYWorldDenoisingStage
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.kandinsky5 import (Kandinsky5DecodingStage, Kandinsky5DenoisingStage,
+                                                   Kandinsky5LatentPreparationStage)
 from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.gamecraft_denoising import GameCraftDenoisingStage
 from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.gen3c_stages import (Gen3CCFGPolicyStage, Gen3CConditioningStage, Gen3CDenoisingStage,
                                                      Gen3CLatentPreparationStage)
@@ -65,6 +67,9 @@ __all__ = [
     "MatrixGame2CausalDenoisingStage",
     "MatrixGame3DenoisingStage",
     "HYWorldDenoisingStage",
+    "Kandinsky5DecodingStage",
+    "Kandinsky5DenoisingStage",
+    "Kandinsky5LatentPreparationStage",
     "GameCraftDenoisingStage",
     "Gen3CCFGPolicyStage",
     "Gen3CConditioningStage",
diff --git a/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/kandinsky5.py b/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/kandinsky5.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..50d157766
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/kandinsky5.py
@@ -0,0 +1,545 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import contextlib
+from typing import Any
+
+import PIL
+import torch
+from diffusers.utils.torch_utils import randn_tensor
+from tqdm.auto import tqdm
+
+from fastvideo.attention.backends.nabla import NablaAttentionMetadataBuilder
+from fastvideo.distributed import get_local_torch_device
+from fastvideo.fastvideo_args import FastVideoArgs
+from fastvideo.forward_context import set_forward_context
+from fastvideo.logger import init_logger
+from fastvideo.models.loader.component_loader import TransformerLoader, VAELoader
+from fastvideo.models.vaes.common import ParallelTiledVAE
+from fastvideo.models.vision_utils import normalize, numpy_to_pt, pil_to_numpy, resize
+from fastvideo.pipelines.pipeline_batch_info import ForwardBatch
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.base import PipelineStage
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.decoding import DecodingStage
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.encoding import EncodingStage
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.validators import StageValidators as V
+from fastvideo.pipelines.stages.validators import VerificationResult
+from fastvideo.utils import PRECISION_TO_TYPE
+
+logger = init_logger(__name__)
+
+
+class Kandinsky5LatentPreparationStage(PipelineStage):
+
+    def __init__(self, scheduler, transformer) -> None:
+        super().__init__()
+        self.scheduler = scheduler
+        self.transformer = transformer
+
+    def forward(self, batch: ForwardBatch, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> ForwardBatch:
+        if batch.height is None or batch.width is None:
+            raise ValueError("height and width must be provided for Kandinsky5.")
+        height = int(batch.height)
+        width = int(batch.width)
+        num_frames = int(batch.num_frames)
+
+        temporal_ratio = fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.vae_config.arch_config.temporal_compression_ratio
+        spatial_ratio = fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.vae_config.arch_config.spatial_compression_ratio
+        patch_size = fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.dit_config.arch_config.patch_size
+
+        if num_frames % temporal_ratio != 1:
+            num_frames = num_frames // temporal_ratio * temporal_ratio + 1
+            batch.num_frames = num_frames
+
+        required_divisor_h = spatial_ratio * patch_size[1]
+        required_divisor_w = spatial_ratio * patch_size[2]
+        if height % required_divisor_h != 0 or width % required_divisor_w != 0:
+            raise ValueError(f"Kandinsky5 height must be divisible by {required_divisor_h} and width by "
+                             f"{required_divisor_w}; "
+                             f"got height={height}, width={width}.")
+
+        # NABLA sparse attention (Pro checkpoints) reshapes the post-patch grid
+        # into 8x8 blocks; validate here instead of crashing mid-denoise after
+        # all the encoding work is done.
+        arch_cfg = getattr(self.transformer, "config", None) or fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.dit_config.arch_config
+        if getattr(arch_cfg, "attention_type", "regular") == "nabla":
+            nabla_divisor_h = required_divisor_h * 8
+            nabla_divisor_w = required_divisor_w * 8
+            if height % nabla_divisor_h != 0 or width % nabla_divisor_w != 0:
+                raise ValueError(f"Kandinsky5 NABLA checkpoints require height divisible by {nabla_divisor_h} and "
+                                 f"width divisible by {nabla_divisor_w}; "
+                                 f"got height={height}, width={width}.")
+
+        if isinstance(batch.prompt, list):
+            batch_size = len(batch.prompt)
+        elif batch.prompt is not None:
+            batch_size = 1
+        else:
+            batch_size = batch.prompt_embeds[0].shape[0]
+        batch_size *= batch.num_videos_per_prompt
+
+        dtype = PRECISION_TO_TYPE[fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.dit_precision]
+        device = get_local_torch_device()
+        num_latent_frames = (num_frames - 1) // temporal_ratio + 1
+        num_channels = getattr(
+            self.transformer,
+            "in_visual_dim",
+            fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.dit_config.arch_config.in_visual_dim,
+        )
+        shape = (
+            batch_size,
+            num_latent_frames,
+            height // spatial_ratio,
+            width // spatial_ratio,
+            num_channels,
+        )
+
+        if isinstance(batch.generator, list) and len(batch.generator) != batch_size:
+            raise ValueError(f"generator list length {len(batch.generator)} does not match batch size {batch_size}.")
+
+        visual_cond = getattr(self.transformer, "visual_cond", False)
+
+        if batch.latents is None:
+            latents = randn_tensor(shape, generator=batch.generator, device=device, dtype=dtype)
+            if hasattr(self.scheduler, "init_noise_sigma"):
+                latents = latents * self.scheduler.init_noise_sigma
+        else:
+            valid_shapes = [shape]
+            if visual_cond:
+                valid_shapes.append((*shape[:-1], num_channels * 2 + 1))
+            if tuple(batch.latents.shape) not in valid_shapes:
+                raise ValueError(f"Provided latents shape {list(batch.latents.shape)} does not match expected "
+                                 f"Kandinsky5 latent shape(s): {[list(s) for s in valid_shapes]}.")
+            latents = batch.latents.to(device=device, dtype=dtype)
+
+        if visual_cond and latents.shape[-1] == num_channels:
+            cond = torch.zeros_like(latents)
+            cond_mask = torch.zeros(
+                (*latents.shape[:-1], 1),
+                device=latents.device,
+                dtype=latents.dtype,
+            )
+            latents = torch.cat([latents, cond, cond_mask], dim=-1)
+
+        # I2V image conditioning is placed by Kandinsky5ImageEncodingStage,
+        # which runs AFTER this stage so the initial noise is the generator's
+        # first draw (matching the official kandinskylab/kandinsky-5 order).
+        batch.latents = latents
+        batch.raw_latent_shape = (
+            batch_size,
+            num_channels,
+            num_latent_frames,
+            height // spatial_ratio,
+            width // spatial_ratio,
+        )
+        return batch
+
+    def verify_input(self, batch: ForwardBatch, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> VerificationResult:
+        result = VerificationResult()
+        result.add_check("num_frames", batch.num_frames, V.positive_int)
+        result.add_check("height", batch.height, V.positive_int)
+        result.add_check("width", batch.width, V.positive_int)
+        result.add_check("latents", batch.latents, V.none_or_tensor)
+        return result
+
+    def verify_output(self, batch: ForwardBatch, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> VerificationResult:
+        result = VerificationResult()
+        result.add_check("latents", batch.latents, [V.is_tensor, V.with_dims(5)])
+        return result
+
+
+class Kandinsky5DenoisingStage(PipelineStage):
+
+    def __init__(self, transformer, scheduler) -> None:
+        super().__init__()
+        self.transformer = transformer
+        self.scheduler = scheduler
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _scale_factor(height: int, width: int) -> tuple[float, float, float]:
+        if 480 <= height <= 854 and 480 <= width <= 854:
+            return (1.0, 2.0, 2.0)
+        return (1.0, 3.16, 3.16)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _text_rope_pos(mask: torch.Tensor, device: torch.device) -> torch.Tensor:
+        seq_len = int(mask.sum(1).max().item())
+        return torch.arange(seq_len, device=device)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def fast_sta_nabla(
+        T: int,
+        H: int,
+        W: int,
+        wT: int = 3,
+        wH: int = 3,
+        wW: int = 3,
+        device: torch.device | str = "cuda",
+    ) -> torch.Tensor:
+        """
+        Create a sparse temporal attention (STA) mask for efficient video generation.
+
+        This method generates a mask that limits attention to nearby frames and spatial positions, reducing
+        computational complexity for video generation.
+
+        Args:
+            T (int): Number of temporal frames
+            H (int): Height in latent space
+            W (int): Width in latent space
+            wT (int): Temporal attention window size
+            wH (int): Height attention window size
+            wW (int): Width attention window size
+            device (str): Device to create tensor on
+
+        Returns:
+            torch.Tensor: Sparse attention mask of shape (T*H*W, T*H*W)
+        """
+        max_extent = int(torch.tensor([T, H, W], device=device).amax().item())
+        r = torch.arange(0, max_extent, 1, dtype=torch.int16, device=device)
+        mat = (r.unsqueeze(1) - r.unsqueeze(0)).abs()
+        sta_t, sta_h, sta_w = (
+            mat[:T, :T].flatten(),
+            mat[:H, :H].flatten(),
+            mat[:W, :W].flatten(),
+        )
+        sta_t = sta_t <= wT // 2
+        sta_h = sta_h <= wH // 2
+        sta_w = sta_w <= wW // 2
+        sta_hw = (sta_h.unsqueeze(1) * sta_w.unsqueeze(0)).reshape(H, H, W, W).transpose(1, 2).flatten()
+        sta = (sta_t.unsqueeze(1) * sta_hw.unsqueeze(0)).reshape(T, T, H * W, H * W).transpose(1, 2)
+        return sta.reshape(T * H * W, T * H * W)
+
+    def get_sparse_params(self, sample: torch.Tensor, device: torch.device) -> dict[str, Any] | None:
+        """
+        Generate sparse attention parameters for the transformer based on sample dimensions.
+
+        This method computes the sparse attention configuration needed for efficient video processing in the
+        transformer model.
+
+        Args:
+            sample (torch.Tensor): Input sample tensor
+            device (torch.device): Device to place tensors on
+
+        Returns:
+            Dict: Dictionary containing sparse attention parameters
+        """
+        assert self.transformer.config.patch_size[0] == 1
+        _, T, H, W, _ = sample.shape
+        T, H, W = (
+            T // self.transformer.config.patch_size[0],
+            H // self.transformer.config.patch_size[1],
+            W // self.transformer.config.patch_size[2],
+        )
+        if self.transformer.config.attention_type == "nabla":
+            sta_mask = self.fast_sta_nabla(
+                T,
+                H // 8,
+                W // 8,
+                self.transformer.config.attention_wT,
+                self.transformer.config.attention_wH,
+                self.transformer.config.attention_wW,
+                device=device,
+            )
+
+            sparse_params = {
+                "sta_mask": sta_mask.unsqueeze_(0).unsqueeze_(0),
+                "attention_type": self.transformer.config.attention_type,
+                "to_fractal": True,
+                "P": self.transformer.config.attention_P,
+                "wT": self.transformer.config.attention_wT,
+                "wW": self.transformer.config.attention_wW,
+                "wH": self.transformer.config.attention_wH,
+                "add_sta": self.transformer.config.attention_add_sta,
+                "visual_shape": (T, H, W),
+                "method": self.transformer.config.attention_method,
+            }
+        else:
+            sparse_params = None
+
+        return sparse_params
+
+    def forward(self, batch: ForwardBatch, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> ForwardBatch:
+        if batch.timesteps is None:
+            raise ValueError("timesteps must be prepared before Kandinsky5 denoising.")
+        if batch.latents is None:
+            raise ValueError("latents must be prepared before Kandinsky5 denoising.")
+        if not fastvideo_args.model_loaded["transformer"]:
+            loader = TransformerLoader()
+            self.transformer = loader.load(fastvideo_args.model_paths["transformer"], fastvideo_args)
+            fastvideo_args.model_loaded["transformer"] = True
+
+        device = get_local_torch_device()
+        target_dtype = PRECISION_TO_TYPE[fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.dit_precision]
+        autocast_enabled = target_dtype != torch.float32 and not fastvideo_args.disable_autocast
+        latents = batch.latents
+        num_channels = getattr(
+            self.transformer,
+            "in_visual_dim",
+            fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.dit_config.arch_config.in_visual_dim,
+        )
+
+        prompt_embeds = batch.prompt_embeds[0].to(device=device, dtype=target_dtype)
+        pooled = batch.prompt_embeds[1].to(device=device, dtype=target_dtype)
+        if batch.prompt_attention_mask is None or not batch.prompt_attention_mask:
+            raise ValueError("Kandinsky5 requires Qwen prompt attention masks.")
+        text_rope_pos = self._text_rope_pos(batch.prompt_attention_mask[0].to(device), device)
+
+        neg_prompt_embeds = None
+        neg_pooled = None
+        negative_text_rope_pos = None
+        if batch.do_classifier_free_guidance and batch.negative_prompt_embeds:
+            neg_prompt_embeds = batch.negative_prompt_embeds[0].to(device=device, dtype=target_dtype)
+            neg_pooled = batch.negative_prompt_embeds[1].to(device=device, dtype=target_dtype)
+            if batch.negative_attention_mask is None or not batch.negative_attention_mask:
+                raise ValueError("Kandinsky5 requires Qwen negative attention masks for CFG.")
+            negative_text_rope_pos = self._text_rope_pos(batch.negative_attention_mask[0].to(device), device)
+
+        height = int(batch.height)
+        width = int(batch.width)
+        temporal_ratio = fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.vae_config.arch_config.temporal_compression_ratio
+        spatial_ratio = fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.vae_config.arch_config.spatial_compression_ratio
+        num_latent_frames = (int(batch.num_frames) - 1) // temporal_ratio + 1
+        visual_rope_pos = [
+            torch.arange(num_latent_frames, device=device),
+            torch.arange(height // spatial_ratio // 2, device=device),
+            torch.arange(width // spatial_ratio // 2, device=device),
+        ]
+        scale_factor = self._scale_factor(height, width)
+
+        sparse_params = self.get_sparse_params(latents, device)
+
+        # I2V keeps the first (conditioning) frame fixed during denoising.
+        # Key off the actual image conditioning, not transformer.visual_cond:
+        # official T2V checkpoints also ship visual_cond=True, and skipping
+        # frame 0 for them leaves it as undenoised noise.
+        cond_frames = 1 if batch.image_latent is not None else 0
+
+        trajectory_timesteps: list[torch.Tensor] = []
+        trajectory_latents: list[torch.Tensor] = []
+
+        with tqdm(total=batch.num_inference_steps, desc="Kandinsky5 Denoising") as progress_bar:
+            for i, timestep in enumerate(batch.timesteps):
+                if hasattr(self, "interrupt") and self.interrupt:
+                    break
+
+                t_expand = timestep.unsqueeze(0).repeat(latents.shape[0]).to(device=device, dtype=target_dtype)
+                attn_metadata = None
+                if sparse_params is not None:
+                    attn_metadata = NablaAttentionMetadataBuilder().build(
+                        current_timestep=i,
+                        sta_mask=sparse_params["sta_mask"],
+                        P=sparse_params["P"],
+                        visual_shape=sparse_params["visual_shape"],
+                    )
+                autocast_ctx = (torch.autocast(device_type="cuda", dtype=target_dtype, enabled=autocast_enabled)
+                                if device.type == "cuda" else contextlib.nullcontext())
+                with set_forward_context(current_timestep=i, attn_metadata=attn_metadata,
+                                         forward_batch=batch), autocast_ctx:
+                    pred_velocity = self.transformer(
+                        hidden_states=latents.to(dtype=target_dtype),
+                        encoder_hidden_states=prompt_embeds,
+                        pooled_projections=pooled,
+                        timestep=t_expand,
+                        visual_rope_pos=visual_rope_pos,
+                        text_rope_pos=text_rope_pos,
+                        scale_factor=scale_factor,
+                        sparse_params=sparse_params,
+                        return_dict=True,
+                    ).sample
+
+                    if neg_prompt_embeds is not None and neg_pooled is not None:
+                        uncond_pred_velocity = self.transformer(
+                            hidden_states=latents.to(dtype=target_dtype),
+                            encoder_hidden_states=neg_prompt_embeds,
+                            pooled_projections=neg_pooled,
+                            timestep=t_expand,
+                            visual_rope_pos=visual_rope_pos,
+                            text_rope_pos=negative_text_rope_pos,
+                            scale_factor=scale_factor,
+                            sparse_params=sparse_params,
+                            return_dict=True,
+                        ).sample
+                        pred_velocity = uncond_pred_velocity + batch.guidance_scale * (pred_velocity -
+                                                                                       uncond_pred_velocity)
+
+                latents[:, cond_frames:, :, :, :num_channels] = self.scheduler.step(
+                    pred_velocity[:, cond_frames:],
+                    timestep,
+                    latents[:, cond_frames:, :, :, :num_channels],
+                    return_dict=False,
+                )[0]
+
+                if batch.return_trajectory_latents:
+                    trajectory_timesteps.append(timestep)
+                    # latents is mutated in place, so snapshot a channels-first copy.
+                    trajectory_latents.append(latents[..., :num_channels].permute(0, 4, 1, 2, 3).cpu())
+
+                if i == len(batch.timesteps) - 1 or (i + 1) % self.scheduler.order == 0:
+                    progress_bar.update()
+
+        if trajectory_latents:
+            batch.trajectory_latents = torch.stack(trajectory_latents, dim=1)
+            batch.trajectory_timesteps = torch.stack(trajectory_timesteps, dim=0).cpu()
+
+        batch.latents = latents[:, :, :, :, :num_channels]
+        return batch
+
+    def verify_input(self, batch: ForwardBatch, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> VerificationResult:
+        result = VerificationResult()
+        result.add_check("latents", batch.latents, [V.is_tensor, V.with_dims(5)])
+        result.add_check("prompt_embeds", batch.prompt_embeds, V.min_list_length(2))
+        return result
+
+
+class Kandinsky5DecodingStage(DecodingStage):
+
+    def __init__(self, vae: ParallelTiledVAE, pipeline=None) -> None:
+        super().__init__(vae=vae, pipeline=pipeline)
+
+    def forward(self, batch: ForwardBatch, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> ForwardBatch:
+        if batch.latents is None:
+            raise ValueError("latents must be available before Kandinsky5 decoding.")
+        # Kandinsky5 latents are channels-last [B, T, H, W, C]; the base stage
+        # (and the trajectory latents recorded by the denoising stage) work
+        # channels-first.
+        batch.latents = batch.latents.permute(0, 4, 1, 2, 3).contiguous()
+        return super().forward(batch, fastvideo_args)
+
+
+class Kandinsky5ImageEncodingStage(EncodingStage):
+    """Encode the conditioning image into a VAE latent for I2V."""
+
+    def __init__(self, vae: ParallelTiledVAE, pipeline=None) -> None:
+        super().__init__(vae=vae)
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _preprocess(image, height: int, width: int) -> torch.Tensor:
+        if isinstance(image, PIL.Image.Image):
+            image = resize(image, height, width)
+            image = numpy_to_pt(pil_to_numpy(image))  # always lands in [0, 1]
+            return normalize(image)  # [0, 1] -> [-1, 1]
+        # Tensor input: no reliable way to tell [0, 1] from an already
+        # normalized [-1, 1] tensor whose values happen to be non-negative,
+        # so mirror diffusers' heuristic and say what we assumed.
+        if image.min() >= 0:
+            logger.warning("Kandinsky5 conditioning image tensor has no negative values; "
+                           "assuming range [0, 1] and normalizing to [-1, 1]. "
+                           "Pass a [-1, 1] tensor with negative values to skip normalization.")
+            image = normalize(image)  # [0, 1] -> [-1, 1]
+        if image.ndim == 3:
+            image = image.unsqueeze(0)
+        if image.shape[-2:] != (height, width):
+            image = torch.nn.functional.interpolate(image.float(),
+                                                    size=(height, width),
+                                                    mode="bilinear",
+                                                    antialias=True)
+        return image
+
+    @torch.no_grad()
+    def forward(self, batch: ForwardBatch, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> ForwardBatch:
+        if batch.pil_image is None:
+            raise ValueError("Kandinsky5 I2V requires an input image.")
+
+        if not fastvideo_args.model_loaded["vae"]:
+            vae = getattr(self, "vae", None)
+            if vae is None:
+                loader = VAELoader()
+                vae = loader.load(fastvideo_args.model_paths["vae"], fastvideo_args)
+                self.vae = vae
+            fastvideo_args.model_loaded["vae"] = True
+
+        device = get_local_torch_device()
+        vae = self.vae.to(device)
+        self.vae = vae
+        vae_dtype = PRECISION_TO_TYPE[fastvideo_args.pipeline_config.vae_precision]
+        vae_autocast_enabled = vae_dtype != torch.float32 and not fastvideo_args.disable_autocast
+
+        # [B, C, H, W] -> [B, C, 1, H, W]
+        image = self._preprocess(batch.pil_image, int(batch.height), int(batch.width))
+        image = image.to(device=device, dtype=torch.float32).unsqueeze(2)
+
+        # Encode the single conditioning frame without tiling (matches diffusers).
+        # The untested causal-VAE spatial_tiled_encode path corrupts the latent.
+        prev_use_tiling = vae.use_tiling
+        vae.use_tiling = False
+        try:
+            with torch.autocast(device_type="cuda", dtype=vae_dtype, enabled=vae_autocast_enabled):
+                if not vae_autocast_enabled:
+                    image = image.to(vae_dtype)
+                # Sample with the batch generator (diffusers parity); mode()
+                # would make seed-for-seed reproduction of the reference
+                # pipeline impossible.
+                generator = batch.generator
+                if isinstance(generator, list) and len(generator) != image.shape[0]:
+                    generator = generator[0]
+                image_latent = vae.encode(image).sample(generator=generator)
+        finally:
+            vae.use_tiling = prev_use_tiling
+
+        image_latent = image_latent * vae.scaling_factor
+        # [B, C, 1, H, W] -> [B, 1, H, W, C] to match channels-last latents
+        batch.image_latent = image_latent.permute(0, 2, 3, 4, 1).contiguous()
+
+        # Place the conditioning latent into the prepared latents: frame 0 of
+        # the main channels, the visual_cond channel block, and the mask.
+        # NOTE: the official kandinsky-5 repo leaves the visual_cond block
+        # zeros (generation_utils.py generate()), while the diffusers port
+        # copies the image latent into it. A same-seed A/B on
+        # Kandinsky-5.0-I2V-Pro-distilled-5s-Diffusers showed the Diffusers
+        # export requires the copy: zeroing the block produces smeared faces
+        # mid-video. Keep the diffusers semantics for Diffusers-format
+        # checkpoints.
+        latents = batch.latents
+        image_latent = batch.image_latent.to(device=latents.device, dtype=latents.dtype)
+        num_channels = image_latent.shape[-1]
+        latents[:, 0:1, :, :, :num_channels] = image_latent
+        if latents.shape[-1] > num_channels:
+            latents[:, 0:1, :, :, num_channels:2 * num_channels] = image_latent
+            latents[:, 0:1, :, :, 2 * num_channels:] = 1.0
+        batch.latents = latents
+
+        if fastvideo_args.vae_cpu_offload:
+            vae.to("cpu")
+        return batch
+
+    def verify_input(self, batch: ForwardBatch, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> VerificationResult:
+        result = VerificationResult()
+        result.add_check("pil_image", batch.pil_image, V.not_none)
+        result.add_check("height", batch.height, V.positive_int)
+        result.add_check("width", batch.width, V.positive_int)
+        # This stage runs after latent preparation and writes into its output.
+        result.add_check("latents", batch.latents, [V.is_tensor, V.with_dims(5)])
+        return result
+
+    def verify_output(self, batch: ForwardBatch, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> VerificationResult:
+        result = VerificationResult()
+        result.add_check("image_latent", batch.image_latent, [V.is_tensor, V.with_dims(5)])
+        return result
+
+
+class Kandinsky5NormalizationStage(PipelineStage):
+    """Normalize the first latent frames to reduce I2V conditioning artifacts."""
+
+    COND_FRAMES = 4
+    REFERENCE_FRAMES = 5
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def _adaptive_mean_std(source: torch.Tensor, reference: torch.Tensor) -> torch.Tensor:
+        source_mean = source.mean(dim=(1, 2, 3, 4), keepdim=True)
+        source_std = source.std(dim=(1, 2, 3, 4), keepdim=True)
+        # Magic constants limit how far the first frames may drift.
+        ref_mean = torch.clamp(reference.mean(dim=(1, 2, 3, 4), keepdim=True), source_mean - 0.05, source_mean + 0.1)
+        ref_std = torch.clamp(reference.std(dim=(1, 2, 3, 4), keepdim=True), source_std - 0.1, source_std + 0.25)
+        normalized = (source - source_mean) / source_std
+        return normalized * ref_std + ref_mean
+
+    def forward(self, batch: ForwardBatch, fastvideo_args: FastVideoArgs) -> ForwardBatch:
+        latents = batch.latents
+        n = self.COND_FRAMES
+        if latents is None or latents.shape[1] <= n:
+            return batch
+
+        reference = latents[:, n:n + min(self.REFERENCE_FRAMES, latents.shape[1] - 1)]
+        latents[:, :n] = self._adaptive_mean_std(latents[:, :n].clone(), reference)
+        batch.latents = latents
+        return batch
diff --git a/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/text_encoding.py b/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/text_encoding.py
index 2732f1d10..0a5427ee8 100644
--- a/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/text_encoding.py
+++ b/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/text_encoding.py
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ This module contains implementations of prompt encoding stages for diffusion pip
 import torch
 from typing import Any
 
+from torch.distributed.tensor import DTensor
+
 from fastvideo.distributed import get_local_torch_device
 from fastvideo.fastvideo_args import FastVideoArgs
 from fastvideo.forward_context import set_forward_context
@@ -203,6 +205,21 @@ class TextEncodingStage(PipelineStage):
             encoder_config = encoder_cfgs[i]
             preprocess_func = preprocess_funcs[i]
             postprocess_func = postprocess_funcs[i]
+            # cpu_offload semantics: params rest on CPU between calls but the
+            # forward computes on GPU. FSDP2-wrapped encoders (CPUOffloadPolicy;
+            # DTensor params) stream themselves per-layer — leave inputs on the
+            # param device and let FSDP's root pre-forward move them. A plain
+            # module parked on CPU by text_encoder_cpu_offload is swapped to the
+            # target device for the forward and back afterwards, mirroring the
+            # image-encoder/VAE offload pattern.
+            first_param = next(text_encoder.parameters(), None)
+            encoder_device = first_param.device if first_param is not None else torch.device(target_device)
+            moved_for_forward = False
+            if (first_param is not None and not isinstance(first_param, DTensor)
+                    and encoder_device.type != torch.device(target_device).type):
+                text_encoder = text_encoder.to(target_device)
+                encoder_device = torch.device(target_device)
+                moved_for_forward = True
 
             tok_kwargs = dict(encoder_config.tokenizer_kwargs)
             if max_length is not None:
@@ -247,7 +264,7 @@ class TextEncodingStage(PipelineStage):
                     # pre-format prompts into message lists upstream and rely on
                     # the inner tokenizer + full tokenizer_kwargs (which include
                     # add_generation_prompt). Preserve that original path exactly.
-                    text_inputs = tok.apply_chat_template(processed_texts, **tok_kwargs).to(target_device)
+                    text_inputs = tok.apply_chat_template(processed_texts, **tok_kwargs).to(encoder_device)
                 else:
                     # Two-step approach matching Diffusers: format with chat
                     # template first, then tokenize the resulting strings.
@@ -261,9 +278,9 @@ class TextEncodingStage(PipelineStage):
                             enable_thinking=False,
                         )
                         formatted_texts.append(formatted)
-                    text_inputs = tokenizer(formatted_texts, **tok_kwargs).to(target_device)
+                    text_inputs = tokenizer(formatted_texts, **tok_kwargs).to(encoder_device)
             else:
-                text_inputs = tok(processed_texts, **tok_kwargs).to(target_device)
+                text_inputs = tok(processed_texts, **tok_kwargs).to(encoder_device)
 
             input_ids = text_inputs["input_ids"]
             attention_mask = text_inputs["attention_mask"]
@@ -283,15 +300,18 @@ class TextEncodingStage(PipelineStage):
             except Exception:
                 prompt_embeds, attention_mask = postprocess_func(outputs, attention_mask)
             if is_ltx2 and getattr(outputs, "hidden_states", None):
-                audio_embed = outputs.hidden_states[0]
+                audio_embed = outputs.hidden_states[0].to(device=target_device)
                 if dtype is not None:
                     audio_embed = audio_embed.to(dtype=dtype)
                 audio_embeds_list.append(audio_embed)
+            prompt_embeds = prompt_embeds.to(device=target_device)
             if dtype is not None:
                 prompt_embeds = prompt_embeds.to(dtype=dtype)
             embeds_list.append(prompt_embeds)
             if return_attention_mask:
-                attn_masks_list.append(attention_mask)
+                attn_masks_list.append(attention_mask.to(device=target_device))
+            if moved_for_forward and fastvideo_args.text_encoder_cpu_offload:
+                text_encoder.to("cpu")
         self._last_audio_embeds = audio_embeds_list if is_ltx2 else None
         return self.return_embeds(embeds_list, attn_masks_list, return_type, return_attention_mask, indices)
 
diff --git a/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/validators.py b/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/validators.py
index 89300a0b8..252ab7455 100644
--- a/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/validators.py
+++ b/fastvideo/pipelines/stages/validators.py
@@ -219,6 +219,16 @@ class StageValidators:
 
         return validator
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def min_list_length(min_length: int) -> Callable[[Any], bool]:
+        """Return a validator that checks if a list has at least min_length items."""
+
+        def validator(value: Any) -> bool:
+            return StageValidators.list_min_length(value, min_length)
+
+        validator.__name__ = f"list_min_length_{min_length}"
+        return validator
+
     @staticmethod
     def min_dims(min_dims: int) -> Callable[[Any], bool]:
         """Return a validator that checks if tensor has at least min_dims dimensions and no NaN values."""
diff --git a/fastvideo/platforms/cuda.py b/fastvideo/platforms/cuda.py
index fa6deb808..4807201f4 100644
--- a/fastvideo/platforms/cuda.py
+++ b/fastvideo/platforms/cuda.py
@@ -157,6 +157,14 @@ class CudaPlatformBase(Platform):
                 "ATTN_QAT_TRAIN selected but fastvideo_kernel.triton_kernels.attn_qat_train is not built. "
                 "Silent fallback would produce a non-QAT training run; refusing to proceed. "
                 "Install the training kernel or pick a different FASTVIDEO_ATTENTION_BACKEND.")
+        elif selected_backend == AttentionBackendEnum.NABLA_ATTN:
+            from fastvideo.attention.backends.nabla import CAN_USE_FLEX_ATTN
+            if CAN_USE_FLEX_ATTN:
+                logger.info("Using NABLA block-sparse flex-attention backend.")
+                return "fastvideo.attention.backends.nabla.NablaAttentionBackend"
+            raise ImportError("NABLA_ATTN selected but torch.nn.attention.flex_attention is unavailable in this "
+                              "PyTorch build. Silent fallback to dense attention would be orders of magnitude "
+                              "slower and diverge from the reference; upgrade PyTorch or pick a different backend.")
         elif selected_backend == AttentionBackendEnum.VIDEO_SPARSE_ATTN:
             try:
                 from fastvideo_kernel import video_sparse_attn  # noqa: F401
diff --git a/fastvideo/platforms/interface.py b/fastvideo/platforms/interface.py
index a451de9c8..19fa76261 100644
--- a/fastvideo/platforms/interface.py
+++ b/fastvideo/platforms/interface.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ class AttentionBackendEnum(enum.Enum):
     VMOBA_ATTN = enum.auto()
     SLA_ATTN = enum.auto()
     SAGE_SLA_ATTN = enum.auto()
+    NABLA_ATTN = enum.auto()
     NO_ATTENTION = enum.auto()
 
 
diff --git a/fastvideo/registry.py b/fastvideo/registry.py
index 05ca1980d..29a0b9aa1 100644
--- a/fastvideo/registry.py
+++ b/fastvideo/registry.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.hunyuan15 import (Hunyuan15T2V480PConfig, Hunyu
                                                    Hunyuan15T2V720PConfig, Hunyuan15I2V720PConfig,
                                                    Hunyuan15SR1080PConfig)
 from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.hyworld import HYWorldConfig
+from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.kandinsky5 import Kandinsky5I2VConfig, Kandinsky5T2VConfig
 from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.lingbotworld import LingBotWorldI2V480PConfig
 from fastvideo.configs.pipelines.longcat import LongCatT2V480PConfig
 from fastvideo.pipelines.basic.ltx2.pipeline_configs import LTX2T2VConfig
@@ -118,6 +119,10 @@ class ConfigInfo:
     workload_types: tuple[WorkloadType, ...]
     model_family: str | None = None
     default_preset: str | None = None
+    # When set, overrides the model_index `_class_name` for pipeline resolution.
+    # Lets a model family map to a specific pipeline class by path/detector
+    # (e.g. a T2V and I2V checkpoint that share a `_class_name`).
+    pipeline_cls_name: str | None = None
 
 
 # The central registry mapping a model name to its configuration information
@@ -138,6 +143,7 @@ def register_configs(
     model_detectors: list[Callable[[str], bool]] | None = None,
     model_family: str | None = None,
     default_preset: str | None = None,
+    pipeline_cls_name: str | None = None,
 ) -> None:
     """Register config classes for a model family.
 
@@ -152,6 +158,7 @@ def register_configs(
         workload_types=workload_types,
         model_family=model_family,
         default_preset=default_preset,
+        pipeline_cls_name=pipeline_cls_name,
     )
 
     if hf_model_paths:
@@ -491,18 +498,174 @@ def _register_configs() -> None:
         default_preset="lingbotworld_i2v",
     )
 
+    def _kandinsky5_detector(require: tuple[str, ...] = (), exclude: tuple[str, ...] = ()) -> Callable[[str], bool]:
+
+        def detect(path: str) -> bool:
+            path_lower = path.lower()
+            if "kandinsky5" not in path_lower and "kandinsky-5" not in path_lower:
+                return False
+            return (all(token in path_lower for token in require) and not any(token in path_lower for token in exclude))
+
+        return detect
+
+    # t2v/i2v exclude each other so a checkpoint stored under a directory
+    # containing the other token (e.g. ~/i2v_experiments/kandinsky5-t2v-ft)
+    # falls through to the model_index _class_name fallback detectors below
+    # instead of being misrouted.
+    _is_kandinsky5_t2v = _kandinsky5_detector(require=("t2v", ), exclude=("i2v", ))
+    _is_kandinsky5_i2v = _kandinsky5_detector(require=("i2v", ), exclude=("t2v", ))
+    _is_kandinsky5_t2v_lite = _kandinsky5_detector(require=("t2v", "lite"), exclude=("i2v", "distilled"))
+    _is_kandinsky5_t2v_pro = _kandinsky5_detector(require=("t2v", "pro"), exclude=("i2v", "distilled"))
+    _is_kandinsky5_t2v_lite_distilled = _kandinsky5_detector(require=("t2v", "lite", "distilled"), exclude=("i2v", ))
+    _is_kandinsky5_t2v_pro_distilled = _kandinsky5_detector(require=("t2v", "pro", "distilled"), exclude=("i2v", ))
+    _is_kandinsky5_i2v_lite = _kandinsky5_detector(require=("i2v", "lite"), exclude=("t2v", "distilled"))
+    _is_kandinsky5_i2v_pro = _kandinsky5_detector(require=("i2v", "pro"), exclude=("t2v", "distilled"))
+    _is_kandinsky5_i2v_lite_distilled = _kandinsky5_detector(require=("i2v", "lite", "distilled"), exclude=("t2v", ))
+    _is_kandinsky5_i2v_pro_distilled = _kandinsky5_detector(require=("i2v", "pro", "distilled"), exclude=("t2v", ))
+
     # Kandinsky5 Lite T2V
     register_configs(
         sampling_param_cls=None,
-        pipeline_config_cls=PipelineConfig,
+        pipeline_config_cls=Kandinsky5T2VConfig,
         workload_types=(WorkloadType.T2V, ),
         hf_model_paths=[
             "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Lite-sft-5s-Diffusers",
         ],
         model_detectors=[
-            lambda path: any(token in path.lower() for token in ("kandinsky5", "kandinsky-5")),
+            _is_kandinsky5_t2v_lite,
         ],
         model_family="kandinsky5",
+        default_preset="kandinsky5_t2v_lite_5s",
+        pipeline_cls_name="Kandinsky5T2VPipeline",
+    )
+
+    # Kandinsky5 Pro T2V
+    register_configs(
+        sampling_param_cls=None,
+        pipeline_config_cls=Kandinsky5T2VConfig,
+        workload_types=(WorkloadType.T2V, ),
+        hf_model_paths=[
+            "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Pro-sft-5s-Diffusers",
+        ],
+        model_detectors=[
+            _is_kandinsky5_t2v_pro,
+        ],
+        model_family="kandinsky5",
+        default_preset="kandinsky5_t2v_pro_5s",
+    )
+
+    # Kandinsky5 Lite T2V Distilled
+    register_configs(
+        sampling_param_cls=None,
+        pipeline_config_cls=Kandinsky5T2VConfig,
+        workload_types=(WorkloadType.T2V, ),
+        hf_model_paths=[
+            "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Lite-distilled16steps-5s-Diffusers",
+        ],
+        model_detectors=[
+            _is_kandinsky5_t2v_lite_distilled,
+        ],
+        model_family="kandinsky5",
+        default_preset="kandinsky5_t2v_lite_distilled_5s",
+    )
+
+    # Kandinsky5 Pro T2V Distilled
+    register_configs(
+        sampling_param_cls=None,
+        pipeline_config_cls=Kandinsky5T2VConfig,
+        workload_types=(WorkloadType.T2V, ),
+        hf_model_paths=[
+            "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Pro-distilled-5s-Diffusers",
+        ],
+        model_detectors=[
+            _is_kandinsky5_t2v_pro_distilled,
+        ],
+        model_family="kandinsky5",
+        default_preset="kandinsky5_t2v_pro_distilled_5s",
+    )
+
+    # Kandinsky5 Lite I2V
+    register_configs(
+        sampling_param_cls=None,
+        pipeline_config_cls=Kandinsky5I2VConfig,
+        workload_types=(WorkloadType.I2V, ),
+        hf_model_paths=["kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-I2V-Lite-5s-Diffusers"],
+        model_detectors=[
+            _is_kandinsky5_i2v_lite,
+        ],
+        model_family="kandinsky5",
+        default_preset="kandinsky5_i2v_lite_5s",
+        pipeline_cls_name="Kandinsky5I2VPipeline",
+    )
+
+    # Kandinsky5 Pro I2V
+    register_configs(
+        sampling_param_cls=None,
+        pipeline_config_cls=Kandinsky5I2VConfig,
+        workload_types=(WorkloadType.I2V, ),
+        hf_model_paths=["kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-I2V-Pro-sft-5s-Diffusers"],
+        model_detectors=[
+            _is_kandinsky5_i2v_pro,
+        ],
+        model_family="kandinsky5",
+        default_preset="kandinsky5_i2v_pro_5s",
+    )
+
+    # Kandinsky5 Pro I2V Distilled
+    register_configs(
+        sampling_param_cls=None,
+        pipeline_config_cls=Kandinsky5I2VConfig,
+        workload_types=(WorkloadType.I2V, ),
+        hf_model_paths=["kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-I2V-Pro-distilled-5s-Diffusers"],
+        model_detectors=[
+            _is_kandinsky5_i2v_pro_distilled,
+        ],
+        model_family="kandinsky5",
+        default_preset="kandinsky5_i2v_pro_distilled_5s",
+    )
+
+    # Kandinsky5 Lite I2V Distilled (no official hub repo yet; local
+    # conversions get distilled sampling defaults instead of the sft ones the
+    # fallback would apply).
+    register_configs(
+        sampling_param_cls=None,
+        pipeline_config_cls=Kandinsky5I2VConfig,
+        workload_types=(),
+        model_detectors=[
+            _is_kandinsky5_i2v_lite_distilled,
+        ],
+        model_family="kandinsky5",
+        default_preset="kandinsky5_i2v_lite_distilled_5s",
+        pipeline_cls_name="Kandinsky5I2VPipeline",
+    )
+
+    # Kandinsky5 fallbacks — registered AFTER the variant detectors so those
+    # win first-match. Catch checkpoints the variant detectors cannot resolve:
+    # token-less local paths matched via the model_index _class_name
+    # ("kandinsky5t2vpipeline" carries no lite/pro marker), variant combos
+    # without a dedicated entry (e.g. I2V Lite distilled), and t2v+i2v
+    # ambiguous paths resolved by the checkpoint's _class_name.
+    register_configs(
+        sampling_param_cls=None,
+        pipeline_config_cls=Kandinsky5T2VConfig,
+        workload_types=(),
+        model_detectors=[
+            _is_kandinsky5_t2v,
+        ],
+        model_family="kandinsky5",
+        default_preset="kandinsky5_t2v_lite_5s",
+        pipeline_cls_name="Kandinsky5T2VPipeline",
+    )
+    register_configs(
+        sampling_param_cls=None,
+        pipeline_config_cls=Kandinsky5I2VConfig,
+        workload_types=(),
+        model_detectors=[
+            _is_kandinsky5_i2v,
+        ],
+        model_family="kandinsky5",
+        default_preset="kandinsky5_i2v_lite_5s",
+        pipeline_cls_name="Kandinsky5I2VPipeline",
     )
 
     # LongCat (T2V, I2V, VC use same config; workload varies by path)
@@ -551,7 +714,7 @@ def _register_configs() -> None:
             "FastVideo/Matrix-Game-2.0-Base-Distilled-Diffusers",
             "FastVideo/Matrix-Game-2.0-GTA-Distilled-Diffusers",
             "FastVideo/Matrix-Game-2.0-TempleRun-Distilled-Diffusers",
-            # Legacy HF paths (kept for backward compat — pre-rename names):
+            # Legacy HF paths (kept for backward compat - pre-rename names):
             "FastVideo/Matrix-Game-2.0-Base-Diffusers",
             "FastVideo/Matrix-Game-2.0-GTA-Diffusers",
             "FastVideo/Matrix-Game-2.0-TempleRun-Diffusers",
@@ -937,7 +1100,10 @@ def get_model_info(
     assert config_info is not None, "config_info must be resolved"
 
     if override_pipeline_cls_name:
-        pipeline_name = override_pipeline_cls_name
+        # Explicit override: skip config resolution entirely so checkpoints
+        # without a diffusers model_index.json keep working (and no download
+        # is triggered just to log the replaced name).
+        pipeline_name: str | None = override_pipeline_cls_name
         logger.info("Using override pipeline class name %s", pipeline_name)
     else:
         if os.path.exists(model_path):
@@ -946,6 +1112,12 @@ def get_model_info(
             config = maybe_download_model_index(model_path)
 
         pipeline_name = config.get("_class_name")
+        if config_info.pipeline_cls_name is not None:
+            # The resolved (path/detector-based) config pins the pipeline class,
+            # e.g. an I2V checkpoint whose `_class_name` would otherwise resolve
+            # to the T2V pipeline.
+            logger.info("Pinning pipeline class name from %s to %s", pipeline_name, config_info.pipeline_cls_name)
+            pipeline_name = config_info.pipeline_cls_name
 
     if pipeline_name is None:
         raise ValueError("Model config does not contain a _class_name attribute. "
@@ -998,6 +1170,8 @@ def _register_presets() -> None:
         ALL_PRESETS as HUNYUAN15_PRESETS, )
     from fastvideo.pipelines.basic.hyworld.presets import (
         ALL_PRESETS as HYWORLD_PRESETS, )
+    from fastvideo.pipelines.basic.kandinsky5.presets import (
+        ALL_PRESETS as KANDINSKY5_PRESETS, )
     from fastvideo.pipelines.basic.lingbotworld.presets import (
         ALL_PRESETS as LINGBOTWORLD_PRESETS, )
     from fastvideo.pipelines.basic.longcat.presets import (
@@ -1028,6 +1202,7 @@ def _register_presets() -> None:
         HUNYUAN_PRESETS,
         HUNYUAN15_PRESETS,
         HYWORLD_PRESETS,
+        KANDINSKY5_PRESETS,
         LINGBOTWORLD_PRESETS,
         LONGCAT_PRESETS,
         LTX2_PRESETS,
diff --git a/fastvideo/tests/attention/test_sdpa_metadata_mask_contract.py b/fastvideo/tests/attention/test_sdpa_metadata_mask_contract.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f5eb48b36
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastvideo/tests/attention/test_sdpa_metadata_mask_contract.py
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+"""CPU-only regression test for the SDPA metadata mask contract.
+
+SDPAMetadata is cross-backend: HYWorld and HunyuanVideo15 build it while the
+layer's attention selector may pick FLASH_ATTN, and the shared convention
+for padding masks is the tokenizer-style 2D [batch, key_len]. The builder
+must store 2D masks unchanged; only the torch-sdpa impl lifts them to 4D
+internally.
+
+Regression guard for the CI break where the builder lifted 2D -> 4D and the
+FLASH_ATTN equal-length branch padded ``attn_mask.shape[1]`` (== 1 for 4D)
+into a garbage-length mask (CUDA device-side assert, SIGABRT).
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import torch
+
+from fastvideo.attention.backends.sdpa import (SDPAMetadataBuilder, _normalize_attn_mask_for_sdpa)
+
+
+def test_builder_keeps_2d_padding_mask_2d() -> None:
+    """A tokenizer-style 2D int mask must be stored as-is (cross-backend contract)."""
+    mask = torch.tensor([[1, 1, 0], [1, 0, 0]], dtype=torch.int64)
+    md = SDPAMetadataBuilder().build(current_timestep=0, attn_mask=mask)
+    assert md.attn_mask is not None
+    assert md.attn_mask.dim() == 2
+    assert md.attn_mask.shape == (2, 3)
+    assert torch.equal(md.attn_mask, mask)
+
+
+def test_normalize_lifts_2d_int_mask_to_4d_bool_for_torch_sdpa() -> None:
+    """The torch-sdpa consumer coerces int -> bool and lifts 2D -> [B,1,1,K]."""
+    batch, q_len, k_len, heads, head_dim = 2, 4, 3, 1, 8
+    query = torch.zeros(batch, heads, q_len, head_dim)
+    key = torch.zeros(batch, heads, k_len, head_dim)
+    mask = torch.tensor([[1, 1, 0], [1, 0, 0]], dtype=torch.int64)
+
+    out = _normalize_attn_mask_for_sdpa(mask, query, key)
+    assert out is not None
+    assert out.dtype == torch.bool
+    assert out.shape == (batch, 1, 1, k_len)
+    assert torch.equal(out[:, 0, 0, :], mask != 0)
diff --git a/fastvideo/tests/encoders/test_t5_encoder.py b/fastvideo/tests/encoders/test_t5_encoder.py
index 1082e4910..bdaa683d4 100644
--- a/fastvideo/tests/encoders/test_t5_encoder.py
+++ b/fastvideo/tests/encoders/test_t5_encoder.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from fastvideo.configs.pipelines import CosmosConfig, PipelineConfig, WanT2V480P
 from fastvideo.forward_context import set_forward_context
 from fastvideo.logger import init_logger
 from fastvideo.models.loader.component_loader import TextEncoderLoader
+from fastvideo.tests.utils import skip_if_gated_repo_inaccessible
 from fastvideo.utils import maybe_download_model, PRECISION_TO_TYPE
 from fastvideo.fastvideo_args import FastVideoArgs
 from fastvideo.configs.models.encoders import T5Config, T5LargeConfig
@@ -36,9 +37,11 @@ def t5_model_paths_and_config():
 @pytest.fixture
 def t5_large_model_paths_and_config():
     base_model_path = "nvidia/Cosmos-Predict2-2B-Video2World"
-    model_path = maybe_download_model(base_model_path,
-                                      local_dir=os.path.join(
-                                          'data', base_model_path))
+    local_dir = os.path.join('data', base_model_path)
+    skip_if_gated_repo_inaccessible(base_model_path,
+                                    local_path=local_dir,
+                                    test_name="Cosmos T5-large encoder test")
+    model_path = maybe_download_model(base_model_path, local_dir=local_dir)
     text_encoder_path = os.path.join(model_path, "text_encoder")
     tokenizer_path = os.path.join(model_path, "tokenizer")
     return text_encoder_path, tokenizer_path, CosmosConfig()
diff --git a/fastvideo/tests/modal/pr_test.py b/fastvideo/tests/modal/pr_test.py
index a80e9a8f6..4214e9861 100644
--- a/fastvideo/tests/modal/pr_test.py
+++ b/fastvideo/tests/modal/pr_test.py
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ def run_self_forcing_tests():
 @app.function(gpu="L40S:1", image=image, timeout=900)
 def run_unit_test():
     run_test(
-        "pytest ./fastvideo/tests/api/ ./fastvideo/tests/contract/ ./fastvideo/tests/dataset/ ./fastvideo/tests/workflow/ ./fastvideo/tests/entrypoints/ ./fastvideo/tests/train/ ./fastvideo/tests/stages/ ./fastvideo/tests/ops/ ./fastvideo/tests/training/test_trackers.py --ignore=./fastvideo/tests/entrypoints/test_openai_api_integration.py --ignore=./fastvideo/tests/train/models --ignore=./fastvideo/tests/train/methods -vs"
+        "pytest ./fastvideo/tests/api/ ./fastvideo/tests/contract/ ./fastvideo/tests/dataset/ ./fastvideo/tests/workflow/ ./fastvideo/tests/entrypoints/ ./fastvideo/tests/train/ ./fastvideo/tests/stages/ ./fastvideo/tests/ops/ ./fastvideo/tests/training/test_trackers.py ./fastvideo/tests/attention/test_sdpa_metadata_mask_contract.py --ignore=./fastvideo/tests/entrypoints/test_openai_api_integration.py --ignore=./fastvideo/tests/train/models --ignore=./fastvideo/tests/train/methods -vs"
     )
 
 
diff --git a/fastvideo/tests/ssim/test_kandinsky5_similarity.py b/fastvideo/tests/ssim/test_kandinsky5_similarity.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..36641c66a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fastvideo/tests/ssim/test_kandinsky5_similarity.py
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+"""SSIM regression test for Kandinsky-5.0 Lite text-to-video.
+
+Runs a reduced-size generation (256x384, 21 frames) with a fixed seed and
+compares against a device-specific reference video via MS-SSIM. The preset
+default is 512x768 x 121 frames; the reduced size keeps CI cheap while the
+patch (1, 2, 2) and VAE temporal-4 / spatial-8 constraints stay satisfied
+(dims divisible by 16, num_frames % 4 == 1).
+"""
+import os
+
+import pytest
+
+from fastvideo.logger import init_logger
+from fastvideo.pipelines.basic.kandinsky5.presets import KANDINSKY5_T2V_LITE_5S
+from fastvideo.tests.ssim.inference_similarity_utils import (
+    resolve_inference_device_reference_folder,
+    run_text_to_video_similarity_test,
+)
+
+logger = init_logger(__name__)
+
+REQUIRED_GPUS = 1
+
+device_reference_folder = resolve_inference_device_reference_folder(logger)
+
+_PRESET_DEFAULTS = KANDINSKY5_T2V_LITE_5S.defaults
+
+KANDINSKY5_T2V_PARAMS = {
+    "num_gpus": 1,
+    "model_path": "kandinskylab/Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Lite-sft-5s-Diffusers",
+    "height": 256,
+    "width": 384,
+    "num_frames": 21,
+    "num_inference_steps": _PRESET_DEFAULTS["num_inference_steps"],
+    "guidance_scale": _PRESET_DEFAULTS["guidance_scale"],
+    "seed": 1024,
+    "sp_size": 1,
+    "tp_size": 1,
+    "fps": _PRESET_DEFAULTS["fps"],
+    "neg_prompt": _PRESET_DEFAULTS["negative_prompt"],
+}
+
+KANDINSKY5_T2V_FULL_QUALITY_PARAMS = {
+    **KANDINSKY5_T2V_PARAMS,
+    "height": _PRESET_DEFAULTS["height"],
+    "width": _PRESET_DEFAULTS["width"],
+    # num_frames stays at the inherited reduced 21 even at full quality
+    # (preset default: 121).
+}
+
+KANDINSKY5_T2V_MODEL_TO_PARAMS = {
+    "Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Lite-sft-5s-Diffusers": KANDINSKY5_T2V_PARAMS,
+}
+FULL_QUALITY_KANDINSKY5_T2V_MODEL_TO_PARAMS = {
+    "Kandinsky-5.0-T2V-Lite-sft-5s-Diffusers": KANDINSKY5_T2V_FULL_QUALITY_PARAMS,
+}
+
+KANDINSKY5_T2V_TEST_PROMPTS = [
+    "A curious raccoon peers through a vibrant field of yellow sunflowers, its "
+    "eyes wide with interest. The playful yet serene atmosphere is complemented "
+    "by soft natural light filtering through the petals. Mid-shot, warm and "
+    "cheerful tones.",
+]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("prompt", KANDINSKY5_T2V_TEST_PROMPTS)
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("attention_backend_name", ["FLASH_ATTN"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("model_id", list(KANDINSKY5_T2V_MODEL_TO_PARAMS.keys()))
+def test_kandinsky5_t2v_inference_similarity(
+    prompt: str,
+    attention_backend_name: str,
+    model_id: str,
+) -> None:
+    # The SSIM lane image bakes FASTVIDEO_FA4=1, but on L40S (sm89) the CLIP
+    # encoder's dense MHA inference call routes into the FA4 CuTeDSL JIT,
+    # which fails to compile there (nvvm.fmax signature mismatch vs the
+    # image's nvidia_cutlass_dsl). Pin FA4 off so reference seeding and CI
+    # runs both use the FA2 path with identical numerics. Scoped to this test
+    # and restored afterwards: the other SSIM references are seeded with FA4
+    # on, so a module-level pin would corrupt every test collected in the
+    # same pytest process.
+    saved_fa4 = os.environ.get("FASTVIDEO_FA4")
+    os.environ["FASTVIDEO_FA4"] = "0"
+    try:
+        run_text_to_video_similarity_test(
+            logger=logger,
+            script_dir=os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)),
+            device_reference_folder=device_reference_folder,
+            prompt=prompt,
+            attention_backend_name=attention_backend_name,
+            model_id=model_id,
+            default_params_map=KANDINSKY5_T2V_MODEL_TO_PARAMS,
+            full_quality_params_map=FULL_QUALITY_KANDINSKY5_T2V_MODEL_TO_PARAMS,
+            min_acceptable_ssim=0.93,
+            # Match examples/inference/basic/basic_kandinsky5_t2v.py: FSDP
+            # inference is not used for Kandinsky-5, and the Qwen2.5-VL text
+            # encoder stays on CPU between encodes.
+            init_kwargs_override={
+                "use_fsdp_inference": False,
+                "text_encoder_cpu_offload": True,
+                "pin_cpu_memory": True,
+            },
+        )
+    finally:
+        if saved_fa4 is None:
+            os.environ.pop("FASTVIDEO_FA4", None)
+        else:
+            os.environ["FASTVIDEO_FA4"] = saved_fa4
diff --git a/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_cosmos.py b/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_cosmos.py
index 2c1dc24d1..e5629ff38 100644
--- a/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_cosmos.py
+++ b/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_cosmos.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ from fastvideo.forward_context import set_forward_context
 from fastvideo.fastvideo_args import FastVideoArgs
 from fastvideo.logger import init_logger
 from fastvideo.models.loader.component_loader import TransformerLoader
+from fastvideo.tests.utils import skip_if_gated_repo_inaccessible
 from fastvideo.utils import maybe_download_model
 from fastvideo.configs.models.dits import CosmosVideoConfig
 from fastvideo.pipelines.pipeline_batch_info import ForwardBatch
@@ -25,18 +26,12 @@ BASE_MODEL_PATH = "nvidia/Cosmos-Predict2-2B-Video2World"
 
 
 def _resolve_model_path() -> str:
-    try:
-        return maybe_download_model(
-            BASE_MODEL_PATH,
-            local_dir=os.path.join("data", BASE_MODEL_PATH),
-        )
-    except ValueError as exc:
-        pytest.skip(
-            "Skipping Cosmos transformer test because the configured "
-            "HuggingFace token cannot access the gated Cosmos weights: "
-            f"{exc}",
-            allow_module_level=True,
-        )
+    local_dir = os.path.join("data", BASE_MODEL_PATH)
+    skip_if_gated_repo_inaccessible(BASE_MODEL_PATH,
+                                    local_path=local_dir,
+                                    test_name="Cosmos transformer test",
+                                    allow_module_level=True)
+    return maybe_download_model(BASE_MODEL_PATH, local_dir=local_dir)
 
 
 MODEL_PATH = _resolve_model_path()
diff --git a/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_cosmos2_5.py b/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_cosmos2_5.py
index 8132490e0..1883e6269 100644
--- a/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_cosmos2_5.py
+++ b/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_cosmos2_5.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ if os.path.exists(COSMOS_PREDICT2_5_PATH) and COSMOS_PREDICT2_5_PATH not in sys.
 
 from fastvideo.forward_context import set_forward_context
 from fastvideo.logger import init_logger
+from fastvideo.tests.utils import skip_if_gated_repo_inaccessible
 from fastvideo.utils import maybe_download_model
 # Use Cosmos 2.5 specific config
 from fastvideo.configs.models.dits.cosmos2_5 import Cosmos25VideoConfig
@@ -43,7 +44,14 @@ CHECKPOINT_SUBDIR = "base/post-trained"
 CHECKPOINT_FILENAME = "81edfebe-bd6a-4039-8c1d-737df1a790bf_ema_bf16.pt"
 
 
-MODEL_PATH = maybe_download_model(BASE_MODEL_PATH, local_dir=None)
+def _resolve_model_path() -> str:
+    skip_if_gated_repo_inaccessible(BASE_MODEL_PATH,
+                                    test_name="Cosmos 2.5 transformer test",
+                                    allow_module_level=True)
+    return maybe_download_model(BASE_MODEL_PATH, local_dir=None)
+
+
+MODEL_PATH = _resolve_model_path()
 TRANSFORMER_PATH = os.path.join(MODEL_PATH, CHECKPOINT_SUBDIR, "transformer")
 if not os.path.exists(TRANSFORMER_PATH):
     # Try without subdirectory
@@ -592,4 +600,3 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     # Run tests directly
     test_cosmos25_transformer()
     test_cosmos25_transformer_video()
-
diff --git a/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_hyworld.py b/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_hyworld.py
index e887c630e..91828f476 100644
--- a/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_hyworld.py
+++ b/fastvideo/tests/transformers/test_hyworld.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ from fastvideo.forward_context import set_forward_context
 from fastvideo.logger import init_logger
 from fastvideo.models.loader.component_loader import TransformerLoader
 from fastvideo.pipelines.pipeline_batch_info import ForwardBatch
+from fastvideo.platforms import AttentionBackendEnum
 from fastvideo.utils import maybe_download_model
 
 logger = init_logger(__name__)
@@ -24,13 +25,25 @@ os.environ["MASTER_PORT"] = "29503"
 
 MODEL_PATH = maybe_download_model("FastVideo/HY-WorldPlay-Bidirectional-Diffusers")
 TRANSFORMER_PATH = os.path.join(MODEL_PATH, "transformer")
-REFERENCE_LATENT = -197132.85557549074  # Pre-computed reference value
+REFERENCE_LATENTS = {
+    AttentionBackendEnum.FLASH_ATTN: -197132.85557549074,
+    AttentionBackendEnum.TORCH_SDPA: -211007.95158730447,
+}
 
 
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("distributed_setup")
 def test_hyworld_transformer():
     transformer_path = TRANSFORMER_PATH
 
+    # An env-forced backend is knowable before the multi-GB download and GPU
+    # load; the authoritative check on the layer's resolved backend still runs
+    # after construction below.
+    forced_backend_name = os.environ.get("FASTVIDEO_ATTENTION_BACKEND")
+    if forced_backend_name:
+        forced_backend = getattr(AttentionBackendEnum, forced_backend_name, None)
+        if forced_backend is not None and forced_backend not in REFERENCE_LATENTS:
+            pytest.skip(f"HYWorld transformer test has no reference latent for {forced_backend_name}.")
+
     sp_rank = get_sp_parallel_rank()
     sp_world_size = get_sp_world_size()
 
@@ -51,6 +64,9 @@ def test_hyworld_transformer():
     loader = TransformerLoader()
     model = loader.load(transformer_path, args).to(device, dtype=precision)
     model.eval()
+    attention_backend = model.double_blocks[0].attn.backend
+    if attention_backend not in REFERENCE_LATENTS:
+        pytest.skip(f"HYWorld transformer test has no reference latent for {attention_backend}.")
 
     total_params = sum(p.numel() for p in model.parameters())
     weight_sum = sum(p.to(torch.float64).sum().item() for p in model.parameters())
@@ -147,9 +163,10 @@ def test_hyworld_transformer():
 
     latent = output.double().sum().item()
 
-    diff = abs(REFERENCE_LATENT - latent)
-    relative_diff = diff / abs(REFERENCE_LATENT)
-    logger.info(f"Reference latent: {REFERENCE_LATENT}, Current latent: {latent}")
+    reference_latent = REFERENCE_LATENTS[attention_backend]
+    diff = abs(reference_latent - latent)
+    relative_diff = diff / abs(reference_latent)
+    logger.info(f"Reference latent: {reference_latent}, Current latent: {latent}")
     logger.info(f"Absolute diff: {diff}, Relative diff: {relative_diff * 100:.4f}%")
 
     # Allow 0.5% relative difference
diff --git a/fastvideo/tests/utils.py b/fastvideo/tests/utils.py
index 77408231c..d42ab74a0 100644
--- a/fastvideo/tests/utils.py
+++ b/fastvideo/tests/utils.py
@@ -6,11 +6,45 @@ from fastvideo.logger import init_logger
 
 import numpy as np
 import torch
-from pytorch_msssim import ms_ssim, ssim
 
 logger = init_logger(__name__)
 
 
+def skip_if_gated_repo_inaccessible(repo_id: str,
+                                    *,
+                                    local_path: str | None = None,
+                                    test_name: str = "test",
+                                    allow_module_level: bool = False) -> None:
+    """Skip a test when ``repo_id`` is gated/private and the token lacks access.
+
+    Local weights win: when ``local_path`` already exists the check is skipped
+    entirely, so cached machines keep running offline. Transient hub failures
+    (offline, DNS, 429/5xx) do NOT skip either — the subsequent download will
+    serve from cache or fail loudly, preserving the CI failure signal. Only a
+    positively-identified authorization problem produces a skip.
+    """
+    import pytest
+
+    if local_path is not None and os.path.exists(local_path):
+        return
+
+    from huggingface_hub import HfApi
+    from huggingface_hub.errors import GatedRepoError, RepositoryNotFoundError
+
+    try:
+        HfApi().auth_check(repo_id)
+    except (GatedRepoError, RepositoryNotFoundError) as exc:
+        pytest.skip(
+            f"Skipping {test_name}: the configured HuggingFace token cannot "
+            f"access the gated repo {repo_id}: {exc}",
+            allow_module_level=allow_module_level,
+        )
+    except Exception as exc:  # noqa: BLE001 - hub unreachable, proxies, 5xx
+        logger.warning(
+            "Gated-repo access probe for %s failed (%s); proceeding — the "
+            "download will serve from cache or fail loudly.", repo_id, exc)
+
+
 def _read_video_frames(path: str) -> torch.Tensor:
     """Read video frames as a ``(T, C, H, W)`` uint8 tensor.
 
@@ -52,6 +86,8 @@ def compute_video_ssim_torchvision(video1_path, video2_path, use_ms_ssim=True):
         video2_path: Path to the second video.
         use_ms_ssim: Whether to use Multi-Scale Structural Similarity(MS-SSIM) instead of SSIM.
     """
+    from pytorch_msssim import ms_ssim, ssim
+
     print(f"Computing SSIM between {video1_path} and {video2_path}...")
     if not os.path.exists(video1_path):
         raise FileNotFoundError(f"Video1 not found: {video1_path}")