Scoping means defining a Begin and an End of the persistence context, when it is opened and when it is closed. Seam has the @Begin and @End method annotations for that, which can automatically scope the SMPC to that conversation. So the SMPC would have the same scope as the Seam CONVERSATION context. A PC manages entity instances, they are attached to a PC (when they are loaded or stored). Eager fetching is an orthogonal concern, you want it for a) SQL query optimization with joins and b) fetching of instances/values that you need outside of the PC scope, when an entity instance is considered detached. I don't recommend that you try to learn this ad hoc, you really need to look at some docs and books. This is the fundamental programming model you need to understand. View the original post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=viewtopic&p=4000797#... Reply to the post : http://www.jboss.com/index.html?module=bb&op=posting&mode=reply&a...