Pipelines

The following figure shows a block diagram of the Vulkan pipelines. Some Vulkan commands specify geometric objects to be drawn or computational work to be performed, while others specify state controlling how objects are handled by the various pipeline stages, or control data transfer between memory organized as images and buffers. Commands are effectively sent through a processing pipeline, such as a graphics pipeline, a ray tracing pipeline, or a compute pipeline.

The graphics pipeline can be operated in two modes, as either primitive shading or mesh shading pipeline.

Primitive Shading

The first stage of the graphics pipeline (Input Assembler) assembles vertices to form geometric primitives such as points, lines, and triangles, based on a requested primitive topology. In the next stage (Vertex Shader) vertices can be transformed, computing positions and attributes for each vertex. If tessellation and/or geometry shaders are supported, they can then generate multiple primitives from a single input primitive, possibly changing the primitive topology or generating additional attribute data in the process.

Cluster Culling Shading

When using the Cluster Culling Shader, a compute-like shader will perform cluster-based culling, a set of new built-in output variables are used to express visible cluster, in addition, a new built-in function is used to emit these variables from the cluster culling shader to the Input Assembler (IA) stage, then IA can use these variables to fetch vertices of visible cluster and drive vertex shader to work.

Mesh Shading

When using the mesh shading pipeline input primitives are not assembled implicitly, but explicitly through the (Mesh Shader). The work on the mesh pipeline is initiated by the application drawing a set of mesh tasks.

If an optional (Task Shader) is active, each task triggers the execution of a task shader workgroup that will generate a new set of tasks upon completion. Each of these spawned tasks, or each of the original dispatched tasks if no task shader is present, triggers the execution of a mesh shader workgroup that produces an output mesh with a variable-sized number of primitives assembled from vertices stored in the output mesh.

Common

The final resulting primitives are clipped to a clip volume in preparation for the next stage, Rasterization. The rasterizer produces a series of fragments associated with a region of the framebuffer, from a two-dimensional description of a point, line segment, or triangle. These fragments are processed by fragment operations to determine whether generated values will be written to the framebuffer. Fragment shading determines the values to be written to the framebuffer attachments. Framebuffer operations then read and write the color and depth/stencil attachments of the framebuffer for a given subpass of a render pass instance. The attachments can be used as input attachments in the fragment shader in a later subpass of the same render pass.

The compute pipeline is a separate pipeline from the graphics pipeline, which operates on one-, two-, or three-dimensional workgroups which can read from and write to buffer and image memory.

This ordering is meant only as a tool for describing Vulkan, not as a strict rule of how Vulkan is implemented, and we present it only as a means to organize the various operations of the pipelines. Actual ordering guarantees between pipeline stages are explained in detail in the synchronization chapter.

pipelinemesh
Figure 1. Block diagram of the Vulkan pipeline

Each pipeline is controlled by a monolithic object created from a description of all of the shader stages and any relevant fixed-function stages. Linking the whole pipeline together allows the optimization of shaders based on their input/outputs and eliminates expensive draw time state validation.

A pipeline object is bound to the current state using vkCmdBindPipeline. Any pipeline object state that is specified as dynamic is not applied to the current state when the pipeline object is bound, but is instead set by dynamic state setting commands.

If the commandBufferInheritance feature is not enabled, then no state, including dynamic state, is inherited from one command buffer to another.

If the commandBufferInheritance feature is enabled, then all graphics and compute state that is valid at the end of the command buffer executed in a queue is inherited and valid at beginning of the command buffer next executed in the same queue. This applies to both primary and secondary command buffers, where a primary command buffer submitted to a queue will inherit state from the previously submitted command buffer to that queue, secondary command buffers will inherit state from the primary or seconard command buffer they are executed in, and after a seconard command buffer is executed, its state inherited by the primary or secondary command buffer that executed it. Command buffers executed in one queue do not inherit state from any command buffers executed in another queue.

Compute, ray tracing, and graphics pipelines are each represented by VkPipeline handles:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
VK_DEFINE_NON_DISPATCHABLE_HANDLE(VkPipeline)

Multiple Pipeline Creation

Multiple pipelines can be created in a single call by commands such as:

The creation commands are passed an array pCreateInfos of Vk*PipelineCreateInfo structures specifying parameters of each pipeline to be created, and return a corresponding array of handles in pPipelines. Each element index i of pPipelines is created based on the corresponding element i of pCreateInfos.

Applications can group together similar pipelines to be created in a single call, and implementations are encouraged to look for reuse opportunities when creating a group.

When attempting to create many pipelines in a single command, it is possible that creation may fail for a subset of them. In this case, the corresponding elements of pPipelines will be VK_NULL_HANDLE. If creation fails for a pipeline despite valid arguments (for example, due to out of memory errors), the VkResult code returned by the pipeline creation command will indicate why. The implementation will attempt to create all pipelines, and only return VK_NULL_HANDLE values for those that actually failed.

If creation fails for a pipeline that has the VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_EARLY_RETURN_ON_FAILURE_BIT set in its Vk*PipelineCreateInfo, pipelines at an index in the pPipelines array greater than or equal to that of the failing pipeline will be VK_NULL_HANDLE.

If creation fails for multiple pipelines, the returned VkResult must be the return value of any one of the pipelines which did not succeed. An application can reliably clean up from a failed call by iterating over the pPipelines array and destroying every element that is not VK_NULL_HANDLE.

If the entire command fails and no pipelines are created, all elements of pPipelines will be VK_NULL_HANDLE.

Pipeline Creation Flags

When creating a pipeline, the application can specify a set of flags that control how the pipeline is created and certain aspects of its behavior and capabilities. These flags are specified by chaining the VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo structure to the pipeline creation structure with a bitmask of VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2, or by setting the flags member of the pipeline creation structure to a bitmask of VkPipelineCreateFlagBits.

The VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
typedef struct VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo {
    VkStructureType           sType;
    const void*               pNext;
    VkPipelineCreateFlags2    flags;
} VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5
// Equivalent to VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo
typedef VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • flags is a bitmask of VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 specifying how a pipeline will be generated.

If this structure is included in the pNext chain of a pipeline creation structure, flags is used instead of the corresponding flags value passed in that creation structure, allowing additional creation flags to be specified.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

Bits which can be set in VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo::flags, specifying how a pipeline is created, are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
// Flag bits for VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2
typedef VkFlags64 VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2;
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DISABLE_OPTIMIZATION_BIT = 0x00000001ULL;
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_ALLOW_DERIVATIVES_BIT = 0x00000002ULL;
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DERIVATIVE_BIT = 0x00000004ULL;
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_VIEW_INDEX_FROM_DEVICE_INDEX_BIT = 0x00000008ULL;
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DISPATCH_BASE_BIT = 0x00000010ULL;
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT = 0x00000100ULL;
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_EARLY_RETURN_ON_FAILURE_BIT = 0x00000200ULL;
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_NO_PROTECTED_ACCESS_BIT = 0x08000000ULL;
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_PROTECTED_ACCESS_ONLY_BIT = 0x40000000ULL;
#ifdef VK_ENABLE_BETA_EXTENSIONS
// Provided by VK_AMDX_shader_enqueue with VK_KHR_maintenance5 or VK_VERSION_1_4
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_EXECUTION_GRAPH_BIT_AMDX = 0x100000000ULL;
#endif
// Provided by VK_EXT_descriptor_heap
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DESCRIPTOR_HEAP_BIT_EXT = 0x1000000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_SKIP_BUILT_IN_PRIMITIVES_BIT_KHR = 0x00001000ULL;
// Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing_linear_swept_spheres
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_ALLOW_SPHERES_AND_LINEAR_SWEPT_SPHERES_BIT_NV = 0x200000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_EXT_legacy_dithering with (VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering or VK_VERSION_1_3) and (VK_KHR_maintenance5 or VK_VERSION_1_4)
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_ENABLE_LEGACY_DITHERING_BIT_EXT = 0x400000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DISABLE_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_KHR = 0x00000001ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_ALLOW_DERIVATIVES_BIT_KHR = 0x00000002ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DERIVATIVE_BIT_KHR = 0x00000004ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_VIEW_INDEX_FROM_DEVICE_INDEX_BIT_KHR = 0x00000008ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DISPATCH_BASE_BIT_KHR = 0x00000010ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_NV_ray_tracing
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DEFER_COMPILE_BIT_NV = 0x00000020ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_CAPTURE_STATISTICS_BIT_KHR = 0x00000040ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_CAPTURE_INTERNAL_REPRESENTATIONS_BIT_KHR = 0x00000080ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_VERSION_1_3 or VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT_KHR = 0x00000100ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_VERSION_1_3 or VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_EARLY_RETURN_ON_FAILURE_BIT_KHR = 0x00000200ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_EXT = 0x00000400ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RETAIN_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_INFO_BIT_EXT = 0x00800000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_KHR_pipeline_library
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR = 0x00000800ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_SKIP_TRIANGLES_BIT_KHR = 0x00001000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_SKIP_AABBS_BIT_KHR = 0x00002000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_ANY_HIT_SHADERS_BIT_KHR = 0x00004000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_CLOSEST_HIT_SHADERS_BIT_KHR = 0x00008000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_MISS_SHADERS_BIT_KHR = 0x00010000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_INTERSECTION_SHADERS_BIT_KHR = 0x00020000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_HANDLE_CAPTURE_REPLAY_BIT_KHR = 0x00080000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_NV_device_generated_commands
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_INDIRECT_BINDABLE_BIT_NV = 0x00040000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_NV_ray_tracing_motion_blur
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_ALLOW_MOTION_BIT_NV = 0x00100000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with (VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering or VK_VERSION_1_3) and VK_KHR_fragment_shading_rate
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RENDERING_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_BIT_KHR = 0x00200000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with (VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering or VK_VERSION_1_3) and VK_EXT_fragment_density_map
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RENDERING_FRAGMENT_DENSITY_MAP_ATTACHMENT_BIT_EXT = 0x00400000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_EXT_opacity_micromap
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_OPACITY_MICROMAP_BIT_EXT = 0x01000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_EXT_attachment_feedback_loop_layout
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_BIT_EXT = 0x02000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_EXT_attachment_feedback_loop_layout
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_BIT_EXT = 0x04000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_VERSION_1_4 or VK_EXT_pipeline_protected_access
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_NO_PROTECTED_ACCESS_BIT_EXT = 0x08000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_VERSION_1_4 or VK_EXT_pipeline_protected_access
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_PROTECTED_ACCESS_ONLY_BIT_EXT = 0x40000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_NV_displacement_micromap
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_RAY_TRACING_DISPLACEMENT_MICROMAP_BIT_NV = 0x10000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_EXT_descriptor_buffer
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DESCRIPTOR_BUFFER_BIT_EXT = 0x20000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5 with VK_ARM_pipeline_opacity_micromap, VK_ARM_pipeline_opacity_micromap
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DISALLOW_OPACITY_MICROMAP_BIT_ARM = 0x2000000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_CAPTURE_DATA_BIT_KHR = 0x80000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_EXT_device_generated_commands
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_INDIRECT_BINDABLE_BIT_EXT = 0x4000000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_VALVE_fragment_density_map_layered
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_PER_LAYER_FRAGMENT_DENSITY_BIT_VALVE = 0x10000000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_EXT_shader_64bit_indexing
static const VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_64_BIT_INDEXING_BIT_EXT = 0x80000000000ULL;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5
// Equivalent to VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2
typedef VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2 VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2KHR;

It is valid to set both VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_ALLOW_DERIVATIVES_BIT and VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_DERIVATIVE_BIT. This allows a pipeline to be both a parent and possibly a child in a pipeline hierarchy. See Pipeline Derivatives for more information.

When an implementation is looking up a pipeline in a pipeline cache, if that pipeline is being created using linked libraries, implementations should always return an equivalent pipeline created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_EXT if available, whether or not that bit was specified.

Using VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_EXT (or not) when linking pipeline libraries is intended as a performance tradeoff between host and device. If the bit is omitted, linking should be faster and produce a pipeline more rapidly, but performance of the pipeline on the target device may be reduced. If the bit is included, linking may be slower but should produce a pipeline with device performance comparable to a monolithically created pipeline. Using both options can allow latency-sensitive applications to generate a suboptimal but usable pipeline quickly, and then perform an optimal link in the background, substituting the result for the suboptimally linked pipeline as soon as it is available.

 
// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
typedef VkFlags64 VkPipelineCreateFlags2;
// Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance5
// Equivalent to VkPipelineCreateFlags2
typedef VkPipelineCreateFlags2 VkPipelineCreateFlags2KHR;

VkPipelineCreateFlags2 is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkPipelineCreateFlagBits2.

Bits which can be set in

specify how a pipeline is created, and are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef enum VkPipelineCreateFlagBits {
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISABLE_OPTIMIZATION_BIT = 0x00000001,
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_ALLOW_DERIVATIVES_BIT = 0x00000002,
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DERIVATIVE_BIT = 0x00000004,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE_BIT = 0x00000010,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_VIEW_INDEX_FROM_DEVICE_INDEX_BIT = 0x00000008,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT = 0x00000100,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_EARLY_RETURN_ON_FAILURE_BIT = 0x00000200,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_NO_PROTECTED_ACCESS_BIT = 0x08000000,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_PROTECTED_ACCESS_ONLY_BIT = 0x40000000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_ANY_HIT_SHADERS_BIT_KHR = 0x00004000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_CLOSEST_HIT_SHADERS_BIT_KHR = 0x00008000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_MISS_SHADERS_BIT_KHR = 0x00010000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_INTERSECTION_SHADERS_BIT_KHR = 0x00020000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_SKIP_TRIANGLES_BIT_KHR = 0x00001000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_SKIP_AABBS_BIT_KHR = 0x00002000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_HANDLE_CAPTURE_REPLAY_BIT_KHR = 0x00080000,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DEFER_COMPILE_BIT_NV = 0x00000020,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_fragment_density_map with VK_VERSION_1_3 or VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RENDERING_FRAGMENT_DENSITY_MAP_ATTACHMENT_BIT_EXT = 0x00400000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_fragment_shading_rate with VK_VERSION_1_3 or VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RENDERING_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_BIT_KHR = 0x00200000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_CAPTURE_STATISTICS_BIT_KHR = 0x00000040,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_CAPTURE_INTERNAL_REPRESENTATIONS_BIT_KHR = 0x00000080,
  // Provided by VK_NV_device_generated_commands
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_INDIRECT_BINDABLE_BIT_NV = 0x00040000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_library
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR = 0x00000800,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_descriptor_buffer
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DESCRIPTOR_BUFFER_BIT_EXT = 0x20000000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RETAIN_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_INFO_BIT_EXT = 0x00800000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_EXT = 0x00000400,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing_motion_blur
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_ALLOW_MOTION_BIT_NV = 0x00100000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_attachment_feedback_loop_layout
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_BIT_EXT = 0x02000000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_attachment_feedback_loop_layout
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_BIT_EXT = 0x04000000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_opacity_micromap
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_OPACITY_MICROMAP_BIT_EXT = 0x01000000,
#ifdef VK_ENABLE_BETA_EXTENSIONS
  // Provided by VK_NV_displacement_micromap
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_DISPLACEMENT_MICROMAP_BIT_NV = 0x10000000,
#endif
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
  // VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE is a legacy alias
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE = VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_device_group
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_VIEW_INDEX_FROM_DEVICE_INDEX_BIT_KHR = VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_VIEW_INDEX_FROM_DEVICE_INDEX_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_device_group
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE_BIT_KHR = VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_device_group
  // VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE_KHR is a legacy alias
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE_KHR = VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_fragment_density_map with VK_VERSION_1_3 or VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering
  // VK_PIPELINE_RASTERIZATION_STATE_CREATE_FRAGMENT_DENSITY_MAP_ATTACHMENT_BIT_EXT is a legacy alias
    VK_PIPELINE_RASTERIZATION_STATE_CREATE_FRAGMENT_DENSITY_MAP_ATTACHMENT_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RENDERING_FRAGMENT_DENSITY_MAP_ATTACHMENT_BIT_EXT,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_fragment_shading_rate with VK_VERSION_1_3 or VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering
  // VK_PIPELINE_RASTERIZATION_STATE_CREATE_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_BIT_KHR is a legacy alias
    VK_PIPELINE_RASTERIZATION_STATE_CREATE_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_BIT_KHR = VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RENDERING_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_BIT_KHR,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_EARLY_RETURN_ON_FAILURE_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_EARLY_RETURN_ON_FAILURE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_protected_access
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_NO_PROTECTED_ACCESS_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_NO_PROTECTED_ACCESS_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_protected_access
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_PROTECTED_ACCESS_ONLY_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_PROTECTED_ACCESS_ONLY_BIT,
} VkPipelineCreateFlagBits;

It is valid to set both VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_ALLOW_DERIVATIVES_BIT and VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DERIVATIVE_BIT. This allows a pipeline to be both a parent and possibly a child in a pipeline hierarchy. See Pipeline Derivatives for more information.

When an implementation is looking up a pipeline in a pipeline cache, if that pipeline is being created using linked libraries, implementations should always return an equivalent pipeline created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_EXT if available, whether or not that bit was specified.

Using VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_EXT (or not) when linking pipeline libraries is intended as a performance tradeoff between host and device. If the bit is omitted, linking should be faster and produce a pipeline more rapidly, but performance of the pipeline on the target device may be reduced. If the bit is included, linking may be slower but should produce a pipeline with device performance comparable to a monolithically created pipeline. Using both options can allow latency-sensitive applications to generate a suboptimal but usable pipeline quickly, and then perform an optimal link in the background, substituting the result for the suboptimally linked pipeline as soon as it is available.

 
// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef VkFlags VkPipelineCreateFlags;

VkPipelineCreateFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkPipelineCreateFlagBits.

Compute Pipelines

Compute pipelines consist of a single static compute shader stage and the pipeline layout.

The compute pipeline represents a compute shader and is created by calling vkCreateComputePipelines with module and pName selecting an entry point from a shader module, where that entry point defines a valid compute shader, in the VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo structure contained within the VkComputePipelineCreateInfo structure.

To create compute pipelines, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
VkResult vkCreateComputePipelines(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipelineCache                             pipelineCache,
    uint32_t                                    createInfoCount,
    const VkComputePipelineCreateInfo*          pCreateInfos,
    const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator,
    VkPipeline*                                 pPipelines);

  • device is the logical device that creates the compute pipelines.

  • pipelineCache is either VK_NULL_HANDLE, indicating that pipeline caching is disabled, or to enable caching, the handle of a valid VkPipelineCache object. The implementation must not access this object outside of the duration of this command.

  • createInfoCount is the length of the pCreateInfos and pPipelines arrays.

  • pCreateInfos is a pointer to an array of VkComputePipelineCreateInfo structures.

  • pAllocator controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

  • pPipelines is a pointer to an array of VkPipeline handles in which the resulting compute pipeline objects are returned.

Pipelines are created and returned as described for Multiple Pipeline Creation.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCreateComputePipelines-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkCreateComputePipelines-pipelineCache-parameter
    If pipelineCache is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, pipelineCache must be a valid VkPipelineCache handle

  • VUID-vkCreateComputePipelines-pCreateInfos-parameter
    pCreateInfos must be a valid pointer to an array of createInfoCount valid VkComputePipelineCreateInfo structures

  • VUID-vkCreateComputePipelines-pAllocator-parameter
    If pAllocator is not NULL, pAllocator must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

  • VUID-vkCreateComputePipelines-pPipelines-parameter
    pPipelines must be a valid pointer to an array of createInfoCount VkPipeline handles

  • VUID-vkCreateComputePipelines-createInfoCount-arraylength
    createInfoCount must be greater than 0

  • VUID-vkCreateComputePipelines-pipelineCache-parent
    If pipelineCache is a valid handle, it must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkComputePipelineCreateInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef struct VkComputePipelineCreateInfo {
    VkStructureType                    sType;
    const void*                        pNext;
    VkPipelineCreateFlags              flags;
    VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo    stage;
    VkPipelineLayout                   layout;
    VkPipeline                         basePipelineHandle;
    int32_t                            basePipelineIndex;
} VkComputePipelineCreateInfo;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • flags is a bitmask of VkPipelineCreateFlagBits specifying how the pipeline will be generated.

  • stage is a VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo structure describing the compute shader.

  • layout is the description of binding locations used by both the pipeline and descriptor sets used with the pipeline. If VkPhysicalDeviceProperties::apiVersion is greater than or equal to Vulkan 1.3 or VK_KHR_maintenance4 is enabled layout must not be accessed by the implementation outside of the duration of the command this structure is passed to.

  • basePipelineHandle is a pipeline to derive from.

  • basePipelineIndex is an index into the pCreateInfos parameter to use as a pipeline to derive from.

The parameters basePipelineHandle and basePipelineIndex are described in more detail in Pipeline Derivatives.

If the pNext chain includes a VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo structure, VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo::flags from that structure is used instead of flags from this structure.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef struct VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo {
    VkStructureType                     sType;
    const void*                         pNext;
    VkPipelineShaderStageCreateFlags    flags;
    VkShaderStageFlagBits               stage;
    VkShaderModule                      module;
    const char*                         pName;
    const VkSpecializationInfo*         pSpecializationInfo;
} VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • flags is a bitmask of VkPipelineShaderStageCreateFlagBits specifying how the pipeline shader stage will be generated.

  • stage is a VkShaderStageFlagBits value specifying a single pipeline stage.

  • module is optionally a VkShaderModule object containing the shader code for this stage. The implementation must not access this object outside of the duration of the command this structure is passed to.

  • pName is a pointer to a null-terminated UTF-8 string specifying the entry point name of the shader for this stage.

  • pSpecializationInfo is a pointer to a VkSpecializationInfo structure, as described in Specialization Constants, or NULL.

If module is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, the shader code used by the pipeline is defined by module. If module is VK_NULL_HANDLE, the shader code is defined by the chained VkShaderModuleCreateInfo if present.

If the shaderModuleIdentifier feature is enabled, applications can omit shader code for stage and instead provide a module identifier. This is done by including a VkPipelineShaderStageModuleIdentifierCreateInfoEXT structure with identifierSize not equal to 0 in the pNext chain. A shader stage created in this way is equivalent to one created using a shader module with the same identifier. The identifier allows an implementation to look up a pipeline without consuming a valid SPIR-V module. If a pipeline is not found, pipeline compilation is not possible and the implementation must fail as specified by VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT.

When an identifier is used in lieu of a shader module, implementations may fail pipeline compilation with VK_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED for any reason.

The rationale for the relaxed requirement on implementations to return a pipeline with VkPipelineShaderStageModuleIdentifierCreateInfoEXT is that layers or tools may intercept pipeline creation calls and require the full SPIR-V context to operate correctly. ICDs are not expected to fail pipeline compilation if the pipeline exists in a cache somewhere.

Applications can use identifiers when creating pipelines with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR. When creating such pipelines, VK_SUCCESS may be returned, but subsequently fail when referencing the pipeline in a VkPipelineLibraryCreateInfoKHR struct. Applications must allow pipeline compilation to fail during link steps with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT as it may not be possible to determine if a pipeline can be created from identifiers until the link step.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)
// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef VkFlags VkPipelineShaderStageCreateFlags;

VkPipelineShaderStageCreateFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkPipelineShaderStageCreateFlagBits.

Possible values of the flags member of VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo specifying how a pipeline shader stage is created, are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef enum VkPipelineShaderStageCreateFlagBits {
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_PIPELINE_SHADER_STAGE_CREATE_ALLOW_VARYING_SUBGROUP_SIZE_BIT = 0x00000001,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_PIPELINE_SHADER_STAGE_CREATE_REQUIRE_FULL_SUBGROUPS_BIT = 0x00000002,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control
    VK_PIPELINE_SHADER_STAGE_CREATE_ALLOW_VARYING_SUBGROUP_SIZE_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_SHADER_STAGE_CREATE_ALLOW_VARYING_SUBGROUP_SIZE_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control
    VK_PIPELINE_SHADER_STAGE_CREATE_REQUIRE_FULL_SUBGROUPS_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_SHADER_STAGE_CREATE_REQUIRE_FULL_SUBGROUPS_BIT,
} VkPipelineShaderStageCreateFlagBits;

If VK_PIPELINE_SHADER_STAGE_CREATE_ALLOW_VARYING_SUBGROUP_SIZE_BIT_EXT and VK_PIPELINE_SHADER_STAGE_CREATE_REQUIRE_FULL_SUBGROUPS_BIT_EXT are specified and minSubgroupSize does not equal maxSubgroupSize and no required subgroup size is specified, then the only way to guarantee that the 'X' dimension of the local workgroup size is a multiple of SubgroupSize is to make it a multiple of maxSubgroupSize. Under these conditions, you are guaranteed full subgroups but not any particular subgroup size.

Bits which can be set by commands and structures, specifying one or more shader stages, are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef enum VkShaderStageFlagBits {
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_VERTEX_BIT = 0x00000001,
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_TESSELLATION_CONTROL_BIT = 0x00000002,
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_TESSELLATION_EVALUATION_BIT = 0x00000004,
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_GEOMETRY_BIT = 0x00000008,
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_FRAGMENT_BIT = 0x00000010,
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_COMPUTE_BIT = 0x00000020,
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_ALL_GRAPHICS = 0x0000001F,
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_ALL = 0x7FFFFFFF,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_RAYGEN_BIT_KHR = 0x00000100,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_ANY_HIT_BIT_KHR = 0x00000200,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_CLOSEST_HIT_BIT_KHR = 0x00000400,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_MISS_BIT_KHR = 0x00000800,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_INTERSECTION_BIT_KHR = 0x00001000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_CALLABLE_BIT_KHR = 0x00002000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_mesh_shader
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_TASK_BIT_EXT = 0x00000040,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_mesh_shader
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_MESH_BIT_EXT = 0x00000080,
  // Provided by VK_HUAWEI_subpass_shading
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_SUBPASS_SHADING_BIT_HUAWEI = 0x00004000,
  // Provided by VK_HUAWEI_cluster_culling_shader
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_CLUSTER_CULLING_BIT_HUAWEI = 0x00080000,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_RAYGEN_BIT_NV = VK_SHADER_STAGE_RAYGEN_BIT_KHR,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_ANY_HIT_BIT_NV = VK_SHADER_STAGE_ANY_HIT_BIT_KHR,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_CLOSEST_HIT_BIT_NV = VK_SHADER_STAGE_CLOSEST_HIT_BIT_KHR,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_MISS_BIT_NV = VK_SHADER_STAGE_MISS_BIT_KHR,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_INTERSECTION_BIT_NV = VK_SHADER_STAGE_INTERSECTION_BIT_KHR,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_CALLABLE_BIT_NV = VK_SHADER_STAGE_CALLABLE_BIT_KHR,
  // Provided by VK_NV_mesh_shader
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_TASK_BIT_NV = VK_SHADER_STAGE_TASK_BIT_EXT,
  // Provided by VK_NV_mesh_shader
    VK_SHADER_STAGE_MESH_BIT_NV = VK_SHADER_STAGE_MESH_BIT_EXT,
} VkShaderStageFlagBits;

VK_SHADER_STAGE_ALL_GRAPHICS only includes the original five graphics stages included in Vulkan 1.0, and not any stages added by extensions. Thus, it may not have the desired effect in all cases.

 
// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef VkFlags VkShaderStageFlags;

VkShaderStageFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkShaderStageFlagBits.

The VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
typedef struct VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    const void*        pNext;
    uint32_t           requiredSubgroupSize;
} VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo;
// Provided by VK_EXT_subgroup_size_control
// Equivalent to VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo
typedef VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfoEXT;

or the equiavlent

// Provided by VK_EXT_shader_object
// Equivalent to VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo
typedef VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo VkShaderRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfoEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • requiredSubgroupSize is an unsigned integer value specifying the required subgroup size for the newly created pipeline shader stage.

If a VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo structure is included in the pNext chain of VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo, it specifies that the pipeline shader stage being compiled has a required subgroup size.

If a VkShaderRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfoEXT structure is included in the pNext chain of VkShaderCreateInfoEXT, it specifies that the shader being compiled has a required subgroup size.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo-requiredSubgroupSize-02760
    requiredSubgroupSize must be a power-of-two integer

  • VUID-VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo-requiredSubgroupSize-02761
    requiredSubgroupSize must be greater or equal to minSubgroupSize

  • VUID-VkPipelineShaderStageRequiredSubgroupSizeCreateInfo-requiredSubgroupSize-02762
    requiredSubgroupSize must be less than or equal to maxSubgroupSize

Valid Usage (Implicit)

A subpass shading pipeline is a compute pipeline which must be called only in a subpass of a render pass with work dimensions specified by render area size. The subpass shading pipeline shader is a compute shader allowed to access input attachments specified in the calling subpass. To create a subpass shading pipeline, call vkCreateComputePipelines with VkSubpassShadingPipelineCreateInfoHUAWEI in the pNext chain of VkComputePipelineCreateInfo.

The VkSubpassShadingPipelineCreateInfoHUAWEI structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_HUAWEI_subpass_shading
typedef struct VkSubpassShadingPipelineCreateInfoHUAWEI {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    VkRenderPass       renderPass;
    uint32_t           subpass;
} VkSubpassShadingPipelineCreateInfoHUAWEI;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • renderPass is a handle to a render pass object describing the environment in which the pipeline will be used. The pipeline must only be used with a render pass instance compatible with the one provided. See Render Pass Compatibility for more information. The implementation must not access this object outside of the duration of the command this structure is passed to.

  • subpass is the index of the subpass in the render pass where this pipeline will be used.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

A subpass shading pipeline’s workgroup size is a 2D vector with number of power-of-two in width and height. The maximum number of width and height is implementation-dependent, and may vary for different formats and sample counts of attachments in a render pass.

To query the maximum workgroup size, call:

// Provided by VK_HUAWEI_subpass_shading
VkResult vkGetDeviceSubpassShadingMaxWorkgroupSizeHUAWEI(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkRenderPass                                renderpass,
    VkExtent2D*                                 pMaxWorkgroupSize);

  • device is a handle to a local device object that was used to create the given render pass.

  • renderpass is a handle to a render pass object describing the environment in which the pipeline will be used. The pipeline must only be used with a render pass instance compatible with the one provided. See Render Pass Compatibility for more information.

  • pMaxWorkgroupSize is a pointer to a VkExtent2D structure.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetDeviceSubpassShadingMaxWorkgroupSizeHUAWEI-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetDeviceSubpassShadingMaxWorkgroupSizeHUAWEI-renderpass-parameter
    renderpass must be a valid VkRenderPass handle

  • VUID-vkGetDeviceSubpassShadingMaxWorkgroupSizeHUAWEI-pMaxWorkgroupSize-parameter
    pMaxWorkgroupSize must be a valid pointer to VkExtent2D structures

  • VUID-vkGetDeviceSubpassShadingMaxWorkgroupSizeHUAWEI-renderpass-parent
    renderpass must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
typedef struct VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo {
    VkStructureType                       sType;
    const void*                           pNext;
    VkPipelineRobustnessBufferBehavior    storageBuffers;
    VkPipelineRobustnessBufferBehavior    uniformBuffers;
    VkPipelineRobustnessBufferBehavior    vertexInputs;
    VkPipelineRobustnessImageBehavior     images;
} VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo;
// Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
// Equivalent to VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo
typedef VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfoEXT;

Resources bound as VK_DESCRIPTOR_TYPE_MUTABLE_EXT will have the robustness behavior that covers its active descriptor type.

The scope of the effect of VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo depends on which structure’s pNext chain it is included in.

  • VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo, VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR, VkComputePipelineCreateInfo:
    The robustness behavior described by VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo applies to all accesses through this pipeline

  • VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo:
    The robustness behavior described by VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo applies to all accesses emanating from the shader code of this shader stage

If VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo is specified for both a pipeline and a pipeline stage, the VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo specified for the pipeline stage will take precedence.

When VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo is specified for a pipeline, it only affects the subset of the pipeline that is specified by the create info, as opposed to subsets linked from pipeline libraries. For VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo, that subset is specified by VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryCreateInfoEXT::flags. For VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR, that subset is specified by the specific stages in VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR::pStages.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

Possible values of the storageBuffers, uniformBuffers, and vertexInputs members of VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
typedef enum VkPipelineRobustnessBufferBehavior {
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_DEVICE_DEFAULT = 0,
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_DISABLED = 1,
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_BUFFER_ACCESS = 2,
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_BUFFER_ACCESS_2 = 3,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_DEVICE_DEFAULT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_DEVICE_DEFAULT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_DISABLED_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_DISABLED,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_BUFFER_ACCESS_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_BUFFER_ACCESS,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_BUFFER_ACCESS_2_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_BUFFER_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_BUFFER_ACCESS_2,
} VkPipelineRobustnessBufferBehavior;
// Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
// Equivalent to VkPipelineRobustnessBufferBehavior
typedef VkPipelineRobustnessBufferBehavior VkPipelineRobustnessBufferBehaviorEXT;

Possible values of the images member of VkPipelineRobustnessCreateInfo are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
typedef enum VkPipelineRobustnessImageBehavior {
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_DEVICE_DEFAULT = 0,
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_DISABLED = 1,
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_IMAGE_ACCESS = 2,
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_IMAGE_ACCESS_2 = 3,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_DEVICE_DEFAULT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_DEVICE_DEFAULT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_DISABLED_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_DISABLED,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_IMAGE_ACCESS_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_IMAGE_ACCESS,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
    VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_IMAGE_ACCESS_2_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_ROBUSTNESS_IMAGE_BEHAVIOR_ROBUST_IMAGE_ACCESS_2,
} VkPipelineRobustnessImageBehavior;
// Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_robustness
// Equivalent to VkPipelineRobustnessImageBehavior
typedef VkPipelineRobustnessImageBehavior VkPipelineRobustnessImageBehaviorEXT;

An identifier can be provided instead of shader code in an attempt to compile pipelines without providing complete SPIR-V to the implementation.

The VkPipelineShaderStageModuleIdentifierCreateInfoEXT structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_EXT_shader_module_identifier
typedef struct VkPipelineShaderStageModuleIdentifierCreateInfoEXT {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    const void*        pNext;
    uint32_t           identifierSize;
    const uint8_t*     pIdentifier;
} VkPipelineShaderStageModuleIdentifierCreateInfoEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • identifierSize is the size, in bytes, of the buffer pointed to by pIdentifier.

  • pIdentifier is a pointer to a buffer of opaque data specifying an identifier.

Any identifier can be used. If the pipeline being created with identifier requires compilation to complete the pipeline creation call, pipeline compilation must fail as defined by VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT.

pIdentifier and identifierSize can be obtained from an VkShaderModuleIdentifierEXT queried earlier.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

If a compute pipeline is going to be used in Device-Generated Commands by specifying its pipeline token with VkBindPipelineIndirectCommandNV, then that pipeline’s associated metadata must be saved at a specified buffer device address for later use in indirect command generation. The buffer device address must be specified at the time of compute pipeline creation with VkComputePipelineIndirectBufferInfoNV structure in the pNext chain of VkComputePipelineCreateInfo.

The VkComputePipelineIndirectBufferInfoNV structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_NV_device_generated_commands_compute
typedef struct VkComputePipelineIndirectBufferInfoNV {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    const void*        pNext;
    VkDeviceAddress    deviceAddress;
    VkDeviceSize       size;
    VkDeviceAddress    pipelineDeviceAddressCaptureReplay;
} VkComputePipelineIndirectBufferInfoNV;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • deviceAddress is the address where the pipeline’s metadata will be stored.

  • size is the size of pipeline’s metadata that was queried using vkGetPipelineIndirectMemoryRequirementsNV.

  • pipelineDeviceAddressCaptureReplay is the device address where pipeline’s metadata was originally saved and can now be used to re-populate deviceAddress for replay.

If pipelineDeviceAddressCaptureReplay is zero, no specific address is requested. If pipelineDeviceAddressCaptureReplay is not zero, then it must be an address retrieved from an identically created pipeline on the same implementation. The pipeline metadata must also be placed on an identically created buffer and at the same offset using the vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV command.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkComputePipelineIndirectBufferInfoNV-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_COMPUTE_PIPELINE_INDIRECT_BUFFER_INFO_NV

  • VUID-VkComputePipelineIndirectBufferInfoNV-deviceAddress-parameter
    deviceAddress must be a valid VkDeviceAddress value

  • VUID-VkComputePipelineIndirectBufferInfoNV-pipelineDeviceAddressCaptureReplay-parameter
    If pipelineDeviceAddressCaptureReplay is not 0, pipelineDeviceAddressCaptureReplay must be a valid VkDeviceAddress value

To save a compute pipeline’s metadata at a device address call:

// Provided by VK_NV_device_generated_commands_compute
void vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV(
    VkCommandBuffer                             commandBuffer,
    VkPipelineBindPoint                         pipelineBindPoint,
    VkPipeline                                  pipeline);

  • commandBuffer is the command buffer into which the command will be recorded.

  • pipelineBindPoint is a VkPipelineBindPoint value specifying the type of pipeline whose metadata will be saved.

  • pipeline is the pipeline whose metadata will be saved.

vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV is only allowed outside of a render pass. This command is treated as a “transfer” operation for the purposes of synchronization barriers. The writes to the address must be synchronized using stages VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_2_COPY_BIT and VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_COMMAND_PREPROCESS_BIT_NV and with access masks VK_ACCESS_MEMORY_WRITE_BIT and VK_ACCESS_COMMAND_PREPROCESS_READ_BIT_NV respectively before using the results in preprocessing.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV-commandBuffer-parameter
    commandBuffer must be a valid VkCommandBuffer handle

  • VUID-vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV-pipelineBindPoint-parameter
    pipelineBindPoint must be a valid VkPipelineBindPoint value

  • VUID-vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV-pipeline-parameter
    pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

  • VUID-vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV-commandBuffer-recording
    commandBuffer must be in the recording state

  • VUID-vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV-commandBuffer-cmdpool
    The VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must support VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT, VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT, or VK_QUEUE_TRANSFER_BIT operations

  • VUID-vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV-renderpass
    This command must only be called outside of a render pass instance

  • VUID-vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV-suspended
    This command must not be called between suspended render pass instances

  • VUID-vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV-videocoding
    This command must only be called outside of a video coding scope

  • VUID-vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV-commonparent
    Both of commandBuffer, and pipeline must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from the same VkDevice

Host Synchronization

  • Host access to commandBuffer must be externally synchronized

  • Host access to the VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must be externally synchronized

Command Properties
Command Buffer Levels Render Pass Scope Video Coding Scope Supported Queue Types Command Type

Primary
Secondary

Outside

Outside

VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT
VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT
VK_QUEUE_TRANSFER_BIT

Action
Conditional Rendering

vkCmdUpdatePipelineIndirectBufferNV is not affected by conditional rendering

Graphics Pipelines

Graphics pipelines consist of multiple shader stages, multiple fixed-function pipeline stages, and a pipeline layout.

To create graphics pipelines, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
VkResult vkCreateGraphicsPipelines(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipelineCache                             pipelineCache,
    uint32_t                                    createInfoCount,
    const VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo*         pCreateInfos,
    const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator,
    VkPipeline*                                 pPipelines);

  • device is the logical device that creates the graphics pipelines.

  • pipelineCache is either VK_NULL_HANDLE, indicating that pipeline caching is disabled, or to enable caching, the handle of a valid VkPipelineCache object. The implementation must not access this object outside of the duration of this command.

  • createInfoCount is the length of the pCreateInfos and pPipelines arrays.

  • pCreateInfos is a pointer to an array of VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo structures.

  • pAllocator controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

  • pPipelines is a pointer to an array of VkPipeline handles in which the resulting graphics pipeline objects are returned.

The VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo structure includes an array of VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo structures for each of the desired active shader stages, as well as creation information for all relevant fixed-function stages, and a pipeline layout.

Pipelines are created and returned as described for Multiple Pipeline Creation.

Valid Usage

An implicit cache may be provided by the implementation or a layer. For this reason, it is still valid to set VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT on flags for any element of pCreateInfos while passing VK_NULL_HANDLE for pipelineCache.
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-pipelineCache-parameter
    If pipelineCache is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, pipelineCache must be a valid VkPipelineCache handle

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-pCreateInfos-parameter
    pCreateInfos must be a valid pointer to an array of createInfoCount valid VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo structures

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-pAllocator-parameter
    If pAllocator is not NULL, pAllocator must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-pPipelines-parameter
    pPipelines must be a valid pointer to an array of createInfoCount VkPipeline handles

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-createInfoCount-arraylength
    createInfoCount must be greater than 0

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-pipelineCache-parent
    If pipelineCache is a valid handle, it must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef struct VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo {
    VkStructureType                                  sType;
    const void*                                      pNext;
    VkPipelineCreateFlags                            flags;
    uint32_t                                         stageCount;
    const VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo*           pStages;
    const VkPipelineVertexInputStateCreateInfo*      pVertexInputState;
    const VkPipelineInputAssemblyStateCreateInfo*    pInputAssemblyState;
    const VkPipelineTessellationStateCreateInfo*     pTessellationState;
    const VkPipelineViewportStateCreateInfo*         pViewportState;
    const VkPipelineRasterizationStateCreateInfo*    pRasterizationState;
    const VkPipelineMultisampleStateCreateInfo*      pMultisampleState;
    const VkPipelineDepthStencilStateCreateInfo*     pDepthStencilState;
    const VkPipelineColorBlendStateCreateInfo*       pColorBlendState;
    const VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo*          pDynamicState;
    VkPipelineLayout                                 layout;
    VkRenderPass                                     renderPass;
    uint32_t                                         subpass;
    VkPipeline                                       basePipelineHandle;
    int32_t                                          basePipelineIndex;
} VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo;

The parameters basePipelineHandle and basePipelineIndex are described in more detail in Pipeline Derivatives.

If any shader stage fails to compile, the compile log will be reported back to the application, and VK_ERROR_INVALID_SHADER_NV will be generated.

With VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3, it is possible that many of the VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo members above can be NULL because all their state is dynamic and therefore ignored. This is optional so the application can still use a valid pointer if it needs to set the pNext or flags fields to specify state for other extensions.

The state required for a graphics pipeline is divided into vertex input state, pre-rasterization shader state, fragment shader state, and fragment output state.

Vertex Input State

Vertex input state is defined by:

If this pipeline specifies pre-rasterization state either directly or by including it as a pipeline library and its pStages includes a vertex shader, this state must be specified to create a complete graphics pipeline.

If a pipeline includes VK_GRAPHICS_PIPELINE_LIBRARY_VERTEX_INPUT_INTERFACE_BIT_EXT in VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryCreateInfoEXT::flags either explicitly or as a default, and either the conditions requiring this state for a complete graphics pipeline are met or this pipeline does not specify pre-rasterization state in any way, that pipeline must specify this state directly.

Pre-Rasterization Shader State

Pre-rasterization shader state is defined by:

This state must be specified to create a complete graphics pipeline.

If either the pNext chain includes a VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryCreateInfoEXT structure with VK_GRAPHICS_PIPELINE_LIBRARY_PRE_RASTERIZATION_SHADERS_BIT_EXT included in flags, or it is not specified and would default to include that value, this state must be specified in the pipeline.

Fragment Shader State

Fragment shader state is defined by:

If a pipeline specifies pre-rasterization state either directly or by including it as a pipeline library and rasterizerDiscardEnable is VK_FALSE or VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_RASTERIZER_DISCARD_ENABLE is used, this state must be specified to create a complete graphics pipeline.

If a pipeline includes VK_GRAPHICS_PIPELINE_LIBRARY_FRAGMENT_SHADER_BIT_EXT in VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryCreateInfoEXT::flags either explicitly or as a default, and either the conditions requiring this state for a complete graphics pipeline are met or this pipeline does not specify pre-rasterization state in any way, that pipeline must specify this state directly.

Fragment Output State

Fragment output state is defined by:

If a pipeline specifies pre-rasterization state either directly or by including it as a pipeline library and rasterizerDiscardEnable is VK_FALSE or VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_RASTERIZER_DISCARD_ENABLE is used, this state must be specified to create a complete graphics pipeline.

If a pipeline includes VK_GRAPHICS_PIPELINE_LIBRARY_FRAGMENT_OUTPUT_INTERFACE_BIT_EXT in VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryCreateInfoEXT::flags either explicitly or as a default, and either the conditions requiring this state for a complete graphics pipeline are met or this pipeline does not specify pre-rasterization state in any way, that pipeline must specify this state directly.

Dynamic State

Dynamic state values set via pDynamicState must be ignored if the state they correspond to is not otherwise statically set by one of the state subsets used to create the pipeline. Additionally, setting dynamic state values must not modify whether state in a linked library is static or dynamic; this is set and unchangeable when the library is created. For example, if a pipeline only included pre-rasterization shader state, then any dynamic state value corresponding to depth or stencil testing has no effect. Any linked library that has dynamic state enabled that same dynamic state must also be enabled in all the other linked libraries to which that dynamic state applies.

Complete Graphics Pipelines

A complete graphics pipeline always includes pre-rasterization shader state, with other subsets included depending on that state as specified in the above sections.

Graphics Pipeline Library Layouts

If different subsets are linked together with pipeline layouts created with VK_PIPELINE_LAYOUT_CREATE_INDEPENDENT_SETS_BIT_EXT, the final effective pipeline layout is effectively the union of the linked pipeline layouts. When binding descriptor sets for this pipeline, the pipeline layout used must be compatible with this union. This pipeline layout can be overridden when linking with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_EXT by providing a VkPipelineLayout that is compatible with this union other than VK_PIPELINE_LAYOUT_CREATE_INDEPENDENT_SETS_BIT_EXT, or when linking without VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_EXT by providing a VkPipelineLayout that is fully compatible with this union.

If the pNext chain includes a VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo structure, VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo::flags from that structure is used instead of flags from this structure.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkPipelineFragmentDensityMapLayeredCreateInfoVALVE structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VALVE_fragment_density_map_layered
typedef struct VkPipelineFragmentDensityMapLayeredCreateInfoVALVE {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    const void*        pNext;
    uint32_t           maxFragmentDensityMapLayers;
} VkPipelineFragmentDensityMapLayeredCreateInfoVALVE;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • maxFragmentDensityMapLayers is the maximum number of layers which can be used with a fragment density map.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkPipelineFragmentDensityMapLayeredCreateInfoVALVE-maxFragmentDensityMapLayers-10825
    maxFragmentDensityMapLayers must be less than or equal to maxFragmentDensityMapLayers

Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkPipelineRenderingCreateInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
typedef struct VkPipelineRenderingCreateInfo {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    const void*        pNext;
    uint32_t           viewMask;
    uint32_t           colorAttachmentCount;
    const VkFormat*    pColorAttachmentFormats;
    VkFormat           depthAttachmentFormat;
    VkFormat           stencilAttachmentFormat;
} VkPipelineRenderingCreateInfo;
// Provided by VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering
// Equivalent to VkPipelineRenderingCreateInfo
typedef VkPipelineRenderingCreateInfo VkPipelineRenderingCreateInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • viewMask is a bitfield of view indices describing which views are active during rendering. It must match VkRenderingInfo::viewMask when rendering.

  • colorAttachmentCount is the number of entries in pColorAttachmentFormats

  • pColorAttachmentFormats is a pointer to an array of VkFormat values defining the format of color attachments used in this pipeline.

  • depthAttachmentFormat is a VkFormat value defining the format of the depth attachment used in this pipeline.

  • stencilAttachmentFormat is a VkFormat value defining the format of the stencil attachment used in this pipeline.

When a pipeline is created without a VkRenderPass, if the pNext chain of VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo includes this structure, it specifies the view mask and format of attachments used for rendering. If this structure is not specified, and the pipeline does not include a VkRenderPass, viewMask and colorAttachmentCount are 0, and depthAttachmentFormat and stencilAttachmentFormat are VK_FORMAT_UNDEFINED. If a graphics pipeline is created with a valid VkRenderPass, parameters of this structure are ignored.

If depthAttachmentFormat, stencilAttachmentFormat, or any element of pColorAttachmentFormats is VK_FORMAT_UNDEFINED, it indicates that the corresponding attachment is unused within the render pass. Valid formats indicate that an attachment can be used - but it is still valid to set the attachment to NULL when beginning rendering.

If the render pass is going to be used with an external format resolve attachment, a VkExternalFormatANDROID structure must also be included in the pNext chain of VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo, defining the external format of the resolve attachment that will be used.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkPipelineRenderingCreateInfo-colorAttachmentCount-09533
    colorAttachmentCount must be less than or equal to maxColorAttachments

Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkCustomResolveCreateInfoEXT structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_EXT_custom_resolve with VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering or VK_VERSION_1_3
typedef struct VkCustomResolveCreateInfoEXT {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    const void*        pNext;
    VkBool32           customResolve;
    uint32_t           colorAttachmentCount;
    const VkFormat*    pColorAttachmentFormats;
    VkFormat           depthAttachmentFormat;
    VkFormat           stencilAttachmentFormat;
} VkCustomResolveCreateInfoEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • customResolve indicates whether this pipeline will be used for a resolve operation.

  • colorAttachmentCount is the number of entries in pColorAttachmentFormats.

  • pColorAttachmentFormats is a pointer to an array of VkFormat values defining the format of color resolve attachments used in custom resolves in the same render pass.

  • depthAttachmentFormat is a VkFormat value defining the format of the depth resolve attachment used in custom resolves in the same render pass.

  • stencilAttachmentFormat is a VkFormat value defining the format of the stencil resolve attachment used in custom resolves in the same render pass.

If the pNext chain includes this structure for one of:

it specifies the formats used in custom resolves within the same render pass. It also specifies that the corresponding object will be used in a render pass which contains a custom resolve operation.

If the pNext chain includes this structure for a VkShaderCreateInfoEXT for a fragment shader object, it only specifies that the fragment shader will be used in a custom resolve operation.

If a graphics pipeline is created with a valid VkRenderPass, parameters of this structure are ignored.

If customResolve is VK_FALSE, the pipeline can only be used outside the custom resolve section. If customResolve is VK_TRUE, the pipeline can only be used inside the custom resolve section.

When a dynamic render pass instance contains a custom resolve operation and the dynamicRenderingUnusedAttachments feature is not enabled , all pipelines used to draw in such render pass must include this structure and have identical format information in it. When a dynamic render pass does not contain a custom resolve operation and the dynamicRenderingUnusedAttachments feature is not enabled , all pipelines used to draw in such render pass must not include this structure.

If the dynamicRenderingUnusedAttachments feature is enabled, then when this structure is not included in the pNext chain for VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo, customResolve is VK_FALSE, colorAttachmentCount is 0, and depthAttachmentFormat and stencilAttachmentFormat are VK_FORMAT_UNDEFINED.

If depthAttachmentFormat, stencilAttachmentFormat, or any element of pColorAttachmentFormats is VK_FORMAT_UNDEFINED, it indicates that the corresponding attachment is unused within the resolve portion of the render pass. Valid formats indicate that an attachment can be used - but it is still valid to set the attachment to NULL when beginning rendering.

When passed as a pNext member to a VkShaderCreateInfoEXT struct for use with fragment density maps, the colorAttachmentCount, pColorAttachmentFormats, depthAttachmentFormat, and stencilAttachmentFormat members of this struct are ignored. When not passed as a pNext member, customResolve is VK_FALSE.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
typedef struct VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType               sType;
    const void*                   pNext;
    uint32_t                      binaryCount;
    const VkPipelineBinaryKHR*    pPipelineBinaries;
} VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • binaryCount is the number of elements in the pPipelineBinaries array.

  • pPipelineBinaries is a pointer to an array of VkPipelineBinaryKHR handles.

If a VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR structure with a binaryCount greater than 0 is included in the pNext chain of any Vk*PipelineCreateInfo structure when creating a pipeline, implementations must use the data in pPipelineBinaries instead of recalculating it. Any shader module identifiers, shader modules, or chained VkShaderModuleCreateInfo structures declared in VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo instances, are ignored. Any VkShaderDescriptorSetAndBindingMappingInfoEXT in the pNext chains of VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo instances are ignored.

If this structure is not included in the pNext chain, it is equivalent to specifying this structure with a binaryCount of 0.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryCreateInfoEXT structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library
typedef struct VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryCreateInfoEXT {
    VkStructureType                      sType;
    const void*                          pNext;
    VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryFlagsEXT    flags;
} VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryCreateInfoEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • flags is a bitmask of VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryFlagBitsEXT specifying the subsets of the graphics pipeline that are being compiled.

If a VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryCreateInfoEXT structure is included in the pNext chain of VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo, it specifies the subsets of the graphics pipeline being created, excluding any subsets from linked pipeline libraries. If the pipeline is created with pipeline libraries, state from those libraries is aggregated with said subset.

If this structure is omitted, and either VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo::flags includes VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR or the VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo::pNext chain includes a VkPipelineLibraryCreateInfoKHR structure with a libraryCount greater than 0, it is as if flags is 0. Otherwise if this structure is omitted, it is as if flags includes all possible subsets of the graphics pipeline (i.e. a complete graphics pipeline).

Valid Usage (Implicit)
// Provided by VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library
typedef VkFlags VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryFlagsEXT;

VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryFlagsEXT is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryFlagBitsEXT.

Possible values of the flags member of VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryCreateInfoEXT, specifying the subsets of a graphics pipeline to compile are:

// Provided by VK_EXT_graphics_pipeline_library
typedef enum VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryFlagBitsEXT {
    VK_GRAPHICS_PIPELINE_LIBRARY_VERTEX_INPUT_INTERFACE_BIT_EXT = 0x00000001,
    VK_GRAPHICS_PIPELINE_LIBRARY_PRE_RASTERIZATION_SHADERS_BIT_EXT = 0x00000002,
    VK_GRAPHICS_PIPELINE_LIBRARY_FRAGMENT_SHADER_BIT_EXT = 0x00000004,
    VK_GRAPHICS_PIPELINE_LIBRARY_FRAGMENT_OUTPUT_INTERFACE_BIT_EXT = 0x00000008,
} VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryFlagBitsEXT;

The VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef struct VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo {
    VkStructureType                      sType;
    const void*                          pNext;
    VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateFlags    flags;
    uint32_t                             dynamicStateCount;
    const VkDynamicState*                pDynamicStates;
} VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • flags is reserved for future use.

  • dynamicStateCount is the number of elements in the pDynamicStates array.

  • pDynamicStates is a pointer to an array of VkDynamicState values specifying which pieces of pipeline state will use the values from dynamic state commands rather than from pipeline state creation information.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo-pDynamicStates-01442
    Each element of pDynamicStates must be unique

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PIPELINE_DYNAMIC_STATE_CREATE_INFO

  • VUID-VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL

  • VUID-VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo-flags-zerobitmask
    flags must be 0

  • VUID-VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo-pDynamicStates-parameter
    If dynamicStateCount is not 0, pDynamicStates must be a valid pointer to an array of dynamicStateCount valid VkDynamicState values

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef VkFlags VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateFlags;

VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask, but is currently reserved for future use.

The source of different pieces of dynamic state is specified by the VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo::pDynamicStates property of the currently active pipeline, each of whose elements must be one of the values:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef enum VkDynamicState {
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VIEWPORT = 0,
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_SCISSOR = 1,
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_LINE_WIDTH = 2,
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_BIAS = 3,
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_BLEND_CONSTANTS = 4,
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_BOUNDS = 5,
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_STENCIL_COMPARE_MASK = 6,
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_STENCIL_WRITE_MASK = 7,
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_STENCIL_REFERENCE = 8,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_CULL_MODE = 1000267000,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_FRONT_FACE = 1000267001,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY = 1000267002,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VIEWPORT_WITH_COUNT = 1000267003,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_SCISSOR_WITH_COUNT = 1000267004,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VERTEX_INPUT_BINDING_STRIDE = 1000267005,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_TEST_ENABLE = 1000267006,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_WRITE_ENABLE = 1000267007,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_COMPARE_OP = 1000267008,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_BOUNDS_TEST_ENABLE = 1000267009,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_STENCIL_TEST_ENABLE = 1000267010,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_STENCIL_OP = 1000267011,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_RASTERIZER_DISCARD_ENABLE = 1000377001,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_BIAS_ENABLE = 1000377002,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_PRIMITIVE_RESTART_ENABLE = 1000377004,
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_4
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_LINE_STIPPLE = 1000259000,
  // Provided by VK_NV_clip_space_w_scaling
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VIEWPORT_W_SCALING_NV = 1000087000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_discard_rectangles
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DISCARD_RECTANGLE_EXT = 1000099000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_discard_rectangles
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DISCARD_RECTANGLE_ENABLE_EXT = 1000099001,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_discard_rectangles
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DISCARD_RECTANGLE_MODE_EXT = 1000099002,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_sample_locations
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_SAMPLE_LOCATIONS_EXT = 1000143000,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_RAY_TRACING_PIPELINE_STACK_SIZE_KHR = 1000347000,
  // Provided by VK_NV_shading_rate_image
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VIEWPORT_SHADING_RATE_PALETTE_NV = 1000164004,
  // Provided by VK_NV_shading_rate_image
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VIEWPORT_COARSE_SAMPLE_ORDER_NV = 1000164006,
  // Provided by VK_NV_scissor_exclusive
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_EXCLUSIVE_SCISSOR_ENABLE_NV = 1000205000,
  // Provided by VK_NV_scissor_exclusive
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_EXCLUSIVE_SCISSOR_NV = 1000205001,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_fragment_shading_rate
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_KHR = 1000226000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_vertex_input_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VERTEX_INPUT_EXT = 1000352000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_PATCH_CONTROL_POINTS_EXT = 1000377000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_LOGIC_OP_EXT = 1000377003,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_color_write_enable
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COLOR_WRITE_ENABLE_EXT = 1000381000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_CLAMP_ENABLE_EXT = 1000455003,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_POLYGON_MODE_EXT = 1000455004,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_RASTERIZATION_SAMPLES_EXT = 1000455005,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_SAMPLE_MASK_EXT = 1000455006,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_ALPHA_TO_COVERAGE_ENABLE_EXT = 1000455007,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_ALPHA_TO_ONE_ENABLE_EXT = 1000455008,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_LOGIC_OP_ENABLE_EXT = 1000455009,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COLOR_BLEND_ENABLE_EXT = 1000455010,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COLOR_BLEND_EQUATION_EXT = 1000455011,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COLOR_WRITE_MASK_EXT = 1000455012,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_KHR_maintenance2 or VK_VERSION_1_1
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_TESSELLATION_DOMAIN_ORIGIN_EXT = 1000455002,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_EXT_transform_feedback
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_RASTERIZATION_STREAM_EXT = 1000455013,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_conservative_rasterization with VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_CONSERVATIVE_RASTERIZATION_MODE_EXT = 1000455014,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_conservative_rasterization with VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_EXTRA_PRIMITIVE_OVERESTIMATION_SIZE_EXT = 1000455015,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_depth_clip_enable with VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_CLIP_ENABLE_EXT = 1000455016,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_EXT_sample_locations
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_SAMPLE_LOCATIONS_ENABLE_EXT = 1000455017,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_blend_operation_advanced with VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COLOR_BLEND_ADVANCED_EXT = 1000455018,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_EXT_provoking_vertex
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_PROVOKING_VERTEX_MODE_EXT = 1000455019,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_EXT_line_rasterization
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_LINE_RASTERIZATION_MODE_EXT = 1000455020,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_EXT_line_rasterization
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_LINE_STIPPLE_ENABLE_EXT = 1000455021,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_depth_clip_control with VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_CLIP_NEGATIVE_ONE_TO_ONE_EXT = 1000455022,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_NV_clip_space_w_scaling
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VIEWPORT_W_SCALING_ENABLE_NV = 1000455023,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_NV_viewport_swizzle
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VIEWPORT_SWIZZLE_NV = 1000455024,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_NV_fragment_coverage_to_color
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COVERAGE_TO_COLOR_ENABLE_NV = 1000455025,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_NV_fragment_coverage_to_color
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COVERAGE_TO_COLOR_LOCATION_NV = 1000455026,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_NV_framebuffer_mixed_samples
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COVERAGE_MODULATION_MODE_NV = 1000455027,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_NV_framebuffer_mixed_samples
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COVERAGE_MODULATION_TABLE_ENABLE_NV = 1000455028,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_NV_framebuffer_mixed_samples
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COVERAGE_MODULATION_TABLE_NV = 1000455029,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_NV_shading_rate_image
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_SHADING_RATE_IMAGE_ENABLE_NV = 1000455030,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_NV_representative_fragment_test
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_REPRESENTATIVE_FRAGMENT_TEST_ENABLE_NV = 1000455031,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state3 with VK_NV_coverage_reduction_mode
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_COVERAGE_REDUCTION_MODE_NV = 1000455032,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_attachment_feedback_loop_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_ENABLE_EXT = 1000524000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_depth_clamp_control
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_CLAMP_RANGE_EXT = 1000582000,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_line_rasterization
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_LINE_STIPPLE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_LINE_STIPPLE,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_CULL_MODE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_CULL_MODE,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_FRONT_FACE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_FRONT_FACE,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_PRIMITIVE_TOPOLOGY,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VIEWPORT_WITH_COUNT_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VIEWPORT_WITH_COUNT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_SCISSOR_WITH_COUNT_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_SCISSOR_WITH_COUNT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VERTEX_INPUT_BINDING_STRIDE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_VERTEX_INPUT_BINDING_STRIDE,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_TEST_ENABLE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_TEST_ENABLE,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_WRITE_ENABLE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_WRITE_ENABLE,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_COMPARE_OP_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_COMPARE_OP,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_BOUNDS_TEST_ENABLE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_BOUNDS_TEST_ENABLE,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_STENCIL_TEST_ENABLE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_STENCIL_TEST_ENABLE,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_STENCIL_OP_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_STENCIL_OP,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_RASTERIZER_DISCARD_ENABLE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_RASTERIZER_DISCARD_ENABLE,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_BIAS_ENABLE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_DEPTH_BIAS_ENABLE,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_extended_dynamic_state2
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_PRIMITIVE_RESTART_ENABLE_EXT = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_PRIMITIVE_RESTART_ENABLE,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_line_rasterization
    VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_LINE_STIPPLE_KHR = VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_LINE_STIPPLE,
} VkDynamicState;

Valid Combinations of Stages for Graphics Pipelines

Primitive processing can be handled either on a per primitive basis by the vertex, tessellation, and geometry shader stages, or on a per mesh basis using task and mesh shader stages. If the pipeline includes a mesh shader stage, it uses the mesh pipeline, otherwise it uses the primitive pipeline.

If a task shader is omitted, the task shading stage is skipped.

If tessellation shader stages are omitted, the tessellation shading and fixed-function stages of the pipeline are skipped.

If a geometry shader is omitted, the geometry shading stage is skipped.

If a fragment shader is omitted, fragment color outputs have undefined values, and the fragment depth value is determined by Fragment Operations state. This can be useful for depth-only rendering.

Presence of a shader stage in a pipeline is indicated by including a valid VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo with module and pName selecting an entry point from a shader module, where that entry point is valid for the stage specified by stage.

Presence of some of the fixed-function stages in the pipeline is implicitly derived from enabled shaders and provided state. For example, the fixed-function tessellator is always present when the pipeline has valid Tessellation Control and Tessellation Evaluation shaders.

For example:

Graphics Pipeline Shader Groups

Graphics pipelines can contain multiple shader groups that can be bound individually. Each shader group behaves as if it was a pipeline using the shader group’s state. When the pipeline is bound by regular means, it behaves as if the state of group 0 is active, use vkCmdBindPipelineShaderGroupNV to bind an individual shader group.

The primary purpose of shader groups is allowing the device to bind different pipeline state using Device-Generated Commands.

The VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_NV_device_generated_commands
typedef struct VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV {
    VkStructureType                             sType;
    const void*                                 pNext;
    uint32_t                                    groupCount;
    const VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV*    pGroups;
    uint32_t                                    pipelineCount;
    const VkPipeline*                           pPipelines;
} VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • groupCount is the number of elements in the pGroups array.

  • pGroups is a pointer to an array of VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV structures specifying which state of the original VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo each shader group overrides.

  • pipelineCount is the number of elements in the pPipelines array.

  • pPipelines is a pointer to an array of graphics VkPipeline structures which are referenced within the created pipeline, including all their shader groups.

When referencing shader groups by index, groups defined in the referenced pipelines are treated as if they were defined as additional entries in pGroups. They are appended in the order they appear in the pPipelines array and in the pGroups array when those pipelines were defined.

The application must maintain the lifetime of all such referenced pipelines based on the pipelines that make use of them.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV-groupCount-02879
    groupCount must be at least 1 and as maximum VkPhysicalDeviceDeviceGeneratedCommandsPropertiesNV::maxGraphicsShaderGroupCount

  • VUID-VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV-groupCount-02880
    The sum of groupCount including those groups added from referenced pPipelines must also be as maximum VkPhysicalDeviceDeviceGeneratedCommandsPropertiesNV::maxGraphicsShaderGroupCount

  • VUID-VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV-pGroups-02881
    The state of the first element of pGroups must match its equivalent within the parent’s VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo

  • VUID-VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV-pGroups-02882
    Each element of pGroups must in combination with the rest of the pipeline state yield a valid state configuration

  • VUID-VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV-pGroups-02884
    All elements of pGroups must use the same shader stage combinations unless any mesh shader stage is used, then either combination of task and mesh or just mesh shader is valid

  • VUID-VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV-pGroups-02885
    Mesh and regular primitive shading stages cannot be mixed across pGroups

  • VUID-VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV-pPipelines-02886
    Each element of pPipelines must have been created with identical state to the pipeline currently created except the state that can be overridden by VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV

  • VUID-VkGraphicsPipelineShaderGroupsCreateInfoNV-deviceGeneratedCommands-02887
    The VkPhysicalDeviceDeviceGeneratedCommandsFeaturesNV::deviceGeneratedCommands feature must be enabled

Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV structure provides the state overrides for each shader group. Each shader group behaves like a pipeline that was created from its state as well as the remaining parent’s state. It is defined as:

// Provided by VK_NV_device_generated_commands
typedef struct VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV {
    VkStructureType                                 sType;
    const void*                                     pNext;
    uint32_t                                        stageCount;
    const VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo*          pStages;
    const VkPipelineVertexInputStateCreateInfo*     pVertexInputState;
    const VkPipelineTessellationStateCreateInfo*    pTessellationState;
} VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • stageCount is the number of entries in the pStages array.

  • pStages is a pointer to an array VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo structures specifying the set of the shader stages to be included in this shader group.

  • pVertexInputState is a pointer to a VkPipelineVertexInputStateCreateInfo structure.

  • pTessellationState is a pointer to a VkPipelineTessellationStateCreateInfo structure, and is ignored if the shader group does not include a tessellation control shader stage and tessellation evaluation shader stage.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV-stageCount-02888
    For stageCount, the same restrictions as in VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo::stageCount apply

  • VUID-VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV-pStages-02889
    For pStages, the same restrictions as in VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo::pStages apply

  • VUID-VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV-pVertexInputState-02890
    For pVertexInputState, the same restrictions as in VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo::pVertexInputState apply

  • VUID-VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV-pTessellationState-02891
    For pTessellationState, the same restrictions as in VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo::pTessellationState apply

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_GRAPHICS_SHADER_GROUP_CREATE_INFO_NV

  • VUID-VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL

  • VUID-VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV-pStages-parameter
    pStages must be a valid pointer to an array of stageCount valid VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo structures

  • VUID-VkGraphicsShaderGroupCreateInfoNV-stageCount-arraylength
    stageCount must be greater than 0

Ray Tracing Pipelines

Ray tracing pipelines consist of multiple shader stages, fixed-function traversal stages, and a pipeline layout.

Ray Tracing Pipeline Enums and Types

VK_SHADER_UNUSED_KHR is a special shader index used to indicate that a ray generation, miss, or callable shader member is not used.

#define VK_SHADER_UNUSED_KHR              (~0U)
#define VK_SHADER_UNUSED_NV               VK_SHADER_UNUSED_KHR

The VkRayTracingShaderGroupTypeKHR enumeration is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
typedef enum VkRayTracingShaderGroupTypeKHR {
    VK_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_TYPE_GENERAL_KHR = 0,
    VK_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_TYPE_TRIANGLES_HIT_GROUP_KHR = 1,
    VK_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_TYPE_PROCEDURAL_HIT_GROUP_KHR = 2,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_TYPE_GENERAL_NV = VK_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_TYPE_GENERAL_KHR,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_TYPE_TRIANGLES_HIT_GROUP_NV = VK_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_TYPE_TRIANGLES_HIT_GROUP_KHR,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_TYPE_PROCEDURAL_HIT_GROUP_NV = VK_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_TYPE_PROCEDURAL_HIT_GROUP_KHR,
} VkRayTracingShaderGroupTypeKHR;
// Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
// Equivalent to VkRayTracingShaderGroupTypeKHR
typedef VkRayTracingShaderGroupTypeKHR VkRayTracingShaderGroupTypeNV;

For current group types, the hit group type could be inferred from the presence or absence of the intersection shader, but we provide the type explicitly for future hit groups that do not have that property.

Ray Tracing Pipeline Creation

To create ray tracing pipelines, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
VkResult vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkDeferredOperationKHR                      deferredOperation,
    VkPipelineCache                             pipelineCache,
    uint32_t                                    createInfoCount,
    const VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR*    pCreateInfos,
    const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator,
    VkPipeline*                                 pPipelines);

  • device is the logical device that creates the ray tracing pipelines.

  • deferredOperation is VK_NULL_HANDLE or the handle of a valid VkDeferredOperationKHR request deferral object for this command.

  • pipelineCache is either VK_NULL_HANDLE, indicating that pipeline caching is disabled, or to enable caching, the handle of a valid VkPipelineCache object. The implementation must not access this object outside of the duration of this command.

  • createInfoCount is the length of the pCreateInfos and pPipelines arrays.

  • pCreateInfos is a pointer to an array of VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR structures.

  • pAllocator controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

  • pPipelines is a pointer to an array in which the resulting ray tracing pipeline objects are returned.

The VK_ERROR_INVALID_OPAQUE_CAPTURE_ADDRESS error is returned if the implementation is unable to reuse the shader group handles provided in VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoKHR::pShaderGroupCaptureReplayHandle when VkPhysicalDeviceRayTracingPipelineFeaturesKHR::rayTracingPipelineShaderGroupHandleCaptureReplay is enabled.

Pipelines are created and returned as described for Multiple Pipeline Creation.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR-deferredOperation-03678
    Any previous deferred operation that was associated with deferredOperation must be complete

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR-deferredOperation-parameter
    If deferredOperation is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, deferredOperation must be a valid VkDeferredOperationKHR handle

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR-pipelineCache-parameter
    If pipelineCache is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, pipelineCache must be a valid VkPipelineCache handle

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR-pCreateInfos-parameter
    pCreateInfos must be a valid pointer to an array of createInfoCount valid VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR structures

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR-pAllocator-parameter
    If pAllocator is not NULL, pAllocator must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR-pPipelines-parameter
    pPipelines must be a valid pointer to an array of createInfoCount VkPipeline handles

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR-createInfoCount-arraylength
    createInfoCount must be greater than 0

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR-deferredOperation-parent
    If deferredOperation is a valid handle, it must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR-pipelineCache-parent
    If pipelineCache is a valid handle, it must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
typedef struct VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType                                      sType;
    const void*                                          pNext;
    VkPipelineCreateFlags                                flags;
    uint32_t                                             stageCount;
    const VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo*               pStages;
    uint32_t                                             groupCount;
    const VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoKHR*          pGroups;
    uint32_t                                             maxPipelineRayRecursionDepth;
    const VkPipelineLibraryCreateInfoKHR*                pLibraryInfo;
    const VkRayTracingPipelineInterfaceCreateInfoKHR*    pLibraryInterface;
    const VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo*              pDynamicState;
    VkPipelineLayout                                     layout;
    VkPipeline                                           basePipelineHandle;
    int32_t                                              basePipelineIndex;
} VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • flags is a bitmask of VkPipelineCreateFlagBits specifying how the pipeline will be generated.

  • stageCount is the number of entries in the pStages array.

  • pStages is a pointer to an array of stageCount VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo structures describing the set of the shader stages to be included in the ray tracing pipeline.

  • groupCount is the number of entries in the pGroups array.

  • pGroups is a pointer to an array of groupCount VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoKHR structures describing the set of the shader stages to be included in each shader group in the ray tracing pipeline.

  • maxPipelineRayRecursionDepth is the maximum recursion depth of shaders executed by this pipeline.

  • pLibraryInfo is a pointer to a VkPipelineLibraryCreateInfoKHR structure defining pipeline libraries to include.

  • pLibraryInterface is a pointer to a VkRayTracingPipelineInterfaceCreateInfoKHR structure defining additional information when using pipeline libraries.

  • pDynamicState is a pointer to a VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo structure, and is used to indicate which properties of the pipeline state object are dynamic and can be changed independently of the pipeline state. This can be NULL, which means no state in the pipeline is considered dynamic.

  • layout is the description of binding locations used by both the pipeline and descriptor sets used with the pipeline. If VkPhysicalDeviceProperties::apiVersion is greater than or equal to Vulkan 1.3 or VK_KHR_maintenance4 is enabled layout must not be accessed by the implementation outside of the duration of the command this structure is passed to.

  • basePipelineHandle is a pipeline to derive from.

  • basePipelineIndex is an index into the pCreateInfos parameter to use as a pipeline to derive from.

The parameters basePipelineHandle and basePipelineIndex are described in more detail in Pipeline Derivatives.

When VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR is specified, this pipeline defines a pipeline library which cannot be bound as a ray tracing pipeline directly. Instead, pipeline libraries define common shaders and shader groups which can be included in future pipeline creation.

If pipeline libraries are included in pLibraryInfo, shaders defined in those libraries are treated as if they were defined as additional entries in pStages, appended in the order they appear in the pLibraries array and in the pStages array when those libraries were defined.

When referencing shader groups in order to obtain a shader group handle, groups defined in those libraries are treated as if they were defined as additional entries in pGroups, appended in the order they appear in the pLibraries array and in the pGroups array when those libraries were defined. The shaders these groups reference are set when the pipeline library is created, referencing those specified in the pipeline library, not in the pipeline that includes it.

The default stack size for a pipeline if VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_RAY_TRACING_PIPELINE_STACK_SIZE_KHR is not provided is computed as described in Ray Tracing Pipeline Stack.

If the pNext chain includes a VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo structure, VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo::flags from that structure is used instead of flags from this structure.

If the pNext chain includes a VkRayTracingPipelineClusterAccelerationStructureCreateInfoNV structure, then that structure controls whether cluster acceleration structures are allowed in this ray tracing pipeline.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkRayTracingPipelineClusterAccelerationStructureCreateInfoNV structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline with VK_NV_cluster_acceleration_structure
typedef struct VkRayTracingPipelineClusterAccelerationStructureCreateInfoNV {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    VkBool32           allowClusterAccelerationStructure;
} VkRayTracingPipelineClusterAccelerationStructureCreateInfoNV;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • allowClusterAccelerationStructure controls if cluster acceleration structures are allowed in the ray tracing pipeline.

If no cluster acceleration structures are present in the ray tracing pipeline, allowClusterAccelerationStructure should not be used to prevent traversal penalty on some implementations.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
typedef struct VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType                   sType;
    const void*                       pNext;
    VkRayTracingShaderGroupTypeKHR    type;
    uint32_t                          generalShader;
    uint32_t                          closestHitShader;
    uint32_t                          anyHitShader;
    uint32_t                          intersectionShader;
    const void*                       pShaderGroupCaptureReplayHandle;
} VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoKHR;

If the pipeline is created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR and the pipelineLibraryGroupHandles feature is enabled, pShaderGroupCaptureReplayHandle is inherited by all pipelines which link against this pipeline and remains bitwise identical for any pipeline which references this pipeline library.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkRayTracingPipelineInterfaceCreateInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
typedef struct VkRayTracingPipelineInterfaceCreateInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    const void*        pNext;
    uint32_t           maxPipelineRayPayloadSize;
    uint32_t           maxPipelineRayHitAttributeSize;
} VkRayTracingPipelineInterfaceCreateInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • maxPipelineRayPayloadSize is the maximum payload size in bytes used by any shader in the pipeline.

  • maxPipelineRayHitAttributeSize is the maximum attribute structure size in bytes used by any shader in the pipeline.

maxPipelineRayPayloadSize is calculated as the maximum size of the block (in bytes) declared in the RayPayloadKHR or IncomingRayPayloadKHR storage classes. maxPipelineRayHitAttributeSize is calculated as the maximum size of any block (in bytes) declared in the HitAttributeKHR or HitObjectAttributeEXT storage class. As variables in these storage classes do not have explicit offsets, the size should be calculated as if each variable has a scalar alignment equal to the largest scalar alignment of any of the block’s members.

There is no explicit upper limit for maxPipelineRayPayloadSize, but in practice it should be kept as small as possible. Similar to invocation local memory, it must be allocated for each shader invocation and for devices which support many simultaneous invocations, this storage can rapidly be exhausted, resulting in failure.
Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

To create ray tracing pipelines, call:

// Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
VkResult vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesNV(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipelineCache                             pipelineCache,
    uint32_t                                    createInfoCount,
    const VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV*     pCreateInfos,
    const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator,
    VkPipeline*                                 pPipelines);

  • device is the logical device that creates the ray tracing pipelines.

  • pipelineCache is either VK_NULL_HANDLE, indicating that pipeline caching is disabled, or to enable caching, the handle of a valid VkPipelineCache object. The implementation must not access this object outside of the duration of this command.

  • createInfoCount is the length of the pCreateInfos and pPipelines arrays.

  • pCreateInfos is a pointer to an array of VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV structures.

  • pAllocator controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

  • pPipelines is a pointer to an array in which the resulting ray tracing pipeline objects are returned.

Pipelines are created and returned as described for Multiple Pipeline Creation.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesNV-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesNV-pipelineCache-parameter
    If pipelineCache is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, pipelineCache must be a valid VkPipelineCache handle

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesNV-pCreateInfos-parameter
    pCreateInfos must be a valid pointer to an array of createInfoCount valid VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV structures

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesNV-pAllocator-parameter
    If pAllocator is not NULL, pAllocator must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesNV-pPipelines-parameter
    pPipelines must be a valid pointer to an array of createInfoCount VkPipeline handles

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesNV-createInfoCount-arraylength
    createInfoCount must be greater than 0

  • VUID-vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesNV-pipelineCache-parent
    If pipelineCache is a valid handle, it must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
typedef struct VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV {
    VkStructureType                               sType;
    const void*                                   pNext;
    VkPipelineCreateFlags                         flags;
    uint32_t                                      stageCount;
    const VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo*        pStages;
    uint32_t                                      groupCount;
    const VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoNV*    pGroups;
    uint32_t                                      maxRecursionDepth;
    VkPipelineLayout                              layout;
    VkPipeline                                    basePipelineHandle;
    int32_t                                       basePipelineIndex;
} VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • flags is a bitmask of VkPipelineCreateFlagBits specifying how the pipeline will be generated.

  • stageCount is the number of entries in the pStages array.

  • pStages is a pointer to an array of VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo structures specifying the set of the shader stages to be included in the ray tracing pipeline.

  • groupCount is the number of entries in the pGroups array.

  • pGroups is a pointer to an array of VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoNV structures describing the set of the shader stages to be included in each shader group in the ray tracing pipeline.

  • maxRecursionDepth is the maximum recursion depth of shaders executed by this pipeline.

  • layout is the description of binding locations used by both the pipeline and descriptor sets used with the pipeline. If VkPhysicalDeviceProperties::apiVersion is greater than or equal to Vulkan 1.3 or VK_KHR_maintenance4 is enabled layout must not be accessed by the implementation outside of the duration of the command this structure is passed to.

  • basePipelineHandle is a pipeline to derive from.

  • basePipelineIndex is an index into the pCreateInfos parameter to use as a pipeline to derive from.

The parameters basePipelineHandle and basePipelineIndex are described in more detail in Pipeline Derivatives.

If the pNext chain includes a VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo structure, VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo::flags from that structure is used instead of flags from this structure.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_RAY_TRACING_PIPELINE_CREATE_INFO_NV

  • VUID-VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV-pNext-pNext
    Each pNext member of any structure (including this one) in the pNext chain must be either NULL or a pointer to a valid instance of VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfo or VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfo

  • VUID-VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV-sType-unique
    The sType value of each structure in the pNext chain must be unique

  • VUID-VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV-pStages-parameter
    pStages must be a valid pointer to an array of stageCount valid VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo structures

  • VUID-VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV-pGroups-parameter
    pGroups must be a valid pointer to an array of groupCount valid VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoNV structures

  • VUID-VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV-layout-parameter
    If layout is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, layout must be a valid VkPipelineLayout handle

  • VUID-VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV-stageCount-arraylength
    stageCount must be greater than 0

  • VUID-VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV-groupCount-arraylength
    groupCount must be greater than 0

  • VUID-VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV-commonparent
    Both of basePipelineHandle, and layout that are valid handles of non-ignored parameters must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from the same VkDevice

The VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoNV structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
typedef struct VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoNV {
    VkStructureType                   sType;
    const void*                       pNext;
    VkRayTracingShaderGroupTypeKHR    type;
    uint32_t                          generalShader;
    uint32_t                          closestHitShader;
    uint32_t                          anyHitShader;
    uint32_t                          intersectionShader;
} VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoNV;
Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

Ray Tracing Pipeline Queries and Commands

To query the opaque handles of shaders in the ray tracing pipeline, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
VkResult vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipeline                                  pipeline,
    uint32_t                                    firstGroup,
    uint32_t                                    groupCount,
    size_t                                      dataSize,
    void*                                       pData);
// Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
// Equivalent to vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR
VkResult vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesNV(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipeline                                  pipeline,
    uint32_t                                    firstGroup,
    uint32_t                                    groupCount,
    size_t                                      dataSize,
    void*                                       pData);

  • device is the logical device containing the ray tracing pipeline.

  • pipeline is the ray tracing pipeline object containing the shaders.

  • firstGroup is the index of the first group to retrieve a handle for from the VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR::pGroups or VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV::pGroups array.

  • groupCount is the number of shader handles to retrieve.

  • dataSize is the size in bytes of the buffer pointed to by pData.

  • pData is a pointer to an application-allocated buffer where the results will be written.

On success, an array of groupCount shader handles will be written to pData, with each element being of size VkPhysicalDeviceRayTracingPipelinePropertiesKHR::shaderGroupHandleSize.

If pipeline was created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR and the pipelineLibraryGroupHandles feature is enabled applications can query group handles from that pipeline, even if the pipeline is a library and is never bound to a command buffer. These group handles remain bitwise identical for any pipeline which references the pipeline library. Group indices are assigned as-if the pipeline was created without VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pipeline-04619
    pipeline must be a ray tracing pipeline

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR-firstGroup-04050
    firstGroup must be less than the number of shader groups in pipeline

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR-firstGroup-02419
    The sum of firstGroup and groupCount must be less than or equal to the number of shader groups in pipeline

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR-dataSize-02420
    dataSize must be at least VkPhysicalDeviceRayTracingPipelinePropertiesKHR::shaderGroupHandleSize × groupCount

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pipeline-07828
    If the pipelineLibraryGroupHandles feature is not enabled, pipeline must not have been created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pipeline-parameter
    pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pData-parameter
    pData must be a valid pointer to an array of dataSize bytes

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR-dataSize-arraylength
    dataSize must be greater than 0

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pipeline-parent
    pipeline must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

To query the opaque capture data of shader groups in a ray tracing pipeline, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
VkResult vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipeline                                  pipeline,
    uint32_t                                    firstGroup,
    uint32_t                                    groupCount,
    size_t                                      dataSize,
    void*                                       pData);

  • device is the logical device containing the ray tracing pipeline.

  • pipeline is the ray tracing pipeline object containing the shaders.

  • firstGroup is the index of the first group to retrieve a handle for from the VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR::pGroups array.

  • groupCount is the number of shader handles to retrieve.

  • dataSize is the size in bytes of the buffer pointed to by pData.

  • pData is a pointer to an application-allocated buffer where the results will be written.

On success, an array of groupCount shader handles will be written to pData, with each element being of size VkPhysicalDeviceRayTracingPipelinePropertiesKHR::shaderGroupHandleCaptureReplaySize.

Once queried, this opaque data can be provided at pipeline creation time (in a subsequent execution), using VkRayTracingShaderGroupCreateInfoKHR::pShaderGroupCaptureReplayHandle, as described in Ray Tracing Capture Replay.

If pipeline was created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR and the pipelineLibraryGroupHandles feature is enabled applications can query capture replay group handles from that pipeline. The capture replay handle remains bitwise identical for any pipeline which references the pipeline library. Group indices are assigned as-if the pipeline was created without VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pipeline-04620
    pipeline must be a ray tracing pipeline

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-firstGroup-04051
    firstGroup must be less than the number of shader groups in pipeline

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-firstGroup-03483
    The sum of firstGroup and groupCount must be less than or equal to the number of shader groups in pipeline

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-dataSize-03484
    dataSize must be at least VkPhysicalDeviceRayTracingPipelinePropertiesKHR::shaderGroupHandleCaptureReplaySize × groupCount

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-rayTracingPipelineShaderGroupHandleCaptureReplay-03606
    VkPhysicalDeviceRayTracingPipelineFeaturesKHR::rayTracingPipelineShaderGroupHandleCaptureReplay must be enabled to call this function

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pipeline-03607
    pipeline must have been created with a flags that included VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_HANDLE_CAPTURE_REPLAY_BIT_KHR

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pipeline-07829
    If the pipelineLibraryGroupHandles feature is not enabled, pipeline must not have been created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pipeline-parameter
    pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pData-parameter
    pData must be a valid pointer to an array of dataSize bytes

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-dataSize-arraylength
    dataSize must be greater than 0

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingCaptureReplayShaderGroupHandlesKHR-pipeline-parent
    pipeline must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

To query the pipeline stack size of shaders in a shader group in the ray tracing pipeline, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
VkDeviceSize vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupStackSizeKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipeline                                  pipeline,
    uint32_t                                    group,
    VkShaderGroupShaderKHR                      groupShader);

  • device is the logical device containing the ray tracing pipeline.

  • pipeline is the ray tracing pipeline object containing the shaders groups.

  • group is the index of the shader group to query.

  • groupShader is the type of shader from the group to query.

The return value is the ray tracing pipeline stack size in bytes for the specified shader as called from the specified shader group.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupStackSizeKHR-pipeline-04622
    pipeline must be a ray tracing pipeline

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupStackSizeKHR-group-03608
    The value of group must be less than the number of shader groups in pipeline

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupStackSizeKHR-groupShader-03609
    The shader identified by groupShader in group must not be VK_SHADER_UNUSED_KHR

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupStackSizeKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupStackSizeKHR-pipeline-parameter
    pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupStackSizeKHR-groupShader-parameter
    groupShader must be a valid VkShaderGroupShaderKHR value

  • VUID-vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupStackSizeKHR-pipeline-parent
    pipeline must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Possible values of groupShader in vkGetRayTracingShaderGroupStackSizeKHR are:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
typedef enum VkShaderGroupShaderKHR {
    VK_SHADER_GROUP_SHADER_GENERAL_KHR = 0,
    VK_SHADER_GROUP_SHADER_CLOSEST_HIT_KHR = 1,
    VK_SHADER_GROUP_SHADER_ANY_HIT_KHR = 2,
    VK_SHADER_GROUP_SHADER_INTERSECTION_KHR = 3,
} VkShaderGroupShaderKHR;

To dynamically set the stack size for a ray tracing pipeline, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
void vkCmdSetRayTracingPipelineStackSizeKHR(
    VkCommandBuffer                             commandBuffer,
    uint32_t                                    pipelineStackSize);

  • commandBuffer is the command buffer into which the command will be recorded.

  • pipelineStackSize is the stack size to use for subsequent ray tracing trace commands.

This command sets the stack size for subsequent ray tracing commands when the ray tracing pipeline is created with VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_RAY_TRACING_PIPELINE_STACK_SIZE_KHR set in VkPipelineDynamicStateCreateInfo::pDynamicStates. Otherwise, the stack size is computed as described in Ray Tracing Pipeline Stack.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkCmdSetRayTracingPipelineStackSizeKHR-pipelineStackSize-03610
    pipelineStackSize must be large enough for any dynamic execution through the shaders in the ray tracing pipeline used by a subsequent trace call

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCmdSetRayTracingPipelineStackSizeKHR-commandBuffer-parameter
    commandBuffer must be a valid VkCommandBuffer handle

  • VUID-vkCmdSetRayTracingPipelineStackSizeKHR-commandBuffer-recording
    commandBuffer must be in the recording state

  • VUID-vkCmdSetRayTracingPipelineStackSizeKHR-commandBuffer-cmdpool
    The VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must support VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT operations

  • VUID-vkCmdSetRayTracingPipelineStackSizeKHR-renderpass
    This command must only be called outside of a render pass instance

  • VUID-vkCmdSetRayTracingPipelineStackSizeKHR-videocoding
    This command must only be called outside of a video coding scope

Host Synchronization

  • Host access to commandBuffer must be externally synchronized

  • Host access to the VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must be externally synchronized

Command Properties
Command Buffer Levels Render Pass Scope Video Coding Scope Supported Queue Types Command Type

Primary
Secondary

Outside

Outside

VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT

State
Conditional Rendering

vkCmdSetRayTracingPipelineStackSizeKHR is not affected by conditional rendering

Ray tracing pipelines can contain more shaders than a graphics or compute pipeline, so to allow parallel compilation of shaders within a pipeline, an application can choose to defer compilation until a later point in time.

To compile a deferred shader in a pipeline call:

// Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
VkResult vkCompileDeferredNV(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipeline                                  pipeline,
    uint32_t                                    shader);

  • device is the logical device containing the ray tracing pipeline.

  • pipeline is the ray tracing pipeline object containing the shaders.

  • shader is the index of the shader to compile.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkCompileDeferredNV-pipeline-04621
    pipeline must be a ray tracing pipeline

  • VUID-vkCompileDeferredNV-pipeline-02237
    pipeline must have been created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DEFER_COMPILE_BIT_NV

  • VUID-vkCompileDeferredNV-shader-02238
    shader must not have been called as a deferred compile before

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCompileDeferredNV-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkCompileDeferredNV-pipeline-parameter
    pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

  • VUID-vkCompileDeferredNV-pipeline-parent
    pipeline must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

Pipeline Destruction

To destroy a pipeline, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
void vkDestroyPipeline(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipeline                                  pipeline,
    const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator);

  • device is the logical device that destroys the pipeline.

  • pipeline is the handle of the pipeline to destroy.

  • pAllocator controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipeline-pipeline-00765
    All submitted commands that refer to pipeline must have completed execution

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipeline-pipeline-00766
    If VkAllocationCallbacks were provided when pipeline was created, a compatible set of callbacks must be provided here

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipeline-pipeline-00767
    If no VkAllocationCallbacks were provided when pipeline was created, pAllocator must be NULL

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipeline-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipeline-pipeline-parameter
    If pipeline is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipeline-pAllocator-parameter
    If pAllocator is not NULL, pAllocator must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipeline-pipeline-parent
    If pipeline is a valid handle, it must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Host Synchronization

  • Host access to pipeline must be externally synchronized

Pipeline Derivatives

A pipeline derivative is a child pipeline created from a parent pipeline, where the child and parent are expected to have much commonality.

The goal of derivative pipelines is that they be cheaper to create using the parent as a starting point, and that it be more efficient (on either host or device) to switch/bind between children of the same parent.

A derivative pipeline is created by setting the VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DERIVATIVE_BIT flag in the Vk*PipelineCreateInfo structure. If this is set, then exactly one of basePipelineHandle or basePipelineIndex members of the structure must have a valid handle/index, and specifies the parent pipeline. If basePipelineHandle is used, the parent pipeline must have already been created. If basePipelineIndex is used, then the parent is being created in the same command. VK_NULL_HANDLE acts as the invalid handle for basePipelineHandle, and -1 is the invalid index for basePipelineIndex. If basePipelineIndex is used, the base pipeline must appear earlier in the array. The base pipeline must have been created with the VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_ALLOW_DERIVATIVES_BIT flag set.

Pipeline Cache

Pipeline cache objects allow the result of pipeline construction to be reused between pipelines and between runs of an application. Reuse between pipelines is achieved by passing the same pipeline cache object when creating multiple related pipelines. Reuse across runs of an application is achieved by retrieving pipeline cache contents in one run of an application, saving the contents, and using them to preinitialize a pipeline cache on a subsequent run. The contents of the pipeline cache objects are managed by the implementation. Applications can manage the host memory consumed by a pipeline cache object and control the amount of data retrieved from a pipeline cache object.

Pipeline cache objects are represented by VkPipelineCache handles:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
VK_DEFINE_NON_DISPATCHABLE_HANDLE(VkPipelineCache)

Creating a Pipeline Cache

To create pipeline cache objects, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
VkResult vkCreatePipelineCache(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    const VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo*            pCreateInfo,
    const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator,
    VkPipelineCache*                            pPipelineCache);

  • device is the logical device that creates the pipeline cache object.

  • pCreateInfo is a pointer to a VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo structure containing initial parameters for the pipeline cache object.

  • pAllocator controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

  • pPipelineCache is a pointer to a VkPipelineCache handle in which the resulting pipeline cache object is returned.

Applications can track and manage the total host memory size of a pipeline cache object using the pAllocator. Applications can limit the amount of data retrieved from a pipeline cache object in vkGetPipelineCacheData. Implementations should not internally limit the total number of entries added to a pipeline cache object or the total host memory consumed.

Once created, a pipeline cache can be passed to the vkCreateGraphicsPipelines vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR, vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesNV, vkCreateDataGraphPipelinesARM, and vkCreateComputePipelines commands. If the pipeline cache passed into these commands is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, the implementation will query it for possible reuse opportunities and update it with new content. The use of the pipeline cache object in these commands is internally synchronized, and the same pipeline cache object can be used in multiple threads simultaneously.

If flags of pCreateInfo includes VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_CREATE_EXTERNALLY_SYNCHRONIZED_BIT, all commands that modify the returned pipeline cache object must be externally synchronized.

Implementations should make every effort to limit any critical sections to the actual accesses to the cache, which is expected to be significantly shorter than the duration of the vkCreate*Pipelines commands.
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCreatePipelineCache-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkCreatePipelineCache-pCreateInfo-parameter
    pCreateInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo structure

  • VUID-vkCreatePipelineCache-pAllocator-parameter
    If pAllocator is not NULL, pAllocator must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

  • VUID-vkCreatePipelineCache-pPipelineCache-parameter
    pPipelineCache must be a valid pointer to a VkPipelineCache handle

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef struct VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo {
    VkStructureType               sType;
    const void*                   pNext;
    VkPipelineCacheCreateFlags    flags;
    size_t                        initialDataSize;
    const void*                   pInitialData;
} VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • flags is a bitmask of VkPipelineCacheCreateFlagBits specifying the behavior of the pipeline cache.

  • initialDataSize is the number of bytes in pInitialData. If initialDataSize is zero, the pipeline cache will initially be empty.

  • pInitialData is a pointer to previously retrieved pipeline cache data. If the pipeline cache data is incompatible (as defined below) with the device, the pipeline cache will be initially empty. If initialDataSize is zero, pInitialData is ignored.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PIPELINE_CACHE_CREATE_INFO

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo-flags-parameter
    flags must be a valid combination of VkPipelineCacheCreateFlagBits values

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo-pInitialData-parameter
    If initialDataSize is not 0, pInitialData must be a valid pointer to an array of initialDataSize bytes

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef VkFlags VkPipelineCacheCreateFlags;

VkPipelineCacheCreateFlags is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkPipelineCacheCreateFlagBits.

Bits which can be set in VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo::flags, specifying behavior of the pipeline cache, are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3, VK_KHR_maintenance8, VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control
typedef enum VkPipelineCacheCreateFlagBits {
  // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
    VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_CREATE_EXTERNALLY_SYNCHRONIZED_BIT = 0x00000001,
  // Provided by VK_KHR_maintenance8
    VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_CREATE_INTERNALLY_SYNCHRONIZED_MERGE_BIT_KHR = 0x00000008,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_cache_control
    VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_CREATE_EXTERNALLY_SYNCHRONIZED_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_CREATE_EXTERNALLY_SYNCHRONIZED_BIT,
} VkPipelineCacheCreateFlagBits;

Merging Pipeline Caches

Pipeline cache objects can be merged using the command:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
VkResult vkMergePipelineCaches(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipelineCache                             dstCache,
    uint32_t                                    srcCacheCount,
    const VkPipelineCache*                      pSrcCaches);

  • device is the logical device that owns the pipeline cache objects.

  • dstCache is the handle of the pipeline cache to merge results into.

  • srcCacheCount is the length of the pSrcCaches array.

  • pSrcCaches is a pointer to an array of pipeline cache handles, which will be merged into dstCache. The previous contents of dstCache are included after the merge.

The details of the merge operation are implementation-dependent, but implementations should merge the contents of the specified pipelines and prune duplicate entries.
Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkMergePipelineCaches-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkMergePipelineCaches-dstCache-parameter
    dstCache must be a valid VkPipelineCache handle

  • VUID-vkMergePipelineCaches-pSrcCaches-parameter
    pSrcCaches must be a valid pointer to an array of srcCacheCount valid VkPipelineCache handles

  • VUID-vkMergePipelineCaches-srcCacheCount-arraylength
    srcCacheCount must be greater than 0

  • VUID-vkMergePipelineCaches-dstCache-parent
    dstCache must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

  • VUID-vkMergePipelineCaches-pSrcCaches-parent
    Each element of pSrcCaches must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

Retrieving Pipeline Cache Data

Data can be retrieved from a pipeline cache object using the command:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
VkResult vkGetPipelineCacheData(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipelineCache                             pipelineCache,
    size_t*                                     pDataSize,
    void*                                       pData);

  • device is the logical device that owns the pipeline cache.

  • pipelineCache is the pipeline cache to retrieve data from.

  • pDataSize is a pointer to a size_t value related to the amount of data in the pipeline cache, as described below.

  • pData is either NULL or a pointer to a buffer.

If pData is NULL, then the maximum size of the data that can be retrieved from the pipeline cache, in bytes, is returned in pDataSize. Otherwise, pDataSize must point to a variable set by the application to the size of the buffer, in bytes, pointed to by pData, and on return the variable is overwritten with the amount of data actually written to pData. If pDataSize is less than the maximum size that can be retrieved by the pipeline cache, at most pDataSize bytes will be written to pData, and VK_INCOMPLETE will be returned instead of VK_SUCCESS, to indicate that not all of the pipeline cache was returned.

Any data written to pData is valid and can be provided as the pInitialData member of the VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo structure passed to vkCreatePipelineCache.

Two calls to vkGetPipelineCacheData with the same parameters must retrieve the same data unless a command that modifies the contents of the cache is called between them.

The initial bytes written to pData must be a header as described in the Pipeline Cache Header section.

If pDataSize is less than what is necessary to store this header, nothing will be written to pData and zero will be written to pDataSize.

This query does not behave consistently with the behavior described in Opaque Binary Data Results, for historical reasons.

If the amount of data available is larger than the passed pDataSize, the query returns up to the size of the passed buffer, and signals overflow with a VK_INCOMPLETE success status instead of returning a VK_ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_SPACE_KHR error status.
Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineCacheData-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineCacheData-pipelineCache-parameter
    pipelineCache must be a valid VkPipelineCache handle

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineCacheData-pDataSize-parameter
    pDataSize must be a valid pointer to a size_t value

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineCacheData-pData-parameter
    If the value referenced by pDataSize is not 0, and pData is not NULL, pData must be a valid pointer to an array of pDataSize bytes

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineCacheData-pipelineCache-parent
    pipelineCache must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

Pipeline Cache Header

Applications can store the data retrieved from the pipeline cache, and use these data, possibly in a future run of the application, to populate new pipeline cache objects. The results of pipeline compiles, however, may depend on the vendor ID, device ID, driver version, and other details of the device. To enable applications to detect when previously retrieved data is incompatible with the device, the pipeline cache data must begin with a valid pipeline cache header.

Structures described in this section are not part of the Vulkan API and are only used to describe the representation of data elements in pipeline cache data. Accordingly, the valid usage clauses defined for structures defined in this section do not define valid usage conditions for APIs accepting pipeline cache data as input, as providing invalid pipeline cache data as input to any Vulkan API commands will result in the provided pipeline cache data being ignored.

Version one of the pipeline cache header is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef struct VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionOne {
    uint32_t                        headerSize;
    VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersion    headerVersion;
    uint32_t                        vendorID;
    uint32_t                        deviceID;
    uint8_t                         pipelineCacheUUID[VK_UUID_SIZE];
} VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionOne;

  • headerSize is the length in bytes of the pipeline cache header.

  • headerVersion is a VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersion value specifying the version of the header. A consumer of the pipeline cache should use the cache version to interpret the remainder of the cache header. headerVersion must be written as exactly 4 bytes.

  • vendorID is the VkPhysicalDeviceProperties::vendorID of the implementation.

  • deviceID is the VkPhysicalDeviceProperties::deviceID of the implementation.

  • pipelineCacheUUID is the VkPhysicalDeviceProperties::pipelineCacheUUID of the implementation.

Unlike most structures declared by the Vulkan API, all fields of this structure are written with the least significant byte first, regardless of host byte-order.

The C language specification does not define the packing of structure members. This layout assumes tight structure member packing, with members laid out in the order listed in the structure, and the intended size of the structure is 32 bytes. If a compiler produces code that diverges from that pattern, applications must employ another method to set values at the correct offsets.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionOne-headerSize-04967
    headerSize must be 32

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionOne-headerVersion-04968
    headerVersion must be VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_HEADER_VERSION_ONE

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionOne-headerSize-08990
    headerSize must not exceed the size of the pipeline cache

Valid Usage (Implicit)

Possible values of the headerVersion value of the pipeline cache header are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef enum VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersion {
    VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_HEADER_VERSION_ONE = 1,
  // Provided by VK_QCOM_data_graph_model
    VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_HEADER_VERSION_DATA_GRAPH_QCOM = 1000629000,
} VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersion;

The data graph pipeline cache header is defined as:

// Provided by VK_QCOM_data_graph_model
typedef struct VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionDataGraphQCOM {
    uint32_t                         headerSize;
    VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersion     headerVersion;
    VkDataGraphModelCacheTypeQCOM    cacheType;
    uint32_t                         cacheVersion;
    uint32_t                         toolchainVersion[VK_DATA_GRAPH_MODEL_TOOLCHAIN_VERSION_LENGTH_QCOM];
} VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionDataGraphQCOM;

  • headerSize is the length in bytes of the pipeline cache header.

  • headerVersion is a VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersion value specifying the version of the header. A consumer of the pipeline cache should use the cache version to interpret the remainder of the cache header. headerVersion must be written as exactly 4 bytes.

  • cacheType is the VkDataGraphModelCacheTypeQCOM type of data graph cache encoded in the data.

  • cacheVersion is the version of the encoding of the data graph cache.

  • toolchainVersion is a null-terminated UTF-8 string specifying the version of the compiler that built the data graph cache.

The application should verify that the header info is compatible with the VkDataGraphProcessingEngineCreateInfoARM passed during pipeline creation. Implementations may return VK_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_EXT from vkCreateDataGraphPipelinesARM if the cache is not compatible.

This cache type is built using offline compilation, therefore Vulkan does not define engine compatibility. The application should refer to the offline compiler used to create the cache for guidance on compatibility.

Unlike most structures declared by the Vulkan API, all fields of this structure are written with the least significant byte first, regardless of host byte-order.

The C language specification does not define the packing of structure members. This layout assumes tight structure member packing, with members laid out in the order listed in the structure, and the intended size of the structure is 28 bytes. If a compiler produces code that diverges from that pattern, applications must employ another method to set values at the correct offsets.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionDataGraphQCOM-None-11835
    The dataGraphModel feature must be enabled

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionDataGraphQCOM-headerSize-11836
    headerSize must be 28

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionDataGraphQCOM-headerVersion-11837
    headerVersion must be VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_HEADER_VERSION_DATA_GRAPH_QCOM

  • VUID-VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionDataGraphQCOM-headerSize-11838
    headerSize must not exceed the size of the pipeline cache

Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkDataGraphModelCacheTypeQCOM enumeration determines the contents of the pipeline data graph cache.

Possible values are:

// Provided by VK_QCOM_data_graph_model
typedef enum VkDataGraphModelCacheTypeQCOM {
    VK_DATA_GRAPH_MODEL_CACHE_TYPE_GENERIC_BINARY_QCOM = 0,
} VkDataGraphModelCacheTypeQCOM;

VK_DATA_GRAPH_MODEL_TOOLCHAIN_VERSION_LENGTH_QCOM is the length in char values of an array containing the version of the compiler that built a data graph cache, as returned in VkPipelineCacheHeaderVersionDataGraphQCOM::toolchainVersion.

#define VK_DATA_GRAPH_MODEL_TOOLCHAIN_VERSION_LENGTH_QCOM 3U

Destroying a Pipeline Cache

To destroy a pipeline cache, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
void vkDestroyPipelineCache(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipelineCache                             pipelineCache,
    const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator);

  • device is the logical device that destroys the pipeline cache object.

  • pipelineCache is the handle of the pipeline cache to destroy.

  • pAllocator controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineCache-pipelineCache-00771
    If VkAllocationCallbacks were provided when pipelineCache was created, a compatible set of callbacks must be provided here

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineCache-pipelineCache-00772
    If no VkAllocationCallbacks were provided when pipelineCache was created, pAllocator must be NULL

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineCache-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineCache-pipelineCache-parameter
    If pipelineCache is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, pipelineCache must be a valid VkPipelineCache handle

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineCache-pAllocator-parameter
    If pAllocator is not NULL, pAllocator must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineCache-pipelineCache-parent
    If pipelineCache is a valid handle, it must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Host Synchronization

  • Host access to pipelineCache must be externally synchronized

Pipeline Binaries

Pipeline binary objects allow the result of pipeline construction to be reused between pipelines and between runs of an application. Reuse is achieved by extracting pipeline binaries from a VkPipeline object, associating them with a corresponding VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR and then adding a VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR to the pNext chain of any Vk*PipelineCreateInfo when creating a pipeline. Pipeline binaries can be reused between runs by extracting VkPipelineBinaryDataKHR from VkPipelineBinaryKHR objects, saving the contents, and then using them to create a VkPipelineBinaryKHR object on subsequent runs.

When creating a pipeline that includes VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR in the pNext chain, or has the VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_CAPTURE_DATA_BIT_KHR flag set, the use of VkPipelineCache objects is not allowed.

Pipeline binary objects are represented by VkPipelineBinaryKHR handles:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
VK_DEFINE_NON_DISPATCHABLE_HANDLE(VkPipelineBinaryKHR)

Generating the Pipeline Key

To generate the key for a particular pipeline creation info, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
VkResult vkGetPipelineKeyKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    const VkPipelineCreateInfoKHR*              pPipelineCreateInfo,
    VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR*                     pPipelineKey);

  • device is the logical device that creates the pipeline object.

  • pPipelineCreateInfo is NULL or a pointer to a VkPipelineCreateInfoKHR structure.

  • pPipelineKey is a pointer to a VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR structure in which the resulting key is returned.

If pPipelineCreateInfo is NULL, then the implementation must return the global key that applies to all pipelines. If the key obtained in this way changes between saving and restoring data obtained from vkGetPipelineBinaryDataKHR in a different VkDevice, then the application must assume that the restored data is invalid and cannot be passed to vkCreatePipelineBinariesKHR. Otherwise the application can assume the data is still valid.

If pPipelineCreateInfo is not NULL, the key obtained functions as a method to compare two pipeline creation info structures. Implementations may not compare parts of a pipeline creation info which would not contribute to the final binary output. If a shader module identifier is used instead of a shader module, the pPipelineKey generated must be equal to the key generated when using the shader module from which the identifier was queried. If the content of two pPipelineKey are equal, pipelines created with the two pPipelineCreateInfo->pNext create infos must produce the same VkPipelineBinaryKHR contents.

The pipeline key is distinct from pipeline binary key. Pipeline binary keys can only be obtained after compilation. The pipeline key is intended to optionally allow associating pipeline create info with multiple pipeline binary keys.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineKeyKHR-pNext-09605
    The pNext chain of pPipelineCreateInfo must not set VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR::binaryCount to a value greater than 0

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineKeyKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineKeyKHR-pPipelineCreateInfo-parameter
    If pPipelineCreateInfo is not NULL, pPipelineCreateInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineCreateInfoKHR structure

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineKeyKHR-pPipelineKey-parameter
    pPipelineKey must be a valid pointer to a VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR structure

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkPipelineCreateInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
typedef struct VkPipelineCreateInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
} VkPipelineCreateInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
typedef struct VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    uint32_t           keySize;
    uint8_t            key[VK_MAX_PIPELINE_BINARY_KEY_SIZE_KHR];
} VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • keySize is the size, in bytes, of valid data returned in key.

  • key is a buffer of opaque data specifying a pipeline binary key.

Any returned values beyond the first keySize bytes are undefined. Implementations must return a keySize greater than 0, and less-or-equal to VK_MAX_PIPELINE_BINARY_KEY_SIZE_KHR.

Two keys are considered equal if keySize is equal and the first keySize bytes of key compare equal.

Implementations may return a different keySize for different binaries.

Implementations should ensure that keySize is large enough to uniquely identify a pipeline binary.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

VK_MAX_PIPELINE_BINARY_KEY_SIZE_KHR is the length in bytes of a binary key, as returned in VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR::keySize.

#define VK_MAX_PIPELINE_BINARY_KEY_SIZE_KHR 32U

Creating Pipeline Binaries

To create pipeline binary objects, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
VkResult vkCreatePipelineBinariesKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    const VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR*        pCreateInfo,
    const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator,
    VkPipelineBinaryHandlesInfoKHR*             pBinaries);

  • device is the logical device that creates the pipeline binary objects.

  • pCreateInfo is a pointer to a VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR structure that contains the data to create the pipeline binaries from.

  • pAllocator controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

  • pBinaries is a pointer to a VkPipelineBinaryHandlesInfoKHR structure in which the resulting pipeline binaries are returned.

The implementation will attempt to create all pipeline binaries. If creation fails for any pipeline binary, then:

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCreatePipelineBinariesKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkCreatePipelineBinariesKHR-pCreateInfo-parameter
    pCreateInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR structure

  • VUID-vkCreatePipelineBinariesKHR-pAllocator-parameter
    If pAllocator is not NULL, pAllocator must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

  • VUID-vkCreatePipelineBinariesKHR-pBinaries-parameter
    pBinaries must be a valid pointer to a VkPipelineBinaryHandlesInfoKHR structure

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkPipelineBinaryHandlesInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
typedef struct VkPipelineBinaryHandlesInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType         sType;
    const void*             pNext;
    uint32_t                pipelineBinaryCount;
    VkPipelineBinaryKHR*    pPipelineBinaries;
} VkPipelineBinaryHandlesInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • pipelineBinaryCount is the number of binaries associated with this pipeline or the number of entries in the pPipelineBinaries array.

  • pPipelineBinaries is NULL or a pointer to an array of VkPipelineBinaryKHR handles in which the resulting pipeline binaries are returned.

If pPipelineBinaries is NULL, the number of binaries that would be created is returned in pipelineBinaryCount. Otherwise, pipelineBinaryCount must be the number of entries in the pPipelineBinaries array, and on return from vkCreatePipelineBinariesKHR pipelineBinaryCount is overwritten with the number of handles actually written to pPipelineBinaries. If the value of pipelineBinaryCount is less than the number of binaries that would have been created, at most pipelineBinaryCount handles will be written to pPipelineBinaries and VK_INCOMPLETE will be returned instead of VK_SUCCESS, to indicate that pPipelineBinaries was not large enough to create all the binaries.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryHandlesInfoKHR-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PIPELINE_BINARY_HANDLES_INFO_KHR

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryHandlesInfoKHR-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryHandlesInfoKHR-pPipelineBinaries-parameter
    If pipelineBinaryCount is not 0, and pPipelineBinaries is not NULL, pPipelineBinaries must be a valid pointer to an array of pipelineBinaryCount VkPipelineBinaryKHR handles

The VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
typedef struct VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType                          sType;
    const void*                              pNext;
    const VkPipelineBinaryKeysAndDataKHR*    pKeysAndDataInfo;
    VkPipeline                               pipeline;
    const VkPipelineCreateInfoKHR*           pPipelineCreateInfo;
} VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • pKeysAndDataInfo is NULL or a pointer to a VkPipelineBinaryKeysAndDataKHR structure that contains keys and data to create the pipeline binaries from.

  • pipeline is VK_NULL_HANDLE or a VkPipeline that contains data to create the pipeline binaries from.

  • pPipelineCreateInfo is NULL or a pointer to a VkPipelineCreateInfoKHR structure with the pipeline creation info. This is used to probe the implementation’s internal cache for pipeline binaries.

When pPipelineCreateInfo is not NULL, an implementation will attempt to retrieve pipeline binary data from an internal cache external to the application if pipelineBinaryInternalCache is VK_TRUE. Applications can use this to determine if a pipeline can be created without compilation. If the implementation fails to create a pipeline binary due to missing an internal cache entry, VK_PIPELINE_BINARY_MISSING_KHR is returned. If creation succeeds, the resulting binary can be used to create a pipeline. VK_PIPELINE_BINARY_MISSING_KHR may be returned for any reason in this situation, even if creating a pipeline binary with the same parameters that succeeded earlier.

If pipelineBinaryPrecompiledInternalCache is VK_TRUE, the implementation may be able to create pipeline binaries even when pPipelineCreateInfo has not been used to create binaries before by the application.

On some platforms, internal pipeline caches may be pre-populated before running the application.
Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PIPELINE_BINARY_CREATE_INFO_KHR

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR-pKeysAndDataInfo-parameter
    If pKeysAndDataInfo is not NULL, pKeysAndDataInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineBinaryKeysAndDataKHR structure

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR-pipeline-parameter
    If pipeline is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryCreateInfoKHR-pPipelineCreateInfo-parameter
    If pPipelineCreateInfo is not NULL, pPipelineCreateInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineCreateInfoKHR structure

The VkPipelineBinaryKeysAndDataKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
typedef struct VkPipelineBinaryKeysAndDataKHR {
    uint32_t                          binaryCount;
    const VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR*     pPipelineBinaryKeys;
    const VkPipelineBinaryDataKHR*    pPipelineBinaryData;
} VkPipelineBinaryKeysAndDataKHR;

  • binaryCount is the size of the pPipelineBinaryKeys and pPipelineBinaryData arrays

  • pPipelineBinaryKeys is a pointer to an array of VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR structures containing the pipeline binary keys

  • pPipelineBinaryData is a pointer to an array of VkPipelineBinaryDataKHR structures containing the pipeline binary data

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryKeysAndDataKHR-pPipelineBinaryKeys-parameter
    pPipelineBinaryKeys must be a valid pointer to an array of binaryCount valid VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR structures

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryKeysAndDataKHR-pPipelineBinaryData-parameter
    pPipelineBinaryData must be a valid pointer to an array of binaryCount valid VkPipelineBinaryDataKHR structures

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryKeysAndDataKHR-binaryCount-arraylength
    binaryCount must be greater than 0

The VkPipelineBinaryDataKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
typedef struct VkPipelineBinaryDataKHR {
    size_t    dataSize;
    void*     pData;
} VkPipelineBinaryDataKHR;

  • dataSize is the size of the pData buffer in bytes.

  • pData is a pointer to a buffer of size bytes that contains pipeline binary data obtained from vkGetPipelineBinaryDataKHR.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryDataKHR-pData-parameter
    pData must be a valid pointer to an array of dataSize bytes

  • VUID-VkPipelineBinaryDataKHR-dataSize-arraylength
    dataSize must be greater than 0

Retrieving Pipeline Binary Data

Data can be retrieved from a pipeline binary object using the command:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
VkResult vkGetPipelineBinaryDataKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    const VkPipelineBinaryDataInfoKHR*          pInfo,
    VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR*                     pPipelineBinaryKey,
    size_t*                                     pPipelineBinaryDataSize,
    void*                                       pPipelineBinaryData);

  • device is the logical device that created the pipeline binary.

  • pInfo is a pointer to a VkPipelineBinaryDataInfoKHR structure which describes the pipeline binary to get data from.

  • pPipelineBinaryKey is a pointer to a VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR structure where the key for this binary will be written.

  • pPipelineBinaryDataSize is a pointer to a size_t value related to the amount of data in the pipeline binary, as described below.

  • pPipelineBinaryData is either NULL or a pointer to a buffer.

If pPipelineBinaryData is NULL, then the size of the data, in bytes, that is required to store the binary is returned in pPipelineBinaryDataSize. Otherwise, pPipelineBinaryDataSize must contain the size of the buffer, in bytes, pointed to by pPipelineBinaryData, and on return pPipelineBinaryDataSize is overwritten with the size of the data, in bytes, that is required to store the binary. If pPipelineBinaryDataSize is less than the size that is required to store the binary, nothing is written to pPipelineBinaryData and VK_ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_SPACE_KHR will be returned, instead of VK_SUCCESS.

If the call returns one of the success return codes, the pipeline binary key is written to pPipelineBinaryKey, regardless of whether pPipelineBinaryData is NULL or not.

If pipelineBinaryCompressedData is VK_FALSE, implementations should not return compressed pipeline binary data to the application.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineBinaryDataKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineBinaryDataKHR-pInfo-parameter
    pInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineBinaryDataInfoKHR structure

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineBinaryDataKHR-pPipelineBinaryKey-parameter
    pPipelineBinaryKey must be a valid pointer to a VkPipelineBinaryKeyKHR structure

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineBinaryDataKHR-pPipelineBinaryDataSize-parameter
    pPipelineBinaryDataSize must be a valid pointer to a size_t value

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineBinaryDataKHR-pPipelineBinaryData-parameter
    If the value referenced by pPipelineBinaryDataSize is not 0, and pPipelineBinaryData is not NULL, pPipelineBinaryData must be a valid pointer to an array of pPipelineBinaryDataSize bytes

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkPipelineBinaryDataInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
typedef struct VkPipelineBinaryDataInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType        sType;
    void*                  pNext;
    VkPipelineBinaryKHR    pipelineBinary;
} VkPipelineBinaryDataInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • pipelineBinary is the pipeline binary to get data from.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

Releasing Captured Pipeline Binary Data

To release pipeline resources captured with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_CAPTURE_DATA_BIT_KHR, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
VkResult vkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    const VkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataInfoKHR* pInfo,
    const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator);

  • device is the logical device that created the pipeline object.

  • pInfo is a pointer to a VkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataInfoKHR structure which describes the pipeline to release the data from.

  • pAllocator controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

The implementation may free any resources captured as a result of creating the pipeline with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_CAPTURE_DATA_BIT_KHR and put the pipeline into a state as if VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_CAPTURE_DATA_BIT_KHR had not been provided at pipeline creation time.

Any resources captured as a result of creating the pipeline with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_CAPTURE_DATA_BIT_KHR are implicitly freed by vkDestroyPipeline.
Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataKHR-pipeline-09611
    If VkAllocationCallbacks were provided when pipeline was created, a compatible set of callbacks must be provided in pAllocator

  • VUID-vkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataKHR-pipeline-09612
    If no VkAllocationCallbacks were provided when pipeline was created, pAllocator must be NULL

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataKHR-pInfo-parameter
    pInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataInfoKHR structure

  • VUID-vkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataKHR-pAllocator-parameter
    If pAllocator is not NULL, pAllocator must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
typedef struct VkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    VkPipeline         pipeline;
} VkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • pipeline the handle of the pipeline object to release the data from.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataInfoKHR-pipeline-09613
    pipeline must have been created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_CAPTURE_DATA_BIT_KHR

  • VUID-VkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataInfoKHR-pipeline-09618
    pipeline must not have been used in a previous call to vkReleaseCapturedPipelineDataKHR

Valid Usage (Implicit)
Host Synchronization

  • Host access to pipeline must be externally synchronized

Destroying Pipeline Binaries

To destroy a VkPipelineBinaryKHR, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_binary
void vkDestroyPipelineBinaryKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipelineBinaryKHR                         pipelineBinary,
    const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator);

  • device is the logical device that created the pipeline binary object.

  • pipelineBinary is the handle of the pipeline binary object to destroy.

  • pAllocator controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineBinaryKHR-pipelineBinary-09614
    If VkAllocationCallbacks were provided when pipelineBinary was created, a compatible set of callbacks must be provided here

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineBinaryKHR-pipelineBinary-09615
    If no VkAllocationCallbacks were provided when pipelineBinary was created, pAllocator must be NULL

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineBinaryKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineBinaryKHR-pipelineBinary-parameter
    If pipelineBinary is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, pipelineBinary must be a valid VkPipelineBinaryKHR handle

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineBinaryKHR-pAllocator-parameter
    If pAllocator is not NULL, pAllocator must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

  • VUID-vkDestroyPipelineBinaryKHR-pipelineBinary-parent
    If pipelineBinary is a valid handle, it must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Host Synchronization

  • Host access to pipelineBinary must be externally synchronized

Specialization Constants

Specialization constants are a mechanism whereby constants in a SPIR-V module can have their constant value specified at the time the VkPipeline is created. This allows a SPIR-V module to have constants that can be modified while executing an application that uses the Vulkan API.

Specialization constants are useful to allow a compute shader to have its local workgroup size changed at runtime by the user, for example.

Each VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo structure contains a pSpecializationInfo member, which can be NULL to indicate no specialization constants, or point to a VkSpecializationInfo structure.

The VkSpecializationInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef struct VkSpecializationInfo {
    uint32_t                           mapEntryCount;
    const VkSpecializationMapEntry*    pMapEntries;
    size_t                             dataSize;
    const void*                        pData;
} VkSpecializationInfo;

  • mapEntryCount is the number of entries in the pMapEntries array.

  • pMapEntries is a pointer to an array of VkSpecializationMapEntry structures, which map constant IDs to offsets in pData.

  • dataSize is the byte size of the pData buffer.

  • pData contains the actual constant values to specialize with.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkSpecializationInfo-offset-00773
    The offset member of each element of pMapEntries must be less than dataSize

  • VUID-VkSpecializationInfo-pMapEntries-00774
    The size member of each element of pMapEntries must be less than or equal to dataSize minus offset

  • VUID-VkSpecializationInfo-constantID-04911
    The constantID value of each element of pMapEntries must be unique within pMapEntries

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkSpecializationInfo-pMapEntries-parameter
    If mapEntryCount is not 0, pMapEntries must be a valid pointer to an array of mapEntryCount valid VkSpecializationMapEntry structures

  • VUID-VkSpecializationInfo-pData-parameter
    If dataSize is not 0, pData must be a valid pointer to an array of dataSize bytes

The VkSpecializationMapEntry structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef struct VkSpecializationMapEntry {
    uint32_t    constantID;
    uint32_t    offset;
    size_t      size;
} VkSpecializationMapEntry;

  • constantID is the ID of the specialization constant in SPIR-V.

  • offset is the byte offset of the specialization constant value within the supplied data buffer.

  • size is the byte size of the specialization constant value within the supplied data buffer.

If a constantID value is not a specialization constant ID used in the shader, that map entry does not affect the behavior of the pipeline.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkSpecializationMapEntry-constantID-00776
    For a constantID specialization constant declared in a shader, size must match the byte size of the constantID. If the specialization constant is of type boolean, size must be the byte size of VkBool32

In human readable SPIR-V:

OpDecorate %x SpecId 13 ; decorate .x component of WorkgroupSize with ID 13
OpDecorate %y SpecId 42 ; decorate .y component of WorkgroupSize with ID 42
OpDecorate %z SpecId 3  ; decorate .z component of WorkgroupSize with ID 3
OpDecorate %wgsize BuiltIn WorkgroupSize ; decorate WorkgroupSize onto constant
%i32 = OpTypeInt 32 0 ; declare an unsigned 32-bit type
%uvec3 = OpTypeVector %i32 3 ; declare a 3 element vector type of unsigned 32-bit
%x = OpSpecConstant %i32 1 ; declare the .x component of WorkgroupSize
%y = OpSpecConstant %i32 1 ; declare the .y component of WorkgroupSize
%z = OpSpecConstant %i32 1 ; declare the .z component of WorkgroupSize
%wgsize = OpSpecConstantComposite %uvec3 %x %y %z ; declare WorkgroupSize

From the above we have three specialization constants, one for each of the x, y and z elements of the WorkgroupSize vector.

Now to specialize the above via the specialization constants mechanism:

const VkSpecializationMapEntry entries[] =
{
    {
        .constantID = 13,
        .offset = 0 * sizeof(uint32_t),
        .size = sizeof(uint32_t)
    },
    {
        .constantID = 42,
        .offset = 1 * sizeof(uint32_t),
        .size = sizeof(uint32_t)
    },
    {
        .constantID = 3,
        .offset = 2 * sizeof(uint32_t),
        .size = sizeof(uint32_t)
    }
};

const uint32_t data[] = { 16, 8, 4 }; // our workgroup size is 16x8x4

const VkSpecializationInfo info =
{
    .mapEntryCount = 3,
    .pMapEntries  = entries,
    .dataSize = 3 * sizeof(uint32_t),
    .pData = data,
};

Then when calling vkCreateComputePipelines, and passing the VkSpecializationInfo we defined as the pSpecializationInfo parameter of VkPipelineShaderStageCreateInfo, we will create a compute pipeline with the runtime specified local workgroup size.

Another example would be that an application has a SPIR-V module that has some platform-dependent constants they wish to use.

In human readable SPIR-V:

OpDecorate %1 SpecId 0  ; decorate our signed 32-bit integer constant
OpDecorate %2 SpecId 12 ; decorate our 32-bit floating-point constant
%i32 = OpTypeInt 32 1   ; declare a signed 32-bit type
%float = OpTypeFloat 32 ; declare a 32-bit floating-point type
%1 = OpSpecConstant %i32 -1 ; some signed 32-bit integer constant
%2 = OpSpecConstant %float 0.5 ; some 32-bit floating-point constant

From the above we have two specialization constants, one is a signed 32-bit integer and the second is a 32-bit floating-point value.

Now to specialize the above via the specialization constants mechanism:

struct SpecializationData {
    int32_t data0;
    float data1;
};

const VkSpecializationMapEntry entries[] =
{
    {
        .constantID = 0,
        .offset = offsetof(SpecializationData, data0),
        .size = sizeof(SpecializationData::data0)
    },
    {
        .constantID = 12,
        .offset = offsetof(SpecializationData, data1),
        .size = sizeof(SpecializationData::data1)
    }
};

SpecializationData data;
data.data0 = -42;    // set the data for the 32-bit integer
data.data1 = 42.0f;  // set the data for the 32-bit floating-point

const VkSpecializationInfo info =
{
    .mapEntryCount = 2,
    .pMapEntries = entries,
    .dataSize = sizeof(data),
    .pdata = &data,
};

It is legal for a SPIR-V module with specializations to be compiled into a pipeline where no specialization information was provided. SPIR-V specialization constants contain default values such that if a specialization is not provided, the default value will be used. In the examples above, it would be valid for an application to only specialize some of the specialization constants within the SPIR-V module, and let the other constants use their default values encoded within the OpSpecConstant declarations.

Pipeline Libraries

A pipeline library is a special pipeline that was created using the VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR and cannot be bound, instead it defines a set of pipeline state which can be linked into other pipelines. For ray tracing pipelines this includes shaders and shader groups. For graphics pipelines this includes distinct library types defined by VkGraphicsPipelineLibraryFlagBitsEXT. The application must maintain the lifetime of a pipeline library based on the pipelines that link with it.

This linkage is achieved by using the following structure within the appropriate creation mechanisms:

The VkPipelineLibraryCreateInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_library
typedef struct VkPipelineLibraryCreateInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType      sType;
    const void*          pNext;
    uint32_t             libraryCount;
    const VkPipeline*    pLibraries;
} VkPipelineLibraryCreateInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • libraryCount is the number of pipeline libraries in pLibraries.

  • pLibraries is a pointer to an array of VkPipeline structures specifying pipeline libraries to use when creating a pipeline.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

Pipelines created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR libraries can depend on other pipeline libraries in VkPipelineLibraryCreateInfoKHR.

A pipeline library is considered in-use, as long as one of the linking pipelines is in-use. This applies recursively if a pipeline library includes other pipeline libraries.

Pipeline Binding

Once a pipeline has been created, it can be bound to the command buffer using the command:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
void vkCmdBindPipeline(
    VkCommandBuffer                             commandBuffer,
    VkPipelineBindPoint                         pipelineBindPoint,
    VkPipeline                                  pipeline);

  • commandBuffer is the command buffer that the pipeline will be bound to.

  • pipelineBindPoint is a VkPipelineBindPoint value specifying to which bind point the pipeline is bound. Binding one does not disturb the others.

  • pipeline is the pipeline to be bound.

Once bound, a pipeline binding affects subsequent commands that interact with the given pipeline type in the command buffer until a different pipeline of the same type is bound to the bind point, or until the pipeline bind point is disturbed by binding a shader object as described in Interaction with Pipelines. Commands that do not interact with the given pipeline type must not be affected by the pipeline state.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipeline-commandBuffer-parameter
    commandBuffer must be a valid VkCommandBuffer handle

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipeline-pipelineBindPoint-parameter
    pipelineBindPoint must be a valid VkPipelineBindPoint value

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipeline-pipeline-parameter
    pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipeline-commandBuffer-recording
    commandBuffer must be in the recording state

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipeline-commandBuffer-cmdpool
    The VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must support VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT, VK_QUEUE_DATA_GRAPH_BIT_ARM, or VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT operations

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipeline-videocoding
    This command must only be called outside of a video coding scope

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipeline-commonparent
    Both of commandBuffer, and pipeline must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from the same VkDevice

Host Synchronization

  • Host access to commandBuffer must be externally synchronized

  • Host access to the VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must be externally synchronized

Command Properties
Command Buffer Levels Render Pass Scope Video Coding Scope Supported Queue Types Command Type

Primary
Secondary

Both

Outside

VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT
VK_QUEUE_DATA_GRAPH_BIT_ARM
VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT

State
Conditional Rendering

vkCmdBindPipeline is not affected by conditional rendering

Possible values of vkCmdBindPipeline::pipelineBindPoint, specifying the bind point of a pipeline object, are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
typedef enum VkPipelineBindPoint {
    VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_GRAPHICS = 0,
    VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_COMPUTE = 1,
#ifdef VK_ENABLE_BETA_EXTENSIONS
  // Provided by VK_AMDX_shader_enqueue
    VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_EXECUTION_GRAPH_AMDX = 1000134000,
#endif
  // Provided by VK_KHR_ray_tracing_pipeline
    VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_RAY_TRACING_KHR = 1000165000,
  // Provided by VK_HUAWEI_subpass_shading
    VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_SUBPASS_SHADING_HUAWEI = 1000369003,
  // Provided by VK_ARM_data_graph
    VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_DATA_GRAPH_ARM = 1000507000,
  // Provided by VK_NV_ray_tracing
    VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_RAY_TRACING_NV = VK_PIPELINE_BIND_POINT_RAY_TRACING_KHR,
} VkPipelineBindPoint;

For pipelines that were created with the support of multiple shader groups (see Graphics Pipeline Shader Groups), the regular vkCmdBindPipeline command will bind Shader Group 0. To explicitly bind a shader group use:

// Provided by VK_NV_device_generated_commands
void vkCmdBindPipelineShaderGroupNV(
    VkCommandBuffer                             commandBuffer,
    VkPipelineBindPoint                         pipelineBindPoint,
    VkPipeline                                  pipeline,
    uint32_t                                    groupIndex);

  • commandBuffer is the command buffer that the pipeline will be bound to.

  • pipelineBindPoint is a VkPipelineBindPoint value specifying the bind point to which the pipeline will be bound.

  • pipeline is the pipeline to be bound.

  • groupIndex is the shader group to be bound.

Valid Usage
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipelineShaderGroupNV-commandBuffer-parameter
    commandBuffer must be a valid VkCommandBuffer handle

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipelineShaderGroupNV-pipelineBindPoint-parameter
    pipelineBindPoint must be a valid VkPipelineBindPoint value

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipelineShaderGroupNV-pipeline-parameter
    pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipelineShaderGroupNV-commandBuffer-recording
    commandBuffer must be in the recording state

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipelineShaderGroupNV-commandBuffer-cmdpool
    The VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must support VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT, or VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT operations

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipelineShaderGroupNV-videocoding
    This command must only be called outside of a video coding scope

  • VUID-vkCmdBindPipelineShaderGroupNV-commonparent
    Both of commandBuffer, and pipeline must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from the same VkDevice

Host Synchronization

  • Host access to commandBuffer must be externally synchronized

  • Host access to the VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must be externally synchronized

Command Properties
Command Buffer Levels Render Pass Scope Video Coding Scope Supported Queue Types Command Type

Primary
Secondary

Both

Outside

VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT
VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT

State
Conditional Rendering

vkCmdBindPipelineShaderGroupNV is not affected by conditional rendering

Interaction With Shader Objects

If the shaderObject feature is enabled, applications can use both pipelines and shader objects at the same time. The interaction between pipelines and shader objects is described in Interaction with Pipelines.

Dynamic State

When a pipeline object is bound, any pipeline object state that is not specified as dynamic is applied to the command buffer state. Pipeline object state that is specified as dynamic is not applied to the command buffer state at this time.

Instead, dynamic state can be modified at any time and persists for the lifetime of the command buffer, or until modified by another dynamic state setting command, or made invalid by binding a pipeline in which that state is statically specified.

If the commandBufferInheritance feature is enabled, all valid state from the previously executed command buffer in the queue is inherited into the next command buffer executed in the same queue. This inherited state does not need to be set again before draw or dispatch commands.

When a pipeline object is bound, the following applies to each state parameter:

  • If the state is not specified as dynamic in the new pipeline object, then that command buffer state is overwritten by the state in the new pipeline object. Before any draw or dispatch call with this pipeline there must not have been any calls to any of the corresponding dynamic state setting commands after this pipeline was bound.

  • If the state is specified as dynamic in the new pipeline object, then that command buffer state is not disturbed. Before any draw or dispatch call with this pipeline there must have been at least one call to each of the corresponding dynamic state setting commands. The state-setting commands must be recorded after command buffer recording was begun, or after the last command binding a pipeline object with that state specified as static, whichever was the latter.

  • If the state is not included (corresponding pointer in VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo was NULL or was ignored) in the new pipeline object, then that command buffer state is not disturbed. For example, mesh shading pipelines do not include vertex input state and therefore do not disturb any such command buffer state.

Dynamic state that does not affect the result of operations can be left undefined.

For example, if blending is disabled by the pipeline object state then the dynamic color blend constants do not need to be specified in the command buffer, even if this state is specified as dynamic in the pipeline object.

Applications running on Vulkan implementations advertising a VkPhysicalDeviceDriverProperties::conformanceVersion less than 1.3.8.0 should be aware that rebinding the bound pipeline object may not reapply static state.

Pipeline Properties and Shader Information

When a pipeline is created, its state and shaders are compiled into zero or more device-specific executables, which are used when executing commands against that pipeline. To query the properties of these pipeline executables, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
VkResult vkGetPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    const VkPipelineInfoKHR*                    pPipelineInfo,
    uint32_t*                                   pExecutableCount,
    VkPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR*          pProperties);

  • device is the device that created the pipeline.

  • pPipelineInfo describes the pipeline being queried.

  • pExecutableCount is a pointer to an integer related to the number of pipeline executables available or queried, as described below.

  • pProperties is either NULL or a pointer to an array of VkPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR structures.

If pProperties is NULL, then the number of pipeline executables associated with the pipeline is returned in pExecutableCount. Otherwise, pExecutableCount must point to a variable set by the application to the number of elements in the pProperties array, and on return the variable is overwritten with the number of structures actually written to pProperties. If pExecutableCount is less than the number of pipeline executables associated with the pipeline, at most pExecutableCount structures will be written, and VK_INCOMPLETE will be returned instead of VK_SUCCESS, to indicate that not all the available properties were returned.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR-pipelineExecutableInfo-03270
    The pipelineExecutableInfo feature must be enabled

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR-pipeline-03271
    The pipeline member of pPipelineInfo must have been created with device

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR-pPipelineInfo-parameter
    pPipelineInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineInfoKHR structure

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR-pExecutableCount-parameter
    pExecutableCount must be a valid pointer to a uint32_t value

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR-pProperties-parameter
    If the value referenced by pExecutableCount is not 0, and pProperties is not NULL, pProperties must be a valid pointer to an array of pExecutableCount VkPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR structures

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
typedef struct VkPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR {
    VkStructureType       sType;
    void*                 pNext;
    VkShaderStageFlags    stages;
    char                  name[VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE];
    char                  description[VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE];
    uint32_t              subgroupSize;
} VkPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • stages is a bitmask of zero or more VkShaderStageFlagBits indicating which shader stages (if any) were principally used as inputs to compile this pipeline executable.

  • name is an array of VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE char containing a null-terminated UTF-8 string which is a short human readable name for this pipeline executable.

  • description is an array of VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE char containing a null-terminated UTF-8 string which is a human readable description for this pipeline executable.

  • subgroupSize is the subgroup size with which this pipeline executable is dispatched.

Not all implementations have a 1:1 mapping between shader stages and pipeline executables and some implementations may reduce a given shader stage to fixed function hardware programming such that no pipeline executable is available. No guarantees are provided about the mapping between shader stages and pipeline executables and stages should be considered a best effort hint. Because the application cannot rely on the stages field to provide an exact description, name and description provide a human readable name and description which more accurately describes the given pipeline executable.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

To query the pipeline properties call:

// Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_properties
VkResult vkGetPipelinePropertiesEXT(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    const VkPipelineInfoEXT*                    pPipelineInfo,
    VkBaseOutStructure*                         pPipelineProperties);

  • device is the logical device that created the pipeline.

  • pPipelineInfo is a pointer to a VkPipelineInfoEXT structure which describes the pipeline being queried.

  • pPipelineProperties is a pointer to a VkBaseOutStructure structure in which the pipeline properties will be written.

To query a pipeline’s pipelineIdentifier pass a VkPipelinePropertiesIdentifierEXT structure in pPipelineProperties. Each pipeline is associated with a pipelineIdentifier and the identifier is implementation specific.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetPipelinePropertiesEXT-pipeline-06738
    The pipeline member of pPipelineInfo must have been created with device

  • VUID-vkGetPipelinePropertiesEXT-pPipelineProperties-06739
    pPipelineProperties must be a valid pointer to a VkPipelinePropertiesIdentifierEXT structure

  • VUID-vkGetPipelinePropertiesEXT-None-06766
    The pipelinePropertiesIdentifier feature must be enabled

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPipelinePropertiesEXT-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPipelinePropertiesEXT-pPipelineInfo-parameter
    pPipelineInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineInfoEXT structure

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkPipelinePropertiesIdentifierEXT structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_properties
typedef struct VkPipelinePropertiesIdentifierEXT {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    uint8_t            pipelineIdentifier[VK_UUID_SIZE];
} VkPipelinePropertiesIdentifierEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • pipelineIdentifier is an array of VK_UUID_SIZE uint8_t values into which the pipeline identifier will be written.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkPipelineInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
typedef struct VkPipelineInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    const void*        pNext;
    VkPipeline         pipeline;
} VkPipelineInfoKHR;
// Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_properties
// Equivalent to VkPipelineInfoKHR
typedef VkPipelineInfoKHR VkPipelineInfoEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • pipeline is a VkPipeline handle.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPipelineInfoKHR-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PIPELINE_INFO_KHR

  • VUID-VkPipelineInfoKHR-pNext-pNext
    pNext must be NULL

  • VUID-VkPipelineInfoKHR-pipeline-parameter
    pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

Each pipeline executable may have a set of statistics associated with it that are generated by the pipeline compilation process. These statistics may include things such as instruction counts, amount of spilling (if any), maximum number of simultaneous threads, or anything else which may aid developers in evaluating the expected performance of a shader. To query the compile time statistics associated with a pipeline executable, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
VkResult vkGetPipelineExecutableStatisticsKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    const VkPipelineExecutableInfoKHR*          pExecutableInfo,
    uint32_t*                                   pStatisticCount,
    VkPipelineExecutableStatisticKHR*           pStatistics);

  • device is the device that created the pipeline.

  • pExecutableInfo describes the pipeline executable being queried.

  • pStatisticCount is a pointer to an integer related to the number of statistics available or queried, as described below.

  • pStatistics is either NULL or a pointer to an array of VkPipelineExecutableStatisticKHR structures.

If pStatistics is NULL, then the number of statistics associated with the pipeline executable is returned in pStatisticCount. Otherwise, pStatisticCount must point to a variable set by the application to the number of elements in the pStatistics array, and on return the variable is overwritten with the number of structures actually written to pStatistics. If pStatisticCount is less than the number of statistics associated with the pipeline executable, at most pStatisticCount structures will be written, and VK_INCOMPLETE will be returned instead of VK_SUCCESS, to indicate that not all the available statistics were returned.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableStatisticsKHR-pipelineExecutableInfo-03272
    The pipelineExecutableInfo feature must be enabled

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableStatisticsKHR-pipeline-03273
    The pipeline member of pExecutableInfo must have been created with device

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableStatisticsKHR-pipeline-03274
    The pipeline member of pExecutableInfo must have been created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_CAPTURE_STATISTICS_BIT_KHR

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableStatisticsKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableStatisticsKHR-pExecutableInfo-parameter
    pExecutableInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineExecutableInfoKHR structure

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableStatisticsKHR-pStatisticCount-parameter
    pStatisticCount must be a valid pointer to a uint32_t value

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableStatisticsKHR-pStatistics-parameter
    If the value referenced by pStatisticCount is not 0, and pStatistics is not NULL, pStatistics must be a valid pointer to an array of pStatisticCount VkPipelineExecutableStatisticKHR structures

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkPipelineExecutableInfoKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
typedef struct VkPipelineExecutableInfoKHR {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    const void*        pNext;
    VkPipeline         pipeline;
    uint32_t           executableIndex;
} VkPipelineExecutableInfoKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • pipeline is the pipeline to query.

  • executableIndex is the index of the pipeline executable to query in the array of executable properties returned by vkGetPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-VkPipelineExecutableInfoKHR-executableIndex-03275
    executableIndex must be less than the number of pipeline executables associated with pipeline as returned in the pExecutableCount parameter of vkGetPipelineExecutablePropertiesKHR

Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkPipelineExecutableStatisticKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
typedef struct VkPipelineExecutableStatisticKHR {
    VkStructureType                           sType;
    void*                                     pNext;
    char                                      name[VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE];
    char                                      description[VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE];
    VkPipelineExecutableStatisticFormatKHR    format;
    VkPipelineExecutableStatisticValueKHR     value;
} VkPipelineExecutableStatisticKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • name is an array of VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE char containing a null-terminated UTF-8 string which is a short human readable name for this statistic.

  • description is an array of VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE char containing a null-terminated UTF-8 string which is a human readable description for this statistic.

  • format is a VkPipelineExecutableStatisticFormatKHR value specifying the format of the data found in value.

  • value is the value of this statistic.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

The VkPipelineExecutableStatisticFormatKHR enum is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
typedef enum VkPipelineExecutableStatisticFormatKHR {
    VK_PIPELINE_EXECUTABLE_STATISTIC_FORMAT_BOOL32_KHR = 0,
    VK_PIPELINE_EXECUTABLE_STATISTIC_FORMAT_INT64_KHR = 1,
    VK_PIPELINE_EXECUTABLE_STATISTIC_FORMAT_UINT64_KHR = 2,
    VK_PIPELINE_EXECUTABLE_STATISTIC_FORMAT_FLOAT64_KHR = 3,
} VkPipelineExecutableStatisticFormatKHR;

The VkPipelineExecutableStatisticValueKHR union is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
typedef union VkPipelineExecutableStatisticValueKHR {
    VkBool32    b32;
    int64_t     i64;
    uint64_t    u64;
    double      f64;
} VkPipelineExecutableStatisticValueKHR;

Each pipeline executable may have one or more text or binary internal representations associated with it which are generated as part of the compile process. These may include the final shader assembly, a binary form of the compiled shader, or the shader compiler’s internal representation at any number of intermediate compile steps. To query the internal representations associated with a pipeline executable, call:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
VkResult vkGetPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationsKHR(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    const VkPipelineExecutableInfoKHR*          pExecutableInfo,
    uint32_t*                                   pInternalRepresentationCount,
    VkPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationKHR* pInternalRepresentations);

  • device is the device that created the pipeline.

  • pExecutableInfo describes the pipeline executable being queried.

  • pInternalRepresentationCount is a pointer to an integer related to the number of internal representations available or queried, as described below.

  • pInternalRepresentations is either NULL or a pointer to an array of VkPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationKHR structures.

If pInternalRepresentations is NULL, then the number of internal representations associated with the pipeline executable is returned in pInternalRepresentationCount. Otherwise, pInternalRepresentationCount must point to a variable set by the application to the number of elements in the pInternalRepresentations array, and on return the variable is overwritten with the number of structures actually written to pInternalRepresentations. If pInternalRepresentationCount is less than the number of internal representations associated with the pipeline executable, at most pInternalRepresentationCount structures will be written, and VK_INCOMPLETE will be returned instead of VK_SUCCESS, to indicate that not all the available representations were returned.

While the details of the internal representations remain implementation-dependent, the implementation should order the internal representations in the order in which they occur in the compiled pipeline with the final shader assembly (if any) last.

Valid Usage

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationsKHR-pipelineExecutableInfo-03276
    The pipelineExecutableInfo feature must be enabled

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationsKHR-pipeline-03277
    The pipeline member of pExecutableInfo must have been created with device

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationsKHR-pipeline-03278
    The pipeline member of pExecutableInfo must have been created with VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_CAPTURE_INTERNAL_REPRESENTATIONS_BIT_KHR

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationsKHR-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationsKHR-pExecutableInfo-parameter
    pExecutableInfo must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineExecutableInfoKHR structure

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationsKHR-pInternalRepresentationCount-parameter
    pInternalRepresentationCount must be a valid pointer to a uint32_t value

  • VUID-vkGetPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationsKHR-pInternalRepresentations-parameter
    If the value referenced by pInternalRepresentationCount is not 0, and pInternalRepresentations is not NULL, pInternalRepresentations must be a valid pointer to an array of pInternalRepresentationCount VkPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationKHR structures

Return Codes
Success
Failure

The VkPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationKHR structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_KHR_pipeline_executable_properties
typedef struct VkPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationKHR {
    VkStructureType    sType;
    void*              pNext;
    char               name[VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE];
    char               description[VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE];
    VkBool32           isText;
    size_t             dataSize;
    void*              pData;
} VkPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationKHR;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • name is an array of VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE char containing a null-terminated UTF-8 string which is a short human readable name for this internal representation.

  • description is an array of VK_MAX_DESCRIPTION_SIZE char containing a null-terminated UTF-8 string which is a human readable description for this internal representation.

  • isText specifies whether the returned data is text or opaque data. If isText is VK_TRUE then the data returned in pData is text and is guaranteed to be a null-terminated UTF-8 string.

  • dataSize is an integer related to the size, in bytes, of the internal representation’s data, as described below.

  • pData is either NULL or a pointer to a block of data into which the implementation will write the internal representation.

If pData is NULL, then the size, in bytes, of the internal representation data is returned in dataSize. Otherwise, dataSize must be the size of the buffer, in bytes, pointed to by pData and on return dataSize is overwritten with the number of bytes of data actually written to pData including any trailing null character. If dataSize is less than the size, in bytes, of the internal representation’s data, at most dataSize bytes of data will be written to pData, and VK_INCOMPLETE will be returned instead of VK_SUCCESS, to indicate that not all the available representation was returned.

If isText is VK_TRUE and pData is not NULL and dataSize is not zero, the last byte written to pData will be a null character.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

Information about a particular shader that has been compiled as part of a pipeline object can be extracted by calling:

// Provided by VK_AMD_shader_info
VkResult vkGetShaderInfoAMD(
    VkDevice                                    device,
    VkPipeline                                  pipeline,
    VkShaderStageFlagBits                       shaderStage,
    VkShaderInfoTypeAMD                         infoType,
    size_t*                                     pInfoSize,
    void*                                       pInfo);

  • device is the device that created pipeline.

  • pipeline is the target of the query.

  • shaderStage is a VkShaderStageFlagBits specifying the particular shader within the pipeline about which information is being queried.

  • infoType describes what kind of information is being queried.

  • pInfoSize is a pointer to a value related to the amount of data the query returns, as described below.

  • pInfo is either NULL or a pointer to a buffer.

If pInfo is NULL, then the maximum size of the information that can be retrieved about the shader, in bytes, is returned in pInfoSize. Otherwise, pInfoSize must point to a variable set by the application to the size of the buffer, in bytes, pointed to by pInfo, and on return the variable is overwritten with the amount of data actually written to pInfo. If pInfoSize is less than the maximum size that can be retrieved by the pipeline cache, then at most pInfoSize bytes will be written to pInfo, and VK_INCOMPLETE will be returned, instead of VK_SUCCESS, to indicate that not all required of the pipeline cache was returned.

Not all information is available for every shader and implementations may not support all kinds of information for any shader. When a certain type of information is unavailable, the function returns VK_ERROR_FEATURE_NOT_PRESENT.

If information is successfully and fully queried, the function will return VK_SUCCESS.

For infoType VK_SHADER_INFO_TYPE_STATISTICS_AMD, a VkShaderStatisticsInfoAMD structure will be written to the buffer pointed to by pInfo. This structure will be populated with statistics regarding the physical device resources used by that shader along with other miscellaneous information and is described in further detail below.

For infoType VK_SHADER_INFO_TYPE_DISASSEMBLY_AMD, pInfo is a pointer to a null-terminated UTF-8 string containing human-readable disassembly. The exact formatting and contents of the disassembly string are vendor-specific.

The formatting and contents of all other types of information, including infoType VK_SHADER_INFO_TYPE_BINARY_AMD, are left to the vendor and are not further specified by this extension.

This query does not behave consistently with the behavior described in Opaque Binary Data Results, for historical reasons.

If the amount of data available is larger than the passed pInfoSize, the query returns up to the size of the passed buffer, and signals overflow with a VK_INCOMPLETE success status instead of returning a VK_ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_SPACE_KHR error status.
Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-vkGetShaderInfoAMD-device-parameter
    device must be a valid VkDevice handle

  • VUID-vkGetShaderInfoAMD-pipeline-parameter
    pipeline must be a valid VkPipeline handle

  • VUID-vkGetShaderInfoAMD-shaderStage-parameter
    shaderStage must be a valid VkShaderStageFlagBits value

  • VUID-vkGetShaderInfoAMD-infoType-parameter
    infoType must be a valid VkShaderInfoTypeAMD value

  • VUID-vkGetShaderInfoAMD-pInfoSize-parameter
    pInfoSize must be a valid pointer to a size_t value

  • VUID-vkGetShaderInfoAMD-pInfo-parameter
    If the value referenced by pInfoSize is not 0, and pInfo is not NULL, pInfo must be a valid pointer to an array of pInfoSize bytes

  • VUID-vkGetShaderInfoAMD-pipeline-parent
    pipeline must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from device

Return Codes
Success
Failure

Possible values of vkGetShaderInfoAMD::infoType, specifying the information being queried from a shader, are:

// Provided by VK_AMD_shader_info
typedef enum VkShaderInfoTypeAMD {
    VK_SHADER_INFO_TYPE_STATISTICS_AMD = 0,
    VK_SHADER_INFO_TYPE_BINARY_AMD = 1,
    VK_SHADER_INFO_TYPE_DISASSEMBLY_AMD = 2,
} VkShaderInfoTypeAMD;

The VkShaderStatisticsInfoAMD structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_AMD_shader_info
typedef struct VkShaderStatisticsInfoAMD {
    VkShaderStageFlags          shaderStageMask;
    VkShaderResourceUsageAMD    resourceUsage;
    uint32_t                    numPhysicalVgprs;
    uint32_t                    numPhysicalSgprs;
    uint32_t                    numAvailableVgprs;
    uint32_t                    numAvailableSgprs;
    uint32_t                    computeWorkGroupSize[3];
} VkShaderStatisticsInfoAMD;

  • shaderStageMask are the combination of logical shader stages contained within this shader.

  • resourceUsage is a VkShaderResourceUsageAMD structure describing internal physical device resources used by this shader.

  • numPhysicalVgprs is the maximum number of vector instruction general-purpose registers (VGPRs) available to the physical device.

  • numPhysicalSgprs is the maximum number of scalar instruction general-purpose registers (SGPRs) available to the physical device.

  • numAvailableVgprs is the maximum limit of VGPRs made available to the shader compiler.

  • numAvailableSgprs is the maximum limit of SGPRs made available to the shader compiler.

  • computeWorkGroupSize is the local workgroup size of this shader in { X, Y, Z } dimensions.

Some implementations may merge multiple logical shader stages together in a single shader. In such cases, shaderStageMask will contain a bitmask of all of the stages that are active within that shader. Consequently, if specifying those stages as input to vkGetShaderInfoAMD, the same output information may be returned for all such shader stage queries.

The number of available VGPRs and SGPRs (numAvailableVgprs and numAvailableSgprs respectively) are the shader-addressable subset of physical registers that is given as a limit to the compiler for register assignment. These values may further be limited by implementations due to performance optimizations where register pressure is a bottleneck.

The VkShaderResourceUsageAMD structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_AMD_shader_info
typedef struct VkShaderResourceUsageAMD {
    uint32_t    numUsedVgprs;
    uint32_t    numUsedSgprs;
    uint32_t    ldsSizePerLocalWorkGroup;
    size_t      ldsUsageSizeInBytes;
    size_t      scratchMemUsageInBytes;
} VkShaderResourceUsageAMD;

  • numUsedVgprs is the number of vector instruction general-purpose registers used by this shader.

  • numUsedSgprs is the number of scalar instruction general-purpose registers used by this shader.

  • ldsSizePerLocalWorkGroup is the maximum local data store size per work group in bytes.

  • ldsUsageSizeInBytes is the LDS usage size in bytes per work group by this shader.

  • scratchMemUsageInBytes is the scratch memory usage in bytes by this shader.

Pipeline Compiler Control

The compilation of a pipeline can be tuned by adding a VkPipelineCompilerControlCreateInfoAMD structure to the pNext chain of VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo or VkComputePipelineCreateInfo.

// Provided by VK_AMD_pipeline_compiler_control
typedef struct VkPipelineCompilerControlCreateInfoAMD {
    VkStructureType                      sType;
    const void*                          pNext;
    VkPipelineCompilerControlFlagsAMD    compilerControlFlags;
} VkPipelineCompilerControlCreateInfoAMD;
Valid Usage (Implicit)

There are currently no available flags for this extension; flags will be added by future versions of this extension.

// Provided by VK_AMD_pipeline_compiler_control
typedef enum VkPipelineCompilerControlFlagBitsAMD {
} VkPipelineCompilerControlFlagBitsAMD;
// Provided by VK_AMD_pipeline_compiler_control
typedef VkFlags VkPipelineCompilerControlFlagsAMD;

VkPipelineCompilerControlFlagsAMD is a bitmask type for setting a mask of zero or more VkPipelineCompilerControlFlagBitsAMD.

Pipeline Creation Feedback

Feedback about the creation of a particular pipeline object can be obtained by adding a VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfo structure to the pNext chain of VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo, VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR, VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV, VkDataGraphPipelineCreateInfoARM, or VkComputePipelineCreateInfo. The VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfo structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
typedef struct VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfo {
    VkStructureType                sType;
    const void*                    pNext;
    VkPipelineCreationFeedback*    pPipelineCreationFeedback;
    uint32_t                       pipelineStageCreationFeedbackCount;
    VkPipelineCreationFeedback*    pPipelineStageCreationFeedbacks;
} VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfo;
// Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_feedback
// Equivalent to VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfo
typedef VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfo VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfoEXT;

  • sType is a VkStructureType value identifying this structure.

  • pNext is NULL or a pointer to a structure extending this structure.

  • pPipelineCreationFeedback is a pointer to a VkPipelineCreationFeedback structure.

  • pipelineStageCreationFeedbackCount is the number of elements in pPipelineStageCreationFeedbacks.

  • pPipelineStageCreationFeedbacks is a pointer to an array of pipelineStageCreationFeedbackCount VkPipelineCreationFeedback structures.

An implementation should write pipeline creation feedback to pPipelineCreationFeedback and may write pipeline stage creation feedback to pPipelineStageCreationFeedbacks. An implementation must set or clear the VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_VALID_BIT in VkPipelineCreationFeedback::flags for pPipelineCreationFeedback and every element of pPipelineStageCreationFeedbacks.

One common scenario for an implementation to skip per-stage feedback is when VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_APPLICATION_PIPELINE_CACHE_HIT_BIT is set in pPipelineCreationFeedback.

When chained to VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR, VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV, or VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo, the i element of pPipelineStageCreationFeedbacks corresponds to the i element of VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR::pStages, VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV::pStages, or VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo::pStages. When chained to VkComputePipelineCreateInfo, the first element of pPipelineStageCreationFeedbacks corresponds to VkComputePipelineCreateInfo::stage.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

  • VUID-VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfo-sType-sType
    sType must be VK_STRUCTURE_TYPE_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_CREATE_INFO

  • VUID-VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfo-pPipelineCreationFeedback-parameter
    pPipelineCreationFeedback must be a valid pointer to a VkPipelineCreationFeedback structure

  • VUID-VkPipelineCreationFeedbackCreateInfo-pPipelineStageCreationFeedbacks-parameter
    If pipelineStageCreationFeedbackCount is not 0, pPipelineStageCreationFeedbacks must be a valid pointer to an array of pipelineStageCreationFeedbackCount VkPipelineCreationFeedback structures

The VkPipelineCreationFeedback structure is defined as:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
typedef struct VkPipelineCreationFeedback {
    VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlags    flags;
    uint64_t                           duration;
} VkPipelineCreationFeedback;
// Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_feedback
// Equivalent to VkPipelineCreationFeedback
typedef VkPipelineCreationFeedback VkPipelineCreationFeedbackEXT;

  • flags is a bitmask of VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlagBits providing feedback about the creation of a pipeline or of a pipeline stage.

  • duration is the duration spent creating a pipeline or pipeline stage in nanoseconds.

If the VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_VALID_BIT is not set in flags, an implementation must not set any other bits in flags, and the values of all other VkPipelineCreationFeedback data members are undefined.

Possible values of the flags member of VkPipelineCreationFeedback are:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
typedef enum VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlagBits {
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_VALID_BIT = 0x00000001,
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_APPLICATION_PIPELINE_CACHE_HIT_BIT = 0x00000002,
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_BASE_PIPELINE_ACCELERATION_BIT = 0x00000004,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_feedback
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_VALID_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_VALID_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_feedback
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_APPLICATION_PIPELINE_CACHE_HIT_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_APPLICATION_PIPELINE_CACHE_HIT_BIT,
  // Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_feedback
    VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_BASE_PIPELINE_ACCELERATION_BIT_EXT = VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_BASE_PIPELINE_ACCELERATION_BIT,
} VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlagBits;
// Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_feedback
// Equivalent to VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlagBits
typedef VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlagBits VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlagBitsEXT;
// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_3
typedef VkFlags VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlags;
// Provided by VK_EXT_pipeline_creation_feedback
// Equivalent to VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlags
typedef VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlags VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlagsEXT;

VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlags is a bitmask type for providing zero or more VkPipelineCreationFeedbackFlagBits.