Webgpu Knowledge Patch

WebGPU and WGSL Compatibility

Load this skill when changing browser WebGPU code, WGSL shaders, Dawn native code, or Emscripten WebGPU builds. Use it to select current API spellings, feature gates, limits, validation rules, and platform paths.

Working method

1. Identify whether the code runs through the browser API, native Dawn, or Emdawnwebgpu.
2. Feature-detect optional adapter features and WGSL language extensions separately; one does not imply the other.
3. Request every device feature and non-default limit before creating dependent resources or pipelines.
4. Keep fallback paths for compatibility devices and optional shader extensions.
5. Treat validation behavior as part of the API contract, especially for mapped buffers, transient textures, immediate data, and storage formats.
6. Prefer the implementation's matching webgpu.h when compiling native extensions even though the core C API is stable.
7. Verify assumptions against the application's manifests, code, runtime feature sets, and tests.

Reference index

Breaking-change checklist

Use the shipped immediate-data spelling

Declare the language requirement and call setImmediates(). Do not copy the earlier guide spelling setImmediateData().

requires immediate_address_space;
var<immediate> color: vec4f;

pass.setPipeline(pipeline);
pass.setImmediates(0, new Float32Array([1, 0, 0, 1]));
pass.draw(3);

Feature-detect immediate_address_space through navigator.gpu.wgslLanguageFeatures. An automatic pipeline layout infers the range; an explicit layout supplies immediateSize. Every used non-padding slot must be initialized for the active stages before a draw or dispatch.

Create one device per adapter

A successful requestDevice() consumes a browser adapter. Reusing it rejects:

const adapter = await navigator.gpu.requestAdapter();
if (!adapter) throw new Error("WebGPU unavailable");
const device = await adapter.requestDevice();

Request a fresh adapter for another device. Native Dawn can opt into MultipleDevicesPerAdapter at instance creation when multiple devices are required.

Check compatibility on the device

Request compatibility defaulting with:

const adapter = await navigator.gpu.requestAdapter({
  featureLevel: "compatibility",
});

Do not read the removed adapter featureLevel or isCompatibilityMode attributes. The presence of "core-features-and-limits" on the created device determines whether core restrictions were lifted. Check maxStorageBuffersInVertexStage; zero requires a vertex path without storage buffers.

Read fallback status from adapter info

GPUAdapter.isFallbackAdapter is gone. Use:

if (adapter.info.isFallbackAdapter) {
  chooseConservativeDefaults();
}

Libraries that receive only a device can read device.adapterInfo.

Remove read-only bgra8unorm storage use

Read-only storage access for "bgra8unorm" is no longer accepted. Use a portable readable format or keep this format write-only.

Expect synchronous descriptor errors

createBuffer({ mappedAtCreation: true }) throws RangeError when size is not a multiple of four. Catch it as a JavaScript argument/range error rather than waiting for a GPUValidationError.

Feature and limit negotiation

Never assume that format, subgroup, compression, or compatibility capabilities travel together. Probe first and request exactly what is used:

const adapter = await navigator.gpu.requestAdapter();
if (!adapter) throw new Error("WebGPU unavailable");

const requiredFeatures = [];
if (adapter.features.has("texture-formats-tier2")) {
  requiredFeatures.push("texture-formats-tier2");
} else if (adapter.features.has("texture-formats-tier1")) {
  requiredFeatures.push("texture-formats-tier1");
}

const device = await adapter.requestDevice({ requiredFeatures });

Tier 2 automatically enables tier 1. For sliced 3D compression, request both the base compression feature and its -sliced-3d companion. Blending to 32-bit float textures requires "float32-blendable".

Unknown requiredLimits entries may carry undefined, so forwarding an optional adapter limit does not require filtering. For higher resource tiers, check the supported value before requesting it. Calling requestDevice() without required features or limits asks for the adapter defaults.

WGSL language gates

WGSL language extensions are exposed by navigator.gpu.wgslLanguageFeatures. Use the declaration required by each shader:

For f16 subgroup operations, request both "shader-f16" and "subgroups". Do not request removed Chromium experimental subgroup feature names. Algorithms must tolerate subgroup widths between subgroupMinSize and subgroupMaxSize, and identity-based code must not assume every subgroup is full.

Explicit @align values may not be smaller than a member's required alignment. Remove undersized annotations instead of relying on permissive validation.

Pass and resource shortcuts

• copyBufferToBuffer(source, destination) copies the whole buffer with zero offsets.
• A GPUBuffer can be a bind-group resource directly when default offset and size are wanted; use { buffer, offset, size } for an explicit range.
• A null pipeline-layout slot preserves its bind-group index without an empty layout.
• A viewport may extend outside the render target and may have a negative origin.
• textureSampleLevel() accepts 1D textures for explicit-level sampling.
• A single-subresource 2D GPUTextureView may satisfy an external-texture binding.

Transient attachment rules

Use GPUTextureUsage.TRANSIENT_ATTACHMENT only with RENDER_ATTACHMENT. The texture must be 2D with one mip level and one array layer, must have no alternative viewFormats, and cannot be a canvas texture. Views retain the parent usage.

Transient color, depth, and stencil aspects require loadOp: "clear" and storeOp: "discard". Resolve into a non-transient target. Feature-detect the usage constant before creating the texture.

Native migration priorities

• Replace removed or renamed C structures and callback statuses before updating headers.
• Handle the WGPUStatus returned by wgpuSurfacePresent().
• Remove status handling around wgpuInstanceGetWGSLLanguageFeatures(), which now returns no value.
• Update queue-work-done callbacks for their additional message argument.
• Account for the default static monolithic Dawn build if library layout matters.
• Use wgpu::PresentMode::Undefined when default present-mode selection is desired.
• Migrate browser-targeted C/C++ from Emscripten's old built-in bindings to the packaged emdawnwebgpu port.

See the native reference for exact type names, build flags, callback semantics, binary caveats, and backend-specific behavior.

Validation checklist

• Confirm every optional adapter feature before requesting it.
• Confirm every WGSL extension before compiling a shader that requires it.
• Check supported limits before requesting higher values.
• Reinitialize immediate slots after render-bundle execution.
• Keep transient resolve targets non-transient.
• Validate storage texture access against the selected format tier.
• Test both core and compatibility paths when compatibility is in scope.
• On native paths, compile against the same implementation headers that are linked.