# Shader Operations

> Introspect shaders and render pipelines in 3Lens. Use when analyzing shader variants, attributing shader costs, or performing controlled shader mutations for A/B testing. Use when this capability is needed.

- Skill: `tomevault-io/shader-operations` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add tomevault-io/shader-operations`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tomevault-io/shader-operations/raw
- Safety review: pending (external: skill-scanner PASS, skillspector PASS)
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: tomevault-io (https://skillmd.com/u/tomevault-io)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tomevault-io/shader-operations

---


# Shader Operations

Shader operations provide deep introspection into shaders and render pipelines, including variant analysis, cost attribution, and controlled mutation.

## When to Use

- Analyzing shader variant explosion
- Attributing GPU cost to specific shaders
- A/B testing shader changes
- Understanding pipeline composition

## Commands

### List Shader Variants

```bash
# Get variants for a specific shader
3lens shader:variants <shaderId>

# List all variants sorted by compile count
3lens shader:variants --all --sort compile_count
```

### Attribute Shader Cost

```bash
# Get cost for a specific shader
3lens shader:cost <shaderId>

# Get detailed breakdown
3lens shader:cost <shaderId> --breakdown
```

**Cost breakdown includes:**

- Compile time
- Execution time per frame
- Memory footprint
- Variant count

### Mutate Shader (Controlled)

Perform controlled shader mutations for A/B testing:

```bash
# Toggle a feature and compare against baseline
3lens shader:mutate <shaderId> --toggle FEATURE_X --baseline runA

# Disable a shader node and measure impact
3lens shader:mutate <shaderId> --disable-node nodeId --measure
```

**Mutation output:**

- Before/after trace
- Delta report
- Revert command

## Shader Graph Integration

For TSL (Three.js Shading Language) shaders, additional introspection is available:

```bash
# Inspect shader node graph
3lens shader:graph <shaderId>

# Find all nodes contributing to a specific output
3lens shader:graph <shaderId> --trace-output color
```

## Agent Use Cases

1. **Variant analysis**: "List all shader variants and identify which has the most compilations"
2. **Cost attribution**: "Break down the GPU cost for this PBR shader"
3. **A/B testing**: "Toggle FEATURE_REFLECTION off and measure the performance delta"
4. **Optimization**: "Find which shader node is most expensive"

## Safety Notes

- Mutations are isolated and don't affect production code
- Always capture a baseline trace before mutating
- Use the provided revert command to undo changes
- Mutations work on both live sessions and saved traces

## Additional Resources

- For detailed command syntax, see [.cursor/commands/](../../commands/)
- For shader graph contract, see [.cursor/contracts/shader-graph.md](../../../.cursor/contracts/shader-graph.md)

---
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<!-- tomevault:4.0:skill_md:2026-04-15 -->