C Specification

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);

Parameters

  • 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.

Description

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
  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-device-09662
    device must support at least one queue family with the VK_QUEUE_GRAPHICS_BIT capability

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-flags-00720
    If the flags member of any element of pCreateInfos contains the VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DERIVATIVE_BIT flag, and the basePipelineIndex member of that same element is not -1, basePipelineIndex must be less than the index into pCreateInfos that corresponds to that element

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-flags-00721
    If the flags member of any element of pCreateInfos contains the VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DERIVATIVE_BIT flag, the base pipeline must have been created with the VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_ALLOW_DERIVATIVES_BIT flag set

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-pipelineCache-02876
    If pipelineCache was created with VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_CREATE_EXTERNALLY_SYNCHRONIZED_BIT, host access to pipelineCache must be externally synchronized

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-pNext-09616
    If VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR::binaryCount is not 0 for any element of pCreateInfos, pipelineCache must be VK_NULL_HANDLE

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-pNext-09617
    If a VkPipelineCreateFlags2CreateInfoKHR structure with the VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_2_CAPTURE_DATA_BIT_KHR flag set is included in the pNext chain of any element of pCreateInfos, pipelineCache must be VK_NULL_HANDLE

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-binaryCount-09620
    If VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR::binaryCount is not 0 for any element of pCreateInfos, VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_APPLICATION_PIPELINE_CACHE_HIT_BIT must not be set in the flags of that element

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-binaryCount-09621
    If VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR::binaryCount is not 0 for any element of pCreateInfos, VK_PIPELINE_CREATION_FEEDBACK_BASE_PIPELINE_ACCELERATION_BIT must not be set in the flags of that element

  • VUID-vkCreateGraphicsPipelines-binaryCount-09622
    If VkPipelineBinaryInfoKHR::binaryCount is not 0 for any element of pCreateInfos, VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT_EXT must not be set in the flags of that element

Note

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
On success, this command returns
  • VK_SUCCESS

  • VK_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_EXT

On failure, this command returns
  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY

  • VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_DEVICE_MEMORY

  • VK_ERROR_INVALID_SHADER_NV

See Also

Document Notes

For more information, see the Vulkan Specification

This page is extracted from the Vulkan Specification. Fixes and changes should be made to the Specification, not directly.

Copyright 2014-2025 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0