# VkPipelineCreateFlagBits(3) Manual Page

## Name

VkPipelineCreateFlagBits - Bitmask controlling how a pipeline is created

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## C Specification

Bits which can be set in

- VkGraphicsPipelineCreateInfo::`flags`

- VkComputePipelineCreateInfo::`flags`

- VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoKHR::`flags`

- VkRayTracingPipelineCreateInfoNV::`flags`

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_VIEW_INDEX_FROM_DEVICE_INDEX_BIT = 0x00000008,
      // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_1
        VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE_BIT = 0x00000010,
      // 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 deprecated 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 deprecated 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 deprecated 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 deprecated 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;

## Description

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISABLE_OPTIMIZATION_BIT` specifies that the created pipeline will not be optimized. Using this flag may reduce the time taken to create the pipeline.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_ALLOW_DERIVATIVES_BIT` specifies that the pipeline to be created is allowed to be the parent of a pipeline that will be created in a subsequent pipeline creation call.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DERIVATIVE_BIT` specifies that the pipeline to be created will be a child of a previously created parent pipeline.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_VIEW_INDEX_FROM_DEVICE_INDEX_BIT` specifies that any shader input variables decorated as `ViewIndex` will be assigned values as if they were decorated as `DeviceIndex`.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DISPATCH_BASE_BIT` specifies that a compute pipeline can be used with vkCmdDispatchBase with a non-zero base workgroup.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DEFER_COMPILE_BIT_NV` specifies that a pipeline is created with all shaders in the deferred state. Before using the pipeline the application must call vkCompileDeferredNV exactly once on each shader in the pipeline before using the pipeline.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_CAPTURE_STATISTICS_BIT_KHR` specifies that the shader compiler should capture statistics for the pipeline executables produced by the compile process which can later be retrieved by calling vkGetPipelineExecutableStatisticsKHR. Enabling this flag must not affect the final compiled pipeline but may disable pipeline caching or otherwise affect pipeline creation time.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_CAPTURE_INTERNAL_REPRESENTATIONS_BIT_KHR` specifies that the shader compiler should capture the internal representations of pipeline executables produced by the compile process which can later be retrieved by calling vkGetPipelineExecutableInternalRepresentationsKHR. Enabling this flag must not affect the final compiled pipeline but may disable pipeline caching or otherwise affect pipeline creation time. When capturing IR from pipelines created with pipeline libraries, there is no guarantee that IR from libraries can be retrieved from the linked pipeline. Applications should retrieve IR from each library, and any linked pipelines, separately.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LIBRARY_BIT_KHR` specifies that the pipeline cannot be used directly, and instead defines a pipeline library that can be combined with other pipelines using the VkPipelineLibraryCreateInfoKHR structure. This is available in ray tracing and graphics pipelines.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_ANY_HIT_SHADERS_BIT_KHR` specifies that an any-hit shader will always be present when an any-hit shader would be executed. A NULL any-hit shader is an any-hit shader which is effectively `VK_SHADER_UNUSED_KHR`, such as from a shader group consisting entirely of zeros.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_CLOSEST_HIT_SHADERS_BIT_KHR` specifies that a closest hit shader will always be present when a closest hit shader would be executed. A NULL closest hit shader is a closest hit shader which is effectively `VK_SHADER_UNUSED_KHR`, such as from a shader group consisting entirely of zeros.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_MISS_SHADERS_BIT_KHR` specifies that a miss shader will always be present when a miss shader would be executed. A NULL miss shader is a miss shader which is effectively `VK_SHADER_UNUSED_KHR`, such as from a shader group consisting entirely of zeros.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_NO_NULL_INTERSECTION_SHADERS_BIT_KHR` specifies that an intersection shader will always be present when an intersection shader would be executed. A NULL intersection shader is an intersection shader which is effectively `VK_SHADER_UNUSED_KHR`, such as from a shader group consisting entirely of zeros.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_SKIP_TRIANGLES_BIT_KHR` specifies that sphere, LSS and triangle primitives will be skipped during traversal using pipeline trace ray instructions.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_SKIP_AABBS_BIT_KHR` specifies that AABB primitives will be skipped during traversal using pipeline trace ray instructions.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_SHADER_GROUP_HANDLE_CAPTURE_REPLAY_BIT_KHR` specifies that the shader group handles can be saved and reused on a subsequent run (e.g. for trace capture and replay).

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_INDIRECT_BINDABLE_BIT_NV` specifies that the pipeline can be used in combination with https://registry.khronos.org/vulkan/specs/latest/html/vkspec.html#device-generated-commands.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_FAIL_ON_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED_BIT` specifies that pipeline creation will fail if a compile is required for creation of a valid VkPipeline object; `VK_PIPELINE_COMPILE_REQUIRED` will be returned by pipeline creation, and the VkPipeline will be VK_NULL_HANDLE.

- When creating multiple pipelines, `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_EARLY_RETURN_ON_FAILURE_BIT` specifies that control will be returned to the application if any individual pipeline returns a result which is not `VK_SUCCESS` rather than continuing to create additional pipelines.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_ALLOW_MOTION_BIT_NV` specifies that the pipeline is allowed to use `OpTraceRayMotionNV`.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RENDERING_FRAGMENT_SHADING_RATE_ATTACHMENT_BIT_KHR` specifies that the pipeline will be used with a fragment shading rate attachment and dynamic rendering.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RENDERING_FRAGMENT_DENSITY_MAP_ATTACHMENT_BIT_EXT` specifies that the pipeline will be used with a fragment density map attachment and dynamic rendering.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_EXT` specifies that pipeline libraries being linked into this library should have link time optimizations applied. If this bit is omitted, implementations should instead perform linking as rapidly as possible.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RETAIN_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_INFO_BIT_EXT` specifies that pipeline libraries should retain any information necessary to later perform an optimal link with `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_LINK_TIME_OPTIMIZATION_BIT_EXT`.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DESCRIPTOR_BUFFER_BIT_EXT` specifies that a pipeline will be used with descriptor buffers, rather than descriptor sets.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_COLOR_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_BIT_EXT` specifies that the pipeline may be used with an attachment feedback loop including color attachments. It is ignored if `VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_ENABLE_EXT` is set in `pDynamicStates`.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_DEPTH_STENCIL_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_BIT_EXT` specifies that the pipeline may be used with an attachment feedback loop including depth-stencil attachments. It is ignored if `VK_DYNAMIC_STATE_ATTACHMENT_FEEDBACK_LOOP_ENABLE_EXT` is set in `pDynamicStates`.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_OPACITY_MICROMAP_BIT_EXT` specifies that the ray tracing pipeline can be used with acceleration structures which reference an opacity micromap array.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_RAY_TRACING_DISPLACEMENT_MICROMAP_BIT_NV` specifies that the ray tracing pipeline can be used with acceleration structures which reference a displacement micromap array.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_NO_PROTECTED_ACCESS_BIT` specifies that the pipeline must not be bound to a protected command buffer.

- `VK_PIPELINE_CREATE_PROTECTED_ACCESS_ONLY_BIT` specifies that the pipeline must not be bound to an unprotected command buffer.

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.

Note | 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.

## See Also

VK_VERSION_1_0, VkPipelineCreateFlags

## 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

Copyright 2014-2025 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0