# vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR(3) Manual Page

## Name

vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR - Create a new acceleration structure object

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## C Specification

To create an acceleration structure, call:

    // Provided by VK_KHR_acceleration_structure
    VkResult vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR(
        VkDevice                                    device,
        const VkAccelerationStructureCreateInfoKHR* pCreateInfo,
        const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator,
        VkAccelerationStructureKHR*                 pAccelerationStructure);

## Parameters

- `device` is the logical device that creates the acceleration structure object.

- `pCreateInfo` is a pointer to a VkAccelerationStructureCreateInfoKHR structure containing parameters affecting creation of the acceleration structure.

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

- `pAccelerationStructure` is a pointer to a `VkAccelerationStructureKHR` handle in which the resulting acceleration structure object is returned.

## Description

Similar to other objects in Vulkan, the acceleration structure creation merely creates an object with a specific “shape”. The type and quantity of geometry that can be built into an acceleration structure is determined by the parameters of VkAccelerationStructureCreateInfoKHR.

The acceleration structure data is stored in the object referred to by `VkAccelerationStructureCreateInfoKHR`::`buffer`. Once memory has been bound to that buffer, it must be populated by acceleration structure build or acceleration structure copy commands such as vkCmdBuildAccelerationStructuresKHR, vkBuildAccelerationStructuresKHR, vkCmdCopyAccelerationStructureKHR, and vkCopyAccelerationStructureKHR.

Note | The expected usage for a trace capture/replay tool is that it will serialize and later deserialize the acceleration structure data using acceleration structure copy commands. During capture the tool will use vkCopyAccelerationStructureToMemoryKHR or vkCmdCopyAccelerationStructureToMemoryKHR with a `mode` of `VK_COPY_ACCELERATION_STRUCTURE_MODE_SERIALIZE_KHR`, and vkCopyMemoryToAccelerationStructureKHR or vkCmdCopyMemoryToAccelerationStructureKHR with a `mode` of `VK_COPY_ACCELERATION_STRUCTURE_MODE_DESERIALIZE_KHR` during replay.

Note | Memory does not need to be bound to the underlying buffer when vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR is called.

The input buffers passed to acceleration structure build commands will be referenced by the implementation for the duration of the command. After the command completes, the acceleration structure may hold a reference to any acceleration structure specified by an active instance contained therein. Apart from this referencing, acceleration structures must be fully self-contained. The application can reuse or free any memory which was used by the command as an input or as scratch without affecting the results of ray traversal.

Valid Usage

- VUID-vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR-accelerationStructure-03611
  The `VkPhysicalDeviceAccelerationStructureFeaturesKHR`::`accelerationStructure` feature must be enabled

- VUID-vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR-deviceAddress-03488
  If VkAccelerationStructureCreateInfoKHR::`deviceAddress` is not zero, the `accelerationStructureCaptureReplay` feature must be enabled

- VUID-vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR-device-03489
  If `device` was created with multiple physical devices, then the `bufferDeviceAddressMultiDevice` feature must be enabled

Valid Usage (Implicit)

- VUID-vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR-device-parameter
  `device` must be a valid VkDevice handle

- VUID-vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR-pCreateInfo-parameter
  `pCreateInfo` must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAccelerationStructureCreateInfoKHR structure

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

- VUID-vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR-pAccelerationStructure-parameter
  `pAccelerationStructure` must be a valid pointer to a VkAccelerationStructureKHR handle

- VUID-vkCreateAccelerationStructureKHR-device-queuecount
  The device must have been created with at least `1` queue

Return Codes

On success, this command returns

  - `VK_SUCCESS`

On failure, this command returns

  - `VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY`

  - `VK_ERROR_INVALID_OPAQUE_CAPTURE_ADDRESS_KHR`

## See Also

VK_KHR_acceleration_structure, VkAccelerationStructureCreateInfoKHR, VkAccelerationStructureKHR, VkAllocationCallbacks, VkDevice

## 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