# vkGetSemaphoreWin32HandleKHR(3) Manual Page

## Name

vkGetSemaphoreWin32HandleKHR - Get a Windows HANDLE for a semaphore

Loading… please wait.

## C Specification

To export a Windows handle representing the payload of a semaphore, call:

    // Provided by VK_KHR_external_semaphore_win32
    VkResult vkGetSemaphoreWin32HandleKHR(
        VkDevice                                    device,
        const VkSemaphoreGetWin32HandleInfoKHR*     pGetWin32HandleInfo,
        HANDLE*                                     pHandle);

## Parameters

- `device` is the logical device that created the semaphore being exported.

- `pGetWin32HandleInfo` is a pointer to a VkSemaphoreGetWin32HandleInfoKHR structure containing parameters of the export operation.

- `pHandle` will return the Windows handle representing the semaphore state.

## Description

For handle types defined as NT handles, the handles returned by `vkGetSemaphoreWin32HandleKHR` are owned by the application. To avoid leaking resources, the application must release ownership of them using the `CloseHandle` system call when they are no longer needed.

Exporting a Windows handle from a semaphore may have side effects depending on the transference of the specified handle type, as described in Importing Semaphore Payloads.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

- VUID-vkGetSemaphoreWin32HandleKHR-device-parameter
  `device` must be a valid VkDevice handle

- VUID-vkGetSemaphoreWin32HandleKHR-pGetWin32HandleInfo-parameter
  `pGetWin32HandleInfo` must be a valid pointer to a valid VkSemaphoreGetWin32HandleInfoKHR structure

- VUID-vkGetSemaphoreWin32HandleKHR-pHandle-parameter
  `pHandle` must be a valid pointer to a `HANDLE` value

Return Codes

On success, this command returns

  - `VK_SUCCESS`

On failure, this command returns

  - `VK_ERROR_TOO_MANY_OBJECTS`

  - `VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY`

## See Also

VK_KHR_external_semaphore_win32, VkDevice, VkSemaphoreGetWin32HandleInfoKHR

## 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