1 unstable release
| 0.1.0 | Jan 11, 2026 |
|---|
#462 in Graphics APIs
600KB
12K
SLoC
Goldy: Modern GPU Library
A modern Rust GPU library that deliberately sheds legacy baggage. Goldy targets only modern GPU APIs (Vulkan 1.3+, DX12, Metal) and can therefore be significantly simpler than libraries that must maintain backward compatibility.
Quick Example
use goldy::{Instance, DeviceType, Buffer, BufferUsage, Color, CommandEncoder, FrameOutput, TextureFormat};
fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
let instance = Instance::new()?;
let device = instance.create_device(DeviceType::DiscreteGpu)?;
let frame = FrameOutput::new(&device, 800, 600, TextureFormat::Rgba8Unorm);
let mut encoder = CommandEncoder::new();
{
let mut pass = encoder.begin_render_pass();
pass.clear(Color::CORNFLOWER_BLUE);
}
let pixels = frame.render(encoder)?;
Ok(())
}
Features
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Rust-native | Idiomatic Rust API, not a wrapper around C |
| Modern-only | Vulkan 1.3+, DX12, Metal baseline |
| Slang shaders | Single shader language for all backends |
| Legacy-free | No OpenGL, no Vulkan <1.3, no OpenCL |
| Unified | Graphics and compute in one API |
| Fast-moving | Not a standard—can iterate quickly |
| WASI-ready | Designed for sandboxed GPU access |
Installation
[dependencies]
goldy = "0.1"
Documentation
Examples
Run the interactive examples:
cargo run --example triangle --release # Basic triangle
cargo run --example digital_clock --release # 7-segment clock
cargo run --example plasma --release # Demoscene plasma
cargo run --example mandelbrot --release # Fractal explorer
cargo run --example starfield --release # 3D starfield
cargo run --example particles --release # Rain/snow
See all examples.
Motivation
Goldy is inspired by Sebastian Aaltonen's "No Graphics API" vision of what's possible with modern GPU hardware. By targeting only modern GPUs (2018+), Goldy can:
- Use dynamic rendering (no render pass objects)
- Use bindless descriptors (no descriptor sets)
- Assume coherent caches (simpler synchronization)
- Provide a dramatically simpler API
Goldy is also inspired by:
- Wayland's compositor architecture
- Ralph Levien's "Requiem for piet-gpu-hal"
- Slang's vision for unified shader language
- WGPU
- This paper on GPU abstractions: https://www.kom.tu-darmstadt.de/papers/KCGS17.pdf
Read more in Design Philosophy.
Target Hardware
| Platform | Minimum |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA | RTX 2000 / GTX 1600 (2018+) |
| AMD | RDNA 1 / RX 5000 (2019+) |
| Intel | Xe / Alchemist (2022+) |
| Apple | M1 / A14 (2020+) |
License
MIT License - see LICENSE for details.
Author
Mohamed Koubaa
Contributing
Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.
Dependencies
~5–54MB
~749K SLoC