webgpu-wgsl-builtins

WGSL Builtin Functions and Values

Call the right WGSL builtin function and declare builtin input/output values with the correct stage, direction, and type, without triggering shader-creation errors.

Quick Reference

WGSL is the shading language of WebGPU 1.0-stable (Chrome 113+, Safari 26+, Firefox 141+). Builtin functions need no import. Builtin values bind to system inputs/outputs via the @builtin(name) attribute on entry-point parameters and return members.

Builtin function categories

Category	Functions
Math/numeric	abs, clamp, min, max, floor, ceil, round, trunc, fract, sign, mix, step, smoothstep, saturate, fma, pow, sqrt, inverseSqrt, exp, exp2, log, log2, modf, frexp, ldexp, quantizeToF16
Trigonometric	sin, cos, tan, asin, acos, atan, atan2, sinh, cosh, tanh, asinh, acosh, atanh, degrees, radians
Geometric/vector	dot, cross, length, distance, normalize, reflect, refract, faceForward
Matrix	transpose, determinant
Integer/bit	countOneBits, countLeadingZeros, countTrailingZeros, firstLeadingBit, firstTrailingBit, extractBits, insertBits, reverseBits, dot4U8Packed, dot4I8Packed
Pack/unpack	pack4x8snorm, pack4x8unorm, pack4xI8, pack4xU8, pack4xI8Clamp, pack4xU8Clamp, pack2x16snorm, pack2x16unorm, pack2x16float + unpack* inverses
Texture (fragment-restricted variants)	textureSample, textureSampleBias, textureSampleCompare, textureGather, textureGatherCompare
Texture (any stage)	textureSampleLevel, textureSampleGrad, textureSampleCompareLevel, textureLoad, textureStore, textureDimensions, textureNumLayers, textureNumLevels, textureNumSamples
Derivative (fragment only)	dpdx, dpdy, fwidth + Coarse/Fine variants
Atomic (workgroup/storage memory)	atomicLoad, atomicStore, atomicAdd, atomicSub, atomicMax, atomicMin, atomicAnd, atomicOr, atomicXor, atomicExchange, atomicCompareExchangeWeak
Synchronization (compute only)	workgroupBarrier, storageBarrier, textureBarrier, workgroupUniformLoad
Array	arrayLength

Texture builtins are documented in detail in webgpu-wgsl-textures. Atomic and synchronization builtins are documented in webgpu-wgsl-compute-shaders and webgpu-wgsl-uniformity. This skill lists them and states their stage rule only.

Builtin values via @builtin(name)

Builtin	Stage	Direction	Type
vertex_index	vertex	input	u32
instance_index	vertex	input	u32
position	vertex	output	vec4<f32>
position	fragment	input	vec4<f32>
clip_distances	vertex	output	array<f32, N>
front_facing	fragment	input	bool
frag_depth	fragment	output	f32
sample_index	fragment	input	u32
sample_mask	fragment	input/output	u32
local_invocation_id	compute	input	vec3<u32>
local_invocation_index	compute	input	u32
global_invocation_id	compute	input	vec3<u32>
workgroup_id	compute	input	vec3<u32>
num_workgroups	compute	input	vec3<u32>
subgroup_invocation_id	compute/fragment	input	u32
subgroup_size	compute/fragment	input	u32

clip_distances needs the clip-distances device feature. subgroup_invocation_id and subgroup_size need the subgroups device feature plus enable subgroups; in the shader. All other builtin values are core WGSL 1.0 with no feature gate.

Decision Tree

Need to read or sample a texture in WGSL?
├── Entry point is @fragment AND control flow is uniform?
│   └── textureSample / textureSampleBias / textureSampleCompare /
│       textureGather / textureGatherCompare    (implicit-derivative builtins)
└── Entry point is @vertex or @compute, OR control flow is non-uniform?
    └── textureSampleLevel (explicit LOD) / textureSampleGrad (explicit grad) /
        textureLoad (no sampler)               (no implicit derivative)

Need a screen-space derivative (dpdx / dpdy / fwidth)?
└── Legal ONLY in @fragment. NEVER call from @vertex or @compute.

Need to synchronize compute invocations (workgroupBarrier / storageBarrier)?
└── Legal ONLY in @compute, and ONLY in uniform control flow.
    See webgpu-wgsl-uniformity.

Need an atomic operation (atomicAdd, atomicCompareExchangeWeak, ...)?
└── Pointer must target workgroup or storage memory with read_write access.
    See webgpu-wgsl-compute-shaders.

Core Patterns

ALWAYS use textureSampleLevel or textureLoad outside the fragment stage

textureSample and the other implicit-derivative texture builtins compute the LOD from screen-space derivatives. Derivatives exist ONLY in the fragment stage. In @vertex or @compute, ALWAYS supply an explicit level with textureSampleLevel or use textureLoad.

@compute @workgroup_size(8, 8)
fn cs(@builtin(global_invocation_id) gid : vec3u) {
  let texel = textureLoad(src, vec2i(gid.xy), 0);   // explicit mip level 0
}

ALWAYS mark integer builtin inputs that cross stages with @interpolate(flat)

Integer inter-stage values cannot be interpolated. A u32/i32 @location varying ALWAYS needs @interpolate(flat) on both the vertex output and the fragment input, or shader creation fails. Builtin values themselves are not user varyings, but values derived from vertex_index/instance_index and passed via @location follow this rule.

struct VSOut {
  @builtin(position) clip_pos : vec4f,
  @location(0) @interpolate(flat) material_id : u32,
}

ALWAYS treat instance_index as including the draw firstInstance base

@builtin(instance_index) includes the firstInstance argument of draw / drawIndexed. To index a per-instance array from element 0, ALWAYS subtract the known base, or set firstInstance to 0.

@vertex fn vs(@builtin(instance_index) ii : u32) -> @builtin(position) vec4f {
  let xform = instances[ii];   // ii is already firstInstance + local index
  ...
}

NEVER write @builtin(frag_depth) unless the depth-stencil state writes depth

frag_depth is meaningful ONLY when the pipeline has a depthStencil state with depthWriteEnabled: true. Writing frag_depth also disables early-Z: the GPU cannot reject the fragment before running the shader.

ALWAYS use the const-evaluable builtins on const operands to fold at compile time

Math builtins (sqrt, pow, clamp, mix, etc.) const-evaluate when every argument is a const-expression. This lets a const declaration hold a precomputed value with zero runtime cost. Users cannot annotate their own functions as const.

NEVER call a synchronization builtin in divergent control flow

workgroupBarrier, storageBarrier, and textureBarrier ALWAYS run in uniform control flow. Calling one inside an if whose condition varies per invocation is a uniformity violation with undefined results. See webgpu-wgsl-uniformity.

Common Anti-Patterns

1. Calling textureSample or dpdx/dpdy/fwidth from a @vertex or @compute entry point. WHY it fails: implicit derivatives do not exist outside the fragment stage, so this is a shader-creation error. Use textureSampleLevel/textureLoad.

2. Indexing a per-instance buffer with instance_index while firstInstance is non-zero. WHY it fails: instance_index includes the firstInstance base, so the index runs past the array end and reads garbage or fails bounds-checking.

3. Writing @builtin(frag_depth) and expecting early depth rejection. WHY it fails: any explicit frag_depth write forces the depth test after the fragment shader, so early-Z is disabled and overdraw cost rises.

Critical Warnings

• NEVER call textureSample, textureSampleBias, textureSampleCompare, textureGather, or textureGatherCompare outside the fragment stage.
• NEVER call dpdx, dpdy, fwidth, or their Coarse/Fine variants outside the fragment stage.
• NEVER call workgroupBarrier, storageBarrier, or textureBarrier outside the compute stage or in non-uniform control flow.
• NEVER call discard from a @vertex or @compute entry point; discard is a fragment-stage statement.
• NEVER put @location and @builtin on the same struct member or parameter.
• NEVER use a subgroup_* builtin without the subgroups device feature and enable subgroups;; NEVER use clip_distances without the clip-distances feature.
• NEVER assume a builtin value is writable: only position (vertex), frag_depth, sample_mask, and clip_distances are outputs. All others are inputs.

Reference Files

• references/methods.md : every builtin function by category and the complete builtin-value table with stage, direction, and type.
• references/examples.md : verified WGSL snippets using builtin functions and builtin values across all three shader stages.
• references/anti-patterns.md : builtin mistakes with WHY-it-fails explanations.

Related Skills

• webgpu-wgsl-syntax : WGSL types, declarations, operators, control flow.
• webgpu-wgsl-textures : texture and sampler handle types, full texture builtins.
• webgpu-wgsl-uniformity : uniform control flow rules for derivatives and barriers.
• webgpu-wgsl-compute-shaders : compute stage, atomics, workgroup memory.