Volten

WebGPU made easy.

Volten simplifies WebGPU compute shader development with an API designed for logic, not logistics.

Quick start

This is how simple it is in Volten to run a compute shader and read back the result:

import { volten, Buffer, Kernel, Uniform } from '@volten/core';

const v = await volten();
const inout = new Buffer([1, 2, 3, 4], 'f32', 'rw');
const mult = new Uniform(10, 'f32');

const kernel = new Kernel(`
  fn main(gid: vec3u) {
    inout[gid.x] = inout[gid.x] * mult;
  }
`);

const node = v.pass(kernel, { inout, mult });
v.run(node);

console.log(await v.read(inout));
// Float32Array [10, 20, 30, 40]

But there's more. Volten includes utilities that speed up compute shader development, including first-class support for shader debugging:

const kernel = new Kernel(`
  fn main(gid: vec3u) {
    inout[gid.x] = inout[gid.x] * mult;

    if (gid.x == 2) {
      enableDebug();
      debugF32("f32 value debug", inout[gid.x]);
    }  
  }
`);

const node = v.pass(kernel, { inout, mult }, { debug: true });
v.run(node);

const debugRes = await v.readDebug(node);
debugRes.print();
// prints: [2,0,0] f32 value debug: 30

Installation

Install the public core package:

pnpm add @volten/core

Documentation

Documentation is still in progress, but you can get a preview by running the apps/website folder

Packages

Package	Status	Description
@volten/core	Public	Core WebGPU compute API
@volten/stdlib	Private workspace package	Reserved for reusable compute kernels, WIP
@volten/math	Private workspace package	Reserved for future math helpers, WIP

Development

This repository uses pnpm workspaces and Turborepo. Useful scripts:

Command	Description
pnpm build	Build workspace packages.
pnpm lint	Run lint checks.
pnpm check-types	Run TypeScript checks.
pnpm test:e2e	Build @volten/core and run browser E2E tests with Playwright.
pnpm test:all	Run build, package tests, and E2E tests.
pnpm test:pack	Smoke-test package packing.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.