Inter-stage IO
Vertex outputs and fragment inputs are connected by passing data through a struct whose fields carry WGSL IO attributes. wgsl-rs mirrors the WGSL pattern directly: attributes go on struct fields, and the same struct can serve as both a vertex return type and a fragment parameter.
IO Attributes
| Attribute | Maps to | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
#[builtin(NAME)] | @builtin(NAME) | field |
#[location(N)] | @location(N) | field |
#[interpolate(TYPE)] | @interpolate(TYPE) | field (fragment-stage input) |
#[interpolate(TYPE, SAMP)] | @interpolate(TYPE, SAMP) | field |
#[blend_src(N)] | @blend_src(N) | field (dual-source blending) |
#[invariant] | @invariant | field (position) |
Interpolation
#[interpolate(...)] accepts a type and an optional sampling qualifier:
#![allow(unused)] fn main() { #[interpolate(flat)] #[interpolate(linear)] #[interpolate(perspective)] #[interpolate(perspective, centroid)] #[interpolate(perspective, sample)] }
The default when #[interpolate] is omitted is @interpolate(perspective) with the default sampling, matching WGSL.
Shared Inter-stage Struct
The idiomatic pattern is a single struct used as both the vertex output and the fragment input — the shared_inter_stage example:
#![allow(unused)] fn main() { #[wgsl] pub mod shared_inter_stage { use wgsl_rs::std::*; pub struct VertexOutput { #[builtin(position)] pub clip_position: Vec4f, #[location(0)] pub color: Vec4f, } #[vertex] pub fn vs_main(#[builtin(vertex_index)] vertex_index: u32) -> VertexOutput { const POS: [Vec2f; 3] = [ vec2f(0.0, 0.5), vec2f(-0.5, -0.5), vec2f(0.5, -0.5), ]; let position = POS[vertex_index as usize]; VertexOutput { clip_position: vec4f(position.x, position.y, 0.0, 1.0), color: vec4f(1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0), } } #[fragment] pub fn fs_main(input: VertexOutput) -> Vec4f { input.color } } }
struct VertexOutput {
@builtin(position) clip_position: vec4<f32>,
@location(0) color: vec4<f32>,
}
@vertex
fn vs_main(@builtin(vertex_index) vertex_index: u32) -> VertexOutput {
/* ... */
return VertexOutput(/* ... */);
}
@fragment
fn fs_main(input: VertexOutput) -> vec4<f32> {
return input.color;
}
There is no separate attribute on the struct itself — the field-level attributes do all the work, exactly as in WGSL.
IO Attributes are Stripped from Rust
The #[wgsl] macro strips #[builtin], #[location], #[interpolate], #[blend_src], and #[invariant] from the emitted Rust so the module remains valid Rust without needing wrapper attributes. You do not need to gate these annotations behind a cfg or feature; the macro removes them before the Rust compiler sees the post-expansion module.
This means
VertexOutputis a plain#[derive(Wgsl)]struct on the CPU side, and the same field list becomes a fully attributed WGSL struct on the GPU side.
Supported Builtins
wgsl-rs recognizes the following builtin names inside #[builtin(...)]:
| Vertex input | Vertex output | Fragment input | Fragment output | Compute input |
|---|---|---|---|---|
vertex_index | position | position | frag_depth | local_invocation_id |
instance_index | front_facing | sample_mask | local_invocation_index | |
sample_index | global_invocation_id | |||
sample_mask | workgroup_id | |||
primitive_index | num_workgroups | |||
subgroup_invocation_id | ||||
subgroup_size | ||||
subgroup_id | ||||
num_subgroups |
position may additionally carry #[invariant] on the vertex output to force invariant interpolation.
Mixing Builtins and Locations
A struct may mix builtins and locations freely:
#![allow(unused)] fn main() { pub struct VertexOutput { #[builtin(position)] #[invariant] pub clip_position: Vec4f, #[location(0)] pub color: Vec4f, #[location(1)] #[interpolate(flat)] pub material_id: u32, } }