vkCreatePipelineCache(3)

# vkCreatePipelineCache(3) Manual Page

## Name

vkCreatePipelineCache - Creates a new pipeline cache

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## C Specification

To create pipeline cache objects, call:

    // Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
    VkResult vkCreatePipelineCache(
        VkDevice                                    device,
        const VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo*            pCreateInfo,
        const VkAllocationCallbacks*                pAllocator,
        VkPipelineCache*                            pPipelineCache);

## Parameters

- `device` is the logical device that creates the pipeline cache object.

- `pCreateInfo` is a pointer to a VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo structure containing initial parameters for the pipeline cache object.

- `pAllocator` controls host memory allocation as described in the Memory Allocation chapter.

- `pPipelineCache` is a pointer to a VkPipelineCache handle in which the resulting pipeline cache object is returned.

## Description

Note | Applications can track and manage the total host memory size of a pipeline cache object using the `pAllocator`. Applications can limit the amount of data retrieved from a pipeline cache object in `vkGetPipelineCacheData`. Implementations should not internally limit the total number of entries added to a pipeline cache object or the total host memory consumed.

Once created, a pipeline cache can be passed to the vkCreateGraphicsPipelines vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesKHR, vkCreateRayTracingPipelinesNV, vkCreateDataGraphPipelinesARM, and vkCreateComputePipelines commands. If the pipeline cache passed into these commands is not VK_NULL_HANDLE, the implementation will query it for possible reuse opportunities and update it with new content. The use of the pipeline cache object in these commands is internally synchronized, and the same pipeline cache object can be used in multiple threads simultaneously.

If `flags` of `pCreateInfo` includes `VK_PIPELINE_CACHE_CREATE_EXTERNALLY_SYNCHRONIZED_BIT`, all commands that modify the returned pipeline cache object must be externally synchronized.

Note | Implementations should make every effort to limit any critical sections to the actual accesses to the cache, which is expected to be significantly shorter than the duration of the `vkCreate*Pipelines` commands.

Valid Usage (Implicit)

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

- VUID-vkCreatePipelineCache-pCreateInfo-parameter
  `pCreateInfo` must be a valid pointer to a valid VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo structure

- VUID-vkCreatePipelineCache-pAllocator-parameter
  If `pAllocator` is not `NULL`, `pAllocator` must be a valid pointer to a valid VkAllocationCallbacks structure

- VUID-vkCreatePipelineCache-pPipelineCache-parameter
  `pPipelineCache` must be a valid pointer to a VkPipelineCache handle

Return Codes

On success, this command returns

  - `VK_SUCCESS`

On failure, this command returns

  - `VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_HOST_MEMORY`

  - `VK_ERROR_OUT_OF_DEVICE_MEMORY`

## See Also

VK_VERSION_1_0, VkAllocationCallbacks, VkDevice, VkPipelineCache, VkPipelineCacheCreateInfo

## 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