@webgpu/types

Typescript Type Definitions for WebGPU

This package defines Typescript types (.d.ts) for the upcoming WebGPU standard.

Use this package to augment the ambient "dom" type definitions with the new definitions for WebGPU.

API style docs

This repo also generates typedoc docs here: https://gpuweb.github.io/types

What are declaration files?

See the TypeScript handbook.

Integration into "dom" type definitions.

WebGPU types have been integrated into the "dom" starting with TypeScript 6. It appears that v6.0.4 and above will include a full set of WebGPU types and thus should not need the supplemental types from this repo.

Unfortunately some versions of TypeScript include a "dom" library which only contained a partial set of WebGPU types, preventing WebGPU code from building cleanly. This is confirmed the case in TypeScript v6.0.3 and lower and TypeScript v7.0.2 and lower. To build WebGPU with the affected versions install the @types/web to be package v0.0.352 or greater, and use it instead of the built-in "dom" library:

Install:

npm install @types/web

Usage in tsconfig.json:

{
  // ...
  "compilerOptions": {
    // ...
    "lib": ["esnext"], // Do not include "dom"!
    "types": ["@types/web"],
  }
}

For TypeScript v5 and below, this library is still necessary to provide WebGPU types.

How can I use them?

Install

• npm: npm install --save-dev @webgpu/types
• yarn: yarn add --dev @webgpu/types
• pnpm: pnpm add -D @webgpu/types

If you are on TypeScript < 5.1, you will also need to install @types/dom-webcodecs as a sibling dependency. The version you need depends on the TypeScript version; see the tests for examples.

Configure

Since this package is outside DefinitelyTyped, the dependency won't be picked up automatically. There are several ways to add a additional TypeScript type definition dependencies to your TypeScript project:

TypeScript tsc and tsc-based bundlers

In tsconfig.json:

{
  // ...
  "compilerOptions": {
    // ...
    "types": ["@webgpu/types"]
  }
}

Or you can use typeRoots:

{
  // ...
  "compilerOptions": {
    // ...
    "typeRoots": ["./node_modules/@webgpu/types", "./node_modules/@types"]
  }
}

Inline in TypeScript

This may work better if your toolchain doesn't read tsconfig.json.

/// <reference types="@webgpu/types" />

Webpack

If you use Webpack and the options above aren't sufficient (this has not been verified), you may need the following in webpack.config.js:

"types": ["@webgpu/types"]

Others?

Please contribute a PR to add instructions for other setups or improve existing instructions. :)

How to update these types

• Make sure the submodule is checked out: git submodule update --init
• Pull gpuweb changes: pushd gpuweb && git checkout main && git pull && popd
• Install dependencies: npm ci
• Generate generated/index.d.ts: npm run generate
• Open a diff between generated/index.d.ts and dist/index.d.ts. The generated file is tracked by Git so you can see what has changed. Update the latter according to changes from the former. Note the generated/ and dist/ files are not the same. See below for intentional differences.
• Format the result: npm run format

Intentional differences between generator output and final result

Most or all of these should be fixed in the generator over time.

• any changed to object for WebIDL object.

The following differences are TODO: should be changed in the final result.

• Deprecated items should be removed.
• TODO items should be fixed (e.g. make new additions no longer optional).
• Addition of Compatibility Mode items like textureBindingViewDimension.

The following differences will remain.

• onuncapturederror strongly typed.
• addEventListener('uncapturederror') type support.
• getContext definitions.
• GPUExtent3DStrict and GPUOrigin2DStrict.

Publish a new npm package version

New patch releases are published to NPM and tagged in Git automatically by GitHub Actions on pushes to main when dist/index.d.ts has changed since the last release.

package.json intentionally omits a version field in Git; the workflow finds the latest version tag in Git, increments the patch version, publishes the package, and pushes the new Git tag.

Similar packages

Other packages similar to @webgpu/types

three

Three.js is a popular JavaScript library that simplifies the creation of 3D graphics on the web. While it abstracts many complexities of WebGL, it does not provide direct access to the WebGPU API like @webgpu/types. Three.js is more focused on ease of use and rapid development of 3D scenes.

babylonjs

Babylon.js is another powerful 3D engine for web development. It provides a comprehensive set of tools for creating 3D applications, including support for WebGPU. However, it is more of a high-level framework compared to the low-level access provided by @webgpu/types.