In-application API¶

Reference for RenderDoc in-application API version 1.6.0. This API is not necessary to use RenderDoc by default, but if you would like more control or custom triggering of captures this API can provide the mechanism to do so.

Make sure to use a matching API header for your build - if you use a newer header, the API version may not be available. All RenderDoc builds supporting this API ship the header in their root directory.

This page describes the RenderDoc API exposed to applications being captured, both in overall organisation as well as a specific reference on each function.

To begin using the API you need to fetch the RENDERDOC_GetAPI function. You should do this dynamically, it is not recommended to actually link against RenderDoc’s DLL as it’s intended to be injected or loaded at runtime. The header does not declare RENDERDOC_GetAPI, it declares a function pointer typedef pRENDERDOC_GetAPI that you can use.

The recommended way to access the RenderDoc API is to passively check if the module is loaded, and use the API if it is. This lets you continue to use RenderDoc entirely as normal, launching your program through the UI, but you can access additional functionality to e.g. trigger captures at custom times. When your program is launched independently it will see that the RenderDoc module is not present and safely fall back.

To do this you’ll use your platforms dynamic library functions to see if the library is open already - e.g. GetModuleHandle on Windows, or dlopen with the RTLD_NOW | RTLD_NOLOAD flags if available on *nix systems. On most platforms you can just search for the module name - renderdoc.dll on Windows, or librenderdoc.so on Linux, or libVkLayer_GLES_RenderDoc.so on Android should be sufficient here, so you don’t need to know the path to where RenderDoc is running from. This will vary by platform however so consult your platform’s OS documentation. Then you can use GetProcAddress or dlsym to fetch the RENDERDOC_GetAPI function using the typedef above.

int RENDERDOC_GetAPI(RENDERDOC_Version version, void **outAPIPointers)¶

This function is the only entry point actually exported from the RenderDoc module. You call this function with the desired API version, and pass it the address of a pointer to the appropriate struct type. If successful, RenderDoc will set the pointer to point to a struct containing the function pointers for the API functions (detailed below) and return 1.

Note that version numbers follow semantic versioning which means the implementation returned may have a higher minor and/or patch version than requested.

Example code:
#include "renderdoc_app.h"

RENDERDOC_API_1_1_2 *rdoc_api = NULL;

// At init, on windows
if(HMODULE mod = GetModuleHandleA("renderdoc.dll"))
{
    pRENDERDOC_GetAPI RENDERDOC_GetAPI =
        (pRENDERDOC_GetAPI)GetProcAddress(mod, "RENDERDOC_GetAPI");
    int ret = RENDERDOC_GetAPI(eRENDERDOC_API_Version_1_1_2, (void **)&rdoc_api);
    assert(ret == 1);
}

// At init, on linux/android.
// For android replace librenderdoc.so with libVkLayer_GLES_RenderDoc.so
if(void *mod = dlopen("librenderdoc.so", RTLD_NOW | RTLD_NOLOAD))
{
    pRENDERDOC_GetAPI RENDERDOC_GetAPI = (pRENDERDOC_GetAPI)dlsym(mod, "RENDERDOC_GetAPI");
    int ret = RENDERDOC_GetAPI(eRENDERDOC_API_Version_1_1_2, (void **)&rdoc_api);
    assert(ret == 1);
}

// To start a frame capture, call StartFrameCapture.
// You can specify NULL, NULL for the device to capture on if you have only one device and
// either no windows at all or only one window, and it will capture from that device.
// See the documentation below for a longer explanation
if(rdoc_api) rdoc_api->StartFrameCapture(NULL, NULL);

// Your rendering should happen here

// stop the capture
if(rdoc_api) rdoc_api->EndFrameCapture(NULL, NULL);
param RENDERDOC_Version version

is the version number of the API for which you want the interface struct.

param void** outAPIPointers

will be filled with the address of the API’s function pointer struct, if supported. E.g. if eRENDERDOC_API_Version_1_1_1 is requested, outAPIPointers will be filled with RENDERDOC_API_1_1_1* or any newer version that is compatible with API 1.1.1, but nothing lower.

return

The function returns 1 if the API version is valid and available, and the struct pointer is filled. The function returns 0 if the API version is invalid or not supported, or the pointer parameter is invalid.

void GetAPIVersion(int *major, int *minor, int *patch)¶

This function returns the actual API version of the implementation returned. Version numbers follow semantic versioning which means the implementation returned may have a higher minor and/or patch version than requested: New patch versions are identical and backwards compatible in functionality. New minor versions add new functionality in a backwards compatible way.

Parameters

int* major – will be filled with the major version of the implementation’s version.
int* minor – will be filled with the minor version of the implementation’s version.
int* patch – which will be filled with the patch version of the implementation’s version.

Returns

None

int SetCaptureOptionU32(RENDERDOC_CaptureOption opt, uint32_t val)¶

Set one of the options for tweaking some behaviours of capturing. Note that each option only takes effect from after it is set - so it is advised to set these options as early as possible, ideally before any graphics API has been initialised.

Parameters

RENDERDOC_CaptureOption opt – specifies which capture option should be set.
uint32_t val – the unsigned integer value to set for the above option.

Returns

The function returns 1 if the option is valid, and the value set on the option is within valid ranges. The function returns 0 if the option is not a RENDERDOC_CaptureOption enum, or the value is not valid for the option.

int SetCaptureOptionF32(RENDERDOC_CaptureOption opt, float val)¶

Set one of the options for tweaking some behaviours of capturing. Note that each option only takes effect from after it is set - so it is advised to set these options as early as possible, ideally before any graphics API has been initialised..

Parameters

RENDERDOC_CaptureOption opt – specifies which capture option should be set.
float val – the floating point value to set for the above option.

Returns

The function returns 1 if the option is valid, and the value set on the option is within valid ranges. The function returns 0 if the option is not a RENDERDOC_CaptureOption enum, or the value is not valid for the option.

enum RENDERDOC_CaptureOption¶: Many values in this enum correspond to options in the Capture Dialog window, so more documentation about their meaning can be found there. Some values here are only available programmatically through this API.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_AllowVSync¶: specifies whether the application is allowed to enable vsync. Default is on.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_AllowFullscreen¶: specifies whether the application is allowed to enter exclusive fullscreen. Default is on.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_APIValidation¶: specifies whether (where possible) API-specific debugging is enabled. Default is off.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_CaptureCallstacks¶: specifies whether each API call should save a callstack. Default is off.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_CaptureCallstacksOnlyActions¶: specifies whether - if CaptureCallstacks is enabled - callstacks are only saved on actions. Default is off.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_DelayForDebugger¶: specifies a delay in seconds after launching a process to pause, to allow debuggers to attach. This will only apply to child processes since the delay happens at process startup. Default is 0.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_VerifyBufferWrites¶: specifies whether any mapped memory updates should be bounds-checked for overruns, and uninitialised buffers are initialised to 0xdddddddd to catch use of uninitialised data. Only supported on D3D11 and OpenGL. Default is off.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_HookIntoChildren¶: specifies whether child processes launched by the initial application should be hooked as well - commonly if a launcher process is needed to run the application. Default is off.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_RefAllResources¶: specifies whether all live resources at the time of capture should be included in the capture, even if they are not referenced by the frame. Default is off.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_CaptureAllCmdLists¶: specifies whether all command lists should be captured on D3D11 where multithreaded submission is not optimal, rather than only capturing those recorded after frame capture begins. Default is off.

enumerator RENDERDOC_CaptureOption::eRENDERDOC_Option_DebugOutputMute¶: specifies whether to mute any API debug output messages when APIValidation is enabled, and not pass them along to the application. Default is on.

uint32_t GetCaptureOptionU32(RENDERDOC_CaptureOption opt)¶

Gets the current value of one of the different options listed above in SetCaptureOptionU32().

Parameters: RENDERDOC_CaptureOption opt – specifies which capture option should be retrieved.
Returns: The function returns the value of the capture option, if the option is a valid RENDERDOC_CaptureOption enum. Otherwise returns 0xffffffff.

float GetCaptureOptionF32(RENDERDOC_CaptureOption opt)¶

Gets the current value of one of the different options listed above in SetCaptureOptionF32().

Parameters: RENDERDOC_CaptureOption opt – specifies which capture option should be retrieved.
Returns: The function returns the value of the capture option, if the option is a valid RENDERDOC_CaptureOption enum. Otherwise returns -FLT_MAX.

void SetFocusToggleKeys(RENDERDOC_InputButton *keys, int num)¶

This function changes the key bindings in-application for changing the focussed window.

Parameters

RENDERDOC_InputButton* keys – lists the keys to bind. If this parameter is NULL, num must be 0.
int num – specifies the number of keys in the keys array. If 0, the keybinding is disabled.

enum RENDERDOC_InputButton¶

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_0¶: eRENDERDOC_Key_0 to eRENDERDOC_Key_9 are the number keys. The values of these match ASCII for ‘0’ .. ‘9’.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_A¶: eRENDERDOC_Key_A to eRENDERDOC_Key_Z are the letter keys. The values of these match ASCII for ‘A’ .. ‘Z’.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_Divide¶: is the Divide key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_Multiply¶: is the Multiply key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_Subtract¶: is the Subtract key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_Plus¶: is the Plus key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_F1¶: eRENDERDOC_Key_F1 to eRENDERDOC_Key_F12 are the function keys.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_Home¶: is the Home key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_End¶: is the End key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_Insert¶: is the Insert key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_Delete¶: is the Delete key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_PageUp¶: is the PageUp key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_PageDn¶: is the PageDn key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_Backspace¶: is the Backspace key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_Tab¶: is the Tab key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_PrtScrn¶: is the PrtScrn key.

enumerator RENDERDOC_InputButton::eRENDERDOC_Key_Pause¶: is the Pause key.

void SetCaptureKeys(RENDERDOC_InputButton *keys, int num)¶

This function changes the key bindings in-application for triggering a capture on the current window.

Parameters

RENDERDOC_InputButton* keys – lists the keys to bind. If this parameter is NULL, num must be 0.
int num – specifies the number of keys in the keys array. If 0, the keybinding is disabled.

uint32_t GetOverlayBits()¶

This function returns the current mask which determines what sections of the overlay render on each window.

Returns: A mask containing bits from RENDERDOC_OverlayBits.

enum RENDERDOC_OverlayBits¶

enumerator RENDERDOC_OverlayBits::eRENDERDOC_Overlay_Enabled¶: is an overall enable/disable bit. If this is disabled, no overlay renders.

enumerator RENDERDOC_OverlayBits::eRENDERDOC_Overlay_FrameRate¶: shows the average, min and max frame time in milliseconds, and the average framerate.

enumerator RENDERDOC_OverlayBits::eRENDERDOC_Overlay_FrameNumber¶: shows the current frame number, as counted by the number of presents.

enumerator RENDERDOC_OverlayBits::eRENDERDOC_Overlay_CaptureList¶: shows how many total captures have been made, and a list of captured frames in the last few seconds.

enumerator RENDERDOC_OverlayBits::eRENDERDOC_Overlay_Default¶: is the default set of bits, which is the value of the mask at startup.

enumerator RENDERDOC_OverlayBits::eRENDERDOC_Overlay_All¶: is equal to ~0U so all bits are enabled.

enumerator RENDERDOC_OverlayBits::eRENDERDOC_Overlay_None¶: is equal to 0 so all bits are disabled.

void MaskOverlayBits(uint32_t And, uint32_t Or)¶

This function modifies the current mask which determines what sections of the overlay render on each window.

Parameters

uint32_t And – is a 32-bit value the mask is binary-AND’d with before processing Or.
uint32_t Or – is a 32-bit value the mask is binary-OR’d with after processing And.

void RemoveHooks()¶: This function will attempt to remove RenderDoc and its hooks from the target process. It must be called as early as possible in the process, and will have undefined results if any graphics API functions have been called.

Note

This process is only possible on Windows, and even then it is not well defined so may not be possible in all circumstances. This function is provided at your own risk.

Note

This function was renamed, in earlier versions of the API it was declared as Shutdown. This rename is backwards compatible as the function signature did not change.

void UnloadCrashHandler()¶: This function will remove RenderDoc’s crash handler from the target process. If you have your own crash handler that you want to handle any exceptions, RenderDoc’s handler could interfere so it can be disabled.

void SetCaptureFilePathTemplate(const char *pathtemplate)¶

Set the template for new captures. The template can either be a relative or absolute path, which determines where captures will be saved and how they will be named. If the path template is my_captures/example then captures saved will be e.g. my_captures/example_frame123.rdc and my_captures/example_frame456.rdc. Relative paths will be saved relative to the process’s current working directory. The default template is in a folder controlled by the UI - initially the system temporary folder, and the filename is the executable’s filename.

Parameters: const char* pathtemplate – specifies the capture path template to set, as UTF-8 null-terminated string.

Note

This function was renamed, in earlier versions of the API it was declared as SetLogFilePathTemplate. This rename is backwards compatible as the function signature did not change.

const char *GetCaptureFilePathTemplate()¶

Get the current capture path template, see SetCaptureFilePathTemplate().

Returns: the current capture path template as a UTF-8 null-terminated string.

Note

This function was renamed, in earlier versions of the API it was declared as GetLogFilePathTemplate. This rename is backwards compatible as the function signature did not change.

uint32_t GetNumCaptures()¶

This function returns the number of frame captures that have been made.

Returns: the number of frame captures that have been made

uint32_t GetCapture(uint32_t idx, char *filename, uint32_t *pathlength, uint64_t *timestamp)¶

This function returns the details of a particular frame capture, as specified by an index from 0 to GetNumCaptures() - 1.

Parameters

uint32_t idx – specifies which capture to return the details of. Must be less than the return value of GetNumCaptures().
char* filename – is an optional parameter filled with the UTF-8 null-terminated path to the file. There must be enough space in the array to contain all characters including the null terminator. If set to NULL, nothing is written.
uint32_t* pathlength – is an optional parameter filled with the byte length of the above filename including the null terminator. If set to NULL, nothing is written.
uint64_t* timestamp – is an optional parameter filled with the 64-bit timestamp of the file - equivalent to the time() system call. If set to NULL, nothing is written.

Returns

Returns 1 if the capture index was valid, or 0 if it was out of range.

Note

It is advised to call this function twice - first to obtain pathlength so that sufficient space can be allocated. Then again to actually retrieve the path.

The path follows the template set in SetCaptureFilePathTemplate() so it may not be an absolute path.

void TriggerCapture()¶: This function will trigger a capture as if the user had pressed one of the capture hotkeys. The capture will be taken from the next frame presented to whichever window is considered current.

uint32_t IsTargetControlConnected()¶

This function returns a value to indicate whether the RenderDoc UI is currently connected to the current process.

Returns: Returns 1 if the RenderDoc UI is currently connected, or 0 otherwise.

Note

This function was renamed, in earlier versions of the API it was declared as IsRemoteAccessConnected. This rename is backwards compatible as the function signature did not change.

uint32_t LaunchReplayUI(uint32_t connectTargetControl, const char *cmdline)¶

This function will determine the closest matching replay UI executable for the current RenderDoc module and launch it.

Parameters

uint32_t connectTargetControl – should be set to 1 if the UI should immediately connect to the application.
const char* cmdline – is an optional UTF-8 null-terminated string to be appended to the command line, e.g. a capture filename. If this parameter is NULL, the command line will be unmodified.

Returns

If the UI was successfully launched, this function will return the PID of the new process. Otherwise it will return 0.

uint32_t ShowReplayUI()¶

This function requests that the currently connected replay UI raise its window to the top. This is only possible if an instance of the replay UI is currently connected, otherwise this function does nothing. This can be used in conjunction with IsTargetControlConnected and LaunchReplayUI to intelligently handle showing the UI after making a capture.

Given OS differences it is not guaranteed that the UI will be successfully raised even if the request is passed on. On some OSs it may only be highlighted or otherwise indicated to the user.

Returns: If the request to be shown was passed onto the UI successfully this function will return 1. If there is no UI connected currently or some other error occurred it will return 0.

Note

Added in API version 1.5.0

void SetActiveWindow(RENDERDOC_DevicePointer device, RENDERDOC_WindowHandle wndHandle)¶

This function will explicitly set which window is considered active. The active window is the one that will be captured when the keybind to trigger a capture is pressed.

Parameters

RENDERDOC_DevicePointer device – is a handle to the API ‘device’ object that will be set active. Must be valid.
RENDERDOC_WindowHandle wndHandle – is a handle to the platform window handle that will be set active. Must be valid.

Note

RENDERDOC_DevicePointer is a typedef to void *. The contents of it are API specific:

For D3D11 it must be the ID3D11Device device object.
For D3D12 it must be the ID3D12Device device object.
For OpenGL it must be the HGLRC, GLXContext, or EGLContext context object.
For OpenGLES it must be the EGLContext context object.
For Vulkan it must be the dispatch table pointer within the VkInstance. This is a pointer-sized value at the location pointed to by the VkInstance. NOTE - this is not the actual VkInstance pointer itself. You can use the RENDERDOC_DEVICEPOINTER_FROM_VKINSTANCE helper macro defined in the renderdoc header to obtain this pointer from any VkInstance.

RENDERDOC_WindowHandle is a typedef to void *. It is the platform specific Windows HWND, Xcb xcb_window_t, Xlib Window / Drawable, Wayland wl_surface*, or Android ANativeWindow*.

void StartFrameCapture(RENDERDOC_DevicePointer device, RENDERDOC_WindowHandle wndHandle)¶

This function will immediately begin a capture for the specified device/window combination.

Parameters

RENDERDOC_DevicePointer device – is a handle to the API ‘device’ object that will be set active. May be NULL to wildcard match.
RENDERDOC_WindowHandle wndHandle – is a handle to the platform window handle that will be set active. May be NULL to wildcard match.

Note

RENDERDOC_DevicePointer and RENDERDOC_WindowHandle are described above in SetActiveWindow(). device and wndHandle can either or both be set to NULL to wildcard match against active device/window combinations. This wildcard matching can be used if the handle is difficult to obtain where frame captures are triggered.

For example if device is NULL but wndHandle is set, RenderDoc will begin a capture on the first API it finds that is active on that window.

If the wildcard match has multiple possible candidates, it is not defined which will be chosen. Wildcard matching should only be used when e.g. it is known that only one API is active on a window, or there is only one window active for a given API.

If no window has been created and all rendering is off-screen, NULL can be specified for the window handle and the device object can be passed to select that API. If both are set to NULL, RenderDoc will simply choose one at random so is only recommended for the case where only one is present.

uint32_t IsFrameCapturing()¶

This function returns a value to indicate whether the current frame is capturing.

Returns: Returns 1 if the frame is currently capturing, or 0 otherwise.

uint32_t EndFrameCapture(RENDERDOC_DevicePointer device, RENDERDOC_WindowHandle wndHandle)¶

This function will immediately end an active capture for the specified device/window combination.

Parameters

RENDERDOC_DevicePointer device – is a handle to the API ‘device’ object that will be set active. May be NULL to wildcard match.
RENDERDOC_WindowHandle wndHandle – is a handle to the platform window handle that will be set active. May be NULL to wildcard match.

Returns

Returns 1 if the capture succeeded, and 0 if there was an error capturing.

Note

RENDERDOC_DevicePointer and RENDERDOC_WindowHandle are described above in SetActiveWindow(). device and wndHandle can either or both be set to NULL to wildcard match against active device/window combinations. This wildcard matching can be used if the handle is difficult to obtain where frame captures are triggered.

Wildcard matching of device and wndHandle is described above in StartFrameCapture().

There will be undefined results if there is not an active frame capture for the device/window combination.

uint32_t DiscardFrameCapture(RENDERDOC_DevicePointer device, RENDERDOC_WindowHandle wndHandle)¶

This function is similar to EndFrameCapture() but the capture contents will be discarded immediately, and not processed and written to disk. This will be more efficient than EndFrameCapture() if the frame capture is not needed.

Parameters

RENDERDOC_DevicePointer device – is a handle to the API ‘device’ object that will be set active. May be NULL to wildcard match.
RENDERDOC_WindowHandle wndHandle – is a handle to the platform window handle that will be set active. May be NULL to wildcard match.

Returns

Returns 1 if the capture was discarded, and 0 if there was an error or no capture was in progress.

Note

RENDERDOC_DevicePointer and RENDERDOC_WindowHandle are described above in SetActiveWindow(). device and wndHandle can either or both be set to NULL to wildcard match against active device/window combinations. This wildcard matching can be used if the handle is difficult to obtain where frame captures are triggered.

Wildcard matching of device and wndHandle is described above in StartFrameCapture().

There will be undefined results if there is not an active frame capture for the device/window combination.

Note

Added in API version 1.4.0

void SetCaptureTitle(const char *title)¶

This function sets a given title for the currently in-progress capture, which will be displayed in the UI. This can be used either with a user-defined capture using a manual start and end, or an automatic capture triggered by TriggerCapture() or a keypress.

If multiple captures are ongoing at once, the title will be applied to the first capture to end only. Any subsequent captures will not get any title unless the function is called again.

This function can only be called while a capture is in-progress, after StartFrameCapture() and before EndFrameCapture(). If it is called elsewhere it will have no effect. If it is called multiple times within a capture, only the last title will have any effect.

Note

Added in API version 1.6.0

void TriggerMultiFrameCapture(uint32_t numFrames)¶

This function will trigger multiple sequential frame captures as if the user had pressed one of the capture hotkeys before each frame. The captures will be taken from the next frames presented to whichever window is considered current.

Each capture will be taken independently and saved to a separate file, with no reference to the other frames.

Parameters: uint32_t numFrames – the number of frames to capture, as an unsigned integer.

Note

Added in API version 1.1.0

void SetCaptureFileComments(const char *filePath, const char *comments)¶

This function adds an arbitrary comments field to an existing capture on disk, which will then be displayed in the UI to anyone opening the capture.

Parameters

const char* filePath – specifies the path to the capture file to set comments in, as UTF-8 null-terminated string. If this path is NULL or an empty string, the most recent capture file that has been created will be used.
const char* comments – specifies the comments to set in the capture file, as UTF-8 null-terminated string.

Note

Added in API version 1.2.0