Published: January 7, 2026

WGSL subgroup_id extension

The WGSL language extension subgroup_id lets you use the following new built-in values in workgroups when the subgroups extension is enabled:

• subgroup_id: Provides the ID of an invocation’s subgroup within the current workgroup.
• num_subgroups: Reports the number of subgroups present in the workgroup.

Previously, to index memory using subgroup invocation IDs, you had to reconstruct a subgroup ID (typically throughatomic operations) to avoid overlapping memory accesses. You can now use subgroup_id to fill the other half of that equation. Because this functionality is not available on the D3D backend yet, it’s emulated there. It should be safe to create an equivalence to local_invocation_index as subgroup_invocation_id + subgroup_size * subgroup_id. Note that there might be cases where subgroups are not full.

This language extension can be feature-detected using navigator.gpu.wgslLanguageFeatures. It’s recommended to use a requires-directive to signal the potential for non-portability with requires subgroup_id; at the top of your WGSL shader code. See the following example and the intent to ship.

if (!navigator.gpu.wgslLanguageFeatures.has("subgroup_id")) {
throw new Error(`WGSL subgroup_id and num_subgroups built-in values are not available`);
}

const adapter = await navigator.gpu.requestAdapter();
if (!adapter.features.has("subgroups")) {
throw new Error("Subgroups support is not available");
}
const device = await adapter.requestDevice({ requiredFeatures: ["subgroups"] });

const shaderModule = device.createShaderModule({ code: `
enable subgroups;
requires subgroup_id;

@compute @workgroup_size(64, 1, 1)
fn main(@builtin(subgroup_id) subgroup_id : u32,
@builtin(num_subgroups) num_subgroups : u32) {
// TODO: Use subgroup_id and num_subgroups values.
}`,
});

WGSL uniform_buffer_standard_layout extension

The WGSL language extension uniform_buffer_standard_layout lets uniform buffers use the same memory layout constraints as storage buffers, which makes it easier to share data structures in both kinds of buffers. This means uniform buffers are no longer required to have 16-byte alignment on array elements, or to pad nested structure offsets to a multiple of 16 bytes.

This language extension can be feature-detected using navigator.gpu.wgslLanguageFeatures. It’s recommended to use a requires-directive to signal the potential for non-portability with requires uniform_buffer_standard_layout; at the top of your WGSL shader code. See the following example and the intent to ship.

if (!navigator.gpu.wgslLanguageFeatures.has("uniform_buffer_standard_layout")) {
throw new Error(`WGSL uniform buffer standard layout is not available`);
}

const adapter = await navigator.gpu.requestAdapter();
const device = await adapter.requestDevice();

const shaderModule = device.createShaderModule({ code: `
requires uniform_buffer_standard_layout;

struct S {
x: f32
}
struct Uniforms {
a: S,
b: f32
// b is at offset 4. Without standard layout, alignment rules would
// force b to be at offset 16 (or a multiple of 16), and you would have
// to add extra fields or use an @align attribute.
}

@group(0) @binding(0) var<uniform> u: Uniforms;

@fragment fn fs_main() -> @location(0) vec4<f32> {
return vec4<f32>(u.a.x);
}`,
});

WebGPU on Linux

The Chrome team is carefully rolling out WebGPU for Linux, starting with support for Intel Gen12+ GPUs but with a tentative plan to expand it to more devices (AMD, NVIDIA). This implementation uses an architecture where WebGPU uses Vulkan and the rest of Chromium stays on OpenGL, exercising existing well known good code paths. See issue 442791440.

Faster writeBuffer and writeTexture

writeBuffer() and writeTexture() have been optimized in Chrome, resulting in performance gains up to 2X better than the previous version, depending on the size of the data being transferred. This change affects all users of the Dawn Wire implementation as well. See issue 441900745.

Dawn updates

The Android GPU team has published the first alpha release of Kotlin bindings for WebGPU on Android available using Jetpack. The androidx.webgpu package gives Android developers access to a modern GPU API using Kotlin, bypassing the legacy issues of OpenGL or the complexity of Vulkan—an exciting development for the ecosystem!

This covers only some of the key highlights. Check out the exhaustive list of commits.

A list of everything that has been covered in the What’s New in WebGPU series.

Chrome 144

• WGSL subgroup_id extension
• WGSL uniform_buffer_standard_layout extension
• WebGPU on Linux
• Faster writeBuffer and writeTexture
• Dawn updates

Chrome 143

• Texture component swizzle
• Remove bgra8unorm read-only storage texture usage
• Dawn updates

Chrome 142

• Texture format support capabilities extended
• Primitive index in WGSL
• Dawn updates

Chrome 141

• Tint IR completed
• Integer range analysis in WGSL compiler
• SPIR-V 1.4 update for Vulkan backend
• Dawn updates

Chrome 140

• Device requests consume adapter
• Shorthand for using texture where texture view is used
• WGSL textureSampleLevel supports 1D textures
• Deprecate bgra8unorm read-only storage texture usage
• Remove GPUAdapter isFallbackAdapter attribute
• Dawn updates

Chrome 139

• 3D texture support for BC and ASTC compressed formats
• New "core-features-and-limits" feature
• Origin trial for WebGPU compatibility mode
• Dawn updates

Chrome 138

• Shorthand for using buffer as a binding resource
• Size requirement changes for buffers mapped at creation
• Architecture report for recent GPUs
• Deprecate GPUAdapter isFallbackAdapter attribute
• Dawn updates

Chrome 137

• Use texture view for externalTexture binding
• Buffers copy without specifying offsets and size
• WGSL workgroupUniformLoad using pointer to atomic
• GPUAdapterInfo powerPreference attribute
• Remove GPURequestAdapterOptions compatibilityMode attribute
• Dawn updates

Chrome 136

• GPUAdapterInfo isFallbackAdapter attribute
• Shader compilation time improvements on D3D12
• Save and copy canvas images
• Lift compatibility mode restrictions
• Dawn updates

Chrome 135

• Allow creating pipeline layout with null bind group layout
• Allow viewports to extend past the render targets bounds
• Easier access to the experimental compatibility mode on Android
• Remove maxInterStageShaderComponents limit
• Dawn updates

Chrome 134

• Improve machine-learning workloads with subgroups
• Remove float filterable texture types support as blendable
• Dawn updates

Chrome 133

• Additional unorm8x4-bgra and 1-component vertex formats
• Allow unknown limits to be requested with undefined value
• WGSL alignment rules changes
• WGSL performance gains with discard
• Use VideoFrame displaySize for external textures
• Handle images with non-default orientations using copyExternalImageToTexture
• Improving developer experience
• Enable compatibility mode with featureLevel
• Experimental subgroup features cleanup
• Deprecate maxInterStageShaderComponents limit
• Dawn updates

Chrome 132

• Texture view usage
• 32-bit float textures blending
• GPUDevice adapterInfo attribute
• Configuring canvas context with invalid format throw JavaScript error
• Filtering sampler restrictions on textures
• Extended subgroups experimentation
• Improving developer experience
• Experimental support for 16-bit normalized texture formats
• Dawn updates

Chrome 131

• Clip distances in WGSL
• GPUCanvasContext getConfiguration()
• Point and line primitives must not have depth bias
• Inclusive scan built-in functions for subgroups
• Experimental support for multi-draw indirect
• Shader module compilation option strict math
• Remove GPUAdapter requestAdapterInfo()
• Dawn updates

Chrome 130

• Dual source blending
• Shader compilation time improvements on Metal
• Deprecation of GPUAdapter requestAdapterInfo()
• Dawn updates

Chrome 129

• HDR support with canvas tone mapping mode
• Expanded subgroups support
• Dawn updates

Chrome 128

• Experimenting with subgroups
• Deprecate setting depth bias for lines and points
• Hide uncaptured error DevTools warning if preventDefault
• WGSL interpolate sampling first and either
• Dawn updates

Chrome 127

• Experimental support for OpenGL ES on Android
• GPUAdapter info attribute
• WebAssembly interop improvements
• Improved command encoder errors
• Dawn updates

Chrome 126

• Increase maxTextureArrayLayers limit
• Buffer upload optimization for Vulkan backend
• Shader compilation time improvements
• Submitted command buffers must be unique
• Dawn updates

Chrome 125

• Subgroups (feature in development)
• Render to slice of 3D texture
• Dawn updates

Chrome 124

• Read-only and read-write storage textures
• Service workers and shared workers support
• New adapter information attributes
• Bug fixes
• Dawn updates

Chrome 123

• DP4a built-in functions support in WGSL
• Unrestricted pointer parameters in WGSL
• Syntax sugar for dereferencing composites in WGSL
• Separate read-only state for stencil and depth aspects
• Dawn updates

Chrome 122

• Expand reach with compatibility mode (feature in development)
• Increase maxVertexAttributes limit
• Dawn updates

Chrome 121

• Support WebGPU on Android
• Use DXC instead of FXC for shader compilation on Windows
• Timestamp queries in compute and render passes
• Default entry points to shader modules
• Support display-p3 as GPUExternalTexture color space
• Memory heaps info
• Dawn updates

Chrome 120

• Support for 16-bit floating-point values in WGSL
• Push the limits
• Changes to depth-stencil state
• Adapter information updates
• Timestamp queries quantization
• Spring-cleaning features

Chrome 119

• Filterable 32-bit float textures
• unorm10-10-10-2 vertex format
• rgb10a2uint texture format
• Dawn updates

Chrome 118

• HTMLImageElement and ImageData support in copyExternalImageToTexture()
• Experimental support for read-write and read-only storage texture
• Dawn updates

Chrome 117

• Unset vertex buffer
• Unset bind group
• Silence errors from async pipeline creation when device is lost
• SPIR-V shader module creation updates
• Improving developer experience
• Caching pipelines with automatically generated layout
• Dawn updates

Chrome 116

• WebCodecs integration
• Lost device returned by GPUAdapter requestDevice()
• Keep video playback smooth if importExternalTexture() is called
• Spec conformance
• Improving developer experience
• Dawn updates

Chrome 115

• Supported WGSL language extensions
• Experimental support for Direct3D 11
• Get discrete GPU by default on AC power
• Improving developer experience
• Dawn updates

Chrome 114

• Optimize JavaScript
• getCurrentTexture() on unconfigured canvas throws InvalidStateError
• WGSL updates
• Dawn updates

Chrome 113

• Use WebCodecs VideoFrame source in importExternalTexture()