gpuWebGPU resources
The official places to learn and look things up: the WebGPU and WGSL specifications, browser documentation, support tables, samples, the engines inside the browsers, and the GPU APIs and vendor tools underneath. Each link has a line on when it is useful.
WebGPU and WGSL specifications
The standards every browser implements, written by the W3C GPU for the Web Working Group. When documentation disagrees, the specification is the final word.
- w3.org
WebGPU specification
The W3C standard for the WebGPU API: adapters, devices, buffers, textures, pipelines, passes and every validation rule.
- w3.org
WGSL specification
The WebGPU Shading Language standard: types, memory layout, address spaces, built-in values and functions.
- gpuweb.github.io
WebGPU editor's draft
The latest working version of the specification, updated as changes land, ahead of the published W3C version.
- gpuweb.github.io
WebGPU explainer
Why WebGPU is designed the way it is: security, portability, the object model and the reasoning behind each choice.
- w3.org
GPU for the Web Working Group
The W3C group that develops WebGPU and WGSL, with its charter, participants and publications.
- github.com
gpuweb on GitHub
Where the specification is written: issues, proposals for new features and discussion with browser engineers.
Official WebGPU documentation
Reference and guides from browser makers and MDN, with an entry for every interface, method and dictionary in the API.
- developer.mozilla.org
MDN: WebGPU API
Mozilla's reference for every WebGPU interface, with concepts, examples and browser compatibility tables.
- developer.chrome.com
Chrome for Developers: WebGPU overview
Google's guide to WebGPU in Chrome: getting started, new features in each release and platform notes.
- developer.chrome.com
From WebGL to WebGPU
Chrome's guide for WebGL developers: how contexts, buffers, uniforms, shaders and draw calls map to WebGPU.
- developer.chrome.com
WebGPU troubleshooting tips
Why navigator.gpu can be missing or requestAdapter can return null, and how to fix it in Chrome.
- github.com
WebGPU TypeScript types
The official TypeScript definitions for WebGPU (@webgpu/types), maintained alongside the specification.
WebGPU browser support
WebGPU ships in Chrome, Edge and Safari, and in Firefox on Windows. These pages track exactly which versions and platforms support it.
- caniuse.com
Can I use: WebGPU
Browser and version support for WebGPU across desktop and mobile, with notes on flags and platforms.
- github.com
WebGPU implementation status
The working group's own table of where each browser engine ships WebGPU and on which operating systems.
- web.dev
WebGPU supported in major browsers
web.dev's announcement of WebGPU shipping across Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, with what it means for developers.
- developer.chrome.com
Chrome ships WebGPU
The Chrome 113 release post that brought WebGPU to the stable web on Windows, macOS and ChromeOS.
- webgpureport.org
WebGPU Report
Shows your own browser's WebGPU adapter, features and limits, handy when a demo does not run on one machine.
Official samples and learning material
Runnable examples and guides written or reviewed by people who work on the specification and the browsers.
- webgpu.github.io
WebGPU Samples
The official sample collection: triangles, textured cubes, instancing, shadow mapping, compute particles, deferred rendering and more.
- google.github.io
Tour of WGSL
An interactive walk through the WGSL language, one feature per page, with code you can edit and run.
- toji.dev
WebGPU best practices
Practical advice from a WebGPU specification editor on buffers, bind groups, image uploads and error handling.
- webgpufundamentals.org
WebGPU Fundamentals
A widely used community tutorial series that explains WebGPU from first principles, with many live examples.
WebGPU implementations
The open-source engines inside the browsers. Both also run outside the browser, so WebGPU code ideas carry over to native apps.
The GPU APIs underneath WebGPU
WebGPU is modelled on modern native graphics APIs and runs on top of them. Their documentation explains what the GPU is actually doing.
- vulkan.org
Vulkan
Khronos' cross-platform GPU API, which WebGPU uses on Windows, Linux, Android and ChromeOS.
- docs.vulkan.org
Vulkan documentation
The Vulkan specification, guide and samples, useful for understanding pipelines, synchronisation and memory.
- developer.apple.com
Apple Metal
Apple's GPU API, which WebGPU uses on macOS and iOS, with tools, sample code and performance guides.
- learn.microsoft.com
Direct3D 12 programming guide
Microsoft's guide to Direct3D 12, which WebGPU uses on Windows.
- khronos.org
WebGL
The Khronos home of WebGL, the browser graphics API that came before WebGPU.
- developer.mozilla.org
MDN: WebGL API
Mozilla's WebGL reference and tutorials, useful when porting older code to WebGPU.
- khronos.org
Khronos Group
The standards body behind Vulkan, OpenGL, WebGL, glTF and SPIR-V.
GPU vendor developer resources
Profilers, debuggers and performance guides from the companies that make the GPUs your WebGPU code runs on.
- developer.nvidia.com
NVIDIA Developer
NVIDIA's developer hub: graphics and compute documentation, SDKs and performance guides for GeForce and RTX GPUs.
- developer.nvidia.com
NVIDIA Nsight Graphics
A frame debugger and profiler for Vulkan and Direct3D 12, the APIs WebGPU runs on in Chrome.
- gpuopen.com
AMD GPUOpen
AMD's open-source tools, libraries and in-depth articles on how Radeon GPUs execute shaders.
- gpuopen.com
Radeon GPU Profiler
AMD's low-level profiler that shows how each draw and dispatch occupies the GPU.
- developer.apple.com
Apple Metal documentation
Apple's Metal reference, including GPU capture and profiling in Xcode for Apple silicon.
Where to start
- I am new to WebGPU.
- Read the introduction lesson, then keep the MDN WebGPU reference open while you work through the tutorial.
- I know WebGL.
- Chrome's From WebGL to WebGPU maps each concept across, and the WebGPU vs WebGL article shows what changes in practice, with numbers.
- A demo does not run on my machine.
- Check Can I use for your browser version, open WebGPU Report to see your adapter, and follow Chrome's troubleshooting tips.
- I need the exact rule for something.
- Search the WebGPU specification for API behaviour and validation, or the WGSL specification for shader types, layout and built-ins.