GPUDevice: createComputePipelineAsync() method

Limited availability

This feature is not Baseline because it does not work in some of the most widely-used browsers.

Secure context: This feature is available only in secure contexts (HTTPS), in some or all supporting browsers.

Note: This feature is available in Web Workers.

The createComputePipelineAsync() method of the GPUDevice interface returns a Promise that fulfills with a GPUComputePipeline, which can control the compute shader stage and be used in a GPUComputePassEncoder, once the pipeline can be used without any stalling.

Note: It is generally preferable to use this method over GPUDevice.createComputePipeline() whenever possible, as it prevents blocking of GPU operation execution on pipeline compilation.

Syntax

js
createComputePipelineAsync(descriptor)

Parameters

descriptor

See the descriptor definition for the GPUDevice.createComputePipeline() method.

Return value

A Promise that fulfills with a GPUComputePipeline object instance when the created pipeline is ready to be used without additional delay.

Validation

If pipeline creation fails and the resulting pipeline becomes invalid as a result, the returned promise rejects with a GPUPipelineError:

  • If this is due to an internal error, the GPUPipelineError will have a reason of "internal".
  • If this is due to a validation error, the GPUPipelineError will have a reason of "validation".

A validation error can occur if any of the following are false:

  • The workgroup storage size used by the module referenced inside the compute property is less than or equal to the GPUDevice's maxComputeWorkgroupStorageSize limit.
  • The module uses a number of compute invocations per workgroup less than or equal to the GPUDevice's maxComputeInvocationsPerWorkgroup limit.
  • The module's workgroup size is less than or equal to the GPUDevice's corresponding maxComputeWorkgroupSizeX, maxComputeWorkgroupSizeY, or maxComputeWorkgroupSizeZ limit.
  • If the entryPoint property is omitted, the shader code contains a single compute shader entry point function for the browser to use as the default entry point.

Examples

Note: The WebGPU samples feature many more examples.

Basic example

The following example shows a process of:

js
async function init() {
  // …

  const bindGroupLayout = device.createBindGroupLayout({
    entries: [
      {
        binding: 0,
        visibility: GPUShaderStage.COMPUTE,
        buffer: {
          type: "storage",
        },
      },
    ],
  });

  const computePipeline = await device.createComputePipelineAsync({
    layout: device.createPipelineLayout({
      bindGroupLayouts: [bindGroupLayout],
    }),
    compute: {
      module: shaderModule,
      entryPoint: "main",
    },
  });

  // …
}

Specifications

Specification
WebGPU
# dom-gpudevice-createcomputepipelineasync

Browser compatibility

desktop mobile server
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
Deno
createComputePipelineAsync
Chrome – Partial support
Chrome 113 (Release date: 2023-05-02)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supported on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows.
footnote Supported on Linux (Intel Gen12+ GPUs only) since Chrome 144.
Edge – Partial support
Edge 113 (Release date: 2023-05-05)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supported on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows.
footnote Supported on Linux (Intel Gen12+ GPUs only) since Edge 144.
Firefox – Partial support
Firefox 141 (Release date: 2025-07-22)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supports all contexts except service workers. See bug 1942431.
footnote Supports Windows since Firefox 141. See bug 1972486.
footnote Supports macOS Tahoe on Apple silicon since Firefox 145. See bug 1992212.
footnote Supports older macOS versions on Apple silicon since Firefox 147. See bug 1993341.
footnote Does not support macOS on Intel CPUs. See bug 2004105.
footnote Does not support Linux. See bug 2006676.
Opera – Partial support
Opera 99 (Release date: 2023-05-16)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supported on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows.
footnote Supported on Linux (Intel Gen12+ GPUs only) since Opera 128.
Safari – Full support
Safari 26 (Release date: 2025-09-15)
footnote Full support
Chrome Android – Full support
Chrome Android 121 (Release date: 2024-01-23)
footnote Full support
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – Full support
Opera Android 81 (Release date: 2024-03-14)
footnote Full support
Safari on iOS – Full support
Safari on iOS 26 (Release date: 2025-09-15)
footnote Full support
Samsung Internet – Full support
Samsung Internet 25 (Release date: 2024-04-24)
footnote Full support
WebView Android – Full support
WebView Android 121 (Release date: 2024-01-23)
footnote Full support
WebView on iOS – Full support
WebView on iOS 26 (Release date: 2025-09-15)
footnote Full support
Deno – No support
Deno 1.8 – 1.31 (Release date: 2021-03-02)
footnote Removed in 1.32 and later
Deno – No support
Deno 1.39 (Release date: 2023-12-14)
disabled
disabled From version 1.39 users must explicitly set the --unstable-webgpu runtime flag.
entryPoint properties are optional for determined default compute shader entry points.
Experimental
Chrome – Partial support
Chrome 121 (Release date: 2024-01-23)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supported on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows.
footnote Supported on Linux (Intel Gen12+ GPUs only) since Chrome 144.
Edge – Partial support
Edge 121 (Release date: 2024-01-25)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supported on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows.
footnote Supported on Linux (Intel Gen12+ GPUs only) since Edge 144.
Firefox – No support
Firefox
footnote No support
Opera – Partial support
Opera 107 (Release date: 2024-02-07)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supported on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows.
footnote Supported on Linux (Intel Gen12+ GPUs only) since Opera 128.
Safari – No support
Safari
footnote No support
Chrome Android – Partial support
Chrome Android 121 (Release date: 2024-01-23)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supported on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows.
footnote Supported on Linux (Intel Gen12+ GPUs only) since Chrome Android 144.
Firefox for Android – No support
Firefox for Android
footnote No support
Opera Android – Partial support
Opera Android 81 (Release date: 2024-03-14)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supported on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows.
footnote Supported on Linux (Intel Gen12+ GPUs only) since Opera Android 95.
Safari on iOS – No support
Safari on iOS
footnote No support
Samsung Internet – Partial support
Samsung Internet 25 (Release date: 2024-04-24)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supported on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows.
WebView Android – Partial support
WebView Android 121 (Release date: 2024-01-23)
footnote Partial support
footnote Supported on ChromeOS, macOS, and Windows.
footnote Supported on Linux (Intel Gen12+ GPUs only) since WebView Android 144.
WebView on iOS – No support
WebView on iOS
footnote No support
Deno – No support
Deno
footnote No support

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
Partial support
Partial support
No support
No support
Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.
User must explicitly enable this feature.
Has more compatibility info.

See also