Getting started

This page covers a fresh install + first lint in five minutes.

Install

From a GitHub Release

Each tagged release attaches per-platform archives. Pick the one for your OS, extract, and put the shader-clippy CLI on PATH:

Platform	Asset
Linux x86_64	shader-clippy-<version>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
Windows x86_64	shader-clippy-<version>-windows-x86_64.zip
macOS aarch64	shader-clippy-<version>-macos-aarch64.tar.gz

Each archive contains the CLI + the shader-clippy-lsp server + LICENSE / NOTICE / THIRD_PARTY_LICENSES.md.

Verify the install:

shader-clippy --version    # prints e.g. 0.5.3

VS Code extension

Search for Shader Clippy by nelcit in the Extensions view, or:

code --install-extension nelcit.shader-clippy

The LSP binary is bundled inside the per-platform .vsix, so the extension Just Works on first activation — no extra download, no PATH configuration. See LSP / IDE for editor-specific options.

From source

If you want to track main or contribute rules, see the from-source build steps in the repo README.

Hello-world lint

shader-clippy lint shader.hlsl

Sample output for a shader with a pow(x, 2.0):

shader.hlsl:42:14: warning: pow(x, 2.0) is equivalent to x*x [pow-const-squared]
  42 |     float attenuation = pow(distance, 2.0);
                  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Apply machine-applicable fixes in place:

shader-clippy lint --fix shader.hlsl

Exit codes: 0 clean, 1 warnings emitted, 2 errors or invocation failure.

Output formats

Flag	Format
(default)	rustc-style with caret line
--format=json	flat JSON array, stable schema (CI gates parse this)
--format=github-annotations	GitHub Actions ::warning file=...:: msg lines (auto on $GITHUB_ACTIONS)

First config

Drop a .shader-clippy.toml next to your shader tree. The CLI walks up from each file's parent until it finds one (bounded by .git/).

[rules]
pow-const-squared    = "warn"
redundant-saturate   = "warn"
clamp01-to-saturate  = "off"

includes = ["shaders/**/*.hlsl"]
excludes = ["shaders/third_party/**"]

Full reference: Configuration.

Where to next

• Browse the rules catalog — every rule has a GPU-mechanism explanation.
• Read the launch blog series — one post per rule category.
• Wire shader-clippy as a CI gate.
• Drop into your editor via the LSP.