C Specification

To record an indirect dispatching command, call:

// Provided by VK_VERSION_1_0
void vkCmdDispatchIndirect(
    VkCommandBuffer                             commandBuffer,
    VkBuffer                                    buffer,
    VkDeviceSize                                offset);

Parameters

  • commandBuffer is the command buffer into which the command will be recorded.

  • buffer is the buffer containing dispatch parameters.

  • offset is the byte offset into buffer where parameters begin.

Description

vkCmdDispatchIndirect behaves similarly to vkCmdDispatch except that the parameters are read by the device from a buffer during execution. The parameters of the dispatch are encoded in a VkDispatchIndirectCommand structure taken from buffer starting at offset.

Valid Usage
  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-buffer-02708
    If buffer is non-sparse then it must be bound completely and contiguously to a single VkDeviceMemory object

  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-buffer-02709
    buffer must have been created with the VK_BUFFER_USAGE_INDIRECT_BUFFER_BIT usage flag set

  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-offset-02710
    offset must be a multiple of 4

  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-commandBuffer-02711
    commandBuffer must not be a protected command buffer

  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-offset-00407
    The sum of offset and the size of VkDispatchIndirectCommand must be less than or equal to the size of buffer

Valid Usage (Implicit)
  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-commandBuffer-parameter
    commandBuffer must be a valid VkCommandBuffer handle

  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-buffer-parameter
    buffer must be a valid VkBuffer handle

  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-commandBuffer-recording
    commandBuffer must be in the recording state

  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-commandBuffer-cmdpool
    The VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must support VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT operations

  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-suspended
    This command must not be called between suspended render pass instances

  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-videocoding
    This command must only be called outside of a video coding scope

  • VUID-vkCmdDispatchIndirect-commonparent
    Both of buffer, and commandBuffer must have been created, allocated, or retrieved from the same VkDevice

Host Synchronization
  • Host access to commandBuffer must be externally synchronized

  • Host access to the VkCommandPool that commandBuffer was allocated from must be externally synchronized

Command Properties
Command Buffer Levels Render Pass Scope Video Coding Scope Supported Queue Types Command Type

Primary
Secondary

Both

Outside

VK_QUEUE_COMPUTE_BIT

Action

Conditional Rendering

vkCmdDispatchIndirect is affected by conditional rendering

See Also

Document Notes

For more information, see the Vulkan Specification.

This page is extracted from the Vulkan Specification. Fixes and changes should be made to the Specification, not directly.

Copyright 2014-2026 The Khronos Group Inc.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0