# bkaradzic/bgfx

Cross-platform, graphics API agnostic, "Bring Your Own Engine/Framework" style rendering library.

Repository: https://github.com/bkaradzic/bgfx
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/bgfx
Homepage: https://bkaradzic.github.io/bgfx/overview.html
Language: C++
License: BSD-2-Clause
License Family: permissive
Topics: engine, rendering, graphics, directx, vulkan, metal, opengl, d3d11, d3d12, gles, webgl, glfw, sdl, gamedev, directx-11, directx-12, vulkan-api
Last push: 2026-08-26T06:40:47+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 77/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5264, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 17433, forks 2128 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:19.665742+00:00)

## What it is
bgfx is a cross-platform, graphics API agnostic rendering library in C++ that abstracts over backends like Direct3D 11/12, Vulkan, Metal, OpenGL, WebGL, and WebGPU. It follows a 'Bring Your Own Engine/Framework' style, providing a low-level rendering API plus shader tooling while leaving windowing and engine logic to the developer.

## Use cases
- write a game renderer that runs on Windows, Linux, macOS, and consoles
- abstract over Vulkan, D3D12, and Metal without writing per-API backends
- render graphics in a browser via WebGL or WebGPU with Emscripten
- build a custom game engine on top of a proven rendering layer
- port a graphics application across desktop and mobile platforms
- use a unified shader language compiled to multiple graphics APIs

## When to choose
- you need one rendering codebase targeting many graphics APIs and platforms
- you are building your own engine or framework and want a low-level, non-opinionated renderer
- you need console support (PS4) or broad platform coverage including Raspberry Pi and UWP
- you want a permissive BSD-2 license for commercial projects

## When to avoid
- you want a full game engine with editor, physics, and asset pipeline out of the box
- you need high-level scene graphs or built-in rendering features rather than a low-level API
- your project is small and a single-API binding (e.g., plain OpenGL) suffices
- you are not comfortable with C/C++ integration and build systems

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: stable
- function: graphics, game-engine, developer-tools
- domain: graphics, cross-platform
- platform: windows, wasm, cpp, cross-platform
- tags: rendering, vulkan, directx, metal, opengl, webgpu, gamedev, shader-system, renderer-abstraction, game-development, linux, macos, android, ios

## Member repositories
- bkaradzic/bgfx (main) score 77

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:19.665742+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:02:57.499379+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/bkaradzic/bgfx (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:19.665742+00:00, sha a421f0a8d8d4)
  - homepage: https://bkaradzic.github.io/bgfx/overview.html (fetched 2026-08-29T08:01:01.777939+00:00, sha d89acb7a4a0c)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.