# nvpro-samples/vk_mini_path_tracer

A beginner-friendly Vulkan path tracing tutorial in under 300 lines of C++.

Repository: https://github.com/nvpro-samples/vk_mini_path_tracer
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/vk_mini_path_tracer
Language: C++
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: vulkan, raytracing
Last push: 2024-10-15T07:01:21+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 32/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2088, "days_push": 687, "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 1281, forks 68 (observed 2026-08-28T04:04:13.812019+00:00)

## What it is
A beginner-friendly tutorial teaching how to write a photorealistic GPU path tracer in under 300 lines of C++ and 250 lines of GLSL using Vulkan and the nvpro-samples NVVK helpers. It is published as an online step-by-step guide with a small accompanying sample codebase.

## Use cases
- learn Vulkan from scratch with a small project
- write a GPU path tracer in C++
- understand Vulkan compute pipelines and ray tracing
- teach graphics programming to beginners
- study a minimal real-world Vulkan renderer
- learn GLSL shader programming for rendering

## When to choose
- you want a gentle, minimal introduction to Vulkan
- you want to learn path tracing with hands-on code
- you prefer short, well-commented example code over large frameworks
- you want a free tutorial with permissive Apache-2.0 licensing

## When to avoid
- you need a production-ready rendering engine
- you want a full-featured path tracer with materials, textures, and scene loading
- you need DirectX, OpenGL, or WebGPU instead of Vulkan
- you want a comprehensive Vulkan reference covering the whole API

## Facets
- artifact type: learning-resource
- maturity: stable
- function: graphics, simulation, developer-tools
- domain: graphics, tutorials, developer-tools
- platform: cpp, cross-platform
- tags: vulkan, path-tracing, ray-tracing, glsl, tutorial, nvidia, gpu-rendering, beginner-friendly, game-development, gpu

## Member repositories
- nvpro-samples/vk_mini_path_tracer (main) score 32

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:13.812019+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 2026-08-30T05:02:33.248326+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/nvpro-samples/vk_mini_path_tracer (fetched 2026-08-28T04:04:13.812019+00:00, sha 4e80183a428d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.