/cli-anything-renderdoc

name: "cli-anything-renderdoc"
description: CLI harness for RenderDoc graphics debugger capture analysis
version: 0.1.0
command: cli-anything-renderdoc
install: pip install cli-anything-renderdoc
requires:
  - renderdoc (Python bindings from RenderDoc installation)
  - click>=8.0
  - prompt-toolkit>=3.0
categories:
  - graphics
  - debugging
  - gpu
  - rendering

RenderDoc CLI Skill

Headless command-line analysis of RenderDoc GPU frame captures (`.rdc` files).

Capabilities

• **Capture inspection**: metadata, sections, thumbnails, format conversion
• **Action tree**: list/search/filter draw calls, clears, dispatches, markers
• **Texture operations**: list, inspect, export (PNG/JPG/DDS/HDR/EXR), pixel picking
• **Pipeline state**: full shader/RT/viewport state at any event
• **Shader analysis**: export shader in human-readable form (HLSL/GLSL/disasm), constant buffer readback
• **Resource inspection**: buffer/texture enumeration, raw data reading
• **Mesh data**: vertex shader input/output decoding
• **GPU counters**: enumerate and fetch hardware performance counters

Command Groups

capture

cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc capture info          # Metadata + sections
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc capture thumb -o t.png # Extract thumbnail
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc capture convert -o out.rdc --format rdc

actions

cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc actions list           # All actions
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc actions list --draws-only  # Draw calls only
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc actions summary        # Counts by type
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc actions find "Shadow"  # Search by name
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc actions get 42         # Single action

textures

cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc textures list
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc textures get <id>
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc textures save <id> -o out.png --format png
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc textures save-outputs 42 -o ./renders/
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc textures pick <id> 100 200

pipeline

cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc pipeline state 42

# Export shader in human-readable form
# Text shaders (GLSL/HLSL) → saved directly
# Binary shaders (DXBC/SPIR-V) → embedded source (HLSL/GLSL) or disassembly
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc pipeline shader-export 42 --stage Fragment
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc pipeline shader-export 42 --stage Vertex -o ./shaders/

cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc pipeline cbuffer 42 --stage Vertex --index 0

# Compare pipeline state between two events
# Default output: same directory as the capture file  ;  use -o to override
cli-anything-renderdoc -c a.rdc pipeline diff 100 200 -b b.rdc
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc pipeline diff 100 200              # same capture
cli-anything-renderdoc -c a.rdc pipeline diff 100 200 -b b.rdc -o result.json
cli-anything-renderdoc -c a.rdc pipeline diff 100 200 -b b.rdc --no-compact

resources

cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc resources list
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc resources buffers
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc resources read-buffer <id> --format float32

mesh

cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc mesh inputs 42 --max-vertices 10
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc mesh outputs 42

counters

cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc counters list
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc counters fetch --ids 1,2,3

Preview Bundles

RenderDoc preview support is for truthful capture inspection rather than live creative preview.

# List preview recipes
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc --json preview recipes

# Capture a preview bundle for the active capture or a specific event
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc --json preview capture --recipe quick --event-id 42

# Capture a diff preview bundle for two events or captures
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc --json preview diff 100 200
cli-anything-renderdoc -c a.rdc --json preview diff 100 200 --capture-b b.rdc

# Return the latest existing bundle for the capture
cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc --json preview latest --recipe quick

Typical preview bundle contents:

• capture thumbnail
• output-target images
• `pipeline_state.json`
• `action_summary.json`

Diff bundles additionally include:

• A/B thumbnails
• A/B output-target images
• `pipeline_diff.json`

RenderDoc does not currently expose live preview sessions. Instead, each capture/diff bundle appends to a stable recipe-level `trajectory.json`.

Viewer commands:

cli-hub previews inspect /path/to/bundle
cli-hub previews html /path/to/bundle -o page.html
cli-hub previews open /path/to/bundle

JSON Mode

All commands support `--json` for machine-readable output:

cli-anything-renderdoc -c frame.rdc --json actions summary

Environment Variables

| Variable | Description | |----------------------|------------------------------| | `RENDERDOC_CAPTURE` | Default capture file path | | `PYTHONPATH` | Must include RenderDoc path |

Agent Usage Notes

• **Use `pipeline shader-export` to extract shaders** — for binary shaders (DXBC/SPIR-V) it auto-exports embedded HLSL/GLSL source or falls back to disassembly; for text shaders (GLSL/HLSL) it saves the raw source directly
• **Shader formats by capture API**:
• D3D11 → DXBC binary, exported as embedded HLSL source (`.hlsl`) or bytecode asm (`.dxbc.asm`)
• OpenGL/GLES → GLSL source text (`.glsl`), already human-readable
• Vulkan → SPIR-V binary, exported as embedded GLSL source (`.glsl`) or SPIR-V asm (`.spv.asm`)
• **Use `pipeline diff` to compare two events** — it writes a JSON file and prints only the path; use `-b` for a second capture
• Always specify `--json` for programmatic consumption
• Use `actions summary` first to understand capture complexity
• Use `actions list --draws-only`