/pixijs-application

name: pixijs-application
description: "Use this skill when creating and configuring a PixiJS v8 Application. Covers new Application() + async app.init() options (width, height, background, antialias, resolution, autoDensity, preference, resizeTo, autoStart, sharedTicker, canvas, useBackBuffer, powerPreference, eventFeatures, accessibilityOptions, gcActive, bezierSmoothness, webgl/webgpu/canvasOptions per-renderer overrides), app.stage/renderer/canvas/screen/domContainerRoot access, ResizePlugin, TickerPlugin, CullerPlugin (cullable, cullArea), custom ApplicationPlugin creation via ExtensionType.Application, start/stop lifecycle, and app.destroy() with releaseGlobalResources. Triggers on: Application, app.init, app.stage, app.renderer, app.canvas, app.screen, app.domContainerRoot, ApplicationOptions, ApplicationPlugin, ExtensionType.Application, resizeTo, preference, autoStart, sharedTicker, useBackBuffer, powerPreference, skipExtensionImports, preferWebGLVersion, preserveDrawingBuffer, cullable, CullerPlugin, app.start, app.stop, app.destroy, releaseGlobalResources."
license: MIT

`Application` is the convenience wrapper that owns a renderer, a root `stage` Container, a canvas, and the Ticker/Resize plugins. In v8 the constructor takes no arguments; all configuration is passed to the async `app.init()` call which instantiates the renderer via `autoDetectRenderer`.

Quick Start

import { Application } from "pixi.js";

const app = new Application();

await app.init({
  resizeTo: window,
  background: "#1099bb",
  antialias: true,
  preference: "webgl",
  autoDensity: true,
  resolution: window.devicePixelRatio,
});

document.body.appendChild(app.canvas);

**Related skills:** `pixijs-core-concepts` (renderers, render pipeline), `pixijs-ticker` (render loop detail), `pixijs-scene-container` (working with `app.stage`), `pixijs-environments` (non-browser setups).

Core Patterns

Lifecycle: construct, init, render, destroy

import { Application } from "pixi.js";

const app = new Application();

await app.init({ width: 800, height: 600 });
document.body.appendChild(app.canvas);

// ... run scene, ticker drives app.render() automatically ...

app.destroy(
  { removeView: true, releaseGlobalResources: true },
  { children: true, texture: true, textureSource: true },
);

• `new Application()` allocates the instance but creates nothing. Options passed here are ignored with a v8 deprecation warning.
• `app.init(options)` is async. It builds the renderer, wires up plugins, and must complete before you can use `app.canvas`, `app.renderer`, or `app.screen`.
• The TickerPlugin calls `app.render()` every frame once init resolves (unless `autoStart: false`).
• `app.destroy(rendererDestroyOptions, stageDestroyOptions)` — the first argument forwards to `renderer.destroy()`. Pass `true` or `{ removeView: true }` to remove the canvas from the DOM. Add `releaseGlobalResources: true` to drain global pools (batches, texture caches) when tearing down and re-creating an app in the same tab; omitting it is the usual cause of flickering and stale textures after a re-init (see `pixijs-performance`).

Key init options

await app.init({
  width: 800,
  height: 600,
  background: 0x1099bb,
  backgroundAlpha: 1,

  antialias: true,
  resolution: window.devicePixelRatio,
  autoDensity: true,

  preference: "webgpu",

  autoStart: true,
  sharedTicker: false,

  resizeTo: window,

  canvas: document.querySelector("#game-canvas") as HTMLCanvasElement,
});

For every option — view/canvas, background, renderer preference (including the array form), ticker, resize, culler, events, accessibility, WebGL/WebGPU context flags, Graphics bezier smoothness, GC, and per-renderer overrides (`webgl` / `webgpu` / `canvasOptions`) — see [references/application-options.md](references/application-options.md).

Application properties

app.stage; // root Container; add all display objects here
app.renderer; // the WebGL/WebGPU/Canvas renderer instance
app.canvas; // the HTMLCanvasElement (insert it into the DOM yourself)
app.screen; // Rectangle describing the visible area in CSS pixels
app.domContainerRoot; // HTMLDivElement that holds DOMContainer overlays

`app.stage` is a plain `Container`. For scene graph detail (transforms, addChild, destroy) see `pixijs-scene-container`. For renderer-level operations (extract, generateTexture, custom systems) see `pixijs-core-concepts` and `pixijs-custom-rendering`. `app.domContainerRoot` is the `<div>` that the renderer uses to host `DOMContainer` overlays; append it next to `app.canvas` when you need DOM elements pinned to scene nodes (see `pixijs-scene-dom-container`).

ResizePlugin

Set `resizeTo` at init (or reassign `app.resizeTo` later) to have the plugin listen for the `resize` event and call `renderer.resize()` with the target element's client size. Combine with `autoDensity: true` and `resolution: window.devicePixelRatio` for high-DPI output.

await app.init({ resizeTo: window });

app.resizeTo = document.querySelector("#game-container") as HTMLElement;

app.resize(); // immediate resize to the target's current size
app.queueResize(); // defer the resize to the next animation frame
app.cancelResize(); // drop a pending queueResize

The plugin keeps the canvas matched to the target. `app.screen` and `app.canvas.width/height` update in response; read them after the resize to place UI.

• `app.resize()` — immediate synchronous resize.
• `app.queueResize()` — coalesces rapid calls by deferring to the next frame; internally used by the `window.resize` listener to avoid redundant work.
• `app.cancelResize()` — cancels a queued resize. Call this before tearing down your own layout code that triggered `queueResize`.

Ticker basics

The TickerPlugin creates `app.ticker` and registers `app.render()` on it at `UPDATE_PRIORITY.LOW`. Control the loop with `app.start()`/`app.stop()` and add callbacks with `app.ticker.add` /