Attempted to create a static DXC shader compiler, but the st

Error message

Attempted to create a static DXC shader compiler, but the static-dxc feature was not enabled

What it means

wgpu-hal can link DXC (the modern HLSL compiler) either statically (static-dxc feature, shipping dxc DLLs/objects) or dynamically at runtime. new_static_dxc is only compiled into a working path when the `static_dxc` cfg is active; otherwise it deliberately panics to signal a build-configuration mistake: the caller asked for static DXC but the crate was built without that feature.

Source

Thrown at wgpu-hal/src/dx12/shader_compilation.rs:91

        {
            unsafe {
                let compiler = dxc_create_instance::<Dxc::IDxcCompiler3>(|clsid, iid, ppv| {
                    windows_core::HRESULT(mach_dxcompiler_rs::DxcCreateInstance(
                        clsid.cast(),
                        iid.cast(),
                        ppv,
                    ))
                })?;

                Ok(CompilerContainer::StaticDxc(CompilerStaticDxc {
                    max_shader_model: wgt::DxcShaderModel::V6_7,
                    compiler,
                }))
            }
        }
        #[cfg(not(static_dxc))]
        {
            panic!("Attempted to create a static DXC shader compiler, but the static-dxc feature was not enabled")
        }
    }

    pub(super) fn max_shader_model(&self) -> Option<wgt::DxcShaderModel> {
        match *self {
            CompilerContainer::Fxc(..) => None,
            CompilerContainer::DynamicDxc(CompilerDynamicDxc {
                max_shader_model, ..
            })
            | CompilerContainer::StaticDxc(CompilerStaticDxc {
                max_shader_model, ..
            }) => Some(max_shader_model),
        }
    }

    pub(super) fn compile(
        &self,
        device: &super::Device,

View on GitHub (pinned to 3e11ff59bf)

Solutions

Enable the feature: wgpu-hal = { features = ["static-dxc"] } (or the corresponding wgpu feature) in Cargo.toml and rebuild.
Switch the caller to the dynamic DXC compiler path (ensure dxcompiler.dll is present at runtime) or fall back to FXC.
Make the compiler choice conditional on build features at runtime rather than hard-coding static DXC.

Example fix

// before (Cargo.toml)
wgpu-hal = { version = "25", features = ["dx12"] }
// after
wgpu-hal = { version = "25", features = ["dx12", "static-dxc"] }

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

#[cfg(not(feature = "wgpu-hal/static-dxc"))]
// do not request static DXC at runtime; fall back to dynamic dxc or fxc
let compiler_choice = CompilerChoice::DynamicDxc;

Prevention

Keep runtime compiler choice consistent with cargo feature flags.
Enable static-dxc only in builds that ship with the required DXC artifacts.
Document the required features in deployment docs for Windows builds.

When it happens

Trigger: Instantiating a CompilerContainer::new_static_dxc (e.g. via adapter/device options choosing DxcCompiler with static linking) on a build compiled without the wgpu-hal `static-dxc` feature; toggling between dynamic-dxc and static-dxc builds without updating the calling configuration.

Common situations: Windows deployments where the app requests static DXC for shader-model 6.x features but the wgpu build used default features (dynamic dxc only); mismatch between a wrapper crate's feature flags and wgpu-hal's; CI builds stripping features.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of gfx-rs/wgpu@3e11ff59bf (2026-09-03). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bc0b23b649eeab61. Report an issue: GitHub.