zed-industries/zed · error

error building metal library

Error message

error building metal library

What it means

MetalRenderer::new_internal compiles the Metal shader library; the expect fires when library creation fails (invalid shader source, missing .metal files in the bundle, toolchain/driver problems). Without the library no rendering pipeline can be built, so startup aborts.

Source

Thrown at crates/gpui_apple/src/metal_renderer.rs:220

                "Unable to enumerate Metal devices; attempting to use system default device"
            );
            metal::Device::system_default().unwrap_or_else(|| {
                log::error!("unable to access a compatible graphics device");
                std::process::exit(1);
            })
        }
    }

    fn new_internal(
        device: metal::Device,
        layer: Option<metal::MetalLayer>,
        opaque: bool,
        instance_buffer_pool: Arc<Mutex<InstanceBufferPool>>,
    ) -> Self {
        #[cfg(feature = "runtime_shaders")]
        let library = device
            .new_library_with_source(&SHADERS_SOURCE_FILE, &metal::CompileOptions::new())
            .expect("error building metal library");
        #[cfg(not(feature = "runtime_shaders"))]
        let library = device
            .new_library_with_data(SHADERS_METALLIB)
            .expect("error building metal library");

        fn to_float2_bits(point: PointF) -> u64 {
            let mut output = point.y.to_bits() as u64;
            output <<= 32;
            output |= point.x.to_bits() as u64;
            output
        }

        // Shared memory can be used only if CPU and GPU share the same memory space.
        // https://developer.apple.com/documentation/metal/setting-resource-storage-modes
        let is_unified_memory = device.has_unified_memory();
        // Apple GPU families support memoryless textures, which can significantly reduce
        // memory usage by keeping render targets in on-chip tile memory instead of
        // allocating backing store in system memory.

View on GitHub (pinned to 9d272b0363)

Solutions

1. Check the app bundle contains the compiled .metallib / .metal sources
2. Run with runtime_shaders feature to bypass offline compilation issues
3. Inspect the returned NSError from newLibraryWithSource for compile errors
4. Update GPU drivers / macOS and verify Metal support

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at crates/gpui_apple/src/metal_renderer.rs:220 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of zed-industries/zed@9d272b0363 (2026-08-20). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ea61cf32afcbd010. Report an issue: GitHub.