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Version: v2.22.0

Welcome to Silk.NET!

Getting Started​

To get started, install the relevant NuGet packages. They all start with Silk.NET, and the next inner namespace after that indicates the binding or High-Level Utility (HLU, e.g. Windowing or Input) that package belongs. Here' some example commands to install such NuGet packages:

dotnet add package Silk.NET.Assimp
dotnet add package Silk.NET.Input
dotnet add package Silk.NET.Maths
dotnet add package Silk.NET.Direct2D
dotnet add package Silk.NET.Direct3D.Compilers
dotnet add package Silk.NET.Direct3D9
dotnet add package Silk.NET.Direct3D11
dotnet add package Silk.NET.Direct3D12
dotnet add package Silk.NET.DirectComposition
dotnet add package Silk.NET.DirectStorage
dotnet add package Silk.NET.DXGI
dotnet add package Silk.NET.DXVA
dotnet add package Silk.NET.XAudio
dotnet add package Silk.NET.XInput
dotnet add package Silk.NET.OpenAL
dotnet add package Silk.NET.OpenCL
dotnet add package Silk.NET.OpenGL
dotnet add package Silk.NET.OpenGL.Legacy
dotnet add package Silk.NET.OpenGLES
dotnet add package Silk.NET.OpenXR
dotnet add package Silk.NET.Shaderc
dotnet add package Silk.NET.SPIRV.Cross
dotnet add package Silk.NET.SPIRV.Reflect
dotnet add package Silk.NET.Vulkan
dotnet add package Silk.NET.WebGPU
dotnet add package Silk.NET.Windowing

If you don't know which API you'd like to start with, try OpenGL if you'd like to draw graphics - it's an old but tested API that has universal compatibility on most platforms. It is succeeded by Vulkan, but there is a large jump in difficulty thereafter. Alternatively, if you only care about Microsoft platforms, try Direct3D 11! Note that the same caveat for Vulkan vs OpenGL applies to Direct3D 12 vs Direct3D 11.

If you can't decide on one for now, we maintain a "metapackage" that pulls in most of Silk.NET's core packages from all bindings and High-Level Utilities (HLUs). You can install that as follows:

dotnet add package Silk.NET

As always, we're happy to help in our Discord server with whatever questions you have, no matter how far along you are!

Find Documentation​

Now that you've pulled in the APIs you would like to use, it's time to find documentation to follow. Most Silk.NET APIs (other than our High-Level Utilities) map 1:1 directly into a native API signature that should be easily searchable by its API name (e.g. glGetString becomes GL.GetString in Silk.NET). Note that these rules are not consistent and it is expected that you have at least some familiarity with how the native API is structured.

Of course, there are some bindings for which we have our own introductory documentation for, which presents a good jumping-off point for new users to Silk.NET - regardless of whether you've used the native API before (e.g. with C/C++) or you've never seen anything about it before! To that end, you can find our own documentation indexed below or throughout this site.

Have fun! We always look forward to seeing what people can create with Silk.NET and would love to hear how you get on in our Discord server.