Instructions for using WebGPU addon

Increasing Access

We recently added WebGPU-specific APIs to p5 (https://github.com/processing/p5.js/pull/8531) that will be in the 2.3 release. To use them in their own sketch, they will have to add the addon. Currently there is no instruction on how to do this on the website, so we should provide some guidance.

Most appropriate sub-area of p5.js?

Home

Feature request details

Some possibly things this could include:

• Mentioning the CDN link for webgpu on the download page
• Linking to the p5 web editor with the addon already included (may need some work on the web editor side)
• Maybe linking to that info when on a reference page tagged with webgpuOnly
• Maybe when you copy code from a webgpuOnly reference example, it should auto-add a comment to the top of the copied code saying to remember to include the webgpu addon?

In any messaging, we should be referring to this addon as experimental -- like p5.strands as a whole, we expect this API to change as we get more feedback on it. Exposing it in this early stage is intentional so that we can get contributors and feedback. We encourage people to get involved! We just also want to set the right expectations.

Start with the website's download page and the p5 web editor flow to see how addons are currently presented and included. Review reference pages tagged webgpuOnly and the code-copy behavior. Done means users can find instructions for the WebGPU addon, any chosen entry points identify it as experimental, and the guidance covers the release's intended usage.