1827953 - Refine `GPUDevice.createShaderModule`'s default DX in the JS console

Status: NEW

(Core :: Graphics: WebGPU, enhancement, P3)

Description

[Erich Gubler [:ErichDonGubler] (he/him)]

Bug 1826681 implemented an MVP for communicating WebGPU shader compilation messages emitted by GPUDevice.createShaderModule to the user via the tab's JS console. However, there are some things about this experience that we'd like to take some additional time to refine, in order to achieve a joyful experience, instead of merely a functional one. We'd like to make more bugs based on research in this bug.

Bugs blocking this one are part of the scope of this issue. The current (non-exhaustive) list of things we've thought about so far, but haven't broken out into separate bugs yet:

1. Should we add a way in the WebGPU API (implementation-specific? prefs?) to control whether the current console groups should be expanded by default? This would let users remove a debugging step when they are constantly tweaking shaders and refreshing.
2. How can we leverage source maps when the user provides a GPUShaderModuleDescriptor.sourceMap to better contextualize diagnostics? See also bug 1827947.
3. Should we tweak the format of messages specifically for presentation in the JS console? It's possible that we will be able to provide a superior experience in general, i.e., by printing source links to view the createShaderModule code in console. See also bug 1827947.

Comment 1

[Erich Gubler [:ErichDonGubler] (he/him)]

I'm interested in driving this, but it's not a priority for the team right now.