Unix CLI
for RenderDoc

65 commands. TSV pipes. JSON mode.
Designed for CI pipelines and AI agents.

rdc-cli
Get Started Documentation GitHub

Design Philosophy

rdc-cli is not a replacement for RenderDoc. It turns .rdc capture data into pipe-friendly text streams that integrate with Unix tools, CI systems, and AI agents.

>

TSV by Default

Every command outputs tab-separated values. Pipe through grep, awk, cut, sort — standard Unix tools just work. Add --json for structured output.

2

Two-Layer Architecture

A background daemon holds the capture open. CLI commands send JSON-RPC queries over TCP. Load once, query many — no per-command startup cost.

!

Stderr for Metadata

Data goes to stdout, diagnostics to stderr. Pipes never break because of progress messages or warnings. Exit codes follow Unix convention: 0 success, 1 failure, 2 error.

/

Stable VFS Paths

Every piece of capture data has a stable path like /draws/142/shader/ps. Paths are deterministic across sessions — safe for scripts and agents.

Built for Automation

Every design decision optimized for pipelines, scripting, and agent-driven workflows.

│

Unix Pipes

TSV output by default. Pipe through grep, awk, jq, or any Unix tool.

$ rdc draws | grep Triangle | cut -f1
{}

JSON Mode

Every command supports --json. Perfect for CI assertions and AI agents.

$ rdc pipeline 42 --json | jq .shader
/

VFS Paths

Browse captures like a filesystem. Tab-complete through draws and state.

$ rdc cat /draws/142/shader/ps
◈

Daemon Session

Load once, query many. Long-lived daemon holds the capture open.

$ rdc open cap.rdc && rdc draws && rdc close
✓

CI Assertions

Built-in pixel, image, state, and count assertions. Exit code 0/1/2 for pass/fail/error.

$ rdc assert-pixel 142 400 300 --expect "1 0 0 1"
⚡

AI Agent Ready

Claude Code skill auto-installs. VFS paths + JSON output make captures agent-navigable.

$ rdc install-skill && rdc ls /draws/142/

See It in Action

Open a capture, explore draw calls, inspect the pipeline, export data.

quickstart
$ rdc open hello_triangle.rdc
Session started (pid 48201)
$ rdc info
api Vulkan
gpu NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
driver 565.57.01
events 847
actions 12
$ rdc draws | head -5
eid name flags outputs
3 vkBeginRenderPass BeginPass —
5 vkCmdDraw(3) Drawcall 1 color + DS
6 vkEndRenderPass EndPass —
$ rdc pipeline 5 --section shader --json | jq '.ps.entryPoint'
"main"
$ rdc close
Session closed

VHS tape files · docs/tapes/

65 Commands

Everything you need to inspect GPU captures, organized by workflow.

Get Started

Install in seconds. Start inspecting captures immediately.

PyPI recommended
$ pipx install rdc-cli
# build renderdoc Python module (~3 min, one-time)
$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/BANANASJIM/rdc-cli/master/scripts/build-renderdoc.sh | bash
AUR Arch Linux — includes renderdoc
$ yay -S rdc-cli # stable: tagged releases
$ yay -S rdc-cli-git # git: latest master
Source
$ git clone https://github.com/BANANASJIM/rdc-cli.git
$ cd rdc-cli
$ pixi install && pixi run sync