# Vulkan Ray Tracing: Deprecating Host-Side Acceleration Structure Builds

DevFeed: [Vulkan Ray Tracing: Deprecating Host-Side Acceleration Structure Builds](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/vulkan-ray-tracing-deprecating-host-side-acceleration-structure-builds-15122.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://www.khronos.org/blog/vulkan-ray-tracing-deprecating-host-side-acceleration-structure-builds>)

Author: jphilips (jeff@khronosgroup.org)

Published: 2026-07-08T13:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Blogs Khronos Blog](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/blogs-khronos-blog.md>)

Topics: [Ray Tracing](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ray-tracing.md>), [GPU](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/gpu.md>), [Hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/hardware.md>)

Tags: [api](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/api.md>), [architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/architecture.md>), [blog](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/blog.md>), [complexity](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/complexity.md>), [deprecated](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/deprecated.md>), [gpu](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/gpu.md>), [hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/hardware.md>), [migration](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/migration.md>), [ray-tracing](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ray-tracing.md>), [vulkan](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/vulkan.md>)

## AI overview

Vulkan is deprecating host-side ray tracing acceleration structure build commands in favor of a device-address-based path. Existing applications remain functional, while developers using host-side commands should plan migration to device-side equivalents.

## Source excerpt

Vulkan is deprecating host-side ray tracing acceleration structure build commands in favor of a single, device-address-based path. This aligns Vulkan Ray Tracing with the direction of DirectX Raytracing, modern engine architecture, and hardware trends. In the six years since Vulkan Ray Tracing launched, the host-side path has seen limited adoption. Developers generally found it more cumbersome than helpful, while implementers had to maintain parallel host/GPU command models that increased complexity and created friction for future ray tracing API evolution.