---
title: "Backends & Renderers"
description: "Backends & Renderers"
---
{/* cSpell: ignore linuxkms mfloat BINDGEN OECORE CCARGS xcrun gnueabi Foobj fontmgr Wunused cortexa skunicode cdecl harfbuzz */}

import Link from '@slint/common-files/src/components/Link.astro';
import LangRefLink from '@slint/common-files/src/components/LangRefLink.astro';
import { Tabs, TabItem } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';


In Slint, a backend is the module that encapsulates the interaction with the operating system,
in particular the windowing sub-system. Multiple backends can be compiled into Slint and one
backend is selected for use at run-time on application start-up. You can configure Slint without
any built-in backends, and instead develop your own backend by implementing Slint's platform
abstraction and window adapter interfaces.

The backend is selected as follows:

1. The developer provides their own backend and sets it programmatically.
2. Else, the backend is selected by the value of the `SLINT_BACKEND` environment variable, if it is set.
3. Else, backends are tried for initialization in the following order:
   1. qt
   2. winit
   3. linuxkms

The following table provides an overview over the built-in backends. For more information about the backend's
capabilities and their configuration options, see the respective sub-pages.

| Backend Name | Description                                                                                             | Built-in by Default         |
|--------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------|
| qt           | The Qt library is used for windowing system integration, rendering, and native widget styling.          | On Linux if Qt is installed |
| winit        | The [winit](https://docs.rs/winit/latest/winit/) library is used to interact with the windowing system. | Yes                         |
| linuxkms     | Linux's KMS/DRI infrastructure is used for rendering. No windowing system or compositor is required.    | No                          |

A backend is also responsible for selecting a renderer. See the [Renderers](#renderers) section
for an overview. Override the choice of renderer by adding the name to the `SLINT_BACKEND` environment variable, separated by a dash.
For example if you want to choose the `winit` backend in combination with the `software` renderer, set `SLINT_BACKEND=winit-software`.
Similarly, `SLINT_BACKEND=linuxkms-skia` chooses the `linuxkms` backend and then instructs the LinuxKMS backend to use Skia for rendering.



## Renderers

Slint comes with different renderers that use different techniques and libraries to turn
your scene of elements into pixels. Slint picks a renderer based on your choice of backend
as well as the features you've selected at Slint compilation time.

<Tabs syncKey="dev-language">
<TabItem label="Rust" icon="seti:rust">
With Rust, enable one of the  <LangRefLink lang="rust-slint" relpath="docs/cargo_features/">`renderer-*`</LangRefLink> features.
</TabItem>
<TabItem label="C++" icon="seti:cpp">
When building Slint from source, check the <LangRefLink lang="cpp" relpath="cmake/#features">`SLINT_FEATURE_RENDERER_*`</LangRefLink> cmake options
to enable one of the available renderers.
</TabItem>
<TabItem label="NodeJS" icon="node">
With Node.js, all renderers are built into the packages.
</TabItem>
<TabItem label="Python" icon="seti:python">
With Python, all renderers are built into the packages.
</TabItem>
</Tabs>


### Qt Renderer

The Qt renderer comes with the <Link type="QtBackend" label="Qt backend" /> and renders using QPainter:

 - Software rendering, no GPU acceleration.
 - Available only in the Qt backend.

### Software Renderer

- Runs anywhere, highly portable, and lightweight.
- Software rendering, no GPU acceleration.
- Supports partial rendering.
- Supports line-by-line rendering (Rust only).
- Suitable for Microcontrollers.
- Some features haven't been implemented yet:
  * No support for rotations or scaling.
  * No support for `drop-shadow-*` properties.
  * No support for `border-radius` in combination with `clip: true`.
  * No text stroking/outlining.
- Text rendering currently limited to western scripts.
- `Path` elements in `no_std` environments requires enabling the `software-renderer-path` feature.
- Available in `no_std` environments as well as in the <Link type="WinitBackend" label="Winit backend" /> and <Link type="LinuxkmsBackend" label="LinuxKMS backend" />.
- Public <LangRefLink lang="rust-slint" relpath="platform/software_renderer/">Rust</LangRefLink> and <LangRefLink lang="cpp" relpath="api/slint/platform/softwarerenderer/">C++</LangRefLink> API.

### FemtoVG Renderer

 - Highly portable.
 - GPU acceleration with OpenGL (required). When selected as `renderer-femtovg-wgpu`, GPU acceleration with Metal, Vulkan, and Direct3D.
 - Text and path rendering quality sometimes sub-optimal.
 - Available in the <Link type="WinitBackend" label="Winit backend" /> and <Link type="LinuxkmsBackend" label="LinuxKMS backend" />.
 - Public <LangRefLink lang="rust-slint" relpath="platform/femtovg_renderer/">Rust</LangRefLink> API.

### Skia Renderer

 - Sophisticated GPU acceleration with OpenGL, Metal, Vulkan, and Direct3D.
 - Heavy disk-footprint compared to other renderers.
 - Available in the <Link type="WinitBackend" label="Winit backend" /> and <Link type="LinuxkmsBackend" label="LinuxKMS backend" />.
 - Public <LangRefLink lang="cpp" relpath="api/slint/platform/skiarenderer/">C++</LangRefLink> API.

#### Troubleshooting Skia

You may run into compile issues when enabling the Skia renderer. The following sections track
issues we're aware of and how to resolve them.

##### Compilation error on Windows with messages about multiple source files and unused linker input

  You may see compile errors that contain this error and warning from clang-cl:
  ```
   clang-cl: error: cannot specify '/Foobj/src/fonts/fontmgr_win.SkFontMgr_indirect.obj' when compiling multiple source files
   clang-cl: warning: Hausmann/.cargo/registry/src/index.crates.io-6f17d22bba15001f/skia-bindings-0.66.0/skia: 'linker' input unused [-Wunused-command-line-argument]
  ```

  The Skia sources are checked out in a path that's managed by Cargo, the Rust package manager.
  The error happens when that path contains spaces. By default that's in `%HOMEPATH%\.cargo`,
  which contains spaces if the login name contains spaces. To resolve this issue, set the `CARGO_HOME`
  environment variable to a path without spaces, such as `c:\cargo_home`.

##### Compilation error on Windows about a file name that's too long

  You may see this error when Skia is built from source:

  ```
   GetFullPathNameA(../../../../../../../../cargo/registry/src/index.crates.io-1949cf8c6b5b557f/skia-bindings-0.99.0/skia/third_party/externals/harfbuzz/src/...): The filename or extension is too long.
   ninja: build stopped: subcommand failed.
  ```

  The Skia build resolves the include paths that the compiler reports with a Windows API that's
  limited to 260 characters, and it resolves them relative to the build directory. Deep paths for
  the Cargo target directory or for `CARGO_HOME` exceed that limit. To resolve this issue, move both
  close to the root of the drive, by setting the `CARGO_TARGET_DIR` environment variable to `c:\t`
  and the `CARGO_HOME` environment variable to `c:\cargo_home`.

##### Compilation error when compiling for ARMv7 with hardware floating-point support

  You may see compiler errors that contain this message:

  ```
   Unable to generate bindings: ClangDiagnostic("/home/runner/work/slint/yocto-sdk/sysroots/cortexa15t2hf-neon-poky-linux-gnueabi/usr/include/gnu/stubs-32.h:7:11: fatal error: 'gnu/stubs-soft.h' file not found\n")
  ```

  The Skia build invokes Clang in multiple occasions and is sensitive to compiler flags
  that affect the floating point abi (such as `-mfloat-abi=hard`), as they affect header file lookups.

  The solve this, set the `BINDGEN_EXTRA_CLANG_ARGS` environment variable to contain the same
  flags that your build environment also passes to the C++ compiler.

  For example, if you're building against a Yocto SDK, then you can find these flags in the
  `OECORE_TUNE_CCARGS` environment variable.

##### Compilation error when linking on Windows

  You may see compiler errors that contain this message:

  ```
   error: linking with `link.exe` failed: exit code: 1120
   |
   ...
  = note: skunicode.lib(icu.SkLoadICU.obj) : error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol __std_init_once_begin_initialize_clr referenced in function "bool __cdecl SkLoadICU(void)" (?SkLoadICU@@YA_NXZ)
   ...
    skia.lib(skia.SkNWayCanvas.obj) : error LNK2001: unresolved external symbol __std_find_trivial_8
  ```

  The Skia build requires the use of Microsoft Visual Studio 2022 as compiler. Make sure to have the latest patches
  to the compiler installed.

##### Compilation error on macOS:

  The build fails and somewhere in the log output you see this message:

  ```
  cargo:warning=xcrun: error: unable to lookup item 'PlatformVersion' from command line tools installation
  cargo:warning=xcrun: error: unable to lookup item 'PlatformVersion' in SDK '/Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/SDKs/MacOSX.sdk'
  ```

  This is due the build process calling `xcrun --show-sdk-platform-version` to determine the SDK version, and that's unfortunately not
  supported by the Xcode command line tools. To solve this issue, run the following command once:

  ```
  sudo xcode-select -switch /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer
  ```

##### Compilation error when cross-compiling with Yocto:

  The build fails and you see this message in the logs:

  ```
      error occurred: unknown target `arm-org-linux-gnueabi`
  ```

  This is caused by an unfortunate combination of updates of the `cc` crate and the way the Skia Rust bindings
  use it. We anticipate solving this in a future release. In the meantime, you can work around this by downgrading
  the `cc` crate in your `Cargo.lock` file:

  ```
  cargo update -p cc --precise 1.1.31
  ```

##### The application doesn't start on Windows but exits immediately

 The build succeeds, but running the `.exe` on Windows terminates immediately without an error message.

 This might be caused by missing MSVC runtime libraries. To solve this install the
 [Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable package](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist)
