WebGPU commands are recorded into a command buffer and submitted to a queue — the GPU does nothing until submit() is called

WebGPU follows a record-then-submit model. Create a GPUCommandEncoder, call methods to record commands (begin render pass, draw, end pass), then call encoder.finish() to produce an opaque GPUCommandBuffer, and submit it via device.queue.submit([commandBuffer]). Nothing runs on the GPU until submit() is called. A command buffer cannot be reused after submission — each frame requires building a new one. For most purposes the two steps are collapsed: device.queue.submit([encoder.finish()]).

Examples

const encoder = device.createCommandEncoder();
const pass = encoder.beginRenderPass({ colorAttachments: [...] });
pass.end();
device.queue.submit([encoder.finish()]);

Assessment

True or false: calling beginRenderPass() immediately makes the GPU start rendering. Explain the actual execution model and when GPU work begins.