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Omniverse Realtime Viewer

NVIDIAOfficialCreated by NVIDIA Omniverse

  • Skill
  • Tool integration
  • Software development
  • Apache-2.0
  • Medium risk
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From the author

Use as the top-level router for Omniverse Realtime Viewer USD apps, XR delivery, SPG GPU processing, stylized rendering, and focused viewer reference documents.
— the description by NVIDIA Omniverse

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The Omniverse Realtime Viewer skill acts as a central routing and architectural framework for developing USD-based 3D viewer applications. It provides a structured approach to composing rendering, scene state, and delivery mechanisms, ensuring that developers can integrate OVRTX rendering, OVStage scene management, and various UI or streaming adapters effectively. The skill emphasizes a modular architecture where the viewer runtime, UI/input adapters, and delivery systems are decoupled, allowing for consistent behavior across local and streamed environments.

What it does

  • Provides a routing architecture for USD viewer apps, XR delivery, and GPU-accelerated rendering.
  • Defines the separation of concerns between viewer runtime, UI adapters, and delivery systems.
  • Offers guidance on integrating OVRTX for high-fidelity 3D rendering.
  • Establishes conventions for camera interaction, scene state management, and input handling.
  • Supports the implementation of specialized features like stylized rendering and CAE/CFD visualization.
  • Provides protocols for agent-to-UI communication and scene control.

When to use it

  • When starting the development of a new USD-based realtime viewer application.
  • When integrating advanced rendering features like stylized visualization or AOV switching.
  • When building XR or spatial editing capabilities into an existing Omniverse application.
  • When you need to standardize the architecture for local and streamed viewer deployments.
  • When implementing chat-driven scene control or agent-based inspection of a 3D scene.

Advantages

  • Promotes a clean, modular architecture that separates rendering logic from UI and transport.
  • Ensures consistent behavior across different delivery methods, such as local windows or WebRTC streaming.
  • Provides clear paths for extending functionality without disrupting the core viewer runtime.
  • Facilitates the integration of complex simulation and visualization data into the viewer.
  • Standardizes conventions for scene state, selection, and camera control.

Usage examples

“How do I set up a basic USD viewer application using the Omniverse Realtime Viewer architecture?”
The agent will guide you to start with the viewer app reference, resolve dependencies, and implement the core runtime owner to manage the OVStage and OVRTX renderer.
“I need to add stylized rendering to my existing viewer. Where should I start?”
The agent will direct you to the stylized visualization references to implement the required USD/Lua/CUDA nodes within your existing runtime owner.
“How can I enable an AI agent to control the viewer scene?”
The agent will point to the A2UI Scene Copilot reference to implement an operation interface that allows the agent to send commands through the existing runtime owner.
“How do I switch between different render outputs like beauty and depth in my viewer?”
The agent will explain how to use the AOV switching reference to map RenderVars and update the RenderProduct's orderedVars through the runtime owner.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/nvidia/omniverse-realtime-viewer/download

  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip omniverse-realtime-viewer.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by NVIDIA Omniverse

<!-- SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved. -->

<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 -->

Omniverse Realtime Viewer

Build responsive USD viewers by composing OVRTX rendering, OVStage scene state, and the delivery/UI libraries appropriate to the app. Use this package for viewer architecture and interaction; use each selected SDK's upstream guidance for installation and exact release-specific APIs.

Start With The App

  1. When delivery is explicit, select its recipe through references/routing.md and follow its current phase. Otherwise start with references/usd-viewer-app/README.md. For an existing app, keep its architecture and read only the references for the requested change. Broad app, conventions and UI catalogs are lookups as needed.

  2. Resolve the selected libraries through references/dependencies/README.md. Preserve the project's manifest unless an upgrade is requested.

  3. Build a working frame and camera interaction in the chosen shell, then add the requested capabilities. Read references/conventions.md for shared input, camera, selection, and protocol conventions.

  4. Use references/viewer-ux-workflow/README.md for broader interface design. Loading, selection feedback, errors, and input responsiveness belong in the first working app, alongside rendering.

  5. Validate the actual delivery path with references/validation.md. A browser screenshot does not validate a native window or a different transport.

Architecture

OwnerResponsibility
Viewer runtimeOwn the live OVStage, publication clock, OVRTX renderer, scene changes, and render stepping.
UI and input adapterDisplay frames and copied app state; send user intent to the runtime owner.
Storage/query/simulation workersPerform their assigned work and return results through the selected integration boundary.
Delivery adapterPresent locally or stream through ovstream; respect frame ownership and backpressure.

Use OVRTX for USD/3D rendering. Browser apps display its WebRTC video; local apps present its output through their native shell. A missing GPU means rendering is unverified, not a reason to substitute a browser 3D renderer.

Keep viewer cameras, settings, effects, and transient edits in app-owned session or runtime state so the source USD stays intact. Serialize scene mutation and render stepping through the runtime owner. Read references/ovstage-ovrtx-integration/README.md for that loop, then the population or data-plane references when implementing scene loading or attribute writes.

Keep expensive loading and metadata work off the UI and render threads. Keep transport details behind a delivery adapter so camera, selection, properties, and loading state can be reused across local and streamed shells.

Add Capabilities As Needed

Use references/routing.md to select camera/picking, scene management, render settings, cloud assets, simulation, editor tools, deployment, or CAE/CFD visualization. Read the selected capability's implementation flow and its linked contract; the full reference catalog is not a prerequisite for a first frame.

For simulation, use the routing reference's Simulation Ecosystem section plus references/realtime-sim-integration/README.md. For UI-driven forces or control, add references/interaction-round-trip/README.md.

For example scenes, use references/usd-sample-data/README.md. When a runtime failure needs diagnosis, use references/troubleshooting/README.md and the selected SDK's matching release guidance before changing the architecture.

Solid Modeling: Upstream First

For usd-brep, exact BRep, solid modeling, kernel failures, CAD topology, or BrepArray questions, first read references/dependencies/README.md → USD BRep. Follow the owning repository's current agent guidance, skills, operation docs, and package API before selecting local integration references. Discover the upstream router rather than assuming skill names or directory layouts remain fixed. Upstream owns modeling semantics, schema rules, tuning, and diagnostics; this package owns OVRTX display, worker handoff, selection mapping, and publication timing.

GPU Processing And Stylized Viewers

For custom GPU processing, chained outputs and lens sampling, read references/spg-processing/README.md. For toon, ink, technical/X-Ray styles, geometry strokes or full wireframe, continue to references/stylized-visualization/implementation.md. Its USD/Lua/CUDA starting node and geometry/depth/composite build sequence work with the selected viewer recipe; use references/stylized-visualization/style-recipes.md for the preset math and references/stylized-visualization/README.md for supporting contracts. Implement the result inside the existing OVRTX/runtime owner and deliver the published processed output. These instructions do not require a sample checkout or a prior stylized-rendering implementation.

For an optional usd-brep geometry source, first read references/dependencies/README.md → USD BRep and the owning repository's current agent guidance, skills, and operation docs; then read references/stylized-visualization/usd-brep-source.md for the display boundary.

XR Viewers

For headsets, immersive viewers, or spatial editors, start with references/xr-viewer-recipe/README.md. Resolve SDK setup and contracts through references/dependencies/ovxr.md; the library owns OpenXR lifecycle and frame submission. For controllers, hands, navigation, or scene tools, add references/xr-spatial-input/README.md and references/ovxr-python-interactions/README.md. For projection-integrated UI, read references/ovxr-composition-ui/README.md and references/ovxr-composition-ui-validation/README.md.

Files

references/cpp-native-viewer/renderer-session.md

C++ Renderer And Session Setup

Renderer Setup

Create the renderer on its owner thread with sync mode and native selection outlines enabled. Register schema paths before any OVStage/OpenUSD initialization. The C API uses typed ovrtx_config_entry_t arrays, not JSON strings.

#include <ovrtx/ovrtx.h>
#include <ovrtx/ovrtx_config.h>

static ovrtx_renderer_t* createRenderer()
{
    const ovrtx_config_entry_t configEntries[] = {
        ovrtx_config_entry_sync_mode(true),
        ovrtx_config_entry_active_cuda_gpus(literal_to_ovx_string("0")),
        ovrtx_config_entry_selection_outline_enabled(true),
    };
    const ovrtx_config_t config = {
        configEntries,
        sizeof(configEntries) / sizeof(configEntries[0]),
    };

    if (!ok(ovrtx_register_schema_paths(&config))) {
        printLastOvrtxError("Failed to register RTX schema paths");
        return nullptr;
    }
    ovrtx_renderer_t* renderer = nullptr;
    const ovrtx_result_t result = ovrtx_create_renderer(&config, &renderer);
    if (!ok(result) || !renderer) {
        printLastOvrtxError("Failed to create OVRTX renderer");
        return nullptr;
    }
    return renderer;
}

Available config entries include ovrtx_config_entry_sync_mode(true), ovrtx_config_entry_active_cuda_gpus(...), ovrtx_config_entry_selection_outline_enabled(true), and ovrtx_create_renderer(...).

For a stage-first attached C/C++ viewer, call ovrtx_register_schema_paths(&config) before the first OVStage initialization or population (and before another OpenUSD consumer initializes). It publishes the RTX schema definitions that OVStage needs to resolve populated fallbacks. One live renderer may attach to an OVStage instance; detach before reassigning that stage.

Session Layer Pattern

Load an inline root USDA with the user stage as a sublayer plus viewer-owned camera, render product, render vars, and render settings. The render var names must map to real OVRTX source names, while output lookup uses the full authored RenderVar path. LdrColor drives display, and ovrtx_pick_hit is consumed only after a pick query.

Author the composite with USD layer authoring so source asset paths and relationship targets are serialized correctly. Choose one app-owned set of prim paths and use it consistently for definitions, camera/render relationships, step requests and output lookup. A minimal layout is:

PrimAuthored state
/OVCameraPerspective camera, aperture matching the output aspect, clipping range and initial transform derived from scene bounds/units/up-axis
/OVRenderProductCamera relationship to /OVCamera, requested resolution, uint[] deviceIds = [0], ordered var /OVRenderProduct/LdrColor
/OVRenderProduct/LdrColorRenderVar with sourceName = "LdrColor"
/OVRenderSettingsProducts relationship to /OVRenderProduct

The composite sublayers the requested scene; it does not add lighting unless viewer-controlled lights were requested. Keep composition and optional metadata preparation outside the active UI/render loop. A C++ authoring helper or optional isolated worker can prepare the layer; follow the selected dependency's OpenUSD ABI boundary. No Python process is required by the native renderer.

Populate And Attach

Initialize OVStage with ovstage_initialize(), then create an app-owned instance with ovstage_create_instance(). Use the matched C package and the same loader model as OVRTX, as described in project-build.md. Populate the composite into that instance at an explicit ordinal; population and data-plane operations use separate wait APIs:

#include <ovstage/ovstage.h>
#include <iostream>

static bool waitStageOperation(
    ovstage_instance_t* stage, ovstage_enqueue_result_t op)
{
    if (op.status != OVSTAGE_OK) return false;
    ovstage_op_wait_result_t result{};
    const auto status = ovstage_wait_op(
        stage, op.op_index, OVSTAGE_TIMEOUT_INFINITE, &result);
    const bool success = status == OVSTAGE_OK && result.error_op_id_count == 0;
    for (size_t i = 0; i < result.error_op_id_count; ++i)
        std::cerr << fromOvxString(ovstage_get_last_op_error(stage, result.error_op_ids[i])) << "\n";
    ovstage_release_op(stage, op.op_index);
    return success;
}

static bool publishStage(ovstage_instance_t* stage, ovstage_ordinal_t ordinal)
{
    ovstage_write_floor_desc_t floor{};
    floor.ordinal = ordinal;
    floor.scope = OVSTAGE_SCOPE_ALL;
    return waitStageOperation(stage, ovstage_advance_write_floor(stage, &floor));
}

static bool populateComposite(
    ovstage_instance_t* stage, const std::string& usda,
    ovstage_ordinal_t ordinal)
{
    const auto op = ovstage_population_open_usd_from_string(
        stage, toOvxString(usda), ordinal, 0.0,
        OVSTAGE_POPULATION_DOMAIN_RENDERING);
    if (op.status != OVSTAGE_OK) return false;
    ovstage_population_op_wait_result_t result{};
    const auto status = ovstage_population_wait_op(
        stage, op.op_index, OVSTAGE_TIMEOUT_INFINITE, &result);
    for (size_t i = 0; i < result.error_op_id_count; ++i)
        std::cerr << fromOvxString(ovstage_population_get_last_op_error(result.error_op_ids[i])) << "\n";
    return status == OVSTAGE_OK && result.error_op_id_count == 0
        && publishStage(stage, ordinal);
}

These helpers return failures to the owner, which publishes an error snapshot and unwinds owned resources. Read operation diagnostics before releasing their records. Keep the population string and write tensors alive until their waits complete. After successful population/publication, attach with ovrtx_attach_ovstage(renderer, stage) and check its result. Initialize the camera and any app-owned runtime attributes through OVStage at the next ordinal (strictly above the sealed write floor) before the first published frame. Native frame ordering is in presentation-loop.md.

Replace And Close

Prepare a candidate composite and metadata with a request generation. Keep the active scene usable during preparation; only the latest requested candidate may activate. At the owner-thread frame boundary, finish outstanding operations, release maps/results/queries, detach the old stage, then attach the prepared replacement. Clear stale picks, selected paths, bindings, and metadata on an ordinary scene switch. For same-scene variant/visibility recomposition, preserve only valid app-owned camera, accepted edits, and selection intent; reapply native selection after the renderer has consumed the new population.

Keep the old stage until activation succeeds when implementing rollback. A failed detach leaves the renderer unusable except for destruction. Follow ovstage-ovrtx-integration and stage-management for lifetime and replacement semantics; renderer reset is not scene replacement.

On close, stop accepting commands, cancel owned preparation work, finish the owner's in-flight operation, release outputs and queries, detach, destroy the renderer and stage, then shut down OVStage. Join the owner before destroying its shared state. Release presentation resources and close the selected toolkit on its required UI thread (for example, GL textures and GLFW/ImGui in the worked example).

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs Python, Needs Node.js

The author says: Orchestrator skill. Downstream focused references may require NVIDIA GPUs, ovrtx, ovstream, ovui, OpenUSD, Python, Node/React, Tauri, Electron, C++, or cloud GPU deployment access depending on the selected viewer path.

Security

What our scanner noticed· Medium risk

  • Large base64-encoded blobs
  • Instructions that use the network

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Created by
NVIDIA Omniverse
Publisher
NVIDIA (Official)
Source
NVIDIA/skills · skills/omniverse-realtime-viewer · commit fce3cca
Licence
Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE-APACHE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced

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