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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/prim-pick-effects/README.md

Prim Pick Effects

Triggers

Use this skill for picked prim effect, on pick write attribute, inputs:Fader, EffectLayer, toggle visibility, custom MDL parameter, prim-to-material map, selection glow attribute, or reversible pick-driven runtime state.

Use this when picking a prim should manipulate a USD/runtime attribute on that prim or on a related material/shader prim. This skill is additive to native selection outlines; do not replace outline selection with material effects.

For new OVStage-based viewers, pick effects write through the OVStage data plane and the attached ovrtx renderer consumes the committed update. Direct Renderer.write_attribute() or persistent OVRTX bindings for material, visibility, or effect attributes are legacy/pre-OVStage patterns.

Workflow

  1. Resolve picked prim paths through object-selection or native OVRTX picking.

  2. Update selection outlines through selection-feedback.

  3. Map picked prims to effect targets when needed, such as material shader prims.

  4. Compute desired effect state from the complete selected set.

  5. Enqueue OVStage runtime writes for effect, material, visibility, or viewer-owned state changes.

  6. Publish the write at a monotonic ordinal and let the renderer consume it in the normal render loop.

  7. Restore values changed by the viewer on deselect; discard saved targets on scene replacement and capture new baselines before the next effect.

pick hit
  -> selected path set
  -> native OVRTX outline groups
  -> effect target map
  -> OVStage attribute write at ordinal N
  -> renderer update_from_stage/step consumes N

Runtime Write Pattern

Keep a small app-owned adapter around the pinned OVStage API. The exact method names can differ by generated app; the contract is path validation, stage-generation checking, monotonic ordinal publication, and copied tensor or token values.

def write_runtime_attr(runtime, paths, attr_name, values, *, prim_mode="existing"):
    if not paths:
        return None
    ordinal = runtime.next_ordinal()
    op = runtime.write_attribute(
        ordinal=ordinal,
        prim_paths=paths,
        attribute_name=attr_name,
        values=values,
        prim_mode=prim_mode,
    )
    op.wait()
    runtime.advance_write_floor(ordinal).wait()
    return ordinal

Use prim_mode="existing" when the composite/session layer already authored the attribute. Use prim_mode="create_new" only for deliberate viewer-owned runtime attributes. Never silently create material inputs with invented names.

For repeated writes to the same target set, cache target path lists and value buffers, but still publish writes through OVStage. Do not optimize by keeping direct OVRTX material/effect bindings in new viewer code.

Prim To Material Mapping

A picked mesh often does not own the effect attribute directly. For material-driven effects, build a map from renderable prim path to material or shader target:

prim_to_effect_layer = {
    "/World/Mesh/Tray": "/World/Looks/Steel_Stainless/EffectLayer",
}

Prefer OVStage queries for candidate prims and attribute presence. Keep the stage-hierarchy pxr fallback for relationship traversal such as inherited material bindings until the runtime query path exposes those relationship values with the needed fidelity.

Shared-Material Awareness

Multiple prims can share one material and therefore one effect target. Never turn off a target just because one prim was deselected; recompute active targets from all currently selected prims.

def active_effect_targets(selected_prims: set[str], prim_to_target: dict[str, str]) -> set[str]:
    return {
        target
        for prim in selected_prims
        for target in [prim_to_target.get(prim)]
        if target
    }

def update_pick_effects(selected_prims: set[str]) -> None:
    global active_targets
    next_targets = active_effect_targets(selected_prims, prim_to_effect_layer)

    for path in sorted(next_targets - active_targets):
        write_fader(path, 1.0)
    for path in sorted(active_targets - next_targets):
        write_fader(path, 0.0)

    active_targets = next_targets

This same rule applies to custom material parameters, display color ramps, and any shared shader attribute.

EffectLayer Fader Example

Some stages use EffectLayer shader prims with float inputs:Fader = 0 overrides in the composite/session layer. When the active stage exposes that pattern and the user wants material-driven pick effects, a concrete target shape is:

/World/.../Looks/<MaterialName>/EffectLayer.inputs:Fader

Runtime toggle:

import numpy as np

def write_fader(effect_layer_path: str, value: float) -> int | None:
    return write_runtime_attr(
        runtime,
        [effect_layer_path],
        "inputs:Fader",
        np.asarray([value], dtype=np.float32),
        prim_mode="existing",
    )

Initialize app-created effect targets to their neutral value. For scene-owned inputs, save the current value before the first viewer write and restore it on deselect. Keep these baselines scoped to the stage generation.

layers = sorted(viewer_owned_effect_layers)
write_runtime_attr(
    runtime,
    layers,
    "inputs:Fader",
    np.zeros((len(layers),), dtype=np.float32),
    prim_mode="existing",
)

This glow is a pick effect, not the baseline selection signal. Keep native selection outlines enabled so arbitrary scenes still show precise selected-object boundaries when no EffectLayer material exists.

Visibility Toggle Example

USD visibility is token-like. Preserve the previous value if the effect is temporary, and write the new token through OVStage:

write_runtime_attr(
    runtime,
    [picked_path],
    "visibility",
    ["invisible"],
    prim_mode="existing",
)

write_runtime_attr(
    runtime,
    [picked_path],
    "visibility",
    ["inherited"],
    prim_mode="existing",
)

Use this for explicit hide/show commands, not hover highlighting.

Custom MDL Parameter Example

For app-authored materials with known shader inputs, write the input attribute through OVStage:

write_runtime_attr(
    runtime,
    [shader_path],
    "inputs:HoverAmount",
    np.asarray([0.65], dtype=np.float32),
    prim_mode="existing",
)

Only expose controls for attributes that exist in the active stage or are deliberately authored by the viewer. Do not invent renderer-internal attribute names.

Scene Lifecycle

  • Rebuild prim-to-material/effect maps after every scene load, reload, variant change, or material-map invalidation.

  • On scene replacement, discard saved effect baselines along with target maps.

  • Clear active target state on selection clear and scene switch.

  • Serialize writes through the OVStage runtime owner; do not write while scene loading, reset, or generation replacement is active.

  • Keep effect state separate from selection outline state.

Focused Proof

For an app that includes pick effects, capture one compact proof with the picked path, resolved effect target path, previous value, new value, OVStage write ordinal, renderer-consumed ordinal, and reset/clear behavior. Do not add broad pipeline artifacts unless the product explicitly requires them.

See also: object-selection, selection-feedback, stage-queries, stage-hierarchy, stage-attribute-reads, ovstage-data-plane, ovstage-ovrtx-integration.

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

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by NVIDIA Omniverse or NVIDIA.

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The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download omniverse-realtime-viewer.zip