The following extensions have been ratified by the Khronos Group:

• KHR_animation_pointer
• KHR_draco_mesh_compression
• KHR_lights_punctual
• KHR_materials_anisotropy
• KHR_materials_clearcoat
• KHR_materials_dispersion
• KHR_materials_emissive_strength
• KHR_materials_ior
• KHR_materials_iridescence
• KHR_materials_sheen
• KHR_materials_specular
• KHR_materials_transmission
• KHR_materials_unlit
• KHR_materials_variants
• KHR_materials_volume
• KHR_mesh_quantization
• KHR_texture_basisu
• KHR_texture_transform
• KHR_xmp_json_ld
• EXT_mesh_gpu_instancing
• EXT_meshopt_compression
• EXT_texture_webp

Khronos extensions use the reserved KHR prefix. Once ratified by the Khronos Group, they are covered by the Khronos IP framework. Extensions that are intended to be ratified can also use the KHR prefix to avoid name/code/version thrashing. Khronos members can submit an extension for ratification, which is then voted on by the Khronos Board of Promoters.

This section tracks the status of extensions and projects that are in development and is intended to provide the glTF community with a general sense of the priorities and direction of the glTF roadmap. The items listed are felt to show enough consensus to be considered for future ratification. We welcome community feedback and encourage everyone to add comments to the Github Pull Requests. All items are listed in alphabetical order. There is no order of priority of items with the same status.

How to view the latest draft specifications from a GitHub pull request - Visit the files section of the Pull Request and find the file: README.md. In the top-right of that file's title bar select the three dots (...) and select ‘View file’. This will render the latest version of the draft specification.

The status provides a guide to the current position of a specification through the main stages of extension development, and the community feedback that is requested at each stage. This is a general guide and the stages and deliverables for an individual extension or project may differ. Additional information can be found in the read.me file for each extension or project.

If you have a requirement for a feature that is not listed as part of a Ratified or In-Progress extensions, please check to see if others have already identified similar requirements by reviewing the existing Vendor Extensions, Multi-Vendor extensions, glTF GitHub Issues and glTF Pull Requests. If you do find something on a similar topic we recommend you reach out and collaborate. If nothing matches your requirement we encourage you to reach out to the community for feedback and collaborators. As a consensus develops please reach out to Khronos to discuss how an extension can be brought into the broader ecosystem, and potentially added to the official Khronos glTF Roadmap.

When an extension is implemented by more than one vendor, its name can use the reserved EXT prefix. Multi-vendor extensions are typically not covered by the Khronos IP framework, with a few notable exceptions (listed above) that have been through the Khronos ratification process after becoming widely used under the EXT prefix.

• EXT_lights_ies
• EXT_lights_image_based
• EXT_mesh_manifold

Vendor extensions are not covered by the Khronos IP framework.

• ADOBE_materials_clearcoat_specular
• ADOBE_materials_clearcoat_tint
• ADOBE_materials_thin_transparency
• AGI_articulations
• AGI_stk_metadata
• CESIUM_primitive_outline
• FB_geometry_metadata
• GRIFFEL_bim_data
• MPEG_accessor_timed
• MPEG_animation_timing
• MPEG_audio_spatial
• MPEG_buffer_circular
• MPEG_media
• MPEG_mesh_linking
• MPEG_scene_dynamic
• MPEG_texture_video
• MPEG_viewport_recommended
• MSFT_lod
• MSFT_packing_normalRoughnessMetallic
• MSFT_packing_occlusionRoughnessMetallic
• MSFT_texture_dds
• NV_materials_mdl

The list of vendor prefixes is maintained in Prefixes.md. Any vendor, not just Khronos members, can request an extension prefix by submitting an issue on GitHub requesting one. Requests should include:

• The name of the prefix.
• The name of the vendor requesting the prefix.
• The vendor's URL and/or contact information.

Archived extensions may be useful for reading older glTF files, but they are no longer recommended for creating new files.

• KHR_materials_pbrSpecularGlossiness
• KHR_techniques_webgl
• KHR_xmp

glTF extensions extend the base glTF model format. Extensions can introduce new properties (including properties that reference external data, and the extension can define the format of those data), new parameter semantics, reserved IDs, and new container formats. Extensions are written against a specific version of glTF and may be promoted to core glTF in a later glTF version.

All glTF object properties (see glTFProperty.schema.json) have an optional extensions object property that can contain new extension-specific properties. This allows extensions to extend any part of glTF, including geometry, materials, animations, etc. Extensions can also introduce new parameter semantics, reserved IDs, and new formats containing glTF.

Extensions can't remove existing glTF properties or redefine existing glTF properties to mean something else.

Examples include:

• New properties: KHR_texture_transform introduces a set of texture transformation properties, e.g.,

{
  "materials": [{
    "emissiveTexture": {
      "index": 0,
      "extensions": {
        "KHR_texture_transform": {
          "offset": [0, 1],
          "rotation": 1.57079632679,
          "scale": [0.5, 0.5]
        }
      }
    }
  }]
}

Extensions may add new properties and values, such as attribute semantics or texture mime types. In all Khronos (KHR) extensions, and as best practice for vendor extensions, these feature additions are designed to allow safe fallback consumption in tools that do not recognize an extension in the extensionsUsed array.

All extensions used in a model are listed as strings in the top-level extensionsUsed array; all required extensions are listed as strings in the top-level extensionsRequired array, e.g.,

{
  "extensionsUsed": [
    "KHR_draco_mesh_compression", "VENDOR_physics"
  ],
  "extensionsRequired": [
    "KHR_draco_mesh_compression"
  ]
}

This allows an engine to quickly determine if it supports the extensions needed to render the model without inspecting the extensions property of all objects.

An extension is considered required if a typical glTF loader would fail to load the asset in the absence of support for that extension. For example, any mesh compression extension must be listed as required unless an uncompressed fallback mesh is provided with the asset. Likewise, a texture image format extension must be listed as required unless fallback textures in core formats (JPG, PNG) are also supplied. Typically, PBR or other kinds of material extensions should not be listed in required, because the core glTF material can be considered a valid fallback for these kinds of extensions, and such extensions will not cause a conformant glTF loader to fail.

To create a new extension, use the extension template and open a pull request into this repo. Make sure to add the extension to the glTF Extension Registry (top of this file).

If the extension adds a new top-level array (by extending the root glTF object), its elements should inherit all properties of glTFChildOfRootProperty.schema.json. Other objects introduced by the extension should inherit all properties of glTFProperty.schema.json. By glTF 2.0 conventions, schemas should allow additional properties. See KHR_lights_punctual as an example.

If lack of extension support prevents proper geometry loading, extension specification must state that (and such extension must be mentioned in extensionsRequired top-level glTF property).

NOTE: For historical reasons, older extensions may not follow these guidelines. Future extensions should do so.

1. Names MUST begin with an UPPERCASE prefix, followed by an underscore. Prefixes are KHR for Khronos extensions, EXT for Multi-vendor extensions, and others may be reserved for Vendor extensions.
2. Names MUST use lowercase snake-case following the prefix, e.g. KHR_materials_unlit.
3. Names SHOULD be structured as <PREFIX>_<scope>_<feature>, where scope is an existing glTF concept (e.g. mesh, texture, image) and feature describes the functionality being added within that scope. This structure is recommended, but not required.
4. Scope SHOULD be singular (e.g. mesh, texture), except where this would be inconsistent with an existing Khronos extension (e.g. materials, lights).

In addition to extensions, the extras object can also be used to extend glTF. This is completely separate from extensions.

All glTF object properties allow adding new properties to an extras object sub-property, e.g.,

{
  "asset": {
    "version": 2.0,
    "extras": {
      "guid": "9abb92a3-39cf-4986-a758-c43d4bb4ab58",
    }
  }
}

This enables glTF models to contain application-specific properties without creating a full glTF extension. This may be preferred for niche use cases where an extension would not be widely adopted.