From a55f15d3324e3cde2c248b4530288383aecd9018 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: catbot <catbot@bot.local>
Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2026 17:34:29 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] perf(mesh): skip immutable index re-upload on RT refit UPDATE
 (#68)
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A hardware acceleration-structure UPDATE cannot change topology, so the
index buffer is immutable on the Refit UPDATE path. Re-uploading it was a
wasted memcpy + FlushDevice + barrier of unchanged data every refit —
genuinely per-frame for deforming meshes.

Skip the index memcpy and its FlushDevice on the UPDATE branch; the
RecordBLASBuild call still reads the stable, unchanged indexBuffer.address.
The `indicies` span is now read only for its count. Document the API
nuance: a bitwise-different but topologically-equivalent index array is
ignored on refit, consistent with "a refit may only move vertex positions."
The full-rebuild fallback path still re-uploads both buffers.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 implementations/Crafter.Graphics-Mesh.cpp | 12 ++++++++----
 interfaces/Crafter.Graphics-Mesh.cppm     | 11 +++++++----
 2 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)

diff --git a/implementations/Crafter.Graphics-Mesh.cpp b/implementations/Crafter.Graphics-Mesh.cpp
index 203e028..baf1207 100644
--- a/implementations/Crafter.Graphics-Mesh.cpp
+++ b/implementations/Crafter.Graphics-Mesh.cpp
@@ -357,12 +357,16 @@ void Mesh::Refit(std::span<Vector<float, 3, 3>> verticies, std::span<std::uint32
         return;
     }
 
-    // Same-sized buffers: overwrite in place so the device addresses (and
-    // thus the geometry the UPDATE reads) stay stable.
+    // Same-sized buffers: overwrite the vertex positions in place so the
+    // device address (and thus the geometry the UPDATE reads) stays stable.
+    // The index buffer is deliberately left untouched: a hardware AS UPDATE
+    // cannot change topology, so the indices are immutable here — re-uploading
+    // them would be a wasted memcpy + flush + barrier of unchanged data every
+    // refit. This means a bitwise-different-but-topologically-equivalent index
+    // array passed on refit is ignored, consistent with the documented
+    // contract that a refit may only move vertex positions.
     std::memcpy(vertexBuffer.value, verticies.data(), verticies.size() * sizeof(Vector<float, 3, 3>));
-    std::memcpy(indexBuffer.value, indicies.data(), indicies.size() * sizeof(std::uint32_t));
     vertexBuffer.FlushDevice(cmd, VK_ACCESS_MEMORY_READ_BIT, VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_ACCELERATION_STRUCTURE_BUILD_BIT_KHR);
-    indexBuffer.FlushDevice(cmd, VK_ACCESS_MEMORY_READ_BIT, VK_PIPELINE_STAGE_ACCELERATION_STRUCTURE_BUILD_BIT_KHR);
 
     RecordBLASBuild(*this, static_cast<std::uint32_t>(verticies.size()), static_cast<std::uint32_t>(indicies.size()), buildFlags, /*update*/ true, cmd);
 }
diff --git a/interfaces/Crafter.Graphics-Mesh.cppm b/interfaces/Crafter.Graphics-Mesh.cppm
index c04f819..e5f1c6a 100644
--- a/interfaces/Crafter.Graphics-Mesh.cppm
+++ b/interfaces/Crafter.Graphics-Mesh.cppm
@@ -148,10 +148,13 @@ export namespace Crafter {
         // a hardware UPDATE-mode build — much cheaper than a rebuild, and the
         // BLAS handle / blasAddr are preserved, so TLAS instances referencing
         // it stay valid. A hardware update may only move vertex positions,
-        // not change connectivity; the indices are re-uploaded for symmetry
-        // with the rebuild path but must describe the same topology. Without
-        // allowUpdate (or if the counts changed) it falls back to a full
-        // rebuild. Lifetime contract matches Build: the spans need only
+        // not change connectivity, so on the UPDATE path only the vertex
+        // buffer is re-uploaded; the index buffer is left untouched (its
+        // contents are immutable for an UPDATE). The `indicies` span is read
+        // only for its count — a bitwise-different but topologically-equivalent
+        // index array is ignored on refit. Without allowUpdate (or if the
+        // counts changed) it falls back to a full rebuild, which does re-upload
+        // both buffers. Lifetime contract matches Build: the spans need only
         // outlive this call. Call this per frame to track a deforming mesh.
         void Refit(std::span<Vector<float, 3, 3>> verticies, std::span<std::uint32_t> indicies, VkCommandBuffer cmd);
         // Procedural analog of Refit: new object-space boxes, same count.