This repository contains the following components of oneAPI:

• Copies of the Level Zero Specification API C/C++ header files
• Level Zero Loader
• Level Zero Validation Layer
• Level Zero Tracing Layer

This project is part of the larger oneAPI project.

See the oneAPI specification for more information about the oneAPI project.

See the Level Zero specification for more information about Level Zero.

See the Level Zero specification repo for contributing to the specification.

Level Zero API versions are listed in the ze_api_version_t enumeration, located in the ze_api.h file.

Project is defined using CMake.

mkdir build
cd build
cmake .. -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build . --target package --parallel $(nproc)
cmake --build . --target install

To build the Loader statically one must set -DBUILD_STATIC=1 during the cmake configuration step.

The build of the static loader creates a ze_loader.a/.lib which will link the source/lib source code into your application or library.

This enables for inclusion of all L0 symbols into your application/library allowing for backwards compatibility with older versions of the Loader.

The static loader "shim" dynamically loads the ze_loader.so/.dll on the system enabling plugin like behavior where the init will fail gracefully given a usable loader or L0 driver is not found.

When the -DBUILD_STATIC=1 is executed, the dynamic loader and layers are not built to avoid conflicts during local test execution which requires the dynamic loader and layers to all be the same version for compatibility.

Testing with the static loader requires a build of the dynamic loader or an installation of the dynamic loader to exist in the library path.

Deprecated: ZE_ENABLE_LOADER_DEBUG_TRACE is deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Use ZEL_LOADER_LOG_CONSOLE=1 with ZEL_LOADER_LOGGING_LEVEL=trace instead, which provides the same or enhanced information with structured timestamps, thread IDs, and log levels via the logging system.

The Level Zero Loader has the ability to print warnings and errors which occur within the internals of the Level Zero Loader itself.

To enable this debug tracing feature, set the environment variable ZE_ENABLE_LOADER_DEBUG_TRACE=1.

This will enforce the Loader to print all errors whether fatal or non-fatal to stderr with the PREFIX ZE_LOADER_DEBUG_TRACE:.

The Level Zero Loader provides built-in logging controlled via environment variables:

The two flags control output as follows:

Note: When both ZEL_ENABLE_LOADER_LOGGING=1 and ZEL_LOADER_LOG_CONSOLE=1 are set, output goes to the console only. The file path configuration is not used. If persistent file capture is required, set ZEL_LOADER_LOG_CONSOLE=0.

The log directory (ZEL_LOADER_LOG_DIR) is created automatically on first use if it does not exist.

Default pattern (used when ZEL_LOADER_LOG_PATTERN is not set):

[%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%e] [thread-id: %t] [%^%l%$] %v

Supported pattern tokens:

• %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S.%e — timestamp with milliseconds (must appear as this exact sequence)
• %t — thread id
• %P — process id
• %l — log level label
• %^ — begin color range (no-op when output is not a TTY)
• %$ — end color range
• %v — log message

The Level Zero Loader will log all API calls whenever logging level is set to trace and validation layer is enabled. Following variables need to be set to enable API logging:

ZEL_ENABLE_LOADER_LOGGING=1

ZEL_LOADER_LOGGING_LEVEL=trace

ZE_ENABLE_VALIDATION_LAYER=1

To print successful API call results, set ZEL_LOADER_LOGGING_ENABLE_SUCCESS_PRINT=1 Otherwise, only error results will be printed in the API trace output. NOTE: This will become the default behavior in future releases. for now, please set the env var to enable this logging feature.

By default logs will be written to the log file as described above. To print logs to stderr instead of a file, set ZEL_LOADER_LOG_CONSOLE=1. Note that when ZEL_LOADER_LOG_CONSOLE=1, the file path configuration is ignored — output goes to the console only.

The API logging output format includes both function entry and exit information, showing parameter names on entry and parameter values with the result code on exit. Each log entry is timestamped and includes the thread-id, logger name, log level. Example output:

[2026-02-13 18:51:29.960] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] zeDriverGet(pCount, phDrivers)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.960] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] SUCCESS (ZE_RESULT_SUCCESS) in zeDriverGet(pCount=1, phDrivers=nullptr)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.960] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] zeDriverGet(pCount, phDrivers)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.960] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] SUCCESS (ZE_RESULT_SUCCESS) in zeDriverGet(pCount=1, phDrivers=0x5651c11920f0)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.961010] [0x00007f5d45f57780] [info]    Default Driver retrieved at index 0
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.961] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] zeContextCreate(hDriver, desc, phContext)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.961] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] SUCCESS (ZE_RESULT_SUCCESS) in zeContextCreate(hDriver=0x5651c1166418, desc={stype=0x7ffdb52dc060, flags=0}, phContext=0x5651c0276c48)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.962] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] zeDeviceGet(hDriver, pCount, phDevices)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.962] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] SUCCESS (ZE_RESULT_SUCCESS) in zeDeviceGet(hDriver=0x5651c1166418, pCount=2, phDevices=nullptr)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.962] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] zeDeviceGet(hDriver, pCount, phDevices)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.962] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] SUCCESS (ZE_RESULT_SUCCESS) in zeDeviceGet(hDriver=0x5651c1166418, pCount=2, phDevices=0x5651c1192230)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.962] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] zeDeviceGet(hDriver, pCount, phDevices)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.962] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] SUCCESS (ZE_RESULT_SUCCESS) in zeDeviceGet(hDriver=0x5651c1166418, pCount=2, phDevices=nullptr)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.962692] [0x00007f5d45f57780] [info]    Default Device retrieved at index 0
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.963] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] zeCommandQueueCreate(hContext, hDevice, desc, phCommandQueue)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.963] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] SUCCESS (ZE_RESULT_SUCCESS) in zeCommandQueueCreate(hContext=0x5651c0276c48, hDevice=0x5651c1166778, desc={stype=0x7ffdb52dbf90, ordinal=0, index=0, flags=0, mode=0x7ffdb52dbfac, priority=0x7ffdb52dbfb0}, phCommandQueue=0x5651c1192748)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.963] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] zeCommandListCreate(hContext, hDevice, desc, phCommandList)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.964] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] SUCCESS (ZE_RESULT_SUCCESS) in zeCommandListCreate(hContext=0x5651c0276c48, hDevice=0x5651c1166778, desc={stype=0x7ffdb52dbf70, commandQueueGroupOrdinal=0, flags=0}, phCommandList=0x5651c119af68)
[2026-02-13 18:51:29.965] [thread-id: 3139] [trace] zeMemOpenIpcHandle(hContext, hDevice, handle, flags, pptr)

As of v1.20.3 of the Loader, Drivers and Devices reported to the user are sorted to enable the first device to be the best available device.

• By default, drivers will be sorted such that the ordering will be:
  • Drivers with Discrete GPUs only
  • Drivers with Discrete and Integrated GPUs
  • Drivers with Integrated GPUs
  • Drivers with Mixed Devices Types (ie GPU + NPU)
  • Drivers with Non GPU Devices Only
• If ZE_ENABLE_PCI_ID_DEVICE_ORDER is set, then the following ordering is provided:
  • Drivers with Integrated GPUs
  • Drivers with Discrete and Integrated GPUs
  • Drivers with Discrete GPUs only
  • Drivers with Mixed Devices Types (ie GPU + NPU)
  • Drivers with Non GPU Devices Only

The order of the sorting is based on the enumerator: zel_driver_type_t

The ordering of the drivers reported to the user is based on the order of the enumerations provided. When additional driver types are added, they should be added to the end of the list to avoid reporting new device types before known device types.

NOTE: Due to known issues with Program Instrumentation usecases, when ZET_ENABLE_PROGRAM_INSTRUMENTATION is enabled, driver sorting is not possible in the loader.

Use Microsoft* Visual Studio x64 command prompt to run the following commands and build the project:

mkdir build
cd build
cmake -G "NMake Makefiles" CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="/EHsc" ..
nmake

See CONTRIBUTING for more information.

Distributed under the MIT license. See LICENSE for more information.

See Intel's Security Center for information on how to report a potential security issue or vulnerability.

See also SECURITY.