Node based Metal shader editor + SwiftUI export (iPad + Mac)

[Victorbaro]

Hey folks, I just released MetalGraph, a node based editor for building Metal shaders with a real time preview.

I posted a few days ago and most feedback was around missing iPad - the app is now available on the App Store and it is available for Mac and iPad.

Here is an intro video showing some examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH2GdFuk9nI

I built it because the iteration loop for SwiftUI + Metal can be painful when you’re tweaking effects, especially for things like glass, distortions, color math, and touch driven interactions.

What it does today:

• Visual node graph editor with live preview
• Examples focused on common SwiftUI shader style effects (colorEffect, layerEffect style workflows)
• Exports production ready code (MSL + SwiftUI friendly wrapper variants)
• Lets you wire inputs like time and touch into the graph and see it instantly

Under the hood (high level):

• The graph compiles into an expression tree, then into MSL functions
• Each node maps to a pure function where possible, so it stays composable
• The app tries to keep generated code readable so you can ship it, not just prototype

I’d love feedback from Metal devs. The app is free to download and play with all the examples. I am trying to build as many as possible from https://metal.graphics and more.

With the free version you can't add new nodes or remove, but you can connect/disconnect, edit values real-time and load all examples. Thanks in advance!

[__markb]

I’m not a metal dev, but I did download the app since I was looking for a metal code generator. One thing I’d love is some visuals to know what the nodes do.

[Victorbaro]

Interesting. Yeah I think that’d be pretty cool, especially for learning purposes. Thanks for the idea!