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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://mp-staging.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/stage-attribute-reads/README.md

Stage Attribute Reads

Triggers

Use this skill for requests mentioning read_attribute, read_array_attribute, attribute reads, USD attribute values, DLPack, GPU destinations, read_attribute_async, array attributes, inspector values, or current runtime values.

Use this when inspector panels, query services, animation, transform tools, or pick effects need current OVStage runtime attribute values. OVRTX renders the stage and owns renderer outputs/picks; it is not the default scene data service for new OVStage viewers.

For pinned OVStage/OVRTX attribute API details and DLPack behavior, read references/dependencies for acquisition guidance and supplemental dependency documentation.

Choose The Read API

Use stage-queries first when you do not know whether an attribute exists or whether it is scalar or array.

Runtime read shapeUse
Scalar/fixed-shape readOne value per prim: transforms, numeric controls, tokens, shader inputs.
Array readVariable-length arrays such as points, normals, or faceVertexCounts.
Async scalar readAvoid blocking input/message callbacks or inspector panels.
Async array readLarge mesh arrays or background property previews.

The exact function names are app/runtime-adapter choices. They should map to the pinned OVStage read APIs, validate the active stage generation, and return copied DTO values before data crosses UI, transport, reload, or process boundaries.

Read ranges and decoding

Serialize reads with the runtime owner after the intended publication completes. For current values use OrdinalRange.latest((1 << 64) - 1) (UINT64_MAX in C). A finite end ordinal bounds the read: changes above the write floor at or before that end can report WRITE_FLOOR_VIOLATION; retained changes after the end can report OUT_OF_RANGE, even if unsealed. Report/retry against the intended publication rather than silently substituting another state. These ranges do not promise historical payload snapshots; success below the retained-history boundary cannot guarantee earlier state. Follow the selected upstream read contract.

Decode inspector values using dtype, shape, and semantic metadata. Read/map outputs use scalar lanes and explicit component axes/strides, including [N,3] vectors and [N,4,4] matrices. Selected scalar strings use UTF-8 byte arrays with STRING semantic; other strings may remain interned IDs. Decode relationship paths with the owning Stage path dictionary; CPU connection values are path/attribute-token pairs. Discover the selected release's property-specific population mapping before adding these inspector types; do not apply token decoding universally or promise unsupported GPU connection reads.

Scalar Reads

Scalar/fixed-shape reads return one value per prim. Convert runtime values to a JSON-safe copy before sending them over a data channel:

import numpy as np

def read_json_scalar(runtime, attr_name: str, paths: list[str]):
    values = runtime.read_attribute(attr_name, paths)
    return np.asarray(values).copy().tolist()

paths = ["/World/Cube"]
xforms = np.asarray(runtime.read_attribute("omni:xform", paths)).reshape(len(paths), 4, 4)

Use current OVStage values for transform bases, inspector fields, and pick-effect state. Use pxr only when the UI asks for authored composition details that are not represented as runtime attributes.

Array Reads

Array reads return one array-like value per prim, and lengths may differ:

arrays = runtime.read_array_attribute("points", ["/World/MeshA", "/World/MeshB"])
for path, values in arrays.items():
    points = np.asarray(values)
    preview = points[:1000].copy().tolist()

Use arrays for geometry payloads only when the UI truly needs them. For most inspectors, report counts, dtype, shape, and a capped preview.

GPU Destinations And Async Flow

If the pinned OVStage runtime exposes DLPack destinations or async reads, keep the source/destination tensors alive until the operation completes and synchronize before another consumer reads the data. UI and WebRTC messages must receive copied values, never borrowed tensors or mapped views.

op = runtime.read_attribute_async("omni:xform", paths)
pending = op.wait(timeout_ns=5_000_000_000)
if pending is None:
    return None

values = pending.fetch(timeout_ns=100_000_000)
if values is None:
    return None

xforms = np.asarray(values).copy()

Do not access the value until both wait() and fetch() have succeeded.

Inspector Pattern

def inspect_attrs(runtime, path: str, attr_names: list[str]) -> dict:
    descriptors = runtime.query_prims(
        attribute_filter_mode="specific",
        attribute_names=attr_names,
    ).get(path, {})

    values = {}
    for name, desc in descriptors.items():
        if desc.is_array:
            arr = runtime.read_array_attribute(name, [path])[path]
            values[name] = np.asarray(arr)[:1000].copy().tolist()
        else:
            value = runtime.read_attribute(name, [path])
            values[name] = np.asarray(value).copy().tolist()
    return values

Keep pxr fallback for variant sets, relationship targets, material bindings, and USD metadata until native runtime APIs expose those fields directly as user-readable values.

Gotchas

  • OVStage reads return current runtime values; they do not replace USD composition services such as variant-set editing.

  • Scalar reads are for one fixed-shape value per prim.

  • Array reads are for variable-length values and should return a path-keyed result, not a blindly stacked tensor.

  • Keep DLPack-backed or mapped views scoped. Take .copy() before storing values beyond the operation lifetime or sending them to another thread.

  • Query descriptors first when a missing attribute would otherwise become an exception path in UI code.

  • Direct OVRTX read APIs are for renderer-owned diagnostics or legacy pre-OVStage samples, not the default inspector path in new viewers.

See also: stage-queries, stage-hierarchy, prim-info-display, 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

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