pixijs-application

name	pixijs-application
description	Use this skill when creating and configuring a PixiJS v8 Application. Covers async app.init options, renderer/canvas/stage access, ResizePlugin, TickerPlugin, CullerPlugin, custom ApplicationPlugin creation, start/stop lifecycle, and app.destroy cleanup. Triggers on: Application, app.init, app.stage, app.renderer, app.canvas, app.screen, ApplicationOptions, ApplicationPlugin, resizeTo, preference, autoStart, sharedTicker, powerPreference, CullerPlugin, app.start, app.stop, app.destroy, releaseGlobalResources.
license	MIT

Application is the convenience wrapper that owns a renderer, a root stage Container, a canvas, and the Ticker/Resize plugins. In v8 the constructor takes no arguments; all configuration is passed to the async app.init() call which instantiates the renderer via autoDetectRenderer.

Quick Start

import { Application } from "pixi.js";

const app = new Application();

await app.init({
  resizeTo: window,
  background: "#1099bb",
  antialias: true,
  preference: "webgl",
  autoDensity: true,
  resolution: window.devicePixelRatio,
});

document.body.appendChild(app.canvas);

Related skills: pixijs-core-concepts (renderers, render pipeline), pixijs-ticker (render loop detail), pixijs-scene-container (working with app.stage), pixijs-environments (non-browser setups).

snapmatch — use usePixiApp, never raw Application in render

Inside a snapmatch component, never call new Application() or await app.init(...) from render. The canonical wrapper is usePixiApp(canvasRef, setup, deps) at apps/<name>/app/canvas/use-pixi-app.ts. It runs init in useEffect, exposes the resolved Application to a setup(app, { reducedMotion }) callback, and tears down via app.destroy(true, { children: true, texture: true }) on unmount — surviving React StrictMode's double-mount via cancellation. This satisfies the React-Compiler purity rule (the side channel never enters render) and the prefers-reduced-motion contract (Ticker registration is skipped under reduce). React owns the <canvas> element via ref; Pixi paints into it. Game state lives in atomWithIDB (Pillar 3), never on DisplayObjects.

Defaults the wrapper sets that you should override consciously: preference: "webgl" (most reliable in headless Chromium for the Playwright story project), autoStart: !reducedMotion (Ticker doesn't run when motion is suppressed), resizeTo: canvas.parentElement ?? canvas (the wrapping <div> controls layout). For static scenes that only change on resize or pointer input, pass autoStart: false and call app.render() from those handlers; do not pay for an idle render loop.

Core Patterns

Lifecycle: construct, init, render, destroy

import { Application } from "pixi.js";

const app = new Application();

await app.init({ width: 800, height: 600 });
document.body.appendChild(app.canvas);

// ... run scene, ticker drives app.render() automatically ...

app.destroy(
  { removeView: true, releaseGlobalResources: true },
  { children: true, texture: true, textureSource: true },
);

• new Application() allocates the instance but creates nothing. Options passed here are ignored with a v8 deprecation warning.
• app.init(options) is async. It builds the renderer, wires up plugins, and must complete before you can use app.canvas, app.renderer, or app.screen.
• The TickerPlugin calls app.render() every frame once init resolves (unless autoStart: false).
• app.destroy(rendererDestroyOptions, stageDestroyOptions) — the first argument forwards to renderer.destroy(). Pass true or { removeView: true } to remove the canvas from the DOM. Add releaseGlobalResources: true to drain global pools (batches, texture caches) when tearing down and re-creating an app in the same tab; omitting it is the usual cause of flickering and stale textures after a re-init (see pixijs-performance).

Key init options

await app.init({
  width: 800,
  height: 600,
  background: 0x1099bb,
  backgroundAlpha: 1,

  antialias: true,
  resolution: window.devicePixelRatio,
  autoDensity: true,

  preference: "webgpu",

  autoStart: true,
  sharedTicker: false,

  resizeTo: window,

  canvas: document.querySelector("#game-canvas") as HTMLCanvasElement,
});

For every option — view/canvas, background, renderer preference (including the array form), ticker, resize, culler, events, accessibility, WebGL/WebGPU context flags, Graphics bezier smoothness, GC, and per-renderer overrides (webgl / webgpu / canvasOptions) — see references/application-options.md.

Application properties

app.stage; // root Container; add all display objects here
app.renderer; // the WebGL/WebGPU/Canvas renderer instance
app.canvas; // the HTMLCanvasElement (insert it into the DOM yourself)
app.screen; // Rectangle describing the visible area in CSS pixels
app.domContainerRoot; // HTMLDivElement that holds DOMContainer overlays

app.stage is a plain Container. For scene graph detail (transforms, addChild, destroy) see pixijs-scene-container. For renderer-level operations (extract, generateTexture, custom systems) see pixijs-core-concepts and pixijs-custom-rendering. app.domContainerRoot is the <div> that the renderer uses to host DOMContainer overlays; append it next to app.canvas when you need DOM elements pinned to scene nodes (see pixijs-scene-dom-container).

ResizePlugin

Set resizeTo at init (or reassign app.resizeTo later) to have the plugin listen for the resize event and call renderer.resize() with the target element's client size. Combine with autoDensity: true and resolution: window.devicePixelRatio for high-DPI output.

await app.init({ resizeTo: window });

app.resizeTo = document.querySelector("#game-container") as HTMLElement;

app.resize(); // immediate resize to the target's current size
app.queueResize(); // defer the resize to the next animation frame
app.cancelResize(); // drop a pending queueResize

The plugin keeps the canvas matched to the target. app.screen and app.canvas.width/height update in response; read them after the resize to place UI.

• app.resize() — immediate synchronous resize.
• app.queueResize() — coalesces rapid calls by deferring to the next frame; internally used by the window.resize listener to avoid redundant work.
• app.cancelResize() — cancels a queued resize. Call this before tearing down your own layout code that triggered queueResize.

Ticker basics

The TickerPlugin creates app.ticker and registers app.render() on it at UPDATE_PRIORITY.LOW. Control the loop with app.start()/app.stop() and add callbacks with app.ticker.add / app.ticker.addOnce:

app.ticker.add((ticker) => {
  sprite.rotation += 0.01 * ticker.deltaTime;
});

app.ticker.addOnce(() => {
  console.log("runs once on the next frame, then removes itself");
});

app.stop(); // pause the render loop (e.g. tab hidden)
app.start(); // resume

The callback receives the Ticker instance; read ticker.deltaTime for a frame-rate-independent multiplier (~1.0 at 60fps), ticker.deltaMS for real milliseconds, or ticker.FPS for the current frame rate. See pixijs-ticker for priorities, FPS capping, onRender, shared vs private tickers, and the v8 callback signature change.

Manual render loop

await app.init({ autoStart: false, width: 800, height: 600 });
document.body.appendChild(app.canvas);

function frame() {
  updateScene();
  app.render();
  requestAnimationFrame(frame);
}
frame();

autoStart: false prevents the TickerPlugin from starting the ticker automatically. Call app.render() yourself (or app.renderer.render({ container: app.stage }) for the same effect). If you still want registered ticker callbacks to fire, call app.ticker.update() inside your loop before app.render().

CullerPlugin (opt-in)

The CullerPlugin skips rendering containers that fall outside app.renderer.screen. It isn't registered by default; add it before creating your app:

import {
  Application,
  Container,
  Sprite,
  extensions,
  CullerPlugin,
  Rectangle,
} from "pixi.js";

extensions.add(CullerPlugin);

const app = new Application();
await app.init({ width: 800, height: 600 });

const world = new Container();
world.cullable = true; // this container is culled when its bounds leave the screen
world.cullableChildren = true; // default; set `false` to skip recursing into children

const tile = Sprite.from("tile.png");
tile.cullable = true;
world.addChild(tile);
app.stage.addChild(world);

Containers are not culled unless cullable is set. Override the default bounds check with container.cullArea = new Rectangle(x, y, w, h) when child bounds are expensive to compute. The plugin wraps app.render() so Culler.shared.cull(app.stage, app.renderer.screen) runs before every frame. See pixijs-performance for when culling pays off.

Custom Application plugins

Extend Application by registering a class with static init, static destroy, and static extension = ExtensionType.Application. Both methods are called with this bound to the Application instance, so this.renderer and this.stage are available.

import {
  Application,
  ExtensionType,
  extensions,
  type ApplicationOptions,
} from "pixi.js";

class FpsOverlay {
  public static extension = ExtensionType.Application;

  public static init(this: Application, options: Partial<ApplicationOptions>) {
    // runs inside app.init() after the renderer is created
    // attach props/methods to `this` to expose them on the app
  }

  public static destroy(this: Application) {
    // runs inside app.destroy() — tear down anything you attached
  }
}

extensions.add(FpsOverlay);

Plugins initialize in registration order and destroy in reverse. To add typed options for your plugin, extend PixiMixins.ApplicationOptions:

declare global {
  namespace PixiMixins {
    interface ApplicationOptions {
      fpsOverlay?: { visible?: boolean };
    }
  }
}

await app.init({ fpsOverlay: { visible: true } });

The built-in ResizePlugin, TickerPlugin, and opt-in CullerPlugin all use this same contract. If you set skipExtensionImports: true, register the built-ins you need yourself (extensions.add(ResizePlugin, TickerPlugin)).

Common Mistakes

[CRITICAL] Passing options to the constructor

Wrong:

const app = new Application({ width: 800, height: 600 });
document.body.appendChild(app.canvas);

Correct:

const app = new Application();
await app.init({ width: 800, height: 600 });
document.body.appendChild(app.canvas);

In v8 the Application constructor takes no arguments. Options passed there are ignored and log a deprecation warning; the renderer is only created inside the async init() call.

[HIGH] Using app.view instead of app.canvas

Wrong:

document.body.appendChild(app.view);

Correct:

document.body.appendChild(app.canvas);

app.view was renamed to app.canvas in v8. The old getter still works but emits a deprecation warning.

[MEDIUM] Touching app.canvas or app.renderer before init resolves

Wrong:

const app = new Application();
document.body.appendChild(app.canvas);
app.init({ width: 800, height: 600 });

Correct:

const app = new Application();
await app.init({ width: 800, height: 600 });
document.body.appendChild(app.canvas);

app.renderer, app.canvas, and app.screen are only populated once the init() promise resolves. Accessing them earlier returns undefined.

API Reference

• Application
• ApplicationOptions
• ApplicationPlugin
• ResizePlugin
• ResizePluginOptions
• TickerPlugin
• TickerPluginOptions
• CullerPlugin
• autoDetectRenderer