VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering depth attachment handling across driver versions

Depth Attachment Compatibility Challenge

VK_KHR_dynamic_rendering, promoted to Vulkan 1.3 core, eliminates the need for VkRenderPass and VkFramebuffer objects by allowing depth and stencil attachment configuration during command recording. This simplifies pipeline setup significantly in local development environments with modern drivers.

However, production deployments targeting older hardware or legacy drivers may encounter inconsistent support for depth attachment handling within dynamic rendering. The Vulkan specification marks this capability as optional, creating a critical compatibility boundary where depth/stencil operations might fail silently or produce undefined behavior.

The unresolved decision centers on whether to implement runtime detection of depth attachment support or mandate a minimum Vulkan version that guarantees this functionality. This architectural choice directly impacts shader complexity, memory management, and cross-platform deployment strategies.

• At what point should an application abandon dynamic rendering for depth attachments in favor of legacy render passes?
• How can developers reliably detect depth attachment capability differences between development and production Vulkan implementations?