openFrameworks (ofxNozzle)

ofxNozzle is an openFrameworks addon for GPU texture sharing via nozzle.

Platform Support

Platform	Backend	Status
macOS (Apple Silicon)	Metal/IOSurface	Supported
macOS (Intel)	Metal/IOSurface	Supported
Windows	D3D11	Supported
Linux	DMA-BUF	Supported

Setup

cd <your_oF_project>/addons
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/nozzle-io/ofxNozzle.git

The nozzle static library is bundled in libs/nozzle/. No separate build needed.

Requirements

openFrameworks 0.12+
macOS 12.0+ / Windows 10+ / Linux (DRM/KMS)

Sender

#include "ofxNozzle.h"

class ofApp : public ofBaseApp {
    ofxNozzleSender sender;

    void setup() override {
        sender.setup("myTextureStream", 1920, 1080);
    }

    void draw() override {
        sender.begin();
        ofBackground(0);
        // draw your content here
        sender.end();
        sender.publish();
    }
};

Receiver

#include "ofxNozzle.h"

class ofApp : public ofBaseApp {
    ofxNozzleReceiver receiver;

    void setup() override {
        receiver.setup("myTextureStream");
    }

    void draw() override {
        if (receiver.receive()) {
            receiver.draw(0, 0);
        }
    }
};

API Reference

ofxNozzleSender

Method	Description
`setup(name, width, height, glFormat)`	Initialize sender. Default format: `GL_BGRA8_EXT`
`close()`	Release resources
`begin()`	Bind render target (call before drawing)
`end()`	Unbind render target
`publish()`	Publish current frame to shared texture
`setMetadata(key, value)`	Attach metadata to published frames
`getWidth()` / `getHeight()`	Texture dimensions
`isSetup()`	Check if initialized

ofxNozzleReceiver

Method	Description
`setup(name, timeoutMs)`	Connect to sender by name. Default timeout: 0 (non-blocking)
`close()`	Release resources
`receive()`	Poll for new frame. Returns `true` if frame available
`getTexture()`	Get the received texture as `ofTexture&`
`draw(x, y, w, h)`	Draw received texture at position/size
`draw(x, y)`	Draw at original size
`isConnected()`	Check if sender is alive
`getSenderName()`	Get connected sender’s name

Architecture

All platform-specific code is hidden behind pimpl. Headers are pure C++.

Sender flow:
  macOS:   GL FBO → IOSurface-backed GL texture → Metal texture → nozzle shared state
  Windows: GL FBO → glReadPixels → D3D11 texture → nozzle shared state
  Linux:   GL FBO → glReadPixels → DMA-BUF mmap → nozzle shared state

Receiver flow:
  macOS:   nozzle acquire_frame → IOSurface → CGLTexImageIOSurface2D → cached GL texture → ofTexture
  Windows: nozzle acquire_frame → D3D11 texture → glTexSubImage2D → cached GL texture → ofTexture
  Linux:   nozzle acquire_frame → DMA-BUF mmap → glTexSubImage2D → cached GL texture → ofTexture