Why does RenderGraph silently skip my pass?

RenderGraph culls passes whose outputs aren't read. Declare your output buffer with builder.UseColorBuffer or builder.UseTextureFragment, otherwise the optimizer drops the pass.

Where do I record draws?

Inside the SetRenderFunc lambda, using the RasterCommandBuffer passed by RenderGraph. Don't try to use a regular CommandBuffer; the captured context is the active one.

How do I see which passes are culled?

Window → Analysis → Render Graph Viewer. It lists each pass with its declared inputs/outputs and whether it was culled. Hovering shows the pruning reason.

Fix: Unity RenderGraph Custom Pass Skipped

Quick answer: Use builder.UseColorBuffer to declare the pass writes the active color buffer. RenderGraph culls passes with no observed outputs.

URP 17 + RenderGraph. You add a custom Renderer Feature pass. Frame Debugger doesn’t show your draws. Pass got culled because RenderGraph saw no consumers of its output.

The Symptom

RecordRenderGraph runs (you can see logs), but Execute never fires. Output texture isn’t written.

The Fix

override public void RecordRenderGraph(RenderGraph rg,
                                          ContextContainer ctx) {
    var data = ctx.Get<UniversalResourceData>();

    using (var builder = rg.AddRasterRenderPass<PassData>(
                "OutlinePass", out var p)) {
        builder.UseTextureFragment(data.activeColorTexture, 0);
        builder.AllowPassCulling(false);   // belt & braces
        builder.SetRenderFunc(static (PassData p, RasterGraphContext ctx) => {
            ctx.cmd.DrawProcedural(Matrix4x4.identity, p.material, 0,
                                MeshTopology.Triangles, 3);
        });
    }
}

UseTextureFragment tells the graph the pass writes that color attachment; the optimizer keeps it. AllowPassCulling(false) is a hatchet for cases where you can’t express the dep cleanly.

Verifying

Open Render Graph Viewer. Pass listed, not culled, output declared. Frame Debugger shows the DrawProcedural draw call.

“Declare outputs. Pass survives. Draws happen.”

Related Issues

For URP decal on skinned, see URP decal. For shader keyword strip, see keyword strip.

Declare output. Pass kept. Draw runs.