Claude-Code-Game-Studios/CCGS Skill Testing Framework/agents/engine/unity/unity-shader-specialist.md

Agent Test Spec: unity-shader-specialist

Agent Summary

Domain: Unity Shader Graph, custom HLSL, VFX Graph, URP/HDRP pipeline customization, and post-processing effects. Does NOT own: gameplay code, art style direction. No gate IDs assigned.

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Static Assertions (Structural)

• description: field is present and domain-specific (references Shader Graph / HLSL / VFX Graph / URP / HDRP)
• tools: list includes Read, Write, Edit, Glob, Grep
• Model tier is sonnet — frontmatter model: reads exactly sonnet (tiers: .claude/docs/model-tiers.md)
• Agent definition does not claim authority over gameplay code or art direction

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Test Cases

Case 1: In-domain request — appropriate output

Input: "Create an outline effect for characters using Shader Graph in URP." Expected behavior:

• Produces a Shader Graph node setup description (inverted hull via vertex offset, or a screen-space depth/normal edge detection), named to its convention (e.g., SG_Char_Outline) with reusable logic in a Sub Graph
• Stays in Shader Graph and drops to custom HLSL only if Shader Graph cannot achieve the effect; any HLSL keeps SRP Batcher compatibility (UnityPerMaterial CBUFFER)
• For a screen-space variant, uses a URP ScriptableRendererFeature / ScriptableRenderPass recorded through the RenderGraph API (RecordRenderGraph), not the deprecated Execute / CommandBuffer path — per docs/engine-reference/unity/modules/rendering.md
• Does NOT produce HDRP-specific nodes without confirming the render pipeline

Case 2: Out-of-domain redirect

Input: "Implement the character health bar UI in code." Expected behavior:

• Does NOT produce UI implementation code
• Explicitly states that UI implementation belongs to ui-programmer (or unity-ui-specialist)
• Redirects the request appropriately
• Any part it keeps is the shader-driven effect only (e.g., a dissolve or fill gradient on the bar) — it writes no health-bar UI code

Case 3: HDRP custom pass for outline

Input: "We're on HDRP and want the outline as a post-process effect." Expected behavior:

• Produces the HDRP custom pass pattern its own standards name: a C# class inheriting CustomPass, run from a Custom Pass Volume, drawing a full-screen edge-detection shader that samples the depth/normal buffers
• Uses the HDRP overrides docs/engine-reference/unity/current-best-practices.md documents — Setup(ScriptableRenderContext, CommandBuffer), Execute(CustomPassContext ctx), Cleanup() — never URP's RecordRenderGraph, and marks any other HDRP member it uses (render-target helpers, CustomPassContext fields) unverified — nothing beyond those three is asserted from memory
• Notes that CustomPass requires HDRP package and does not work in URP
• Confirms the project is on HDRP before providing HDRP-specific code

Case 4: VFX Graph performance — particle budget

Input: "The explosion VFX Graph has 10,000 particles per event and spawning 20 simultaneous explosions is causing GPU frame spikes." Expected behavior:

• Identifies GPU particle spawn as the cost driver (200,000 simultaneous particles)
• Sets a particle capacity limit per effect and sizes it against the < 2ms total VFX GPU budget
• Pools explosion VFX instances and triggers them through events, rather than creating a graph per explosion
• Reduces cost for distant or off-screen explosions (particle LOD, bounds-based culling) and scales counts by quality tier
• Avoids any fix that reads GPU particle data back to the CPU
• Does NOT change the gameplay event system — proposes a VFX-side budgeting solution

Case 5: Context pass — render pipeline (URP or HDRP)

Input: Project context: URP render pipeline, targets PC and Nintendo Switch. Request: "Add depth of field post-processing." Expected behavior:

• Uses URP Volume framework: a DepthOfField override in a Volume Profile, with script access through profile.TryGet<>() as docs/engine-reference/unity/modules/rendering.md shows
• Does NOT use HDRP Volume components (e.g., HDRP's DepthOfField with different parameter names)
• Places it on the Global Volume for the baseline look or a local Volume for an area, with priority and blend distance set
• Gates the effect per platform and quality tier — reduced or disabled on Switch — and keeps post-processing inside its 1-2ms frame budget

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Protocol Compliance

• Stays within declared domain (Shader Graph, HLSL, VFX Graph, URP/HDRP customization)
• Redirects gameplay and UI code to appropriate agents
• Returns structured output (node graph descriptions, HLSL code, CustomPass patterns)
• Distinguishes between URP and HDRP approaches — never cross-contaminates pipeline-specific APIs
• Uses the RenderGraph API for custom URP passes, not the deprecated Execute / CommandBuffer path
• Produces VFX optimizations that do not change gameplay behavior
• Asks "May I write this to [filepath]?" naming the file before writing

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Coverage Notes

• Outline effect (Case 1) should be paired with a visual screenshot test in production/qa/evidence/
• HDRP CustomPass (Case 3) confirms the agent produces the correct Unity pattern, not a generic post-process approach
• Pipeline separation (Case 5) verifies the agent never assumes the render pipeline without context