maleadt · Oct 10, 2026 · Oct 10, 2026 · Oct 11, 2026 · Oct 11, 2026 · Oct 11, 2026
diff --git a/.buildkite/pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/pipeline.yml
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ steps:
                 Pkg.develop([PackageSpec(; name="KernelAbstractions", path=pwd()),
                 PackageSpec(; name="KernelInterface", path=joinpath(pwd(), "lib", "KernelInterface"))])' || exit 3
       echo "--- :julia: Developing CUDA"
-      julia .buildkite/develop_backend.jl https://github.com/JuliaGPU/CUDA.jl ka-0.10 \
+      julia .buildkite/develop_backend.jl https://github.com/JuliaGPU/CUDA.jl vc/ki-subgroup-ops \
             CUDACore CUDATools lib/cusolver lib/curand lib/cublas lib/cufft lib/cusparse lib/cupti lib/nvml lib/custatevec lib/cudnn lib/cutensor lib/cutensornet || exit 3
 
       julia -e 'println("+++ :julia: Running tests")
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ steps:
                 Pkg.develop([PackageSpec(; name="KernelAbstractions", path=pwd()),
                 PackageSpec(; name="KernelInterface", path=joinpath(pwd(), "lib", "KernelInterface"))])' || exit 3
       echo "--- :julia: Developing Metal"
-      julia .buildkite/develop_backend.jl https://github.com/JuliaGPU/Metal.jl ka-0.10 || exit 3
+      julia .buildkite/develop_backend.jl https://github.com/JuliaGPU/Metal.jl vc/ki-subgroup-ops || exit 3
       julia -e 'println("+++ :julia: Running tests")
                 using Pkg
                 check = joinpath(pwd(), ".buildkite", "check_sources.jl")
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ steps:
       julia -e 'println("--- :julia: Developing oneAPI")
                 using Pkg
                 Pkg.add(url="https://github.com/JuliaGPU/AcceleratedKernels.jl", rev="main")' || exit 3
-      julia .buildkite/develop_backend.jl https://github.com/JuliaGPU/oneAPI.jl ka-0.10 || exit 3
+      julia .buildkite/develop_backend.jl https://github.com/JuliaGPU/oneAPI.jl tb/ki-subgroup-ops || exit 3
 
       julia -e 'println("+++ :julia: Running tests")
                 using Pkg
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ steps:
       julia -e 'println("--- :julia: Developing AMDGPU")
                 using Pkg
                 Pkg.add(url="https://github.com/JuliaGPU/AcceleratedKernels.jl", rev="main")' || exit 3
-      julia .buildkite/develop_backend.jl https://github.com/JuliaGPU/AMDGPU.jl ka-0.10 || exit 3
+      julia .buildkite/develop_backend.jl https://github.com/JuliaGPU/AMDGPU.jl vc/ki-subgroup-ops || exit 3
 
       julia -e 'println("+++ :julia: Running tests")
                 using Pkg
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ steps:
                 Pkg.develop([PackageSpec(; name="KernelAbstractions", path=pwd()),
                 PackageSpec(; name="KernelInterface", path=joinpath(pwd(), "lib", "KernelInterface"))])' || exit 3
       echo "--- :julia: Developing OpenCL"
-      julia .buildkite/develop_backend.jl https://github.com/JuliaGPU/OpenCL.jl ka-0.10 lib/intrinsics || exit 3
+      julia .buildkite/develop_backend.jl https://github.com/JuliaGPU/OpenCL.jl tb/ki-subgroup-ops lib/intrinsics || exit 3
 
       julia -e 'println("+++ :julia: Running tests")
                 using Pkg

diff --git a/docs/src/api.md b/docs/src/api.md
@@ -15,6 +15,33 @@
 @ndrange
 ```
 
+### Reductions and scans
+
+```@docs
+@groupreduce
+@groupscan
+```
+
+### Tiles
+
+```@docs
+@tile
+Tile
+tile_shfl
+tile_shfl_up
+tile_shfl_down
+tile_shfl_xor
+tile_any
+tile_all
+tile_ballot
+tile_reduce
+tile_scan
+tile_exclusive_scan
+tile_barrier
+tile_width
+supports_tiles
+```
+
 ## Host language
 
 !!! note

diff --git a/docs/src/index.md b/docs/src/index.md
@@ -167,6 +167,22 @@ end
   `GPUCompiler.method_tables` instead.
 - `foreach_index(f, A)` runs `f` once per index of the array `A` without writing a kernel out,
   and `foreach_index(f, backend, indices)` once per index in a range or `CartesianIndices`.
+- KernelInterface 0.4 adds sub-groups: ids, shuffles, votes, reductions and scans, also
+  within segments of a sub-group. They are the low-level API for backends, for kernels
+  written against KernelInterface and for kernel languages built on it; capability queries
+  say how a backend forms its sub-groups, whether they may diverge, and which types it can
+  shuffle. See [Sub-groups](@ref ki_subgroups).
+- [`@groupreduce`](@ref) and [`@groupscan`](@ref) reduce and scan a value over the
+  workgroup, on every backend. `@groupreduce` uses sub-groups internally where the backend
+  can shuffle the values. See [Reductions and scans](@ref group_collectives).
+- Tiles let small groups of consecutive work-items exchange values with shuffles, votes,
+  reductions and scans (`tile_shfl`, `tile_reduce`, ...), while different tiles take
+  different branches or loop a different number of times. A kernel gets tiles by being
+  constructed with a width, `f(backend; tile = N)`, without a declaration in the kernel.
+  [`supports_tiles(backend, N)`](@ref supports_tiles) reports whether a backend supports a
+  width; the `CPU` backend has no tiles. See [Tiles](@ref tiles). A `@kernel` uses tiles or
+  the workgroup collectives; KernelInterface's sub-group functions are for kernels written
+  directly against KernelInterface.
 
 ## Semantic differences
 

diff --git a/docs/src/kernelinterface.md b/docs/src/kernelinterface.md
@@ -74,10 +74,10 @@ What a backend implements, at a glance. The docstrings below have the details.
 | **Execution** | [`synchronize`](@ref) (cooperative) | [`record_event`](@ref)/[`wait_event`](@ref) (synchronize), [`priority!`](@ref) (no-op) |
 | **Devices** | with more than one device: [`ndevices`](@ref), [`device`](@ref), [`device!`](@ref), `device(backend, A)` | all four (a single device) |
 | **Queries** | [`max_work_group_size`](@ref) (for the backend and for a kernel), [`max_work_group_dims`](@ref), [`max_num_groups`](@ref) | [`launch_configuration`](@ref) (the limit), [`multiprocessor_count`](@ref) (0), [`functional`](@ref) (`missing`), [`versioninfo`](@ref) |
-| **Capabilities** | | [`supports_float64`](@ref), [`supports_atomics`](@ref), [`supports_unified`](@ref), [`supports_subgroups`](@ref), [`supports_shuffle`](@ref) (all `false`) |
+| **Capabilities** | | [`supports_float64`](@ref), [`supports_atomics`](@ref), [`supports_unified`](@ref), [`supports_subgroups`](@ref), [`supports_linear_subgroups`](@ref), [`supports_independent_subgroups`](@ref), [`supports_partitionable_subgroups`](@ref) (all `false`), [`supports_shuffle`](@ref) (`false` unless derived from the natively supported types, see its docstring) |
 | **Compilation** | [`argconvert`](@ref), [`kernel_function`](@ref), [`launch`](@ref) | |
 | **Device** | [`get_local_id`](@ref), [`get_group_id`](@ref), [`get_local_size`](@ref), [`get_num_groups`](@ref), [`localmemory`](@ref), [`barrier`](@ref) | [`get_global_id`](@ref), [`get_global_size`](@ref) (derived from the primitive queries), [`_print`](@ref KernelInterface._print) (host `print`) |
-| **Sub-groups** | if `supports_subgroups`: [`sub_group_size`](@ref), the sub-group queries, [`sub_group_barrier`](@ref); if `supports_shuffle(backend, T)`: [`shfl_down`](@ref) for `T` | |
+| **Sub-groups** | if `supports_subgroups`: [`sub_group_size`](@ref), the sub-group queries, [`sub_group_barrier`](@ref), [`sub_group_any`](@ref), [`sub_group_all`](@ref), and [`sub_group_ballot`](@ref) for widths of at most 64; if `supports_shuffle(backend, T)`: [`shfl`](@ref), [`shfl_down`](@ref), [`shfl_up`](@ref), [`shfl_xor`](@ref) for the primitive `T` supported natively, including `UInt32` | [`sub_group_reduce`](@ref), [`sub_group_scan`](@ref), [`sub_group_exclusive_scan`](@ref) (built on the shuffles); the functions with a `width` (built on those without, or on the ballot); shuffles of other primitive types (as `UInt32` or `UInt64` words) and of structs (packed into `UInt32` words) |
 
 Everything else, such as [`zeros`](@ref KernelInterface.zeros), [`ones`](@ref KernelInterface.ones),
 the launch-keyword handling of [`Kernel`](@ref) and [`@launch`](@ref KernelInterface.@launch),
@@ -146,27 +146,74 @@ get_global_id
 get_global_size
 ```
 
-### Sub-groups
+### [Sub-groups](@id ki_subgroups)
 
 Sub-groups are optional ([`supports_subgroups`](@ref)). A work-group is divided into
-sub-groups of at most [`sub_group_size(backend)`](@ref sub_group_size) work-items. Which
-work-items form a sub-group, how many sub-groups there are, and which of them are partial
-is unspecified, and differs between devices and work-group shapes. For example, CUDA forms
-warps from consecutive linear work-item indices, while Intel's CPU OpenCL runtime forms
-sub-groups per row of a multi-dimensional work-group, so that a 33×2 work-group consists of
-four sub-groups of 32 and 1 work-items. What KernelInterface guarantees, and backends that
-report sub-group support have to ensure:
+sub-groups of at most `W = `[`sub_group_size(backend)`](@ref sub_group_size) work-items, the
+sub-group width. What KernelInterface guarantees, and backends that report sub-group support
+have to ensure:
 
 - every work-item has a unique `(get_sub_group_id(), get_sub_group_local_id())` pair in its
   work-group, which doesn't change during the kernel;
 - the sub-group ids are `1:get_num_sub_groups()`, and the lanes of a sub-group are
-  `1:get_sub_group_size()`;
-- a 1-D work-group of at most `sub_group_size(backend)` work-items is a single sub-group.
-
-In particular, [`get_num_sub_groups`](@ref) can be larger than
-`cld(prod(get_local_size()), get_max_sub_group_size())`. Storage for a value per sub-group
-has to be sized for up to one sub-group per work-item, and code combining those values has
-to use `get_num_sub_groups()` rather than compute the count.
+  `1:get_sub_group_size()`.
+
+Which work-items form a sub-group is **not specified**: it differs between APIs, devices and
+work-group shapes. For example, Intel's CPU OpenCL runtime forms sub-groups per row of a
+multi-dimensional work-group, so that a 33×2 work-group consists of four sub-groups of 32, 1,
+32 and 1 work-items. In particular, [`get_num_sub_groups`](@ref) can be larger than
+`cld(prod(get_local_size()), W)`. Storage for a value per sub-group has to be sized for up to
+one sub-group per work-item, and code combining those values has to use
+`get_num_sub_groups()` rather than compute the count.
+
+A sub-group is partial when it has fewer work-items than the width: the lanes
+`get_sub_group_size()+1:W` have no work-item. Shuffles from those lanes give unspecified
+values, and the votes, [`sub_group_reduce`](@ref) and the scans only take the work-items of
+the sub-group into account.
+
+Backends that guarantee more say so with these queries:
+
+- [`supports_linear_subgroups`](@ref): if the work-group is 1-D, or its x extent is a
+  multiple of `W`, sub-groups are formed from consecutive work-items, x fastest: the
+  work-item with the linear local index
+  `lin = x + (y - 1) * size.x + (z - 1) * size.x * size.y` (for `(; x, y, z) =
+  get_local_id()` and `size = get_local_size()`) is in sub-group `fld(lin - 1, W) + 1`, lane
+  `mod(lin - 1, W) + 1`, and only the last sub-group can be partial. Code that relates local
+  ids to lanes needs this, e.g. stencils exchanging neighbouring values with shuffles. Code
+  that doesn't, like a work-group reduction that stores a result per sub-group, can index
+  those results by `get_sub_group_id()` and combine them using `get_num_sub_groups()`.
+- [`supports_independent_subgroups`](@ref): the communication functions (shuffles, votes,
+  collectives and [`sub_group_barrier`](@ref)) can be executed in control flow that is uniform
+  over each sub-group, but differs between the sub-groups of a work-group, e.g. a loop whose
+  trip count depends on the sub-group, or after an early `return` of whole sub-groups.
+  Otherwise, all sub-groups of a work-group have to execute the same communication
+  functions in the same order.
+- [`supports_partitionable_subgroups`](@ref): a sub-group can be partitioned into segments that
+  diverge independently. The communication functions with a `width` work on segments of
+  `width` consecutive lanes; all work-items of a segment have to execute them together, but
+  different segments of a sub-group may take different branches or loop a different number of
+  times. Implies `supports_independent_subgroups`.
+
+| Backend | `supports_linear_subgroups` | `supports_independent_subgroups` | `supports_partitionable_subgroups` |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| CUDA, AMDGPU | `true` | `true` | `true` |
+| Metal | `true` (not specified by Metal, but tested) | `true` | `true`: Apple GPUs execute a SIMD-group in lock-step, so the barrier for a segment is a SIMD-group-scope fence (not specified by Metal, but validated on M1 and M3) |
+| oneAPI | `true` | `true` | `true`: Intel GPUs execute a sub-group as the SIMD lanes of one hardware thread, so the barrier for a segment is a sub-group-scope fence |
+| OpenCL.jl | on PoCL and Intel's runtimes, which form them linearly | `true`, except on PoCL and Intel's CPU runtime | on Intel's GPU runtime only, as with oneAPI |
+| KernelAbstractions' POCL backend | `true` | `false`: sub-group operations are work-group barriers | `false` |
+
+Unless sub-groups are partitionable, the functions with a `width` need the whole sub-group, like
+the others: all its work-items have to execute them together, not in a branch that only some
+of its lanes take. Without independent sub-groups, all sub-groups of the work-group have to
+execute the same communication functions in the same order. The id and size queries can be
+used anywhere.
+
+!!! note "Kernel languages"
+    The sub-group functions are meant for kernels written against KernelInterface and for
+    implementations of kernel languages. Don't call them in a KernelAbstractions `@kernel`:
+    use its [reductions and scans](@ref group_collectives) or [tiles](@ref tiles) instead,
+    which follow the participation rules of `@kernel`. Host code may use the queries of
+    both.
 
 ```@docs
 get_sub_group_size
@@ -181,6 +228,7 @@ get_sub_group_local_id
 ```@docs
 barrier
 sub_group_barrier
+sub_group_barrier(::Integer)
 ```
 
 ### Memory
@@ -191,8 +239,25 @@ localmemory
 
 ### Communication
 
+The shuffles, votes and collectives below don't synchronize accesses to local or global
+memory. When a work-item reads memory that another one of its sub-group wrote, put a
+[`sub_group_barrier`](@ref) between the write and the read, or
+[`sub_group_barrier(width)`](@ref sub_group_barrier(::Integer)) within a segment.
+
 ```@docs
+shfl
 shfl_down
+shfl_up
+shfl_xor
+shfl(::Any, ::Integer, ::Integer)
+sub_group_any
+sub_group_all
+sub_group_ballot
+sub_group_ballot(::Bool, ::Integer)
+sub_group_reduce
+sub_group_scan
+sub_group_exclusive_scan
+sub_group_reduce(::Any, ::Any, ::Integer)
 ```
 
 ### Printing
@@ -247,6 +312,9 @@ supports_float64
 
 ```@docs
 supports_subgroups
+supports_linear_subgroups
+supports_independent_subgroups
+supports_partitionable_subgroups
 supports_shuffle
 ```
 
@@ -301,6 +369,22 @@ optional methods where it can do better than the fallback. In particular:
    ```
 4. Compute the typed index queries with `% T`, not `T(x)`: a checked conversion leaves
    an error branch in every kernel.
+5. Sub-groups are optional. To support them, report [`supports_subgroups`](@ref) and
+   [`sub_group_size`](@ref), and implement the device functions the
+   [contract](@ref Contract) requires. If the backend has shuffles, implement them only for the
+   primitive types the hardware shuffles natively, including `UInt32`, and report those with
+   [`supports_shuffle`](@ref); KernelInterface shuffles other types as words. It also
+   provides the reductions, scans and functions with a `width`; override those where a
+   native implementation helps, keeping their documented results.
+
+   Report linear, independent and partitionable sub-groups only when the backend guarantees
+   them. Partitionable sub-groups need every function with a `width`,
+   including [`sub_group_barrier(width)`](@ref sub_group_barrier(::Integer)), to work when
+   only that segment executes it. Without a barrier for part of a sub-group, as in OpenCL
+   and Metal, that can rest on a hardware execution model, such as sub-groups that run in
+   lock-step, combined with a fence. Base these guarantees on the API or the hardware, not
+   on the testsuite passing: it checks the layout and divergent control flow, but can't
+   prove them.
 
 The PoCL backend in `src/pocl/backend.jl` is a complete worked example.