kiero v2

A lightweight C++ library that hooks locates graphics API methods at runtime.

Official Supported APIs

• DirectX 9 (kiero_d3d9.hpp)
• DirectX 10 (kiero_d3d10.hpp)
• DirectX 11 (kiero_d3d11.hpp)
• DirectX 12 (kiero_d3d12.hpp)
• OpenGL (kiero_opengl.hpp)
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • MacOS
• Vulkan (kiero_vulkan.hpp)
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • MacOS

Requirements

• C++17
• Windows SDK (for DirectX backends)
• DirectX SDK (for DirectX backends)
• Vulkan SDK (for Vulkan backends)

Installing

CMake

kiero now provides a standard CMake target and works well with FetchContent:

include(FetchContent)

FetchContent_Declare(
  kiero
  GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/kirchesz/kiero2.git
  GIT_TAG master
)

FetchContent_MakeAvailable(kiero)

target_link_libraries(your_target PRIVATE kiero::kiero)

Available options:

• KIERO_BUILD_D3D9
• KIERO_BUILD_D3D10
• KIERO_BUILD_D3D11
• KIERO_BUILD_D3D12
• KIERO_BUILD_OPENGL
• KIERO_BUILD_VULKAN

Without CMake

1. Download repository.
2. Copy kiero.hpp, kiero_intern.hpp, kiero_intern.cpp, and the backend files you want to use into your project.

For example, for DirectX 11:

kiero.hpp
kiero_intern.hpp
kiero_intern.cpp
kiero_d3d11.hpp
kiero_d3d11.cpp

3. Then add those .cpp files to your build system and make sure your compiler can find the headers.

Quick start

#include "kiero.hpp"
#include <kiero.generated.h> // if you use CMake FetchContent
#include "kiero_d3d9.hpp"    // order is important!
                             // kiero.hpp must be included before any backend header
                             // also order changes implementation indices
                             // for example if you include kiero_d3d11.hpp before
                             // kiero_d3d9.hpp, then kiero::Implementation_D3D9
                             // will be 2 instead of 1

kiero::D3D9Output d3d9;
auto err = kiero::locate<kiero::Implementation_D3D9>(
  nullptr, &d3d9
);
if (err != kiero::Error_Nil) {
  // handle error
}

// d3d9.device_methods[42] is the address of
// IDirect3DDevice9::EndScene — hook it however you like

How it works

Each backend do some magic inside (check each backend cpp file for details), and results stores in a typed output structs. The temporary resources are released before locate returns.

The single entry point is a function template:

template<int Impl>
kiero::Error kiero::locate(void* in, void* out);

Each backend provides a full specialization. Include only the headers you need — unused backends add zero overhead.

Error handling

locate returns kiero::Error. Shared codes:

Code	Meaning
Error_Nil	Success
Error_ModuleNotFound	Required DLL not loaded
Error_MethodNotFound	Export not found in DLL

Each backend defines additional codes. Check the corresponding header for the full list.

Adding a new backend

1. Create kiero_myapi.hpp:

   • Define Implementation_MyAPI = KIERO_IMPL_FREE_SLOT
   • Define backend-specific errors from Error_BaseIndex
   • Define your MyAPIOutput struct
   • #undef and #define KIERO_IMPL_CURR_SLOT

2. Create kiero_myapi.cpp:

   • Include kiero.hpp, your header, kiero_intern.hpp
   • Provide template<> kiero::locate<...>(...)

License

kiero v2 is licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for details.