ANARI research boundary

ANARI Device is not a shipped Workbench UI mode in 0.3.0. The optional native host foundation can discover configured ANARI libraries, enumerate devices/extensions, report status, and exercise deterministic device lifetime. A standalone probe and pinned CI test this narrow edge.

The proposed authoring path keeps USD as authored scene meaning, Hydra as change propagation, and hdAnari as translation. The selected ANARI implementation owns its render core and device resources; Workbench would own selection, lifecycle coordination, diagnostics, authoring-session integration, and frame presentation. It must not introduce a second USD traversal/database or merge ShaderDocument with ANARI device state.

Hydra integration, frame handoff, tracing, device-switch UX, and an ANARI tool contribution remain research. The detailed record is retained in the repository’s history and should only enter this learning path when code and validation make it current architecture.