Azahar 2125.0 alpha adds Vulkan disk shader cache, aims to reduce stutter

Azahar, the active community successor to Citra, added a persistent shader cache for its Vulkan renderer as part of the 2125.0 alpha series published in mid-to-late February. The 2125.0-alpha1 changelog lists the line "Implemented disk shader cache for the Vulkan renderer." and attributes the work to @PabloMK7 in "video_core: vulkan: Add disk shader cache #1725"; an accompanying entry "video_core: Fixes to vulkan disk shader cache #1748" also appears in the same changelog block for the alpha builds dated around 2026-02-17 through 2026-02-22.

The release also contains Vulkan-side cleanup and a small memory optimization. The changelog notes a "Minor optimization applied to the Vulkan renderer which slightly reduces its memory usage." and links that work to "video_core: vulkan: Only store hashes in shader cache maps #1710" by @PabloMK7, with the excerpt fragment "@PabloMK7 video_core: vulkan: Only store hashes in shader [...]" present in the supplied notes. Those entries suggest the cache and hash-only storage are paired changes, while PR #1748 is listed as follow-up fixes; the changelog does not, in the provided excerpt, state whether the disk shader cache is enabled by default or where on disk cache files live.

Several non-video fixes shipped alongside the Vulkan work. A cheats handling bug was closed with the line "Fixed an issue where, if a game with no cheats had its cheat list viewed or the game was launched, the cheats list for the previously loaded game would be erroneously used." recorded as "@Fs00 Fix previous cheats not being cleaned up when a game has no corresponding cheats file #1640." Local play received tweaks labeled "Minor fixes to local play for Luigi's Mansion 1 and Download Play applications." as "@lannoene Small fixes to local play #1690."

Desktop UI and platform fixes appear under "Desktop" in the alpha1 changelog. The release fixed "a rare issue where the emulator could attempt to pre-load custom textures even when they were disabled, resulting in a crash." credited to @coolguy1842 in "qt: Do not preload textures when custom textures are off #1629." Tooltip formatting was patched as "Fixed an issue where a small subset of setting tooltips wouldn't have any automatic line breaks as intended." via "@OpenSauce04 qt: Fixed some setting tooltips not having automatic line breaks #1718." A new debug toggle was added and recorded verbatim as "Added new 'Enable display refresh rate detection' debug setting." in "@OpenSauce04 Add 'Enable display refresh rate detection' setting on desktop #1726", followed immediately by the changelog guidance: "+ This setting is enabled by default, and disabling it prevents Azahar from attempting to detect the display's refresh rate when choosing its preferred [...] the display's refresh rate when choosing its preferred Vulkan presentation mode. Disabling this setting can result in emulation slowdowns with certain displays, so it's recommended to leave it enabled unless you know what you're doing." That guidance appears truncated in the supplied excerpt.

Windows and build-system items were also included. The changelog records "Fixed an issue where certain characters in an application name could become corrupted when creating a desktop shortcut." attributed to @RedBlackAka, and technical changes such as "If certain features are disabled at compile-time in the desktop build, code related to those features is now more aggressively excluded." in "Qt: Exclude more logic if disabled #1630" and "Detection of CPUs using the FMA4 extension has been disabled, as this extension is not used by Azahar." in "@RedBlackAka common/cpu_detect: Remove FMA4 detection #1746." A final excerpted fragment reads "Added NATVIS to BitField class, allowing" and is cut off in the provided notes.

The alpha changelog header begins with the placeholder "You can view our roadmap at ." and several lines in the supplied excerpt are truncated, leaving open details developers often publish in PR descriptions: whether the Vulkan disk shader cache is enabled by default, the cache file location and management, and any measured impact on shader compile hitches or frame pacing. The 2125.0-alpha1 and the subsequent alpha2 snapshot that appeared around 2026-02-17 through 2026-02-22 bring these changes to testers, but full PR pages and the project's roadmap will be needed to confirm default behavior and implementation specifics.