diff --git a/examples/README.md b/examples/README.md
index 71cf603..e752c8b 100644
--- a/examples/README.md
+++ b/examples/README.md
@@ -95,7 +95,15 @@ Demonstrates:
 Demonstrates:
 * WIP
 
-## Example 8 - Drawing Extension 3D (example_8.c)
+## Example 8 - Drawing Extension 3D MSAA (example_8.c)
+Demonstrates:
+* loading APIs
+* hot reloading
+* loading extensions
+* minimal use of graphics extension
+* drawing extension (3D)
+
+## Example 9 - Drawing Extension 3D (example_9.c)
 Demonstrates:
 * loading APIs
 * hot reloading
diff --git a/examples/example_2.c b/examples/example_2.c
index 7091d55..e81809b 100644
--- a/examples/example_2.c
+++ b/examples/example_2.c
@@ -140,7 +140,8 @@ pl_app_load(plApiRegistryI* ptApiRegistry, plAppData* ptAppData)
         },
         .apcDirectories = {
             "../shaders/"
-        }
+        },
+        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT
     };
     gptShader->initialize(&tDefaultShaderOptions);
 
diff --git a/examples/example_3.c b/examples/example_3.c
index 63f3a48..6331b1e 100644
--- a/examples/example_3.c
+++ b/examples/example_3.c
@@ -152,7 +152,8 @@ pl_app_load(plApiRegistryI* ptApiRegistry, plAppData* ptAppData)
         },
         .apcDirectories = {
             "../shaders/"
-        }
+        },
+        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT
     };
     gptShader->initialize(&tDefaultShaderOptions);
 
diff --git a/examples/example_4.c b/examples/example_4.c
index 61264d5..fd12fc6 100644
--- a/examples/example_4.c
+++ b/examples/example_4.c
@@ -222,7 +222,8 @@ pl_app_load(plApiRegistryI* ptApiRegistry, plAppData* ptAppData)
         .apcDirectories = {
             "../shaders/",
             "../examples/shaders/"
-        }
+        },
+        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT
     };
     gptShader->initialize(&tDefaultShaderOptions);
 
diff --git a/examples/example_5.c b/examples/example_5.c
index 5cb2e32..f8116c0 100644
--- a/examples/example_5.c
+++ b/examples/example_5.c
@@ -223,7 +223,8 @@ pl_app_load(plApiRegistryI* ptApiRegistry, plAppData* ptAppData)
         .apcDirectories = {
             "../shaders/",
             "../examples/shaders/"
-        }
+        },
+        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT
     };
     gptShader->initialize(&tDefaultShaderOptions);
 
diff --git a/examples/example_6.c b/examples/example_6.c
index feb2056..443ab8d 100644
--- a/examples/example_6.c
+++ b/examples/example_6.c
@@ -253,7 +253,8 @@ pl_app_load(plApiRegistryI* ptApiRegistry, plAppData* ptAppData)
         .apcDirectories = {
             "../shaders/",
             "../examples/shaders/"
-        }
+        },
+        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT
     };
     gptShader->initialize(&tDefaultShaderOptions);
 
diff --git a/examples/example_8.c b/examples/example_8.c
index d59d965..0701231 100644
--- a/examples/example_8.c
+++ b/examples/example_8.c
@@ -241,7 +241,8 @@ pl_app_load(plApiRegistryI* ptApiRegistry, plAppData* ptAppData)
         },
         .apcDirectories = {
             "../shaders/"
-        }
+        },
+        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT
     };
     gptShader->initialize(&tDefaultShaderOptions);
 
diff --git a/examples/example_9.c b/examples/example_9.c
index 2a415f8..0f718f6 100644
--- a/examples/example_9.c
+++ b/examples/example_9.c
@@ -283,7 +283,8 @@ pl_app_load(plApiRegistryI* ptApiRegistry, plAppData* ptAppData)
         },
         .apcDirectories = {
             "../shaders/"
-        }
+        },
+        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT
     };
     gptShader->initialize(&tDefaultShaderOptions);
 
diff --git a/extensions/pl_renderer_internal.c b/extensions/pl_renderer_internal.c
index 59d6a73..cd4501f 100644
--- a/extensions/pl_renderer_internal.c
+++ b/extensions/pl_renderer_internal.c
@@ -2289,10 +2289,11 @@ pl_refr_create_global_shaders(void)
         .apcDirectories = {
             "../shaders/"
         },
-        #ifndef PL_OFFLINE_SHADERS_ONLY
-        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_ALWAYS_COMPILE | PL_SHADER_FLAGS_INCLUDE_DEBUG
-        #endif
+        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT
     };
+    #ifndef PL_OFFLINE_SHADERS_ONLY
+    tShadowShaderOptions.tFlags |= PL_SHADER_FLAGS_ALWAYS_COMPILE | PL_SHADER_FLAGS_INCLUDE_DEBUG;
+    #endif
 
     plShaderModule tShadowPixelShader = gptShader->load_glsl("shadow.frag", "main", NULL, NULL);
     plShaderModule tVertexShader = gptShader->load_glsl("shadow.vert", "main", NULL, gptData->bMultiViewportShadows ? &tShadowShaderOptions : NULL);
diff --git a/extensions/pl_shader_ext.c b/extensions/pl_shader_ext.c
index f376472..a664942 100644
--- a/extensions/pl_shader_ext.c
+++ b/extensions/pl_shader_ext.c
@@ -140,9 +140,15 @@ pl_initialize_shader_ext(const plShaderOptions* ptShaderOptions)
     gptShaderCtx->bInitialized = true;
 
     gptShaderCtx->tDefaultShaderOptions.tFlags = ptShaderOptions->tFlags;
-    #ifdef PL_METAL_BACKEND
-        gptShaderCtx->tDefaultShaderOptions.tFlags |= PL_SHADER_FLAGS_METAL_OUTPUT;
-    #endif
+    if(ptShaderOptions->tFlags & PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT)
+    {
+        #ifdef PL_METAL_BACKEND
+            gptShaderCtx->tDefaultShaderOptions.tFlags |= PL_SHADER_FLAGS_METAL_OUTPUT;
+        #endif
+        #ifdef PL_VULKAN_BACKEND
+            gptShaderCtx->tDefaultShaderOptions.tFlags |= PL_SHADER_FLAGS_SPIRV_OUTPUT;
+        #endif
+    }
     gptShaderCtx->tDefaultShaderOptions.apcIncludeDirectories[0] = "./";
     gptShaderCtx->tDefaultShaderOptions._uIncludeDirectoriesCount = 1;
 
@@ -448,10 +454,6 @@ pl_compile_glsl(const char* pcShader, const char* pcEntryFunc, plShaderOptions*
         if(tModule.puCode)
             tModule.szCodeSize = strlen((const char*)tModule.puCode);
     }
-    else
-    {
-        int a = 5;
-    }
     #endif // PL_INCLUDE_SPIRV_CROSS
     pl_temp_allocator_reset(&gptShaderCtx->tTempAllocator2);
     #endif // PL_OFFLINE_SHADERS_ONLY
@@ -480,9 +482,15 @@ pl_load_glsl(const char* pcShader, const char* pcEntryFunc, const char* pcFile,
                 break;
         }
 
-        #ifdef PL_METAL_BACKEND
-            ptOptions->tFlags |= PL_SHADER_FLAGS_METAL_OUTPUT;
-        #endif
+        if(ptOptions->tFlags & PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT)
+        {
+            #ifdef PL_METAL_BACKEND
+                ptOptions->tFlags |= PL_SHADER_FLAGS_METAL_OUTPUT;
+            #endif
+            #ifdef PL_VULKAN_BACKEND
+                ptOptions->tFlags |= PL_SHADER_FLAGS_SPIRV_OUTPUT;
+            #endif
+        }
     }
 
     if(ptOptions == NULL)
@@ -556,11 +564,7 @@ pl_load_shader_ext(plApiRegistryI* ptApiRegistry, bool bReload)
     const plShaderI tApi = {
         .initialize     = pl_initialize_shader_ext,
         .load_glsl      = pl_load_glsl,
-        #ifdef PL_OFFLINE_SHADERS_ONLY
-        .compile_glsl   = NULL,
-        #else
         .compile_glsl   = pl_compile_glsl,
-        #endif
         .write_to_disk  = pl_write_to_disk,
         .read_from_disk = pl_read_from_disk,
     };
diff --git a/extensions/pl_shader_ext.h b/extensions/pl_shader_ext.h
index 40f0659..1574cbd 100644
--- a/extensions/pl_shader_ext.h
+++ b/extensions/pl_shader_ext.h
@@ -115,6 +115,8 @@ enum _plShaderFlags
     PL_SHADER_FLAGS_ALWAYS_COMPILE = 1 << 1, // ignore cached shader modules
     PL_SHADER_FLAGS_NEVER_CACHE    = 1 << 2, // never cache shaders to disk
     PL_SHADER_FLAGS_METAL_OUTPUT   = 1 << 3, // output metal shader
+    PL_SHADER_FLAGS_SPIRV_OUTPUT   = 1 << 4, // output SPIRV shader
+    PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT    = 1 << 5, // output SPIRV or metal shader code depending on backend
 };
 
 enum _plShaderOptimizationLevel
diff --git a/sandbox/app.c b/sandbox/app.c
index 758e207..dafe56b 100644
--- a/sandbox/app.c
+++ b/sandbox/app.c
@@ -96,17 +96,19 @@ pl_app_load(plApiRegistryI* ptApiRegistry, plEditorData* ptEditorData)
     ptEditorData->tSelectedEntity.ulData = UINT64_MAX;
 
     // initialize shader extension
-    static const plShaderOptions tDefaultShaderOptions = {
+    static plShaderOptions tDefaultShaderOptions = {
         .apcIncludeDirectories = {
             "../shaders/"
         },
         .apcDirectories = {
             "../shaders/"
         },
-        #ifndef PL_OFFLINE_SHADERS_ONLY
-        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_ALWAYS_COMPILE | PL_SHADER_FLAGS_INCLUDE_DEBUG
-        #endif
+        .tFlags = PL_SHADER_FLAGS_AUTO_OUTPUT
+
     };
+    #ifndef PL_OFFLINE_SHADERS_ONLY
+    tDefaultShaderOptions.tFlags |= PL_SHADER_FLAGS_ALWAYS_COMPILE | PL_SHADER_FLAGS_INCLUDE_DEBUG;
+    #endif
     gptShader->initialize(&tDefaultShaderOptions);
 
     // initialize job system