Snap: launcher script overrides __EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS, excluding host NVIDIA EGL vendor ICD #10760

^{Originally posted by Marrocco-Simone February 6, 2026}

Issue Description

The snap's launcher script (bin/launcher, source: snap/local/launcher) sets __EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS to only the snap-internal path, which excludes the host system's NVIDIA EGL vendor JSON. This prevents EGL from discovering NVIDIA's proprietary EGL driver, causing initialization to fall through to Mesa's Zink (OpenGL-over-Vulkan), which also fails.

The problematic line in snap/local/launcher (line 37):

export __EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS=${__EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS:+$__EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS:}${SNAP}/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d

Per the libglvnd ICD enumeration documentation, when __EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS is not set (the default case), libglvnd searches the default system paths: /etc/glvnd/egl_vendor.d and /usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d. When it is set, it completely overrides those defaults — only the specified directories are scanned.

The snap-internal EGL vendor directory (${SNAP}/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d) only contains 50_mesa.json. The host system's 10_nvidia.json (at /usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d/10_nvidia.json) is never discovered:

# Snap-internal (only this is searched):
/snap/ghostty/current/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d/50_mesa.json → libEGL_mesa.so.0

# Host system (never searched due to override):
/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d/10_nvidia.json → libEGL_nvidia.so.0
/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d/50_mesa.json → libEGL_mesa.so.0

Mesa's EGL cannot talk to NVIDIA's proprietary DRI, so it falls back to Zink (OpenGL-over-Vulkan), which also fails with VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER.

Workaround — explicitly point EGL to the host NVIDIA ICD:

__EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_FILENAMES=/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d/10_nvidia.json ghostty

Suggested fix — include the host system's EGL vendor directories in snap/local/launcher:

export __EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS=${__EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS:+$__EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS:}/etc/glvnd/egl_vendor.d:/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d:${SNAP}/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d

Since Ghostty uses classic confinement, the host filesystem is fully accessible and this is safe.

This issue appeared after a kernel update (6.14 → 6.17), likely because the kernel change broke Mesa's Zink/Vulkan fallback path that was previously masking the missing NVIDIA EGL ICD.

Related discussions (same symptoms, but the launcher root cause was not identified):

• Ghostty not running from snap #8663 — "Ghostty not running from snap"
• Ghostty doesn't open on Debian 13.1 (Trixie) from Snap #9348 — "Ghostty doesn't open on Debian 13.1 (Trixie) from Snap"
• Ghostty not starting after update: VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER #8863 — "Ghostty not starting after update: VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER"

Expected Behavior

Ghostty launches normally with hardware-accelerated OpenGL rendering via NVIDIA's EGL driver, as it does when the host EGL vendor config is accessible:

info(opengl): loaded OpenGL 4.5

Actual Behavior

EGL initialization fails because only Mesa's EGL ICD is discovered. Mesa cannot use NVIDIA's proprietary DRI and its Zink fallback also fails:

libEGL warning: egl: failed to create dri2 screen
MESA: error: ZINK: vkCreateInstance failed (VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER)

Ghostty either hangs with a blank window or falls back to degraded software rendering.

Reproduction Steps

1. Install Ghostty from snap on a system with NVIDIA proprietary drivers
2. Verify the host system has /usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d/10_nvidia.json (it should if NVIDIA drivers are installed)
3. Launch Ghostty: ghostty
4. Observe the EGL/Zink errors
5. Confirm the fix by launching with: __EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_FILENAMES=/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d/10_nvidia.json ghostty

Ghostty Logs

**Without workaround** (fails):


info: ghostty version=1.2.3
info: ghostty build optimize=ReleaseFast
info: runtime=apprt.Runtime.gtk
info: font_backend=font.main.Backend.fontconfig_freetype
info: dependency harfbuzz=11.0.0
info: dependency fontconfig=21402
info: renderer=renderer.generic.Renderer(renderer.OpenGL)
info: libxev default backend=io_uring
info(os_locale): setlocale from env result=C.UTF-8
info(gtk): GTK version build=4.14.5 runtime=4.14.5
info(gtk): libadwaita version build=1.5.0 runtime=1.5.0
info: reading configuration file path=/home/marrocco/.config/ghostty/config
info(config): default shell src=passwd value=/bin/bash
info(config): default working directory src=passwd value=/home/marrocco
warning(gtk_ghostty_application): setting GDK_DEBUG=gl-disable-gles,gl-no-fractional,vulkan-disable
warning(gtk_ghostty_application): setting GDK_DISABLE=color-mgmt
libEGL warning: egl: failed to create dri2 screen
MESA: error: ZINK: vkCreateInstance failed (VK_ERROR_INCOMPATIBLE_DRIVER)

With workaround (succeeds — note loaded OpenGL 4.5):

info: ghostty version=1.2.3
info: ghostty build optimize=ReleaseFast
info: runtime=apprt.Runtime.gtk
info: font_backend=font.main.Backend.fontconfig_freetype
info: dependency harfbuzz=11.0.0
info: dependency fontconfig=21402
info: renderer=renderer.generic.Renderer(renderer.OpenGL)
info: libxev default backend=io_uring
info(os_locale): setlocale from env result=C.UTF-8
info(gtk): GTK version build=4.14.5 runtime=4.14.5
info(gtk): libadwaita version build=1.5.0 runtime=1.5.0
info: reading configuration file path=/home/marrocco/.config/ghostty/config
info(config): default shell src=passwd value=/bin/bash
info(config): default working directory src=passwd value=/home/marrocco
warning(gtk_ghostty_application): setting GDK_DEBUG=gl-disable-gles,gl-no-fractional,vulkan-disable
warning(gtk_ghostty_application): setting GDK_DISABLE=color-mgmt
glx: failed to create dri3 screen
failed to load driver: nouveau
info(opengl): loaded OpenGL 4.5

### Ghostty Version

```text
Ghostty 1.2.3

Version
  - version: 1.2.3
  - channel: stable
Build Config
  - Zig version   : 0.14.0
  - build mode    : builtin.OptimizeMode.ReleaseFast
  - app runtime   : apprt.Runtime.gtk
  - font engine   : font.main.Backend.fontconfig_freetype
  - renderer      : renderer.generic.Renderer(renderer.OpenGL)
  - libxev        : io_uring
  - kernel version: 6.17.0-14-generic
  - desktop env   : other
  - GTK version   :
    build         : 4.14.5
    runtime       : 4.14.5
  - libadwaita    : enabled
    build         : 1.5.0
    runtime       : 1.5.0
  - libX11        : enabled
  - libwayland    : enabled

OS Version Information

Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS (Noble Numbat)

(Linux only) Display Server

X11

(Linux only) Desktop Environment/Window Manager

GNOME Shell 46.0

Minimal Ghostty Configuration

font-size = 10

Additional Relevant Configuration

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (GA104, rev a1)
Driver: NVIDIA 580.126.09 (proprietary)
Kernel: 6.17.0-14-generic (previously 6.14.x where this worked)
Vulkan: Working — vulkaninfo reports Vulkan Instance Version 1.3.275
GLX: Working — glxinfo confirms direct rendering via NVIDIA

Snap launcher script (/snap/ghostty/current/bin/launcher), the relevant section:

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=${SNAP}/usr/lib/${ARCH}:${SNAP}/usr/lib/${ARCH}/vdpau:${LD_LIBRARY_PATH:+$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:}
export LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH=${LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH:+$LIBGL_DRIVERS_PATH:}${SNAP}/usr/lib/${ARCH}/dri/
export LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH=${LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH:+$LIBVA_DRIVERS_PATH:}${SNAP}/usr/lib/${ARCH}/dri/
export __EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS=${__EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS:+$__EGL_VENDOR_LIBRARY_DIRS:}${SNAP}/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d

Snap-internal EGL vendor directory contains only Mesa:

/snap/ghostty/current/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d/50_mesa.json → {"library_path": "libEGL_mesa.so.0"}

Host system EGL vendor directory contains both NVIDIA and Mesa:

/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d/10_nvidia.json → {"library_path": "libEGL_nvidia.so.0"}
/usr/share/glvnd/egl_vendor.d/50_mesa.json  → {"library_path": "libEGL_mesa.so.0"}

I acknowledge that:

• I have reviewed the FAQ and confirm that my issue is NOT among them.
• I have searched the Ghostty repository (both open and closed Discussions and Issues) and confirm this is not a duplicate of an existing issue or discussion.
• I have checked the "Preview" tab on all text fields to ensure that everything looks right, and have wrapped all configuration and code in code blocks with a group of three backticks (```) on separate lines.