---
name: "io_uring_provided_buffers"
section: "7"
platform: "linux"
package: "liburing"
version: "2.15-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/io_uring_provided_buffers"
---

# io\_uring\_provided\_buffers(7)

io\_uring provided buffer rings overview

## NAME

io\_uring\_provided\_buffers - io\_uring provided buffer rings overview

## DESCRIPTION

Provided buffer rings allow applications to supply a pool of buffers to the kernel that can be dynamically selected at operation completion time. This is particularly useful for operations where the buffer requirements are not known upfront, such as receiving data from network sockets or reading from pipes.

### Why use provided buffers?

Traditional I/O operations require the application to specify a buffer when submitting the request. For receive operations on sockets or reads from pipes, this presents a challenge: the application doesn't know how much data will arrive, so it must either:

- •

  Allocate a large buffer for each pending operation, wasting memory

- •

  Use small buffers and potentially require multiple operations

- •

  Limit the number of pending operations to control memory usage

Provided buffer rings solve this by letting the kernel select an appropriately-sized buffer from a shared pool at completion time. Multiple operations can share the same buffer pool, and buffers are only consumed when data actually arrives.

Provided buffers are most beneficial for:

- •

  Network servers with many concurrent connections

- •

  Applications receiving variable-length messages

- •

  Scenarios where memory efficiency is important

### Buffer ring concepts

A provided buffer ring is a circular buffer shared between the application and kernel:

- •

  The application adds buffers to the ring by writing entries and advancing the tail

- •

  The kernel consumes buffers from the ring by reading entries and advancing the head

- •

  Each buffer has a unique buffer ID (bid) within its buffer group

- •

  Buffer groups are identified by a buffer group ID (bgid)

Multiple buffer rings can exist simultaneously, each with a different buffer group ID. Operations specify which buffer group to use.

### Setting up a buffer ring

Buffer rings are set up using [**io\_uring\_setup\_buf\_ring**(3)](/io_uring_setup_buf_ring/3.md), which handles allocation, registration, and initialization:

```
struct io_uring_buf_ring *br;
int bgid = 1;  /* buffer group ID */
int err;
br = io_uring_setup_buf_ring(ring, 128, bgid, 0, &err);
if (!br) {
    fprintf(stderr, "buffer ring setup failed: %d\n", err);
    return err;
}
```

The ring must have a power-of-two number of entries, up to a maximum of 32768 (2^15).

Alternatively, applications can use [**io\_uring\_register\_buf\_ring**(3)](/io_uring_register_buf_ring/3.md) for more control over the setup process, including kernel-allocated rings using the **IOU\_PBUF\_RING\_MMAP** flag.

### Adding buffers to the ring

Buffers are added using [**io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_add**(3)](/io_uring_buf_ring_add/3.md) and made visible to the kernel with [**io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_advance**(3)](/io_uring_buf_ring_advance/3.md):

```
int mask = io_uring_buf_ring_mask(128);
for (int i = 0; i < 128; i++) {
    void *buf = malloc(4096);
    io_uring_buf_ring_add(br, buf, 4096, i, mask, i);
}
io_uring_buf_ring_advance(br, 128);
```

Each buffer is assigned a buffer ID (the third parameter). Buffer IDs should be unique within the buffer group but can be reused after a buffer is returned.

### Using provided buffers in operations

To use provided buffers, set the **IOSQE\_BUFFER\_SELECT** flag on the SQE and specify the buffer group ID:

```
struct io_uring_sqe *sqe = io_uring_get_sqe(ring);
io_uring_prep_recv(sqe, sockfd, NULL, 4096, 0);
io_uring_sqe_set_flags(sqe, IOSQE_BUFFER_SELECT);
io_uring_sqe_set_buf_group(sqe, bgid);
```

Note that *addr* is set to NULL (or ignored) since the kernel will select the buffer. The *len* field specifies the maximum amount of data to receive.

Operations that support provided buffers include:

- •

  **IORING\_OP\_READ** / **IORING\_OP\_RECV**

- •

  **IORING\_OP\_READV** (single vector only)

- •

  **IORING\_OP\_RECVMSG**

### Handling completions

When an operation using provided buffers completes, the CQE indicates which buffer was used:

- •

  **IORING\_CQE\_F\_BUFFER** is set in *cqe-\>flags*

- •

  The buffer ID is in the upper 16 bits of *cqe-\>flags*, extractable via **cqe-\>flags \>\> IORING\_CQE\_BUFFER\_SHIFT**

- •

  *cqe-\>res* contains the number of bytes transferred

```
struct io_uring_cqe *cqe;
io_uring_wait_cqe(ring, &cqe);
if (cqe->flags & IORING_CQE_F_BUFFER) {
    int bid = cqe->flags >> IORING_CQE_BUFFER_SHIFT;
    void *buf = buffers[bid];  /* application's buffer tracking */
    int len = cqe->res;
    /* process data in buf */
    process_data(buf, len);
    /* return buffer to ring for reuse */
    io_uring_buf_ring_add(br, buf, 4096, bid, mask, 0);
    io_uring_buf_ring_advance(br, 1);
}
io_uring_cqe_seen(ring, cqe);
```

If no buffer was available when the operation completed, the operation fails with **-ENOBUFS**.

### Multishot operations

Provided buffers are particularly powerful with multishot operations like [**io\_uring\_prep\_recv\_multishot**(3)](/io_uring_prep_recv_multishot/3.md). A single SQE can generate multiple completions, each consuming a buffer from the ring:

```
struct io_uring_sqe *sqe = io_uring_get_sqe(ring);
io_uring_prep_recv_multishot(sqe, sockfd, NULL, 0, 0);
io_uring_sqe_set_flags(sqe, IOSQE_BUFFER_SELECT);
io_uring_sqe_set_buf_group(sqe, bgid);
```

Completions with **IORING\_CQE\_F\_MORE** set indicate more completions will follow. The multishot operation continues until an error occurs, the buffer ring is exhausted, or the operation is canceled.

### Incremental buffer consumption

Buffer rings can be set up with the **IOU\_PBUF\_RING\_INC** flag to enable incremental consumption. With this mode, large buffers can be partially consumed across multiple operations:

- •

  Completions with **IORING\_CQE\_F\_BUF\_MORE** indicate the buffer will be used for more completions

- •

  Each completion picks up where the previous left off

- •

  The buffer is only returned when consumed completely or on error

This is useful for registering large buffer regions that are consumed in smaller chunks.

### Returning buffers

When finished with a buffer, return it to the ring using [**io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_add**(3)](/io_uring_buf_ring_add/3.md) followed by [**io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_advance**(3)](/io_uring_buf_ring_advance/3.md). For efficiency when processing multiple CQEs, use [**io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_cq\_advance**(3)](/io_uring_buf_ring_cq_advance/3.md) to advance both the CQ and buffer ring in a single operation.

### Buffer ring status

Applications can query how many buffers are available using [**io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_available**(3)](/io_uring_buf_ring_available/3.md), which returns the number of buffers the kernel has not yet consumed. The current kernel head position can be retrieved with **io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_head**(3).

### Cleaning up

Buffer rings are freed using [**io\_uring\_free\_buf\_ring**(3)](/io_uring_free_buf_ring/3.md), which unregisters the ring and frees the ring memory (if it was allocated by [**io\_uring\_setup\_buf\_ring**(3)](/io_uring_setup_buf_ring/3.md)). Applications must free the individual buffers themselves.

## NOTES

- •

  Buffer ring entries must be a power of two, maximum 32768.

- •

  Buffer IDs are 16-bit values (0-65535).

- •

  If no buffer is available when an operation needs one, the operation fails with **-ENOBUFS**. Applications should ensure the ring is adequately stocked.

- •

  Provided buffers cannot be used with registered (fixed) buffers. These are separate mechanisms.

- •

  For multishot receives, ensure buffers are returned to the ring promptly to avoid running out.

### Legacy provided buffers

Earlier kernels supported provided buffers via **IORING\_OP\_PROVIDE\_BUFFERS** and **IORING\_OP\_REMOVE\_BUFFERS**. This mechanism required submitting SQEs to add or remove buffers, adding latency and overhead. The ring-based mechanism described above supersedes this approach and should be used for all new applications. The legacy interface remains for backwards compatibility.

## SEE ALSO

[**io\_uring**(7)](/io_uring/7.md), [**io\_uring\_setup\_buf\_ring**(3)](/io_uring_setup_buf_ring/3.md), [**io\_uring\_free\_buf\_ring**(3)](/io_uring_free_buf_ring/3.md), [**io\_uring\_register\_buf\_ring**(3)](/io_uring_register_buf_ring/3.md), [**io\_uring\_unregister\_buf\_ring**(3)](/io_uring_unregister_buf_ring/3.md), [**io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_add**(3)](/io_uring_buf_ring_add/3.md), [**io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_advance**(3)](/io_uring_buf_ring_advance/3.md), [**io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_cq\_advance**(3)](/io_uring_buf_ring_cq_advance/3.md), [**io\_uring\_buf\_ring\_available**(3)](/io_uring_buf_ring_available/3.md), [**io\_uring\_prep\_recv\_multishot**(3)](/io_uring_prep_recv_multishot/3.md)