CUDA Compatibility

CUDA Compatibility describes how CUDA applications and toolkit components can run across different NVIDIA driver versions, helping platforms upgrade toolkits and applications without always requiring a matching driver upgrade. [1]

It covers Minor Version Compatibility (CUDA 11+), where applications built within the same major CUDA family can run on a sufficiently new driver, with some feature limitations. [2]

It also describes Forward Compatibility, which uses a cuda-compat-<major>-<minor> package to enable applications built with a newer toolkit to run on older base drivers across major release families (subject to platform and GPU support). [3]

[1]

https://docs.nvidia.com/deploy/cuda-compatibility/

[2]

https://docs.nvidia.com/deploy/cuda-compatibility/minor-version-compatibility.html

[3]

https://docs.nvidia.com/deploy/cuda-compatibility/forward-compatibility.html