diff --git a/wgpu/CHANGELOG.md b/wgpu/CHANGELOG.md
index bda8e65ebd..964ef9581b 100644
--- a/wgpu/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/wgpu/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
 # Change Log
 
+### unreleased
+- introduce `ShaderModuleDescriptor`
+
 ### v0.6.2 (2020-11-24)
 - don't panic in the staging belt if the channel is dropped
diff --git a/wgpu/Cargo.toml b/wgpu/Cargo.toml
index 1804946f73..7c60e2058a 100644
--- a/wgpu/Cargo.toml
+++ b/wgpu/Cargo.toml
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@ vulkan-portability = ["wgc/gfx-backend-vulkan"]
 package = "wgpu-core"
 #version = "0.6"
 git = "https://github.com/gfx-rs/wgpu"
-rev = "4513fb2b83fe2cd19682ccca9c55a6995f061699"
+rev = "9960ded7ae83762e7e84f7f2e8d974b9a38580a1"
 features = ["raw-window-handle"]
 
 [dependencies.wgt]
 package = "wgpu-types"
 #version = "0.6"
 git = "https://github.com/gfx-rs/wgpu"
-rev = "4513fb2b83fe2cd19682ccca9c55a6995f061699"
+rev = "9960ded7ae83762e7e84f7f2e8d974b9a38580a1"
 
 [dependencies]
 arrayvec = "0.5"
@@ -48,8 +48,10 @@ serde = { version = "1", features = ["derive"], optional = true }
 # Enable X11 support for GL
 # Note: we may consider switching this to "dev-dependencies" if users
 # want to opt into X11 explicitly.
-[target.'cfg(all(unix, not(target_os = "ios"), not(target_os = "macos")))'.dependencies]
-gfx-backend-gl = { git = "https://github.com/gfx-rs/gfx", features = ["x11"] }
+[target.'cfg(all(unix, not(target_os = "ios"), not(target_os = "macos")))'.dependencies.gfx-backend-gl]
+git = "https://github.com/gfx-rs/gfx"
+rev = "654ad48ee39ce2a341407ae2857ddf4db639ea54"
+features = ["x11"]
 
 [dev-dependencies]
 cgmath = "0.17"
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/boids/main.rs b/wgpu/examples/boids/main.rs
index 9624b2e463..9aeda25ce4 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/boids/main.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/boids/main.rs
@@ -34,9 +34,9 @@ impl framework::Example for Example {
     ) -> Self {
         // load (and compile) shaders and create shader modules
 
-        let boids_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("boids.comp.spv"));
-        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
-        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.frag.spv"));
+        let boids_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("boids.comp.spv"));
+        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
+        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.frag.spv"));
 
         // buffer for simulation parameters uniform
 
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/cube/main.rs b/wgpu/examples/cube/main.rs
index 8b4160e36f..867d8d6d6a 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/cube/main.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/cube/main.rs
@@ -273,8 +273,8 @@ impl framework::Example for Example {
             }],
         };
 
-        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
-        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.frag.spv"));
+        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
+        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.frag.spv"));
 
         let pipeline = device.create_render_pipeline(&wgpu::RenderPipelineDescriptor {
             label: None,
@@ -310,7 +310,8 @@ impl framework::Example for Example {
             .features()
             .contains(wgt::Features::NON_FILL_POLYGON_MODE)
         {
-            let fs_wire_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("wire.frag.spv"));
+            let fs_wire_module =
+                device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("wire.frag.spv"));
             let pipeline_wire = device.create_render_pipeline(&wgpu::RenderPipelineDescriptor {
                 label: None,
                 layout: Some(&pipeline_layout),
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/hello-compute/main.rs b/wgpu/examples/hello-compute/main.rs
index 7ad7817880..ca1cdd0789 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/hello-compute/main.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/hello-compute/main.rs
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ async fn execute_gpu(numbers: Vec<u32>) -> Vec<u32> {
         .unwrap();
 
     // Loads the shader from the SPIR-V file.arrayvec
-    let cs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.comp.spv"));
+    let cs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.comp.spv"));
 
     // Gets the size in bytes of the buffer.
     let slice_size = numbers.len() * std::mem::size_of::<u32>();
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/hello-triangle/main.rs b/wgpu/examples/hello-triangle/main.rs
index e41c5a18dd..24d23ed5c6 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/hello-triangle/main.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/hello-triangle/main.rs
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ async fn run(event_loop: EventLoop<()>, window: Window, swapchain_format: wgpu::
         .expect("Failed to create device");
 
     // Load the shaders from disk
-    let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
-    let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.frag.spv"));
+    let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
+    let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.frag.spv"));
 
     let pipeline_layout = device.create_pipeline_layout(&wgpu::PipelineLayoutDescriptor {
         label: None,
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/mipmap/main.rs b/wgpu/examples/mipmap/main.rs
index d9e47548da..c579c3fc19 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/mipmap/main.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/mipmap/main.rs
@@ -79,8 +79,8 @@ impl Example {
         texture: &wgpu::Texture,
         mip_count: u32,
     ) {
-        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("blit.vert.spv"));
-        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("blit.frag.spv"));
+        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("blit.vert.spv"));
+        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("blit.frag.spv"));
 
         let pipeline = device.create_render_pipeline(&wgpu::RenderPipelineDescriptor {
             label: Some("blit"),
@@ -257,8 +257,8 @@ impl framework::Example for Example {
         });
 
         // Create the render pipeline
-        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("draw.vert.spv"));
-        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("draw.frag.spv"));
+        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("draw.vert.spv"));
+        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("draw.frag.spv"));
 
         let draw_pipeline = device.create_render_pipeline(&wgpu::RenderPipelineDescriptor {
             label: Some("draw"),
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/msaa-line/main.rs b/wgpu/examples/msaa-line/main.rs
index a117398de1..ca8e855de1 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/msaa-line/main.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/msaa-line/main.rs
@@ -128,8 +128,8 @@ impl framework::Example for Example {
         log::info!("Press left/right arrow keys to change sample_count.");
         let sample_count = 4;
 
-        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
-        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.frag.spv"));
+        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
+        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.frag.spv"));
 
         let pipeline_layout = device.create_pipeline_layout(&wgpu::PipelineLayoutDescriptor {
             label: None,
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/shadow/main.rs b/wgpu/examples/shadow/main.rs
index 50da73b9c4..cf79576b88 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/shadow/main.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/shadow/main.rs
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ impl framework::Example for Example {
             });
 
             // Create the render pipeline
-            let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("bake.vert.spv"));
+            let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("bake.vert.spv"));
 
             let pipeline = device.create_render_pipeline(&wgpu::RenderPipelineDescriptor {
                 label: Some("shadow"),
@@ -600,8 +600,8 @@ impl framework::Example for Example {
             });
 
             // Create the render pipeline
-            let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("forward.vert.spv"));
-            let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("forward.frag.spv"));
+            let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("forward.vert.spv"));
+            let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("forward.frag.spv"));
 
             let pipeline = device.create_render_pipeline(&wgpu::RenderPipelineDescriptor {
                 label: Some("main"),
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/skybox/main.rs b/wgpu/examples/skybox/main.rs
index a1993d6306..77f83ce2dd 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/skybox/main.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/skybox/main.rs
@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ impl framework::Example for Skybox {
         });
 
         // Create the render pipeline
-        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
-        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.frag.spv"));
+        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
+        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.frag.spv"));
 
         let aspect = sc_desc.width as f32 / sc_desc.height as f32;
         let uniforms = Self::generate_uniforms(aspect);
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/texture-arrays/main.rs b/wgpu/examples/texture-arrays/main.rs
index 85567993a6..f02009b36b 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/texture-arrays/main.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/texture-arrays/main.rs
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ impl framework::Example for Example {
         queue: &wgpu::Queue,
     ) -> Self {
         let mut uniform_workaround = false;
-        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
+        let vs_module = device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("shader.vert.spv"));
         let fs_source = match device.features() {
             f if f.contains(wgpu::Features::UNSIZED_BINDING_ARRAY) => {
                 wgpu::include_spirv!("unsized-non-uniform.frag.spv")
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ impl framework::Example for Example {
             }
             _ => unreachable!(),
         };
-        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(fs_source);
+        let fs_module = device.create_shader_module(&fs_source);
 
         let vertex_size = std::mem::size_of::<Vertex>();
         let vertex_data = create_vertices();
diff --git a/wgpu/examples/water/main.rs b/wgpu/examples/water/main.rs
index 7f9ff24722..e39227f255 100644
--- a/wgpu/examples/water/main.rs
+++ b/wgpu/examples/water/main.rs
@@ -486,13 +486,13 @@ impl framework::Example for Example {
 
         // Upload/compile them to GPU code.
         let water_vs_module =
-            device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("water_shader.vert.spv"));
+            device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("water_shader.vert.spv"));
         let water_fs_module =
-            device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("water_shader.frag.spv"));
+            device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("water_shader.frag.spv"));
         let terrain_vs_module =
-            device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("terrain_shader.vert.spv"));
+            device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("terrain_shader.vert.spv"));
         let terrain_fs_module =
-            device.create_shader_module(wgpu::include_spirv!("terrain_shader.frag.spv"));
+            device.create_shader_module(&wgpu::include_spirv!("terrain_shader.frag.spv"));
 
         // Create the render pipelines. These describe how the data will flow through the GPU, and what
         // constraints and modifiers it will have.
diff --git a/wgpu/src/backend/direct.rs b/wgpu/src/backend/direct.rs
index 069242ab41..8b6b3640ee 100644
--- a/wgpu/src/backend/direct.rs
+++ b/wgpu/src/backend/direct.rs
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ use crate::{
     BindGroupDescriptor, BindGroupLayoutDescriptor, BindingResource, CommandEncoderDescriptor,
     ComputePipelineDescriptor, Features, Label, Limits, LoadOp, MapMode, Operations,
     PipelineLayoutDescriptor, RenderBundleEncoderDescriptor, RenderPipelineDescriptor,
-    SamplerDescriptor, ShaderModuleSource, SwapChainStatus, TextureDescriptor,
+    SamplerDescriptor, ShaderModuleDescriptor, ShaderSource, SwapChainStatus, TextureDescriptor,
     TextureViewDescriptor,
 };
 
@@ -725,18 +725,19 @@ impl crate::Context for Context {
     fn device_create_shader_module(
         &self,
         device: &Self::DeviceId,
-        source: ShaderModuleSource,
+        desc: &ShaderModuleDescriptor,
     ) -> Self::ShaderModuleId {
-        let descriptor = wgc::pipeline::ShaderModuleDescriptor {
-            label: None,
-            source: match source {
-                ShaderModuleSource::SpirV(spv) => wgc::pipeline::ShaderModuleSource::SpirV(spv),
-                ShaderModuleSource::Wgsl(code) => wgc::pipeline::ShaderModuleSource::Wgsl(code),
-            },
-        };
         let global = &self.0;
+        let descriptor = wgc::pipeline::ShaderModuleDescriptor {
+            label: desc.label.map(Borrowed),
+            experimental_translation: desc.experimental_translation,
+        };
+        let source = match desc.source {
+            ShaderSource::SpirV(ref spv) => wgc::pipeline::ShaderModuleSource::SpirV(Borrowed(spv)),
+            ShaderSource::Wgsl(ref code) => wgc::pipeline::ShaderModuleSource::Wgsl(Borrowed(code)),
+        };
         let (id, error) = wgc::gfx_select!(
-            device.id => global.device_create_shader_module(device.id, &descriptor, PhantomData)
+            device.id => global.device_create_shader_module(device.id, &descriptor, source, PhantomData)
         );
         if let Some(cause) = error {
             self.handle_error(
diff --git a/wgpu/src/backend/web.rs b/wgpu/src/backend/web.rs
index ce4106d43f..641651fca2 100644
--- a/wgpu/src/backend/web.rs
+++ b/wgpu/src/backend/web.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@ use crate::{
     BindGroupDescriptor, BindGroupLayoutDescriptor, BindingResource, BindingType,
     BufferBindingType, BufferDescriptor, CommandEncoderDescriptor, ComputePipelineDescriptor,
     LoadOp, PipelineLayoutDescriptor, ProgrammableStageDescriptor, RenderBundleEncoderDescriptor,
-    RenderPipelineDescriptor, SamplerDescriptor, ShaderModuleSource, StorageTextureAccess,
-    SwapChainStatus, TextureDescriptor, TextureViewDescriptor, TextureViewDimension,
+    RenderPipelineDescriptor, SamplerDescriptor, ShaderModuleDescriptor, ShaderSource,
+    StorageTextureAccess, SwapChainStatus, TextureDescriptor, TextureViewDescriptor,
+    TextureViewDimension,
 };
 
 use futures::FutureExt;
@@ -965,18 +966,20 @@ impl crate::Context for Context {
     fn device_create_shader_module(
         &self,
         device: &Self::DeviceId,
-        source: ShaderModuleSource,
+        desc: &ShaderModuleDescriptor,
     ) -> Self::ShaderModuleId {
-        let desc = match source {
-            ShaderModuleSource::SpirV(spv) => {
-                web_sys::GpuShaderModuleDescriptor::new(&js_sys::Uint32Array::from(&*spv))
+        let mut descriptor = match desc.source {
+            ShaderSource::SpirV(ref spv) => {
+                web_sys::GpuShaderModuleDescriptor::new(&js_sys::Uint32Array::from(&**spv))
             }
-            ShaderModuleSource::Wgsl(_code) => {
+            ShaderSource::Wgsl(_) => {
                 panic!("WGSL is not yet supported by the Web backend")
             }
         };
-        // TODO: label
-        Sendable(device.0.create_shader_module(&desc))
+        if let Some(ref label) = desc.label {
+            descriptor.label(label);
+        }
+        Sendable(device.0.create_shader_module(&descriptor))
     }
 
     fn device_create_bind_group_layout(
diff --git a/wgpu/src/lib.rs b/wgpu/src/lib.rs
index fbd32f81bb..cf98bb414c 100644
--- a/wgpu/src/lib.rs
+++ b/wgpu/src/lib.rs
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ trait Context: Debug + Send + Sized + Sync {
     fn device_create_shader_module(
         &self,
         device: &Self::DeviceId,
-        source: ShaderModuleSource,
+        desc: &ShaderModuleDescriptor,
     ) -> Self::ShaderModuleId;
     fn device_create_bind_group_layout(
         &self,
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ impl Drop for ShaderModule {
 }
 
 /// Source of a shader module.
-pub enum ShaderModuleSource<'a> {
+pub enum ShaderSource<'a> {
     /// SPIR-V module represented as a slice of words.
     ///
     /// wgpu will attempt to parse and validate it, but the original binary
@@ -687,6 +687,16 @@ pub enum ShaderModuleSource<'a> {
     Wgsl(Cow<'a, str>),
 }
 
+/// Descriptor for a shader module.
+pub struct ShaderModuleDescriptor<'a> {
+    /// Debug label of the shader module. This will show up in graphics debuggers for easy identification.
+    pub label: Label<'a>,
+    /// Source code for the shader.
+    pub source: ShaderSource<'a>,
+    /// Experimental translation path attempts to avoid SPIR-V and work with Naga IR directly.
+    pub experimental_translation: bool,
+}
+
 /// Handle to a pipeline layout.
 ///
 /// A `PipelineLayout` object describes the available binding groups of a pipeline.
@@ -1415,10 +1425,10 @@ impl Device {
     }
 
     /// Creates a shader module from either SPIR-V or WGSL source code.
-    pub fn create_shader_module(&self, source: ShaderModuleSource) -> ShaderModule {
+    pub fn create_shader_module(&self, desc: &ShaderModuleDescriptor) -> ShaderModule {
         ShaderModule {
             context: Arc::clone(&self.context),
-            id: Context::device_create_shader_module(&*self.context, &self.id, source),
+            id: Context::device_create_shader_module(&*self.context, &self.id, desc),
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/wgpu/src/macros.rs b/wgpu/src/macros.rs
index 41bd81d518..5521df199e 100644
--- a/wgpu/src/macros.rs
+++ b/wgpu/src/macros.rs
@@ -49,7 +49,11 @@ macro_rules! include_spirv {
     ($($token:tt)*) => {
         {
             //log::info!("including '{}'", $($token)*);
-            $crate::util::make_spirv(include_bytes!($($token)*))
+            $crate::ShaderModuleDescriptor {
+                label: Some($($token)*),
+                source: $crate::util::make_spirv(include_bytes!($($token)*)),
+                experimental_translation: false,
+            }
         }
     };
 }
diff --git a/wgpu/src/util/mod.rs b/wgpu/src/util/mod.rs
index 6c25d8ed81..850fd65385 100644
--- a/wgpu/src/util/mod.rs
+++ b/wgpu/src/util/mod.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ pub use belt::StagingBelt;
 /// - Input length isn't multiple of 4
 /// - Input is longer than [`usize::max_value`]
 /// - SPIR-V magic number is missing from beginning of stream
-pub fn make_spirv<'a>(data: &'a [u8]) -> super::ShaderModuleSource<'a> {
+pub fn make_spirv<'a>(data: &'a [u8]) -> super::ShaderSource<'a> {
     const MAGIC_NUMBER: u32 = 0x0723_0203;
 
     assert_eq!(
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ pub fn make_spirv<'a>(data: &'a [u8]) -> super::ShaderModuleSource<'a> {
         "wrong magic word {:x}. Make sure you are using a binary SPIRV file.",
         words[0]
     );
-    super::ShaderModuleSource::SpirV(words)
+    super::ShaderSource::SpirV(words)
 }
 
 /// Utility methods not meant to be in the main API.