[einpoklum]

Disagree, because:

* The Runtime API is also a black box - it's just differently shaped.

* CUDA runtime APIs are also incompatible with CUDA drivers which are significantly older. Although TBH I have not checked that compatibility range recently.

* C++ is a compiled language. So, yes, in some cases, you need to recompile. But - less than your might think. Specifically, the driver API headers use macros to direct your API function names to versioned names. For example:

    #define cuStreamGetCaptureInfo              __CUDA_API_PTSZ(cuStreamGetCaptureInfo_v3)

  and this versioned function will typically be available also when the signature changes to v4 (in this example, it seems two versions backwards are available in CUDA 13.0).

* ... meaning also that you don't have to "follow the driver release cadence exactly". But even if you want to follow it - there's a change every couple of years: a major CUDA version is released, and instead of functionality getting added, the API changes. And as for actual under-the-hoold behavior while observing the same API - that can change whether you're using the driver or the runtime API.

* Finally, if you want something more stable, more portable, that doesn't change frequently - OpenCL can also be considered rather than CUDA.