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license: Apache-2.0 name: doca-debug description: > Use this skill when the user is debugging any DOCA symptom — a build that won't compile, a link step that can't resolve a doca_* symbol, a runtime call returning DOCA_ERROR_, a silent service or tool, or a stack trace / valgrind / core dump — and needs the layered ladder (install → version → build → link → runtime → program → driver), verbosity controls (--sdk-log-level, DOCA_LOG_LEVEL, the doca-{lib}-trace flavor), container-debug constraints, or how to capture state for a Developer Forum post. Trigger even when the user does not say "DOCA debug" — implicit phrasings include "undefined reference to doca_", "how do I get more logs", "packets aren't reaching the wire", "doca_caps returned nothing", or "hugepages empty in the container". Refuse and route elsewhere for library-specific debug (Flow pipe trace, RDMA QP, Comch stats), env-class pkg-config or hugepages symptoms, the DOCA_ERROR_* taxonomy and lifecycle interpretation, and performance or incident-response work — those belong to other skills. metadata: kind: library compatibility: > No DOCA install required to read this skill (it is an overlay loaded against any DOCA artifact skill); the validation steps within DO require a live DOCA install at /opt/mellanox/doca.

DOCA debug

Where to start: This skill is the canonical layered-ladder reference both doca-setup ## debug and doca-programming-guide ## debug escalate to. If the symptom does not fit cleanly in env-class or program-class, start at TASKS.md ## debug — the full layered ladder lives there.

Example questions this skill answers well

The CLASSES of debug questions this skill is built to answer, each with one worked example.

• "My DOCA build / link / runtime / program failed — which layer is it?" — worked example: "ld says undefined reference to doca_flow_init — which layer?" Answered by the canonical layered ladder in TASKS.md ## debug (layer 4 = Link).
• "How do I turn up verbosity for any DOCA library or tool?" — worked example: "My DOCA Flow program is silent — where do I get more log output?" Answered by the trace-flavor / log-level surface in CAPABILITIES.md ## Observability
  • the run-with-verbosity workflow in TASKS.md ## run.
• "How do I capture state for a forum question or bug report?" — worked example: "I'd like to file a forum question with reproducible context — what should I include?" Answered by the capture-a-reproducible-state workflow in TASKS.md ## test.
• "What does this DOCA tool's output mean / which tool answers this?" — worked example: "doca_caps returned nothing for RDMA — does that mean unsupported?" Answered by the tool-vs-capability decision tree in CAPABILITIES.md ## Capabilities and modes
  • cross-link to doca-caps.
• "I'm debugging inside the NGC container — what's observable?" — worked example: "hugepages is empty inside the container; is that a real problem or a container thing?" Answered by the container-specific debug constraints in CAPABILITIES.md ## Safety policy
  • TASKS.md ## debug layer 5 (Runtime).
• "Where do I ask for help with this?" — worked example: "Where is the customer-facing DOCA forum and what should the post contain?" Answered by the Developer-Forum routing rule in TASKS.md ## debug plus doca-public-knowledge-map.

If the symptom is purely env-class, route to doca-setup ## debug; if purely program-class, route to doca-programming-guide ## debug. This skill is the cross-cutting layer both call into.

When to load this skill

Load this skill when the user is debugging anything DOCA-related — a build that won't compile, a link step that can't resolve a doca_* symbol, a runtime call that returns DOCA_ERROR_*, a packet that does not appear on the wire, a service that won't start, or a tool that returns no useful output. Concretely:

• The user reports a symptom and needs to find the layer that caused it (install / version / build / link / runtime / program).
• The user asks "how do I get more logs?" or "how do I turn up the verbosity?" for any DOCA library or tool.
• The user wants to capture state for a forum question or an internal bug report (the bundle does not own the internal-bug-report channel; it routes to the public DOCA Developer Forum).
• The user is reading a stack trace, a valgrind output, or a core dump from a DOCA program and wants to know where to look first.
• The user is debugging inside the NGC DOCA container and needs to know what is and is not observable from inside it.

Do not load this skill for:

• "What is DOCA_ERROR_BAD_STATE?", "what error codes does DOCA return?" — that is the cross-library error taxonomy, owned by doca-programming-guide CAPABILITIES.md ## Error taxonomy. This skill consumes that taxonomy; it does not redefine it.
• "My pkg-config cannot find doca-flow", "hugepages are not mounted", "my representor isn't visible" — those are env-class symptoms, owned by doca-setup ## debug. This skill is the canonical pointer that env-class debug ladder redirects to once the symptom escalates beyond install / version / build prerequisites.
• Library-specific debugging (Flow pipe trace, RDMA queue-pair state, Comch channel statistics) — those live in the matching library skill (e.g. doca-flow ## debug). This skill provides the cross-cutting debug ladder; library skills layer their library-specific debug surface on top of it.

What this skill provides

This is a thin loader. The body keeps only the orientation needed to pick the right next file. The substantive debug material lives in two companion files:

• CAPABILITIES.md — what kinds of debug surface DOCA exposes: the layered debug model (install / version / build / link / runtime / program), the read-only-first stance, version-availability of debug tools (e.g. doca_caps since DOCA 2.6.0), the cross-library error taxonomy (cross-link only — owned by doca-programming-guide), the observability primitives DOCA emits (stderr logs, --sdk-log-level, the doca-<lib>-trace build flavor, library counters), and the safety constraints on debug actions (read-only first, don't mutate install tree mid-investigation).
• TASKS.md — the actual debug workflows: ## configure (set up env for high-verbosity debug), ## test (capture a reproducible state), ## debug (the canonical layered ladder, the universal entry point that every library ## debug redirects to), and the Where to ask for help routing (NVIDIA DOCA Developer Forum). Three other anchors (build, modify, run) exist for lint compliance and route to doca-programming-guide, which owns those verbs after the env / program split.

Loading order

1. Read this SKILL.md first to confirm the user's symptom is cross-cutting debug (not env-class only, not program-class only, not library-internal only).
2. For the layered debug model, the read-only stance, the version-availability of debug tools, and the observability surface DOCA emits, see CAPABILITIES.md.
3. For the canonical layered debug ladder and the capture-and-report workflow, see TASKS.md. The build, modify, and run anchors in TASKS.md are stubs that route to doca-programming-guide; their substance lives there.
4. If the user's symptom turns out to be env-class (install / build prerequisites), hand off to doca-setup ## debug. If program-class, hand off to doca-programming-guide ## debug. If library-internal, hand off to the matching library skill's ## debug (e.g. doca-flow ## debug).

The two companion files cross-link to each other and to doca-public-knowledge-map whenever the right answer is "look it up in the public docs or the installed package layout" rather than "debug-specific guidance".

Related skills

• doca-public-knowledge-map — public DOCA documentation routing and the on-disk layout of an installed DOCA package. This skill defers all "where is X documented", "where on disk is Y", and "how do I check the installed version" questions to the knowledge-map.
• doca-setup — env-class debug (install / build prerequisites): pkg-config failures, missing hugepages, representors not visible, header-vs-runtime version mismatches. doca-setup ## debug is the env-class layered ladder; this skill is the cross-cutting debug ladder both env and program ladders escalate to.
• doca-programming-guide — program-class debug (lifecycle order, DOCA_ERROR_* interpretation, doca_error_get_descr() use, the validate-before-commit rule). doca-programming-guide ## debug is the program-class layered ladder; this skill picks up where it leaves off when the symptom involves cross-library tooling (gdb, valgrind, container introspection, core dumps).
• Library skills (e.g. doca-flow, doca-dms, doca-caps) — library-specific debug overlays. Each library's ## debug builds on the cross-cutting ladder defined here, then adds its own counters, traces, and inspector tools.