Generated banner for Doca Debug
Generated logo for Doca Debug

Doca Debug

NVIDIAOfficialCreated by NVIDIA

  • Skill
  • Guidelines
  • Software development
  • Apache-2.0
  • Medium risk

From the author

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.
— the description by NVIDIA

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

The doca-debug skill provides a structured, cross-cutting methodology for investigating issues across the DOCA stack. It employs a layered ladder approach—moving from installation and versioning through build, link, and runtime phases—to isolate the root cause of failures. The skill emphasizes a read-only, evidence-first diagnostic process, guiding users to capture necessary state information before attempting any repairs. It acts as a central hub that coordinates with environment-specific and library-specific debug skills, ensuring that users follow a consistent path for log collection, verbosity configuration, and reporting to the NVIDIA DOCA Developer Forum.

What it does

  • Provides a canonical layered ladder for isolating DOCA failures across install, build, link, and runtime.
  • Guides users on how to increase verbosity for DOCA libraries and tools using standard environment variables.
  • Defines the procedure for capturing reproducible state for bug reports and forum posts.
  • Offers diagnostic steps for interpreting stack traces, core dumps, and container-specific observability.
  • Routes users to specialized skills for environment-class or library-specific debugging.
  • Enforces a disciplined, evidence-based approach to troubleshooting before applying speculative fixes.

When to use it

  • When a build fails to compile or a link step cannot resolve doca_* symbols.
  • When a runtime call returns a DOCA_ERROR_* code or a service behaves silently.
  • When you need to increase log verbosity for a DOCA tool or library.
  • When you need to capture a reproducible state for a support request or forum post.
  • When you are analyzing a stack trace, valgrind output, or core dump from a DOCA application.
  • When you need to determine if a symptom is caused by the environment, the build, or the runtime.

Advantages

  • Prevents premature, speculative fixes by mandating evidence collection first.
  • Standardizes the troubleshooting process across different DOCA libraries.
  • Clearly separates cross-cutting debug logic from library-specific or environment-specific concerns.
  • Provides a consistent path for escalating issues to the community forum.
  • Reduces ambiguity by identifying the specific layer (install, link, runtime) where a failure occurs.

Usage examples

“My linker is failing with undefined reference to doca_flow_init. What should I do?”
The agent will identify this as a link-time failure and request specific pkg-config outputs and the full linker invocation to diagnose the version or build configuration mismatch.
“How do I get more logs from my DOCA Flow program?”
The agent will guide you through the log-level and trace-flavor surface to enable verbosity for the specific library.
“I need to file a forum post for a DOCA issue. What info should I include?”
The agent will provide the capture-a-reproducible-state workflow to ensure your forum post contains all necessary context for a resolution.
“Hugepages are empty inside my DOCA container. Is this a bug?”
The agent will explain container-specific debug constraints and help determine if this is an expected runtime behavior or an environment configuration issue.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/nvidia/doca-debug/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip doca-debug.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by NVIDIA

DOCA debug

Examples

  • "My DOCA build / link / runtime failed — which layer is it?" — this is in scope. Walk the layered ladder; do not jump to library-internal debug first.

  • "How do I turn up verbosity for any DOCA library or tool?" — use the log-level / trace-flavor surface, then capture state for a forum post.

Instructions

An undefined reference is a Link-layer symptom, not proof of a missing library or an application-code defect. Before recommending edits, request these observations from the same host/container and shell that ran the failing build:

  • pkg-config --modversion doca-common and the selected library's version; for Flow, pkg-config --modversion doca-flow.

  • pkg-config --libs doca-<library>; for Flow, pkg-config --libs doca-flow.

  • The actual failing compiler/linker invocation from the build log and its full error output. pkg-config reports flags, not the command that failed.

If these outputs are missing, request them and pause before prescribing a repair. Listing a check is not evidence that it passed. Do not append a speculative fix, guessed -L/-l flags, predicted library filenames, or a replacement compiler command to that capture request. Once evidence is available, compare the original invocation with the complete observed pkg-config output through the existing build system; do not hand-assemble DOCA's version-dependent split libraries. Use ldd only if a relevant binary was actually produced; a declaration in a header does not prove that a linked shared object exports the symbol.

Follow doca-version/TASKS.md#configure for version coherence, doca-programming-guide/TASKS.md#debug for the environment-before-program investigation, and doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md for verified install locations and public documentation. A bundle skill name is not an SDK page slug: never construct a documentation URL from it. If no matching guide has been verified, use the DOCA SDK index and say the specific page is not yet confirmed. Then follow TASKS.md for the staged investigation; later phases are conditional on observed results, not instructions to guess a fix.

First reply when only a linker error is available (Flow example). Use this capture-only shape, adapting the library to the actual question:

This is a link-time failure. An undefined-symbol message does not tell us the installed version or which build setting is wrong. From the same host/container and shell as the failing build, please paste these outputs:

pkg-config --modversion doca-common
pkg-config --modversion doca-flow
pkg-config --libs doca-flow

Also include the actual failing linker invocation, full error output and whether the build ran on the host or in a container. Do not change flags, packages or source yet. Phases 3–5 are pending this evidence; no repair has been selected. Once the observations are available, we can compare them, choose one justified correction and rerun the original build. The link check is successful only when that build exits cleanly without the missing symbols; it does not establish runtime or hardware correctness.

End that first reply at the evidence request and pending decision. Do not add an example repair command after it, even with a disclaimer to verify it later.

Where to start: This skill is the canonical layered-ladder reference both doca-setup/SKILL.md and doca-programming-guide/SKILL.md escalate to. If the symptom does not fit cleanly in env-class or program-class, start at the tasks companion — 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 the tasks companion (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 the capabilities companion

    • the run-with-verbosity workflow in the tasks companion.

  • "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 the tasks companion.

  • "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 the capabilities companion

    • cross-link to doca-caps/SKILL.md.

  • "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 the capabilities companion

    • the tasks companion 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 the tasks companion plus doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md.

If the symptom is purely env-class, route to doca-setup/SKILL.md; if purely program-class, route to doca-programming-guide/SKILL.md. 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/SKILL.md. 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/SKILL.md. 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/SKILL.md). 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:

  • the capabilities companion — 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).

  • the tasks companion — 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) route to doca-programming-guide/SKILL.md, which owns those verbs after the env / program split.

Loading order

  1. Read this skill 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 the capabilities companion.

  3. For the canonical layered debug ladder and the capture-and-report workflow, see the tasks companion. The build, modify, and run anchors in the tasks companion are stubs that route to doca-programming-guide/SKILL.md; their substance lives there.

  4. If the user's symptom turns out to be env-class (install / build prerequisites), hand off to doca-setup/SKILL.md. If program-class, hand off to doca-programming-guide/SKILL.md. If library-internal, hand off to the matching library skill's ## debug (e.g. doca-flow/SKILL.md).

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

  • doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md — 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/SKILL.md — 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/SKILL.md — 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/SKILL.md, doca-dms/SKILL.md, doca-caps/SKILL.md) — 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.

Files

LICENSE

Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.


                                 Apache License
                           Version 2.0, January 2004
                        http://www.apache.org/licenses/

   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION

   1. Definitions.

      "License" shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction,
      and distribution as defined by Sections 1 through 9 of this document.

      "Licensor" shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by
      the copyright owner that is granting the License.

      "Legal Entity" shall mean the union of the acting entity and all
      other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common
      control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition,
      "control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the
      direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or
      otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
      outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.

      "You" (or "Your") shall mean an individual or Legal Entity
      exercising permissions granted by this License.

      "Source" form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications,
      including but not limited to software source code, documentation
      source, and configuration files.

      "Object" form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical
      transformation or translation of a Source form, including but
      not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation,
      and conversions to other media types.

      "Work" shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or
      Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a
      copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work
      (an example is provided in the Appendix below).

      "Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object
      form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the
      editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
      represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes
      of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain
      separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of,
      the Work and Derivative Works thereof.

      "Contribution" shall mean any work of authorship, including
      the original version of the Work and any modifications or additions
      to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally
      submitted to Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner
      or by an individual or Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of
      the copyright owner. For the purposes of this definition, "submitted"
      means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent
      to the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to
      communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems,
      and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, the
      Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but
      excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise
      designated in writing by the copyright owner as "Not a Contribution."

      "Contributor" shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity
      on behalf of whom a Contribution has been received by Licensor and
      subsequently incorporated within the Work.

   2. Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
      this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
      worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
      copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of,
      publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the
      Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.

   3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
      this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
      worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
      (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made,
      use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work,
      where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable
      by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their
      Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s)
      with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You
      institute patent litigation against any entity (including a
      cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work
      or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct
      or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses
      granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate
      as of the date such litigation is filed.

   4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the
      Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without
      modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
      meet the following conditions:

      (a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or
          Derivative Works a copy of this License; and

      (b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices
          stating that You changed the files; and

      (c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works
          that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
          attribution notices from the Source form of the Work,
          excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of
          the Derivative Works; and

      (d) If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its
          distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must
          include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
          within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not
          pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one
          of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed
          as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or
          documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or,
          within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and
          wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents
          of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and
          do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution
          notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside
          or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided
          that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed
          as modifying the License.

      You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and
      may provide additional or different license terms and conditions
      for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your modifications, or
      for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use,
      reproduction, and distribution of the Work otherwise complies with
      the conditions stated in this License.

   5. Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise,
      any Contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the Work
      by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and conditions of
      this License, without any additional terms or conditions.
      Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify
      the terms of any separate license agreement you may have executed
      with Licensor regarding such Contributions.

   6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade
      names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
      except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the
      origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.

   7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or
      agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each
      Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS,
      WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
      implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions
      of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A
      PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the
      appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any
      risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License.

   8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory,
      whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
      unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly
      negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be
      liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special,
      incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a
      result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the
      Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill,
      work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
      other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor
      has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

   9. Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing
      the Work or Derivative Works thereof, You may choose to offer,
      and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty, indemnity,
      or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this
      License. However, in accepting such obligations, You may act only
      on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility, not on behalf
      of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify,
      defend, and hold each Contributor harmless for any liability
      incurred by, or claims asserted against, such Contributor by reason
      of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.

   END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS

   APPENDIX: How to apply the Apache License to your work.

      To apply the Apache License to your work, attach the following
      boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]"
      replaced with your own identifying information. (Don't include
      the brackets!)  The text should be enclosed in the appropriate
      comment syntax for the file format. We also recommend that a
      file or class name and description of purpose be included on the
      same "printed page" as the copyright notice for easier
      identification within third-party archives.

   Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]

   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
   You may obtain a copy of the License at

       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
   limitations under the License.

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

The author says: 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.

Security

What our scanner noticed· Medium risk

  • Large base64-encoded blobs

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Created by
NVIDIA
Publisher
NVIDIA (Official)
Source
NVIDIA/skills · skills/doca-debug · commit fce3cca
Licence
Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE-APACHE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by NVIDIA.

Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download doca-debug.zip