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Doca Pcc Counters

NVIDIAOfficialCreated by NVIDIA

  • Skill
  • Tool integration
  • Software development
  • Apache-2.0
  • Medium risk

From the author

Use this skill when the user is invoking the DOCA PCC Counters tool — the `pcc_counters.sh` bash script under the DOCA tools directory — to arm and read the fixed firmware/hardware PCC (Programmable Congestion Control) diagnostic counters (CNP, RTT, WRED-drop, etc.) on a ConnectX / BlueField device via mst + the mlx5 debugfs `diag_cnt` interface. The script takes two positional args — `set | query` and an mst device path — with no `--help` or subcommands. Trigger even without "pcc_counters.sh" or "PCC counters": "how do I read the CNP / RTT / WRED-drop counters", "PCC counter stuck at zero", "the script says Bad Device", or "is congestion control dropping packets on this port?". Route elsewhere for writing a custom PCC algorithm (doca-pcc), factory firmware PCC config, DOCA install, or fleet-wide CC tuning.
— the description by NVIDIA

AutoGineer summary

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

This skill provides instructions for using the pcc_counters.sh bash script, a tool included in the DOCA suite for monitoring Programmable Congestion Control (PCC) diagnostic counters. It enables operators and developers to arm and query fixed firmware and hardware counters, such as CNP counts, RTT performance, and WRED drops, on ConnectX or BlueField devices. The skill covers the required set-then-query workflow, troubleshooting common errors like Bad Device, and understanding the interaction with the mlx5 debugfs interface.

What it does

  • Arms PCC diagnostic counters using the set operation.
  • Queries and displays current counter values using the query operation.
  • Resolves mst device paths for interaction with the mlx5 debugfs interface.
  • Provides diagnostic steps for common script errors like Bad Device or zeroed counters.
  • Identifies the fixed set of firmware and hardware counters available for monitoring.

When to use it

  • When you need to verify if congestion control events like CNPs or WRED drops are occurring on a port.
  • When you need to capture a snapshot of device-level PCC counters for performance investigation.
  • When the pcc_counters.sh script returns errors and requires troubleshooting.
  • When you need to confirm if the device is correctly armed for diagnostic data collection.

Advantages

  • Provides a standardized workflow for accessing low-level firmware diagnostic data.
  • Clearly separates diagnostic readout from custom congestion control algorithm development.
  • Offers a structured approach to troubleshooting device-level counter issues.
  • Ensures consistent usage of the two-positional-argument contract for the script.

Usage examples

“How do I read the CNP and RTT counters on my device?”
The agent will guide you to run the set command followed by the query command on your specific mst device path to output the current counter values.
“The script says ERROR: Bad Device when I try to run it.”
The agent will help you verify the correct mst device path and ensure the device is properly recognized by the system before re-running the command.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

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

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

Documentation by NVIDIA

DOCA PCC Counters (pcc_counters.sh)

Examples

  • "How do I read the PCC diagnostic counters on this device?" — this is in scope. Arm then query; do not treat this as PCC algorithm tuning.

  • "The script printed ERROR: Bad Device." — resolve the mst path before assuming firmware is broken.

Instructions

Follow Loading order below. Open the tasks companion for run / debug. Open the capabilities companion for the fixed counter set. Do not open every companion file.

Where to start: This is a tool skill for invoking pcc_counters.sh — a small bash script that arms and reads the device's fixed set of firmware / hardware PCC diagnostic counters (CNP count, RTT-perf, WRED-drop, RTT-gen, handled events) through the mlx5 debugfs diag_cnt interface. Open the tasks companion and start at ## run for the canonical set-then-query sequence, or ## debug when the user reports "ERROR: Bad Device", "counter stuck at zero", or "the dump is empty". Open the capabilities companion when the question is which counters the script reports and how it reaches them. If the user has not installed DOCA / MFT yet, route to doca-setup/SKILL.md first.

This skill is the firmware / HW PCC counter readout surface. It is NOT the host-side control library that loads custom congestion-control kernels onto the DPA (that is doca-pcc/SKILL.md) and it is NOT the firmware PCC algorithm configuration (that path is firmware configuration, routed via doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md). The counters this script reads are device / firmware diagnostic counters that exist regardless of whether a custom doca-pcc DPA kernel is running — do not condition them on a custom kernel being loaded.

Example questions this skill answers well

The CLASSES of pcc_counters.sh questions this skill is built to answer, each with one worked example. The class is the load-bearing piece; the worked example is one instance.

  • "How do I read the PCC diagnostic counters on this device?" — worked example: "arm and dump the CNP / RTT / WRED-drop counters for /dev/mst/mt41692_pciconf0". Answered by the fixed counter set in the capabilities companion

    • the set-then-query invocation in the tasks companion.

  • "What is the smallest legal invocation?" — worked example: "what exactly do I type?". Answered by the two-positional-argument contract (set | query + an mst device path) in the tasks companion.

  • "The script printed ERROR: Bad Device — what's wrong?" — worked example: "my device path is not matching". Answered by the device-resolution layer in the capabilities companion

    • the tasks companion.

  • "A counter is stuck at zero — is the device idle, the counters not armed, or genuinely no events?" — worked example: "PCC_CNP_COUNT reads 0 after query". Answered by the arm-before-read rule and the layered diagnosis in the tasks companion + the capabilities companion.

  • "Is this script on my install, and where?" — worked example: "is pcc_counters.sh present and where does the install put it". Answered by the install overlay in the capabilities companion, which redirects to the canonical doca-version/SKILL.md rules.

Audience

This skill serves operators, developers, and AI agents who need to read a ConnectX / BlueField device's firmware PCC diagnostic counters to reason about congestion-control behaviour (CNP generation, RTT requests/responses, WRED drops) on a port. Concretely:

  • A network operator confirming whether congestion-control events (CNPs, RTT, WRED drops) are occurring on a device.

  • A developer correlating a custom doca-pcc algorithm's effect with the device-level PCC diagnostic counters (the script reads the firmware counters; the custom algorithm itself is a separate surface owned by doca-pcc/SKILL.md).

  • An AI agent producing a PCC counter snapshot as evidence for a congestion-control investigation.

It is not for users debugging the script's bash itself, not the place to learn how to write a custom PCC algorithm — that audience belongs in doca-pcc/SKILL.md — and not the place for users who want to configure the factory firmware PCC algorithm (route via doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md).

pcc_counters.sh is shipped as a plain bash script installed under the DOCA tools directory, not a compiled binary and not a library you link against. The skill uses the bundle's kind: tool three-file shape (this skill + the capabilities companion

  • the tasks companion) so the agent's task-verb contract (configure / build / modify / run / test / debug) is uniform across the bundle.

When to load this skill

Load this skill when the user is — or the agent needs to — arm and read the device PCC diagnostic counters on a host or BlueField Arm with the mst tools available and debugfs mounted. Concretely:

  • Arming the diagnostic counters with set on a target mst device.

  • Reading the armed counters with query and quoting the named counter lines verbatim.

  • Capturing a counter readout as evidence for a congestion-control investigation.

Do not load this skill for general DOCA orientation, custom-PCC algorithm design, the host-side doca-pcc library API, the factory firmware PCC algorithm, or DOCA / MFT install. For those, route to doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md, doca-pcc/SKILL.md, or doca-setup/SKILL.md.

What this skill provides

This is a thin loader. Substantive material lives in two companion files:

  • the capabilities companion — what pcc_counters.sh does: the exact two-operation surface (set arms the device's diagnostic counters by writing counter IDs + params to debugfs; query reads the diag_cnt/dump and prints the named counters), the FIXED firmware / HW counter set it knows (PCC_CNP_COUNT, the MAD_RTT_PERF_CONT_*, the *_EVENT_WRED_DROP family, HANDLED_*_EVENTS, the DROP_RTT_PORT*/RTT_GEN_PORT* families), how it resolves an mst device to a PCI address (mst status -v + lspci) and reaches /sys/kernel/debug/mlx5/<pci>/diag_cnt/, the install-availability overlay that redirects to doca-version/SKILL.md, the layered error taxonomy (script-not-present / bad-device / not-armed-before-query / debugfs-or-permission / counter-stuck-at-zero / cross-cutting), and the safety policy that flags set as a privileged debugfs write and any CC tuning decision derived from a reading as high-stakes.

  • the tasks companion — step-by-step workflows for the in-scope task verbs: configure (route to install + confirm mst / debugfs / sudo), build (route to install; nothing to compile — it is a script), modify (refuse — do not patch the shipped script), run (the set-then-query sequence), test (confirm the dump contains the named counters with finite values), debug (the layered diagnosis ladder), plus a Deferred task verbs block and a Command appendix.

The skill assumes a host or BlueField where DOCA / MFT is already installed (mst tools present, debugfs mounted, sudo available) and the target device is visible to mst status -v.

What this skill deliberately does not ship

This skill is agent guidance, not a samples or scripts bundle. To keep the boundary clean, it deliberately does not contain — and pull requests should not add:

  • Invented flags or subcommands. pcc_counters.sh has exactly two operations (set, query), takes exactly two positional arguments, and has NO --help, --version, list, snapshot, watch, or diff. Do not invent any.

  • Pre-baked example counter values. Counter values are device-, firmware-, and traffic-state-specific; a captured value will mislead an operator on a different device.

  • Wrappers, parsers, or rewritten copies of the script. The script is the contract; modifying or re-implementing it is out of scope.

  • A specific congestion-control tuning recommendation derived from a counter reading. That is a high-stakes domain question — the skill prescribes how to capture the counters; it refuses to translate a delta into a CC parameter change without the user's own domain analysis.

  • A samples/ or reference/ subtree. This is a thin loader for a documented script; substantive material lives in the script and the public PCC documentation.

Loading order

  1. Read this skill first to confirm the user's question is in scope (reading the device's firmware PCC diagnostic counters; not designing or loading a custom algorithm).

  2. For what the script does, the fixed counter set, the debugfs mechanism, the install-availability overlay, the layered error surface, and the safety posture, see the capabilities companion.

  3. For the documented invocations — configure, build, modify, run, test, debug, plus the Command appendix — see the tasks companion.

  • doca-pcc/SKILL.md — the host-side library for writing and loading custom congestion-control kernels onto the DPA. It is a SEPARATE surface: the firmware PCC diagnostic counters pcc_counters.sh reads exist independently of any custom doca-pcc kernel, but an operator tuning a custom algorithm may read these counters to observe device-level CC behaviour. Conflating the script (firmware counter readout) with the library (custom algorithm load/control) is the most common PCC first-touch error.

  • doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md — routing to the public DOCA / PCC documentation set, including the firmware PCC algorithm configuration.

  • doca-version/SKILL.md — canonical DOCA version-handling rules. The ## Version compatibility section in the capabilities companion is a concise overlay that redirects here.

  • doca-setup/SKILL.md — env preparation, install verification, mst tools, debugfs, and the I have no install yet path with the public NGC DOCA container. This skill assumes its preconditions are satisfied.

  • doca-debug/SKILL.md — the cross-cutting debug ladder. The PCC counter readout slots in as a read-only device-state evidence source before any congestion-control tuning recommendation is made.

  • doca-programming-guide/SKILL.md — general DOCA programming patterns shared across the bundle.

Files

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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: Requires DOCA/MFT on Linux with a ConnectX-6 or newer (not ConnectX-8) or BlueField device, mst tools, mounted debugfs, and root access to the mlx5 diag_cnt interface. The script reads fixed firmware and hardware diagnostics independently of custom PCC code. Its set operation changes which counters are collected, not congestion-control or forwarding behavior; treat later fleet tuning as a separate high-stakes action. The validation steps require a live DOCA install.

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What our scanner noticed· Medium risk

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Attribution and licence

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