Doca Telemetry
NVIDIAOfficialCreated by NVIDIA
- Skill
- Tool integration
- Software development
- Apache-2.0
- Medium risk
AutoGineer summary
Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author
The doca-telemetry skill provides guidance for developers using the NVIDIA DOCA SDK to read hardware-counter events directly from a doca_dev. It covers the six per-domain reader libraries: PCC, DPA, DIAG, ADP_RETX, PHY, and PCI. This skill focuses on the reader-side lifecycle, including capability checks, context creation, and snapshot retrieval. It explicitly distinguishes between reading hardware counters and the separate task of publishing or exporting telemetry data, which is handled by the doca-telemetry-exporter library.
What it does
- Provides access to per-domain hardware-counter reader libraries (PCC, DPA, DIAG, ADP_RETX, PHY, PCI).
- Guides developers through the per-domain DOCA Core lifecycle for reading device snapshots.
- Implements capability-first checks to ensure a device supports specific counter domains.
- Explains the error taxonomy for reader-specific issues like snapshot readiness (AGAIN) or unsupported domains.
- Routes users to the appropriate library for publishing or exporting telemetry data.
- Supports C/C++ development with guidance for FFI/bindings in other languages.
When to use it
- When you need to read raw hardware-counter snapshots from a BlueField DPU or ConnectX NIC.
- When you are developing an application that requires low-level access to device-specific telemetry.
- When you need to verify if a specific hardware-counter domain is supported on your current device.
- When you are debugging why a counter read is returning a specific DOCA error code.
- When you need to distinguish between reading local device counters and exporting metrics to external systems.
Advantages
- Direct access to hardware-level performance and diagnostic counters.
- Standardized lifecycle and capability-query patterns across different counter domains.
- Clear separation of concerns between reading hardware counters and exporting telemetry data.
- Robust error handling guidance for hardware-specific states.
Usage examples
- “Read PCC counters from my BlueField app.”
- The agent guides you to use doca_telemetry_pcc_cap_is_supported, create the PCC context, start it, and use doca_telemetry_pcc_get_counters.
- “How do I check if my device supports PHY counters?”
- The agent instructs you to use the doca_telemetry_phy_cap_is_supported query on your device info before attempting to open a context.
- “My PHY counter read returns DOCA_ERROR_AGAIN, what should I do?”
- The agent explains that the snapshot is not ready and advises retrying after the documented sample-window delay.
Install
Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/nvidia/doca-telemetry/downloadUnzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:
mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip doca-telemetry.zip -d .agents/skills
Documentation by NVIDIA
DOCA Telemetry
Examples
"Build a second program that RECEIVES the events my exporter app publishes." No DOCA library consumes exporter events, and this skill is not that library:
doca-telemetryreads a device's hardware counters. The app linksdoca-telemetry-exporterto publish; the receiver is the DOCA Telemetry Service over IPC (doca-dts), or the exporter's file output for a local smoke. Do not invent a consume or collector API. Then: the publishing app owns the schema; check the IPC path withdoca_telemetry_exporter_check_ipc_status; smoke one event with field values intact (file output) before bulk; when reporting cannot keep up, drop or aggregate on the hot path, never block."Read PCC counters from my BlueField app." — this is in scope. Use the per-domain Telemetry reader; do not stand up DTS or an exporter here. Sequence:
doca_telemetry_pcc_cap_is_supportedon the device, create the PCC context on the opendoca_dev(doca_telemetry_pcc_rep_createfor a representor), start it, read once withdoca_telemetry_pcc_get_counters, then stop and destroy. Reads before start returnDOCA_ERROR_BAD_STATE."Sample DPA counter exports." — stay on
doca_telemetry_dpareads. Publishing those samples belongs to the exporter skill.
Instructions
Follow Loading order below. Open the tasks companion for configure / read / debug. Open the capabilities companion for the per-domain readers. Do not open every companion file.
Where to start: This skill assumes DOCA is already installed
and the user is doing hands-on hardware-counter-reader work —
opening a per-domain doca_telemetry_<domain> context against a
doca_dev and reading the latest hardware-counter snapshot for
that domain. The library is the counter-READER half of DOCA
telemetry; it is NOT a NetFlow / IPFIX collector and NOT a
generic schema-event consumer (there is no NetFlow / IPFIX /
local-socket transport surface in the public header).
Open the tasks companion if the user wants to do something
(configure / build / modify / run / test / debug); open
the capabilities companion when the question is which
hardware-counter domains can this device read on this install
(PCC, DPA, DIAG, ADP_RETX, PHY, PCI). If the user has not
installed DOCA yet, route to
doca-setup/SKILL.md first. If the user is
confused about whether they want this library (HW-counter
reader on a doca_dev) or
doca-telemetry-exporter/SKILL.md
(the publisher / export side, which is a separate library and
publishes structured telemetry / labeled metrics / OTLP logs),
read the reader-vs-exporter role split in
the capabilities companion
BEFORE configuring anything; mixing the two is the load-bearing
first-app failure for this skill. If the user is asking about
DOCA Telemetry Service (DTS) as deployed, route to doca-dts.
Audience
This skill serves external developers building applications
that READ DOCA hardware counters from a doca_dev through one
or more of the six per-domain DOCA Telemetry reader libraries
(doca_telemetry_pcc / _dpa / _diag / _adp_retx / _phy /
_pci) — i.e., users whose application code calls
doca_telemetry_<domain>_* (directly in C/C++, or through FFI /
bindings from another language) to open a per-domain context on
a doca_dev, configure the per-domain sample window, and read
the hardware-counter snapshot for that domain. It is not for
NVIDIA developers contributing to DOCA Telemetry itself, and it
is not for users writing the publishing / export side —
that is
doca-telemetry-exporter/SKILL.md,
a separate library and a separate skill.
Language scope. DOCA Telemetry's per-domain reader libraries
ship as a C surface with pkg-config module name
doca-telemetry. The shipped samples are written in C. C and
C++ readers are the canonical case; the worked examples in
the tasks companion assume that path. Other-language readers (Rust, Go,
Python, …) consume the same *.so through FFI or
language-specific bindings; the skill's contribution in that
case is to keep the reader-vs-exporter distinction, the per-
domain cap-query-first discipline, the per-domain DOCA Core
lifecycle on the doca_dev, the sample-window discipline, and
the error-taxonomy guidance language-neutral, and to route the
agent to the public per-domain C ABI as the authoritative
surface that any wrapper will eventually call.
When to load this skill
Load this skill when the user is doing hands-on DOCA Telemetry hardware-counter-reader work, in any language. Concretely:
Picking the right per-domain header for the counters the user wants (
doca_telemetry_pcc.hfor Programmable Congestion Control counters,_dpa.hfor DPA counters,_diag.hfor generic device diagnostic counters,_adp_retx.hfor ADP retransmit counters,_phy.hfor physical-layer counters,_pci.hfor PCI / PCIe counters) and confirming the device supports it via the per-domain_cap_is_supported(devinfo)query — except_pci, which has no single_cap_is_supportedand instead exposes per-feature caps likedoca_telemetry_pci_cap_management_info_is_supported/_cap_perf_counters_1_is_supported.Opening a per-domain
doca_telemetry_<domain>context on adoca_dev, walking the per-domain lifecycle (doca_telemetry_<domain>_create(dev)→ per-domain setters →doca_telemetry_<domain>_start), configuring the per-domain sample window, and reading the hardware-counter snapshot for that domain. Note this is a per-domain_create/_startsurface, not the genericdoca_ctx_*progress-engine lifecycle.Reading the device + library capability surface before assuming a counter family is available: use
doca_telemetry_<domain>_cap_is_supportedonly forpcc,dpa,diag,adp_retx, andphy; use the matching per-featuredoca_telemetry_pci_cap_*_is_supportedquery for PCI.Handling per-domain
DOCA_ERROR_*returns from a counter read (lifecycle vs. device-doesn't-support-this-domain vs. per-domainAGAIN-means-snapshot-not-ready vs. permission / driver) and the per-read status reported back to the application.Choosing between DOCA Telemetry (hardware-counter READER) and an adjacent option:
doca-telemetry-exporter/SKILL.mdwhen the user actually wants to PUBLISH / EXPORT the counter values (OTLP / Prometheus / labeled metrics);doca-logwhen plain structured stdout logging is enough; a generic Prometheus / OpenTelemetry client library when the counter source is a non-DOCA program; the DOCA Telemetry Service (doca-dts) when the user wants a turnkey aggregator.Designing or extending non-C bindings (Rust, Go, Python, …) that wrap the per-domain reader C ABI — for the reader-vs- exporter distinction, the per-domain cap-query-first rule, the per-domain
doca_devlifecycle, the sample-window discipline, and the error rules the wrapper must honor.
Do not load this skill for general DOCA orientation, install
of DOCA itself, the publishing / export side
(doca-telemetry-exporter/SKILL.md
has its own skill), the DOCA Telemetry Service (doca-dts), or
non-reader library questions.
For those, use
doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md.
What this skill provides
This is a thin loader. The body keeps only the orientation needed to pick the right next file. The substantive hardware-counter-reader material lives in two companion files:
the capabilities companion — what the per-domain readers can express on this install: the reader-vs-exporter role-split rule, the six shipped sub-libraries (
doca_telemetry_pcc/_dpa/_diag/_adp_retx/_phy/_pci) and which counter family each one exposes, the per-domain DOCA Core lifecycle on adoca_dev, the domain-level capability query for PCC / DPA / DIAG / ADP_RETX / PHY and the per-feature capability queries for PCI, the reader error taxonomy (mapped onto the cross-libraryDOCA_ERROR_*set, with theNOT_SUPPORTED-means-domain- not-exposed-on-this-device rule and theAGAIN-means- snapshot-not-ready rule called out explicitly), the observability surface (per-read status + per-domain cap- query snapshot at configure time), the safety policy that gates per-domain reads behind the cap-query result, and the path-selection rule againstdoca-telemetry-exporter/SKILL.md,doca-log, and standalone Prometheus / OpenTelemetry / DTS.the tasks companion — step-by-step workflows for the six in-scope reader verbs:
configure,build,modify,run,test,debug. Plus aDeferred task verbsblock that points out-of-scope questions at the right next skill.
The skill assumes a host where DOCA is already installed at
the standard location and a target BlueField DPU or ConnectX NIC
is available. The ## run workflow
opens the corresponding doca_dev and requires the per-domain
cap-query to return DOCA_SUCCESS. It does not cover installing
DOCA — that path goes through
doca-setup/SKILL.md — and it does not
cover writing the publishing / export side, which is
doca-telemetry-exporter/SKILL.md.
Loading order
Read this skill first to confirm the user's question is in scope (specifically, that the user wants to READ a per-domain hardware counter via the per-domain reader API on a
doca_dev— not PUBLISH counters, which isdoca-telemetry-exporter/SKILL.md; not deploy DTS, which isdoca-dts; and not stand up a NetFlow / IPFIX collector, which this library does not expose a surface for).For the reader-vs-exporter rule, the six per-domain sub-libraries, the per-domain DOCA Core lifecycle on a
doca_dev, the per-domain capability query, the error taxonomy (including theNOT_SUPPORTED-means-domain- not-exposed-on-this-device rule and theAGAIN-means- snapshot-not-ready rule), observability, the safety policy, and the path-selection rule, see the capabilities companion.For step-by-step workflows — configure, build, modify, run, test, debug — see the tasks companion.
Both companion files cross-link to each other,
doca-version/SKILL.md for the canonical
version-handling rules, and
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 "reader-specific
guidance".
Related skills
doca-telemetry-exporter/SKILL.md— the publishing / export side. This skill (the per-domain hardware-counter reader) anddoca-telemetry-exporter(the application-side labeled-metrics / OTLP-logs publisher) are two separate libraries that solve two different problems — they do NOT form a publisher/collector pair (there is no collector transport surface here). An application that wants to EMIT counters to its monitoring pipeline links the exporter; an application that wants to READ hardware counters off adoca_devlinks this skill. Wiring the wrong library into the user's app is the #1 first-app failure for both skills, and the load-bearing rule the agent must surface before any code-level guidance.doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md— the routing table for every public DOCA documentation source and the on-disk layout of an installed DOCA package. The per-domain reader's public guide URL ishttps://docs.nvidia.com/doca/sdk/DOCA-Telemetry/index.html(distinct from the publisher's guide athttps://docs.nvidia.com/doca/sdk/DOCA-Telemetry-Exporter/index.html); the on-disk samples live under/opt/mellanox/doca/samples/doca_telemetry/. The DOCA Telemetry Service (DTS) has its own skill,doca-dts.doca-setup/SKILL.md— env preparation, install verification, and the I have no install yet path with the public NGC DOCA container. This skill assumes its preconditions are satisfied (in particular, adoca_devis open anddoca_telemetry_<domain>_cap_is_supported(devinfo)returnsDOCA_SUCCESSfor the per-domain library the user wants to read).doca-version/SKILL.md— canonical DOCA version-handling rules. This skill's Version compatibility overlay cross-links the four-way match rule plus detection chain and adds the per-domain reader overlay (each per-domain library's counter set can grow across DOCA releases; cap-query first, then read).doca-structured-tools-contract/SKILL.md— the bundle's structured-tools precedence rule (detect / prefer / fall back / report). The Command appendix in the tasks companion honors this contract.doca-programming-guide/SKILL.md— general DOCA programming patterns shared by every library: the canonicalpkg-config+ meson build pattern, the universal modify-a-shipped-sample first-app workflow, the universal lifecycle, the cross-libraryDOCA_ERROR_*taxonomy, and the program-side debug order. This skill layers per-domain reader specifics on top.doca-log— the right primitive when the user actually wanted plain structured stdout logging from their own program rather than a structured hardware-counter snapshot. The reader's per-domain cap- query discipline is overhead the user does not need for plain logs; this skill's path-selection rule routes there when log shipping is the actual requirement.doca-debug/SKILL.md— the cross- cutting debug ladder (install / version / build / link / runtime / program / driver). Per-domain reader-specific debug (domain not supported on this device, snapshot not yet ready, sample window too short, cap-query forgotten before read) overlays on top of that ladder.
Files
- ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer900 B
- BENCHMARK.md9.9 KiB
- CAPABILITIES.md26.6 KiB
- LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer11.2 KiB
- SKILL.md14.7 KiB
- SKILLCARD.yaml2.8 KiB
- TASKS.md29.7 KiB
- evals/evals.json2.5 KiB
- references/details.md6.6 KiB
- skill-card.md5.3 KiB
- skill.oms.sig5.3 KiB
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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 SDK installed at /opt/mellanox/doca on Linux (Ubuntu 22.04/24.04 or RHEL/SLES) with a BlueField DPU or ConnectX NIC attached. Reads the user's local install via `pkg-config doca-telemetry` and inspects /opt/mellanox/doca/{lib,include,samples,applications}. The validation steps require a live DOCA install.
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Attribution and licence
- Created by
- NVIDIA
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- NVIDIA (Official)
- Source
- NVIDIA/skills · skills/doca-telemetry · 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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