Doca Comm Channel Admin Agent Skill

DOCA Comm Channel Admin Tool

> Actual binary contract. doca_comm_channel_admin is one

> zero-application-argument, read-only scan-and-print operation.

> It scans every comch-capable doca_dev on the current side via

> resourcedump (MFT) and prints SERVERS and CONNECTIONS tables.

> It has no list, inspect, device-scope, drain, restart, or other

> application operation. This skill does not retain conceptual

> workflows under invented command names.

Where to start: This is a tool skill for invoking the DOCA Comm

Channel Admin Tool — the read-only inventory CLI counterpart

to the doca-comch library. The

shipped doca_comm_channel_admin binary takes **no arguments

beyond ARGP defaults** (--help, --version, --log-level,

--sdk-log-level, --json) and performs one inventory pass

per invocation: it walks every doca_dev on this side, filters

to comch-capable devices, shells out to resourcedump (MFT) on

each, and prints two ASCII tables (SERVERS and CONNECTIONS).

There is no list subcommand, no inspect subcommand, no

drain flag, and no restart flag — those are not part of the

tool's surface. Open TASKS.md and start at

## run for the single-shot invocation, or

## debug when the user reports the tool sees

a different channel set than the program. Open

CAPABILITIES.md when the question is *what

the printed tables actually mean* and *what is not in this

tool's scope*. If the user has not installed DOCA yet, route to

doca-setup first; if the user

needs MFT (resourcedump on PATH with the privilege documented

for the installed release), doca-setup + doca-public-knowledge-map

cover that. If the user is holding pre-2.5 docs that mention

"Comm Channel", route to

doca-comch CAPABILITIES.md ## Version compatibility

for the rename rule. If the user wants to *change* channel

state, route to the program-side

reconnect lifecycle in doca-comch

or to BlueField mode / driver reload in

doca-setup +

doca-hardware-safety — not

to this tool.

Example questions this skill answers well

The CLASSES of admin-tool 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.

• "Which comch servers and connections are currently visible?" —

worked example: *"print every server and connection row visible

on this side"*. Answered by the scan-and-print surface in

CAPABILITIES.md ## Capabilities and modes

+ the single invocation in

TASKS.md ## run.

• "What does the tool report for this server or connection?" —

locate the matching row in the SERVERS or CONNECTIONS table;

there is no second per-channel query. Answered by

CAPABILITIES.md ## Capabilities and modes

+ TASKS.md ## run.

• **"How do I know the admin tool's view matches what my Comch

program sees?"** — worked example: *"the program reports

CONNECTED but the admin tool lists zero channels"*. Answered by

the cross-checking pattern in

TASKS.md ## test and the representor-binding

layer in

CAPABILITIES.md ## Error taxonomy.

• **"Is this admin tool on my installed DOCA version, and does it

match the comch library version?"** — worked example: *"is the

tool available on DOCA 2.4"*. Answered by the overlay in

CAPABILITIES.md ## Version compatibility,

which redirects to the canonical

doca-version rules and adds the

Comm Channel Admin Tool specifics.

• **"The tool prints nothing — is the install broken or is there

genuinely no channel?"** — worked example: *"list returned an

empty result on a host with a known-good Comch client"*.

Answered by the empty-output interpretation rules in

TASKS.md ## debug +

CAPABILITIES.md ## Error taxonomy.

Audience

This skill serves **external operators and AI agents who need to

inventory a host-DPU comch channel from the outside**

— after the doca-comch library

has been used to create the channel from a program. Concretely:

• A platform operator who runs a Comch-using service on BlueField

and needs to confirm the channel is healthy before declaring the

service ready.

• A developer of a Comch consumer who sees DOCA_ERROR_AGAIN or a

silent stall on the program side and wants to read the channel's

state from outside the program rather than guessing.

• An AI agent capturing the external server/connection rows before

recommending a program-side code or lifecycle change.

It is not for users debugging the admin tool itself, not a

substitute for the live public DOCA Comm Channel Admin Tool guide,

and not the right place for users learning the comch API —

that audience belongs in

doca-comch.

The tool is shipped as a CLI binary under

/opt/mellanox/doca/tools/, not a library you link against. The

skill uses the same kind: tool three-file shape as the rest of

the bundle so the agent's task-verb contract

(configure / build / modify / run / test / debug) is uniform

across libraries, services, and tools.

When to load this skill

Load this skill when the user is — or the agent needs to — invoke

the DOCA Comm Channel Admin Tool on a real host or BlueField Arm

with DOCA installed (or inside the public NGC DOCA container with

the right device passthrough). Concretely:

• Listing currently active comch channels on a host or DPU.
• Reading the row for one named server or connection from the

complete zero-argument scan.

• Cross-checking the admin tool's view against the program-side

connection callback state when the two appear to disagree.

• Capturing a side-effect-free channel snapshot as prerequisite

evidence for a later debug session that crosses program /

channel / driver layers.

Do not load this skill for general DOCA orientation, the comch

programming API, library install, or comch protocol design. For

those, route to

doca-public-knowledge-map,

doca-comch, or

doca-setup.

What this skill provides

This is a thin loader. Substantive material lives in two

companion files:

• CAPABILITIES.md — what the Comm Channel Admin Tool reports:

the two read-only tables, the version-availability overlay

that redirects to doca-version,

the layered error taxonomy (tool-not-installed / device-binding

/ channel-discovery / channel-state-stuck / permission /

version / cross-cutting), the tool's role as an observability

primitive for doca-comch

debug sessions, and the read-only safety policy.

• TASKS.md — step-by-step workflows for the in-scope task verbs:

configure (route to install), build (route to install),

modify (refuse), run (one scan-and-print), test

(cross-check the printed rows), debug (the layered

diagnosis ladder), plus a Deferred task verbs block and a

Command appendix that honors the bundle's

doca-structured-tools-contract

preamble.

The skill assumes a host or BlueField where DOCA is already

installed (or the public NGC DOCA container is running with the

right device passthrough) and the operator has whatever privileges

the public DOCA Comm Channel Admin Tool guide requires.

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:

• **Verbatim flag inventories, subcommand names, or output column

names.** The public DOCA Comm Channel Admin Tool guide on

docs.nvidia.com and the installed --help on the user's

version are the joint source of truth; copying them here pins

the skill to one release and silently rots when the tool

evolves. The skill routes the agent at those sources instead.

• Pre-baked example output. Output is install-, version-, and

channel-state-specific. A captured example will mislead an

operator on a different platform / state.

• Wrappers, parsers, or scripts in any language that consume

the admin tool's output. The output format is documented; users

who want to script against it should read the live guide and

write the parser against their installed version.

• A samples/ or reference/ subtree. This is a thin loader

for a documented CLI; substantive material lives on the public

page and in --help.

Loading order

• Read this SKILL.md first to confirm the user's question is in

scope (the user wants to inventory a comch

channel from the outside, not learn the comch API).

• **For what the tool reports, version availability, the layered error surface,

observability, and safety posture, see

CAPABILITIES.md.**

• **For the single invocation and cross-check

workflow — configure, build, modify, run, test,

debug, plus the Command appendix — see

TASKS.md.**

Related skills

• doca-comch — the library

whose channels this tool inventories. Pair them in every

triage session: the program-side connection callback and the

admin tool's channel state are the two halves of the same

picture.

• doca-public-knowledge-map

— routing to the public DOCA Comm Channel Admin Tool guide and

the rest of the public DOCA documentation set.

• doca-version — canonical DOCA

version-handling rules. The ## Version compatibility section

in CAPABILITIES.md is a concise overlay

that redirects here for the body.

• doca-structured-tools-contract

— the bundle's detect → prefer → fall back → report contract for

structured helper tools. The Command appendix in

TASKS.md honors this contract.

• doca-setup — env preparation,

install verification, representor visibility checks, and the

*I have no install yet* path with the public NGC DOCA

container. This skill assumes its preconditions are satisfied.

• doca-debug — the cross-cutting

debug ladder. The Comm Channel Admin Tool slots in at the

*runtime* layer as the read-only inventory surface before any

code change is recommended.