Doca Comm Channel Admin

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.