Automation & Ops ✓ NVIDIA · Official

DOCA Comm Channel Admin Skill

Read-only inventory of DOCA communication-channel servers and connections between a host and DPU.

52/ 100
Use with care

Useful, but reliability, evidence or controls still have material gaps.

See how it was scored ↓
Works as-is in
Codex · Claude Code
Stars
★ 3.8k
Last updated
today
License
Apache-2.0
nvidia-docabluefieldcomm-channelchannel-inventory
+2resourcedumplinux-cli

What does this skill do, and when should you use it?

This skill guides an agent in using NVIDIA DOCA's doca_comm_channel_admin CLI to inspect communication-channel state visible from the current side. The tool scans comch-capable devices through resourcedump and prints SERVERS and CONNECTIONS tables. It performs one read-only inventory pass and does not reset, drain, or restart channels. It fits operators and developers who already have DOCA installed and need an external check of BlueField channel state.

Scans every doca_dev on the current host or BlueField Arm side, filters for comch-capable devices, and invokes MFT resourcedump for each device. It prints server and connection information including server name, PID, in-use/max values, and PCIe address. Each invocation performs one inventory pass; supported ARGP defaults include --help, --version, --log-level, --sdk-log-level, and --json.

Good fit
  • A BlueField operator needs to see which comch servers and connections are currently visible.
  • A Comch developer sees CONNECTED in the program but needs an external channel-state cross-check.
  • A platform team wants a side-effect-free channel snapshot before declaring a service ready.
  • An administrator needs to distinguish a genuinely empty channel table from installation, binding, permission, discovery, or version issues.

How do you install this skill?

Before you use it
  • The list/inspect workflow in TASKS.md conflicts with SKILL.md's statement that the binary has no such subcommands; rely on the installed binary's --help and actual output before execution.
  • Actions involving driver reloads, BlueField mode changes, RShim/BFB, or program-side reconnects should require separate user confirmation and a recoverable plan; complete rollback procedures are not supplied.
  • Do not automatically share full unredacted output in logs or tickets; it may expose PIDs, server names, PCIe addresses, and environment details.
  • The benchmark reports PASS but the underlying dataset is unavailable, so it is not independently reproducible evidence.
Before you start
Your agent needs
  • Shell / CLI
  • Local filesystem
Install first
  • DOCA SDK under /opt/mellanox/doca
  • DOCA Comm Channel tooling subpackage
  • MFT resourcedump
  • Linux on x86 or Arm host, or BlueField Arm side

Install the skill with: npx skills add nvidia/skills --skill doca-comm-channel-admin --yes. The target Linux environment must already have the DOCA SDK and the Comm Channel tooling subpackage, with the command available under /opt/mellanox/doca/tools/. The source does not provide a DOCA SDK installation command.

Generic route: install into Claude Code manually (macOS / Linux)
tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NVIDIA/skills.git "$tmp"
mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills
cp -R "$tmp/skills/doca-comm-channel-admin" ~/.claude/skills/
rm -rf "$tmp"

Generated from the source repository and skill path; it copies only this skill's folder. If the author's install steps above differ, follow those first. To scope it to one project, replace ~/.claude/skills with that project's .claude/skills.

How do you use this skill?

Try saying

Once installed, send your agent any of these to trigger it:

  • List the comch servers and connections visible on this BlueField
  • Verify the admin tool sees the same channel as the program.

Ask an agent, for example, “List the comch servers and connections visible on this BlueField” or “Verify the admin tool sees the same channel as the program.” On a prepared host, run /opt/mellanox/doca/tools/doca_comm_channel_admin. The binary has no list, inspect, drain, or restart subcommands. Non-empty tables require a live host-to-DPU comch channel created through the doca-comch library.

What are this skill's strengths and limitations?

Pros
  • Read-only and side-effect-free, making it useful for runtime checks and triage.
  • Scans all comch-capable devices on the current side in one pass.
  • Keeps inventory separate from program-side channel control.
Limitations
  • Cannot create, reset, drain, or restart channels.
  • Requires the DOCA SDK, Comm Channel tooling, and MFT resourcedump.
  • Ships as agent guidance without scripts, parsers, or sample output.
  • An empty table may reflect channel state or environment problems rather than a broken installation.

How does this skill compare with similar options?

Side by side with related skills; every score comes from the same FSRS standard.

Skill FS score Stars Last updated License
DOCA Comm Channel Admin Skill this page ✓ NVIDIA · Official 52 · Use with care ★ 3.8k today Apache-2.0
DOCA Management Service Operations ✓ NVIDIA · Official 55 · Use with care ★ 3.8k today Apache-2.0
DOCA Telemetry Utils ✓ NVIDIA · Official 56 · Use with care ★ 3.8k today Apache-2.0
DOCA Capabilities Inspector ✓ NVIDIA · Official 56 · Use with care ★ 3.8k today Apache-2.0
DOCA PCC Diagnostic Counters ✓ NVIDIA · Official 56 · Use with care ★ 3.8k today Apache-2.0

Compared with the doca-comch library, this skill provides external, read-only inventory of servers and connections, while doca-comch handles program-side channel lifecycle. Channel changes belong to doca-comch, doca-setup, doca-hardware-safety, or BFB/RShim rather than this binary.

How did FollowSkills review this skill?

FollowSkills review · FSRS-2.0
Use with care
52/ 100 5-point scale 2.6 / 5
The upstream repository has new commits since this review. The score still applies to the reviewed revision shown and may not cover the latest changes.
1Trust16 / 25 · 3.2/5

The evidence defines the binary as read-only and explicitly warns against inventing destructive flags, while requiring inspection before state changes through other paths and declaring no credential requirement. However, the workflow still involves sudo, resourcedump, driver reloads, RShim/BFB, and other high-impact external actions without explicit user-confirmation gates, a concrete least-privilege matrix, output redaction guidance, or actionable rollback. The license metadata also conflicts with the supplied NOASSERTION metadata, so points are deducted.

2Reliability7 / 20 · 1.8/5

The files provide layered diagnosis, version checks, failure routing, and reinspection rules. However, SKILL.md, CAPABILITIES.md, and TASKS.md repeatedly describe nonexistent list/inspect/drain/restart surfaces; banners attempt to reinterpret them as conceptual actions, but the key workflow remains internally confusing. The benchmark reports a pass, yet its dataset is unavailable, and static review cannot verify commands or abnormal-input behavior, so only limited credit is awarded.

3Adaptability10 / 15 · 3.3/5

Trigger phrases, audience, prerequisites, platform sides, and out-of-scope cases are described clearly, including host versus BlueField visibility differences. Chinese-language support is not addressed, and core use depends on docs.nvidia.com plus a local DOCA/MFT environment without mainland-China reachability evidence or an offline alternative, so points are deducted.

4Convention8 / 15 · 2.7/5

The documentation is layered across SKILL.md, CAPABILITIES.md, and TASKS.md and includes loading order, boundaries, related skills, licensing, and some evaluation material. It lacks a stable changelog and clearly assigned maintenance responsibility; the SKILLCARD contains TBD signature/version fields, and license, path, and repository identity details conflict. Examples and troubleshooting FAQs are also limited, so points are deducted.

5Effectiveness6 / 15 · 2.0/5

The core value—guiding inspection of comch server and connection tables—is clear, and the benchmark reports strong evaluation results. However, the report omits the underlying dataset, the documentation provides no directly reusable real command/output examples or parser, and the workflow relies on nonexistent subcommand concepts while deferring to local --help and external documentation. The skill therefore only partially demonstrates directly usable completion.

6Verifiability5 / 10 · 2.5/5

The committed benchmark report, evals.json, skill card, and explicit source/documentation pointers provide limited auditability. The evaluation dataset is unavailable, there is no committed test suite or CI execution evidence covering the skill's key paths, and the external sources are not included in the supplied material. Static review cannot independently reproduce the conclusions, so the score is capped at 5.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Open a dimension to read why it scored that way

Reviewed Jul 20, 2026 Reviewed revision 55f18499943e Review evidence[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Evidence confidence:Low — Mostly static review, author material or a limited demo; useful for discovery, not high-risk decisions.

See the full review method →

FAQ

Does this skill change channel state?
No. It performs one scan-and-print operation and provides no drain, restart, or reset operation.
Why might the tool print an empty result?
There may be no visible channel, or there may be an installation, device-binding, discovery, permission, or version issue. The result should be compared with program state and the layered troubleshooting guidance.
What environment is required?
Linux with the DOCA SDK under /opt/mellanox/doca, the Comm Channel tooling subpackage, and usable MFT resourcedump. It can run from an x86 or Arm host or from the BlueField Arm side.

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