Doca Pcc Counters
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
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
Download the skill as a ZIP:
https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/nvidia/doca-pcc-counters/downloadUnzip 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 companionthe
set-then-queryinvocation 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 companionthe tasks companion.
"A counter is stuck at zero — is the device idle, the counters not armed, or genuinely no events?" — worked example: "
PCC_CNP_COUNTreads 0 afterquery". 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.shpresent and where does the install put it". Answered by the install overlay in the capabilities companion, which redirects to the canonicaldoca-version/SKILL.mdrules.
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-pccalgorithm's effect with the device-level PCC diagnostic counters (the script reads the firmware counters; the custom algorithm itself is a separate surface owned bydoca-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
seton a target mst device.Reading the armed counters with
queryand 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.shdoes: the exact two-operation surface (setarms the device's diagnostic counters by writing counter IDs + params to debugfs;queryreads thediag_cnt/dumpand prints the named counters), the FIXED firmware / HW counter set it knows (PCC_CNP_COUNT, theMAD_RTT_PERF_CONT_*, the*_EVENT_WRED_DROPfamily,HANDLED_*_EVENTS, theDROP_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 todoca-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 flagssetas 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(theset-then-querysequence),test(confirm the dump contains the named counters with finite values),debug(the layered diagnosis ladder), plus aDeferred task verbsblock and aCommand 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.shhas exactly two operations (set,query), takes exactly two positional arguments, and has NO--help,--version,list,snapshot,watch, ordiff. 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/orreference/subtree. This is a thin loader for a documented script; substantive material lives in the script and the public PCC documentation.
Loading order
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).
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.
For the documented invocations —
configure,build,modify,run,test,debug, plus theCommand appendix— see the tasks companion.
Related skills
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 counterspcc_counters.shreads exist independently of any customdoca-pcckernel, 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 compatibilitysection 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
- ATTRIBUTION.mdAdded by AutoGineer909 B
- BENCHMARK.md9.9 KiB
- CAPABILITIES.md13.1 KiB
- LICENSELicence file added by AutoGineer11.2 KiB
- SKILL.md11.7 KiB
- SKILLCARD.yaml2.8 KiB
- TASKS.md13.6 KiB
- evals/evals.json2.4 KiB
- skill-card.md5.2 KiB
- skill.oms.sig5.1 KiB
LICENSE
Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
Apache License
Version 2.0, January 2004
http://www.apache.org/licenses/
TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION
1. Definitions.
"License" shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction,
and distribution as defined by Sections 1 through 9 of this document.
"Licensor" shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by
the copyright owner that is granting the License.
"Legal Entity" shall mean the union of the acting entity and all
other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common
control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition,
"control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the
direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or
otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.
"You" (or "Your") shall mean an individual or Legal Entity
exercising permissions granted by this License.
"Source" form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications,
including but not limited to software source code, documentation
source, and configuration files.
"Object" form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical
transformation or translation of a Source form, including but
not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation,
and conversions to other media types.
"Work" shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or
Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a
copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work
(an example is provided in the Appendix below).
"Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object
form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the
editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes
of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain
separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of,
the Work and Derivative Works thereof.
"Contribution" shall mean any work of authorship, including
the original version of the Work and any modifications or additions
to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally
submitted to Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner
or by an individual or Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of
the copyright owner. For the purposes of this definition, "submitted"
means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent
to the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to
communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems,
and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, the
Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but
excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise
designated in writing by the copyright owner as "Not a Contribution."
"Contributor" shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity
on behalf of whom a Contribution has been received by Licensor and
subsequently incorporated within the Work.
2. Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of,
publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the
Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.
3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
(except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made,
use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work,
where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable
by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their
Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s)
with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You
institute patent litigation against any entity (including a
cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work
or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct
or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses
granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate
as of the date such litigation is filed.
4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the
Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without
modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
meet the following conditions:
(a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or
Derivative Works a copy of this License; and
(b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices
stating that You changed the files; and
(c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works
that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
attribution notices from the Source form of the Work,
excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of
the Derivative Works; and
(d) If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its
distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must
include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not
pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one
of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed
as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or
documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or,
within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and
wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents
of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and
do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution
notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside
or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided
that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed
as modifying the License.
You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and
may provide additional or different license terms and conditions
for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your modifications, or
for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use,
reproduction, and distribution of the Work otherwise complies with
the conditions stated in this License.
5. Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise,
any Contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the Work
by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and conditions of
this License, without any additional terms or conditions.
Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify
the terms of any separate license agreement you may have executed
with Licensor regarding such Contributions.
6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade
names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the
origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.
7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or
agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each
Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions
of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the
appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any
risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License.
8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory,
whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly
negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be
liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special,
incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a
result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the
Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill,
work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor
has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
9. Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing
the Work or Derivative Works thereof, You may choose to offer,
and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty, indemnity,
or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this
License. However, in accepting such obligations, You may act only
on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility, not on behalf
of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify,
defend, and hold each Contributor harmless for any liability
incurred by, or claims asserted against, such Contributor by reason
of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.
END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS
APPENDIX: How to apply the Apache License to your work.
To apply the Apache License to your work, attach the following
boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]"
replaced with your own identifying information. (Don't include
the brackets!) The text should be enclosed in the appropriate
comment syntax for the file format. We also recommend that a
file or class name and description of purpose be included on the
same "printed page" as the copyright notice for easier
identification within third-party archives.
Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at
http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
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.
Security
What our scanner noticed· Medium risk
- Large base64-encoded blobs
A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.
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)
- Synced
AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by NVIDIA or NVIDIA.
Download ZIP
The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download doca-pcc-counters.zip