DOCA Telemetry Traceback Application

Scope boundaries

These requests are out of scope: say so, name the skill that owns the request, and stop.

• the DOCA Telemetry Diag programming API and raw counter reads: doca-telemetry/SKILL.md.
• DOCA install and bring-up: doca-setup/SKILL.md.
• which DOCA version is installed, version consistency: doca-version/SKILL.md.
• general DOCA orientation and documentation lookup: doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md.

Examples

• “Can I monitor telemetry trends on the DPU without streaming all raw data?” — in scope. Configure rules and sample history depth; do not use the DOCA Telemetry Diag API directly here.
• “The event log is empty even though a threshold was crossed.” — check rule comparison_type and sample_history_depth; differential rules require depth samples before functioning.
• “How do I build only this application?” — use the Meson isolation flags; see the tasks companion.
• “I'm writing my own C code against the DOCA Telemetry Diag library to read counters.” — that part is doca-telemetry's: the application uses Diag internally, but programming the Diag API is not this skill. Name doca-telemetry for it and do not write Diag API code here; handle every other part of the request as this skill describes (for example, --force-ownership still goes through doca-hardware-safety).

Quick facts

The authoritative source for the binary name, flags, and paths is the public DOCA Telemetry Traceback guide for the release; confirm them with the installed tool's --help before quoting any of them. As that guide describes it:

• Standalone application on a BlueField DPU or ConnectX NIC; four components: DOCA Telemetry Diag instance, sample history circular buffer, rule collection, and events log file.
• Configuration JSON fields: diag_sample_period_ns, sample_history_depth, data-ids array, and rules array. Rule types are incremental_greater_than (inc_gt), differential_greater_than (dt_gt), differential_less_than (dt_lt), greater_than (gt), and less_than (lt).
• The circular buffer size is automatically doubled based on the requested depth to ensure equal historical and active event data.
• Requires sudo/root privileges; mandatory -d PCIe address and -r rules JSON; optional --event-log and --force-ownership.
• Unsupported data IDs are reported; adjust inputs accordingly.
• The application stops if the actual sample size or period does not match the requested parameters.
• --force-ownership changes diag domain ownership; route any use of it through doca-hardware-safety/SKILL.md.

Instructions

Follow Loading order below. Open the tasks companion for configure / build / run / debug. Open the capabilities companion for what the application monitors and logs. Do not open every companion file.

Where to start: This is a tool skill for invoking the DOCA Telemetry Traceback application — the local telemetry monitoring and traceback logging service that processes telemetry data on the device and writes event logs when user-defined rules trigger. Open the tasks companion and start at ## configure for the JSON configuration and rule definitions, then ## run for compile and execution. Open the capabilities companion when the question is what data can be monitored, what rules evaluate, and what the event log contains. If the user has not installed DOCA yet, route to doca-setup/SKILL.md first. If the user asks about version, route to doca-version/SKILL.md. If any step changes hardware or firmware state (e.g., --force-ownership), route to doca-hardware-safety/SKILL.md.

How to use this skill. Read this file, then search the companion file for the ## <name> heading the question needs and read that whole section. Answer completely from it, quoting only its symbols and commands. Do not browse docs; use the entry points in doca-public-knowledge-map. Give environment checks as commands for the user's DOCA host. For out-of-scope requests, name the skill that owns them and stop.

Compile and run commands are documented in the tasks companion; the authoritative source is the public guide. The application is distributed as source and must be compiled before execution. The source is located at /opt/mellanox/doca/applications/telemetry/traceback/.

Example questions this skill answers well

The CLASSES of telemetry-traceback 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 set up local telemetry monitoring with traceback logging?” — worked example: “I want to monitor port_0_rx_bytes on the DPU and log history before and after it exceeds 1 MB/s”. Answered by the JSON configuration and rule definitions in the tasks companion.
• “What rule types are available and when do they activate/deactivate?” — worked example: “I need a rule that triggers each time a counter increases by a threshold, not just when it exceeds a fixed value”. Answered by the rule definitions in the capabilities companion.
• “Why is my differential rule not triggering?” — worked example: “I configured differential_greater_than but the event log stays empty”. Answered by the depth requirement and delta logic in the capabilities companion.
• “How do I compile and run only this application?” — worked example: “I want to build just the Telemetry Traceback app, not all DOCA applications”. Answered by the Meson isolation flags in the tasks companion.
• “What does the event log contain when multiple events overlap?” — worked example: “Two rules trigger at the same time; how are begin/end markers written?”. Answered by the event log lifecycle in the capabilities companion.
• “How do I know if my device supports the data IDs I configured?” — worked example: “The application reports unsupported IDs; what do I do?”. Answered by the unsupported data ID handling in the tasks companion.

When to load this skill

Load this skill when the user is — or the agent needs to — drive the DOCA Telemetry Traceback application on a real host or BlueField Arm with DOCA installed (or inside the public NGC DOCA container with the right device passthrough). Concretely:

• Configuring JSON rules and data IDs for local telemetry monitoring.
• Compiling the application from source.
• Running the application with a PCIe address and rules file.
• Diagnosing an empty event log, unsupported data IDs, or sample size/period mismatch.
• Understanding rule activation/deactivation semantics.
• Cross-checking event log output against configured rules.

Do not load this skill for general DOCA orientation, the DOCA Telemetry Diag programming API, raw telemetry collection, DOCA install, or version questions. For those, route to doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md, doca-setup/SKILL.md, or doca-version/SKILL.md.

What this skill provides

This is a thin loader. Substantive material lives in two companion files:

• the capabilities companion — what the application monitors and logs: the four components, configuration schema, rule definitions with activation/deactivation triggers, event log lifecycle, unsupported data ID behavior, version overlay that redirects to doca-version/SKILL.md, and the safety policy for --force-ownership.
• the tasks companion — step-by-step workflows for the in-scope task verbs: configure (JSON config, rule selection), build (Meson compile all or only this app), run (execution syntax, root, PCIe address), debug (empty log, unsupported IDs, sample mismatch), plus a Command appendix that honors the bundle's doca-structured-tools-contract/SKILL.md 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 root privileges as required by the public guide.

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 Telemetry Traceback guide 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 application evolves. The skill routes the agent at those sources instead.
• Pre-baked example output. Output is install-, version-, and device-specific. A captured example will mislead an operator on a different platform / state.
• Wrappers, parsers, or scripts in any language that consume the application'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 DOCA artifact; substantive material lives on the public page and in --help.

Loading order

1. Read this skill first to confirm the user's question is in scope (the user wants to monitor telemetry data locally and capture traceback event logs, not use the DOCA Telemetry Diag programming API directly).
2. For what the application monitors, the configuration schema, rule definitions, event log lifecycle, unsupported data ID behavior, version availability, and safety posture, see the capabilities companion.
3. For the documented invocations and workflows — configure, build, run, debug, plus the Command appendix — see the tasks companion.

Related skills

• doca-hardware-safety/SKILL.md — the bundle's hardware/firmware state-change gate. The Telemetry Traceback application is read-only for telemetry data, but the --force-ownership flag changes diag domain ownership; route any use of that flag through this skill before execution.
• doca-version/SKILL.md — canonical DOCA version-handling rules. The ## Version compatibility section in the capabilities companion is a concise overlay that redirects here for the body.
• 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.
• doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md — routing to the public DOCA Telemetry Traceback guide and the rest of the public DOCA documentation set. The canonical URL is reached via doca-public-knowledge-map ## DOCA tools (doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md#doca-tools).
• doca-structured-tools-contract/SKILL.md — the bundle's detect → prefer → fall back → report contract for structured helper tools. The Command appendix in the tasks companion honors this contract.