/doca-public-knowledge-map

license: Apache-2.0 AND CC-BY-4.0
name: doca-public-knowledge-map
description: >
  Use this skill when the user needs to locate authoritative
  information about NVIDIA DOCA without access to the source tree —
  finding the right docs.nvidia.com page for a library/service/tool,
  identifying which DOCA libraries are installed and at what version,
  locating a sample on disk or its public GitHub source, decoding an
  on-disk path under /opt/mellanox/doca, or recovering from a 404'd
  or renamed doc URL. Trigger even when the user does not explicitly
  mention 'DOCA' or 'docs.nvidia.com' — typical implicit phrasings
  include 'where can I read about this library', 'which version do I
  have installed', 'where is the sample for X', 'this NVIDIA URL is
  broken what is the new one', 'what is in /opt/mellanox/doca', or
  'where can I ask NVIDIA about this'. Refuse and route elsewhere
  for hands-on programming patterns, env prep and install
  verification, library API tutorials, or hardware/firmware
  mutation — those belong to doca-programming-guide, doca-setup, the
  per-library skills, and doca-hardware-safety.
metadata:
  kind: knowledge
compatibility: >
  No DOCA install required to read this skill (it is an overlay
  loaded against any DOCA artifact skill); the validation steps
  within this skill require a live DOCA install at /opt/mellanox/doca.

DOCA Public Knowledge Map

**Where to start:** Reach for this skill whenever the question is "where does the authoritative answer live?" — a docs page, the on-disk install layout, a sample, or an NGC catalog entry. Read [`## Public documentation entry points`](#public-documentation-entry-points) first; then jump to the routing-table section that matches the user's intent.

When to load this skill

Load this skill whenever the user asks anything about NVIDIA DOCA where the agent needs to **locate authoritative information** without access to the DOCA source tree. That includes **documentation-routing questions** about installing DOCA, building a sample, learning a DOCA library (Flow, DPA, Comm Channel, GPUNetIO, …), debugging an error, finding an API or error reference, finding a sample, release notes, or the developer forum. This skill locates the authoritative answer; hands-on installation, building, tutorials, and debugging route to the workflow-owning skills named in the frontmatter and [`## Related skills`](#related-skills).

This skill is intentionally a **routing table**, not a tutorial. Pick the entry that matches the user's intent, fetch the URL or inspect the local install path, and only then answer.

First-contact discovery — the four questions to ask before any drill-down

When a user opens with an open-ended orientation question (*"I'm new with DOCA, how do I start?"*, *"can you guide me?"*, *"what's the easiest way to try DOCA?"*), the agent does **not** have enough information yet to pick a path. Asking these four questions before drilling avoids wasted recommendations that the user cannot actually execute on their setup. Ask them as a single short message; do not interrogate one-at-a-time.

| Question | Why it matters | What it routes | | --- | --- | --- | | 1. **What OS are you on?** macOS, Windows, Linux laptop, cloud VM, lab Linux box, BlueField OS itself? | DOCA installs natively only on supported Linux distributions; macOS / Windows users cannot install it at all. | Picks between the four DOCA acquisition paths in [`doca-setup ## no-install`](../doca-setup/TASKS.md#no-install). macOS / Windows / no-Linux → Path 0 (NGC container). Supported Linux → Path A or B per the Installation Guide. | | 2. **What hardware do you have?** No NVIDIA hardware, ConnectX SmartNIC, BlueField as a SmartNIC in a host, BlueField as a standalone DPU, not sure? | Real-traffic runtime needs a real NIC; build / read / learn does not. The user's hardware decides which DOCA libraries are even relevant. | Picks the runtime story (container is build-only without hardware). Filters which libraries make sense to learn (Flow needs a real port to do anything visible; Comch needs a host ↔ DPU pair). | | 3. **What's your goal?** Just exploring, building a small first app on a specific library (Flow / RDMA / Comch / Telemetry / GPUNetIO / DPA / …), running an existing reference application, operating a service (DMS / DTS / BlueMan / Firefly), or something else? | The bundle's first-app workflow (`doca-programming-guide ## modify`) starts from a **shipped C sample** and edits down. The right sample depends on the library the user is targeting. | Picks which library skill (if any) to load next. If the user does not yet know which library — that itself is a routing answer (see the *Library- and module-specific guides* table above and let the user pick). | | 4. **Which language do you plan to write the program in?** C / C++, Rust, Go, Python, other? | DOCA's public surface is a C ABI. Non-C consumers go through FFI / language bindings (`doca-programming-guide CAPABILITIES.md ## Capabilities and modes` and the per-library skill). The C samples are the reference even when the user's language is not C. | Picks whether the agent's first-app guidance is *direct C build* or *FFI / bindings against the C ABI*. Does **not** change which sample the agent points at first. |

The four-question gate applies when an open-ended orientation, install, build, or run recommendation depends on the user's environment. For that class, **never recommend a specific install path, container tag, or runnable sample without first having the answers to questions 1–3** (question 4 is needed for the first-app workflow but not for orientation itself). Pure documentation lookups — a URL, API reference, sample location, version reference, or stale-link recovery — skip this gate and route directly. If the user cannot or will not answer a required question, state which environment-dependent recommendation cannot be made, give only the safe version-agnostic umbrella documentation rou