Agent skill · software engineering · nvidia
doca-dpa
Use this skill when the user is doing hands-on DOCA DPA host-side work on a BlueField — creating the `doca_dpa` Core context, loading a DPACC-compiled DPA app image (`doca_dpa_app`), creating DPA threads, launching kernels via `doca_dpa_kernel_launch_update_*`, draining `doca_dpa_completion`, running `doca_dpa_cap_*` discovery, choosing between the DPA comm component (inter-DPA messaging) and the DPA verbs component (in-kernel RDMA), or debugging `DOCA_ERROR_*` from `doca_dpa_*`. Trigger even without "DOCA DPA" or "Data-Path Accelerator": "run compute on the DPA from my host", "DPA kernel hangs, no completion", "DOCA_ERROR_DRIVER on launch", "DOCA/DPACC version skew", or "does this BlueField expose a DPA". Route elsewhere for DPA-side kernel programming itself, DPACC compiler internals, host↔DPU messaging (doca-comch), host-side RDMA (doca-rdma), and GPU-initiated networking (doca-gpunetio).
Why this skill is useful
Adds specific commands and workflows for managing DPA applications on BlueField DPUs that are not covered in public documentation.
What it needs
Requires doca installed locally. About 9k tokens when loaded. Last updated 2026-08-07. 2,816 stars on the source repository.
What this skill does
DOCA DPA Examples "Run compute on the DPA from my host." — this is in scope. Stay on docadpa + a DPACC-built image; do not rewrite it as host-CPU or GPUNetIO. "DPA kernel hangs, no completion." — drain docadpacompletion and check DOCA/DPACC version skew before changing the kernel. Instructions Follow Loading order below. Open the tasks companion for configure / launch / debug. Open the capabilities companion for threads vs kernels and the DPA cap query. Do not open every companion file. Where to start: This skill assumes DOCA is already installed, the user's BlueField has a DPA processor and the host can see it through DOCA, and the user is doing hands-on DPA work from the host side — i.e. using doca-dpa to load a DPA application image, launch DPA kernels, and exchange data with the DPA processor. Open the tasks companion if the user wants to do something (configure / build / modify / run / test / debug); open the capabilities companion when the question is what can the host-side DPA API express on this version + this BlueField generation. If the user has not installed DOCA yet, route to doca-setup/SKILL.md first; if the user is asking how to write the DPA-side kernel itself (the code that runs on the DPA processor, compiled by dpacc), that is a different scope — route via doca-public-knowledge-map/SKILL.md to the public DOCA DPA / DPACC / DPA-Comms / DPA-Verbs guides (this skill does not redefine those DPA-side surfaces). Audience This skill serves external developers building applications that consume the DOCA DPA library from the host side — i.e., users whose code calls docadpa from host C / C++ to stand up the per-DPA-instance context, load a DPA application image that dpacc produced from their DPA-side source, create one or more DPA threads, launch DPA kernels with arguments, and drain completions. …
How to use it
Reference it in AdaL, Claude Code, Cursor or any coding agent — nothing to install:
@skills nvidia/doca-dpa