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Jetson Build Source

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Efficiently rebuild kernel-side artifacts for Jetson.

by nvidia2.8k stars on nvidia/skills
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Updated Aug 7, 2026
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Free · Opens the source repo

What Jetson Build Source does

The Jetson Build Source skill is designed to facilitate the rebuilding of kernel-side artifacts such as Device Tree Blobs (DTBs), Out-Of-Tree (OOT) modules, and the kernel image itself. It operates by monitoring changes in the <source.root_path>/bsp_sources/ directory and generates a manifest for the jetson-promote-image process to stage these outputs into the BSP image. This skill is particularly useful for developers working with NVIDIA Jetson platforms who need to customize and maintain their kernel builds effectively.

To use this skill, users must ensure that their environment is correctly set up with the necessary prerequisites, including an active target-platform profile and a populated bsp_sources directory. The skill supports various build modes, allowing users to specify what components to rebuild based on the state of their source repository. This flexibility is crucial for managing complex builds where different parts of the kernel may change independently.

The skill operates as part of a larger workflow that includes setup, customization, build, and deployment stages. It is invoked automatically at the end of a customization process or can be run manually when needed. By leveraging existing NVIDIA build primitives, the Jetson Build Source skill avoids duplicating logic, ensuring that builds are efficient and reliable. This makes it an essential tool for developers looking to streamline their Jetson development process.

Overall, this skill is tailored for developers and engineers who require a robust solution for managing kernel builds on NVIDIA Jetson devices, helping them to maintain control over their customizations and build processes.

When to use it

Use this skill when you have made changes to kernel-side sources and need to rebuild the corresponding artifacts for your Jetson platform.

When not to use it

This skill is not suitable for non-kernel-related changes or for users without an active target-platform profile set up.

What you can build with it

Rebuilding After Customization

Invoke the skill after making changes to kernel-side sources to ensure all necessary artifacts are rebuilt.

Manual Rebuild for Updates

Run the skill manually after pulling updates from a shared repository to rebuild any affected components.

Forced Rebuild for Specific Modes

Use the skill to force a rebuild in a specific mode when preparing for a manual deployment.

How to install Jetson Build Source

View source

1. Install with the skills CLI

npx skills add nvidia/skills/jetson-build-source --agent claude-code

2. Or install it manually

Download the skill folder and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or .claude/skills/ to scope it to one repo. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new skill.

Anthropic's agentic coding CLI, and the reference implementation of Agent Skills. Drop a skill folder into ~/.claude/skills and Claude Code loads it automatically whenever a task matches the skill's description. Claude Code docs

Inside SKILL.md

Written by nvidia

Build BSP Source

Purpose

Rebuild the kernel-side artifacts (DTBs, OOT modules, in-tree modules, kernel Image) implied by changes under <source.root_path>/bsp_sources/, and write a manifest that /jetson-promote-image reads to stage those outputs into the BSP image. The skill never writes into <bsp_image.root_path> itself.

Prerequisites

  • Active target-platform profile with bsp_image: and source.toolchain: resolved (run /jetson-init-image and /jetson-init-source first).
  • <source.root_path>/bsp_sources/ populated with the kernel-side checkout layout /jetson-init-source materializes.
  • <bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/source/kernel_src_build_env.sh present (extracted from public_sources.tbz2).
  • Host packages: flex, bison, libssl-dev (hard); git, build-essential, bc, zstd (warn-only).
  • Cross-toolchain at ${source.toolchain}gcc resolvable on disk.

Overview

This skill is the Build stage of the workflow — see ../../context/bsp-customization-workflow.md for where it sits in the Setup → Customize → Build → Deploy pipeline and what triggers it. The skill takes source-side customization commits, rebuilds the implied artifacts, and records which were rebuilt in a manifest. Outputs stay in-tree under <source.root_path>/bsp_sources/; jetson-promote-image reads the manifest at Deploy to copy each rebuilt artifact into the matching path under <bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/.

Overlay-only edits (nvpmodel.conf, nvfancontrol.conf, BPMP DTB) skip Build — customize-* stages them directly to the overlay tracker; BPMP DTB uses the dtc decompile → edit → recompile loop in ../../references/bsp-customization-bpmp-dtb.md.

Custom-overlay slot ownership. Kernel-DT customizations from every customize-* skill collect into a single composite tegra<soc>-<carrier-id-sku>+<module-id>-xxxx-custom.dts per active target — see ../../references/bsp-customization-kernel-dtb.md for the filename / location / append protocol. This skill is the sole owner of the composite's per-dir Makefile registration (dtbo-y += <name>.dtbo) and the carrier flash conf's OVERLAY_DTB_FILE+= line (the "Register composite custom overlay" step).

Four build modes matched to the dirty-repo profile:

ModeWhat's builtAuto-picks when
dtNVIDIA DTBs onlyonly hardware/nvidia/* or kernel-devicetree dirty
ootOOT modules (six repos)only OOT repos dirty
kernelKernel Image + full in-tree .ko set + kernel-side dtbsonly kernel/$KERNEL_SRC_DIR dirty
fullEverything above + optional install consolidationmixed dirty set

Mode selection: auto (default — invoke /jetson-build-source with no argument) walks the dirty-repo set; force a specific mode by passing it as the skill argument.

Design principle: delegate to upstream. Every build primitive already exists in <bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/source/ — the env file, top-level Makefile (nvidia-dtbs / modules / modules_install), kernel Makefile (kernel / install). The skill drives those primitives against <source.root_path>/bsp_sources/ — never duplicates their logic in shell.

When to invoke

  • Auto-chained at the end of a Customize customize-* invocation whenever Customize committed to a kernel-side source repo.
  • Manual re-run via /jetson-build-source [<mode>] when:
    • the auto-chained build was interrupted,
    • source commits arrived via git pull from other users,
    • the user wants to force a rebuild without a fresh edit,
    • the user wants a specific mode (e.g. install consolidation for a manual scp deploy to a DUT).

Instructions

Resolve active target + paths + upstream env

Resolve the active profile per ../../context/target-platform-contract.md. Refuse and route in these cases:

ConditionRoute to
No active profile, or active: NA/jetson-set-target or /jetson-init-target
Profile lacks bsp_image:/jetson-init-image
Profile lacks source.toolchain:/jetson-init-source
<source.root_path>/bsp_sources/ missing or empty/jetson-init-source
<bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/source/kernel_src_build_env.sh missing/jetson-init-image (BSP not properly extracted)

Bind:

WORKSPACE=<parent of target-platform/>
BSP_SRC=<bsp_image.root_path>/Linux_for_Tegra/source   # NVIDIA's build primitives
KS=<source.root_path>/bsp_sources                      # our kernel-side checkout
KOUT=<source.root_path>/.build/kernel-out              # DT-mode out-of-tree build dir
STAGE=<source.root_path>/.build/install-stage          # install consolidation (full mode / opt-in)
STATE=<source.root_path>/.build-state.yaml             # per-repo watermark
MANIFEST=<source.root_path>/.build-manifest.yaml       # rebuilt-artifact list for jetson-promote-image

Source the NVIDIA build env to inherit canonical names — never hardcode kernel-noble, the OOT module list, or KERNEL_DEF_CONFIG:

source "$BSP_SRC/kernel_src_build_env.sh"
# Now in scope: KERNEL_SRC_DIR (e.g. kernel-noble), KERNEL_DEF_CONFIG,
# OOT_SOURCE_LIST, kernel_name (e.g. noble), KERNEL_MODULAR_BUILD

Refuse if $KS/kernel/$KERNEL_SRC_DIR/ is missing or if any name in $OOT_SOURCE_LIST is missing under $KS/. Route to /jetson-init-source.

Resolve toolchain (read-only)

Read source.toolchain from the active profile (authored by jetson-init-source). Validate:

export ARCH=arm64
export CROSS_COMPILE=<source.toolchain>   # trailing dash mandatory
[ -f "${CROSS_COMPILE}gcc" ] || refuse \
  "source.toolchain points at ${CROSS_COMPILE}gcc which does not exist. Re-run /jetson-init-source."

A trailing dash on CROSS_COMPILE is mandatory — kbuild treats it as a prefix (${CROSS_COMPILE}gcc); a missing dash breaks with command not found. The [ -f ] check catches it before any make runs.

This skill never prompts for the toolchain or attempts to resolve a missing one — that's jetson-init-source's exclusive responsibility. A missing field is a Setup gap; route there.

Verify build-host prerequisites once:

for p in flex bison libssl-dev; do
  dpkg -s "$p" >/dev/null 2>&1 || refuse "host package missing: $p"
done
for p in git build-essential bc zstd; do
  dpkg -s "$p" >/dev/null 2>&1 || warn "host package missing: $p"
done

Detect dirty source repos

The watermark file $STATE records the last successfully built commit per kernel-side repo. The repo list is derived at runtime from OOT_SOURCE_LIST + kernel/$KERNEL_SRC_DIR. For each repo: HEAD ≠ watermark → dirty; uncommitted edits (git diff --quiet non-zero) → also dirty.

Branch-A note: when bsp_sources/ is one mono-repo with a single .git, every canonical sub-path shares the same HEAD — the watermark schema still keys per-sub-path and the dirty set still works (any change anywhere flips every sub-path's HEAD).

If STATE is absent (first build), treat all repos as clean unless the auto-chain context says "Customize just committed". If DIRTY is empty and no mode argument was passed: report "nothing to build" and return.

Pick build mode

Map the dirty set to a mode (auto), or honor the mode argument:

Dirty repos (auto)Mode
Only hardware/nvidia/* or kernel-devicetreedt
Only OOT subset of $OOT_SOURCE_LISToot
Only kernel/$KERNEL_SRC_DIRkernel
Any mix spanning the abovefull

Modes are union-able: full runs kernelootdt in that order (kernel produces headers OOT needs; nvidia-dtbs uses the same generated headers). A manually passed mode argument skips auto-detection.

Execute build

Common setup + per-mode build snippets

Common setup (validate orchestrator Makefiles, cd $KS) and the exact make invocations for each mode (dt, oot, kernel, full) plus the optional install consolidation pass live in references/build-modes.md. Drive the relevant mode's snippet against the bindings from the "Resolve active target + paths + upstream env" step.

Register composite custom overlay (dt + full only)

Skip unless the selected mode is dt or full. The composite overlay slot is documented in ../../references/bsp-customization-kernel-dtb.md; this sub-step owns the build / Makefile / flash-conf side of it.

Resolve the composite path for the active target ($COMPOSITE_BASE, $COMPOSITE_DTS, $COMPOSITE_MK) using the active profile's chip family, carrier ID/SKU, and module ID — full snippet in references/composite-registration.md.

Gate (symmetric). $COMPOSITE_DTS drives both directions: present → apply the two idempotent patches below; absent → run the cleanup pass to strip any stale dtbo-y += / OVERLAY_DTB_FILE+= line from a prior run. Either path keeps OVERLAY_DTB_FILE+= from referencing an unbuilt .dtbo — the build-time enforcement of the no-direct-in-tree-DT-edits rule.

  1. Per-dir Makefile — append dtbo-y += <name>.dtbo after the last literal-named dtbo-y += entry. Inserting after the $(old-dtbo) merge-back line skips the $(addprefix makefile-path/,…) prefix pass and the build silently drops the composite. Commit to the bsp_sources/ mono-repo. Full snippet + rationale: references/composite-registration.md.
  2. Carrier flash conf — append OVERLAY_DTB_FILE+=",<name>.dtbo" with first-touch pristine import on the overlay tracker. On a fresh workspace the tracker is empty git-init; import the conf from bsp_image and commit as pristine: before the customization commit (workflow contract). Full snippet: references/composite-registration.md.

The composite's parent sub-repo flipping HEAD during a customize-* append is what the "Detect dirty source repos" step's dirty detection consumes — no extra bookkeeping needed here.

Self-check before invoking nvidia-dtbs:

grep -qxF "dtbo-y += ${COMPOSITE_BASE}.dtbo" "$COMPOSITE_MK" \
  || refuse "Composite Makefile registration missing after patch."
grep -qxF "$line" "$FLASH_CONF" \
  || refuse "Composite flash-conf registration missing after patch."

Write the build manifest

Walk the DIRTY set and emit a manifest entry per implied artifact, following the trace-to-dirty policy — only artifacts traceable to a dirty source repo. Promoting baseline-divergence noise would attribute it to a customization's audit trail (forbidden).

The full source → kbuild → destination mapping, YAML schema, and filter rules live in references/manifest-schema.md.

Atomic write: stage to ${MANIFEST}.tmp, then mv -f.

Update watermark + summary

On success, rewrite $STATE with the new per-repo HEADs, toolchain, bsp_image.version, and last-run mode (schema in references/manifest-schema.md).

Report:

  • Toolchain (from source.toolchain).
  • Build mode: <dt|oot|kernel|full> (auto-picked or forced by skill argument).
  • Dirty repos and their new HEADs.
  • Artifacts built: counts per kind (.dtb, in-tree .ko, OOT .ko, Image).
  • Manifest path + entry count.
  • Consolidated install stage path (if the "Install consolidation" step ran).
  • Next step: /jetson-promote-image.

If a Customize skill triggered this run, prompt the user to re-issue their original request.

Limitations

The top tier — failure modes that block a build or silently produce wrong artifacts. See references/long-tail-gotchas.md for invariants, deploy patterns, and performance hints.

  • Toolchain resolution is jetson-init-source's job. This skill only reads source.toolchain and exports CROSS_COMPILE. Missing field → refuse and route, never resolve in-skill.
  • R36.x Branch-A $KS/Makefile collision. R36.x's public_sources.tbz2 can leave the dGPU/OpenRM proprietary Makefile at $KS/Makefile instead of the Tegra orchestrator; its modules target recurses into kernel-open/ + src/nvidia/, pulls host /lib/modules headers, and breaks arm64 cross-builds with '-mlittle-endian' unrecognized. R38+ extractions are unaffected. /jetson-init-source's step 3a is the primary defense (extract-time); the "Common setup" check here is the safety net. Don't relax the regex.
  • Kernel-DT changes: composite-overlay-only, split ownership. Direct edits to in-tree .dts / .dtsi files under bsp_sources/ are forbidden for customize-* skills — every kernel-DT change lands as a fragment in the composite overlay slot (rule + rationale). The composite .dts content is owned by each customize-* skill; the build / Makefile / flash-conf registration is owned by this skill (gated on the composite .dts existing — so OVERLAY_DTB_FILE+= can't reference an unbuilt .dtbo).
  • the "Register composite custom overlay" step Makefile insertion point matters. Insert after the last literal-named dtbo-y += entry; inserting after $(old-dtbo) skips the $(addprefix makefile-path/,…) prefix pass and the build silently drops your .dtbo. The regex ^dtbo-y *+= *[a-zA-Z0-9] filters correctly; do not relax it.
  • the "Register composite custom overlay" step first-touch needs pristine import. On a fresh workspace the overlay tracker is empty git-init — the carrier flash conf is imported from bsp_image and committed as pristine: before the customization commit. Both commits go through the workflow acceptance gate.
  • Avoid bare $0 in shell snippets inside this SKILL.md. When invoked with an argument, the harness expands skill-body $0 against the caller's $0 before handing the rendered prompt to the model. Use sed-based line splicing or awk -v ROW="$0". See references/composite-registration.md.
  • No overlay staging. Build outputs stay where the build put them; the manifest is the contract to jetson-promote-image. Deliberate divergence from the original overlay→promote indirection — keeps the full build output set out of the overlay tracker's git history.
  • KERNEL_HEADERS vs KERNEL_OUTPUT in DT mode. Different semantics (srctree vs objtree); do not collapse. the "DT-only" step's snippet is correct as written.
  • OOT mode prereq: previously-built kernel headers. A manual oot invocation against a never-built tree refuses with "run kernel (or full) first" rather than producing a confusing build error.

Examples

Auto-detect mode from the dirty source tree (typical invocation):

/jetson-build-source

Force a single mode (skips auto-detect):

/jetson-build-source dt       # rebuild NVIDIA DTBs only
/jetson-build-source oot      # rebuild OOT modules only
/jetson-build-source kernel   # rebuild kernel Image + in-tree modules
/jetson-build-source full     # rebuild everything + install consolidation

Typical chain after a customize-* skill commits to a kernel-side repo (the customize-* skill calls this automatically):

/jetson-customize-pcie ...   # commits to hardware/nvidia/.../nv-public
   ↓
/jetson-build-source         # auto-picks `dt` from the dirty set
   ↓
/jetson-promote-image        # reads .build-manifest.yaml, stages into bsp_image
   ↓
/jetson-flash-image          # flashes

Troubleshooting

ErrorCauseSolution
source.toolchain points at <...>gcc which does not existToolchain field stale (path moved, install missing)Re-run /jetson-init-source to re-resolve. This skill never resolves toolchain itself.
No rule to make target '$KOUT/scripts/Makefile.compiler'KERNEL_HEADERS set to $KOUT instead of $KS/kernel/$KERNEL_SRC_DIRUse the DT-mode snippet in references/build-modes.md verbatim — srctree vs objtree must not collapse.
'-mlittle-endian' unrecognized during make modulesR36.x Branch-A $KS/Makefile collision — dGPU/OpenRM Makefile in place of Tegra orchestratorThe Common-setup safety net normally repairs it; if not, git checkout HEAD -- Makefile then re-run /jetson-init-source step 3a.
run kernel (or full) first on manual oot invocationKernel source tree never preparedRun /jetson-build-source kernel (or full) once, then oot.
nothing to build and dirty edits existEdits uncommitted in a sub-repo but .build-state.yaml watermark already matches HEADCommit the edits, or re-run with an explicit mode argument (/jetson-build-source dt etc.).
Composite .dtbo silently missing from the output setPer-dir Makefile insertion landed after $(old-dtbo) merge-back lineSee references/composite-registration.md — insert after the last literal-named dtbo-y += entry.
Promote step copies stale baseline artifactsTrace-to-dirty filter skipped after a manual cp into $KSOnly edit via a customize-* skill or git; the dirty detector keys on git HEAD, not file mtime.
host package missing: <pkg>flex/bison/libssl-dev refuse; others warn.sudo apt install <pkg> per references/upstream-recipe.md.

See also

Frequently asked questions about Jetson Build Source

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