sodacat-soc-database - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: sodacat-soc-database description: > Query, browse, extract, and generate code from the sodaCat SoC/MCU hardware database (github.com/s13n/sodaCat). Use this skill whenever the user asks about microcontroller or SoC peripheral registers, hardware features, crypto/timer/ADC/DMA/UART capabilities, register maps, interrupt assignments, or pin configurations for supported chips. Also use when the user wants to compare peripherals across chip variants, extract new models from SVD files, generate C++ headers from YAML models, or look up which chip variants include a specific peripheral block. Trigger on mentions of sodaCat, STM32 register data, SVD extraction, MCU peripheral comparison, SoC data catalog, or any request to inspect hardware description YAML models. Covers STM32 (all families), NXP LPC, Raspberry Pi RP2040/RP2350, Microchip SAM, TI, and iMX processors.

sodaCat SoC Data Catalog

sodaCat is a hardware description database for microcontrollers and SoCs, stored as normalized YAML models. The repo lives at https://github.com/s13n/sodaCat.

Step 1: Ensure the repo is available

if [ -d "$HOME/sodaCat" ]; then
  cd "$HOME/sodaCat" && git pull
else
  cd "$HOME" && git clone https://github.com/s13n/sodaCat.git
fi

If cloning fails due to network restrictions, check whether the repo already exists at /home/claude/sodaCat (it may have been cloned in a prior turn).

Step 2: Read the architecture reference

Before doing anything else, read CLAUDE.md in the repo root:

cat "$HOME/sodaCat/CLAUDE.md"

This file is the definitive reference for the repository layout, directory roles, build commands, model organization (four-tier), the extraction pipeline (SVD → YAML → C++), the transformation framework, CMake integration, and all key conventions. Follow its guidance for any task.

Step 3: Work with the database

The YAML models in models/ are the primary artifact. Common tasks:

Look up peripherals for a chip: Read the chip-level YAML in its subfamily directory (e.g. models/ST/H7/H73x/STM32H735.yaml).
Inspect a peripheral's registers: Read the block YAML at the family level (e.g. models/ST/H7/CRYP.yaml).
Check which variants have a peripheral: Grep chip-level YAMLs for the block's model name.
Compare peripherals: Use tools/compare_peripherals.py.
Extract new models: Use extractors/generate_stm32_models.py for STM32, or per-chip scripts in extractors/ for other vendors.
Generate C++ headers: Use scripts in generators/cxx/.

Important notes

Always cd into the sodaCat directory before running scripts.
Python dependencies: ruamel.yaml and PyYAML (pip install -r requirements-dev.txt --break-system-packages).
Cross-family shared blocks (e.g. WWDG.yaml) live directly in models/ST/.
Some blocks exist only in specific subfamilies; check subfamily directories if not found at the family level.
The tasks/ directory contains AI agent task descriptions for writing parsers and generators.