MemBrowse Integration Skill

You are integrating MemBrowse memory analysis into an embedded firmware project. Follow these steps to identify build targets, create the configuration file, and set up GitHub workflows.

Step 1: Explore the Codebase to Identify Build Targets

First, understand what the project builds and how.

1.1 Search for Build System Files

# Find build configuration files
find . -name "Makefile*" -o -name "CMakeLists.txt" -o -name "*.mk" 2>/dev/null | head -20

# Look for board/port directories
find . -name "boards" -type d 2>/dev/null
find . -name "ports" -type d 2>/dev/null

# Check existing CI workflows for build patterns
ls -la .github/workflows/ 2>/dev/null

1.2 Analyze Existing CI Workflows

Read existing workflow files to understand:

• What targets are currently built
• What setup commands are used
• Where ELF files are output

1.3 Find Linker Scripts

# Find all linker scripts
find . -name "*.ld" -o -name "*.lds" 2>/dev/null

# Check Makefiles for linker script references
grep -r "LDSCRIPT\|\.ld\|-T " --include="Makefile*" --include="*.mk" 2>/dev/null | head -20

1.4 Find ELF Output Locations

# Check for ELF references in CI
grep -r "\.elf\|firmware" .github/workflows/ --include="*.yml" 2>/dev/null | head -20

# Common patterns to look for:
# - build/firmware.elf
# - build-BOARDNAME/firmware.elf
# - build/PROJECT_NAME.elf

Step 2: Collect Target Information

For each target you identify, gather:

Platform-Specific Setup Commands

ARM Cortex-M (STM32, SAMD, NXP, etc.):

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y gcc-arm-none-eabi libnewlib-arm-none-eabi

ESP32/ESP8266:

# Usually handled by project CI scripts or ESP-IDF setup
. $IDF_PATH/export.sh

RISC-V:

# Check project docs for specific toolchain
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y gcc-riscv64-unknown-elf

x86/Unix builds:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y build-essential libffi-dev pkg-config

Step 3: Ask User to Confirm Targets

Before creating files, present the discovered targets to the user and ask them to confirm or modify:

• Which targets should be included?
• Are the paths correct?
• Any missing setup commands?
• What is the default branch name (main/master)?

Step 4: Create membrowse-targets.json

Create .github/membrowse-targets.json with the confirmed targets:

[
  {
    "target_name": "target-identifier",
    "port": "port-name",
    "board": "BOARD_NAME",
    "setup_cmd": "setup commands here",
    "build_cmd": "build commands here",
    "elf": "path/to/firmware.elf",
    "ld": "path/to/linker.ld",
    "linker_vars": "optional_var=value"
  }
]

Field Notes

• target_name: Must be unique, used in artifact names
• ld: Space-separated if multiple scripts; empty string "" if none
• linker_vars: Only needed if linker scripts use undefined variables
• port and board: Used for ccache keys, can be empty strings

Step 5: Create GitHub Workflows

Create three workflow files in .github/workflows/:

5.1 membrowse-report.yml

name: Membrowse Memory Report

on:
  pull_request:
  push:
    branches:
      - main  # IMPORTANT: Change to match the project's default branch

concurrency:
  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
  cancel-in-progress: true

jobs:
  load-targets:
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
    outputs:
      matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v5

      - name: Load target matrix
        id: set-matrix
        run: echo "matrix=$(jq -c '.' .github/membrowse-targets.json)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

  analyze:
    needs: load-targets
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        include: ${{ fromJson(needs.load-targets.outputs.matrix) }}

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v5
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          submodules: recursive

      - name: Install packages
        run: ${{ matrix.setup_cmd }}

      - name: Setup ccache
        uses: hendrikmuhs/ccache-action@v1.2
        with:
          key: ${{ matrix.port }}-${{ matrix.board }}

      - name: Build firmware
        run: ${{ matrix.build_cmd }}

      - name: Run Membrowse PR Action
        id: analyze
        continue-on-error: true
        uses: membrowse/membrowse-action@v1
        with:
          target_name: ${{ matrix.target_name }}
          elf: ${{ matrix.elf }}
          ld: ${{ matrix.ld }}
          linker_vars: ${{ matrix.linker_vars }}
          api_key: ${{ secrets.MEMBROWSE_API_KEY }}
          api_url: ${{ vars.MEMBROWSE_API_URL }}
          verbose: INFO

      - name: Upload report artifact
        if: ${{ steps.analyze.outcome == 'success' }}
        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        with:
          name: membrowse-report-${{ matrix.target_name }}
          path: ${{ steps.analyze.outputs.report_path }}

5.2 membrowse-comment.yml

name: Membrowse PR Comment

on:
  workflow_run:
    workflows: [Membrowse Memory Report]
    types: [completed]

permissions:
  contents: read
  actions: read
  pull-requests: write

jobs:
  comment:
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
    if: github.event.workflow_run.event == 'pull_request' && github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success'
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v5

      - name: Download report artifacts
        id: download-reports
        uses: actions/github-script@v7
        with:
          result-encoding: string
          script: |
            const fs = require('fs');

            const allArtifacts = await github.rest.actions.listWorkflowRunArtifacts({
              owner: context.repo.owner,
              repo: context.repo.repo,
              run_id: context.payload.workflow_run.id,
            });

            const reportArtifacts = allArtifacts.data.artifacts.filter(
              artifact => artifact.name.startsWith('membrowse-report-')
            );

            if (reportArtifacts.length === 0) {
              console.log('No report artifacts found');
              return 'skip';
            }

            fs.mkdirSync('reports', { recursive: true });

            for (const artifact of reportArtifacts) {
              console.log(`Downloading ${artifact.name}...`);
              const download = await github.rest.actions.downloadArtifact({
                owner: context.repo.owner,
                repo: context.repo.repo,
                artifact_id: artifact.id,
                archive_format: 'zip',
              });

              const zipPath = `${artifact.name}.zip`;
              fs.writeFileSync(zipPath, Buffer.from(download.data));
              await exec.exec('unzip', ['-o', zipPath, '-d', 'reports']);
            }

            return 'ok';

      - name: Post combined PR comment
        if: steps.download-reports.outputs.result == 'ok'
        uses: membrowse/membrowse-action/comment-action@v1
        with:
          json_files: "reports/*.json"
        env:
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

5.3 membrowse-onboard.yml

name: Onboard to Membrowse

on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      num_commits:
        description: 'Number of commits to process'
        required: true
        default: '100'
        type: string

jobs:
  load-targets:
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
    outputs:
      matrix: ${{ steps.set-matrix.outputs.matrix }}
    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v5

      - name: Load target matrix
        id: set-matrix
        run: echo "matrix=$(jq -c '.' .github/membrowse-targets.json)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

  onboard:
    needs: load-targets
    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
    strategy:
      fail-fast: false
      matrix:
        include: ${{ fromJson(needs.load-targets.outputs.matrix) }}

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v5
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
          submodules: recursive

      - name: Install packages
        run: ${{ matrix.setup_cmd }}

      - name: Setup ccache
        uses: hendrikmuhs/ccache-action@v1.2
        with:
          key: ${{ matrix.port }}-${{ matrix.board }}

      - name: Run Membrowse Onboard Action
        uses: membrowse/membrowse-action/onboard-action@v1
        with:
          target_name: ${{ matrix.target_name }}
          num_commits: ${{ github.event.inputs.num_commits }}
          build_script: ${{ matrix.build_cmd }}
          elf: ${{ matrix.elf }}
          ld: ${{ matrix.ld }}
          linker_vars: ${{ matrix.linker_vars }}
          api_key: ${{ secrets.MEMBROWSE_API_KEY }}
          api_url: ${{ vars.MEMBROWSE_API_URL }}

Step 6: Inform User About Secrets

After creating the files, tell the user they need to configure:

1. Repository Secret: MEMBROWSE_API_KEY - API key from MemBrowse dashboard
2. Repository Variable: MEMBROWSE_API_URL - API URL (optional, defaults to https://www.membrowse.com)

Location: Repository Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions

Step 7: Provide Testing Instructions

Tell the user how to test:

1. Test Report Workflow: Create a PR to trigger membrowse-report.yml
2. Test Onboard Workflow: Go to Actions → "Onboard to Membrowse" → Run workflow with 10 commits first

Troubleshooting Reference

If builds fail:

• Ensure all dependencies are in setup_cmd
• Check if submodules need git submodule update --init --recursive
• Verify paths are relative to repository root

If linker parsing fails:

• Add required variables to linker_vars
• Check linker scripts exist at specified paths
• Empty ld field is valid but limits analysis

If ELF not found:

• Verify build completes before analysis step
• Check board name in output path
• Add ls -la path/to/build/ after build step to debug