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name skill-add-component
description [Skill] Add a new component to Azure Linux. Use when importing packages from Fedora, creating comp.toml files, choosing inline vs dedicated definitions, or setting up a new component with overlays. Triggers: add component, new package, import from fedora, create comp.toml.

Add a Component

Before You Start

# Check if it already exists
azldev comp list -p <name> -q -O json

Inspect the upstream spec first

The fastest way to see what you're working with:

  1. Add a bare inline entry in components.toml: [components.<name>]
  2. Pull the spec: azldev comp prep-sources -p <name> --skip-overlays --force -o base/build/work/scratch/<name> -q
  3. Read the spec, plan your overlays
  4. Decide if overlays are required, if so: Remove the inline entry, create a dedicated <name>/<name>.comp.toml

Fedora dist-git is behind bot detection — direct web fetches often fail. Use prep-sources to pull specs reliably.

Note: prep-sources -o writes to the directory you specify — this is ad-hoc output, separate from the project's configured build output dirs in base/project.toml.

Decision: Inline vs Dedicated File

Inline (in components.toml) — simple upstream import, no modifications:

[components.jq]

Dedicated file (<name>/<name>.comp.toml) — needs overlays, build config, or local spec:

# <name>/<name>.comp.toml
[components.<name>]

[[components.<name>.overlays]]
description = "Why this change is needed"
type = "spec-add-tag"
tag = "BuildRequires"
value = "some-dependency"

Rule of thumb: if it's more than [components.<name>], give it a dedicated file. The includes = ["**/*.comp.toml"] in components.toml picks it up automatically.

Spec Sources & Overlays

For spec source types, overlay syntax, overlay types, and pitfalls, see comp-toml.instructions.md.

Key points for adding components:

  • Every overlay MUST have a description explaining why
  • Test incrementally — apply one overlay at a time, verify with prep-sources
  • Prefer targeted overlay types (spec-add-tag, spec-set-tag) over regex (spec-search-replace)
  • Keep %check enabled — do not disable tests unless there is a documented, unavoidable reason (upstream bug, missing test infra, etc.). If you must disable, provide a clear skip_reason.
  • Release calculation: If render fails with "non-standard Release tag value", or if %autorelease is incorrectly expanded (e.g., conditional %autorelease specs), see Release Configuration.

Overlays vs. Dedicated spec

Overlays are vastly preferable to maintaining a forked spec, they get automatic updates from upstream and are more resilient to changes. Only fork the spec as a last resort when the required changes are so extensive that overlays become unmanageable. Even then, try to minimize the delta from upstream as much as possible to reduce maintenance burden:

  • Clearly document the rationale for each change.
  • Add comments to the spec itself for EVERY change (so future maintainers can differentiate local changes vs. upstream drift when version bumps happen).
  • Recommend to the user contributing necessary changes upstream to reduce divergence over time, where possible.

Using a forked spec is a commitment to maintain it indefinitely, coordinate with the user to decide if it's truly necessary. Get explicit sign-off from the user before proceeding with a forked spec.

Validate

After adding overlays or customizations, render the spec to verify:

azldev comp render -p <name>
# Inspect the result
cat specs/<first-char>/<name>/<name>.spec

For deeper debugging (diffing pre/post overlay output with full sources):

Use a temp dir for prep-sources output. Use --force to overwrite an existing output dir.

prep-sources -o <dir> writes to a user-specified directory (NOT base/out/ — that's for comp build output).

azldev comp prep-sources -p <name> --skip-overlays --force -o base/build/work/scratch/<name>-pre -q
azldev comp prep-sources -p <name> --force -o base/build/work/scratch/<name>-post -q
diff -r base/build/work/scratch/<name>-pre base/build/work/scratch/<name>-post
# Test build (RPMs land in base/out/ per project.toml output-dir)
azldev comp build -p <name> -q

For testing the built RPMs, see the skill-mock skill. New components always need a smoke-test. For the full inner loop cycle (investigate → modify → render → build → test → inspect), see skill-build-component.