spice-dump

name	spice-dump
description	Dump compiler intermediate output (LLVM IR, assembly, AST, CST, symbol table, types) for a Spice source or test-input file using the `spice` CLI dump flags. Use when the user wants to inspect what the compiler generates for a `.spice` file, debug codegen, or regenerate reference dumps.

Dump Spice compiler output

The spice compiler (built at cmake-build-debug/src/spice, see the spice-build skill) can dump every stage of compilation via flags on the build / run / test subcommands.

Quick start

SPICE=cmake-build-debug/src/spice

# Dump LLVM IR for a source file (unoptimized)
$SPICE build -O0 -ir path/to/source.spice

# Dump assembly
$SPICE build -O0 -s path/to/source.spice

# Inspect IR for an existing test input
$SPICE build -O0 -ir test/test-files/irgenerator/for-loops/success-for-loop/source.spice

Many test-case dirs reference IR at -O2/-O3 — pass the matching opt level to reproduce those (e.g. -O2 -ir to compare against ir-code-O2.ll).

Dump flags (build / run / test subcommands)

Flag	Aliases	Dumps
--dump-cst	-cst	Concrete syntax tree (serialized + SVG)
--dump-ast	-ast	Abstract syntax tree (serialized + SVG)
--dump-symtab		Serialized symbol tables
--dump-types		All used types
--dump-ir	-ir	LLVM IR
--dump-assembly	-asm, -s	Assembly
--dump-object-file		Object files
--dump-dependency-graph		Compile-unit dependency graph
--dump-cache-stats		Internal lookup-cache stats

Control flags (build subcommand):

• --dump-to-files — write dumps to files instead of stdout.
• --abort-after-dump — stop after the first requested dump (skip the rest of compilation/linking). Handy for fast IR/AST inspection without producing a binary.

Useful companions:

• Optimization: -O0/-O1/-O2/-O3/-Os/-Oz (IR/asm differ per level).
• -d / --debug-output — verbose compiler debug output.
• --target, --target-arch, --target-os — cross-target IR/assembly (e.g. assembly refs are kept per target like assembly-linux-aarch64.asm).
• --build-mode test -ir (or the test subcommand) — dump IR for the test harness variant of a file.

Common recipes

SPICE=cmake-build-debug/src/spice
SRC=test/test-files/irgenerator/for-loops/success-for-loop/source.spice

# Just the IR, nothing else, fast
$SPICE build -O0 -ir --abort-after-dump $SRC

# IR at O2 (matches ir-code-O2.ll references)
$SPICE build -O2 -ir --abort-after-dump $SRC

# AST + CST as SVG/text
$SPICE build -ast -cst --abort-after-dump $SRC

# Symbol table and type registry
$SPICE build --dump-symtab --dump-types --abort-after-dump $SRC

# Cross-target assembly
$SPICE build -O2 -s --target-arch aarch64 --target-os linux --abort-after-dump $SRC

Relation to reference tests

The dump filenames above correspond to reference files in test/test-files/<group>/<case>/ (e.g. ir-code.ll, ir-code-O2.ll, assembly-linux-amd64.asm, symbol-table.json, type-registry.out, syntax-tree.dot). To regenerate those en masse after an intended compiler change, prefer spicetest --update-refs (see the spice-test skill) rather than hand-copying dumps. Use the manual dumps here for ad-hoc inspection and debugging of a single file.

Run $SPICE --help (or $SPICE build --help) to see the full, current option list.