| name | openbsd-porting |
| description | OpenBSD ports workflow grounded in OpenBSD docs and man pages. Use when working in /usr/ports or a local ports tree, building packages, or submitting new ports. |
| license | LICENSE |
Openbsd Porting
Overview
Create, test, and prepare OpenBSD ports in a local ports tree,
including Rust ports that need vendoring and patching. Use this skill
for new ports, updates, or preparing review submissions to
ports@openbsd.org. Prefer authoritative sources: OpenBSD Porting Guide
and OpenBSD man pages. Always follow the Porting Checklist in the
OpenBSD Porting Guide: https://www.openbsd.org/faq/ports/guide.html
Workflow
- Check the environment
Confirm ports tree and build directories. Prefer a local ports tree
and set: PORTSDIR_PATH, WRKOBJDIR, DISTDIR,
PACKAGE_REPOSITORY, PLIST_REPOSITORY, BULK_COOKIES_DIR.
- Prepare the port skeleton
Create Makefile, distinfo, pkg/DESCR, pkg/PLIST, and
crates.inc (for Rust). Avoid $OpenBSD$ tags in pkg/PLIST.
Run make update-plist early when packaging large CLI suites to
surface public bin/ name collisions before finalizing wrappers or
CONFLICTS. When only a few command names collide, prefer renamed
OpenBSD wrapper names over package-wide CONFLICTS.
- Pin dependencies
Do not use branch-based git deps. Pin rev in Cargo.toml and, for
ports, use DIST_TUPLE and a patch to replace git deps with local
paths.
- Generate checksums
Run make makesum after the source commit is pushed upstream so
distfiles exist.
- Build and test
Run make test and fix upstream issues instead of disabling tests
when possible. For a full rebuild verification, run make clean=all
and make package as separate invocations; the ports framework
rejects mixing clean=all with package.
- Run portcheck
Use /usr/ports/infrastructure/bin/portcheck -p /path/to/ports to
catch structure issues (missing crates.inc include, PLIST tags,
etc.).
- Prepare for submission
Bundle the port directory as a tarball for ports@openbsd.org review.
See references for email expectations.
Rust Ports Notes
crates.inc must be included in Makefile with a non-indented
line: .include "crates.inc".PKGNAME must not be a stem-only name. Include a version component.- If a distfile 404s, ensure the commit or tag is pushed upstream.
Examples
- New port
User: "Create a new port for foo 1.2.3."
Assistant: Follow the workflow steps, run make makesum, build/test,
and run portcheck, then prepare the tarball for ports@openbsd.org
review.
- Update existing port
User: "Update the port to 2.0 and fix build issues."
Assistant: Update Makefile, regenerate distinfo, run tests, and
validate with portcheck.
Edge Cases
- Distfile fetch fails (404): confirm upstream tag/commit is public
before
make makesum.
- Tests fail: prefer upstream fixes or targeted patches; avoid
disabling tests unless unavoidable.
- Git dependencies: replace branch-based deps with pinned
rev and
DIST_TUPLE plus patches.
- Files processed by
SUBST_PROGRAM: avoid shell variables named
${PREFIX} for runtime path discovery, because SUBST_VARS
rewrites ${PREFIX} to the fake install prefix during packaging.
Use a differently named runtime variable instead.
References
