Roadmap

AXL Roadmap

The lean entry-point for AXL planning. What shipped lives in CHANGELOG.md (the authority, per version). How a big piece is designed lives in its own design/plan doc (indexed below). Full historical phase detail (every completed checkbox, hardware findings, etc.) is preserved in ROADMAP-Archive.md — this file is the curated front page that points into all of it.

Legend: [x] done · [-] in progress · [ ] pending.

Design & plan docs (index)

Library / SDK foundations:

Subsystems:

Active sub-projects (pre-code planning — see “Active sub-projects” below):

Shipped — milestone summary

CHANGELOG.md is authoritative; this is the skim. Current: v1.7.1, 6319 unit tests both arches (X64 + AArch64), native backend only (gcc + ld + objcopy). scripts/cut-release.sh automates the cut.

Foundations (DONE):

  • Library core — AxlMem, AxlString/AxlStrBuf, AxlStream (console/file/buffer I-O), AXL_APP, the GLib-aligned data containers (HashTable/Array/List/SList/ Queue/JSON), AxlLog, AxlLoop, AxlTask. Style + GLib-API-alignment passes done.

  • SDK — install.sh packaging, axl-cc driver (app/driver/runtime, debug/ release, --run, --minimal-runtime), CMake integration, .deb/.rpm + host- tools release artifacts, both arches.

  • Native UEFI backend — own UEFI headers (manifest-generated from spec HTML), CRT0 (native + minimal), no EDK2 / gnu-efi. EDK2 & gnu-efi backends removed.

Subsystems (DONE):

  • Networking — TCP/UDP/HTTP server+client/URL/WebSocket/WebDAV; TLS via mbedTLS (AXL_TLS=1) incl. axl_tls_generate_self_signed; HTTP server middleware / static / auth-hook / response-cache / upload-streaming / range.

  • BMC & platform access — AxlIpmi (4 transports), AxlSmbus, AxlSpd (DDR4/DDR5), AxlAcpi, AxlPci, AxlUsb, AxlBoot, AxlNvstore, AxlMemPhys, AxlWatchdog, AxlRng, AxlImage; tools/: ipmi, lspci, lsusb, memspd, i2c, rfbrowse, dmidecode, mkfixture, fetch/grep/find/hexdump/sysinfo/netinfo.

  • Async — AxlBufPool, AxlAsync (AP offload), AxlDefer, AxlPubsub, AxlEvent / AxlCancellable / AxlWait, AxlRuntime (signal/atexit), AxlService.

  • Graphics / UI — AxlGfx (+ TTF, pixmap, EDID/HiDPI, multi-output), AxlCompositor (deferred surface compositor) + AxlCursor + AxlGfxRegion, axl-input (mouse/key + absolute-pointer/touch seat), AxlTransform. (AGT Phase-0 substrate shipped.)

  • Data / text — AxlPieceTree editor substrate, AxlRegex (linear-time, ReDoS-free), AxlFind, AxlShm, cross-app AxlClipboard, AxlBytes, AxlHmac, AxlRand, AxlDigest, AxlCompress (gzip/zlib/DEFLATE), AxlTar (ustar), AxlSidecar, AxlNTree/AxlTree, AxlRadixTree.

  • Hardware fixtures — mkfixture capture + axl-emulate replay (SMBIOS/ ACPI/SPD/PCI/USB/net/video+EDID/NVMe manifests; HF2.3/2.4/HF4). See AXL-Hardware-Fixture-Design.md.

Recent consumer-feedback releases (v1.2.0 → v1.7.1): AxlCompress + AxlTar + AxlEdid + AxlGfx display/HiDPI (1.2.0); AxlPci cap-walk fix + absolute-pointer seat (1.3.1); regex NOTBOL/NOTEOL (1.4.0); AxlCursor absolute tracking + ConsoleIn-only default + AxlArgs ASCII help (1.5.0) + console ASCII guard (1.5.1); AxlArgs case-insensitive verbs (1.6.0); axl_set_exit_status + AxlArgs compact DOS flags (1.7.0) + minimal-CRT0 exit-status fix (1.7.1).

Active sub-projects (next up)

Forward-looking work, each with (or getting) its own design doc. Recommended order is SoftBMC-port-driven: scope the port first, then build the substrate it pulls (dashboard, HII) in consumer-validated order rather than speculatively.

SoftBMC — full EDK2 → axl-sdk port (flagship; drives the two below) — AXL-SoftBMC-Port-Design.md

Re-base SoftBMC (the BMC firmware app) off EDK2 onto axl-sdk + AGT, end to end.

  • [-] Scoping doc drafted (strategy + mapping + gap list); next: source- inventory pass over the SoftBMC repo to fill the per-module table

  • [ ] Build re-base onto the axl-cc native toolchain (no EDK2 tree)

  • [ ] Networking on the AXL stack (HTTP/TLS); web dashboard on the native-SPA route

  • [ ] BIOS attributes via the headless HII engine + AGT AgtFormBrowser

  • [ ] Firmware update on AxlAsync + AxlBufPool; VNC on AxlGfx + pointer seat; sensors/EC/SEL on AxlIpmi + AxlSmbus + AxlPubsub

Native-SPA dashboard server — AXL-Dashboard-Server-Design.md

Substrate polish on the existing HTTP server. Net-new (much already ships — range, WebSocket, auth-hook, server-side cache, add_static, cert-gen). Order reflects the SoftBMC inventory (SSE optional — consumer uses WebSocket):

  • [ ] Static pipeline: Accept-Encoding/gzip negotiation, ETag/304, SPA fallback

  • [ ] Session/RBAC mechanism + TLS cert lifecycle (replaces SoftBMC Auth.c/Session.c)

  • [ ] multipart/form-data streaming parser (firmware / virtual-media upload)

  • [ ] axl-json OData $select/$expand + @odata envelope (defer $filter)

  • [ ] (optional) SSE pubsub→push bridge — when a one-way stream wants it; design the backpressure policy first

  • Non-goals: HTTP/2, an in-library asset bundler, baked-in role models (see doc)

Headless HII forms engine axl-hii — AXL-HII-Design.md

Heavyweight module; phased. AGT renders via AgtFormBrowser (out of scope here).

  • [ ] Parse + forms model + string resolve (buffer-in core, unit-tested)

  • [ ] IFR expression VM (suppress/grayout/disable/inconsistentif) — centerpiece

  • [ ] Config read / ConfigResp round-trip (covers Redfish read)

  • [ ] Write + default stores (gated; the dangerous phase)

  • [ ] Manifest: add HII IFR/package structs to scripts/uefi-manifest.json5

Storage access (NVMe / ATA / SCSI) + SMART — AXL-Storage-Design.md

Platform Access modules for device identity + health (the smartctl gap; storelib/RAID is a non-goal). Per-transport, read-first, with a raw pass-thru escape hatch and a normalized cross-transport health struct.

  • [x] Design doc + axl-nvme.h contract (contract-first reviewed)

  • [x] Phase 1 AxlNvme — Identify (Controller/Namespace) + SMART (Get Log Page 0x02) + Device Self-test + raw admin pass-thru; pure decoders unit-tested; tools/nvme; mkfixture refactored onto it; test-nvme-qemu.sh (-device nvme) in CI

  • [x] Phase 2 AxlAta — IDENTIFY DEVICE + SMART (READ DATA + THRESHOLDS) + self-test; pure decoders unit-tested; tools/ata; AtaPassThru struct hand-written; test-ata-qemu.sh (ich9-ahci + SATA disk) in CI. Fixed the directly-attached-SATA device-walk (PortMultiplierPort 0xFFFF sentinel collision)

  • [x] Phase 3 AxlScsi — INQUIRY (std + VPD 0x80 serial) + READ CAPACITY (16) + LOG SENSE health (IE page 0x2F + Temperature page 0x0D) + raw CDB pass-thru; pure decoders unit-tested; tools/scsi; ExtScsiPassThru struct hand-written; test-scsi-qemu.sh (virtio-scsi disk + CD) in CI. Walk filters phantom LUNs by INQUIRY peripheral qualifier. Self-test + VPD 0x83 deferred to the raw escape hatch

  • [x] Phase 4 AxlSmart + tools/smart — normalized AxlSmartHealth rollup over the union device walk (axl_storage_next across NVMe/ATA/SCSI) + axl_smart_health dispatch + pure per-transport normalizers (axl_smart_from_*, unit-tested) + axl_storage_get_location (NVMe device-path / ATA port.pmp / SCSI target:lun). test-smart-qemu.sh (one device per transport) in CI; NVMe+ATA health end-to-end, SCSI health real-hardware-only

  • Non-goals: RAID/HBA mgmt (storelib), block read/write, GPT, destructive typed commands (FORMAT/SANITIZE/fw-download)

Open backlog

Grouped, terse; detail lives in the linked design doc or ROADMAP-Archive.md. Most are opportunistic / low-priority.

  • Sync→async API split — build on demand (→ AXL-Concurrency.md § “Extending the model”): the net stack’s sync-wraps-async shape applies to any op that blocks on hardware/firmware completion. Ranked candidates: IPMI/BMC (KCS/SSIF busy-poll → loop Poll-tick; SoftBMC roadmap) and storage (NVMe/ATA/SCSI PassThru Event, BlockIo2; self-test/SMART/large-read; SoftBMC roadmap) are the near-term ones; MP-services (StartupAllAPs WaitEvent), USB async transfers, and TPM are lower. Un-defer each when a consumer needs it — do not build speculatively.

  • Hardware-fixture capture — remaining phases (→ AXL-Hardware-Fixture-Design.md, Archive): TPM/PCR + TCG event-log capture/replay (swtpm); secure-boot + boot-var capture/inject; Redfish-mock capture/replay; in-band IPMI/KCS capture; SMBIOS-handle / non-EEPROM SMBus sensors / ESRT / NVMe-Identify replay; --sanitize (zero serials/asset tags); decide public axl-fixtures repo; axl-emulate polish (ACPI drop/keep flags, manifest summary, -- passthrough); fold qemu_launch into run-qemu.sh as a daemon.

  • EFI encapsulation / portability (→ AXL-EFI-Encapsulation-Plan.md, Archive): classify remaining UEFI-coupled modules; promote axl_backend_{locate_protocol,alloc_pages,create_event,install_protocol, get/set_variable,exit}; optional src/core / src/platform/{uefi,coreboot} split + a coreboot/Linux backend for libaxl-core.a.

  • C++ bindings (AxlMM) (→ AXLMM-Design.md): CPP1.7+ wrapper phases (Stream/Event/StrBuf/Arena, containers, networking, Sphinx docs).

  • API hygiene: AxlTcpCb int status → AxlStatus; other multi-outcome return-value flips as audits surface them; AxlPubsub typed payloads.

  • Correctness / perf (→ Archive §”Known Gaps”): a benchmark suite; AxlLoop fully event-driven driver mode (drop driver_tick_ms); async-TCP Configure retry non-blocking; axl_yield() API instrumentation; release-mode heap auto-sweep; robust exception-backed physical-access fault gate; watchdog opt-in helper.

  • Packaging / distro (→ Archive): -devel split + debian/ + .spec for upstream submission; evaluate meson/cmake+ninja build.

  • Real-hardware follow-ups (→ Archive §”Real-hardware findings” — Dell PowerEdge / iDRAC10): assorted open items (iDRAC HTTPS routed-address timeout, USB-NIC unload entry points, Load Error on repeat .efi launch, log-timestamp .usec always zero, console-aware tool output mode, a real-hardware test runner). Several consumer-repo items (uefi-devkit / axl-webfs) live here too.

  • SDK/test: consumer build verification (axl-webfs / uefi-devkit) in test-axl.sh; migrate tools’ inline hex parsers onto axl_hex_parse_u64.

Done / decided (one-liners, full detail in Archive)

  • Phase B2 Redfish — no library module; shipped rfbrowse.efi (HTTP client

    • JSON cover it). Extract a session helper later if SoftBMC needs one.

  • Phase 10 networking — folded into the SoftBMC full-port sub-project above.

  • Repo merge / backend removal / project restructure — complete.

  • AML interpretation, HTTP/2, in-library asset bundler, $filter — explicit non-goals (rationale in the respective design docs).