mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills

static-analysis

Static analysis skill for C/C++ codebases.

Ver código fuente
Documento original del Skill

Contenido del repositorio de origen con títulos, ejemplos, código, tablas, enlaces e imágenes preservados.

Static Analysis

Purpose

Guide agents through selecting, running, and triaging static analysis tools for C/C++ — clang-tidy, cppcheck, and scan-build — including suppression strategies and CI integration.

Triggers

  • "How do I run clang-tidy on my project?"
  • "What clang-tidy checks should I enable?"
  • "cppcheck is reporting false positives — how do I suppress them?"
  • "How do I set up scan-build for deeper analysis?"
  • "My build is noisy with static analysis warnings"
  • "How do I generate compile_commands.json for clang-tidy?"

Workflow

1. Generate compile_commands.json

clang-tidy requires a compilation database:

bash
# CMake (preferred)
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON
ln -s build/compile_commands.json .

# Bear (for Make-based projects)
bear -- make

# compiledb (alternative for Make)
pip install compiledb
compiledb make

2. Run clang-tidy

bash
# Single file
clang-tidy src/foo.c -- -std=c11 -I include/

# Whole project via compile_commands.json
run-clang-tidy -p build/ -j$(nproc)

# With specific checks enabled
clang-tidy -checks='bugprone-*,modernize-*,performance-*' src/foo.cpp

# Apply auto-fixes
clang-tidy -checks='modernize-use-nullptr' -fix src/foo.cpp

3. Check category decision tree

text
Goal?
├── Find real bugs            → bugprone-*, clang-analyzer-*
├── Modernise C++ code        → modernize-*
├── Follow core guidelines    → cppcoreguidelines-*
├── Catch performance issues  → performance-*
├── Security hardening        → cert-*, hicpp-*
└── Readability / style       → readability-*, llvm-*
CategoryKey checksWhat it catches
bugprone-*use-after-move, integer-division, suspicious-memset-usageLikely bugs
modernize-*use-nullptr, use-override, use-autoC++11/14/17 idioms
cppcoreguidelines-*avoid-goto, pro-bounds-*, no-mallocC++ Core Guidelines
performance-*unnecessary-copy-initialization, avoid-endlPerformance regressions
clang-analyzer-*core.*, unix.*, security.*Path-sensitive bugs
cert-*err34-c, str51-cppCERT coding standard

4. .clang-tidy configuration file

yaml
# .clang-tidy — place at project root
Checks: >
  bugprone-*,
  modernize-*,
  performance-*,
  -modernize-use-trailing-return-type,
  -bugprone-easily-swappable-parameters
WarningsAsErrors: 'bugprone-*,clang-analyzer-*'
HeaderFilterRegex: '^(src|include)/.*'
CheckOptions:
  - key: modernize-loop-convert.MinConfidence
    value: reasonable
  - key: readability-identifier-naming.VariableCase
    value: camelCase

5. Suppress false positives

cpp
// Suppress a single line
int result = riskyOp(); // NOLINT(bugprone-signed-char-misuse)

// Suppress a block
// NOLINTNEXTLINE(cppcoreguidelines-avoid-magic-numbers)
constexpr int BUFFER_SIZE = 4096;

// Suppress whole function
[[clang::suppress("bugprone-*")]]
void legacy_code() { /* ... */ }

Or in .clang-tidy:

yaml
# Exclude third-party directories
HeaderFilterRegex: '^(src|include)/.*'
# Disable specific checks
Checks: '-bugprone-easily-swappable-parameters'

6. Run cppcheck

bash
# Basic run
cppcheck --enable=all --std=c11 src/

# With compile_commands.json
cppcheck --project=build/compile_commands.json

# Include specific checks and suppress noise
cppcheck --enable=warning,performance,portability \
         --suppress=missingIncludeSystem \
         --suppress=unmatchedSuppression \
         --error-exitcode=1 \
         src/

# Generate XML report for CI
cppcheck --xml --xml-version=2 src/ 2> cppcheck-report.xml
--enable= valueWhat it checks
warningUndefined behaviour, bad practices
performanceRedundant operations, inefficient patterns
portabilityNon-portable constructs
informationConfiguration and usage notes
allEverything above

7. Path-sensitive analysis with scan-build

bash
# Intercept a Make build
scan-build make

# Intercept CMake build
scan-build cmake --build build/

# Show HTML report
scan-view /tmp/scan-build-*/

# With specific checkers
scan-build -enable-checker security.insecureAPI.gets \
           -enable-checker alpha.unix.cstring.BufferOverlap \
           make

scan-build finds deeper bugs than clang-tidy: use-after-free across functions, dead stores from logic errors, null dereferences on complex paths.

8. CI integration

yaml
# GitHub Actions
- name: Static analysis
  run: |
    cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON
    run-clang-tidy -p build -j$(nproc) -warnings-as-errors '*'

- name: cppcheck
  run: |
    cppcheck --enable=warning,performance \
             --suppress=missingIncludeSystem \
             --error-exitcode=1 \
             src/

For clang-tidy check details, see references/clang-tidy-checks.md.

Related skills

  • Use skills/compilers/clang for Clang toolchain and diagnostic flags
  • Use skills/compilers/gcc for GCC warnings as complementary analysis
  • Use skills/runtimes/sanitizers for runtime bug detection alongside static analysis
  • Use skills/build-systems/cmake for CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS setup
del mismo repositorio

Más Skills

Todos los Skills
mohitmishra786
Comunidad

assembly-x86

x86-64 assembly skill for reading, writing, and debugging assembly code. Use when reading GCC/Clang assembly output, writing inline asm in C/C++, understanding the System V AMD64 ABI calling convention, or debugging register and stack state. Activates on queries about x86-64 assembly, AT&T vs Intel syntax, inline asm, calling conventions, SIMD intrinsics, or reading disassembly output from objdump or GDB.

instalaciones
1
GitHub Stars
258
Actualizado
27 jun
mohitmishra786
Comunidad

cpp-modules

C++20 modules skill for modern C++ projects. Use when working with named modules, module partitions, header units, CMake MODULESOURCES, Clang -fmodules-ts, BMI caching issues, or migrating from headers to modules. Activates on queries about C++20 modules, import statements, module interface units, header units, or BMI files.

instalaciones
1
GitHub Stars
258
Actualizado
27 jun
mohitmishra786
Comunidad

gcc

GCC compiler skill for C/C++ projects. Use when selecting optimization levels, warning flags, debug builds, LTO, sanitizer instrumentation, or diagnosing compilation errors with GCC. Covers flag selection for debug vs release, ABI concerns, preprocessor macros, profile-guided optimization, and integration with build systems. Activates on queries about gcc flags, compilation errors, performance tuning, warning suppression, or cross-standard compilation.

instalaciones
1
GitHub Stars
258
Actualizado
27 jun
mohitmishra786
Comunidad

interpreters

Bytecode interpreter and JIT compiler skill for implementing language runtimes in C/C++. Use when designing bytecode dispatch loops (switch, computed goto, threaded code), implementing stack-based or register-based VMs, adding a simple JIT using mmap/mprotect, or understanding performance trade-offs in interpreter design. Activates on queries about bytecode VMs, dispatch loops, computed goto, JIT compilation basics, tracing JITs, or implementing a scripting language runtime.

instalaciones
1
GitHub Stars
258
Actualizado
27 jun