MCPInstall

llvm-tooling

Expertise in LLVM tooling development including Clang plugins, LLDB debugger extensions, Clangd/LSP, and LibTooling. Use this skill when building source code analysis tools, refactoring tools, debugger extensions, or IDE integrations.

Installs
53
Last 24h
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Trending rank
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Security
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Install

Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.

npx skills add https://github.com/gmh5225/awesome-llvm-security --skill llvm-tooling
  1. 01

    Install

    Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.

  2. 02

    Describe the task

    Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads llvm-tooling automatically when relevant.

  3. 03

    Review the result

    The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.

SKILL.md

The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.

LLVM Tooling Skill

This skill covers development of tools using LLVM/Clang infrastructure for source code analysis, debugging, and IDE integration.

Clang Plugin Development

Plugin Architecture

Clang plugins are dynamically loaded libraries that extend Clang's functionality during compilation.

#include "clang/Frontend/FrontendPluginRegistry.h"
#include "clang/AST/ASTConsumer.h"
#include "clang/AST/RecursiveASTVisitor.h"

class MyVisitor : public clang::RecursiveASTVisitor<MyVisitor> {
public:
    bool VisitFunctionDecl(clang::FunctionDecl *FD) {
        llvm::outs() << "Found function: " << FD->getName() << "\n";
        return true;
    }
};

class MyConsumer : public clang::ASTConsumer {
    MyVisitor Visitor;
public:
    void HandleTranslationUnit(clang::ASTContext &Context) override {
        Visitor.TraverseDecl(Context.getTranslationUnitDecl());
    }
};

class MyPlugin : public clang::PluginASTAction {
protected:
    std::unique_ptr<clang::ASTConsumer> CreateASTConsumer(
        clang::CompilerInstance &CI, llvm::StringRef) override {
        return std::make_unique<MyConsumer>();
    }
    
    bool ParseArgs(const clang::CompilerInstance &CI,
                   const std::vector<std::string> &args) override {
        return true;
    }
};

static clang::FrontendPluginRegistry::Add<MyPlugin>
    X("my-plugin", "My custom plugin description");

Running Clang Plugins

# Build plugin
clang++ -shared -fPIC -o MyPlugin.so MyPlugin.cpp \
    $(llvm-config --cxxflags --ldflags)

# Run plugin
clang -Xclang -load -Xclang ./MyPlugin.so \
      -Xclang -plugin -Xclang my-plugin \
      source.cpp

LibTooling

Standalone Tools

#include "clang/Tooling/CommonOptionsParser.h"
#include "clang/Tooling/Tooling.h"
#include "clang/ASTMatchers/ASTMatchFinder.h"

using namespace clang::tooling;
using namespace clang::ast_matchers;

// Define matcher
auto functionMatcher = functionDecl(hasName("targetFunction")).bind("func");

// Callback handler
class FunctionCallback : public MatchFinder::MatchCallback {
public:
    void run(const MatchFinder::MatchResult &Result) override {
        if (auto *FD = Result.Nodes.getNodeAs<FunctionDecl>("func")) {
            llvm::outs() << "Found: " << FD->getQualifiedNameAsString() << "\n";
        }
    }
};

int main(int argc, const char **argv) {
    auto ExpectedParser = CommonOptionsParser::create(argc, argv, MyCategory);
    ClangTool Tool(ExpectedParser->getCompilations(),
                   ExpectedParser->getSourcePathList());
    
    FunctionCallback Callback;
    MatchFinder Finder;
    Finder.addMatcher(functionMatcher, &Callback);
    
    return Tool.run(newFrontendActionFactory(&Finder).get());
}

AST Matchers Reference

// Declaration matchers
functionDecl()           // Match function declarations
varDecl()               // Match variable declarations
recordDecl()            // Match struct/class/union
fieldDecl()             // Match class fields
cxxMethodDecl()         // Match C++ methods
cxxConstructorDecl()    // Match constructors

// Expression matchers
callExpr()              // Match function calls
binaryOperator()        // Match binary operators
unaryOperator()         // Match unary operators
memberExpr()            // Match member access

// Narrowing matchers
hasName("name")         // Filter by name
hasType(asString("int")) // Filter by type
isPublic()              // Filter by access specifier
hasAnyParameter(...)    // Match parameters

// Traversal matchers
hasDescendant(...)      // Match anywhere in subtree
hasAncestor(...)        // Match in parent chain
has(...)                // Match direct children
forEach(...)            // Match all children

LLDB Extension Development

Python Commands

import lldb

def my_command(debugger, command, result, internal_dict):
    """Custom LLDB command implementation"""
    target = debugger.GetSelectedTarget()
    process = target.GetProcess()
    thread = process.GetSelectedThread()
    frame = thread.GetSelectedFrame()
    
    # Get variable value
    var = frame.FindVariable("my_var")
    result.AppendMessage(f"my_var = {var.GetValue()}")

def __lldb_init_module(debugger, internal_dict):
    debugger.HandleCommand(
        'command script add -f my_module.my_command my_cmd')

Scripted Process

class MyScriptedProcess(lldb.SBScriptedProcess):
    def __init__(self, target, args):
        super().__init__(target, args)
        
    def get_thread_with_id(self, tid):
        # Return thread info
        pass
    
    def get_registers_for_thread(self, tid):
        # Return register context
        pass
    
    def read_memory_at_address(self, addr, size):
        # Read memory
        pass

LLDB GUI Extensions

  • visual-lldb: GUI frontend for LLDB
  • vegvisir: Browser-based LLDB GUI
  • lldbg: Lightweight native GUI
  • CodeLLDB: VSCode debugger extension

Clangd / Language Server Protocol

Custom LSP Extensions

// Implementing custom code actions
class MyCodeActionProvider {
public:
    std::vector<CodeAction> getCodeActions(
        const TextDocumentIdentifier &File,
        const Range &Range,
        const CodeActionContext &Context) {
        
        std::vector<CodeAction> Actions;
        
        // Add custom refactoring action
        CodeAction Action;
        Action.title = "Extract to function";
        Action.kind = "refactor.extract";
        
        // Define workspace edits
        WorkspaceEdit Edit;
        // ... populate edits
        Action.edit = Edit;
        
        Actions.push_back(Action);
        return Actions;
    }
};

Clangd Configuration

# .clangd configuration file
CompileFlags:
  Add: [-xc++, -std=c++17]
  Remove: [-W*]

Diagnostics:
  ClangTidy:
    Add: [modernize-*, performance-*]
    Remove: [modernize-use-trailing-return-type]

Index:
  Background: Build

Source-to-Source Transformation

Clang Rewriter

#include "clang/Rewrite/Core/Rewriter.h"

class MyRewriter : public RecursiveASTVisitor<MyRewriter> {
    Rewriter &R;
    
public:
    MyRewriter(Rewriter &R) : R(R) {}
    
    bool VisitFunctionDecl(FunctionDecl *FD) {
        // Add comment before function
        R.InsertTextBefore(FD->getBeginLoc(), "// Auto-generated\n");
        
        // Replace function name
        R.ReplaceText(FD->getLocation(), 
                      FD->getName().size(), "new_name");
        
        return true;
    }
};

RefactoringTool

#include "clang/Tooling/Refactoring.h"

class MyRefactoring : public RefactoringCallback {
public:
    void run(const MatchFinder::MatchResult &Result) override {
        // Generate replacements
        Replacement Rep(
            *Result.SourceManager,
            CharSourceRange::getTokenRange(Range),
            "new_text");
        
        Replacements.insert(Rep);
    }
};

Notable Tools Built with LLVM Tooling

Analysis Tools

  • cppinsights: C++ template instantiation visualization
  • ClangBuildAnalyzer: Build time analysis
  • clazy: Qt-specific static analysis

Refactoring Tools

  • clang-rename: Symbol renaming
  • clang-tidy: Linting and auto-fixes
  • include-what-you-use: Include optimization

Code Generation

  • classgen: Extract type info for IDA
  • constexpr-everything: Auto-apply constexpr
  • clang-expand: Inline function expansion

Best Practices

  1. Use AST Matchers: More readable than manual traversal
  2. Preserve Formatting: Use Rewriter carefully to maintain style
  3. Handle Macros: Be aware of macro expansion locations
  4. Test Thoroughly: Edge cases in C++ are numerous
  5. Provide Good Diagnostics: Clear error messages improve usability

Resources

See Clang Plugins, Clangd/Language Server, and LLDB sections in README.md for comprehensive tool listings.

Getting Detailed Information

When you need detailed and up-to-date resource links, tool lists, or project references, fetch the latest data from:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/gmh5225/awesome-llvm-security/refs/heads/main/README.md

This README contains comprehensive curated lists of:

  • Clang plugins and extensions (Clang Plugins section)
  • Language server implementations (Clangd/Language Server section)
  • LLDB debugger tools and GUIs (LLDB section)
  • Static analysis and refactoring tools

FAQ

What does the llvm-tooling skill do?

Expertise in LLVM tooling development including Clang plugins, LLDB debugger extensions, Clangd/LSP, and LibTooling. Use this skill when building source code analysis tools, refactoring tools, debugger extensions, or IDE integrations.

How do I install llvm-tooling?

Run npx skills add https://github.com/gmh5225/awesome-llvm-security --skill llvm-tooling in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/llvm-tooling/ (personal) or .claude/skills/llvm-tooling/ (project).

Which AI agents can use llvm-tooling?

Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.

Is llvm-tooling safe to install?

No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.

Who maintains llvm-tooling?

It is published by gmh5225 in gmh5225/awesome-llvm-security. It has 53 recorded installs.

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