checkpatch: remove and use clang-format instead by lgirdwood · Pull Request #10619 · thesofproject/sof

lgirdwood · 2026-03-12T16:48:58Z

checkpatch flags too many false positives in the SOF codebase to be considered useful. Notwithstanding it does not cope with assembler, matlab and topology very well.

Remove and use clang-format instead which is understood by modern editors and agents for both SOF and rimage.

clang-format is based on Linux clang-format with adaptations for SOF and Zephyr.

checkpatch flags too many false positives in the SOF codebase to be considered useful. Notwithstanding it does not cope with assembler, matlab and topology very well. Remove and use clang-format instead which is understood by modern editors and agents for both SOF and rimage. clang-format is based on Linux clang-format with adaptations for SOF and Zephyr. Signed-off-by: Liam Girdwood <liam.r.girdwood@linux.intel.com>

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR removes the existing checkpatch-based style tooling (including CI and git hooks) and introduces clang-format configuration intended to become the new code-style mechanism for SOF/rimage.

Changes:

Deleted the rimage-local checkpatch implementation and associated configuration/data files.
Removed checkpatch-based git hooks and the GitHub Actions checkpatch job.
Added clang-format configuration files at repo root and under tools/rimage/.

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 9 out of 13 changed files in this pull request and generated 6 comments.

Show a summary per file

File	Description
tools/rimage/scripts/checkpatch.pl	Removes the rimage checkpatch script entirely.
tools/rimage/.clang-format	Adds clang-format rules for the rimage tree.
tools/rimage/.checkpatch.conf	Removes rimage checkpatch configuration.
scripts/sof-pre-commit-hook.sh	Removes pre-commit hook invoking checkpatch.
scripts/sof-post-commit-hook.sh	Removes post-commit hook invoking checkpatch.
scripts/const_structs.checkpatch	Removes checkpatch data file used by constant-struct checks.
.gitignore	Drops ignore pattern for checkpatch-generated camelcase cache.
.github/workflows/codestyle.yml	Removes the checkpatch CI job (leaves yamllint).
.github/workflows/checkpatch_list.sh	Removes helper script used by the checkpatch CI job.
.github/workflows/SPDX-README.md	Rewords guidance text to be less checkpatch-centric.
.clang-format	Adds repo-root clang-format rules.

💡 Add Copilot custom instructions for smarter, more guided reviews. Learn how to get started.

You can also share your feedback on Copilot code review. Take the survey.

Copilot · 2026-03-12T16:54:59Z

.github/workflows/codestyle.yml

 # yamllint disable-line rule:truthy
 on: [pull_request, workflow_call, workflow_dispatch]

-jobs:
-  checkpatch:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        strictness: [null, --subjective]
-
-    env:
-      PR_NUM: ${{github.event.number}}
-      # TODO: reduce duplication with scripts/sof-*-commit-hook.sh
-      # thanks to either some .conf file or some wrapper script
-      CHK_CMD_OPTS: --ignore UNKNOWN_COMMIT_ID --codespell
-
-    steps:
-      # depth 2 so:
-      # ^1. we can show the Subject of the current target branch tip
-      # ^2. we reconnect/graft to the later fetch pull/1234/head,
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with: {fetch-depth: 2}
-
-      - name: install codespell
-        run: sudo apt-get -y install codespell && dpkg -L codespell | grep dict

-      # See shallowness issue https://github.com/thesofproject/linux/issues/2556
-      - name: fetch PR commits
-        run: |
-           .github/workflows/shallowfetchPRcommits.sh \
-              ${GITHUB_REPOSITORY} "$PR_NUM"
-           # show what we got
-           git --no-pager log --oneline --graph --decorate --max-count=50
-
-      - name: checkpatch
-        env:
-          STRICTNESS: ${{ matrix.strictness }}
-        run: .github/workflows/checkpatch_list.sh ${CHK_CMD_OPTS}
-          ${STRICTNESS} < PR_SHAs.txt

+jobs:
  yamllint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:


The PR description says checkpatch is removed and clang-format is used instead, but the workflow change removes the checkpatch job without adding any clang-format enforcement. This means CI no longer checks C/C++ formatting at all (only yamllint remains). Add a new GitHub Actions job that runs clang-format in verify mode (e.g., formatting check / diff check) using the committed .clang-format so the intended replacement is actually applied in CI.

Copilot · 2026-03-12T16:55:00Z

.clang-format

+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+#
+# clang-format configuration file. Intended for clang-format >= 11.
+#


This clang-format configuration appears to be duplicated verbatim in two places (.clang-format and tools/rimage/.clang-format). Keeping identical configs in multiple locations is likely to diverge over time and create inconsistent formatting depending on where clang-format is invoked from. Consider consolidating to a single source of truth (preferably the repo root), or add an explicit comment/guardrail explaining why tools/rimage/ needs its own copy and how it should be kept in sync.

Suggested change

#

#

# NOTE: This file is intentionally duplicated in tools/rimage/.clang-format.

# Both copies must remain identical. If you change formatting options here,

# make the same change in tools/rimage/.clang-format to keep them in sync.

#

Copilot · 2026-03-12T16:55:00Z

.clang-format

+#   https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ClangFormat.html
+#   https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ClangFormatStyleOptions.html
+#
+---


This clang-format configuration appears to be duplicated verbatim in two places (.clang-format and tools/rimage/.clang-format). Keeping identical configs in multiple locations is likely to diverge over time and create inconsistent formatting depending on where clang-format is invoked from. Consider consolidating to a single source of truth (preferably the repo root), or add an explicit comment/guardrail explaining why tools/rimage/ needs its own copy and how it should be kept in sync.

Copilot · 2026-03-12T16:55:00Z

.clang-format

+BreakConstructorInitializers: BeforeComma
+BreakAfterJavaFieldAnnotations: false
+BreakStringLiterals: false
+ColumnLimit: 120


This clang-format configuration appears to be duplicated verbatim in two places (.clang-format and tools/rimage/.clang-format). Keeping identical configs in multiple locations is likely to diverge over time and create inconsistent formatting depending on where clang-format is invoked from. Consider consolidating to a single source of truth (preferably the repo root), or add an explicit comment/guardrail explaining why tools/rimage/ needs its own copy and how it should be kept in sync.

Copilot · 2026-03-12T16:55:01Z

.clang-format

+UseTab: Never
+...


This clang-format configuration appears to be duplicated verbatim in two places (.clang-format and tools/rimage/.clang-format). Keeping identical configs in multiple locations is likely to diverge over time and create inconsistent formatting depending on where clang-format is invoked from. Consider consolidating to a single source of truth (preferably the repo root), or add an explicit comment/guardrail explaining why tools/rimage/ needs its own copy and how it should be kept in sync.

Copilot · 2026-03-12T16:55:01Z

.github/workflows/codestyle.yml

 on: [pull_request, workflow_call, workflow_dispatch]

-jobs:
-  checkpatch:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        strictness: [null, --subjective]
-
-    env:
-      PR_NUM: ${{github.event.number}}
-      # TODO: reduce duplication with scripts/sof-*-commit-hook.sh
-      # thanks to either some .conf file or some wrapper script
-      CHK_CMD_OPTS: --ignore UNKNOWN_COMMIT_ID --codespell
-
-    steps:
-      # depth 2 so:
-      # ^1. we can show the Subject of the current target branch tip
-      # ^2. we reconnect/graft to the later fetch pull/1234/head,
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-        with: {fetch-depth: 2}
-
-      - name: install codespell
-        run: sudo apt-get -y install codespell && dpkg -L codespell | grep dict

-      # See shallowness issue https://github.com/thesofproject/linux/issues/2556
-      - name: fetch PR commits
-        run: |
-           .github/workflows/shallowfetchPRcommits.sh \
-              ${GITHUB_REPOSITORY} "$PR_NUM"
-           # show what we got
-           git --no-pager log --oneline --graph --decorate --max-count=50
-
-      - name: checkpatch
-        env:
-          STRICTNESS: ${{ matrix.strictness }}
-        run: .github/workflows/checkpatch_list.sh ${CHK_CMD_OPTS}
-          ${STRICTNESS} < PR_SHAs.txt

+jobs:
  yamllint:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest


With the checkpatch CI job removed (and the checkpatch-based git hooks removed elsewhere in this PR), contributors lose the previously documented/implicit way to validate style locally and in CI. Add or update developer documentation to describe the new expected workflow (how to run clang-format, which paths it applies to, and any recommended editor/hook integration), ideally linking to the new .clang-format setup.

kv2019i · 2026-03-13T13:06:33Z

.clang-format

+#   Documentation/dev-tools/clang-format.rst
+#   https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ClangFormat.html
+#   https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ClangFormatStyleOptions.html
+#


@lgirdwood Should we have a link to the Zephyr version as this is including many definitions from it (and we should probably take in updates from Zephyr if they change converntions)?

lgirdwood requested review from dbaluta, kv2019i, lbetlej, mmaka1 and plbossart as code owners March 12, 2026 16:48

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings March 12, 2026 16:49

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of lgirdwood March 12, 2026 16:54 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Mar 12, 2026

View reviewed changes

kv2019i reviewed Mar 13, 2026

View reviewed changes

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

checkpatch: remove and use clang-format instead#10619

checkpatch: remove and use clang-format instead#10619
lgirdwood wants to merge 1 commit intothesofproject:mainfrom
lgirdwood:checkpatch

lgirdwood commented Mar 12, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Uh oh!

kv2019i Mar 13, 2026

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

4 participants

-#
+#
+# NOTE: This file is intentionally duplicated in tools/rimage/.clang-format.
+# Both copies must remain identical. If you change formatting options here,
+# make the same change in tools/rimage/.clang-format to keep them in sync.
+#

		UseTab: Never
		...

Conversation

lgirdwood commented Mar 12, 2026

Uh oh!

Copilot AI left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Pull request overview

Reviewed changes

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Copilot AI Mar 12, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

kv2019i Mar 13, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

4 participants