Add a new debug command: "skupper debug mentat DEBUG_DUMP_FILE"

[mgoulish]

Integrates the mentat-go-2 library for connectivity analysis

This is not meant to be the final form of Mentat.
It is only the first -- hopefully useful -- command.
I hope to add many more commands.

The purpose is to help users and developers more easily and quickly analyze large Skupper debug dumps.

Right now we are only looking at connectivity, and only between routers.

The next thing I hope to add is connectivity with services.

QUESTION:
Right now, this pulls in my mentat code from my personal repo. I expect that is not the right way to do it, but I need guidance on what the right way is.

Example Commands and Output

(Using a debug dump file I created from my two-router setup that isn't doing anything.)

Command:

./skupper debug mentat
No dump file specified.
Usage:
skupper debug mentat <dumpfile.tar.gz>
skupper debug mentat <dumpfile.tar.gz> --time "2025-05-11 14:30:00"

First create a dump:
skupper debug dump my-dump.tar.gz

Command:
(bad debug dump file name)

./skupper debug mentat nonexistent.tar.gz
dump file not found: nonexistent.tar.gz

Command:
(print connectivity history)

./skupper debug mentat skupper-dump-mick-two-20260511100400.tar.gz

🔍 Running mentat analysis on skupper-dump-mick-two-20260511100400.tar.gz...
📦 Extracting tgz skupper-dump-mick-two-20260511100400.tar.gz to /tmp/skupper-mentat-220271562...
Name: site-two
log_path /tmp/skupper-mentat-220271562/site-namespace/logs/skupper-router-6b5cf5c8f4-wtjxd-router.txt
Finding connectivity for site site-two

Connection History

Site: site-two
Router: skupper-router-6b5cf5c8f4-wtjxd-router.txt
at time 2026-04-29 19:10:15.4297 neigbors are:
site-one-skupper-router-7667d75574-5cwzt
at time 2026-04-29 19:10:16.4297 neigbors are:
site-one-skupper-router-7667d75574-5cwzt

Command:
(print connectivity history and check connectivity at a specific time)

./skupper debug mentat skupper-dump-mick-two-20260511100400.tar.gz --time "2026-04-29 19:10:20"
🔍 Running mentat analysis on skupper-dump-mick-two-20260511100400.tar.gz...
⏰ Checking connectivity at specific time: 2026-04-29 19:10:20
📦 Extracting tgz skupper-dump-mick-two-20260511100400.tar.gz to /tmp/skupper-mentat-4131495310...
Name: site-twoskupper-router-6b5cf5c8f4-wtjxd-router.txt
Finding connectivity for site site-two

Connection History

Site: site-two
Router: skupper-router-6b5cf5c8f4-wtjxd-router.txt
at time 2026-04-29 19:10:15.4297 neigbors are:
site-one-skupper-router-7667d75574-5cwzt
at time 2026-04-29 19:10:16.4297 neigbors are:
site-one-skupper-router-7667d75574-5cwzt

Checking Connectivity at time 2026-04-29 19:10:20

Checking site: site-two router: skupper-router-6b5cf5c8f4-wtjxd-router.txt
Neighbors:
site-one-skupper-router-7667d75574-5cwzt

[nluaces]

If the mentat project is going to be separated from skupper, I think a good first step would be to include it in the skupperproject org first.
After that, we need a release with a new version of this project: https://go.dev/doc/modules/publishing

What do you think @ajssmith?

[ajssmith]

Definitely in favor of adding some sub-commands to the debug facility to help with understanding and analyzing site and service connectivity issues. It would help to discuss in more detail what the base utilities need to be (e.g. parsing) and what we need to create versus what might already exist.

[mgoulish]

(Coming to you from Bronto 2!) This PR does add a new subcommand to skupper debug. I do not intend to keep Mentat separate from Skupper, that's just how it is right now because I don't know what else to do. I assume it would be better to bring the code straight into skupper, but I am hazy on how exactly to do that, and need some guidance.

…

On Wed, May 13, 2026 at 9:25 PM ajssmith ***@***.***> wrote: *ajssmith* left a comment (skupperproject/skupper#2437) <#2437 (comment)> Definitely in favor of adding some sub-commands to the debug facility to help with understanding and analyzing site and service connectivity issues. It would help to discuss in more detail what the base utilities need to be (e.g. parsing) and what we need to create versus what might already exist. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#2437 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AFFPY3NGBRS3EZGWCSD7T2342TR5TAVCNFSM6AAAAACY2YWZFGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DINBVGMZDMOBZGI> . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>. You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>