kade – Android Kernel Driver Automation (lyenv-based)

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kade is an Android kernel driver automation framework built on top of lyenv. It provides a configuration-driven, reproducible workflow for building GKI and non-GKI kernels locally and in CI (GitHub Actions).

This repository is designed to work with:

• lyenv: https://github.com/systemnb/lyenv
• kade plugin https://github.com/systemnb/lyenv-plugin-center

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Features

• ✅ GKI and non-GKI kernel support
• ✅ Single configuration file (kadeflow.yaml)
• ✅ GitHub Actions ready
• ✅ External or in-tree driver integration
• ✅ ABI upstream patching and ABI symbol export
• ✅ Artifact export (modules, images, dist outputs)
• ✅ Optional post-build commands (compile_commands, image unpack, etc.)

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Recommended Repository Layout

.
├── code/                     # Driver source directory (external driver)
│   ├── Makefile
│   ├── mydriver.c
│   └── Kconfig               # optional
│
├── abi.symbols               # ABI symbols (optional, recommended)
├── kadeflow.yaml             # Main automation configuration
│
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── kade.yml          # GitHub Actions workflow
│
├── README.md
└── README_zh.md

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Driver Source Directory

When using an external driver, kade treats one directory in the repository as the driver source directory.

Recommended convention

code/

Configured via:

gki:
  driver:
    in_tree: false
    external_src_dir: "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/code"

Only this directory will be copied into the kernel source tree. Other repository files are ignored.

The directory name is not hardcoded. Any path may be used.

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Providing ABI Symbols (Recommended)

ABI symbols should be version-controlled and reviewed like source code.

Recommended method: repository file

Create a file such as:

abi.symbols

Example:

# ABI symbols required by this driver
register_kprobe
unregister_kprobe
kallsyms_lookup_name

Reference it in kadeflow.yaml:

abi:
  upstream_patch: true
  symbols_file: "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/abi.symbols"

kade will automatically execute:

kade abi_upstream
kade abi --file abi.symbols

before building.

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kadeflow.yaml (Main Configuration)

kadeflow.yaml is the single source of truth for CI and automation. All kade configuration is derived from this file.

---

GKI Configuration

kade:
  config_overrides:
    kernel:
      flavor: "gki"

    gki:
      android_version: 13
      kernel_version: "5.15"
      target_arch: "aarch64"

      driver:
        project_name: "mydriver"
        in_tree: false
        external_src_dir: "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/code"
        module_name: "mydriver.ko"
        overwrite: true

---

non-GKI Configuration

Enable non-GKI mode:

kernel:
  flavor: "non_gki"

Source configuration (non_gki.source)

Git repository

non_gki:
  source:
    type: "repo"
    repo_url: "https://github.com/vendor/kernel.git"
    branch: "main"

Local directory

non_gki:
  source:
    type: "local"
    local_path: "/absolute/path/to/kernel"

ZIP archive

non_gki:
  source:
    type: "zip"
    zip_path: "${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/kernel.zip"
    zip_strip_root: true

---

Build configuration (non_gki.build)

Script mode (recommended)

non_gki:
  build:
    mode: "script"
    script: "build.sh"
    args: []
    artifacts_dir: "out"

Make mode (optional)

non_gki:
  build:
    mode: "make"
    make:
      defconfig: "vendor_defconfig"
      kernel_series: "4.9_plus"
      toolchain_path_prefix: "/root/toolchain/clang/bin:/root/toolchain/gcc32/bin:/root/toolchain/gcc64/bin"

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non-GKI compile_commands

non-GKI kernels do not use Bazel.

kade runs:

python3 gen_compile_commands.py -d <out_dir>

Override the directory if needed:

compile_commands:
  non_gki_out_dir: "out/android13-5.15/common"

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Default CI Flow

By default, the GitHub Action will:

1. Install lyenv
2. Create and activate a lyenv project
3. Install the kade plugin
4. Apply configuration from kadeflow.yaml
5. Execute:
   • kade prepare
   • kade deps
   • kade sync
   • kade abi_upstream
   • kade abi (if symbols provided)
   • kade build
   • kade export
6. Upload exported artifacts

After running:

eval "$(lyenv activate)"

all installed plugins (including kade) are available globally.

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Environment Variable Expansion

All paths in kadeflow.yaml support environment variables such as:

• ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}
• ${LYENV_HOME}

They are expanded automatically before kade runs.

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License

• Files under the code directory are GPL-2.0-only.
• All other parts except the code directory are Apache License 2.0.

Defined by the repository owner.

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Related Projects

• lyenv: https://github.com/systemnb/lyenv
• lyenv-plugin-center: https://github.com/systemnb/lyenv-plugin-center

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