[PATCH 7/7] libperf: Document struct perf_cpu int16_t ABI limitation
From: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo
Date: Sat Jun 06 2026 - 16:11:01 EST
From: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@xxxxxxxxxx>
struct perf_cpu.cpu is int16_t, limiting perf to 32767 CPUs. This is
part of the libperf ABI (returned by value from perf_cpu_map__cpu() and
friends), so widening it requires an ABI bump.
Add a comment on the struct definition noting this, and create a TODO
file to collect future ABI changes so they can be batched into a single
version bump.
Cc: Ian Rogers <irogers@xxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: Namhyung Kim <namhyung@xxxxxxxxxx>
Assisted-by: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Arnaldo Carvalho de Melo <acme@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
tools/lib/perf/TODO | 22 ++++++++++++++++++++++
tools/lib/perf/include/perf/cpumap.h | 8 +++++++-
2 files changed, 29 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
create mode 100644 tools/lib/perf/TODO
diff --git a/tools/lib/perf/TODO b/tools/lib/perf/TODO
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000..486dd95dc57208a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/lib/perf/TODO
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+Future ABI changes
+==================
+
+This file collects items that require a libperf ABI bump. Each entry
+should describe the current limitation, the desired end state, and the
+scope of the change so that a future ABI revision can batch them
+together.
+
+1. Widen struct perf_cpu.cpu from int16_t to int
+ - Current limit: 32767 CPUs. No architecture exceeds this today
+ (x86_64 max is 8192, arm64 is 4096), but NR_CPUS limits keep
+ growing. perf clamps to INT16_MAX in set_max_cpu_num() as a
+ safety net.
+ - Scope: struct perf_cpu is embedded everywhere — perf_cpu_map__cpu(),
+ perf_cpu_map__min(), perf_cpu_map__max(), perf_cpu_map__has(), the
+ for_each_cpu macros, and all internal callers. The perf_cpu_map
+ internal array (RC_CHK_ACCESS(map)->map[]) stores struct perf_cpu
+ directly. Widening changes the struct layout and every function
+ that returns or accepts struct perf_cpu by value.
+ - Migration: bump LIBPERF version in libperf.map, audit all
+ sizeof(struct perf_cpu) assumptions, update perf.data
+ serialization if needed.
diff --git a/tools/lib/perf/include/perf/cpumap.h b/tools/lib/perf/include/perf/cpumap.h
index a1dd25db65b62f6b..e1a0b0d272109ecb 100644
--- a/tools/lib/perf/include/perf/cpumap.h
+++ b/tools/lib/perf/include/perf/cpumap.h
@@ -6,7 +6,13 @@
#include <stdbool.h>
#include <stdint.h>
-/** A wrapper around a CPU to avoid confusion with the perf_cpu_map's map's indices. */
+/**
+ * struct perf_cpu - wrapper around a CPU number.
+ * @cpu: CPU number, -1 for the "any CPU"/dummy value.
+ *
+ * int16_t limits this to 32767 CPUs. Widening to int requires a libperf
+ * ABI bump — see tools/lib/perf/TODO for the full scope.
+ */
struct perf_cpu {
int16_t cpu;
};
--
2.54.0