CLI Reference¶

Commands¶

`4ward compile`¶

Compiles a P4 program to a pipeline config (text-format protobuf).

Usage: 4ward compile [options] <program.p4>

Options:
  -o <path>   Output file (default: <program>.txtpb)
  -I <dir>    Add include directory for P4 headers

Example:

4ward compile -I include/ my_program.p4 -o pipeline.txtpb

`4ward sim`¶

Runs an STF test against a pre-compiled pipeline.

Usage: 4ward sim [--format=human|textproto|json] [--drop-port=N] <pipeline.txtpb> <test.stf>

Options:
  --format=human|textproto|json   Trace output format (default: human)
  --drop-port=N                   Override the drop port (default: derived from port width)

`4ward run`¶

Compiles a P4 program and runs an STF test in one step.

Usage: 4ward run [--format=human|textproto|json] [--drop-port=N] [-I <dir>] <program.p4> <test.stf>

Options:
  --format=human|textproto|json   Trace output format (default: human)
  --drop-port=N                   Override the drop port (default: derived from port width)
  -I <dir>                        Add include directory for P4 headers

Use - as the test argument to read STF from stdin:

echo 'packet 0 DEADBEEF' | 4ward run program.p4 -

Output formats¶

--format controls how trace trees are printed. See Trace Trees: Output formats for examples.

Format	Description
`human`	Indented text (default). One line per event.
`textproto`	Protocol buffer text format. Includes `proto-file` / `proto-message` header.
`json`	JSON serialization of the proto. Includes `proto-file` / `proto-message` header.

Exit codes¶

Code	Meaning
0	Success (all expects matched)
1	Test failure (output mismatch)
2	Usage error (bad arguments, missing files)
3	Internal error (pipeline load failure)

Drop port¶

The drop port is the egress port that means "drop this packet." mark_to_drop() sets egress_spec to this value.

By default, the drop port is derived from the P4 program's port width: 2^N - 1 (e.g., 511 for 9-bit ports). Use --drop-port to override.