Gf Viz

GF-Viz: Terminal Visualization

Renders .gateflow/map/ data as interactive ASCII/Unicode diagrams in the terminal.

Prerequisites

Check for codebase map:

ls .gateflow/map/CODEBASE.md 2>/dev/null

• Map exists: Proceed to render
• No map: Tell user: "No codebase map found. Run /gf-map first to generate one."

Entry Point

When invoked, render the Overview Dashboard and present the navigation menu.

If invoked with an argument (e.g., /gf-viz uart_tx), jump directly to the Module Detail Card for that module.

View 1: Overview Dashboard

Data sources: CODEBASE.md (stats, module index), hierarchy.md (tree), fsm.md (FSM list), clock-domains.md (clocks/CDC)

Read these files, extract the data, and render:

╔══ CODEBASE: <project_name> ═══════════════════════════════╗
║                                                            ║
║  ● N modules  ● N packages  ● N FSMs  ● N interfaces       ║
║  ● N clocks   ● N CDC       ● N ports   ● N warnings       ║
║                                                            ║
╠══ HIERARCHY (compact) ════════════════════════════════════╣
║                                                            ║
║  ◆ <top> ──┬── <child1> ──┬── <grandchild1>               ║
║            │              └── <grandchild2>                ║
║            └── <child2> ── <grandchild3>                   ║
║                                                            ║
╠══ FSMs ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  ↻ <fsm_name> (<module>)  N states: S1→S2→S3→S4           ║
║  ↻ <fsm_name> (<module>)  N states: S1→S2→S3              ║
║                                                            ║
╠══ HEALTH ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  <✓ or ⚠> lint status  <✓ or ⚠> undriven  <✓ or ⚠> CDC   ║
║                                                            ║
╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  [1] Hierarchy  [2] FSMs  [3] Module detail                ║
║  Or ask anything: "show uart_tx", "trace data path"        ║
╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝

Rules:

• Hierarchy flattened to 2 levels max in dashboard
• FSMs show one-line summaries with state chain
• Stats pulled from CODEBASE.md frontmatter and module index
• Health pulled from warnings section
• If any section has no data, show "none detected" rather than omitting

View 2: Hierarchy Explorer

Data sources: hierarchy.md, modules/*.md

══ MODULE HIERARCHY ════════════════════════════════════════

◆ <top_module>                                       TOP
├── ■ <inst> : <module> [PARAM=VAL]                   MID
│   ├── ■ <inst> : <module>                           MID
│   │   ├── □ <inst> : <module>                       LEAF
│   │   └── □ <inst> : <module>                       LEAF
│   └── □ <inst> : <module> [W=32, D=16]              LEAF
└── ■ <inst> : <module>                               MID
    └── □ <inst> : <module>                           LEAF

── STATS ──────────────────────────────────────────────
  Total: N modules │ Max depth: N │ Leaf count: N

── INSTANCE TABLE ─────────────────────────────────────
  ┃ Parent       │ Instance   │ Module          │ Params       ┃
  ┃ ...          │ ...        │ ...             │ ...          ┃

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  [H] Home  [2] FSMs  [3] Module detail: <name>
  Or: "show <module>", "which modules use <module>?"

Module type badges:

• ◆ TOP - bold, top-level module (never instantiated by others)
• ■ MID - standard weight, has children
• □ LEAF - lighter weight, no children

Depth cues: Deeper modules rendered with lighter visual weight. Top pops, leaves fade.

Behaviors:

• Show full tree with all depth levels
• Parameters shown inline as [PARAM=VAL]
• Instance table shows all parent→child relationships
• "show " re-renders tree rooted at that module
• "which modules use ?" searches instance table, lists parents

View 3: FSM Viewer

Data sources: fsm.md, per-module pages

When multiple FSMs exist, show picker first:

══ STATE MACHINES ══════════════════════════════════════════

  [1] ↻ <fsm_name>  (<module>)   N states
  [2] ↻ <fsm_name>  (<module>)   N states
  [3] ↻ <fsm_name>  (<module>)   N states

  Pick a number, or: "show <fsm_name>"

Single FSM rendering:

══ FSM: <fsm_name> ═════════════════════════════════════════
   Module: <module> │ Encoding: N-bit │ Reset: → <reset_state>

                    <condition>
   ┌──────┐  ─────────────►  ┌───────┐
   │      │                  │       │
   │  S1  │                  │  S2   │
   │  ◉   │                  │       │
   └──────┘                  └───┬───┘
      ▲                          │ <condition>
      │                          ▼
   ┌──────┐                  ┌───────┐
   │      │  ◄───────────   │       │──┐
   │  S4  │   <condition>   │  S3   │  │ <self-loop cond>
   │      │                  │       │◄─┘
   └──────┘                  └───────┘

── TRANSITIONS ────────────────────────────────────────────
  ┃ From  │ To    │ Condition     │ Output          ┃
  ┃ S1    │ S2    │ ...           │ ...             ┃
  ┃ S2    │ S3    │ ...           │ ...             ┃
  ┃ ...   │ ...   │ ...           │ ...             ┃

── STATE DETAILS ──────────────────────────────────────────
  ◉ S1   Reset state. <description>
    S2   <description>
    S3   <description>
    S4   <description>

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  [H] Home  [1] Hierarchy  [3] Module: <parent_module>
  Or: "show another FSM", "explain the S2→S3 transition"

Layout rules for FSM box diagrams:

• 2-4 states: Arrange in a line or L-shape
• 4-6 states: Arrange in a 2x2 or 2x3 grid
• 7+ states: Use transition table only (too complex for ASCII boxes)
• Reset state always marked with ◉
• Self-loops shown as ──┐ / ◄─┘ back to same box
• Transition arrows use ──► with condition labels

Behaviors:

• "explain → transition" triggers analysis using RTL source
• "show module" cross-links to parent module's detail card
• Output column in transition table filled when map data includes it

View 4: Module Detail Card

Data sources: modules/<module_name>.md (primary), hierarchy.md, fsm.md, signals.md

╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║  <module_name>                              <TYPE_BADGE> ║
║  <file_path>:<line_range>                                ║
╠══ PARAMETERS ════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  ┃ Name     │ Type │ Default     │ Description       ┃  ║
║  ┃ ...      │ ...  │ ...         │ ...               ┃  ║
╠══ PORTS ═════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  → <name>     input   <width>   <description>           ║
║  → <name>     input   <width>   <description>           ║
║  ← <name>     output  <width>   <description>           ║
║  ← <name>     output  <width>   <description>           ║
╠══ INTERNALS ═════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║                                                          ║
║  Clock : <clock_name> (<domain info>)                    ║
║  Reset : <reset_name> (<type>)                           ║
║  FSM   : ↻ <fsm_name> → <state_list>                    ║
║  Inst  : <instance_count> (<list or "none (leaf)")>      ║
║                                                          ║
╠══ CONNECTIONS ═══════════════════════════════════════════╣
║                                                          ║
║  Instantiated by:                                        ║
║    ■ <parent_module> as <instance_name>                  ║
║      .<port>(<signal>) .<port>(<signal>)                 ║
║      .<port>(<signal>) .<port>(<signal>)                 ║
║                                                          ║
╠══ HEALTH ════════════════════════════════════════════════╣
║  <✓ or ⚠> port connection status                         ║
║  <✓ or ⚠> lint status                                    ║
║  <✓ or ⚠> assertion coverage                             ║
║                                                          ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
  [H] Home  [1] Hierarchy  [2] FSM: <fsm_name>
  [↑] Parent: <parent_module>
  Or: "show ports", "explain the handshake", "add assertions"

Port direction symbols:

• → inputs
• ← outputs
• ↔ bidirectional (inout)

Type badges: TOP, MID, LEAF

Behaviors:

• Connections section shows actual signal bindings from parent instantiation
• If module is instantiated multiple times, show each instance
• FSM line cross-links to FSM viewer
• Parent name cross-links to parent's detail card
• "add assertions" can hand off to sv-verification agent
• "explain the handshake" reads RTL source to reason about protocol

Color/Emphasis Vocabulary

Apply these consistently across all views:

Depth cues in hierarchy: Top-level bold, mid standard, leaf dimmed.

Interaction Model

Menu Navigation

After every render, show a navigation footer with numbered options:

• [H] Home - return to dashboard
• [1] [2] [3] - switch between views
• [↑] Parent - navigate up in hierarchy (detail card only)

Free-Form Queries

Always accept natural language alongside menus:

• "show " → Module Detail Card
• "show " → FSM Viewer for that FSM
• "which modules use ?" → filtered hierarchy
• "trace from to " → signal path analysis
• "explain " → reads RTL source, reasons about it
• "add assertions to " → hands off to sv-verification agent
• "back" → previous view
• "home" → dashboard

Agent Handoff

For queries that go beyond visualization:

• "explain" / "why" → spawn sv-understanding agent via Task tool
• "add assertions" → spawn sv-verification agent via Task tool
• "fix" / "refactor" → spawn sv-refactor agent via Task tool

When handing off, pass the current visualization context (which module, which view) so the agent has full context.

Auto-Trigger After /gf-map

When used as a final step in gf-architect, render ONLY the Overview Dashboard (View 1) as a compact summary. Do not show the full interactive menu - just the dashboard with a note:

Run /gf-viz to explore interactively.

Data Extraction

Reading CODEBASE.md

Extract from frontmatter:

• total_files, total_tokens, commit, last_mapped

Extract from Module Index table:

• Module names, types, files, port summaries

Extract from Warnings section:

• Lint warnings, undriven signals, CDC issues

Reading hierarchy.md

Extract from Mermaid flowchart:

• Parent→child relationships
• Instance names

Extract from Instance Table:

• Full parent, instance, module, parameters data

Reading fsm.md

Extract for each FSM:

• FSM name, parent module
• State list with encoding
• Transition table (from, to, condition, output)
• Reset state

Reading modules/*.md

Extract per module:

• Parameters table
• Ports table (name, direction, width, description)
• Clock/reset info
• Instance list
• Assertion/coverage info

Edge Cases

• Empty map: "No codebase map found. Run /gf-map first."
• No FSMs detected: FSM section shows "No state machines detected in this codebase."
• Single module: Hierarchy view shows just the one module. Skip instance table.
• Module not found: "Module '' not found in map. Available modules: "
• Very deep hierarchy (>6 levels): Render full tree but note: "Deep hierarchy detected. Use 'show ' to focus on a subtree."
• Very wide hierarchy (>10 siblings): Show first 8, then "... and N more. Use 'show ' to see all."

View 5: Signal Path Trace

Triggered by: "trace data_in from top to digest_out"

Renders signal path across module boundaries as ASCII with boxes for modules, arrows for signals, and ◈ markers for registered boundaries (pipeline stages). Shows hop count and pipeline stage summary.

View 6: Timing Diagram

Triggered by: "timing uart_tx" or "timing fsm tx_state"

ASCII waveforms: ┌─┐└─┘ for clock, ─── high, ___ low, ╡val╞ for bus/enum values. Auto-generates from FSM data or known protocol patterns. Accepts WaveJSON input for custom diagrams.

View 7: Diff View

Triggered by: "diff" or "what changed"

Shows structural changes between map snapshots: + ADDED, ~ MODIFIED (with specific change: port/instance/FSM/parameter), - REMOVED. Requires previous snapshot at .gateflow/map/.prev_*.

View 8: Port Connection Matrix

Triggered by: "matrix uart_ctrl" or "connections"

Table showing which parent signals connect to which instance ports. Bottom row shows connected/unconnected counts. Separate section lists all unconnected ports with ⚠ warning. Compact dot-matrix variant for large designs: ● connected, ○ not connected.

Search

Triggered by: "find modules with FSM", "find signals named *_valid"