Available Toolchains¶
Alloy Hub and the catalog¶
Alloy Hub is the web-facing registry for community-maintained blueprints and toolchains. Browse and install environments directly from there, or use the command line.
The catalog is the metadata store that backs Alloy Hub. It does not store binaries; it stores toolchain IDs, versions, download URLs, and SHA256 checksums per host platform (linux/amd64, linux/arm64). The catalog lives in the alloy-catalog GitHub repository and is synced locally by alloy-host catalog update.
How blueprints use the catalog¶
Blueprints declare which tools they need using refs (e.g. toolchain.arm-gnu.arm-none-eabi@stable). The catalog defines what those refs mean: the actual download URL and SHA256 for each supported architecture.
When you run alloy-host resolve, alloy-host looks up each ref in the local catalog and writes alloy.lock.yml with pinned URLs and checksums. The provisioner uses the lockfile to download exact artifacts, reproducibly.
This means: blueprints say "I need this tool at this version"; the catalog says "here is where to get it and how to verify it"; the lockfile records the resolved result.
Why it scales¶
One catalog entry is maintained once and consumed by many blueprints and teams. You do not copy URLs and checksums into every project; you reference a catalog ID. When a new toolchain version is added, any blueprint using @stable can pick it up by re-running alloy-host resolve.
Workflow: using the catalog in a blueprint¶
flowchart LR
Update[catalog update] --> Search[search / info]
Search --> Ref[add ref to blueprint]
Ref --> Resolve[alloy-host resolve]
Resolve --> Lockfile[commit lockfile]| Step | Command |
|---|---|
| 1. Update catalog | alloy-host catalog update |
| 2. Find an entry | alloy-host catalog search <term> then alloy-host catalog info <id> |
| 3. Reference in blueprint | Add toolchains: in manifest.yml or use unarchive_from_ref in task file |
| 4. Resolve | alloy-host resolve → writes alloy.lock.yml |
| 5. Commit lockfile | Commit alloy.lock.yml for reproducibility |
Keeping the catalog up to date¶
This clones or pulls the latest catalog into ~/.alloy-it/catalog/. Run this before searching or resolving.
Browsing the catalog¶
To see all versions of a specific entry:
Or browse directly on Alloy Hub.
Reference format¶
Catalog entries are referenced using dotted IDs with an optional version or alias:
toolchain.arm-gnu.arm-none-eabi@stable
toolchain.arm-gnu.arm-none-eabi@13.3.rel1
sdk.golang.go@stable
tool.nordic.nrf-command-line-tools@stable
Use @stable to always resolve to the latest stable release, or pin to a specific version number. The resolved version is recorded in alloy.lock.yml when you run alloy-host resolve.
Available entries¶
Note
The catalog is updated independently of this documentation. Run alloy-host catalog search or browse Alloy Hub for the current list. The entries below reflect what is available at the time of writing.
ARM toolchains¶
| Catalog ID | Description |
|---|---|
toolchain.arm-gnu.arm-none-eabi |
ARM GNU Toolchain (bare metal, Cortex-M/R) |
toolchain.arm-gnu.arm-none-linux-gnueabihf |
ARM GNU Toolchain (Linux, 32-bit) |
toolchain.arm-gnu.aarch64-none-linux-gnu |
ARM GNU Toolchain (Linux, 64-bit) |
SDKs and runtimes¶
| Catalog ID | Description |
|---|---|
sdk.golang.go |
Go programming language |
Vendor tools¶
| Catalog ID | Description |
|---|---|
tool.nordic.nrf-command-line-tools |
Nordic nRF Command Line Tools |
Using a catalog entry in a blueprint¶
Declare catalog references in manifest.yml:
toolchains:
- ref: toolchain.arm-gnu.arm-none-eabi@stable
alias: ARM_GCC # injects ARM_GCC_URL and ARM_GCC_SHA as variables
Or use unarchive_from_ref directly in a task file:
- name: Install ARM GNU toolchain
action: unarchive_from_ref
ref: toolchain.arm-gnu.arm-none-eabi@stable
dest: /opt/arm-none-eabi
strip_components: 1
creates: /opt/arm-none-eabi/bin/arm-none-eabi-gcc
Then generate the lockfile:
Contributing a toolchain¶
To add a new toolchain to the catalog and make it available on Alloy Hub, see Publishing to Alloy Hub.