New manager for KAS (Bitbake setup tool / dependency management))

[RahulGautamSingh]

Discussed in #40078

^{Originally posted by heiko-schabert December 19, 2025}
Hi,

KAS is a management tool for Bitbake based projects. It is an Embedded Linux build framework, were KAS allows to orchestrate the included so called layers declarative.

Our idea is to provide an dedicated manager, which takes care of the files used by KAS. Find updates and take care of the lock file.

• What do we need to consider for an contribution for an KAS manager?
• KAS itself has logic to update the file including lock file. What is our opinion into using directly tooling.

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Manager Questions Form: #40078 (comment)

[github-actions]

Hi there,

You're asking us to support a new package manager. We need to know some basic information about this package manager first. Please copy/paste the new package manager questionnaire, and fill it out in full.

Once the questionnaire is filled out we'll decide if we want to support this new manager.

Good luck,

The Renovate team

[heiko-schabert]

New package manager questionnaire

Did you read our documentation on adding a package manager?

* [x]  I've read the [adding a package manager](adding-a-package-manager.md) documentation.

Basics

What's the name of the package manager?

Kas

What language(s) does this package manager support?

Kas is a setup tool for Bitbake-based projects, primarily used in embedded Linux development.

How popular is this package manager?

Currently, 527 stars on GitHub, and 192 forks.

Does this language have other (competing?) package managers?

* [x]  Yes (give names).

* [ ]  No.

bitbake-setup

What are the big selling points for this package manager?

This tool provides an easy mechanism to setup bitbake based projects.

Key features provided by the build tool:

* clone and checkout bitbake layers

* create default bitbake settings (machine, arch, ...)

* launch minimal build environment, reducing risk of host contamination

* initiate bitbake build process

See the kas documentation for further details.

Explain how this package manager is different from existing ones.

As of today, KAS is more feature-rich than bitbake-setup.

Detecting package files

What kind of package files, and names, does this package manager use?

kas can use yaml and json files, so *.yml, *.yaml and *.json.

Which managerFilePatterns pattern(s) should Renovate use?

Probably something like ['/(^|/)kas\\.yml$/', '/(^|/)kas\\.yaml$/']. Alternatively, we could choose not to set a default pattern and allow users to completely decide their FilePatterns.

Do many users need to extend the managerFilePatterns pattern for custom file names?

* [x]  Yes, provide details.

* [ ]  No.

Users often name their Kas files according to their project or specific build configurations.

Is the managerFilePatterns pattern going to get many "false hits" for files that have nothing to do with package management?

IMHO not.

Parsing and Extraction

Can package files have "local" links to each other that need to be resolved?

Yes, Kas files can include other kas files using the includes keyword. These can be local file paths or paths to other repos and can override other values.

Package file parsing method

The package files should be:

* [x]  Parsed together (in serial).

* [ ]  Parsed independently.

Which format/syntax does the package file use?

* [x]  JSON

* [ ]  TOML

* [x]  YAML

* [ ]  Custom (explain below)

How should we parse the package files?

* [x]  Off the shelf parser.

* [ ]  Using regex.

* [ ]  Custom-parsed line by line.

* [ ]  Other.

Does the package file have different "types" of dependencies?

* [ ]  Yes, production and development dependencies.

* [x]  No, all dependencies are treated the same.

List all the sources/syntaxes of dependencies that can be extracted

Kas files define repos and their versions. The relevant parts are the URL, tag, branch and commit.

Example:

repos:
  poky:
    url: https://git.yoctoproject.org/poky.git
    tag: yocto-5.1.1
    commit: 7e081bd98fdc5435e850d1df79a5e0f1e30293d0
    ...
  ...

See the configuration documentation and the json schema for further details.

Describe which types of dependencies above are supported and which will be implemented in future

The plan is to support all cases.

Versioning

What versioning scheme does the package file(s) use?

git commits, tags and branches.

Does this versioning scheme support range constraints, like ^1.0.0 or 1.x?

* [ ]  Supports range constraints (for example: `^1.0.0` or `1.x`), provide details.

* [x]  No.

Lookup

Is a new datasource required?

* [ ]  Yes, provide details.

* [x]  No.

Will users want (or need to) set a custom host or custom registry for Renovate's lookup?

* [ ]  Yes, provide details.

* [x]  No.

Where can Renovate find the custom host/registry?

* [x]  No custom host or registry is needed.

* [ ]  In the package file(s), provide details.

* [ ]  In some other file inside the repository, provide details.

* [ ]  User needs to configure Renovate where to find the information, provide details.

Are there any constraints in the package files that Renovate should use in the lookup procedure?

* [ ]  Yes, there are constraints on the parent language (for example: supports only Python `v3.x`), provide details.

* [ ]  Yes, there are constraints on the parent platform (for example: only supports Linux, Windows, etc.), provide details.

* [ ]  Yes, some other kind of constraint, provide details.

* [x]  No constraints.

Will users need the ability to configure language or other constraints using Renovate config?

* [ ]  Yes, provide details.

* [x]  No.

Artifacts

Does the package manager use a lock file or checksum file?

* [x]  Yes, uses lock file.

* [ ]  Yes, uses checksum file.

* [ ]  Yes, uses lock file _and_ checksum file.

* [ ]  No lock file or checksum.

Is the locksum or checksum mandatory?

* [ ]  Yes, locksum is mandatory.

* [ ]  Yes, checksum is mandatory.

* [ ]  Yes, lock file _and_ checksum are mandatory.

* [x]  No mandatory locksum or checksum.

* [ ]  Package manager does not use locksums or checksums.

If lockfiles or checksums are used: what tool and exact commands should Renovate use to update one (or more) package versions in a dependency file?

kas lock --update kas.yml

Package manager cache

Does the package manager use a cache?

* [ ]  Yes, provide details.

* [x]  No.

If the package manager uses a cache, how can Renovate control the cache?

* [x]  Package manager does not use a cache.

* [ ]  Controlled via command line interface, provide details.

* [ ]  Controlled via environment variables, provide details.

Should Renovate keep a cache?

* [ ]  Yes, ignore/disable the cache.

* [x]  No.

Generating a lockfile from scratch

Renovate can perform "lock file maintenance" by getting the package manager to generate a lockfile from scratch. Can the package manager generate a lockfile from scratch?

* [x]  Yes, explain which command Renovate should use to generate the lockfile.

* [ ]  No, the package manager does _not_ generate a lockfile from scratch.

* [ ]  No, the package manager does not use lockfiles.

Other

What else should we know about this package manager?

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Original from discussion