# blackmagic-debug/blackmagic

In-application debugger for ARM Cortex and RISC-V processors.

Repository: https://github.com/blackmagic-debug/blackmagic
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/blackmagic
Homepage: https://codeberg.org/blackmagic-debug/blackmagic
License: GPL-3.0
License Family: copyleft
Archived: true
Last push: 2026-03-07T00:42:53+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 10/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 70, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 5687, "days_push": 180, "days_rel": 410, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: archived
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 3719, forks 847 (observed 2026-08-28T04:08:15.444104+00:00)

## What it is
Black Magic Debug is a self-contained in-application debugger for ARM Cortex and RISC-V microcontrollers that requires no configuration files and auto-detects connected targets. It is the firmware and tooling behind the Black Magic Probe, providing GDB server functionality for embedded debugging.

## Use cases
- debug firmware on ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers over SWD
- debug RISC-V embedded targets with GDB
- flash firmware to microcontrollers without a separate flasher tool
- set breakpoints and step through embedded C code on-device
- auto-detect and configure a connected debug target with zero config
- build a DIY Black Magic Probe debug probe

## When to choose
- you need a low-cost, self-contained GDB debug probe for ARM Cortex or RISC-V chips
- you want zero-configuration target auto-detection for embedded debugging
- you are building or flashing a Black Magic Probe hardware debugger
- you debug microcontroller firmware from GDB or IDEs that support GDB servers

## When to avoid
- you need to debug full Linux applications rather than bare-metal microcontrollers
- you require proprietary probe features like high-speed trace (ETM/ITM) or advanced vendor-specific debugging
- your target is neither ARM Cortex nor RISC-V

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: developer-tools, embedded
- domain: embedded-systems, developer-tools, hardware
- platform: cross-platform, embedded
- tags: debugger, arm-cortex, risc-v, gdb-server, firmware, jtag, swd, microcontroller, black-magic-probe

## Member repositories
- blackmagic-debug/blackmagic (main) score 10

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:15.444104+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:29:20.775890+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/blackmagic-debug/blackmagic (fetched 2026-08-28T04:08:15.444104+00:00, sha 0bc6da002e21)
  - homepage: https://codeberg.org/blackmagic-debug/blackmagic (fetched 2026-08-29T09:27:48.146565+00:00, sha fc31967af246)
  - site_page: https://docs.codeberg.org/getting-started/what-is-codeberg (fetched 2026-08-29T09:27:48.155956+00:00, sha fe3047f34c81)
  - site_page: https://docs.codeberg.org (fetched 2026-08-29T09:27:48.165086+00:00, sha 3c642f9d47c9)
  - site_page: https://codeberg.org/blackmagic-debug/blackmagic/commit/c2fad0d88a0ca78b1f0e69fcd17a481144191285 (fetched 2026-08-29T09:27:48.160728+00:00, sha b1e458d5b059)
  - site_page: https://codeberg.org/blackmagic-debug/blackmagic/commit/d3537da71ebcecd4cda82ce20a3dbdaff97d283a (fetched 2026-08-29T09:27:48.162167+00:00, sha b1e458d5b059)
  - site_page: https://codeberg.org/blackmagic-debug/blackmagic/commit/0ca2fb2429cd9de2f84a5a0127c3ff4528d32aa2 (fetched 2026-08-29T09:27:48.163700+00:00, sha b1e458d5b059)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.