[PATCH v2 2/2] docs: spi: add documentation for userspace device instantiation

[Vishwaroop A <va@nvidia.com>]

Document the new_device and delete_device sysfs attributes on SPI
controllers:

  - Documentation/spi/instantiating-devices.rst: describes when and
    why this interface is needed, accepted parameters, usage examples,
    and limitations.
  - Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-class-spi-master: formal ABI
    entry for both attributes.

Signed-off-by: Vishwaroop A <va@nvidia.com>
---
 .../ABI/testing/sysfs-class-spi-master        | 34 +++++++
 Documentation/spi/index.rst                   |  1 +
 Documentation/spi/instantiating-devices.rst   | 88 +++++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 123 insertions(+)
 create mode 100644 Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-class-spi-master
 create mode 100644 Documentation/spi/instantiating-devices.rst

diff --git a/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-class-spi-master b/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-class-spi-master
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b498be128bad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-class-spi-master
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+What:		/sys/class/spi_master/spiB/new_device
+Date:		April 2026
+KernelVersion:	7.2
+Contact:	linux-spi@vger.kernel.org
+Description:	(WO) Instantiate a new SPI device on bus B, where B
+		is the bus number (0, 1, 2, ...). Takes parameters
+		in the format:
+
+		<modalias> <chip_select> [<max_speed_hz> [<mode>]]
+
+		where modalias is the driver name, chip_select is the
+		CS line number, and max_speed_hz and mode are optional.
+
+		The device can later be removed with delete_device.
+
+		Only devices created via this interface can be removed
+		with delete_device; platform and DT devices are not
+		affected.
+
+		Example:
+		# echo spidev 0 > /sys/class/spi_master/spi0/new_device
+		# echo spidev 0 10000000 > /sys/class/spi_master/spi0/new_device
+		# echo spidev 0 10000000 3 > /sys/class/spi_master/spi0/new_device
+
+What:		/sys/class/spi_master/spiB/delete_device
+Date:		April 2026
+KernelVersion:	7.2
+Contact:	linux-spi@vger.kernel.org
+Description:	(WO) Remove a SPI device previously created via
+		new_device. Takes a single parameter: the chip select
+		number of the device to remove.
+
+		Example:
+		# echo 0 > /sys/class/spi_master/spi0/delete_device
diff --git a/Documentation/spi/index.rst b/Documentation/spi/index.rst
index ac0c2233ce48..3f723e2c07da 100644
--- a/Documentation/spi/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/spi/index.rst
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)
    :maxdepth: 1
 
    spi-summary
+   instantiating-devices
    spidev
    multiple-data-lanes
    butterfly
diff --git a/Documentation/spi/instantiating-devices.rst b/Documentation/spi/instantiating-devices.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9ed08d94ae01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Documentation/spi/instantiating-devices.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+==============================
+How to instantiate SPI devices
+==============================
+
+SPI devices are normally declared statically via device-tree, ACPI, or
+board files. When the SPI controller is registered, these devices are
+instantiated automatically by the SPI core. This is the preferred method
+for any device with a proper kernel driver.
+
+Instantiate from user-space
+---------------------------
+
+In certain cases a SPI device cannot be declared statically:
+
+* The ``spidev`` driver, which provides raw userspace access to SPI
+  buses, explicitly rejects the bare ``"spidev"`` compatible string in
+  device-tree because spidev is a Linux implementation detail, not a
+  hardware description. Vendor-specific compatible strings for spidev
+  (e.g. ``"vendor,board-spidev"``) are also generally not accepted
+  upstream. Device-tree overlays do not help here either, since the
+  spidev driver performs the same compatible check regardless of how
+  the DT node was loaded.
+
+* You are developing or testing a SPI device on a development board
+  where the SPI bus is exposed on expansion headers, and the connected
+  device may change frequently.
+
+For these cases, a sysfs interface is provided on each SPI controller
+(similar to the I2C ``new_device``/``delete_device`` interface described
+in Documentation/i2c/instantiating-devices.rst). Two write-only
+attribute files are created in every SPI controller directory:
+``new_device`` and ``delete_device``.
+
+File ``new_device`` takes 2 to 4 parameters: the name of the SPI
+device (a string), the chip select number, and optionally
+``max_speed_hz`` and ``mode``::
+
+  <modalias> <chip_select> [<max_speed_hz> [<mode>]]
+
+The modalias is set both as the device's ``modalias`` field and as its
+``driver_override``. This ensures that the device binds to the named
+driver directly, bypassing the normal bus matching logic (OF, ACPI,
+and ``id_table``). This is necessary because drivers like ``spidev``
+deliberately exclude generic names from their ``id_table``.
+
+If ``max_speed_hz`` is omitted or 0, ``spi_setup()`` clamps it to
+the controller's maximum speed. If ``mode`` is omitted, SPI mode 0
+(CPOL=0, CPHA=0) is used.
+
+File ``delete_device`` takes a single parameter: the chip select
+number. As no two devices can share a chip select on a given SPI bus,
+the chip select is sufficient to uniquely identify the device.
+
+Examples::
+
+  # Create a spidev device on SPI bus 0, chip select 0
+  echo spidev 0 > /sys/class/spi_master/spi0/new_device
+
+  # Create with explicit clock rate and SPI mode
+  echo spidev 0 10000000 3 > /sys/class/spi_master/spi0/new_device
+
+  # Remove the device
+  echo 0 > /sys/class/spi_master/spi0/delete_device
+
+On systems that need spidev access at boot, a systemd service or
+udev rule can write to ``new_device`` after the SPI controller is
+available.
+
+Limitations
+^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+Devices created through this interface have the following limitations
+compared to devices declared via device-tree:
+
+* No interrupt (IRQ) support.
+* No additional properties such as ``spi-max-frequency`` DT bindings
+  or controller-specific configuration.
+* No platform data or software nodes.
+
+For ``spidev`` usage these limitations are not relevant, since spidev
+provides a raw byte-level interface that does not require any of these
+features.
+
+Only devices created via ``new_device`` can be removed through
+``delete_device``. Devices declared via device-tree, ACPI, or board
+files are not affected by this interface.
-- 
2.17.1