Re: [Buildroot] [PATCH 7/7] Makefile: add new target "yellowconfig" based on kconfiglib

[Petr Vorel <petr.vorel@gmail.com>]

Hi Titouan,

> As informally proposed during the February 2026 Buildroot dev meeting,
> this introduces a new kconfig user interface based on Zephyr's kconfiglib.
> The name "yellowconfig" is inspired by the yellow-themed curses interface,
> as opposed to the classical blue "menuconfig".
> Read more about kconfiglib: https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/Kconfiglib

Interesting.

> To run that target, one has to install kconfiglib beforehand,
> for example by issuing the following command:
> > pip install kconfiglib

> In terms of user interface differences, Zephyr's kconfig brings:
> - searching symbols as you type, and more symbols are visible in a single
>   page of search results [1]
> - symbols that aren't selectable (because of unmet dependencies) can be
>   viewed (toggling them on or off with the key "A") [2]
> - symbols y/n dependencies are displayed more clearly, each one on a newline.
>   This is especially appreciable when there are many of them, whereas in the
>   classical menuconfig one has to scroll left/right to view them [3]

> Having this as a new make target allow for Buildroot users to try it out
> and forge their opinion on this different interface without breaking
> habits and usual workflows. However, in the longer run, this could possibly
> allow to replace the custom-patched kconfig programs we ship in Buildroot
> with an unmodified upstream supported codebase. If this proves to be useful,
> an appropriate distribution strategy for kconfiglib must be determined,
> such that it doesn't need to be installed externally by users.

> Moreover, as unselectable symbols can be displayed in the interface, this
> would remove the need for comments in the like "<pkg> needs <condition>",
> where we need to invert and maintain conditional dependencies.

> As a final nice addition, having a Python based kconfiglib allows for
> programmatic access to kconfig symbols and settings in scripts, which
> could be useful in testing scenarios.

> [1] https://gitlab.com/-/project/2648174/uploads/8ae29a772927e7e555f85f6d31876bb4/2026-02-04-105501_958x1015_scrot.png
> [2] https://gitlab.com/-/project/2648174/uploads/8d27510cf738cab9fd95ffdd81f75bc9/2026-02-04-105514_958x1015_scrot.png
> [3] https://gitlab.com/-/project/2648174/uploads/6d51a4b608fce076ac8c0c84623531f2/2026-02-04-105522_958x1015_scrot.png

> Signed-off-by: Titouan Christophe <titouan.christophe@mind.be>
> ---
>  Makefile                    | 6 +++++-
>  docs/manual/quickstart.adoc | 7 +++++++
>  2 files changed, 12 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

> diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
> index 7fa3ce4890..8fa95a86a6 100644
> --- a/Makefile
> +++ b/Makefile
> @@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ export BR2_VERSION_FULL := $(BR2_LOCALVERSION)
>  endif

>  # List of targets and target patterns for which .config doesn't need to be read in
> -noconfig_targets := menuconfig nconfig gconfig xconfig config oldconfig randconfig \
> +noconfig_targets := menuconfig yellowconfig nconfig gconfig xconfig config oldconfig randconfig \
>  	defconfig %_defconfig allyesconfig allnoconfig alldefconfig syncconfig release \
>  	randpackageconfig allyespackageconfig allnopackageconfig \
>  	print-version olddefconfig distclean manual manual-% check-package \
> @@ -1017,6 +1017,9 @@ gconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/gconf outputmakefile
>  menuconfig: $(BUILD_DIR)/buildroot-config/mconf outputmakefile
>  	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) $< $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)

> +yellowconfig: outputmakefile
> +	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) CONFIG_= python -m menuconfig $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)
Please python means usually the old 2.x.

$ make yellowconfig
/bin/bash: line 1: python: command not found
make[1]: *** [Makefile:1021: yellowconfig] Error 127
make: *** [Makefile:83: _all] Error 2

Could we please have python3? Ideally allowing to overwrite it the same way
Linux kernel Makefile have:

PYTHON3		= python3
...
yellowconfig: outputmakefile
	@$(COMMON_CONFIG_ENV) CONFIG_= $(PYTHON3) -m menuconfig $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN)

(I haven't found where Buildroot stores the default tools, I don't thing there
is any file).



With manually fixed:

$ make yellowconfig
/usr/bin/python3: No module named menuconfig
make[1]: *** [Makefile:1021: yellowconfig] Error 1
make: *** [Makefile:83: _all] Error 2

@@ -1164,6 +1167,7 @@ help:
 	@echo 'Configuration:'
 	@echo '  menuconfig             - interactive curses-based configurator'
 	@echo '  nconfig                - interactive ncurses-based configurator'
+	@echo '  yellowconfig           - interactive kconfiglib-based configurator'
=> could we mention https://pypi.org/project/kconfiglib/ at the docs?

And/or in a fallback of $(PYTHON3) -m menuconfig $(CONFIG_CONFIG_IN) (if not too
complicated)?

Kind regards,
Petr
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