Cross Gcc

This walks you through cross-compiling with GCC for embedded and multi-architecture targets. You get practical guidance on toolchain setup, triplets (aarch64-linux-gnu, arm-none-eabi, etc.), configuring sysroots, and fixing pkg-config so it stops returning host libraries during cross builds. It covers CMake toolchain files, QEMU-based testing with GDB remote debugging, and common failure modes like wrong ELF class errors. The reference tables for triplets and error messages are genuinely helpful when you're staring at a linker error at 2am. If you're building for ARM, RISC-V, or MIPS from an x86 host, or integrating with Yocto and Buildroot, this gives you the essentials without the usual cross-compilation folklore.

skills.sh installs: 742
GitHub stars: 279
last updated: Aug 21, 2026

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Install

$ npx -y skills add mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills --skill cross-gcc --agent claude-code

Installs into .claude/skills of the current project.

Files

Cross-GCC

Purpose

Guide agents through setting up and using cross-compilation GCC toolchains: triplets, sysroots, pkg-config, QEMU-based testing, and common failure modes.

Triggers

"How do I compile for ARM on my x86 machine?"
"I'm getting 'wrong ELF class' or 'cannot execute binary file'"
"How do I set up a sysroot for cross-compilation?"
"pkg-config returns host libraries in my cross build"
"How do I debug a cross-compiled binary with QEMU + GDB?"

Workflow

1. Understand the triplet

A GNU triplet has the form <arch>-<vendor>-<os>-<abi> (often 3 or 4 parts):

Triplet	Target
`aarch64-linux-gnu`	64-bit ARM Linux (glibc)
`arm-linux-gnueabihf`	32-bit ARM Linux hard-float
`arm-none-eabi`	Bare-metal ARM (no OS)
`riscv64-linux-gnu`	64-bit RISC-V Linux
`x86_64-w64-mingw32`	Windows (MinGW) from Linux
`mipsel-linux-gnu`	Little-endian MIPS Linux

2. Install the toolchain

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu g++-aarch64-linux-gnu binutils-aarch64-linux-gnu

# For bare-metal ARM (Cortex-M)
sudo apt install gcc-arm-none-eabi binutils-arm-none-eabi

SKILL.md on GitHub