bring USERPATCHES_PATH back into working state and fix inconsistencies

[EvilOlaf]

Description

• attempts to fix USERPATCHES_PATH is ignored/not working #6178 and USERPATCHES_PATH customization and inconsistency across the framework #7091
• unify USERPATCHES_PATH variable declaration and make sure it is used the same everywhere instead of
• • either hard-coded
• • or {SRC}/userpatches or whatever
• bring back USERPATCHES_PATH functionality as env variable or in a config file just like the docs mention it
• • current state is rather half-broken, see linked issues
• slight adjustments to make this work in docker properly as well
• ensure proper hashing of changes in userpatches
• last some optional hardening

mostly done by fable so I semi-trust it did a decent job. it did a crazy amount of various tests and reviews from various angles....if useful after all I don't know.

GitHub issue reference:
Jira reference number [AR-9999]

Documentation summary for feature / change

Basically aligns the build framework behavior in terms of USERPATCHES_PATH to the current version of the documentation by bringing back its functionality.

How Has This Been Tested?

• ./compile.sh BOARD=orangepi5 BRANCH=current BUILD_MINIMAL=yes KERNEL_CONFIGURE=no PREFER_DOCKER=no RELEASE=trixie
• ./compile.sh BOARD=orangepi5 BRANCH=current BUILD_MINIMAL=yes KERNEL_CONFIGURE=no PREFER_DOCKER=no RELEASE=trixie USERPATCHES_PATH=asdf fails properly, directory doesn't exist
• ./compile.sh BOARD=orangepi5 BRANCH=current BUILD_MINIMAL=yes KERNEL_CONFIGURE=no PREFER_DOCKER=no RELEASE=trixie USERPATCHES_PATH=asdf runs through the same as first attempt after creating the folder

Would be neat if CI could do some tests with docker present. I don't want to poison my cache by mixing docker and non-docker environment here.

Checklist:

• My code follows the style guidelines of this project
• I have performed a self-review of my own code
• I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas
• My changes generate no new warnings
• Any dependent changes have been merged and published in downstream modules

Summary by CodeRabbit

• New Features

  • Added support for configuring a custom userpatches directory.
  • Custom paths are validated and consistently propagated across builds, tools, Docker environments, and subprocesses.
  • Configuration files, extensions, kernel patches, and module lists now use the configured userpatches location.

• Bug Fixes

  • Preserved reproducible file hashing when userpatches are stored outside the default directory.
  • Improved path handling for package and source aggregation.
  • Prevented patch-history checks from processing files outside the repository.

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• lib/functions/general/hash-files.sh

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The build now supports a validated custom USERPATCHES_PATH. The path propagates through configuration lookup, Docker mounts, repeated builds, child tools, hashing, kernel patches, extensions, and local module discovery.

Changes

USERPATCHES_PATH support

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Path resolution and configuration lookup lib/functions/cli/entrypoint.sh, lib/functions/cli/utils-cli.sh	The build resolves and validates USERPATCHES_PATH, stores the normalized value, creates it when needed, and searches its configuration files.
Docker and child-process propagation lib/functions/cli/cli-docker.sh, lib/functions/host/docker.sh, lib/functions/main/start-end.sh, lib/tools/common/armbian_utils.py, lib/tools/info/download-debs.py, lib/functions/cli/cli-jsoninfo.sh	The configured path is exported to child tools, mounted into Docker, and retained in repeat-build parameters.
Patch, extension, and hash consumers config/sources/vendors/..., extensions/*, lib/functions/general/hash-files.sh	Kernel patches, generated extensions, local module captures, and hash calculations use the configured path.
Path-safe tooling lib/tools/common/aggregation_utils.py, lib/tools/common/patching_utils.py	Path aggregation checks common prefixes before removal, and Git archeology skips patch files outside the repository.

Priority: ➖ Normal

Estimated code review effort: 4 (Complex) | ~45 minutes

Change: Bug fix · Severity of issue fixed: Medium

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant BuildCLI
  participant UserpatchesResolver
  participant DockerLauncher
  participant ChildTools
  BuildCLI->>UserpatchesResolver: resolve and validate USERPATCHES_PATH
  UserpatchesResolver->>DockerLauncher: provide normalized host path
  DockerLauncher->>ChildTools: mount and propagate userpatches path
  ChildTools->>ChildTools: use USERPATCHES_PATH for configs, patches, and board data

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🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 4 | ❌ 1

❌ Failed checks (1 warning)

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage	⚠️ Warning	Docstring coverage is 26.67% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 30 functions across 14 files.	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

✅ Passed checks (4 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description Check	✅ Passed	Check skipped - CodeRabbit’s high-level summary is enabled.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title accurately describes the main changes: restoring USERPATCHES_PATH functionality and standardizing its handling across the build framework.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Issue #6178 requires Docker to recognize an external USERPATCHES_PATH and mount it as the container userpatches directory. The PR resolves and freezes the path, validates custom paths, passes the host…
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	The changed files support the USERPATCHES_PATH objective in issue #6178. Path validation, propagation, Docker mounting, repeat-build handling, patch staging, aggregation, Git history handling, and has…

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Actionable comments posted: 1

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• 🪄 Fix CodeRabbit comments on this PR

🤖 Prompt to fix review comments

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Inline comments:
In `@lib/functions/cli/utils-cli.sh`:
- Line 110: Update cli_entrypoint and cli_determine_userpatches_path so
USERPATCHES_PATH remains mutable while ARMBIAN_CONFIG_FILES are loaded, then
resolve and freeze the final value afterward. Preserve explicit CLI-over-config
precedence, and explicitly define environment precedence only if the existing
behavior requires it.

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Configuration used: Repository: armbian/build/.coderabbit.yaml

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📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between faa8a66 and 8b2984e.

📒 Files selected for processing (15)

• config/sources/vendors/seeed-studio/recomputer-rk35xx-common.inc
• extensions/gateway-dk-ask.sh
• extensions/gen-sample-extension-docs.sh
• extensions/lsmod.sh
• lib/functions/cli/cli-docker.sh
• lib/functions/cli/cli-jsoninfo.sh
• lib/functions/cli/entrypoint.sh
• lib/functions/cli/utils-cli.sh
• lib/functions/general/hash-files.sh
• lib/functions/host/docker.sh
• lib/functions/main/start-end.sh
• lib/tools/common/aggregation_utils.py
• lib/tools/common/armbian_utils.py
• lib/tools/common/patching_utils.py
• lib/tools/info/download-debs.py

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