[Weekly Progress Report GSoC 2026] Automatic Extraction of OpenWrt Firmware Image Metadata

[Mohammed Atif]

Hello everyone, this thread will be used to track the progress of the GSoC 2026 project, [Automatic Extraction of OpenWrt Firmware Image Metadata](https://openwisp.io/docs/dev/developer/gsoc-ideas-2026.html#automatic-extraction-of-openwrt-firmware-image-metadata)

[May 18 - May 22] 

What have you worked on this week?

• Implemented the scope of [#418](https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-firmware-upgrader/issues/418), tested it and got the desired metadata extraction results
• Replaced the subprocess call of the fwtool with the pure python implementation (also covered under #418 and its PR [#421](https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-firmware-upgrader/pull/421))
• Implemented the scope of [#412](https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-firmware-upgrader/issues/412)+[#413](https://github.com/openwisp/openwisp-firmware-upgrader/issues/413) in a combined PR, wrote tests for this implementation
• Manually tested the extraction pipeline in the UI after implementing the async extraction task

What are you going to work on next week?

• Continue polishing #421, and the combined PR mentioned above for #412 & #413, and test them more
• Start mapping out the UI and go over the email discussions again to note down the different safety workflows discussed from the perspective of the user

Is there any blocker?

• No

Regards,
Mohammed Atif

[Mohammed Atif]

Hello everyone, this thread will be used to track the progress of the GSoC 2026 project, Automatic Extraction of OpenWrt Firmware Image Metadata

[May 18 - May 22] 

What have you worked on this week?

• Implemented the scope of #418 tested it and got the desired metadata extraction results

• Replaced the subprocess call of the fwtool with the pure python implementation (also covered under #418 and its PR #421

• Implemented the scope of #412 + #413  in a combined PR, wrote tests for this implementation

• Manually tested the extraction pipeline in the UI after implementing the async extraction task

[Mohammed Atif]

[May 25 - May 29]

What have you worked on this week?

• Worked on PR #421 to refine it even more,  added checksums for 2 real firmware images to enable integration tests
• Cleaned up the duplicate tests present in #421
• Added docs for decompression safety limit settings
  

What are you going to work on next week?

• Start focusing on addressing the review comments on the combined PR #437 for issues #412 and #413 
• Focus on manual testing the workflow now that we can test it in the UI on PR #437's branch

Is there any blocker?

• No

Regards,
Mohammed Atif

[Mohammed Atif]

[June 1 - June 5] 

What have you worked on this week?

• Worked on the human-readable label extraction from embedded DTB in firmware images for PR #421 
• Reduced duplication in the core extraction logic
• Cleaned up tests in PR #421

What are you going to work on next week?

• Address the outstanding review comments on #421 and get it ready for final review
• If #421 gets approved, move on to focusing on the review comments under PR #437

Is there any blocker?

• No

Regards,
Mohammed Atif

[Mohammed Atif]

[June 8 - June 12]

What have you worked on this week?

• Finalized PR #421, got it merged
• Started working on PR #437, started addressing review comments

What are you going to work on next week?

• Continue addressing the review comments on PR #437 and push the changes 
• Continue the manual testing of the extraction workflow
  

Is there any blocker?

• No

Regards,
Mohammed Atif

[Mohammed Atif]

[June 15 - June 19]

What have you worked on this week?

• Addressed the outstanding review comments on PR #437
• Implemented the bulk Re-extract metadata admin action, wrote tests as required and tested it manually

What're you going to work on next week?

• Continue working on PR #437, polish the UI and start mapping out the safety workflows related to the extraction pipeline
• Make PR #437 branch ready for manual testing, 

Is there any blocker?

• No

Regards, 

Mohammed Atif

[Mohammed Atif]

[June 22 - June 26]

What have you worked on this week?

• Worked on using colored badges for different extraction status
• Removed compat_version from the UI as it was not that useful to the user
• Made the 'Compatible' field more human-readable by displaying each compatible board identifier as an individual tag instead of a raw, comma-separated string 
• Re-ordered the metadata field so that 'source' appears over 'Target' and 'Firmware Version'
• Worked on the removal of the hardcoded firmware image map, removed 'Type' drop down from the firmware image inline
• Made 'Failure reason' appear only on 'Failed' extractions to reduce noise

What're you going to work on next week?

• Continue working on different areas of the UI (notification messages, auto-scroll functionality in the manual input page, etc)
• Open an issue for auto-triggering metadata extraction for firmware images via data migration
• Continue writing documentation for the changes made so far
• Continue working on the items mentioned in the check list
  
  

Is there any blocker?

• No

Regards,
Mohammed Atif