might_alloc(9)

💅 might_alloc(9) — a Kernel API Manual moment

okay so this is might_alloc, bestie, straight out of the Kernel API Manual ✨ she's a tiny function with big "i might do something" energy and honestly? iconic.

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🌸 NAME 🌸

might_alloc — she marks possible allocation sites 💖 literally that's the whole job.

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

void might_alloc (gfp_t gfp_mask );

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🦋 ARGUMENTS 🦋

• gfp_mask — the gfp_t flags that would be used to allocate 👀 like, if you were gonna allocate. which you might.

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

so she's similar to might_sleep and all those other annotations, right? 🫶 you drop her into functions that might allocate — but like, often don't 🙈. she's the "no thoughts head empty" annotation, except she's actually doing important work.

here's the gag: without CONFIG_LOCKDEP, she compiles to nothing. literally nothing. zero. nada. 💀 so if you're wondering where she went, check your config, bestie.

and she includes a conditional might_sleep — but only if gfp allows blocking. no blocking, no might_sleep. it's giving conditional queen 👑.

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💜 SEE ALSO 💜

she lives in the kernel file ./include/linux/sched/mm.h and honestly her whole friend group is in there:

• mmgrab(9)
• mmget(9)
• memalloc_flags_save(9)
• memalloc_noio_save(9)
• memalloc_noio_restore(9)
• memalloc_nofs_save(9)
• memalloc_nofs_restore(9)
• memalloc_noreclaim_save(9)
• memalloc_noreclaim_restore(9)
• memalloc_pin_save(9)
• memalloc_pin_restore(9)
• set_active_memcg(9)

like a whole little save/restore family reunion 😭 go say hi.

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that's the page, babe 🧚 this one came from ./include/linux/sched, dated October 2026 — mwah, slay, periodt 💅✨