of_get_child_by_name(9)

💖 NAME 💖

of_get_child_by_name — bestie, this is the one that finds the child node by name for a given parent ✨

So like, you got a parent node, you got a name, and this function is the matchmaker 🫶

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

struct device_node * of_get_child_by_name (const struct device_node
*node , const char *name );

okay so the signature is a little long but she's iconic, we forgive her 💅

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🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

• node — the parent node 💖 the one doing the parenting, the main character of this whole operation
• name — the child name to look for 🔍 like, the specific kid we're hunting for

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

This function looks for a child node for a given matching name 🌈

That's it, that's the vibe. You hand her a parent, you hand her a name, she goes looking for the child that matches. No cap, that is literally the entire job 😌

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⭐ RETURN ⭐

You get a node pointer back if it's found 👑 and — heads up bestie, this part matters — the refcount is incremented 🔥 so you gotta call of_node_put on it when you're done with it. Like, clean up after yourself, be a good citizen 💅

And if the node is not found? You get NULL back. Nothing. Empty. A whole mood 💀 so please check for it, okay? 🙈

Fr fr, don't forget the of_node_put. The refcount is not a suggestion, it's a commitment 🫶

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🌸 SEE ALSO 🌸

Kernel file ./drivers/of/base.c — and here's the whole friend group, all of them, every single one 💜

• of_find_all_nodes(9)
• __of_device_is_compatible(9)
• of_machine_compatible_match(9)
• of_machine_read_compatible(9)
• of_machine_read_model(9)
• of_machine_get_match(9)
• of_machine_get_match_data(9)
• __of_device_is_available(9)
• __of_device_is_reserved(9)
• of_device_is_available(9)
• __of_device_is_fail(9)
• of_device_is_big_endian(9)
• of_get_parent(9)
• of_get_next_parent(9)
• of_get_next_child(9)
• of_get_next_child_with_prefix(9)
• of_get_next_available_child(9)
• of_get_next_reserved_child(9)
• of_get_next_cpu_node(9)
• of_get_compatible_child(9)
• of_get_available_child_by_name(9)
• of_find_node_opts_by_path(9)
• of_find_node_by_name(9)
• of_find_node_by_type(9)
• of_find_compatible_node(9)
• of_find_node_with_property(9)
• of_match_node(9)
• of_find_matching_node_and_match(9)
• of_alias_from_compatible(9)
• of_find_node_by_phandle(9)
• of_parse_phandle_with_args_map(9)
• of_count_phandle_with_args(9)
• __of_add_property(9)
• of_add_property(9)
• of_remove_property(9)
• of_alias_scan(9)
• of_alias_get_id(9)
• of_alias_get_highest_id(9)
• of_console_check(9)
• of_find_next_cache_node(9)
• of_find_last_cache_level(9)
• of_map_id(9)
• of_map_iommu_id(9)
• of_map_msi_id(9)

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and that's the page, bestie 🧚 go forth and find those child nodes 💖

this lil gem lives over in ./drivers/of, dated October 2026, and it's of_get_child_by_name(9) from the Kernel API Manual — slay, periodt, bye 💅🎀