diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-run-kernel-snake.yml b/.github/workflows/build-run-kernel-snake.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2beac565
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-run-kernel-snake.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+name: Build and run kernels
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
+  pull_request:
+
+jobs:
+  build-and-run-kernels:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+      - uses: prefix-dev/setup-pixi@v0.8.1
+        with:
+          cache: true
+          cache-write: ${{ github.event_name == 'push' && github.ref_name == 'main' }}
+      - name: Build and run kernels
+        run: pixi run snakemake -k -j `nproc`
+        working-directory: kernels/${{ matrix.kernel }}
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        kernel: [alloc]
diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-run-kernel.yml b/.github/workflows/build-run-kernel.yml
index 590d9a48..1b472116 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-run-kernel.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-run-kernel.yml
@@ -20,4 +20,4 @@ jobs:
         working-directory: kernels/${{ matrix.kernel }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        kernel: [alloc, simple_copy, transform_copy, streamer_alu, tiled_add, streamer_matmul, gemmini, rescale, gemm]
+        kernel: [simple_copy, transform_copy, streamer_alu, tiled_add, streamer_matmul, gemmini, rescale, gemm]
diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index be2bbfd0..26baa975 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -20,3 +20,7 @@ repos:
   rev: 23.3.0
   hooks:
     - id: black
+- repo: https://github.com/snakemake/snakefmt
+  rev: v0.10.2 
+  hooks:
+    - id: snakefmt
diff --git a/kernels/alloc/Makefile b/kernels/alloc/Makefile
deleted file mode 100644
index 3e0da1de..00000000
--- a/kernels/alloc/Makefile
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,30 +0,0 @@
-# Courtesy of Federico Ficarelli
-
-.DEFAULT_GOAL := all
-
-include ../../runtime/snax-mac.rules
-include ../../runtime/Makefile.rules
-
-TESTS =
-TESTS += func.x
-
-CFLAGS += -std=gnu11
-CFLAGS += -Wall -Wextra
-
-%.x: %.o main.o
-	$(LD) $(LDFLAGS) $^ -o $@
-
-sim_%: %
-	rm -fr ./logs/
-	$(VLTSIM) $<
-
-RUN = $(addprefix run_, $(TESTS))
-$(RUN): run_%: sim_%
-	mv logs $(subst sim_,,$<).logs
-
-all: $(TESTS)
-
-allrun: $(RUN)
-
-clean:
-	rm -fr *.ll12 *.x *.o *.logs/ logs/
diff --git a/kernels/alloc/Snakefile b/kernels/alloc/Snakefile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..92c7216c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kernels/alloc/Snakefile
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+from util.snake.configs import get_snax_mac_config
+
+config = get_snax_mac_config()
+
+config["snaxoptflags"] = ",".join(
+    [
+        "dispatch-kernels",
+        "set-memory-space",
+        "set-memory-layout",
+        "realize-memref-casts",
+        "reuse-memref-allocs",
+        "insert-sync-barrier",
+        "dispatch-regions",
+        "linalg-to-library-call",
+        "snax-copy-to-dma",
+        "memref-to-snax",
+        "snax-to-func",
+        "clear-memory-space",
+    ]
+)
+
+
+module default_rules:
+    snakefile:
+        "../../util/snake/default_rules.smk"
+    config:
+        config
+
+
+rule all:
+    input:
+        "func.x",
+    shell:
+        "{config[vltsim]} {input[0]}"
+
+
+use rule * from default_rules exclude compile_simple_main as default_*
+
+
+rule compile_snax_binary:
+    input:
+        "func.o",
+        "main.o",
+    output:
+        "func.x",
+    shell:
+        "{config[ld]} {config[ldflags]} {input} -o {output}"
diff --git a/util/snake/__init__.py b/util/snake/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b
diff --git a/util/snake/configs.py b/util/snake/configs.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..86411ed2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/snake/configs.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import os
+
+from util.snake.flags import get_default_flags
+from util.snake.paths import get_default_paths
+
+
+def get_snax_mac_config():
+    # use CONDA_PREFIX to access pixi env
+    snax_utils_path = os.environ["CONDA_PREFIX"] + "/snax-utils"
+    snitch_sw_path = snax_utils_path + "/snax-mac"
+    config = {}
+    config.update(get_default_paths())
+    config.update(get_default_flags(snitch_sw_path))
+    config["vltsim"] = f"{snax_utils_path}/snax-mac-rtl/bin/snitch_cluster.vlt"
+    config["cflags"].append(
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/target/snitch_cluster/sw/snax/mac/include"
+    )
+    config["ldflags"].append(
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/target/snitch_cluster/sw/snax/mac/build/mac.o"
+    )
+    return config
diff --git a/util/snake/default_rules.smk b/util/snake/default_rules.smk
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1a9c3be5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/snake/default_rules.smk
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+rule preprocess_mlir:
+    """
+    Apply various preprocessing transformations to mlir files with upstream mlir. 
+    Options controlled by `mlirpreprocflags` defined in config.
+    """
+    input:
+        "{file}.mlir",
+    output:
+        temp("{file}.preproc1.mlir"),
+        temp("{file}.preproc2.mlir"),
+        temp("{file}.preprocfinal.mlir"),
+    run:
+        shell(
+            "{config[mlir-opt]} {config[mlirpreprocflags][0]} -o {wildcards.file}.preproc1.mlir {input}"
+        )
+        shell(
+            "{config[mlir-opt]} {config[mlirpreprocflags][1]} -o {wildcards.file}.preproc2.mlir {wildcards.file}.preproc1.mlir"
+        )
+        shell(
+            "{config[mlir-opt]} {config[mlirpreprocflags][2]} -o {output[2]} {wildcards.file}.preproc2.mlir"
+        )
+
+
+rule snax_opt_mlir:
+    """
+    Apply various transformations snax-opt on mlir files.
+    Options controlled with `snaxoptflags` defined in config.
+    """
+    input:
+        "{file}.preprocfinal.mlir",
+    output:
+        temp("{file}.snax-opt.mlir"),
+    shell:
+        "{config[snax-opt]} -p {config[snaxoptflags]} -o {output} {input}"
+
+
+rule postprocess_mlir:
+    """
+    Apply various postprocessing transformations to mlir files with upstream mlir.
+    Goal is to lower everything to LLVM dialect after this step.
+    Options controlled with `mlirpostprocflags` defined in config.
+    """
+    input:
+        "{file}.snax-opt.mlir",
+    output:
+        temp("{file}.ll.mlir"),
+    shell:
+        "{config[mlir-opt]} {config[mlirpostprocflags]} -o {output} {input}"
+
+
+rule translate_mlir:
+    """
+    Translate MLIR LLVM dialect to actual LLVM.
+    """
+    input:
+        "{file}.ll.mlir",
+    output:
+        temp("{file}.ll"),
+    shell:
+        "{config[mlir-translate]} --mlir-to-llvmir -o {output} {input}"
+
+
+rule compile_c:
+    """
+    Generic rule to compile c files with default compilation options.
+    """
+    input:
+        "{file}.c",
+    output:
+        temp("{file}.o"),
+    shell:
+        "{config[cc]} {config[cflags]} -c {input} -o {output}"
+
+
+rule postprocess_llvm_module:
+    """
+    Add extra metadata to LLVM module required for snitch-based systems
+    """
+    input:
+        "{file}.ll",
+    output:
+        temp("{file}.ll12"),
+    shell:
+        "../../runtime/tollvm12.py < {input} > {output} "
+
+
+rule compile_llvm_module:
+    """
+    Use clang to compile LLVM module to object file.
+    Uses target-specific options, but not C-specific options.
+    """
+    input:
+        "{file}.ll12",
+    output:
+        temp("{file}.o"),
+    shell:
+        "{config[cc]} {config[clangflags]} -x ir -c {input} -o {output}"
+
+
+rule clean:
+    """
+    Remove generated files.
+    """
+    shell:
+        "rm -rf *.ll12 *.x *.o *.logs/ logs/ data* *.dasm"
diff --git a/util/snake/flags.py b/util/snake/flags.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b0d4b8f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/snake/flags.py
@@ -0,0 +1,142 @@
+import os
+
+
+def get_mlir_preproc_flags():
+    return [
+        [
+            "--pass-pipeline='builtin.module(func.func("
+            + ", ".join(
+                [
+                    "tosa-to-linalg-named",
+                    "tosa-to-tensor",
+                    "tosa-to-scf",
+                    "tosa-to-linalg",
+                ]
+            )
+            + "))'",
+            "--mlir-print-op-generic",
+            "--mlir-print-local-scope",
+        ],
+        ["--tosa-to-arith='include-apply-rescale'", "--empty-tensor-to-alloc-tensor"],
+        [
+            "--test-linalg-transform-patterns='test-generalize-pad-tensor'",
+            "--linalg-generalize-named-ops",
+            "--empty-tensor-to-alloc-tensor",
+            "--one-shot-bufferize='"
+            + " ".join(
+                [
+                    "bufferize-function-boundaries",
+                    "allow-return-allocs-from-loops",
+                    "function-boundary-type-conversion=identity-layout-map",
+                ]
+            )
+            + "'",
+            "--mlir-print-op-generic",
+            "--mlir-print-local-scope",
+        ],
+    ]
+
+
+def get_mlir_postproc_flags(index_bitwidth=32):
+    return [
+        "--convert-linalg-to-loops",
+        "--convert-scf-to-cf",
+        "--lower-affine",
+        "--canonicalize",
+        "--cse",
+        "--convert-math-to-llvm",
+        "--llvm-request-c-wrappers",
+        "--expand-strided-metadata",
+        "--lower-affine",
+        f"--convert-index-to-llvm=index-bitwidth={index_bitwidth}",
+        f"--convert-cf-to-llvm=index-bitwidth={index_bitwidth}",
+        f"--convert-arith-to-llvm=index-bitwidth={index_bitwidth}",
+        f"--convert-func-to-llvm='index-bitwidth={index_bitwidth}'",
+        f"--finalize-memref-to-llvm='use-generic-functions index-bitwidth={index_bitwidth}'",
+        "--canonicalize",
+        "--reconcile-unrealized-casts",
+    ]
+
+
+def get_target_flags():
+    """
+    Function that returns llvm target flags, related to RISC-V backend settings
+    """
+    return [
+        "--target=riscv32-unknown-elf",
+        "-mcpu=generic-rv32",
+        "-march=rv32imafdzfh",
+        "-mabi=ilp32d",
+        "-mcmodel=medany",
+    ]
+
+
+def get_clang_flags():
+    """
+    Function that returns clang-specific flags, related to RISC-V backend settings
+    """
+    return [
+        "-Wno-unused-command-line-argument",
+        *get_target_flags(),
+        "-ftls-model=local-exec",
+        "-ffast-math",
+        "-fno-builtin-printf",
+        "-fno-common",
+        "-O3",
+        "-std=gnu11",
+        "-Wall",
+        "-Wextra",
+    ]
+
+
+def get_cc_flags(snitch_sw_path):
+    """
+    Function that returns default c-compiler flags
+    """
+    return [
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/target/snitch_cluster/sw/runtime/rtl-generic/src",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/target/snitch_cluster/sw/runtime/common",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/sw/snRuntime/api",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/sw/snRuntime/src",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/sw/snRuntime/src/omp/",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/sw/snRuntime/api/omp/",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/sw/math/arch/riscv64/bits/",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/sw/math/arch/generic",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/sw/math/src/include",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/sw/math/src/internal",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/sw/math/include/bits",
+        f"-I{snitch_sw_path}/sw/math/include",
+        "-I../../runtime/include",
+        "-D__DEFINED_uint64_t",
+        *get_clang_flags(),
+    ]
+
+
+def get_ld_flags(snitch_sw_path, snitch_llvm_path=None):
+    """
+    Function that returns default linker flags
+    """
+    # Default path points to conda/pixi environment
+    if snitch_llvm_path is None:
+        snitch_llvm_path = os.environ["CONDA_PREFIX"] + "/bin"
+    return [
+        f"-fuse-ld={snitch_llvm_path}/ld.lld",
+        *get_target_flags(),
+        f"-T{snitch_sw_path}/sw/snRuntime/base.ld",
+        f"-L{snitch_sw_path}/target/snitch_cluster/sw/runtime/rtl-generic",
+        f"-L{snitch_sw_path}/target/snitch_cluster/sw/runtime/rtl-generic/build",
+        "-nostdlib",
+        "-lsnRuntime",
+    ]
+
+
+def get_default_flags(snitch_sw_path, snitch_llvm_path=None, index_bitwidth=32):
+    if snitch_llvm_path is None:
+        snitch_llvm_path = os.environ["CONDA_PREFIX"] + "/bin"
+    return {
+        "cflags": get_cc_flags(snitch_sw_path),
+        "clangflags": get_clang_flags(),
+        "ldflags": get_ld_flags(snitch_sw_path, snitch_llvm_path),
+        "mlirpreprocflags": get_mlir_preproc_flags(),
+        "mlirpostprocflags": get_mlir_postproc_flags(index_bitwidth),
+    }
diff --git a/util/snake/paths.py b/util/snake/paths.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4f65677f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/util/snake/paths.py
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+def get_default_paths():
+    return {
+        "cc": "clang",
+        "ld": "clang",
+        "mlir-opt": "mlir-opt",
+        "mlir-translate": "mlir-translate",
+        "snax-opt": "snax-opt",
+    }