Raspberry Pi Pico Visual Studio Code extension

NOTE: The extension is currently under development.

This is the official Visual Studio Code extension for Raspberry Pi Pico development. This extension equips you with a suite of tools designed to streamline your Pico projects using Visual Studio Code and the official Pico SDK.

For comprehensive setup instructions, refer to the Getting Started guide PDF.

Download latest Beta 📀

Features

• Project Generator: Easily create new projects targeting the Ninja build system.
• Automatic CMake Configuration: Automatically configures CMake when loading a project.
• Version Switching: Seamlessly switch between different versions of the Pico SDK and tools.
• No Manual Setup Required: The extension handles environment variables, toolchain, SDK, and tool management for you.
• One-Click Compilation: Compile projects directly from the status bar with your selected SDK and tools.
• Offline Documentation: Access Pico SDK documentation offline.
• Quick Project Setup: Quickly create new Pico projects from the Explorer view when no workspace is open.

Requirements by OS

Supported Platforms: Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), Windows x64, macOS (Sonoma and newer), Linux x64 and arm64

• Visual Studio Code v1.87.0 or later

macOS

To meet the requirements for macOS, run the following command in Terminal to install necessary tools:

xcode-select --install

This command installs all of the necessary tools, including but not limited to:

• Git 2.28 or later (ensure it's in your PATH)
• Tar (ensure it's in your PATH)
• Native C/C++ compiler (ensure it's in your PATH); supported compilers include gcc and clang

Raspberry Pi OS

As of March 2024, all new Raspberry Pi OS images come with the necessary tools pre-installed. For older images, you can install the required tools by running:

sudo apt install openocd ninja-build

Linux

• Python 3.9 or later (ensure it’s in your PATH or set in settings)
• Git 2.28 or later (ensure it’s in your PATH)
• Tar (ensure it’s in your PATH)
• Native C/C++ compiler (ensure it’s in your PATH); supported compilers include gcc and clang
• [Optional] OpenOCD for debugging (Raspberry Pi OS only)
• [Optional] gdb-multiarch for debugging (x86_64 only)
• For [Ubuntu 22.04], install libftdi1-2 and libhidapi-hidraw0 packages to use OpenOCD

Extension Settings

This extension provides the following settings:

• raspberry-pi-pico.cmakePath: Specify a custom path for CMake.
• raspberry-pi-pico.python3Path: Specify a custom path for Python 3.
• raspberry-pi-pico.ninjaPath: Specify a custom path for Ninja.
• raspberry-pi-pico.gitPath: Specify a custom path for Git.
• raspberry-pi-pico.cmakeAutoConfigure: Provide a GitHub personal access token (classic) with the public_repo scope. This token is used to check for available versions of the Pico SDK and other tools. Without it, the extension uses the unauthenticated GitHub API, which has a lower rate limit and may lead to restricted functionality if the limit is exceeded. The unauthenticated rate limit is per public IP address, so a token is more necessary if your IP is shared with many users.

VS Code Profiles

If you work with multiple microcontroller toolchains, consider installing this extension into a VS Code Profile to avoid conflicts with other toolchains. Follow these steps:

1. Download the sample profile from here.
2. Open Command Palette with Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS) and select Profiles: Import Profile.
3. Import the downloaded file to install the extension in a dedicated Pico profile.
4. This setup helps isolate the Pico extension from other extensions, reducing the risk of conflicts.

Known Issues

• Custom Paths: Custom paths for Ninja, Python3, and Git are not stored in CMakeLists.txt like SDK and Toolchain paths. You need to build and configure projects through the extension to use these custom paths.

GitHub API Rate Limit ("Error while retrieving SDK and toolchain versions")

If you encounter issues retrieving available Pico SDK versions, it may be due to GitHub API rate limits. To resolve this, create a personal access token (classic PAT) with the public_repo scope and set it in the global (User) extension settings to increase your rate limit.

Build Instructions

For advanced users who want to build the extension .vsix file, follow these steps:

1. Install nodejs (Instructions Windows)
2. Install Yarn globally: npm install -g yarn
3. Install VSCE globally: npm install -g @vscode/vsce
4. Run yarn in the project directory to install dependencies.
5. Build the extension with: vsce package.

This will generate a .vsix file, which you can install in VS Code using code --install-extension path-to.vsix or via the GUI: Extensions > three dots > Install from VSIX.