VSCode Intellisense For Your Mbed Projects

mbed-vscode-tools is made for software engineers who want to develop their mbed projects in vscode instead of mbed studio. Our tool offers a commandline interface to generate and update your c_cpp_properties.json for correct vscode intellisense.

Notes

• This tool works in conjunction with the official cli tool (mbed-tools) provided by the mbed team.
• We assume that the users know how to use mbed-tools and its workflow. Otherwise see the official docs.

Dependencies

Python interpreter:

• python >= 3.6.0 (f strings are used in our code)

Python packages:

• 8.0.0 > click >= 7.0.0 (the latest mbed-tools requires click 7.x)

Other softwares:

• mbed-tools >= 7.0.0
• arm-none-eabi-gcc >= 9.0.0 or armcc >= 6.0.0
• cmake >= 3.19.0
• ninja >= 1.0.0

Installation

$ pip install mbed-vscode-tools

Run $ pip uninstall mbed-vscode-tools to uninstall mbed-vscode-tools.

Tutorial

Create c_cpp_properties.json

Prepare your c_cpp_properties.json that has "Mbed" configuration entry like below:

{
    "env": {},
    "configurations": [
        {
            // "Mbed" entry will be automatically managed and updated by this tool.
            "name": "Mbed",
            "compilerPath": "/usr/bin/arm-none-eabi-gcc",  // Path to an arm compiler executable to use
            "includePath": [],       // Leave empty
            "defines": [],           // Leave empty
            "cStandard": "c17",      // Set your favorite
            "cppStandard": "c++17",  // Set your favorite
            "intelliSenseMode": "gcc-arm"  // Depends on your compiler
        }
    ],
    "version": 4
}

Configure build settings for your mbed project

Make sure you're at an mbed program directory root.

Run the following command:

$ mbed-tools configure -t MBED_TOOLCHAIN -m MBED_TARGET -b MBED_PROFILE

• MBED_TOOLCHAIN (required)
  Set "GCC_ARM" if you like to use a gnu arm compiler. If use a paid official arm c/c++ compiler, set "ARM" instead.
• MBED_TARGET (required)
  Set your mbed-enabled board identifier. You can easily find it by connecting your board via usb and run $ mbed-tools detect.
  The "Build target(s)" field is what you are looking for.
• MBED_PROFILE (optional)
  Choose an mbed build profile from "debug", "develop", or "release". The default parameter is "develop".

Update your c_cpp_properties.json

Make sure you're at an mbed program directory root.

Run the following command to update your c_cpp_properties.json:

$ mbed-vscode-tools update ./cmake_build/{MBED_TARGET}/{MBED_PROFILE}/{MBED_TOOLCHAIN} VSCODE_CONF_FILE

• VSCODE_CONF_FILE (required)
  Path to your c_cpp_properties.json.

If everything goes well, includePath and defines fields of your c_cpp_properties.json are automatically updated and your vscode intellisense should work fine.

Run this command right after every execution of $ mbed-tools configure.

Documentation

update

Update your c_cpp_properties.json.

$ mbed-vscode-tools update MBED_BUILD_DIR VSCODE_CONF_FILE [--mbed-program-dir str] [--vscode-conf-entry str] [--verbose store_true] [--help store_true]

Positional arguments:

• MBED_BUILD_DIR
  Set a build directory created by $ mbed-tools configure. Generally, set MBED_BUILD_DIR = {MBED_PROGRAM_DIR}/cmake_build/{MBED_TARGET}/{MBED_PROFILE}/{MBED_TOOLCHAIN} if you've executed $ mbed-tools configure -t MBED_TOOLCHAIN -m MBED_TARGET -b MBED_PROFILE -p MBED_PROGRAM_DIR.
• VSCODE_CONF_FILE
  Path to your c_cpp_properties.json.

Options

• --mbed-program-dir
  Path to an mbed program directory root. If not specified, it's set to your current working directory.
• --vscode-conf-entry
  Specify the target config entry of your c_cpp_properties.json. The default parameter is "Mbed".
• --verbose
  Show complete message logs.
• --help
  Show help messages.