zview 0.5.5

ZView, a Zephyr RTOS runtime visualizer

ZView, a Zephyr RTOS runtime visualizer

Zephyr RTOS system-wide runtime visualizer via SWD probe!

Take a broader look on your Zephyr application with a non-heavy, small footprint, Kconfig-only thread stats analyser.

This page covers the standalone pip installation. If you are using ZView inside a west workspace (the most common setup), see the main documentation instead.

Prerequisites

To properly analyze your Zephyr app, your ELF binary must be compiled with specific Kconfig options enabled:

## prj.conf
CONFIG_INIT_STACKS=y            # Required for stack watermarks
CONFIG_THREAD_MONITOR=y         # Required for thread discovery
CONFIG_THREAD_STACK_INFO=y      # Required for thread metadata

# Optional Features
CONFIG_THREAD_NAME=y            # Enables thread name display
CONFIG_THREAD_RUNTIME_STATS=y   # Enables CPU usage tracking
CONFIG_SYS_HEAP_RUNTIME_STATS=y # Enables heap runtime stats

Installation

Install ZView in your Python virtual environment:

pip install zview

Or from the root of the repository:

pip install .

How to Use

# Example: nRF5340 DK via JLink
zview -e build/zephyr/zephyr.elf -r jlink -t nRF5340_xxAA

Arguments

Argument	Description
-e, --elf-file	Path to the firmware .elf file (e.g. build/zephyr/zephyr.elf).
-r, --runner	Debug runner to use: jlink, pyocd, or gdb.
-t, --runner-target	MCU descriptor for the chosen runner (see below).
--period	Update period in seconds, can be a float.

Finding the right value for -t

The -t argument is the MCU descriptor name as expected by your chosen runner. How to find it depends on the runner:

JLink (-r jlink) Use the device name from the J-Link Supported Devices list.

# Example: Nordic nRF5340 DK
zview -e build/zephyr/zephyr.elf -r jlink -t nRF5340_xxAA

pyOCD (-r pyocd) Run pyocd list --targets to see the available target names for your installed packs.

pyocd list --targets          # find your target name

# Example: STM32F401 Nucleo
zview -e build/zephyr/zephyr.elf -r pyocd -t stm32f401xe

GDB server (-r gdb) Pass the host:port of your GDB server instead of a device name.

zview -e build/zephyr/zephyr.elf -r gdb -t localhost:1234

---

For navigation, advanced usage, and QEMU/GDB targets, refer to the main documentation.