Raspberry Pi Pico installs statistics

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.

If you have any issues while installing, please check out the Troubleshooting section.

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Features

Project Setup and Management

• Project Generator: Easily create and configure new projects with support for advanced Pico features like I2C and PIO. The generator targets the Ninja build system and allows customization during project creation. • Quick Project Setup: Initiate new Pico projects directly from the Explorer view, when no workspace is open. • MicroPython Support: Create and develop MicroPython-based Pico projects with support provided through the MicroPico extension.

Configuration and Tool Management

• 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: Automatically handles environment variables, toolchain, SDK, and tool management. • Includes an Uninstaller: Easily remove the extension along with all automatically installed tools and SDKs.

Build, Debug, and Documentation

• One-Click Compilation and Debugging: Automatically configure OpenOCD, Ninja, and CMake, allowing you to compile and debug with a single click. • Offline Documentation: Conveniently access Pico SDK documentation directly within the editor, even when offline. • 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. • MicroPython Support: Create MicroPython-based Pico projects with support provided through the MicroPico extension. • Rust Support: Create and develop Rust-based Pico projects based on the rp-hal crate. • Zephyr Support: Create and develop Zephyr-based Pico projects using the official Zephyr SDK.

Requirements by OS

Supported Platforms: Raspberry Pi OS (64-bit), Windows 10/11, macOS Sonoma (14.0) and newer, Linux x64 and arm64

• Visual Studio Code v1.105.1 or later

Raspberry Pi OS and Windows

Not including Raspberry Pi OS Lite - see Other Linux for that

No additional requirements are needed.

macOS

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

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)

You may also need to accept the xcode license with sudo xcodebuild -license

Other Linux

• Python 3.10 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) • \[Optional\] gdb-multiarch for debugging (x86_64 only) • \[Optional\] udev rules installed to use OpenOCD and picotool without sudo, for debugging and loading • 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 _(machine scoped)_. • raspberry-pi-pico.ninjaPath: Specify a custom path for Ninja. • raspberry-pi-pico.gitPath: Specify a custom path for Git. • raspberry-pi-pico.cmakeAutoConfigure: Enable/Disable automatic CMake configuration when project is opened • raspberry-pi-pico.useCmakeTools: Enable/Disable the CMake Tools Extension Integration (see below) • raspberry-pi-pico.githubToken: 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.

CMake Tools Extension Integration

For more complex projects, such as those with multiple executables or when the project name is defined as a variable, this extension can integrate with the CMake Tools extension to enhance CMake parsing. You can enable the CMake Tools Extension integration during project generation, using the checkbox at the bottom of the page. To enable it for an existing project, you should re-import the project with the option selected, which will update the relevant files.

You should continue using this extension for running & debugging, and we recommend still using the buttons from this extension for compilation too, only using the CMake Tools extension for configuration. If prompted, select the Pico kit in CMake Tools.

Additional Rust Prerequisites

• rustup – Installs and manages Rust. Get it from rustup.rs. • A C compiler for your system: • Linux: gcc • macOS: clang • Windows: MSVC

Zephyr notes

Unfortunately, the Zephyr project requires numerous external dependencies. Most of these are covered automatically, but for wget we were not able to identify a reliable upstream source that provides official binaries for all three supported platforms.…

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