Renode Workbench

Manage local or remote Renode sessions from VS Code. The extension covers session creation, artifact sync, Renode start/stop, GDB attach, diagnostics, and remote UART log testing.

Language: English | 简体中文

What It Does

• Manage multiple local or remote Renode sessions in a VS Code webview.
• Build firmware locally, then sync ELF/RESC artifacts to a remote Renode workspace.
• Start Renode, attach GDB, stop sessions, and inspect diagnostics.
• Run a remote UART log smoke test for the bundled STM32F103 demo firmware.

Repository Layout

• src/: VS Code extension source
• firmware/: STM32F103 bare-metal UART demo and test scripts
• renode/: default Renode scripts used by the extension
• sessions/: generated per-session scaffold folders
• docs/: architecture notes, examples, and validation logs

Requirements

• VS Code 1.90+
• Node.js 20+ for development
• Renode available on the target environment
• arm-none-eabi-gdb available for debug attach
• For remote sessions: SSH access to the target host

Main Commands

• Renode: Focus Workbench View
• Renode: Connect Remote
• Renode: Start Simulation
• Renode: Start And Attach GDB
• Renode: Build Firmware
• Renode: Build And Sync Artifacts
• Renode: Stop Simulation
• Renode: Preflight Check
• Renode: Run UART Log Test
• Renode: Show Session Diagnostics

Typical Remote Flow

1. Create or select a remote session in the Workbench view.
2. Run Renode: Connect Remote.
3. Run Renode: Build And Sync Artifacts.
4. Run Renode: Start Simulation or Renode: Start And Attach GDB.
5. Optionally run Renode: Run UART Log Test.

UART Log Test

The bundled firmware emits:

• [BOOT] stm32f103 uart log test ready
• [UART] heartbeat N: hello from usart2 on renode

Remote validation command:

$env:RENODE_REMOTE_PASSWORD = "your-password"
node .\firmware\test-uart-log-remote.mjs --sessionId orangepi-renode

The remote test uses CreateFileBackend on sysbus.usart2, which is more reliable for headless automation than showAnalyzer.

Development

npm install
npm run compile
npm test

Run the extension in VS Code:

1. Open this repository in VS Code.
2. Press F5.
3. In Extension Development Host, use the command palette or the Workbench view.

For AI Agents

Repo-local agent guidance is in AGENTS.md.

Quick facts:

• Prefer editing extension code in src/, not compiled output in out/.
• Run npm run compile after TypeScript changes.
• Run npm test before packaging.
• The validated remote UART path is firmware/test-uart-log-remote.mjs.
• For headless UART capture, prefer CreateFileBackend over showAnalyzer.
• Session data is stored in .vscode/renode-sessions.json and VS Code secret storage.

Packaging

npx @vscode/vsce package -o renode-workbench-0.1.2.vsix

License

See LICENSE.