SPICE Language Support
Language support for SPICE circuit simulation netlists, powered by the spice-lsp language server.
Quick start
- Install this extension from the Marketplace (no separate language-server install).
- Open a netlist — any
.cir, .sp, .spf, .net, .ckt, .inc, or .lib file. VS Code should show the language mode SPICE in the status bar.
- Watch the Problems panel (
View → Problems) for syntax errors and semantic warnings as you type — for example an unclosed .subckt, a duplicate instance name, or a reference to an undefined model.
- Use the outline (
View → Outline, or Explorer → Outline) to jump between .subckt, .model, .param, and instances.
- Navigate with Go to Definition (
F12) on a subcircuit or model name — including names defined in .include / .lib files — and Find All References (Shift+F12) to list every use in the current buffer.
- Optional: run SPICE LSP: Create Demo Folder from the Command Palette to drop a
spice-lsp-demo/ folder (with .sp samples) into your workspace so you can try same-file and cross-file navigation immediately.
That is enough for day-to-day editing. The matching spice-lsp binary for your platform is bundled; leave spiceLsp.serverPath empty unless you are developing the server yourself.
If nothing happens after opening a file, check Output → SPICE Language Server, then run SPICE LSP: Restart Server from the Command Palette. That Output channel is created as soon as the extension activates.
To switch dialect, use SPICE LSP: Set Dialect… (or the status-bar dialect chip). Requires extension 0.2.10+. If VS Code says the command is not registered, update/reload the extension.
To scaffold sample netlists, run SPICE LSP: Create Demo Folder. It copies HSPICE .sp / .lib samples into spice-lsp-demo/ under your opened workspace (same-file.sp for in-file jumps; top.sp + models.sp for .include; top-lib.sp + corners.lib for HSPICE .lib) and sets the dialect to HSPICE.
Features
- Syntax highlighting — comments (
* / ; / $), directives, instances, and numbers
- Syntax diagnostics — unclosed
.subckt blocks, parse errors, and related issues
- Semantic warnings — duplicate component names, undefined model/subcircuit references
- Document outline — hierarchical view of subcircuits, models, parameters, and instances
- Go to definition — jump from subcircuit/model references to
.subckt / .model definitions, including through .include and HSPICE .lib sections
- Find references — list all usages of a subcircuit, model, or parameter in the open buffer
- Dialect-aware hover — documentation for directives and elements from the active dialect (default HSPICE)
Supported file extensions: .cir, .sp, .spf, .net, .ckt, .inc, .lib. Toggle Comment uses * (VS Code allows one line-comment marker); ; and $ still highlight as comments.
The extension includes a prebuilt spice-lsp binary for:
| Platform |
Arch |
| Linux |
x64, arm64 (glibc 2.31+, e.g. Ubuntu 20.04 / Debian 11) |
| macOS |
Intel (x64), Apple Silicon (arm64) |
| Windows |
x64 |
Other platforms (or older Linux glibc) need a spice-lsp binary on your PATH, or set spiceLsp.serverPath to an absolute path and run SPICE LSP: Restart Server.
Settings
| Setting |
Description |
spiceLsp.dialect |
Active dialect: hspice (default), ngspice, or ltspice |
spiceLsp.libraryPaths |
Extra directories for resolving .include / .lib paths |
spiceLsp.include.maxDepth |
Max nesting depth for include/lib chains (default 16) |
spiceLsp.analysisMode |
auto (default), full, or extracted — defs-only analysis for large netlists |
spiceLsp.extractedByteThreshold |
Byte size for auto → extracted (default 16777216 / 16 MiB) |
spiceLsp.serverPath |
Override the bundled language-server binary with a custom path |
spiceLsp.trace.server |
Trace LSP communication: off, messages, or verbose |
Use SPICE LSP: Set Dialect… (or the status-bar dialect chip) to switch. Hover tips come from the curated reference/ corpus for the active dialect.
Documentation
Project docs: spice-lsp book
License
MIT — see the repository for details.
