VHDL Essentials

Complete Quartus + VHDL workflow integration for Visual Studio Code.

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VHDL Essentials brings FPGA development directly into VSCode with Quartus build/flash integration, QuestaSim workflow support, VHDL entity/package navigation, FPGA pin diagnostics, QSF integration, real-time linting, semantic highlighting, and workspace-wide indexing.

Full documentation at guizzz.github.io/VHDL-Essentials

📦 Installation

Install from the Visual Studio Code Marketplace.

Extension ID: Guizzz.quartus-assistant

Or install from the command line:

code --install-extension Guizzz.quartus-assistant

⚙️ Configuration

`maxv.quartusPath`

Path to your Intel Quartus Prime installation.


Type	`string`
Default	`C:\\altera_lite\\25.1std`
Example	`C:\\intelFPGA\\25.1std`

Set this in settings.json:

{
    "maxv.quartusPath": "C:\\intelFPGA\\25.1std"
}

🛠️ Commands

All commands are accessible via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P).

Command ID	Title
`quartus-assistant.build`	Quartus: Build
`quartus-assistant.flash`	Quartus: Flash
`quartus-assistant.generateDo`	Quartus: Generate QuestaSim DO
`quartus-assistant.runDo`	Quartus: Run QuestaSim simulation

🛠️ Prerequisites

Intel Quartus Prime (Lite/Standard/Pro) — required for build and flash commands
QuestaSim or ModelSim — required for simulation and .do generation
VHDL source files (.vhd, .vhdl)
Quartus Settings File (.qsf) — required for pin diagnostics and project explorer

❓ Troubleshooting

See the Troubleshooting guide for solutions to common issues.

🗺️ Roadmap

Planned features:

waveform integration
pin planner integration
live build transcript streaming

📄 License

MIT License.