MPLAB® PIC64GX SDK

Welcome to the early access program. You are using an early version of this software. We are working hard to improve your experience and appreciate your patience and support during this phase. Features and functionality are in active development and may change without notice.

Features

An extension to be used with the PIC64GX SDK. This extension can be used to create, build, and debug projects for the PIC64GX Curiosity Kit.

System requirements

• Git
• Python
  • Linux: Python 3.8 or later
  • Windows: Python 3.8 to 3.12 (Python 3.13+ is not supported currently)
• CMake 3.27.1 or later

Recommended Windows setup (venv + trusted workspace)

For a stable setup on Windows, use a Python virtual environment and a trusted workspace. This avoids permission issues with pip, Microsoft Store "python" aliases, and interpreter mismatches.

1. Open a real folder as your workspace

   • VS Code → File → Open Folder…
   • Select the folder where you want sdk/ to be created.
   • If VS Code prompts you to trust the folder, select Yes, I trust the authors.
   • If the workspace opens in Restricted Mode, open Manage Workspace Trust and trust the current folder.

2. Create a virtual environment in the workspace

   Open a terminal in that folder and run:

   python -m venv .venv
   .\.venv\Scripts\python.exe -m pip install --upgrade pip
   

3. Point the extension to the virtual environment interpreter

   • Open VS Code Settings

   • Ensure you are editing Workspace settings

   • Search for pic64gx-sdk-extension.pythonPath

   • Set it to the full path of the virtual environment interpreter, for example:

     C:\path\to\your\workspace\.venv\Scripts\python.exe

4. Reload VS Code

   • Open Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P)
   • Run: Developer: Reload Window

5. Run Initialise SDK

   • Run Initialise SDK from the extension.
   • If prompted to select a directory, choose the same workspace folder you opened and trusted above.

   If initialisation fails, verify that:

   • The workspace is trusted
   • The Python interpreter path is correct
   • CMake is installed and available on PATH

Windows troubleshooting

• "Cannot launch a terminal process in an untrusted workspace" The workspace is in Restricted Mode. Trust the folder and reload the window.

• Microsoft Store python alias If your Python path is under ...\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\python.exe, install a real Python (3.8–3.12) and use a virtual environment (..venv\Scripts\python.exe).

• Python 3.13+ on Windows Currently not supported due to an upstream pinned dependency (windows-curses==2.3.2) which fails on Python 3.13+. Use Python 3.8–3.12 (recommended: 3.11 or 3.12).

• pip permission errors / "Access denied" Use a virtual environment. Avoid running VS Code as Administrator.

• CMake not found / WinError 2 / FileNotFoundError Install CMake and ensure it is on your PATH. Restart your terminal or VS Code after installation.

• Build uses wrong folder When building, ensure the Project directory is set to the generated project folder, not the workspace root.

• Python path not set If the extension does not run, ensure pic64gx-sdk-extension.pythonPath is set correctly in VS Code Settings.

• Directory already contains sdk/ The selected directory must not already contain an existing sdk/ folder.

Getting started

• After you have installed this extension you need to initialise a workspace for the PIC64GX SDK. Press the Initialise SDK button in the VS Code status bar, this will start initialisation process

  

• You will be prompted to enter your Python command or path. For example:

  • Linux: python3 or /usr/bin/python3
  • Windows (recommended): full path to your virtual environment interpreter, for example: C:\path\to\your\workspace\.venv\Scripts\python.exe

  The same interpreter will be used for installing Python dependencies and running the SDK initialisation scripts. This can be changed at a later time in VS Code settings pic64gx-sdk-extension.pythonPath.

• You will be prompted to choose a directory for your SDK workspace. You can:

  • Select from a list of the directories currently in your VS Code workspace
  • Search for a directory elsewhere in your file system
  • Create a new directory

The extension will then begin initialising the SDK in the chosen directory. This step clones the PIC64GX SDK from GitHub, installs some required Python packages, and runs an initialisation script from the SDK. You can monitor the progress of the initialisation step from the terminal. It will notify you when this step is finished.

After the SDK has been initialised the directory will be added to your VS Code workspace.

Creating a project

The PIC64GX SDK Extension provides tools to create a new project from scratch.

• Click on the PIC64GX SDK Extension icon in the Activity Bar. This displays a menu from which you can choose to create or build a project

• Select Create New SDK Project and you will be displayed with the project creation menu

  • Choose a name for your project
  • Choose a directory for your project. You can enter an absolute path, a path relative to the PIC64GX SDK workspace, or you can find a path using the Find button
  • Press Create project to create the project

  

Building a project

The PIC64GX SDK Extension provides tools to build projects.

• Click on the PIC64GX SDK Extension icon in the Activity Bar. This displays a menu from which you can choose to create or build a project

• Select Build SDK Project

  • Choose the board your project is being built for (pic64gx-curiosity-kit)
  • Enter the project directory. You can:
    • Enter an absolute path
    • Enter a path relative to the PIC64GX SDK workspace
    • Find a path using the Find button
  • Select an output directory for the project. Leaving this as the default value creates a directory called build in your PIC64GX SDK workspace. Alternatively you can:
    • Enter an absolute path
    • Enter a path relative to the PIC64GX SDK workspace
    • Find a path using the Find button
  • Selecting Clean will delete the contents of the build directory before recompiling the project
  • Press Build to build the project

  

Debugging a project

Projects can be debugged on hardware or the Renode emulation platform.

Copy the relative path to the .elf file in your build directory

Debugging on hardware

• Navigate to the Run and Debug tab and select debug-PIC64GX from the dropdown menu

• Please follow the driver installation instructions for the PIC64GX1000 Curiosity Kit before running a debug session

Debugging on Renode

• Navigate to the Run and Debug tab and select debug-renode from the dropdown menu

• Starting the debugger will prompt you to enter the path to the .elf file and and choose a target board for Renode to emulate

• Renode will launch multiple terminals when the debug session starts

  

The debugger will begin debugging the project and will hit the breakpoint. From here you can step through your code

Commands

This extension exposes the following commands accessible from the Command Palette. The Command Palette is accessed by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P.

• PIC64GX SDK: Activate Extension

  This command activates the extension and will prompt you to enter:

  • A path to an initialised PIC64GX SDK workspace
  • Your Python command or full path to the Python interpreter (for example /usr/bin/python3 on Linux or C:\path\to\your\workspace\.venv\Scripts\python.exe on Windows)

• PIC64GX SDK: Create New Project Create a project, choose project name, directory, source files, include directories and configure the software

• PIC64GX SDK: Build Project Build a project

• PIC64GX SDK: Set SDK Workspace Set the working directory for the extension

• PIC64GX SDK: Initialise SDK Initialise the PIC64GX SDK in a directory of your choosing

• PIC64GX SDK: Reload Extension Reload the extension