STM32 Debug AI Assistant

AI-powered debugging assistant for STM32 microcontrollers.

Ask questions about your firmware in natural language — the assistant reads live registers, memory, and source code from your running target and explains what's happening.

Demo

Watch demo video

What you can ask

• "Why is USART1 not transmitting?" → Reads peripheral registers, checks clock/init code, finds the issue

• "Analyze this HardFault" → Decodes CFSR/HFSR, inspects stack frame, points to the faulting instruction

• "What does TIM1 configuration look like?" → Reads registers live and explains each field

• "Step through MX_GPIO_Init and show GPIOA state" → Sets breakpoints, steps through code, reads registers automatically

Why this is different

Most AI tools only see your source code.

This assistant also reads real hardware state:

• CPU registers (PC, SP, LR, etc.)
• Peripheral registers (via SVD)
• Memory from the running target
• Fault context (CFSR, HFSR, stack frame)

This allows it to analyze actual runtime behavior, not just static code.

Getting Started

1. Open Command Palette → STM32 Debug: Open Panel
2. Start your debug session (OpenOCD)
3. Send your first message

You'll be prompted for your API key on first use.

Requirements

• OpenOCD + debug probe (ST-Link / J-Link / CMSIS-DAP)
• ELF file with debug symbols (-g)
• SVD file (auto-download available)
• Anthropic API key

Configuration

Project settings are stored in .stm32-debug.json:

{
  "mcuName": "STM32F411RET6",
  "svdFile": "STM32F411.svd",
  "elfFile": "build/firmware.elf",
  "sourceDirectories": ["src", "lib"],
  "openocd": { "host": "localhost", "port": 6666 }
}

Telemetry

This extension collects anonymous usage telemetry to understand how the tool is used.

What is collected:

• extension_activated — extension version, VS Code version
• chat_message_sent — tool call count, duration, success flag
• tool_called — tool name, duration, success flag
• error_occurred — error category, recoverable flag

What is NOT collected: prompt contents, AI responses, register values, memory contents, file paths, chip part numbers, API keys, error messages, or stack traces.

How to disable:

• stm32-debug.telemetry.enabled: false
• Or globally: telemetry.telemetryLevel: off