VSCode Extension confusion

[Adam Hamilton]

There are a large number of extensions that are currently available for VSCode, but I am confused on which extensions to install.

For example. There are these two extensions

• STM32Cube for Visual Studio Code
• STM32Cube for Visual Studio Code Core

These two look like they complement each other, however going into the settings, I need to to specify the path location for CubeMX and the Finder tool twice. I don't even know whether I should be installing these together now. 

Also, you provide STM32Cube clangd extension, however the STM32Cube for Visual Studio Code installed a C/C++ extension pack that includes the Microsoft C++ extension and this is known to conflict with clangd.

There are also a plethora of extensions like

• Build Analyzer
• Bundles Manager
• CMake Support
• Debug Core
• Debug STLink GDB server
• Project Manager
• Register View
• RTOS view

and now it is difficult to know which extensions play nicely with other extensions. To be perfectly honest, should these be wrapped up into the STM32Cube for Visual Studio Code extension? 

Don't get me wrong, I think it is great to be able to work with the VSCode landscape because I think relying on an Eclipse based IDE is quite limiting but I think there is an element of confusion and conflict within your ecosystem of extensions.

Anyway, onwards to getting a project created, having those first two mentioned extensions gave me two of the butterfly sidebar buttons so it seems those two extensions are mutually exclusive so I disabled the one ending in Core, which disabled all of those "plethora" extensions so it seems that this extension STM32Cube for Visual Studio Code seems to be the way to go.

I have provided all the required paths to the Cube MX executable, Finder Executable and the Cube CLT path so I went ahead and created an STM32 project and then ran into another problem, which you can see below

It seems as though the extension is not picking up the toolchains installed in the CLT path. When I installed the CLT for Linux, it was placed in /opt/st/stm32cubeclt_1.19.0 and this is the same path that I gave in the settings for the extension.

What am I doing wrong? Is there a problem with the extension? Should I use the other set of extensions, i.e. the one with ending with Core and will this one work with the STM32 clangd extension, or are these going to be depricated?

[driver] NOTE: You are configuring with preset debug, but there are some overrides being applied from your VS Code settings.
[proc] Executing command: /usr/bin/cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/home/adam/Development/hello/cmake/gcc-arm-none-eabi.cmake -S /home/adam/Development/hello -B /home/adam/Development/hello/build/debug -G Ninja
[cmake] Build CMAKE_MODULE_PATH: {{sr:cmake_path}}
[cmake] Build CMAKE_MODULE_PATH: {{sr:cmake_path}}
[cmake] -- The C compiler identification is unknown
[cmake] -- The CXX compiler identification is unknown
[cmake] CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:14 (project):
[cmake] The CMAKE_C_COMPILER:
[cmake]
[cmake] arm-none-eabi-gcc
[cmake]
[cmake] is not a full path and was not found in the PATH.
[cmake]
[cmake] Tell CMake where to find the compiler by setting either the environment
[cmake] variable "CC" or the CMake cache entry CMAKE_C_COMPILER to the full path to
[cmake] the compiler, or to the compiler name if it is in the PATH.
[cmake]
[cmake]
[cmake] CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:14 (project):
[cmake] The CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER:
[cmake]
[cmake] arm-none-eabi-g++
[cmake]
[cmake] is not a full path and was not found in the PATH.
[cmake]
[cmake] Tell CMake where to find the compiler by setting either the environment
[cmake] variable "CXX" or the CMake cache entry CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER to the full path
[cmake] to the compiler, or to the compiler name if it is in the PATH.
[cmake]
[cmake]
[cmake] -- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!

[vincent_grenet · Accepted solution]

@Adam Hamilton , Thanks for contributing to this forum—it’s the right place to get answers!

The best way to start is by installing STM32Cube for Visual Studio Code.

I believe this alone will help you the most. Here are some explanations:

STM32Cube is currently improving. The Marketplace hosts two types of versions:

• Versions < 3.0.0 are "legacy", provided as a single all-in-one extension.
• Versions > 3.0.0 offer improved services through multiple extensions, but this is designed to benefit users.
  Although multiple extensions may seem complex, dependencies are managed for you. To avoid complications, I recommend relying on STM32Cube for Visual Studio Code version > 3.0.0, which is an extension pack that installs everything you need (like <3.0.0 is doing).

A few extra notes:

• Versions > 3.0.0 are published as pre-releases. You must take specific steps to access and install them. See this post https://community.st.com/t5/stm32cube-for-visual-studio-code/new-stm32cube-for-visual-studio-code-extenstion-released-3-5-1/td-p/819484.
  This prevents VSCode from auto-updating and disrupting your running workflow. It can be a bit inconvenient nowadays, but it helps maintain stability.
• The multiple-extension approach offers flexibility, allowing advanced users to cherry-pick features.

Under the hood:

• Versions < 3.0.0 require STM32CubeCLT.
• Versions ≥ 3.0.0 replace STM32CubeCLT with integrated STM32Cube bundles, improving user experience and setup efficiency.
• Microsoft C/C++ and clangd extensions conflict because VSCode supports only one indexing engine at a time (both are contributing to). Versions ≥ 3.0.0 help manage this flexibility. See this discussion https://community.st.com/t5/stm32cube-for-visual-studio-code/quot-stm32cube-for-visual-studio-code-quot-extension-pack/td-p/836206

As conclusion, for a future-proof setup, I warmly recommend installing the latest version > 3.0.0 of STM32Cube for Visual Studio Code. To ensure the best experience, please clean your environment before starting fresh.

A little teaser:

I can share that the experience is going to improve. We plan to soon move versions > 3.0.0 from pre-release to full release, as we are receiving positive feedback from this pre-release phase. I would be grateful if you could share your experience using versions > 3.0.0, as your feedback will help us during this transition. But, back, please start from a fresh installation to ensure the best experience.