RadBuild 0.2.2-beta.2

RadBuild 0.2.2-beta.2 is the Crimson experimental build framework for Radical Computer Technologies projects. It uses schema v2 JSON project files to build FPGA designs, Linux/embedded software graphs, RADPx OS images, package metadata, and deployment artifacts through one CLI.

Release Channels

• Suite: experimental
• Schema: 2.0
• Package format: frozen release executables for RadBuild runtime packages
• Primary CLI: radbuild
• New provider: fpga.ecp5 through OSS CAD Suite for Lattice ECP5 targets
• Windows package path: experimental MSI built on Windows with native FPGA

provider plumbing for Vivado/Vitis, Gowin, and OSS CAD Suite

• IDE integration: line-delimited JSON events for VSCode and other frontends

Documentation Sections

• Install
• FPGA Builds
• ECP5 OSS CAD Suite Flow
• OS Builds
• Packaging
• Examples
• Settings Fields
• Reference
• Compatibility Appendix

Quick Start

sudo apt install ./radbuild_0.2.2-beta.2_amd64.deb
radbuild project create --list-templates
radbuild project create ./workspace --non-interactive --template fpga-mpsoc-buildroot --project-name demo
radbuild project register ./workspace/demo
radbuild project list --json
radbuild project validate --settings ./workspace/demo/settings.json
radbuild host inspect --json
radbuild generate --settings ./workspace/demo/settings.json
radbuild build all --settings ./workspace/demo/settings.json --dry-run --json-events

Expected dry-run output begins with JSON events:

{"event":"build_started","systems":2}
{"event":"system_planned","system":"vivado","type":"fpga.vivado"}
{"event":"system_planned","system":"petalinux","type":"linux.petalinux"}
{"event":"build_finished","status":"dry-run"}

VSCode Front-End

The radbuild-vscode-support package includes a VSCode extension with a RadBuild activity-bar view. The first view lists registered projects with a single Open action. Opening a project switches VSCode to that source root and changes the side panel into a project detail view with baseline settings, system dependency graph, dry-run build plan, artifact status, RadHDL catalog access, build actions, and a form-based project settings editor. The Projects pane keeps project rows simple while exposing Toolchain Setup, Register Directory, and Create Project in the pane toolbar. A directory is accepted as a RadBuild project only when it contains a schema v2 settings.json.

The create-project UI is template-aware: changing templates resets fields to that template's defaults and disables fields that do not apply. Toolchain setup rescans on extension activation and when opened. Vivado roots are normalized to the folder containing version subdirectories such as 2024.1, and versions are accepted only when they contain settings64.sh plus bin/vivado. PetaLinux roots are handled the same way, using settings.sh plus a valid petalinux-build path. OSS CAD Suite, Gowin, GHDL, Yosys, nextpnr, QEMU, Buildroot, RadHDL, RadicalPackages, and cross compiler paths are tracked as explicit toolchain overrides.