Installation

Install RTL Buddy in a Python 3.11 or newer project with uv.

Install and verify

uv add rtl_buddy
uv run rb --version

The Python runtime dependencies install automatically. External EDA tools are needed only by the commands that use them.

Dependency types

• Required Python dependencies come with the wheel.
• Integrated tools are fixed by a feature.
• Pluggable tools implement a supported interface.
• Curated pluggable tools are pluggable and also get tool-specific handling.

External tools stay optional until you run the workflow that uses them.

External tools by feature

Workflow	Required tools	Notes
test, randtest, regression	A configured simulator: Verilator, Icarus Verilog, or VCS	Install lcov for Verilator LCOV/HTML export.
elab, elab-regression	rtl_buddy[elab]	uv add "rtl_buddy[elab]". Supports pyslang 10.x and 11.x; needs no simulator.
Slurm dispatch	sbatch, squeue, scancel; sacct and scontrol recommended	Linux submit host and shared filesystem. See Slurm dispatch tools.
verible	Verible	macOS: brew tap chipsalliance/verible && brew install verible.
synth, synth-regression	rtl-buddy Yosys fork; OpenROAD for tool: openroad	See Synthesis.
pnr, power	OpenROAD 25Q1 or newer	KLayout is optional for P&R GDS and PNG output.
phys	None	Reads the phys-model.json and phys-manifest.json written by rb synth and rb power. See Physical Metrics.
fpv, fpv-regression	SymbiYosys 0.40 or newer and at least one SMT solver	Yosys is used for COI analysis; yosys-slang is optional.
wave	Surfer from the rtl-buddy fork and branch	Mainline Surfer opens traces but has no live editor annotation. rb nvim-install also needs Git and network access.
hier, hier-query	uv tool install rtl-buddy-sch	Graphviz is optional for DOT rendering; pyslang for the slang frontend.
graph build	rtl-buddy-sch; optional rtl_buddy[graph-extract]	Query commands need only an existing graph.
mcp	rtl_buddy[mcp]	uv add "rtl_buddy[mcp]".
fpga	Vivado, or Yosys + nextpnr-xilinx + prjxray for tool: openxc7	Missing optional FPGA tools produce SKIP.
release	verible-verilog-obfuscate (Verible) and Synopsys VCS	VCS performs the IEEE-1735 encryption. Constraint rewriting needs a Python with tkinter. See Customer releases.
axi-profile	uv tool install rtl-buddy-axi-profiler	Extras add Parquet and notebook support.
mut	rtl_buddy[mut]	uv add "rtl_buddy[mut]". The selected oracle also needs its own tools.
Coverview packaging	Coverview and its info-process dependency	Basic coverage collection does not need Coverview.

Run rb tool-check to diagnose missing or incompatible tools. Each command's concept page has setup and recovery details.

For large Verilator builds, optional intermediate pruning reduces shared-build disk usage without additional dependencies. Keep pruning disabled when generated C++ is needed for debugging or incremental recompilation.

Slurm dispatch tools

--dispatch slurm needs sbatch, squeue, and scancel on the submit host. Two more are recommended:

• sacct supplies the telemetry used for resource right-sizing.
• scontrol supplies MaxArraySize and SchedulerParameters=max_array_tasks. Without it, a group too large for one job array is not split. Set cfg-dispatch.max-array-size, and cfg-dispatch.max-array-tasks if the cluster caps tasks per array lower.

scontrol must also be on the PATH of the compute node that runs the build job. It lets each compile key's simulation jobs start as soon as that key is built; without it they wait for the whole build job.

Use --dispatch local-parallel for parallelism on one host with no Slurm dependency. See Parallel dispatch.

Update RTL Buddy

uv add rtl_buddy@latest
uv sync

Commit the changed pyproject.toml and lockfile.

Install a pre-release

Pin a pre-release exactly, because version ranges do not select release candidates:

uv add "rtl_buddy==2.3.0rc1"

Install the agent skills

Install the bundled Claude Code and Codex skill family at user scope:

uv run rb skill install

For a project pinned to a different RTL Buddy major version, install a project-local override:

uv run rb skill install --project

Re-run installation after each upgrade to refresh every family member. See Agent Use for members, paths, status checks, and .gitignore handling.