Warning
Advanced Scripting is recommended for Advanced Users and requires knowledge of the Python language.
Warning
Dynamic build flags is a highly recommended alternative to advanced scripting, where you can use any programming language. Also, that option is useful if you need to apply changes to the project before the building/uploading process, such as:
Macro with the latest VCS revision/tag “on-the-fly”
Generate dynamic headers (*.h
)
Process media content before generating SPIFFS image
Make some changes to source code or related libraries
The PlatformIO Build System allows the user to extend the build process with custom scripts using the Python interpreter and the SCons construction tool. Build flags, upload flags, targets, toolchains data and other information are available for modification as SCons Construction Environments. Custom scripts are included with extra_scripts
Warning
You can not run or debug these scripts manually with a Python interpreter. They will be loaded automatically when the platformio run command processes the project environment.
There are two execution orders for extra scripts:
PRE - executes before the main script of Development Platforms
POST - executes after the main script of Development Platforms
Multiple extra scripts are allowed. Please split them via “, ” (comma + space) in the same line or use multi-line values.
For example, in “platformio.ini” (Project Configuration File):
[env:my_env_1]
platform = ...
; Defaults to POST script since no prefix is used
extra_scripts = post_extra_script.py
[env:my_env_2]
platform = ...
extra_scripts =
pre:pre_extra_script.py
post:post_extra_script1.py
post_extra_script2.py
This option can also be set by the global environment variable PLATFORMIO_EXTRA_SCRIPTS
.
The PlatformIO Build System uses two built-in construction environments to process each project:
env
, Import("env")
- the global construction environment used
for the Development Platforms and Frameworks build scripts, upload tools,
Library Dependency Finder (LDF), and other internal operations
projenv
, Import("projenv")
- the isolated construction environment
used for processing the project source code in src_dir.
Please note that any src_build_flags specified in
“platformio.ini” (Project Configuration File) will be passed to projenv
and not to env
.
Warning
projenv
is available only for POST-type scripts
Flags passed to env
using PRE-type script will affect projenv
too.
my_pre_extra_script.py
:
Import("env")
# access to global construction environment
print(env)
# Dump construction environment (for debug purpose)
print(env.Dump())
# append extra flags to global build environment
# which later will be used to build:
# - project source code
# - frameworks
# - dependent libraries
env.Append(CPPDEFINES=[
"MACRO_1_NAME",
("MACRO_2_NAME", "MACRO_2_VALUE")
])
my_post_extra_script.py
:
Import("env", "projenv")
# access to global construction environment
print(env)
# access to project construction environment
print(projenv)
# Dump construction environments (for debug purpose)
print(env.Dump())
print(projenv.Dump())
# append extra flags to global build environment
# which later will be used to build:
# - frameworks
# - dependent libraries
env.Append(CPPDEFINES=[
"MACRO_1_NAME",
("MACRO_2_NAME", "MACRO_2_VALUE")
])
# append extra flags to only project build environment
projenv.Append(CPPDEFINES=[
"PROJECT_EXTRA_MACRO_1_NAME",
("ROJECT_EXTRA_MACRO_2_NAME", "ROJECT_EXTRA_MACRO_2_VALUE")
])
See examples below how to import construction environments and modify existing data or add new.
The PlatformIO Build System has a rich API that allows one to attach different pre-/post
actions (hooks) using env.AddPreAction(target, callback)
or
env.AddPreAction(target, [callback1, callback2, ...])
function. The first
argument target
can be the name of a target that is passed using the
platformio run --target
command, the name of a built-in target
(buildprog, size, upload, program, buildfs, uploadfs, uploadfsota) or the path
to a file which PlatformIO processes (ELF, HEX, BIN, OBJ, etc.).
Examples
The extra_script.py
file is located in the same directory as platformio.ini
.
platformio.ini
:
[env:pre_and_post_hooks]
extra_scripts = post:extra_script.py
extra_script.py
:
Import("env", "projenv")
# access to global build environment
print(env)
# access to project build environment (is used source files in "src" folder)
print(projenv)
#
# Dump build environment (for debug purpose)
# print(env.Dump())
#
#
# Change build flags in runtime
#
env.ProcessUnFlags("-DVECT_TAB_ADDR")
env.Append(CPPDEFINES=("VECT_TAB_ADDR", 0x123456789))
#
# Upload actions
#
def before_upload(source, target, env):
print("before_upload")
# do some actions
# call Node.JS or other script
env.Execute("node --version")
def after_upload(source, target, env):
print("after_upload")
# do some actions
print("Current build targets", map(str, BUILD_TARGETS))
env.AddPreAction("upload", before_upload)
env.AddPostAction("upload", after_upload)
#
# Custom actions when building program/firmware
#
env.AddPreAction("buildprog", callback...)
env.AddPostAction("buildprog", callback...)
#
# Custom actions for specific files/objects
#
env.AddPreAction("$BUILD_DIR/${PROGNAME}.elf", [callback1, callback2,...])
env.AddPostAction("$BUILD_DIR/${PROGNAME}.hex", callback...)
# custom action before building SPIFFS image. For example, compress HTML, etc.
env.AddPreAction("$BUILD_DIR/spiffs.bin", callback...)
# custom action for project's main.cpp
env.AddPostAction("$BUILD_DIR/src/main.cpp.o", callback...)
# Custom HEX from ELF
env.AddPostAction(
"$BUILD_DIR/${PROGNAME}.elf",
env.VerboseAction(" ".join([
"$OBJCOPY", "-O", "ihex", "-R", ".eeprom",
"$BUILD_DIR/${PROGNAME}.elf", "$BUILD_DIR/${PROGNAME}.hex"
]), "Building $BUILD_DIR/${PROGNAME}.hex")
)
PlatformIO Build System allows you to add middleware functions that can be used for Build Node(Object) construction. This is very useful if you need to add custom flags for the specific file nodes or exclude them from a build process.
There is env.AddBuildMiddleware(callback, pattern)
helper which instructs
PlatformIO Build System to call callback
for each SCons File System Node
whose path matches with Unix shell-style “pattern” (wildcards).
If a pattern
is omitted, the callback
will be called for each File System Node
which is added for the build process.
You can add an unlimited number of build middlewares. They will be called in order of registration. Please note, if the first middleware ignores some File Nodes, they will not be passed to the next middleware in chain.
Examples
platformio.ini
:
[env:build_middleware]
extra_scripts = pre:extra_script.py
extra_script.py
:
Import("env")
# --- Add custom macros for the ALL files which name contains "http"
def extra_http_configuration(node):
"""
`node.name` - a name of File System Node
`node.get_path()` - a relative path
`node.get_abspath()` - an absolute path
"""
# do not modify node if file name does not contain "http"
if "http" not in node.name:
return node
# now, we can override ANY SCons variables (CPPDEFINES, CCFLAGS, etc.,) for the specific file
# pass SCons variables as extra keyword arguments to `env.Object()` function
# p.s: run `pio run -t envdump` to see a list with SCons variables
return env.Object(
node,
CPPDEFINES=env["CPPDEFINES"]
+ [("HTTP_HOST", "device.local"), ("HTTP_PORT", 8080)],
CCFLAGS=env["CCFLAGS"] + ["-fno-builtin-printf"]
)
env.AddBuildMiddleware(extra_http_configuration)
# --- Replace some file from a build process with another
def replace_node_with_another(node):
return env.File("path/to/patched/RtosTimer.cpp")
env.AddBuildMiddleware(
replace_node_with_another,
"framework-mbed/rtos/RtosTimer.cpp"
)
# --- Skip assembly *.S files from build process
def skip_asm_from_build(node):
# to ignore file from a build process, just return None
return None
env.AddBuildMiddleware(skip_asm_from_build, "*.S")
New in version 5.0.
PlatformIO allows you to declare unlimited number of the custom targets. There are a lot of use cases for them:
Pre/Post processing based on a dependent sources (other target, source file, etc.)
Command launcher with own arguments
Launch command with custom options declared in “platformio.ini” (Project Configuration File)
Python callback as a target (use the power of Python interpreter and PlatformIO Build API).
A custom target can be processed using platformio run --target
option and
you can list them via platformio run --list-targets
command.
Import("env")
env.AddCustomTarget(
name,
dependencies,
actions,
title=None,
description=None,
always_build=True
)
AddCustomTarget
arguments:
A name of target. ASCII chars (a-z, 0-9, _, -) are recommended. Good names are “gen_headers”, “program_bitstream”, etc.
A list of dependencies that should be built BEFORE target will be launched. It is
possible pass multiple dependencies as a Python list ["dep1", dep_target_2]
.
If a target does not have dependencies, None
should be passed.
A list of actions to call on a target. It is possible to pass multiple actions as
a Python list ["python --version", my_calback]
.
A title of a target. It will be printed when using PlatformIO Core (CLI) or PlatformIO IDE. We recommend to keep a title very short, 1-2 words.
The same as a title
argument but allows you to provide detailed explanation
what target does.
If there are declared dependencies
and they are already built, this target
will not be called if always_build=False
. A default value is
always_build=True
and means always building/calling target.
Create a custom node
target (alias) which will print a NodeJS version
platformio.ini
:
[env:myenv]
platform = ...
...
extra_scripts = extra_script.py
extra_script.py
:
Import("env")
# Single action/command per 1 target
env.AddCustomTarget("sysenv", None, 'python -c "import os; print(os.environ)"'))
# Multiple actions
env.AddCustomTarget(
name="pioenv",
dependencies=None,
actions=[
"pio --version",
"python --version"
],
title="Core Env",
description="Show PlatformIO Core and Python versions"
)
Now, run pio run --target sysenv
or pio run -t pioenv
(short version).
Sometimes you need to run a command which depends on another target (file,
firmware, etc). Let’s create an ota
target and declare command which will
depend on a project firmware. If a build process successes, declared command
will be run.
platformio.ini
:
[env:myenv]
platform = ...
...
extra_scripts = extra_script.py
extra_script.py
:
Import("env")
env.AddCustomTarget(
"ota",
"$BUILD_DIR/${PROGNAME}.elf",
"ota_script --firmware-path $SOURCE"
)
Now, run pio run -t ota
.
Let’s create a simple ping
target and process it with
platformio run --target ping
command:
platformio.ini
:
[env:env_custom_target]
platform = ...
...
extra_scripts = extra_script.py
custom_ping_host = google.com
extra_script.py
:
try:
import configparser
except ImportError:
import ConfigParser as configparser
Import("env")
config = configparser.ConfigParser()
config.read("platformio.ini")
host = config.get("env:env_custom_target", "custom_ping_host")
def mytarget_callback(*args, **kwargs):
print("Hello PlatformIO!")
env.Execute("ping " + host)
env.AddCustomTarget("ping", None, mytarget_callback)
The best examples are PlatformIO development platforms.
Please check builder
folder for the main and framework scripts.
platformio.ini
¶platformio.ini
:
[env:my_env]
platform = ...
extra_scripts = extra_script.py
custom_option1 = value1
custom_option2 = value2
extra_script.py
:
try:
import configparser
except ImportError:
import ConfigParser as configparser
config = configparser.ConfigParser()
config.read("platformio.ini")
value1 = config.get("my_env", "custom_option1")
value2 = config.get("my_env", "custom_option2")
platformio.ini
:
[env:my_env]
platform = ...
extra_scripts = extra_script.py
extra_script.py
(place it near platformio.ini
):
Import("env")
# General options that are passed to the C and C++ compilers
env.Append(CCFLAGS=["flag1", "flag2"])
# General options that are passed to the C compiler (C only; not C++).
env.Append(CFLAGS=["flag1", "flag2"])
# General options that are passed to the C++ compiler
env.Append(CXXFLAGS=["flag1", "flag2"])
-Wl,
prefix¶Sometimes you need to pass extra flags to GCC linker without Wl,
. You could
use build_flags option but it will not work. PlatformIO
will not parse these flags to LINKFLAGS
scope. In this case, simple
extra script will help:
platformio.ini
:
[env:env_extra_link_flags]
platform = windows_x86
extra_scripts = extra_script.py
extra_script.py
(place it near platformio.ini
):
Import("env")
#
# Dump build environment (for debug)
# print(env.Dump())
#
env.Append(
LINKFLAGS=[
"-static",
"-static-libgcc",
"-static-libstdc++"
]
)
You can override default upload command of development platform using extra
script. There is the common environment variable UPLOADCMD
which PlatformIO
Build System will handle when you platformio run -t upload.
Please note that some development platforms can have more than 1 upload command.
For example, Atmel AVR has UPLOADHEXCMD
(firmware) and UPLOADEEPCMD
(EEPROM data).
See examples below:
Template
platformio.ini
:
[env:my_custom_upload_tool]
platform = ...
; place it into the root of project or use full path
extra_scripts = extra_script.py
upload_protocol = custom
; each flag in a new line
upload_flags =
-arg1
-arg2
-argN
extra_script.py
(place it near platformio.ini
):
Import("env")
# please keep $SOURCE variable, it will be replaced with a path to firmware
# Generic
env.Replace(
UPLOADER="executable or path to executable",
UPLOADCMD="$UPLOADER $UPLOADERFLAGS $SOURCE"
)
# In-line command with arguments
env.Replace(
UPLOADCMD="executable -arg1 -arg2 $SOURCE"
)
# Python callback
def on_upload(source, target, env):
print(source, target)
firmware_path = str(source[0])
# do something
env.Execute("executable arg1 arg2")
env.Replace(UPLOADCMD=on_upload)
Custom openOCD command
platformio.ini
:
[env:disco_f407vg]
platform = ststm32
board = disco_f407vg
framework = mbed
extra_scripts = extra_script.py
upload_protocol = custom
; each flag in a new line
upload_flags =
-f
scripts/interface/stlink.cfg
-f
scripts/target/stm32f4x.cfg
extra_script.py
(place it near platformio.ini
):
Import("env")
platform = env.PioPlatform()
env.Prepend(
UPLOADERFLAGS=["-s", platform.get_package_dir("tool-openocd") or ""]
)
env.Append(
UPLOADERFLAGS=["-c", "program {{$SOURCE}} verify reset; shutdown"]
)
env.Replace(
UPLOADER="openocd",
UPLOADCMD="$UPLOADER $UPLOADERFLAGS"
)
See project example https://github.com/platformio/bintray-secure-ota
Sometimes is useful to have a different firmware/program name in build_dir.
platformio.ini
:
[env:env_custom_prog_name]
platform = espressif8266
board = nodemcuv2
framework = arduino
build_flags = -D VERSION=13
extra_scripts = pre:extra_script.py
extra_script.py
:
Import("env")
my_flags = env.ParseFlags(env['BUILD_FLAGS'])
defines = {k: v for (k, v) in my_flags.get("CPPDEFINES")}
# print(defines)
env.Replace(PROGNAME="firmware_%s" % defines.get("VERSION"))
PlatformIO Package Manager automatically installs pre-built packages (Frameworks, toolchains, libraries) required by development Development Platforms and build process. Sometimes you need to override original files with own versions: configure custom GPIO, do changes to built-in LD scripts, or some patching to installed library dependency.
The simplest way is using Diff and Patch technique. How does it work?
Modify original source files
Generate patches
Apply patches via PlatformIO extra script before build process.
Example
We need to patch the original standard/pins_arduino.h
variant from
Arduino framework and add extra macro #define PIN_A8 (99)
.
Let’s duplicate standard/pins_arduino.h
and apply changes. Generate a
patch file and place it into patches
folder located in the root of a project:
diff ~/.platformio/packages/framework-arduinoavr/variants/standard/pins_arduino.h /tmp/pins_arduino_modified.h > /path/to/platformio/project/patches/1-framework-arduinoavr-add-pin-a8.patch
The result of 1-framework-arduinoavr-add-pin-a8.patch
:
63a64
> #define PIN_A8 (99)
112c113
< // 14-21 PA0-PA7 works
---
> // 14-21 PA0-PA7 works
Using extra scripting we can apply patching before a build process. The final
result of “platformio.ini” (Project Configuration File) and “PRE” extra script named apply_patches.py
:
platformio.ini
:
[env:uno]
platform = atmelavr
board = uno
framework = arduino
extra_scripts = pre:apply_patches.py
apply_patches.py
:
from os.path import join, isfile
Import("env")
FRAMEWORK_DIR = env.PioPlatform().get_package_dir("framework-arduinoavr")
patchflag_path = join(FRAMEWORK_DIR, ".patching-done")
# patch file only if we didn't do it before
if not isfile(join(FRAMEWORK_DIR, ".patching-done")):
original_file = join(FRAMEWORK_DIR, "variants", "standard", "pins_arduino.h")
patched_file = join("patches", "1-framework-arduinoavr-add-pin-a8.patch")
assert isfile(original_file) and isfile(patched_file)
env.Execute("patch %s %s" % (original_file, patched_file))
# env.Execute("touch " + patchflag_path)
def _touch(path):
with open(path, "w") as fp:
fp.write("")
env.Execute(lambda *args, **kwargs: _touch(patchflag_path))
Please note that this example will work on a system where a patch
tool
is available. For Windows OS, you can use patch
and diff
tools
provided by Git client utility
(located inside installation directory).
If you need to make it more independent to the operating system,
please replace the patch
with a multi-platform
python-patch script.
PlatformIO allows one to override some basic options (integer or string values) using More options in “platformio.ini” (Project Configuration File). Sometimes you need to do complex changes to default board manifest and extra PRE scripting work well here. See example below how to override default hardware VID/PIDs.
Warning
Due to a technical limitation these board changes will not work for platformio device monitor command.
platformio.ini
:
[env:uno]
platform = atmelavr
board = uno
framework = arduino
extra_scripts = pre:custon_hwids.py
custon_hwids.py
:
Import("env")
board_config = env.BoardConfig()
# should be array of VID:PID pairs
board_config.update("build.hwids", [
["0x2341", "0x0243"], # 1st pair
["0x2A03", "0x0043"]. # 2nd pair, etc.
])
PlatformIO removes all debug/optimization flags before a debug session or when
Build Configurations is set to debug
and overrides them with
-0g -g2 -ggdb2
for ASFLAGS
, CCFLAGS
, and LINKFLAGS
build
scopes.
An extra script allows us to override PlatformIO’s default behavior and declare
custom flags. See example below where we override -Og
with -O0
:
platformio.ini
:
[env:teensy31]
platform = teensy
board = teensy31
framework = arduino
extra_scripts = custom_debug_flags.py
custom_debug_flags.py
:
Import("env")
if env.GetBuildType() == "debug":
for scope in ("ASFLAGS", "CCFLAGS", "LINKFLAGS"):
for i, flag in enumerate(env[scope]):
if flag == "-Og":
env[scope][i] = "-O0"