Target, prerequisites, and project folder

Use this page to choose an agent target and project folder before starting either the agent installation or manual installation.

Supported IDEs and agentic systems

The installer supports these six editor-and-agent combinations. The default target is GitHub Copilot in VS Code. Pass the options listed in the table for the other combinations.

IDE and agentic system	Options	MCP configuration file	Build and DAP Debug
GitHub Copilot in VS Code (default)	None	.vscode/mcp.json	Yes
GitHub Copilot CLI or app	--ide none	.mcp.json	No
Claude Code in VS Code	--agentic-system claude-code	.mcp.json	Yes
Claude Code CLI	--ide none --agentic-system claude-code	.mcp.json	No
Cursor editor	--ide cursor --agentic-system cursor	.cursor/mcp.json	No
Cursor CLI	--ide none --agentic-system cursor	.cursor/mcp.json	No

The Build and STM32 DAP Debug contexts require the VS Code IDE target. They are not installed for Cursor or terminal-only targets. For deployment layout and agent approval steps, see the supported target details.

For another agentic system outside these six combinations, --canonical deploys a portable .cube-ai/ layout for the agent to adapt. This is a generic layout, not an additional native installer target.

Prerequisites

STM32CubeCLI and the selected AI coding agent must be installed before setup. The toolkit never installs Python or the VS Code application. Python 3.10 or later is required by the STM32Cube Embedded Software Context. The Build and DAP Debug contexts require VS Code and its STM32CubeIDE extension. Debug also requires DebugMCP and a supported debugger or GDB server. These contexts and their VS Code extensions are not installed when another IDE or a CLI target is selected.

GitHub Copilot in VS Code requires the GitHub Copilot Chat extension (GitHub.copilot-chat), and Claude Code in VS Code requires Anthropic’s Claude Code extension. The installer does not install or manage either extension. Install them separately from the GitHub Copilot Chat extension Marketplace page and the Claude Code for VS Code guide.

Review the full list of system and context prerequisites before installing. On Windows, PowerShell 7.3 or later is recommended. The user guide explains the PowerShell 5.1 Ctrl+U issue and workaround.

Project and workspace folder

Choose the top-level folder of the project or workspace. Do not deploy the contexts directly into the user home folder. The installer places selected context files and their project configuration in this folder, so each project can have its own à-la-carte selection. Only the context bundles are installed at machine scope. Project locks record the versions and services used by each project.

For the Build and DAP Debug contexts, open this folder as the VS Code workspace root. STM32CubeIDE for Visual Studio Code must discover the CMake project at that level before build or debug workflows can run.