CLion

CLion is a cross-platform C/C++ IDE for Linux, OS X, and Windows. CLion includes such features as a smart editor, code generation, code quality assurance, automated refactorings, on-the-fly code analysis, project manager, integrated version control systems and debugger.

Refer to the CLion Documentation page for more detailed information.

Installation

1. Install PlatformIO Core (CLI). See Installation guide

   Warning

   This a temporary step and depends on CLion #CPP-19412: Automatically install PlatformIO Core

2. Download and install CLion IDE

3. Install official PlatformIO for CLion plugin. Open “Configure > Plugins” window and go to the “Marketplace” tab. Search for PlatformIO and press the “Install” button.

   

4. Restart CLion IDE.

Note

We also recommend to install Ini plugin that provides syntax highlighting, formatting, code folding, and viewing structure for “platformio.ini” (Project Configuration File).

Known issues

Project configuration and CMake

PlatformIO does not depend on “CMake” and uses own multi-platform build system. Project configuration, such as build flags, library dependencies, etc., should be declared in “platformio.ini” (Project Configuration File).

Warning

Please note that “PlatformIO for CLion” plugin does not update automatically CLion configuration. There is a feature request CLion #CPP-18367: Follow platformio.ini changes and update the project.

Update CLion configuration: “Tools > PlatformIO > Re-Init”

CLion does not load project build environments from “platformio.ini”

This is a known issue CLion CPP-19478: CLion does not handle “CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES” from CMakeLists.txt. A temporary solution is to manually configure project profiles in CLion.

Please open CLion Settings and navigate to “Build, Execution, Deployment > CMake”. Press “+” button and PlatformIO-based project profiles:

Arduino .ino files are not supported

CLion uses “CMake” tool for code completion and code linting. As a result, it doesn’t support the Arduino files (*.ino and .pde) because they are not valid C/C++ based source files:

1. Missing includes such as #include <Arduino.h>

2. Function declarations are omitted.

See how to Convert Arduino file to C++ manually.

CLion with ESP-IDF

Starting with version 4.0, ESP-IDF uses a build system based on CMake. In order to provide more seamless integration, PlatformIO uses the CMake file-based API to extract build configurations. Because of this approach, there is a conflict between CMakeLists.txt used by ESP-IDF and CMakeLists.txt which PlatformIO generates for CLion. At the moment we’re working on better integration with CLion without this intermediate CMakeLists.txt, but there is no ETA for this feature.

Quick Start

This tutorial introduces you to the basics of PlatformIO for CLion workflow and shows you a creation process of a simple “Blink” example. After finishing you will have a general understanding of how to work with projects in the CLion IDE.

Setting Up the Project

1. Please open “New Project” wizard, select board and framework, and create a new PlatformIO project. Please USE ONLY Latin characters (a-z) in a project name to avoid further issues with project compilation. Numbers and some symbols are allowed depending on a file system:

2. Rename main.c file in src folder to main.cpp (right click on a file main.c, Refactor > Rename...) . Paste the next contents:

Warning

The code below works only in pair with Arduino-based boards. Please follow to PlatformIO Project Examples repository for other pre-configured projects.

/**
 * Blink
 *
 * Turns on an LED on for one second,
 * then off for one second, repeatedly.
 */
#include "Arduino.h"

// Set LED_BUILTIN if it is not defined by Arduino framework
// #define LED_BUILTIN 13

void setup()
{
  // initialize LED digital pin as an output.
  pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}

void loop()
{
  // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);

  // wait for a second
  delay(1000);

  // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);

   // wait for a second
  delay(1000);
}

Build & Upload

1. Open project configuration wizard and add PlatformIO Upload and PlatformIO Debug configurations (you can add the rest configurations if you need them):

2. Remove pre-task (“Build”) from PlatformIO Upload and PlatformIO Debug configurations to avoid double project building. You should see “There are no tasks to run before launch”.

3. Select PlatformIO Upload configuration and use the “Build” button for project compilation or the “Run” for a firmware uploading:

Configuration options

• Build options

• Upload options

Device/Serial Monitor

Please open CLion terminal and use Device Manager CLI. You can also configure device monitor per project using Monitor options.

Please note that you need to manually close/stop device monitor before firmware uploading.

Debugging

“PlatformIO for CLion” supports Debugging which allows you to debug your application with 1-Click without extra steps. Please select PlatformIO Debug configuration and press the “Debug” button:

Peripheral Registers

Please navigate to the “Peripheral” tab in a “Debug” view, press the “Configure” icon and select registers to monitor. Close configuration window.

Warning

Currently, CLion does not load automatically Peripheral Register Definitions (SVD file) provided by PlatformIO. There is a feature request CLion #CPP-18369: Support CLION_SVD_FILE_PATH CMake variable to auto-find svd file.

A temporary solution is to open CMakeListsPrivate.txt file from a root of PlatformIO project and remember SVD file declared in CLION_SVD_FILE_PATH “CMake” variable. Now press the “+” button in Peripherals Wizard and select SVD file mentioned in CLION_SVD_FILE_PATH.

PlatformIO Home

Currently, PlatformIO Home is not integrated into “PlatformIO for CLion”. See related feature request CLion: CPP-19493 Integrate PlatformIO Home.

Nevertheless, you can start it manually and open in your browser. Please note that some features do not work, such as project opening. Please open CLion terminal and run pio home command:

pio -c clion home

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Further for reading:

• Tutorials and Examples (step-by-step tutorials with debugging and unit testing)

• CLion documentation.

Happy coding with PlatformIO!