Getting Started

This guide will walk you through creating your first Bender project, adding a dependency, and generating a simulation script.

1. Create a New Project

Start by creating a directory for your project and initializing it with Bender:

mkdir my_new_ip
cd my_new_ip
bender init

This creates a default Bender.yml file. Bender will automatically try to fill in your name and email from your Git configuration.

2. Add a Dependency

Open Bender.yml in your editor and add the common_cells library to the dependencies section:

package:
  name: my_new_ip
  authors: ["John Doe <john@doe.com>"]

dependencies:
  common_cells: { git: "https://github.com/pulp-platform/common_cells.git", version: "1.21.0" }

sources:
  - src/my_new_ip.sv

3. Resolve and Checkout

Now, tell Bender to resolve the version of common_cells and download it:

bender update

This command creates a Bender.lock file (the “exact” version chosen) and downloads the source code into a hidden .bender directory.

4. Add Source Code

Create a simple SystemVerilog file in src/my_new_ip.sv:

module my_new_ip (
  input  logic clk_i,
  output logic dummy_o
);
  // We can use a module from common_cells here!
  // ...
endmodule

5. Generate a Simulation Script

Finally, generate a compilation script for your EDA tool (e.g., QuestaSim/ModelSim):

bender script vsim > compile.tcl

You can now run vsim -do compile.tcl in your terminal to compile the entire project. See Generating Tool Scripts for the full set of output formats and flags.