Skip to content

QUICKSTART.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
145 lines (105 loc) · 3.99 KB

QUICKSTART.md

File metadata and controls

145 lines (105 loc) · 3.99 KB

Quick Start Guide

Get up and running with OpenROAD MCP in under 5 minutes! This guide assumes you've already installed OpenROAD MCP.

Verify Your Setup

Check that OpenROAD MCP is loaded in your MCP client:

Quick test: Ask your AI assistant:

"Are OpenROAD tools available?"

If the AI responds with information about OpenROAD MCP tools, you're ready! If not, see the Installation section.

Your First Command (1 minute)

Let's start with the simplest possible interaction:

Example 1: Check OpenROAD Version

You say:

"Create an OpenROAD session and show me the version"

Expected response:

✓ Created session: session-abc123

OpenROAD v2.0-14023-g05f7f46af
Built: Nov 20 2024

What happened:

  • AI called create_interactive_session() to create a new session
  • AI called interactive_openroad("openroad -version", session_id) to run the command
  • You got immediate feedback without touching the command line

Example 2: List Active Sessions

You say:

"Show me all active OpenROAD sessions"

Expected response:

{
  "sessions": [
    {
      "session_id": "session-abc123",
      "is_alive": true,
      "command_count": 1,
      "created_at": "2025-12-05T10:30:00"
    }
  ],
  "total_count": 1,
  "active_count": 1
}

✅ Success! You've just run your first OpenROAD commands through AI assistance.

Try a Real Design Analysis (3 minutes)

Now let's do something more interesting: analyze timing on a real design.

Option A: If You Have ORFS Installed

If you have OpenROAD-flow-scripts with the GCD design built:

You say:

"Load the nangate45 GCD design and show me timing analysis"

AI will execute:

# Load technology
read_lef /path/to/ORFS/platforms/nangate45/lef/NangateOpenCellLibrary.tech.lef
read_lef /path/to/ORFS/platforms/nangate45/lef/NangateOpenCellLibrary.macro.lef
read_liberty /path/to/ORFS/platforms/nangate45/lib/NangateOpenCellLibrary_typical.lib

# Load design
read_verilog /path/to/ORFS/results/nangate45/gcd/base/1_synth.v
link_design gcd

# Load constraints and analyze
read_sdc /path/to/ORFS/results/nangate45/gcd/base/6_final.sdc
report_checks -digits 3

Expected output:

Startpoint: dpath.a_reg.out[10]$_DFFE_PP_
Endpoint: dpath.b_reg.out[10]$_DFFE_PP_
Path Group: core_clock
Path Type: max

   Delay     Time   Description
-----------------------------------------------------------
   0.000    0.000   clock core_clock (rise edge)
   ...
            0.039   slack (MET)

Option B: Simple Commands Without ORFS

Don't have ORFS? Try these basic commands:

You say:

"Create a clock named 'clk' with 10ns period"

AI executes: create_clock -name clk -period 10 [get_ports clk]

You say:

"Show me what clocks are defined"

AI executes: report_clocks

Common Usage Patterns

Now that you've run basic commands, here are common workflows:

Session Management

What You Want What You Say
Start a new session "Create a new OpenROAD session"
Start a named session "Create a session called 'timing-debug'"
See all sessions "List all my OpenROAD sessions"
Close a session "Terminate session-abc123" or "Close my timing-debug session"
Get session details "Show me details for session-abc123"

Timing Analysis

What You Want What You Say
Check overall timing "What's the worst slack in this design?"
Find violations "Show me all paths with negative slack"
Analyze specific path "Show timing from register A to register B"
Check setup vs hold "Show me hold violations"
Get top violators "What are the 10 worst timing paths?"

Design Information

What You Want What You Say
Design statistics "How many instances are in this design?"
Clock information "What clocks are defined?"
Port information "List all input ports"
Net fanout "What's the fanout of net XYZ?"