ECOS Chip Compiler (ECC)

Open-Source Chip Design Automation Solution

Overview

ECOS Chip Compiler is an open-source chip design automation solution that integrates EDA tools (Yosys, ECC-DreamPlace, ECC-Tools, KLayout) to achieve complete RTL-to-GDS design flow. Developed and maintained by the ECOS Team.

The GUI (ECOS Studio) has been moved to the ecos-studio repo.

How to use:

• CLI (ecc) - Project-oriented command-line flow execution
• Python API - Use chipcompiler as a library

Installation

Installer (recommended)

Install the ecc CLI (Linux x86_64, glibc 2.34+, fontconfig):

curl -fsSL http://release.openecos.com/installers/ecc/latest/ecc-installer.sh | sh

To also install Yosys (OSS CAD Suite) and the ICS55 PDK:

curl -fsSL http://release.openecos.com/installers/ecc/latest/ecc-installer.sh | sh -s -- --with-toolchain

The wrapper is installed to ~/.local/bin by default. If that directory is not on PATH, add it:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Nix

With Nix installed, clone the repository with submodules (required — chipcompiler/thirdparty/ pulls in ecc-tools and ecc-dreamplace), then run ECC via the flake:

git clone --recursive https://github.com/openecos-projects/ecc.git
cd ecc
nix run . -- --help

If you already cloned without --recursive:

git submodule update --init --recursive

Build from source

For Python development with uv, clone the repository as above (with --recursive), then set up the workspace — the recommended way to develop from source:

uv sync --no-build-isolation-package ecc-dreamplace --no-build-isolation-package ecc-tools-bin --verbose

See the Development Guide for the full setup.

To build the installable CLI bundle yourself (the same PyInstaller pipeline as the official release):

ECOS_PYINSTALLER_MODE=onedir uv run --no-sync --managed-python \
  pyinstaller ecc.spec --clean --noconfirm
# rebuilds dist/ecc/ (onedir, ~0.9G; the first run triggers dreamplace's cmake install, which is normal)

# Install locally (overwrite your install location, e.g. ~/.local/ecc;
# a PATH symlink pointing at it needs no change)
rm -rf ~/.local/ecc && mkdir -p ~/.local/ecc && cp -a dist/ecc/. ~/.local/ecc/
ecc --help            # verify the expected commands are listed

Quick Start

The commands below use the installed ecc. Without installing, prefix each command with nix run . -- (e.g. nix run . -- init gcd).

If you installed with --with-toolchain, Yosys and the ICS55 PDK are already configured by the ecc wrapper. Otherwise re-run the installer with --with-toolchain. The Nix flake provides Yosys itself; set pdk.root if you are not using the installer toolchain.

Create a project and add your RTL:

ecc init gcd
cp /path/to/gcd.v gcd/rtl/gcd.v  # example design: docs/examples/gcd/gcd.v

ecc init generates gcd/ecc.toml. Edit it as needed. pdk.root is required unless CHIPCOMPILER_ICS55_PDK_ROOT is already set (the installer --with-toolchain wrapper does this):

[design]
name = "gcd"
top = "gcd"
rtl = ["rtl/gcd.v"]
clock_port = "clk"
frequency_mhz = 100.0

[pdk]
name = "ics55"
root = "/path/to/icsprout55-pdk"

[flow]
preset = "rtl2gds" # rtl2gds | syn_sta | synthesis_lec

Then validate and run:

ecc check --project gcd
ecc run --project gcd
ecc status --project gcd
ecc log --project gcd

By default, named workspaces are created at <project>/<workspace-id>. To create or select one at an exact external directory, pass the absolute path as the --workspace selector:

ecc run --project gcd --workspace /data/ecc/gcd/experiment
ecc workspace import recovered --project gcd --path /archive/ecc/gcd/recovered
ecc run --project gcd --workspace recovered --resume

For ecc run, a single-segment value is a workspace name and keeps the project-local layout; an absolute value is an external workspace path. The path basename is used as the new workspace ID unless the path is already registered. project.json records the canonical path, so later commands can select the workspace by its registered ID.

CLI Commands

Run ecc --help (or ecc <command> --help) for full usage. Common commands:

Command	Description
ecc init <name>	Create a project skeleton and ecc.toml
ecc check	Validate RTL, constraints, PDK, tools, and config
ecc doctor	Probe host environment: PDK, yosys (+slang), bundled tools
ecc doc <topic>	Read the bundled guides (config reference, ug user guide, tutorial) in the terminal
ecc run	Run the configured RTL-to-GDS flow (--preset overrides for one run)
ecc status	Show a quick run/step progress summary
ecc log [step]	Show available logs or step log content
ecc config [step]	Show resolved project or step configuration
ecc migrate	Migrate a legacy runs/ project to the manifest layout
ecc param	Manage parameter overrides (list, show, set, unset, diff)
ecc pdk	Manage the PDK path (set-root, show, unset)
ecc project	Edit project declarations in ecc.toml (set, unset, add, remove, show)
ecc workspace	Import existing workspaces or refresh them from project configuration
ecc signoff	Inspect readiness and export the signoff package
ecc report	Write design-summary, QoR, checklist, and step reports
ecc version	Show ECC runtime and component versions
ecc layout-image	Render a GDS file into a layout image

Project commands accept --project <dir> (defaults to the current directory). Most commands support --plain output for scripting.

The full guides ship with the CLI and work offline: ecc doc ug (user guide, --lang cn for 中文), ecc doc config (configuration reference), and ecc doc tutorial (step-by-step first flow).

Features

• Complete RTL-to-GDS Flow - Synthesis, placement, routing, timing optimization
• Open-Source EDA Integration - Yosys (synthesis), ECC-DreamPlace (placement), ECC-Tools (CTS, routing, signoff), KLayout (viewer)
• CLI Automation - Scriptable flow execution from command line
• Portable Deployment - Installer or Nix

🛠️ Integrated Tools

Tool	Purpose	Status
Yosys	RTL Synthesis	✅
ECC-DreamPlace	Placement	✅
ECC-Tools	Physical Design (CTS, Routing, Signoff)	✅
KLayout	Layout Viewer	✅

Documentation

• Documentation Index - Complete navigation
• Development Guide - Setup and workflows
• Examples - Usage examples

Contributing

Contributions welcome! See CONTRIBUTING.md for the rules and review expectations, and the Development Guide for setup instructions.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to these open-source projects:

• Yosys - RTL Synthesis
• ECC-DreamPlace - Placement
• ECC-Tools - Physical Design Backend
• KLayout - Layout Viewer
• nixpkgs - A collection of Nix packages

Built by the ECOS Team

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