Getting started with DVT IDE and Cursor

Overview

This video guides you through installing the DVT IDE extension in Cursor, points out a few Cursor-specific UI differences, and provides a quick overview of core DVT IDE features.
It also shows how Cursor AI leverages DVT provided tools for accurate compiler-backed context, and briefly touches on DVT's own AI Assistant.

DVT IDE Tutorials: https://eda.amiq.com/tutorials?search=%2BDVT+%2BVSCode+%2BIDE&sort=date

DVT AI Assistant Tutorials: https://eda.amiq.com/tutorials?search=%2BAI+%2BAssistant+%2BVSCode&sort=date

Details

Introduction

DVT IDE works with Visual Studio Code and any VS Code fork, including Cursor AI, VSCodium, or Google Antigravity. All DVT IDE features are available across these platforms.

Installing DVT Extension in Cursor AI

Download the latest DVT IDE VSIX extension package from eda.amiq.com/download. On this page you'll also find detailed instructions on how to set up the DVT IDE license, either using environment variables or the dedicated preference.

The first time you launch Cursor, you typically need to complete a one-time web login before proceeding.

Open the Command Palette and run Extensions: Install from VSIX..., then select the downloaded file.

When installed this way, the extension does not auto-update to the latest version, but you can easily automate the update process in a script that downloads the VSIX file using curl or wget and installs it using a VS Code CLI command.

Note that although you can install DVT IDE from Cursor's own marketplace, it currently provides an outdated version that is not fully functional. For the latest version with all features, installing the VSIX package as described is the recommended method.

Overview of DVT IDE features

For a quick start, let's use one of the predefined projects shipped with DVT IDE. Press Ctrl+Shift+P to bring up the Command Palette and run DVT: Open a predefined project. Select a project from the list and choose a target directory where it will be created.

DVT compiles the source code, starting from the build configuration file located under .dvt. Progress is shown in the Console at the bottom, and compilation issues are presented in the Problems view. In the problem hover notice how DVT provides deterministic, algorithmic quick fixes via the platform's default mechanism. All changes are incrementally analyzed by DVT in real time, and the internal model is always kept up to date.

Note that Cursor's layout differs slightly from VS Code. For example, the activity bar is displayed horizontally by default, and DVT might be hidden under the drop-down. You can specifically pin it from the context menu, change the layout back to vertical from preferences, or even use dedicated commands to bring DVT views into focus.

Using DVT IDE views you can easily browse and search your project - for example find where a FIFO is instantiated, or explore the values of parameters in the Design Hierarchy. To populate the Verification Hierarchy, select a test and perform the UVM runtime elaboration. The execution output is shown in the Debug Console and, when done, several views get populated with accurate runtime-backed information: the Verification Hierarchy showing the testbench structure, UVM Factory Overrides, Config DB, and Registers. From the context menu you can get visual representations like bitfield diagrams, UVM component diagrams, or module schematic diamgrams.

Use Ctrl+T to open a module using workspace symbols, or bring up the Command Palette to access any IDE functionality. For example, go to the state signal and generate a finite state machine diagram. Or trigger any of the accurate, deterministic refactoring operations provided by DVT.

Back to the editor, DVT IDE provides countless navigation capabilities, ranging from plain hyperlinks to declaration, usages, readers or writers to traversal of object-oriented hierarchies.

Furthermore you can get accurate autocomplete proposals; simply press Ctrl+Space to see the available proposals and Enter to apply. Notice that Cursor completions pop up everywhere as you type, and you can accept them with Tab. You'll get instant feedback from DVT compilation as soon as the AI-generated content is not syntactically or semantically correct. A comprehensive collection of tutorials covering all DVT IDE features is available on our website - check the link in the video description.

Cursor AI Integration with DVT Compiler Database

Speaking of AI, DVT automatically configures Cursor to leverage its compiler database, providing accurate context and a deterministic feedback loop for agentic responses. Let's ask Cursor to generate a new test that drives the UART FIFO into overflow and checks that this does not affect subsequent operation of the design. Note how Cursor calls DVT tools while solving the task, helping it converge faster and more accurately.

DVT AI Assistant

By the way, you may want to also consider using the DVT AI Assistant as it provides valuable features. For example you can create your own AI powered recipes like interconnecting modules into a subsystem starting from a specification. A large number of such recipes or blueprints are already built-in, but you can customize, extend and assemble them into entirely new flows. For more information about DVT AI Assistant refer to the dedicated tutorials linked in the description of the video.