TT Developer Toolkit — Extension Guide
TT Developer Toolkit (Tenstorrent.tt-vscode-toolkit) is a VS Code extension that puts the entire Tenstorrent developer experience inside your editor. It ships interactive lessons that run shell commands for you, a hardware-aware lesson browser, built-in walkthroughs, and code templates — all targeting developers working with Wormhole (N150, N300, T3K) and Blackhole (P100, P150, P300, P300C, QB2) hardware.
Installing from the Marketplace
The easiest way to install is directly from the VS Code Marketplace:
- Open the Extensions panel (
Ctrl+Shift+X/⌘+Shift+X) - Search for TT Developer Toolkit
- Click Install
Or use the CLI:
code --install-extension Tenstorrent.tt-vscode-toolkit
Installing from a GitHub Release
Releases are published at:
github.com/tenstorrent/tt-vscode-toolkit/releases
Open the latest release and download the
.vsixfile (e.g.tt-vscode-toolkit-<version>.vsix).Install it in your editor — pick the method that matches your setup:
VS Code (GUI)
Open the Extensions panel (Ctrl+Shift+X / ⌘+Shift+X), click the ··· menu at the top-right of the panel, choose Install from VSIX…, and select the downloaded file.
VS Code (terminal)
code --install-extension tt-vscode-toolkit-*.vsix
Cursor / Windsurf
The GUI and CLI paths are identical to VS Code — both editors are compatible with .vsix packages.
code-server (GUI)
Open the Extensions panel, click ···, choose Install from VSIX….
code-server (terminal)
code-server --install-extension tt-vscode-toolkit-*.vsix
One-liner (GitHub CLI)
If you have the gh CLI installed and authenticated:
gh release download --repo tenstorrent/tt-vscode-toolkit --pattern '*.vsix' \
&& code --install-extension tt-vscode-toolkit-*.vsix
First Launch
After installation, the TT Toolkit icon appears in the VS Code Activity Bar (left sidebar). Click it to open the Lessons panel.
The extension also registers the "Open Setup Walkthrough" command (Ctrl+Shift+P → Tenstorrent: Open Setup Walkthrough), which guides you through initial environment setup step by step.
The Lesson Library
The extension ships 42+ interactive lessons across eight tracks. Every lesson includes one-click buttons that run the exact shell commands described in the text — no copy-pasting required.
🚀 First Inference (7 lessons, all validated)
Get from zero to a running inference server.
| Lesson | Hardware |
|---|---|
| Modern Setup with tt-installer 2.0 | N150 · P300C |
| Hardware Detection | N150 · P300C |
| Download Model and Run Inference | N150 · P300C |
| Verify Your Setup | N150 · P300C |
| Interactive Chat with Direct API | N150 |
| HTTP API Server with Direct API | N150 |
| Build tt-metal from Source | N150 · P300C |
🏭 Serving Models (4 lessons)
Production-grade inference serving.
| Lesson | Hardware |
|---|---|
| Production Inference with tt-inference-server | N150 · P100 |
| Production Inference with vLLM | N150 · P300C |
| Image Generation with Stable Diffusion XL | N150 |
| Video Generation via Frame-by-Frame Diffusion | (draft) |
🎬 Applications (4 lessons)
Real demos you can run end-to-end.
| Lesson | Hardware |
|---|---|
| Coding Assistant with Aider | N150 · N300 |
| Native Video Animation with AnimateDiff | N150 |
| OpenClaw AI Assistant on QuietBox 2 | QB2 |
| Generating Video on QuietBox 2 | QB2 |
🍳 Cookbook (6 lessons, all validated)
Self-contained programs that showcase Tenstorrent capabilities with vivid visual output — great for demos and first explorations.
| Lesson | What it builds |
|---|---|
| Tenstorrent Cookbook Overview | Index and orientation |
| Recipe 1: Conway's Game of Life | Classic cellular automaton on TT cores |
| Recipe 2: Audio Signal Processing | FFT and mel-spectrogram pipeline |
| Recipe 3: Mandelbrot Fractal Explorer | Interactive fractal renderer |
| Recipe 4: Custom Image Filters | Convolution and edge detection |
| Recipe 5: Particle Life Simulator | Emergent behavior simulation |
🔧 Compilers & Tools (2 lessons, in progress)
| Lesson | Focus |
|---|---|
| Image Classification with TT-Forge | PyTorch model compilation |
| JAX and PyTorch/XLA on Tenstorrent | XLA/PJRT plugin path |
🧠 Advanced (2 lessons)
| Lesson | Focus |
|---|---|
| Exploring TT-Metalium | Low-level kernel programming, validated |
| Bounty Program: Model Bring-Up | Open-source contribution workflow |
🎓 CS Fundamentals (7 modules, in development)
A structured computer-science curriculum designed for the Tenstorrent architecture — covering RISC-V, memory hierarchies, parallel computing, networks, synchronization, abstraction, and computational complexity.
🚢 Deployment (2 lessons, validated)
| Lesson | Focus |
|---|---|
| Deploy tt-vscode-toolkit to Koyeb | Hosting the extension as a code-server instance |
| Deploy Your Work to Koyeb | Deploying your own TT-accelerated applications |
Hardware Filtering
The Lessons panel includes a hardware filter. Select your card (N150, N300, T3K, P100, QB2, etc.) and the list narrows to only the lessons validated on your hardware. The filter state is remembered across sessions.
Built-in Commands
Beyond lessons, the extension registers 70+ commands accessible via the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P):
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| Setup | Run tt-installer Quick Install, Download tt-installer Script |
| Hardware | Run Hardware Detection (tt-smi), Reset Device, Clear Device State |
| Models | Set Hugging Face Token, Login to HuggingFace, Download Model |
| Inference | Start tt-inference-server (N150/N300), Start vLLM Server (T3K/P100) |
| Compilers | Activate TT-Forge Environment, Install TT-XLA PJRT Plugin, Test TT-Forge Installation |
| Metalium | Build Programming Examples, Run RISC-V Addition Example |
| Video gen | Clone tt-local-generator, Start Wan2.2 Video Server, Launch tt-gen GUI |
| Templates | Create Coding Assistant Script, Create API Server Script, Create Chat Script |
| Deployment | Clone tt-local-generator, Deploy to Koyeb |
Each command opens a terminal and runs the relevant shell invocation — the same command that appears in the lesson buttons.
Keeping Up to Date
The extension does not auto-update when installed from a .vsix. To update:
- Download the latest release from the releases page.
- Re-run the install command — VS Code and code-server replace the existing installation in place.
# Quick re-install from the repo (requires gh CLI)
gh release download --repo tenstorrent/tt-vscode-toolkit --pattern '*.vsix' --clobber \
&& code --install-extension tt-vscode-toolkit-*.vsix
Reporting Issues
File bugs and feature requests at: