openFPGALoader

openFPGALoader is a universal utility for programming FPGAs from Linux, Windows, macOS, and OpenBSD. It supports boards, cables, and devices from Xilinx/AMD, Intel/Altera, Lattice, Gowin, Efinix, Anlogic, and Cologne Chip.

Quick start

openFPGALoader -b arty arty_bitstream.bit       # load SRAM
openFPGALoader -b arty -f arty_bitstream.bit     # write flash
openFPGALoader -c cmsisdap fpga_bitstream.bit   # choose a cable directly

Use openFPGALoader --list-boards and openFPGALoader --list-cables to inspect the locally supported hardware.

Find your hardware

• FPGA compatibility
• Board compatibility
• Cable compatibility

Continue

• Start with the first-steps guide.
• Install from a package or build from source.
• Use troubleshooting when detection or flashing fails.
• Read the SOJ/JTAG review for SPI-over-JTAG diagnostics and known hardware-dependent alignment cases.

Understand the project

The architecture overview explains how the command line application selects a transport, discovers a JTAG chain, delegates to a vendor driver, parses a configuration file, and programs SRAM or flash. The visual architecture guide adds a diagram-first walkthrough of the mode router, JTAG alignment, flash lifecycle, SOJ bridge, build gates, deployment, troubleshooting, and contributor change paths. The C4 documentation turns that source map into context, container, component, and deployment views.

For maintainers, the source map, runtime flows, and architecture rules are the quickest way to find the right change point without treating the repository as a black box.

The project is maintained at github.com/xsession/openFPGALoader.