cocotb-test
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes, if you are already using cocotb and pytest in a hardware design flow and want to eliminate Makefiles and gain pytest's testing ecosystem. No, if you are new to hardware simulation or lack a simulator installed—the high install friction and dormant maintenance make this a specialist tool. Yes-with-conditions: verify compatibility with your cocotb version and simulator before adopting in a new project.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Requires a simulator (e.g.
- Icarus Verilog) installed and SIM environment variable set; cocotb must be installed first.
- High install friction: requires cocotb, a simulator (e.g.
License · maintenance · safety
BSD (permissive) — BSD permissive license means you can use, modify, and distribute cocotb-test freely in commercial and open-source projects with minimal restrictions.
last release 2025-01-04 (587 days)
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 242,306 downloads/mo, #8,860 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install cocotb-test
from cocotb_test.simulator import run
def test_dff():
run(
verilog_sources=["dff.sv"],
toplevel="dff",
module="dff_cocotb"
)
# Run: SIM=icarus pytest test_dff.py- Whether the package actively maintains compatibility with current cocotb versions given dormant maintenance status.
- Performance characteristics when running large test suites or using pytest-xdist parallelization.
- Support status for simulators other than Icarus Verilog (e.g. Verilator, commercial tools).
What it is and what it does
cocotb-test is a pytest plugin that bridges cocotb (a Python-based hardware simulation framework) with standard Python unit testing. Instead of writing Makefiles and shell scripts to orchestrate HDL simulations, you write pytest test functions that call cocotb-test's `run()` function with your Verilog or VHDL sources, top-level module name, and cocotb test module. The package handles compilation, simulation, and result collection, letting you use pytest's full ecosystem—parameterization, filtering, parallel execution via pytest-xdist, and reporting plugins.
The package depends on cocotb (the core simulation engine), pytest (the test runner), and find_libpython (a utility for locating Python libraries). It supports Python 3.7 and later. Maintenance is dormant, with no activity for 587 days, though a release occurred on 2025-01-04. Installation requires a working simulator and environment setup, making it a high-friction dependency for teams not already running hardware simulations.
Use it for
- Run Verilog or VHDL testbenches as pytest tests without writing Makefiles or shell scripts.
- Parameterize HDL simulations using pytest.mark.parametrize to test designs across multiple configurations.
- Parallelize simulation runs across CPU cores using pytest-xdist for faster design verification.
- Integrate hardware verification into CI/CD pipelines alongside software unit tests.
- Generate junitxml or HTML reports from cocotb test results using pytest plugins.
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes, if you are already using cocotb and pytest in a hardware design flow and want to eliminate Makefiles and gain pytest's testing ecosystem.
No, if you are new to hardware simulation or lack a simulator installed—the high install friction and dormant maintenance make this a specialist tool. Yes-with-conditions: verify compatibility with your cocotb version and simulator before adopting in a new project.
Install
cocotb-test on PyPI
Before you install
High install friction: requires cocotb, a simulator (e.g. Icarus Verilog), and find_libpython as runtime dependencies. Maintenance is dormant—last release was 587 days ago, though the package did receive a release on 2025-01-04.
Requires a simulator (e.g. Icarus Verilog) installed and SIM environment variable set; cocotb must be installed first.
License in practice
BSD permissive license means you can use, modify, and distribute cocotb-test freely in commercial and open-source projects with minimal restrictions.
Quickstart
pip install cocotb-test
from cocotb_test.simulator import run
def test_dff():
run(
verilog_sources=["dff.sv"],
toplevel="dff",
module="dff_cocotb"
)
# Run: SIM=icarus pytest test_dff.pyVerify before relying
- Whether the package actively maintains compatibility with current cocotb versions given dormant maintenance status.
- Performance characteristics when running large test suites or using pytest-xdist parallelization.
- Support status for simulators other than Icarus Verilog (e.g. Verilator, commercial tools).
Package facts
| License | BSD permissive |
| Python support | Supports the current Python release >=3.7 |
| Install friction | High. Source build required |
| Runtime dependencies | 3 packagescocotbpytestfind_libpython |
| Maintenance | Dormant 587 days since the last release |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 242,306 / month, #8,860 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | Framework :: cocotbLicense :: OSI Approved :: BSD LicenseProgramming Language :: Python :: 3Topic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Electronic Design Automation (EDA) |
Evidence: cocotb_test-0.2.6.tar.gz
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