---
id: peakrdl-cheader
version: "1.1.0"
license: LGPLv3
license_treatment: copyleft
maintenance: active
---

# peakrdl-cheader — Generate C Header files from a SystemRDL register model

License: copyleft · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 231.5K/mo

## What it is and what it does

PeakRDL C Header is a code generator that converts SystemRDL register specifications into C header files. It sits on top of the systemrdl-compiler to parse hardware register definitions and uses jinja2 templates to produce C code. The package is designed for hardware-software co-development workflows where register layouts defined in SystemRDL need to be exposed to C firmware or driver code.

The tool is part of the broader PeakRDL ecosystem and targets developers working with register-level hardware abstractions. It automates the error-prone manual translation of register specifications into C headers, ensuring consistency between hardware documentation and software code. The package is production-stable, actively maintained, and has no known security vulnerabilities.

Use it for:

- Generate C headers from SystemRDL register models for embedded firmware development
- Automate register definition synchronization between hardware specs and C driver code
- Create consistent register access structures for SoC bring-up and validation
- Integrate register code generation into hardware-software build pipelines

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Generates C header files from SystemRDL register models, converting hardware register specifications into C code suitable for software development.

Yes. The package is production-stable, actively maintained, has low install friction, and solves a real problem in hardware-software co-development. The LGPLv3 copyleft license is standard for open-source tools and poses no barrier for most use cases. Install it if you work with SystemRDL register models and need C headers.

## Install

pip install peakrdl-cheader
uv add peakrdl-cheader
poetry add peakrdl-cheader

## Installing peakrdl-cheader

Before you install: Low install friction with a pure Python wheel. Actively maintained as of March 2026 with recent commits. Depends on systemrdl-compiler and jinja2, both stable and widely available.

License in practice: Licensed under LGPLv3 (copyleft). You may use and modify the package freely, but any derivative work must also be licensed under LGPLv3 and source code must be made available.

Quickstart:

pip install peakrdl-cheader

from peakrdl.cheader import CHeaderCompiler
from systemrdl import RDLCompiler

rdl = RDLCompiler()
rdl.compile_file('registers.rdl')
compiler = CHeaderCompiler(rdl.root)
compiler.write('output.h')

Requires a valid SystemRDL input file and systemrdl-compiler to parse it; jinja2 is used internally for template rendering.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the package supports incremental compilation or batch processing of multiple register models
- What C standard or dialect the generated headers target
- Whether generated headers include register access macros or only struct definitions

## Package facts

- License: LGPLv3 (copyleft)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 231.5K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

systemrdl to c header generator, register model c code generation, hardware register c headers, systemrdl compiler plugin, csr c header generation, register definition c output, hardware-description, code-generation, register-modeling

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