west: unknown command "build";

geoffr

Just installed the latest VS extension (0.4.7) and am trying to compile the default example for the rak4631_nrf52840, but am getting the west: unknown command “build”.

I probably missed a step in the set-up, but I can’t figure it out.
(and likely a newbie question)

jaredwolff

That generally means the zephyr repo or python dependencies can’t be found. I’m assuming you are trying to use an already existing instance of Zephyr on your machine?

geoffr

No - I had VScode installed and then installed the latest VScode extension (Circuit Dojo 0.4.7) and then tried to compile the rak4631_nrf52840 example.

jaredwolff

I would need more details on how you did everything.

I assume you ran the Setup command successfully?
You also need to init a repo. It doesn’t play well with already existing repositories since it creates it’s own Zephyr environment.

You can take a look how it’s done for the nRF9151 Feather and adapt to your needs/sdk version, etc.

https://docs.circuitdojo.com/nrf9160-feather/sdk-setup-ui.html

DuckPaddle

Had the same problem, see my thread on “Using the Zephyr SDK on a clean install”

geoffr

Yes, it looks like the same problem - but I’m not sure what the solution is..

I just created a new project and then tried to build it (selecting Vanilla and then the rak4631_nrf52840 on the vanilla main.c

usage: west [-h] [-z ZEPHYR_BASE] [-v] [-q] [-V] <command> …
west: unknown command “build”; workspace Documents/Zephyr-app does not define this extension command – try “west help” and “west -vv status”

The terminal process “/bin/zsh ‘-l’, ‘-c’, ‘west build -b rak4631_nrf52840 -d build/rak4631_nrf52840 –sysbuild’” failed to launch (exit code: 1).

jaredwolff

Make sure you put it in a directory with no spaces if you’re on Windows. Closer to C:\ the easier it is to avoid issues like this

nordicguy

I also have this issue.
If I start off with “Init repo” i zephyr tools the build command is recognized.
If I start wiith “create project -> NRF Connect SDK” the build also works.
If I start with “create project -> Vanilla” I get the "west: unknown command “build” error when I try to build. I have placed my folder directly on C:\ but that did not help.

Also the nRF9151 Feather is not available in the boards list when starting with “create project” instead of “init repo”, shouldn’t it be?

jaredwolff

It should be available in any case as long as the SDK has been initialized/downloaded. My guess is that in some edge cases west update is not running after west init. Can you send me the output of tree in the folder you created the project in?

nordicguy

jaredwolff hm, not sure I did that correctly, the output is 5500 lines long, but here you go https://community.circuitdojo.com/assets/files/2025-08-20/1755722795-806023-output.txt

jaredwolff

I just pushed 0.4.11 to VSCode Marketplace which should hopefully put this to bed. It will detect incomplete repositories and prompt you to delete or continue initialization.

My guess is that the init process is getting interrupted. It takes a second or two especially if you switch to a different folder (the extension needs to re-load and determine the current state) which may make it look like it’s done.

Btw, Vanilla Zephyr does not work with the nRF91xx.

nordicguy

jaredwolff I tried the new version on a different windows machine this time, but the behaviour is still the same, “build” command is unknown with the “create poject -> Vanilla” method.

jaredwolff Btw, Vanilla Zephyr does not work with the nRF91xx.

Ok, but shouldn’t the nRF9151 Feather be available when chosing “create project -> NRF Connect SDK” ? Or is the intended workflow when creating my own projects for the nRF9151 Feather in Zephyr Tools to init the nrf9160-feather-examples-and-drivers repo and put my own code somehwere in the nfed folder?

jaredwolff

Ahh I see what’s happened. Sorry I don’t use the new project functionality so it doesn’t get as much scrutiny as other parts of the extension.

You need to use NFED in order to get the board definitions so you can use the nRF9151 Feather. I’ve pushed v0.4.12 of the extension which adds a third NFED option when creating a project. Once downloaded/updated you can re-run the create project with the NFED option and it will populate the template correctly.

Or, if you want to fix it manually, you can update your west.yml file in your new project to this:

manifest:
  projects:
    - name: nfed
      url: https://github.com/circuitdojo/nrf9160-feather-examples-and-drivers.git
      path: nfed
      revision: v3.0.x
      import: true
  self:
    # This repository should be cloned to
    path: app

Then run the Update Dependencies command. (Also under Zephyr Tools: Update Dependencies` in the quick launch.

I would then copy over the contents of nfed/samples/blinky and put it into your app folder overwriting anything that’s there.

You should be able to build for any Circuit Dojo target (with /ns at the end of course).

Let me know how it goes @nordicguy

nordicguy

jaredwolff Sorry it took me a while to test this. I didn’t try the manual manifest edit, but when creating project with the new NFED option the build command runs without issues, thanks!

jaredwolff

Awesome @nordicguy