stlink is an open source toolset for programming and debugging STM32 microcontrollers and boards manufactured by STMicroelectronics.
The tool solves the problem of communicating with STM32 devices through STLINK programmer boards, which act as USB-to-JTAG/SWD translators. It supports all four generations of STLINK hardware that exist on the market, from the obsolete STLINK/V1 through to the current STLINK-V3, handling the different transport protocols each generation uses while presenting a unified interface to users. The toolset provides multiple command-line utilities for different tasks: st-info for querying programmer and chip information, st-flash for manipulating flash memory, st-trace for execution logging, and st-util which functions as a GDB server for debugging. It also includes stlink-lib as a communication library for programmatic access and an optional GUI interface.
Developers working with STM32 microcontrollers should choose this tool if they need an open source alternative to proprietary STMicroelectronics tools. It suits projects using STM32 devices on Discovery boards, Nucleo boards, or standalone STLINK programmers. The tool integrates with GDB for debugging and can be used with Visual Studio Code through the Cortex-Debug plugin. Installation is straightforward on Linux through distribution package repositories, and Windows users can download pre-built binaries or compile from source.
The project maintains active support across multiple operating systems and has documented coverage of supported MCU targets and OS versions. Development includes regular updates captured in a changelog, and the maintainers provide compilation instructions for users building from source on different platforms. The project offers a tutorial for advanced tasks and maintains documentation of hardware and software compatibility matrices.
