Register Guide

RISC-V vcsr / vcsr Register: Vector Control/Status CSR

vcsr is the Vector Control/Status register (CSR 0x00F), providing unified single-CSR access to the vxrm (fixed-point rounding mode) and vxsat (fixed-point saturation flag) fields.

ABI name: vcsr; physical register: vcsr.
Save rule: Caller.
Read it through its psABI role first, then inspect how each instruction reads or writes it.
Physical Name vcsrABI Name vcsrSave Rule Caller
Role
Vector Control/Status CSR
Convention
Caller-saved
Remember This First
t* registers are caller-saved, so callees may overwrite them.
psABI Reference

ABI register

vcsr is the Vector Control/Status register (CSR 0x00F), providing unified single-CSR access to the vxrm (fixed-point rounding mode) and vxsat (fixed-point saturation flag) fields.

Preserved across calls: Caller
RISC-V psABI integer register convention

When It Fits Best

  • - Hold short-lived temporary computation results.
  • - Use them for local computations that do not need to survive calls.
  • - Use them as caller-managed scratch registers.

When Not To Use It This Way

  • - Do not keep values in t* across a call unless you save them yourself first.
  • - Do not expect callees to restore t* for you.

What Happens Around A Call

1

t* registers are caller-saved, so callees may overwrite them.

2

If the caller still needs a t* value after a call, it must save it in advance.

Protect Temporary Values Before A Call

Examples explain the rule, not a complete program
addi t0, a0, 1
# If t0 is needed after the call, save it to an ABI-valid location first
call foo
# restore t0 from that saved location after the call returns