diff --git a/.circleci/build-toolchains.sh b/.circleci/build-toolchains.sh
index 6965da30..d0be57c2 100755
--- a/.circleci/build-toolchains.sh
+++ b/.circleci/build-toolchains.sh
@@ -6,9 +6,13 @@
 # turn echo on and error on earliest command
 set -ex
 
+# get shared variables
+SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "$0" )" && pwd )"
+source $SCRIPT_DIR/defaults.sh
+
 if [ ! -d "$HOME/$1-install" ]; then
     cd $HOME
 
     # init all submodules including the tools
-    CHIPYARD_DIR=$HOME/project ./project/scripts/build-toolchains.sh $1
+    CHIPYARD_DIR=$LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR .$LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR/scripts/build-toolchains.sh $1
 fi
diff --git a/.circleci/check-commit.sh b/.circleci/check-commit.sh
index ea7e30f5..4ad48ed5 100755
--- a/.circleci/check-commit.sh
+++ b/.circleci/check-commit.sh
@@ -5,8 +5,12 @@
 # turn echo on and error on earliest command
 set -ex
 
+# get shared variables
+SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "$0" )" && pwd )"
+source $SCRIPT_DIR/defaults.sh
+
 # enter bhd repo
-cd $HOME/project
+cd $LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR
 
 # initialize submodules and get the hashes
 git submodule update --init
@@ -22,7 +26,7 @@ search () {
     done
 }
 
-submodules=("boom" "hwacha" "rocket-chip" "sifive-blocks" "testchipip")
+submodules=("boom" "firechip" "hwacha" "icenet" "rocket-chip" "sifive-blocks" "sifive-cache" "testchipip")
 dir="generators"
 
 search
diff --git a/.circleci/create-hash.sh b/.circleci/create-hash.sh
index 2aff9727..84a75244 100755
--- a/.circleci/create-hash.sh
+++ b/.circleci/create-hash.sh
@@ -5,8 +5,12 @@
 # turn echo on and error on earliest command
 set -ex
 
+# get shared variables
+SCRIPT_DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "$0" )" && pwd )"
+source $SCRIPT_DIR/defaults.sh
+
 # enter bhd repo
-cd $HOME/project
+cd $LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR
 
 # get the version of riscv-tools from the git submodule hash
 git submodule status | grep "riscv-tools" | awk '{print$1}' | grep -o "[[:alnum:]]*" >> $HOME/riscv-tools.hash
diff --git a/.circleci/defaults.sh b/.circleci/defaults.sh
index 78c4a350..b639009e 100755
--- a/.circleci/defaults.sh
+++ b/.circleci/defaults.sh
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ clean () {
 # remote variables
 REMOTE_WORK_DIR=$CI_DIR/$CIRCLE_PROJECT_REPONAME-$CIRCLE_BRANCH-$CIRCLE_SHA1-$CIRCLE_JOB
 REMOTE_RISCV_DIR=$REMOTE_WORK_DIR/riscv-tools-install
+REMOTE_ESP_DIR=$REMOTE_WORK_DIR/esp-tools-install
 REMOTE_CHIPYARD_DIR=$REMOTE_WORK_DIR/chipyard
 REMOTE_VERILATOR_DIR=$REMOTE_WORK_DIR/verilator
 REMOTE_SIM_DIR=$REMOTE_CHIPYARD_DIR/sims/verisim
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ REMOTE_SIM_DIR=$REMOTE_CHIPYARD_DIR/sims/verisim
 # local variables (aka within the docker container)
 LOCAL_CHECKOUT_DIR=$HOME/project
 LOCAL_RISCV_DIR=$HOME/riscv-tools-install
-LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR=$HOME/chipyard
+LOCAL_ESP_DIR=$HOME/esp-tools-install
+LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR=$LOCAL_CHECKOUT_DIR
 LOCAL_VERILATOR_DIR=$HOME/verilator
 LOCAL_SIM_DIR=$LOCAL_CHIPYARD_DIR/sims/verisim