CodeBridge Visual Studio Tools

CodeBridge

Control ESP32 and Arduino Uno boards from .NET: in C#, or with a visual flow editor inside Visual Studio. CodeBridge ships a bridge firmware for the board and a .NET SDK that talks to it over USB serial or Wi-Fi, so you write C# instead of embedded C/C++.

Two ways to use it

You are...	Use	Start here
New to microcontrollers / prefer visual tools	CodeBridge Visual Studio Tools (VSIX)	Getting started
A .NET developer who wants the SDK directly	NuGet packages	SDK quick start

NuGet packages

Package	Purpose	Target
`CodeBridge.Abstractions`	Abstractions (`IBoard`, `ITransport`), wire protocol, exceptions. The assembly and namespace are `CodeBridge.Core`; the NuGet id `CodeBridge.Core` belongs to another project	net8.0
`CodeBridge.Transport`	Serial and TCP/Wi-Fi transports, USB board discovery	net8.0 (Windows for USB discovery)
`CodeBridge.ESP32`	ESP32 board + sensor/actuator drivers	net8.0
`CodeBridge.Flow`	Flow document model, validation, runtime	net8.0
`CodeBridge.Designer.WinForms`	WinForms Toolbox controls, designer, firmware flashing (ships the firmware)	net8.0-windows

dotnet add package CodeBridge.ESP32

SDK quick start

Flash the firmware once (see Getting started), then:

using CodeBridge.Core;
using CodeBridge.Core.Enums;
using CodeBridge.ESP32;

await using var board = await CodeBridgeBuilder
    .Connect()
    .Serial("COM3", baudRate: 115200)   // or .WiFi("192.168.1.50")
    .ToESP32()
    .BuildAsync();

await board.Gpio.SetPinModeAsync(2, PinMode.Output);
await board.Gpio.DigitalWriteAsync(2, PinValue.High);

int raw = await board.Gpio.AnalogReadAsync(34);   // 12-bit ADC value
Console.WriteLine($"ADC34 = {raw}");

More runnable examples are in samples/ (blink, servo, motor/relay, Wi-Fi setup and diagnostics). See the API reference.

Visual Studio extension

.cbflow visual flow editor: drag blocks, wire ports, edit properties; follows the active Visual Studio theme. Its toolbar picks the board and port, tests the connection, uploads the firmware and runs the flow on the real board with live per-block status, undo/redo, copy/paste, multi-select and live validation. Hover any block for an animated explanation; five ready-made examples are available from Add > New Item, and Tools > CodeBridge Tour walks you from the first blink to using the SDK from a console app, web API or Windows service.
WinForms Toolbox components: CodeBridgeFlowControl and CodeBridgeBoardComponent with Smart Tags to pick a COM port, detect the board and flash the firmware.
One-click firmware flashing for ESP32: uses esptool, downloaded on first use over HTTPS and verified by SHA-256. No Python, PlatformIO or Arduino IDE needed. The firmware binaries ship inside CodeBridge.Designer.WinForms.
Serial monitor and plotter inside Visual Studio, and code mode: create, build and upload C++ firmware with PlatformIO, with errors in the Error List.
Export C#: turn any flow into readable SDK code (a class for your project, or a console Program.cs) from the editor toolbar.
Project and item templates, a setup window (Tools > CodeBridge Setup...) and a starter form command.
Automatic USB board detection for CP210x, CH340/CH9102, FTDI and official Arduino adapters.

Hardware support

Board	Status
ESP32 DevKit (esp32dev)	Supported and tested on hardware: GPIO, ADC, PWM, I2C, SPI, 1-Wire, interrupts, sensors, displays, Wi-Fi, one-click firmware
ESP32-S3 DevKit, ESP32-C3 DevKit	Firmware builds in CI and one-click flashing is wired up; pin maps follow the Espressif DevKit pinouts. Not yet verified on hardware: please report what you find
Arduino Uno R3	Basic: digital/analog I/O, PWM, servo via the bridge sketch. Flashing needs `arduino-cli`
Arduino Nano, Arduino Mega 2560	Same sketch (it builds in CI for both); Nano comes in two bootloader flavours (pick "old bootloader" for most clones). Not yet verified on hardware
Any board, no hardware	The built-in simulator (`.Simulator()`, or Simulator in the editor's Port list) runs flows, tests and demos without a cable
STM32, PIC	Planned; `ToSTM32()` exists in the builder but there is no driver yet and building throws `NotSupportedException`

Drivers included for ESP32: DHT11/22, DS18B20, BME280, BH1750, MPU6050, TCS34725, INA219, HC-SR04, PIR, gas sensors, relays, buzzers, servos, DC/stepper motors, RGB LED, WS2812B NeoPixel, SSD1306 OLED, HD44780 I2C LCD, MQTT, OTA.

Use it from your app

Package	What for
`CodeBridge.Hosting`	`services.AddCodeBridge()`: one shared, thread-safe board connection with reconnection and the simulator, for ASP.NET Core, workers and MAUI
`DeviceFleet` (in `CodeBridge.Hosting`)	Any number of named boards (USB, Wi-Fi, or boards reached over an ESP-NOW mesh through a gateway that keeps its Wi-Fi) behind one object, with discovery, persistence and per-device reconnection
`CodeBridge.Blazor`	`<BoardStatus/>`, `<PinToggle/>`, `<PwmSlider/>`, `<AnalogGauge/>`, `<SensorChart/>` components for a live dashboard
`CodeBridge.Mcp`	An MCP server so an AI assistant can read the board manifest, design and test flows on the simulator and export C# (hardware is opt-in and confirmed per action)
`CodeBridge.HomeAssistant`	Shows the board in Home Assistant through MQTT discovery (switches, lights, sensors) and finds Home Assistant on your network

Samples: Integration.Blazor, Integration.HomeAssistant, Integration.Maui (Android and Windows), plus console, web API and Windows service.

Architecture

Visual Studio        .cbflow editor | WinForms Toolbox | Setup window
SDK (NuGet)          Flow -> Core <- Transport <- ESP32        (Designer.WinForms ties them together)
Board firmware       esp32-bridge (PlatformIO) | arduino-uno-bridge

Security

Downloaded tools (esptool) must use HTTPS and match a pinned SHA-256.
Firmware flashing runs child processes that are killed (whole tree) on cancel, so serial ports are released.
See SECURITY.md to report a vulnerability.

Building from source

./build/pack.ps1 -Vsix      # packs the 5 NuGet packages and builds the VSIX into artifacts/
dotnet test CodeBridge.slnx -c Release

Releasing is described in docs/publishing.md. Contributions are welcome: see CONTRIBUTING.md and the changelog.

License

MIT, see LICENSE.

Christian Albarracin