Arduino Unified

The Complete Arduino Development Environment for VS Code
Out-of-the-box tooling • AI-powered assistance • Modern developer experience

✨ What is Arduino Unified?

Arduino Unified streamlines your Arduino workflow by automating the installation of the official toolchain—including Arduino CLI, Language Server, and Clangd—providing a true out-of-the-box experience. No more fragmented extensions or complex configurations; just pure, efficient coding for your hardware projects.

Built on the same proven foundation as Arduino IDE 2.x (gRPC + arduino-cli daemon), Arduino Unified brings modern development practices and AI-powered assistance directly into VS Code.

🎯 Key Highlights

🚀 Zero Configuration - Auto-downloads and manages the entire Arduino toolchain
🤖 AI-Powered - GitHub Copilot integration with Arduino-specific tools
📡 Real-time Board Discovery - Automatic detection of connected boards
📊 Serial Plotter - Beautiful data visualization for sensor readings
🎨 Modern UI - React-based webviews for library/platform management
🔌 Offline-First - No cloud dependency, fully functional locally
🌐 Universal Support - Official Arduino, ESP32, ESP8266, STM32, and more

🚀 Features

Core Development Tools

⚡ Compile & Upload

One-click sketch compilation with configurable warning levels
Direct upload to board or via programmer
Bootloader burning support
Binary export for production
Memory usage analysis (Flash/RAM)
Real-time compilation output

🔍 Board Management

Real-time board discovery - Automatic detection via USB/Serial/Network
Status bar board selector with quick switching
Support for all Arduino-compatible boards
Custom board configuration (CPU speed, variants, etc.)
FQBN (Fully Qualified Board Name) support

📚 Library & Platform Management

Beautiful webview interface for library search
One-click library installation with dependency resolution
Platform (core) installation for 3rd-party boards
Automatic library updates
Configurable board manager URLs

🖥️ Serial Communication

Serial Monitor - Real-time serial communication in VS Code terminal
Serial Plotter - Live data visualization with Chart.js
Configurable baud rates (300 - 921600)
Multiple line ending options
Timestamp support
Auto-scroll and buffer management

🐛 Debugging Support

Integration with hardware debuggers (JTAG, SWD)
Seamless cortex-debug integration
Optimize for debug compilation option
Check debug support for selected board

AI-Powered Assistance

🤖 @arduino Chat Participant

Ask questions and get Arduino-specific help directly in VS Code:

@arduino How do I read from a DHT22 temperature sensor?
@arduino Why is my sketch using so much memory?
@arduino Explain this compilation error

The AI assistant has context about:

Your current board and FQBN
Selected port and connection status
Installed libraries
Recent compilation errors
Serial monitor output

🛠️ AI Language Model Tools

The AI can directly invoke Arduino operations:

Compile sketches and analyze errors
Query board information (pins, programmers, config)
Search libraries in the Arduino registry
Read serial output for debugging assistance

💡 Smart Code Actions

Auto-add missing #include directives
Suggest pinMode() calls for undeclared pins
"Explain Error with Copilot" for compilation errors
Context-aware quick fixes

Language Support

Syntax highlighting for .ino and .pde files
IntelliSense and auto-completion
Arduino keyword documentation on hover
Code formatting with clang-format
Error diagnostics in Problems panel

📦 Installation

From VS Code Marketplace

Open VS Code
Go to Extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
Search for "Arduino Unified"
Click Install

First Launch

On first activation, Arduino Unified will:

Prompt to download Arduino CLI (if not already installed)
Initialize the Arduino environment
Download board indexes and library lists
Start the gRPC daemon for fast communication

That's it! You're ready to start coding.

🎓 Getting Started

1. Create a New Sketch

Command Palette → Arduino Unified: New Sketch

Or use the default template in settings:

{
  "arduinoUnified.sketch.template": "void setup() {\n  Serial.begin(9600);\n}\n\nvoid loop() {\n  Serial.println(\"Hello, Arduino!\");\n  delay(1000);\n}\n"
}

2. Select Your Board

Click the board selector in the status bar → Choose your board and port

Or use Command Palette → Arduino Unified: Select Board & Port

3. Compile Your Sketch

Click the ✓ icon in the editor title bar

Or use Command Palette → Arduino Unified: Compile Sketch

4. Upload to Board

Click the ↑ icon in the editor title bar

Or use Command Palette → Arduino Unified: Upload Sketch

5. Open Serial Monitor

Click the 🔌 icon in the editor title bar

Or use Command Palette → Arduino Unified: Open Serial Monitor

🤖 Using AI Features

Chat with @arduino

Open GitHub Copilot Chat (Ctrl+Alt+I / Cmd+Option+I) and type:

@arduino I'm getting a "not enough memory" error. How can I optimize my sketch?

The AI has full context of your project and can:

Analyze your code
Compile and diagnose errors
Suggest optimizations
Find relevant libraries
Debug serial output issues

AI-Powered Debugging

When you get a compilation error:

Hover over the error in the Problems panel
Click "Explain Error with Copilot"
Get an AI explanation with suggested fixes

Ask for Library Recommendations

@arduino What's the best library for reading GPS data?

The AI will search the Arduino library registry and recommend options.

⚙️ Configuration

Essential Settings

{
  // Custom Arduino CLI path (leave empty for auto-download)
  "arduinoUnified.cli.path": "",
  
  // Arduino CLI version to auto-download
  "arduinoUnified.cli.version": "1.4.1",
  
  // Board manager URLs for 3rd-party platforms
  "arduinoUnified.boardManager.additionalUrls": [
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json",
    "http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json"
  ],
  
  // Compilation settings
  "arduinoUnified.compile.verbose": false,
  "arduinoUnified.compile.warnings": "default",
  "arduinoUnified.compile.optimizeForDebug": false,
  
  // Upload settings
  "arduinoUnified.upload.verbose": false,
  "arduinoUnified.upload.verify": false,
  "arduinoUnified.upload.autoVerify": true,
  
  // Serial monitor settings
  "arduinoUnified.monitor.baudRate": 9600,
  "arduinoUnified.monitor.lineEnding": "nl",
  "arduinoUnified.monitor.autoScroll": true,
  "arduinoUnified.monitor.timestamp": false
}

Compiler Warning Levels

none - No warnings
default - Standard compiler warnings
more - Additional warnings
all - All possible warnings (very verbose)

Line Endings for Serial

none - No line ending
nl - Newline (\n)
cr - Carriage return (\r)
nlcr - Both (\r\n)

🌐 Supported Boards

Official Arduino Boards

Arduino UNO, Mega, Nano, Micro, Leonardo
Arduino Due, Zero, MKR series
Arduino Portenta, Opta, Giga

3rd-Party Platforms

ESP32 - Espressif systems
ESP8266 - Espressif systems
STM32 - STMicroelectronics
Any board with Arduino Board Manager support

Add board manager URLs in settings:

{
  "arduinoUnified.boardManager.additionalUrls": [
    "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json"
  ]
}

🎨 Screenshots

Board Selection & Compilation

Board Selection

Serial Monitor & Plotter

Serial Monitor

Library Manager

AI Chat Assistant

AI Chat

🏗️ Architecture

Arduino Unified is built on a modern, robust architecture:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      VS Code Extension                       │
│                                                               │
│  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐  ┌──────────────┐      │
│  │  Commands    │  │   Webviews   │  │  AI Tools    │      │
│  │  & UI        │  │   (React)    │  │  & Chat      │      │
│  └──────┬───────┘  └──────┬───────┘  └──────┬───────┘      │
│         │                  │                  │               │
│         └──────────────────┼──────────────────┘               │
│                            │                                  │
│                    ┌───────▼────────┐                        │
│                    │  gRPC Client   │                        │
│                    │  (Proto-based) │                        │
│                    └───────┬────────┘                        │
└────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────┘
                             │
                    ┌────────▼────────┐
                    │  arduino-cli    │
                    │     daemon      │
                    │   (Go binary)   │
                    └────────┬────────┘
                             │
              ┌──────────────┼──────────────┐
              │              │              │
         ┌────▼────┐    ┌────▼────┐   ┌────▼────┐
         │  Board  │    │ Compile │   │  Upload │
         │Discovery│    │ Tooling │   │ Tooling │
         └─────────┘    └─────────┘   └─────────┘

Key Components

gRPC Communication - Type-safe, high-performance RPC
Arduino CLI Daemon - Official Arduino toolchain
React Webviews - Modern UI for library/platform management
AI Integration - Deep Copilot integration with Language Model API
Board Discovery - Real-time USB/Serial/Network detection

🔧 Development

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+ and pnpm 8+
VS Code 1.107.0+

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/fermeridamagni/arduino-unified.git
cd arduino-unified

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Build the extension
pnpm run compile

# Package the extension
pnpm run package

Running Tests

pnpm run test

Code Quality

This project uses Ultracite for code quality:

# Check for issues
pnpm run check

# Auto-fix issues
pnpm run fix

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for details on:

Code of conduct
Development workflow
Coding standards
Pull request process

🐛 Reporting Issues

Found a bug or have a feature request? Please open an issue on GitHub Issues with:

Bug reports: Steps to reproduce, expected vs actual behavior, logs
Feature requests: Use case, proposed solution, alternatives considered

For security vulnerabilities, please see SECURITY.md.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Third-Party Components

Arduino Unified includes the following third-party components:

Arduino CLI Protocol Buffer Definitions

License: Apache License 2.0
Source: Arduino CLI
Files: src/cli/proto/cc/arduino/cli/commands/v1/*.proto

These protocol buffer definitions are used for gRPC communication with the Arduino CLI daemon.

Protocol Buffers - Google's Data Interchange Format

License: BSD 3-Clause License
Source: Protocol Buffers
Files: src/cli/proto/google/protobuf/*.proto, src/cli/proto/google/rpc/*.proto

These are standard Google Protocol Buffer definitions used for message serialization.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Arduino Team - For the amazing Arduino CLI and Language Server
Microsoft - For VS Code and GitHub Copilot
Community - For feedback, bug reports, and contributions

📮 Support

Documentation: GitHub Wiki
Discussions: GitHub Discussions
Issues: GitHub Issues

Made with ❤️ by fermeridamagni