arduino-cli

arduino-cli is an all-in-one solution that provides builder, boards/library manager, uploader, discovery and many other tools needed to use any Arduino compatible board and platforms.

This software is currently in alpha state: new features will be added and some may be changed.

It will be soon used as a building block in the Arduino IDE and Arduino Create.

How to install

Download the latest stable release

This is not yet available until the first stable version is released.

Build from source

• You should have a recent Go compiler installed.
• Run go get -u github.com/bcmi-labs/arduino-cli
• The arduino-cli executable will be produced in $GOPATH/bin/arduino-cli

You may want to copy the executable into a directory which is in your PATH environment variable (such as /usr/local/bin/).

Usage

The goal of the Arduino CLI is to be used by either including it in Makefile or in any kind of script for the Command Line. The Arduino CLI aims to replace the majority of features the Arduino IDE has without the graphical UI.

Getting Started

Step 1. Create a new sketch

The command will create a new empty sketch named MyFirstSketch in the default directory under $HOME/Arduino/

$ arduino-cli sketch new MyFirstSketch
Sketch created in: /home/luca/Arduino/MyFirstSketch

$ cat /home/luca/Arduino/MyFirstSketch/MyFirstSketch.ino 
void setup() {
}

void loop() {
}

Step 2. Modify your sketch

Use your favourite file editor or IDE to modify the .ino file under: $HOME/Arduino/MyFirstSketch/MyFirstSketch.ino and change the file to look like this one:

void setup() {
pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);   
  delay(1000);                       
  digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);    
  delay(1000);                  
}

Step 3. Connect the board to your PC

Just connect the board to your PCs by using the USB cable. In this example we will use the MKR1000 board.

$ arduino-cli board list
FQBN    Port            ID              Board Name
        /dev/ttyACM0    2341:804E       unknown

the board has been discovered but we do not have the correct core to program it yet. Let's install it!

Step 4. Find and install the right core

We have to look at the core available with the core search command. It will provide a list of available cores matching the name arduino

$ arduino-cli core search arduino
Searching for platforms matching 'arduino'

ID              Version Installed       Name                                        
Intel:arc32     2.0.2   No              Intel Curie Boards                          
arduino:avr     1.6.21  No              Arduino AVR Boards                          
arduino:nrf52   1.0.2   No              Arduino nRF52 Boards                        
arduino:sam     1.6.11  No              Arduino SAM Boards (32-bits ARM Cortex-M3)  
arduino:samd    1.6.18  No              Arduino SAMD Boards (32-bits ARM Cortex-M0+)
arduino:stm32f4 1.0.1   No              Arduino STM32F4 Boards                      
littleBits:avr  1.0.0   No              littleBits Arduino AVR Modules  

The right one for the Arduino MKR1000 is arduino:samd, now we can install it

$ arduino-cli core install arduino:samd
Downloading tools...
arduino:[email protected] downloaded          
arduino:[email protected] downloaded
arduino:[email protected] downloaded              
arduino:[email protected] downloaded                   
arduino:[email protected] downloaded                    
arduino:[email protected] downloaded                        
Downloading cores...
arduino:[email protected] downloaded                          
Installing tools...
Installing platforms...
Results:
arduino:[email protected] - Installed
arduino:[email protected] - Already Installed
arduino:[email protected] - Already Installed
arduino:[email protected] - Already Installed
arduino:[email protected] - Already Installed
arduino:[email protected] - Already Installed
arduino:[email protected] - Already Installed

Now verify we have installed the core properly by running

$ arduino-cli core list
ID              Installed       Latest  Name                                        
arduino:samd    1.6.18          1.6.18  Arduino SAMD Boards (32-bits ARM Cortex-M0+)

We can finally chek if the board is now recognized as a MKR1000

$ arduino-cli board list
FQBN                    Port            ID              Board Name             
arduino:samd:mkr1000    /dev/ttyACM0    2341:804E       Arduino/Genuino MKR1000

Great! Now the Board FQBN (Fully Qualified Board Name) and the Board Name look good, we are ready to compile and upload the sketch

Step 5. Compile the sketch

To compile the sketch we have to

arduino-cli is a container of commands, to see the full list just run:

$ arduino-cli
Arduino Command Line Interface (arduino-cli).

Usage:
  arduino-cli [command]

Examples:
arduino <command> [flags...]

Available Commands:
  board         Arduino board commands.
  compile       Compiles Arduino sketches.
  config        Arduino Configuration Commands.
  core          Arduino Core operations.
  help          Help about any command
  lib           Arduino commands about libraries.
  login         Creates default credentials for an Arduino Create Session.
  logout        Clears credentials for the Arduino Create Session.
  sketch        Arduino CLI Sketch Commands.
  upload        Upload Arduino sketches.
  validate      Validates Arduino installation.
  version       Shows version number of arduino CLI.
....

Each command has his own specific help that can be obtained with the help command, for example:

$ arduino-cli help core
Arduino Core operations.

Usage:
  arduino-cli core [command]

Examples:
arduino core update-index # to update the package index file.

Available Commands:
  download     Downloads one or more cores and corresponding tool dependencies.
  install      Installs one or more cores and corresponding tool dependencies.
  list         Shows the list of installed cores.
  update-index Updates the index of cores.

Flags:
  -h, --help   help for core

Global Flags:
      --config-file string   The custom config file (if not specified ./.cli-config.yml will be used). (default "/home/megabug/Workspace/go/src/github.com/bcmi-labs/arduino-cli/.cli-config.yml")
      --debug                Enables debug output (super verbose, used to debug the CLI).
      --format string        The output format, can be [text|json]. (default "text")

Use "arduino-cli core [command] --help" for more information about a command.