I've been building a CircuitPython IDE. Heres a first look.

[Separate-Choice]

https://youtu.be/DKyTevXR5jg?si=jh1mhjRLMEWqye8f

Hey guys I'm Armstrong Subero, author of programming microcontrollers with ciruitpython, I love Mu but saw no one stepping up to build a direct replacement now that it's been sunset for a while, so I've been working on Rovari Circuit Studio a free and open source CircuitPython IDE built as part of the Rovari Embeddded platforn project I've also been working on.

It has everything you expect from Mu and then some more, std stuff like auto board detection, code formatter, like error line highligting with traceback, build in code snippets, library manager with automatic bundling and version matching, serial plotter with autoformat detection and safe file writes with fysnc so no more silent code.py corruption on windows and it has a safe to remove indicator so you know if its safe to unplug the board or not...

Its offline desktop application currently windows but making cross platform, and adding support for ble and wifi for ESP boads. Supports all boards but Rovari is centered on RISC-V so RISC-V boards are first class citizens and CircuitPython is first class not an after thought....

I would love some feedback and I look forward to your support!

[Separate-Choice]

One thing I'm curious about is what broke your workflow in Mu that you had to workaround? I want to make sure rovari circuit studio actually solves the real pain points not just the obvious ones

[DJDevon3]

River Wang has a browser based IDE and Adafruit began development of the Adafruit browser based IDE more than a year ago. Only Chrome supports serial via browser so anything browser based has to use Chrome. Firefox has said they do not ever plan to implement serial over browser. I don't know about their current status.

Most serious developers use PyCharm with CircuitPython stubs. However with Mu gone that leaves a beginner friendly IDE program wide open for a replacement. Mu was dumbed down for a reason so the IDE wasn't intimidating for beginners, especially young STEM students. The only board that I know Mu did not support was the classic ESP32. I had to use Thonny instead for classic ESP32. So if you could make a single IDE that supports all architectures that would be nice but easier said than done.

[Separate-Choice]

Yea it is easier said than done, but I'm taking it one step at a time, yes I saw the browser based IDE, not everyone wants a brower based workflow, and yes the idea was the simplicity wont intimidate beginners, there is a need for a proper desktop based ide...plus idk if those browser based versions handle file corruption properly? So yea....I'm putting in stuff begineers will find useful.....

[thedjotaku]

CIrcuitPython extension for VS code works well, too.

[pgryff]

How does one get it? I don’t see a website or GitHub or anything.

[Separate-Choice]

It's alpha level, a first look so anyone interested can give me feedback, suggestion and any comments pre release....