Write and flash embedded code, design circuits, and build visuals, all in one place

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⚠️ Alpha

tinyStudio is in alpha. It works, but expect rough edges, and expect things to change between versions. See Known issues and Roadmap for where things stand, and CHANGELOG.md for what changed.

tinyStudio is an open-source IDE for makers. Write an Arduino sketch, upload it, see the wiring next to it, and watch a p5.js sketch react to the board's serial output, without jumping between apps. It runs as a desktop app (Electron) and in the browser.

It's built around the tinyBoards from MR.INDUSTRIES, starting with the tinyCore (an ESP32‑S3 development board). It also speaks plain Arduino, so most sketches and boards (an Arduino Uno, an ESP32) work too.

What it does

• Three views of one project. Switch between Code, Circuit and Visual:
  • Code is a Monaco editor for .ino sketches, with completion, hover and live diagnostics from the Arduino language server on desktop.
  • Circuit edits circuit.json: a breadboard view, a schematic view of the same circuit, an electrical rule check, and SPICE simulation (ngspice) with plots and probes.
  • Visual runs a p5.js sketch (visual.js) live off the board's serial output, and exports it as a standalone web page or publishes it to GitHub Pages.
• Build and flash. Compile and upload with a bundled arduino-cli through the tinyService backend, with board options, upload progress and a Serial Monitor. As Arduino tightens its licensing we plan to write our own service; until then, please read arduino-cli's licence to make sure you're fine with its terms.
• Parts. tinyBoards and Fritzing parts from the tinyparts repo, each with breadboard and schematic art. The app ships a snapshot and picks up changes on launch. You can edit parts or add your own.
• GitHub. Open any repo, copy an example into your own account with Make it mine, and push, pull and publish from the app.
• Examples. A searchable library from tinyStudio-examples.
• Studio AI (optional). Bring your own Anthropic API key for an assistant that can read your project, circuit and serial output, and edit files with your permission.

Download

Installers for Windows, macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux (AppImage and .deb) are on the Releases page. They aren't signed yet, so Windows and macOS warn the first time you open tinyStudio; the release notes say how to get past that.

The tinyFamily

Board	Description
tinyCore	The main ESP32‑S3 microcontroller
tinyGlow	Addressable RGB LED module
tinyProto	Prototyping / Breakout board
tinySpeak	Microphone and Speaker AI module
tinySniff	MEMS Gas Sensor Array
tinyDisplay	Round LCD module

These come from the tinyboards pack in tinyparts and show up in the Circuit view's parts palette.

Getting started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22 and npm.

npm install pulls the backend packages (@mister-industries/tinyservice and @mister-industries/shared) from public npm. arduino-cli is downloaded into vendor/ the first time you run npm run dev or npm run build.

Develop

npm install
npm run dev       # desktop app; starts tinyService for you
npm run dev:web   # browser build at http://localhost:5173

Compile, upload and serial all go through tinyService, a local WebSocket server that wraps arduino-cli. The desktop app starts it on the first free port from 3000. The browser build needs it running on the same computer: install it from the tinyService releases (the app offers the installer when it can't reach the backend). To use a different address, set localStorage["tinyservice.url"]. More in INTEGRATION_GUIDE.md.

GitHub sign-in works out of the box on desktop (device flow) and in the browser (web flow); the app's OAuth client id is built in. How it works, and what the Netlify site needs for the browser flow: docs/github-auth.md.

Check

npm run typecheck
npm run lint
npm test

CI runs these, plus the web build, on every push to main and each version branch.

Build

npm run build:win     # Windows installer
npm run build:mac     # macOS app
npm run build:linux   # AppImage and deb
npm run build:web     # static web bundle in dist-web/

Releases for all three systems are built on GitHub: docs/releasing.md. Windows packaging details: docs/packaging-windows.md. Hosting the web build: docs/web-deploy.md.

Example projects

Ready-to-open projects live in tinyStudio-examples and show up in the app's Examples tab. Open one, pick your board and port, and hit Verify or Upload.

These come with a circuit and a live visual:

Project	What it shows
Basic Blink Program	Blink an LED and mirror its state in the Visual view
Smooth Breathing Effect	PWM-fade an LED and chart the brightness curve live
Qwiic Joystick	Read a Qwiic joystick and play Asteroids or Pong in the Visual view

A project is a folder laid out the way the Arduino IDE expects:

my-example/
  my-example.ino    ← the sketch; it shares the folder's name
  circuit.json      ← the circuit (Circuit view)
  visual.js         ← the p5.js sketch (Visual view)
  README.md         ← shown in the Docs panel

Older projects with a diagram.json get a Convert button in the Circuit view; it writes circuit.json and keeps the original as diagram.json.bak.

Extending the library

• Parts and their art live in tinyparts, one folder per part with real .svg files you can edit in Illustrator: docs/parts-and-art.md.
• Example projects are folders in tinyStudio-examples: docs/extending-the-library.md.

Architecture

src/
  main/       Electron main process: windows, file access, tinyService,
              GitHub sign-in, the desktop side of Studio AI
  preload/    the typed bridge between main and the renderer
  renderer/   the React app: Code, Circuit and Visual views, Redux store,
              parts, the Arduino service client
  shared/     code both processes use (the Studio AI agent, constants)
scripts/      arduino-cli and language-server fetchers, parts tools, tests
docs/         design notes and guides

Where to read more:

Topic	Doc
tinyService and the backend	INTEGRATION_GUIDE.md
The circuit editor	docs/circuit-view-tech-spec.md
Parts, packs and art	docs/parts-and-art.md, docs/tinyparts-pack-setup.md
Where state lives	docs/state-management.md
Code conventions	docs/code-conventions.md
Opening and saving files	docs/file-editing-flow.md
GitHub sign-in	docs/github-auth.md
Push, Pull and linked repos	docs/github-sync.md
What is planned for 0.4.0 and beta	docs/release-plan.md, from the September 2026 audit

Known issues

• Desktop projects opened in an earlier version ask you to choose their folder once.

Roadmap

Nothing here is final.

Up next

• Circuit export to KiCad and Wokwi
• GitHub sign-in in the browser build without a pasted token
• Signed installers and automatic updates
• Tutorials for using tinyStudio

Further out

• CircuitPython support

Contributions

tinyStudio is in alpha and not accepting external contributions yet. Pull requests are closed automatically and issues may be closed without review. Feel free to fork and experiment.

License

tinyStudio is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (or later). See LICENSE, and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md for the work it includes.