{"id":169287,"date":"2025-05-01T13:09:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T13:09:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/?p=169287"},"modified":"2025-05-02T09:36:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T09:36:29","slug":"vs-code-pioarduino-ide-esp32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/randomnerdtutorials.com\/vs-code-pioarduino-ide-esp32\/","title":{"rendered":"VS Code and pioarduino IDE: Programming the ESP32 (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Learn how to program the ESP32 boards using VS Code (Microsoft Visual Studio Code) with the pioarduino IDE<\/strong> extension. The pioarduino IDE extension supports the latest Arduino core for the ESP32 (version 3). We cover how to install the software on Windows, Mac OS X or Linux Ubuntu operating systems.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Getting<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The PlatformIO extension used in earlier tutorials is now deprecated. To program the ESP32 in VS Code with the latest core version, we recommend using the pioarduino<\/strong> extension instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PlatformIO IDE and pioarduino IDE Extensions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The pioarduino extension is a fork of the PlatformIO extension maintained by the community that adds support for the latest Arduino core updates for the ESP32.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In earlier tutorials, we used the PlatformIO extension. However, it doesn\u2019t support the latest ESP32 Arduino Core (v3). To address this, the community created pioarduino<\/strong>, a fork that supports the newest core. We’re now using pioarduino IDE<\/strong> instead\u2014if you’re familiar with PlatformIO, it works the same way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Program the ESP32 with VS Code and the Latest Arduino Core (version 3)?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you’re already familiar with programming the ESP32 with VS Code, you can read this quick answer; otherwise, follow the complete tutorial afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quick answer:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) <\/strong>Install the pioarduino IDE <\/strong>extension on VS Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2)<\/strong> Add the following line to the platformio.ini file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

platform = https:\/\/github.com\/pioarduino\/platform-espressif32\/releases\/download\/stable\/platform-espressif32.zip<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
This line specifies a custom version of the Espressif 32 platform, maintained by pioarduino IDE<\/strong>, that supports the latest ESP32 Arduino core. Unlike the default PlatformIO Espressif 32 platform (which you would normally define as platform = espressif32<\/span>), this URL ensures compatibility with version 3 of the ESP32 core.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Installing VS Code<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Follow the next instructions to install VS Code on your Operating System:<\/p>\n\n\n\n