Getting started

Hardware and firmware together

Design the board and write its firmware in one project, with an agent that works across both.

One project, board and code

In Flash, the hardware design and the firmware live in the same project. Flash IDE gives each its own workspace and keeps them connected: a part in the schematic, its footprint on the PCB, its datasheet and the code that drives it are one click apart.

You can start from either side. Bring a firmware repository, a KiCad project or both, or start a new design in Flash IDE.

The Flash IDE workspaces

Workspace	What you do there
Hardware	Draw the schematic, lay out the PCB, manage the BOM and pick parts from the component catalog with their datasheets.
Firmware	Write, review and build the code, with full language services.
Debug	Program the board, debug it and watch serial, MQTT and Bluetooth LE.
System	Check the toolchains and AI setup on your computer.

Keep in mind

The agent sits beside every workspace and sees the whole project: design, code, datasheets and the connected board.

Move between board and code

Select a part or net to highlight it on the schematic and the PCB at once.
Jump from a pin to the firmware that configures it.
Open a component’s datasheet straight from the design.

Let the agent work across both

The agent reads the design, follows nets from MCU pins to components, checks datasheets and compares them with the code, so hardware and firmware stay consistent. Typical tasks:

Pick pins for a new sensor and update the schematic and the firmware pin map together.
Write a driver for a part from its datasheet and the bus it is wired to.
Review a design change for its impact on the firmware before you order boards.

Ask Flash

›Check that the SPI pins configured in @src/board.c match the schematic nets connected to U3, and list any mismatch with the datasheet page for each pin.

Hardware in each Flash tool

The design is part of the project, so every Flash tool uses it. What changes is how you see it.

	Flash IDE	Flash for VS Code	Flash CLI
Edit schematic and PCB	Yes	—	—
View schematic, PCB and BOM	Yes	Yes	—
Search parts, pins and nets	Yes	Yes	Yes
Agent uses the design	Yes	Yes	Yes

Flash IDE: design the board and write the firmware side by side.
Flash for VS Code: open a .kicad_sch or .kicad_pcb in the Flash Hardware Viewer, next to your code, with layers, search, an inspector and the BOM.
Flash CLI: no viewer, but the agent reads the full design, and flash hardware inspects it from the terminal as JSON for scripts and CI.

Terminal

$flash hardware inspect$flash hardware search U3$flash hardware validate

Only writing firmware?

You still get the board. Open the design in Flash IDE or VS Code to check a pinout, follow a net or read a part’s datasheet, without KiCad or a PDF of the schematic. From any tool, just ask the agent: it answers from the real design, not from a wiring note.

Choose your setup

You are	Start with
Designing hardware and firmware	Flash IDE: schematic, PCB and code in one place.
Writing firmware	Flash IDE or VS Code to see the board next to the code, or Flash CLI in the terminal.
Automating builds and checks	Flash CLI, from scripts or CI.

Continue reading

Quickstart

Take a first change onto the board.

Hardware knowledge

Datasheets, schematics and knowledge packs.

Choose your tool

Set up Flash IDE, Flash CLI or VS Code.