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open-source microcontroller IDE

Moussa1492 
Hi everyone,

I’m building an open-source desktop IDE for microcontroller learning and prototyping, mainly focused on Arduino and STM32.

The goal is not to replace professional tools like STM32CubeIDE, PlatformIO, Keil or IAR, but to provide a simpler learning-oriented workflow for students, technicians and training centers.

Current / planned features:
- Arduino and STM32 project creation
- Build / upload workflow
- Serial monitor and serial plotter
- STM32 debug with GDB/OpenOCD
- Register / memory / stack views
- Basic SVD peripheral view
- Static analysis with cppcheck / MISRA-light
- Coverage reports
- Crash / HardFault reporting
- Power profiling demo via UART/SWO-style events
- QEMU/Renode simulation experiments

I’m looking for honest feedback:
1. Would such a tool be useful for education or training?
2. Which feature would be most valuable?
3. What would make you trust or not trust this kind of tool?
4. Would it be better as a VS Code extension, standalone IDE, or educational toolkit?
5. What pain points do you have with current embedded IDEs?

I’m not trying to promote a paid product here. I’m trying to validate whether this project should continue as an open-source educational tool or pivot toward a smaller specialized utility.

Thanks for any critical feedback.
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  • You have listed some interesting features, but before diving into these, ask the simple question: "what problem am I trying to solve".

    So, if you are educational focused, what are the pain points. Explore these first before coming up with a list of features.

    It's already a crowded market, so determine the gaps between what is currently on offer and what is lacking. All products have strengths and weaknesses.

  • in reply to BigG

    You’re right. I was thinking too much in terms of features.

    The problem I’m trying to validate is whether learners get stuck when moving from Arduino to STM32 or more realistic embedded workflows: toolchains, OpenOCD/GDB, linker scripts, registers, faults, and build errors.

    Before adding features, I need to identify the real gaps in existing tools and understand what students, teachers, or technicians actually struggle with.

    Maybe the answer is not a full IDE, but a smaller learning/debugging assistant.

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  • in reply to BigG

    You’re right. I was thinking too much in terms of features.

    The problem I’m trying to validate is whether learners get stuck when moving from Arduino to STM32 or more realistic embedded workflows: toolchains, OpenOCD/GDB, linker scripts, registers, faults, and build errors.

    Before adding features, I need to identify the real gaps in existing tools and understand what students, teachers, or technicians actually struggle with.

    Maybe the answer is not a full IDE, but a smaller learning/debugging assistant.

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  • in reply to BigG

    Yes, I agree. I’m realizing that the first step should be identifying where learners actually get blocked, not deciding features first.

    Maybe the real problem is not writing code, but understanding how everything fits together: build system, linker script, startup code, MCU configuration, registers, debugger, RTOS concepts, and hardware feedback.

    AI may or may not be the right answer, but I’m thinking of it more as an explanation layer over real tools, not something that hides the complexity.

    I’ll look more closely at where current tools expose or hide these concepts. Zephyr is a good example to study because it exposes more of the embedded system structure.

    Thanks, this helps me narrow the problem.

  • in reply to Moussa1492

    Yes, when starting out I got so focused on the coding language (and debugging) while taking for granted the rest. More can be done teaching about how it all gets put together. Arduino IDE hides this complexity. Zephyr RTOS as a platform/ecosystem exposes it. Not sure how AI addresses the problem though, but early days. As said, it's important to focus on identifying and then solving the problem.