Installing

Boards Manager

This is the suggested installation method for end users.

Prerequisites

Instructions

  • Start Arduino and open Preferences window.
  • Enter http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json into Additional Board Manager URLs field. You can add multiple URLs, separating them with commas.
  • Open Boards Manager from Tools > Board menu and find esp8266 platform.
  • Select the version you need from a drop-down box.
  • Click install button.
  • Don’t forget to select your ESP8266 board from Tools > Board menu after installation.

You may optionally use staging boards manager package link: http://arduino.esp8266.com/staging/package_esp8266com_index.json. This may contain some new features, but at the same time, some things might be broken.

For more information on the Arduino Board Manager, see:

Using git version

This is the suggested installation method for contributors and library developers.

Prerequisites

  • Arduino 1.6.8 (or newer, current working version is 1.8.5)
  • git
  • Python_ 2.7 (http://python.org)
  • terminal, console, or command prompt (depending on your OS)
  • Internet connection

Instructions - Windows 10

  • First, make sure you don’t already have the ESP8266 library installed using the Board Manager (see above)

  • Install git for Windows (if not already; see https://git-scm.com/download/win)

  • Open a command prompt (cmd) and go to Arduino default directory. This is typically the sketchbook directory (usually C:\users\{username}\Documents\Arduino where the environment variable %USERPROFILE% usually contains C:\users\{username})

  • Clone this repository into hardware/esp8266com/esp8266 directory.

    1. cd %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Arduino\
    2. if not exist hardware mkdir hardware
    3. cd hardware
    4. if not exist esp8266com mkdir esp8266com
    5. cd esp8266com
    6. git clone https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino.git esp8266

    You should end up with the following directory structure in

    C:\Users\{your username}\Documents\

    1. Arduino
    2. |
    3. --- libraries
    4. --- hardware
    5.     |
    6.     --- esp8266com
    7.         |
    8.         --- esp8266
    9.             |
    10.             --- bootloaders
    11.             --- cores
    12.             --- doc
    13.             --- libraries
    14.             --- package
    15.             --- tests
    16.             --- tools
    17.             --- variants
    18.             --- platform.txt
    19.             --- programmers.txt
    20.             --- README.md
    21.             --- boards.txt
    22.             --- LICENSE

  • Download binary tools

    1. cd esp8266/tools
    2. python get.py

  • Restart Arduino

  • If using the Arduino IDE for Visual Studio (https://www.visualmicro.com/), be sure to click Tools - Visual Micro - Rescan Toolchains and Libraries

  • When later updating your local library, goto the esp8266 directory and do a git pull

    1. cd %USERPROFILE%\Documents\hardware\esp8266com\esp8266
    2. git status
    3. git pull

Note that you could, in theory install in C:\Program Files (x86)\Arduino\hardware however this has security implications, not to mention the directory often gets blown away when re-installing Arduino IDE. It does have the benefit (or drawback, depending on your perspective) - of being available to all users on your PC that use Arduino.

Instructions - Other OS

  • Open the console and go to Arduino directory. This can be either your sketchbook directory (usually <Documents>/Arduino), or the directory of Arduino application itself, the choice is up to you.

  • Clone this repository into hardware/esp8266com/esp8266 directory. Alternatively, clone it elsewhere and create a symlink, if your OS supports them.

    1. cd hardware
    2. mkdir esp8266com
    3. cd esp8266com
    4. git clone https://github.com/esp8266/Arduino.git esp8266

    You should end up with the following directory structure:

    1. Arduino
    2. |
    3. --- hardware
    4.     |
    5.     --- esp8266com
    6.         |
    7.         --- esp8266
    8.             |
    9.             --- bootloaders
    10.             --- cores
    11.             --- doc
    12.             --- libraries
    13.             --- package
    14.             --- tests
    15.             --- tools
    16.             --- variants
    17.             --- platform.txt
    18.             --- programmers.txt
    19.             --- README.md
    20.             --- boards.txt
    21.             --- LICENSE

  • Download binary tools

    1. cd esp8266/tools
    2. python get.py

  • Restart Arduino