# What an AI-native IDE for hardware looks like

> Soldr is an AI-native, web-based environment for Arduino, ESP32 and Pico: real parts, wiring, code compiled on our server and flashed from Chrome or Edge.

[HTML version](https://soldr.ai/ai-native-ide-for-hardware)

[Soldr](https://soldr.ai/) / Tools

Soldr is an AI-native, web-based development environment for Arduino, ESP32 and Pico. Describe the build; it picks real parts, shows how to wire them, writes the code, compiles it and flashes your board from Chrome or Edge, with no IDE to install.

[Start this build on Soldr](https://app.soldr.ai/?prompt=I%20want%20to%20build%20an%20ESP32%20room%20monitor%20with%20a%20DHT22%20and%20a%200.96%20inch%20OLED)

## Why hardware needs more than code completion

In software, code is the whole product. In hardware the code is the last step: before it come the parts, the pins, the voltages and the supply. An AI that only writes code guesses at all of those. An AI-native environment for hardware plans them first and writes the code from that plan.

## What is in it

- **Parts** picked from stock with prices, with anything the build needs to work added or named.
- **Wiring** pin by pin for the exact board, and a schematic.
- **Code** written from the same pin plan, in an editor you can type in.
- **Compile** on our server and **flash** from Chrome or Edge.
- **Serial Monitor** next to the code.
A real Wiring Table from a Soldr build: every pin, for the exact board in the build.

## For makers and for prototyping at work

The same flow serves a first project and a quick prototype at work: a parts list you can order in one cart, wiring you can hand to someone else, and code you can take into your own tools.

## What Soldr checks before it writes code

- **Free, safe pins:** no part on a pin the board needs to boot, on an input-only pin, or on a pin already in use. When the board runs out, it says which part has no pin.
- **Shared buses:** two I2C parts at the same address are told apart (an address pin tied high, for example).
- **Logic levels:** a 5 V part on a 3.3 V board gets a divider or a level shifter, or a note.
- **Power:** what every part draws against what the supply and the board's pins can give, including a servo's start-up peak; an adjustable converter comes with the voltage to set it to before you connect it.
- **Your own parts:** tell it what you already own and the build uses them instead of adding new ones.
The details are in [Wiring & pins](https://soldr.ai/docs/wiring-and-pins).

## What it costs

Questions are free. Generated code costs credits, priced by the size of what is written, and a compile costs 5 credits. Sign in and get 100 credits free.

## Questions

### What does AI-native mean here?

The AI plans the parts and wiring and writes code from that plan, inside one browser tool, rather than suggesting code beside an editor.

### Which boards?

Arduino, ESP32 and Raspberry Pi Pico boards flash from the browser; Soldr writes code for 674 board targets in total.

### Can I take the code to my own IDE?

Yes. Copy or download the sketch into the Arduino IDE or PlatformIO.

### Is it free?

Questions are free; code and compiles cost credits. Sign in and get 100 credits free.