An IDE designed around how embedded developers actually work — SSH into your Pi, watch serial output from your ESP32, push code to a Jetson, all without switching windows. Plus AI agents that understand embedded constraints.
If your taskbar looks like this on a typical day, AidaIDE consolidates it.
Targets we test against and tune for. If your board does SSH, serial, or both — AidaIDE handles it.
SSH + SFTP into Raspbian, Ubuntu, or DietPi. Push systemd services, edit config.txt remotely, monitor journalctl in a live tab.
Serial monitor with auto baud detection, ESP-IDF and Arduino framework friendly. Plotter for sensor values, log capture, OTA upload to running devices.
SSH into JetPack, monitor GPU/CPU via tegrastats, push CUDA builds. Built-in fleet view for managing multiple Jetsons in a robotics or edge-AI cluster.
UART/USB serial console with logging and timestamping. Pair with your toolchain of choice — AidaIDE is the terminal, your IDE handles the compile.
A real replacement for the Arduino Serial Monitor — multiple ports open at once, plotter, log filtering, send commands without disconnect/reconnect cycles.
SSH-first workflow for any Linux SBC. Push to /etc/ with sudo, manage GPIO scripts, edit device tree overlays without leaving the IDE.
Hardware Lab runs your device code against a simulated board — pins, I2C, UART — so a failing GPIO sequence costs you a second instead of a reflash, a bench trip, and a guess.
The simulator runs on simulated time — a sleep() in your code advances the
clock instantly instead of blocking. A 30-second hardware scenario finishes in under a
millisecond, and gives the same answer every single run.
Lay button presses, sensor values, and UART input on a timeline, then state what should happen: pin states, pulse counts, I2C writes, log output. You get a pass/fail report with the specific check that failed — not a wall of serial output to squint at.
The board renders as a pinout card with the dual-row header drawn from the board profile, every pin coloured by what it can do — I2C, SPI, UART, PWM, analog, plain GPIO. After a run the trace replays over the board at 0.5× to 4× with a scrubber: outputs glow green when driven high, stimulated inputs glow orange.
The lab pushes a self-contained agent to the target over your open SSH session, runs the same scenario against real GPIO, and streams every output edge back. Then it diffs the two traces edge by edge: matched edges with the timing skew in milliseconds, edges the device never produced, and edges only the device produced. That gap is where the bug lives.
Point the agent at a few pins and press the actual buttons on the bench. The physical edges it captures become a scenario — so the awkward timing you could only reproduce by hand becomes a test you can run at your desk, with the hardware back in the drawer.
AI Scenario asks a model to write stimuli and expectations for the file you're editing, then runs it immediately. AI Fix sends the failing checks back with your code, applies the fix it returns — syntax-checked first, editor undo preserved — and re-verifies in the simulator. Both can run against a model hosted on your own device. Local & remote models →
The same board registry feeds the Hardware Lab, the Board Library Manager, and the editor's board picker.
Each profile carries the
numbering the platform actually uses — sketch-style on Arduino, where A0 is 14 on an Uno
and 54 on a Mega; BCM-compatible on Jetson with the physical BOARD pin cross-referenced on every
line. The quirks come with it: analog-only pins, attachInterrupt restrictions, 5V versus
3.3V logic per pin, the ESP8266's GPIO16 that does neither interrupts nor PWM. Scenarios export to
JSON, so a test pack travels with the project.
The things you actually need when your "computer" doesn't have a screen.
Connect to your Pi via SSH in one tab, monitor your ESP32's serial output in the next, with an SFTP browser open beside both. Tab-switch, don't window-switch.
Fleet → Install AidaIDE on Device (OTA) pushes AidaIDE onto a Linux box, a Pi, or a Jetson straight over SSH from the desktop app — no flashing a card, no USB stick, no copying an installer by hand. The install log streams back as it runs and the whole thing is cancellable. Useful when the board is the workstation, or when you want the IDE living next to the hardware it drives.
The Virtual Board panel runs the file you're editing on the simulator and replays it on a live pinout without leaving the editor — same board picker as the toolbar, so completions, the hardware linter, and the simulation all agree on which board you're on. Hardware Lab →
Install Ollama on a Jetson in one click, pull models directly onto it, and run AI agents against that model over SSH. The prompts and the source never leave your network — and on a device with a GPU, inference happens where the data already is. How local models work →
Plug in a USB-to-serial adapter — AidaIDE detects the port, suggests common baud rates, and remembers per-device settings. Built-in plotter, line-ending controls, hex view, timestamped logging.
Open /etc/nginx/nginx.conf on your Pi like it's a local file. Save it, AidaIDE pushes back over SFTP. 30+ languages with highlighting, including Python, C/C++, Go, Rust, YAML, TOML, device tree.
Group devices by project, role, or location. Push the same script to "all sensor nodes" with one command. See uptime, IP, last-seen across the fleet at a glance.
"Why is my ESP32 brown-out resetting?" "Write a systemd service for this Python script." The AI Agent Hierarchy reads your terminal output and config files for context, not just generic answers. Hierarchy ships in Pro ($19/mo) — pricing & access FAQ · product page.
SSH keys, API tokens, and passwords encrypted with a master password — no more id_rsa sitting in plaintext. Built-in scanner flags default-password devices and open ports on your fleet.
Modbus TCP, Modbus RTU, SCADA-friendly tooling — for the embedded developers working on factory floors and OT, not just consumer IoT.
Roll out a firmware binary or a Python script to a tagged group of devices. Stage to a canary device, watch the logs stream, then push to the rest at 10 → 25 → 50 → 100%. Off by default while we shake it out with early-access fleets.
The shapes of embedded work AidaIDE is tuned for.
ESP32 reads sensor → MQTT broker on a Pi → cloud endpoint. AidaIDE keeps a serial monitor on the ESP32, an SSH session on the Pi tailing the broker log, and an SFTP pane for pushing config — all visible at once.
Manage hundreds of industrial controllers and IoT gateways from one interface. Modbus support, OT-safe credential handling, fleet-wide scans for default passwords.
Push ROS workspaces and CUDA builds to a fleet of Jetsons. Tail journalctl across robots in parallel. SSH-tunnel to compute on the network without VPN faff. Full protocol coverage on the robotics & industrial hub.
Building on a Raspberry Pi CM4 carrier or a custom NXP board? Edit device-tree overlays remotely, manage GPIO scripts, push systemd unit files — without taking the dev kit off the bench.
Teaching embedded systems? One IDE that handles every board the students bring in. Arduino, ESP32, Pi, micro:bit — no per-platform tool zoo to install.
Field-deployed gateways needing firmware bumps, log pulls, or config tweaks? Fleet view + opt-in OTA push + bulk SSH execute. Treat embedded devices like servers.
Four tabs, one window, no context-switching.
AidaIDE detects the new COM port and pops up a "Connect serial?" toast. One click — you're watching printf output with timestamps and a plotter for any numeric values.
The Pi or Jetson that talks to your board. Vault unlocks the key, session resumes where you left it. tail -f on the broker log in a side pane.
Open your MQTT bridge script in AidaIDE's editor — syntax highlighted, autocomplete-aware. Save and the file is pushed back over SFTP. systemctl restart from the SSH tab.
"My broker is rejecting connections with code 5 — what's wrong?" The AI agent sees the recent log output and config in context, not just the question. Suggests the fix.
AidaIDE is free — install it, plug in your dev board, see if it fits your workflow. Pro (the AI suite) is $19/mo whenever you want it.
Bench guides: Pi SSH from Windows · Modbus/OPC-UA over SSH · Edit remote files · vs VS Code Remote SSH · OTA updates · Cloud Portal (no open ports) · Community blitz kit