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Getting Started with PicoCore

This guide helps you set up PicoCore from scratch, flash your board, and run your first program. It assumes you are using Raspberry Pi Pico or Pico W.

Installation & Setup

1. Download PicoCore release

  • Go to the releases page.
  • Download the latest .zip or .7z archive.

  • Inside the archive you will usually find:

  • README.md or instructions.txt

  • precompiled .mpy libraries (the PicoCore API/runtime)
  • a matching MicroPython .uf2 firmware file (sometimes)
  • some sort of hello world project in form of a boot.py and main.py

2. Flash MicroPython firmware

Tip: BOOTSEL mode

To enter bootloader mode, hold BOOTSEL on your Pico/Pico W and plug it into your PC.

  1. Your board will mount as a RPI-RP2 drive.

  2. Copy the .uf2 firmware file onto it.

    • If no .uf2 is included in the release, check the version in the .version file (highlited line) inside the core folder and download from micropython.org.

      .version
      2.0.0
1.26.1

  3. The board will reboot automatically and unmount.

3. Copy PicoCore runtime

  1. Open Thonny

    If not installed go get it on thonny.org

    Thonny editor window
    It should look something like this

  2. Select Interpreter

    • In the bottom right corner of the Thonny window, you will see the interpreter used to run the code you write in Thonny.

    • By default, Thonny uses the interpreter on the ‘Local’ computer (the one running Thonny).

    Thonny interpreter
    Click the Python interpreter and select MicroPython.

    Check if it worked
    • Make sure that your Raspberry Pi Pico is connected to your computer and you have selected the MicroPython (Raspberry Pi Pico) interpreter.
    • Look at the Shell panel at the bottom of the Thonny editor.

    Thonny shell
    You should see something like this.

  3. Enable File View

    Thonny view
    Click View in the top left corner and then Files in the dropdown list

  4. Copy a folder to the device

    Thonny upload
    Right-click core and select Upload to /

  1. Install mpremote 

    pip install mpremote

  2. Check available ports 

    python -m mpremote connect list

  3. Copy a folder to the device

    <your-port> could be COM13 and <your-folder> is usually ./core.The : represents the root destination folder.

    python -m mpremote connect <your-port> cp -r <your-folder> : #(1)!
    1. More usage Info can be found on pypi.org

Disclaimer: No helper script there yet.

4. Verify installation

Open a REPL and test:

import core
print(core.version())

✅ If you see a version string, PicoCore is working.

Continue: First Program →

First Program

Let’s blink the onboard LED using PicoCore APIs.

from core.gpio import LED
import time

led = LED()

for i in range(5):
    led.on()
    time.sleep(0.5)
    led.off()
    time.sleep(0.5)

If the LED blinks five times, your setup is correct.

Congratulations!

You have successfully installed and tested PicoCore.

Configuration

PicoCore can be customized via config.toml.

[system]

[system.logger]
level = "INFO"
buffersize = 5
...

See the Configuration Guide for details.

Version differences

Different PicoCore releases may ship with slightly different config.toml defaults. Always check the README in your release archive.

External Resources

What’s Next?