Which VS Code extensions do you use for MicroPython?

[daleka]

Hi everyone! 👋

I currently use Thonny for MicroPython development, but it has a terrible code editor.
Additionally, there is no support for automatic formatting or compiling .mpy files before uploading them to the microcontroller.

I’d like to switch to VS Code, but I’ve run into several issues:

No fully-featured extension for MicroPython (or maybe I just can’t find the right one).
Pymakr is unstable, often fails to detect devices, buttons are unresponsive, and sometimes nothing happens when I click them.
No easy way to automatically compile .py to .mpy before uploading. The mpy-cross tool works in the terminal, but I’d love to integrate it into VS Code.
Autocomplete and syntax highlighting don't always work properly with MicroPython libraries.
So, my questions are:
🔹 Which VS Code extensions do you use for MicroPython?
🔹 How do you set up a smooth workflow for ESP32 / STM32 development?
🔹 Is there a way to automatically compile .py to .mpy inside VS Code before uploading it to the microcontroller?

I’d really appreciate your advice and experiences! 🙌

[BugByter123]

No help with VSCode here, but I use Pycharm with micropython plugin, works awesome once you figure out the workflow.
The plugin version in the marketplace is old, I use latest from https://github.com/JetBrains/intellij-micropython.
No experience with compiling mpy individually, I recompile the entire firmware with my py files once ready for distribution.

[daleka]

Hey BugByter123, thanks a lot for your response!

I’ve actually tried using PyCharm with the MicroPython plugin before, but I installed it from the Marketplace. I didn’t even realize that the Marketplace version might be outdated compared to the official one.

I also had some issues connecting to STM-based boards, specifically the Pyboard. I’ll give it another try with the version you linked and see if it works better.

One more challenge I have is that I need to compress my files before uploading them to the microcontroller. My project doesn’t fit in its regular .py format due to limited storage, so I have to compile everything to .mpy right away. If you have any tips on automating this process in PyCharm, that would be great!

Thanks again for the tip!

[BugByter123]

I mostly have experience with the pico rp2040 chipsets and some ESP32. STM-based may still have issues. The latest version has a filemanager as well that is useful for managing files on the board during dev.
Nova is the branch you want, see JetBrains/intellij-micropython#330

[daleka]

STM-based boards don’t seem to work properly. Even though the board connects, I keep getting this error:

Connect I/O error - Traceback (most recent call last):
File " ", line 12, in
File " ", line 10, in fld
File " ", line 10, in fld
File " ", line 7, in fld
OSError: [Errno 22] EINVAL

Seems like an issue specific to STM boards.

[Josverl]

for VSCode

MicroPico does a decent job, https://github.com/paulober/MicroPico.
its tailored towards the RP2 port, but can run several of the other ports as well.
Maintainer is active and responsive.
It also includes the micropython-stubs :-)

The nova plugin is planning to use the stubs as well, but I have no hands-on with that.

[mattytrentini]

I just use VS Code with no necessary extensions.

Then use mpremote in a separate (or in the integrated) terminal.

[daleka]

I just use VS Code with no necessary extensions.

Then use mpremote in a separate (or in the integrated) terminal.

Hi @mattytrentini! Thanks for your input!

I'm curious—how do you use mpremote in VS Code? Do you run it directly from the terminal, or do you use any macros or hotkeys to streamline the process?

Also, have you set up any custom buttons in VS Code to quickly execute mpremote commands (like uploading and running scripts)?

If you have any tips or workflow optimizations, I'd love to hear about them!

[mattytrentini]

There is no need to have an integrated extension; VS Code to edit and mpremote running in a terminal is about the fastest way to develop. Just mount the code to iteratively develop - or copy it when I want to test it disconnected - and that's it. Much faster than any other platform I've used!

For work, we have configured VS Code with a devcontainer and custom build commands, but that's for building the firmware blob, which is not necessary for general development. But that's easy to do too.

[rimelis]

mpremote lacks WebREPL which is pity. Only Thonny is giving such ability currently, for ESP32 at least.

[robert-hh]

As an alternative viperide suports WEBREPL as well and is less intrusive. Only it lacks easy file exchange.
viper ide online: https://viper-ide.org/
viper ide repository: https://github.com/vshymanskyy/ViperIDE.git

[rimelis]

Yeah, I have tried viper-ide.org, it looks like very promising and nicely working connected locally, however WebREPL option is failing to me and others. It's a bug on their side, I have added comment on that.

[daleka]

After spending a few days searching for a development environment for MicroPython, I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no full-fledged, convenient, and stable solution for it.

Everything available is either minimal editors like Thonny, or some makeshift solutions put together "on the fly" (VS Code + Pymakr, mpremote, ampy, etc.). All of these come with tons of issues, unstable performance, connection problems, poorly implemented code uploads to the device, and more.

There is nothing on the level of PlatformIO for Arduino, nor even a fully integrated experience in Visual Studio Code or JetBrains IDEs. Everyone is forced to cobble together their own macros, scripts, or workaround solutions.

This is already my third day trying to find a more convenient solution, tweaking configurations instead of actually working on my project. But everything just works like crap... 😡 Thonny remains the most viable option, but the lack of a proper editor and flexible settings makes it far from an ideal choice.

In my opinion, this is a major drawback of MicroPython, significantly slowing down its adoption. The entry barrier is much higher compared to Arduino or ESP-IDF.

[daleka]

Just use the editor of your choice and mpremote. A Python-aware code editor does everything you need - syntax highlighting, auto-completion, linting and PEP8 formatting.

Thank you for the advice!
Mpremote certainly serves its purpose, but it’s not very convenient as it is a command-line tool. If the code consists of multiple separate files spread across folders and subfolders, only the modified files should be updated to save time during uploading. Large files can take a long time to transfer to the controller, so re-uploading the entire project every time is a disaster in terms of productivity.

Currently, there is no convenient all-in-one solution for MicroPython that allows editing code, easily transferring files to the device, and working with repositories. Thonny, while the most stable option, has a limited editor, lacks customization, GitHub integration, and extensibility through plugins.

Additionally, there is no automatic MPY compilation for a selected file and sending the already compiled version to the controller, which would help save memory on the device, speed up code execution, and reduce upload times.

As a result, the workflow becomes complicated and inefficient, especially compared to how development is organized for Arduino or ESP32. Developers have to combine multiple tools and find workarounds, which takes a lot of time.

I hope that in the future, we’ll see a fully-featured development environment for MicroPython. Thanks for sharing your experience! 😊

[Josverl]

Have you tried using mpremote mount <folder> ?

that way YOUR code ( or even the .mpy files ) remain on the host and do not ned to be diff/copied to the MCU during the dev-loop.
A quick Ctrl-D is mostly suffient to restart the entire application.

cd dist 
mpremote mount . repl --inject-code "import foobar"

• Ctrl-D will restart
• Ctrl-J will save you typing the same thing
  As Ctrl-J is used by more things in VSCode - you will likely need to adjust your keyboard config

there are a more examples far down at the docpage for mpremote

if you want to cross-compile : there are multiple vscode extensions that let you configure a file watcher to automatically cross-compile every time you press save in a source file .py

then running for example using : https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=appulate.filewatcher

{
    "filewatcher.commands": [
        {
            "match": "src\\\\.*\\.py",
            "isAsync": true,
            "cmd": "echo '${file} file content Changed'",
            "event": "onFileChange"
        },		
        {
            "match": "src\\\\.*\\.py",
            "isAsync": true,
            "cmd": "mpy-cross ${file} -o ${workspaceRoot}/dist/${fileBasenameNoExt}.mpy",
            "event": "onFileChange"
        }		
    ]
}

for a quick template : mpy_template

[daleka]

Thank you for your attention and help!

Running the entire project from the host won’t work for me because it requires a lot of RAM, which I don’t have enough of. For small projects, this is definitely convenient, but when my project was smaller, Thonny was already comfortable enough for me.

Additionally, I find it very difficult to work with files when I don’t see them visually. After many years of working with file managers, I’m used to seeing files and performing actions on them using the mouse and the context menu. Hotkeys are great, but it’s hard for me to switch to relying on them entirely.

However, I really appreciate your help! Your suggestion will definitely be useful for others.

[Josverl]

because it requires a lot of RAM, which I don’t have enough of.

No It does not require a lot of RAM, just a bit during development.
Give it a try before you discard it. Its surprisingly effective.

I find it very difficult to work with files when I don’t see them visually.

as shown above , all is visible in VSCode.
after development is finished, you need to copy once.
that can be a single command as well.

Otherwise https://viper-ide.org/ might be a good option.
I personally do not want to work without source control - but its great for casual use.

it seems that you want to cherry pick features from

• Thonny , MicroPico , Viper-IDE , Arduino, and Pycharm.
  I don't think that is wrong, I have my own set of thing I really like.
  so I pick the ones that I need , and add the things I can.

happy coding.

[bulletmark]

@daleka, I use my own mpr utility to manage an MP device. It is a simple wrapper around mprmote. Specifically, for editing files on your host and having them compiled and copied to the device, I use the xrun command.

[Josverl]

Lastly :I completely missed : Autocomplete and syntax highlighting don't always work properly with MicroPython libraries.

please check out : micropython-stubs

if you find something that does not work please create an issue with a sample of the code that does not work so I can try to fix that.

[jkorte-dev]

Compiling to mpy file on save is really a good idea. I' m using Intellij / pycham but mounting the local workspace and running the scripts is sometimes a bit slow. I'll try to speed up using mpy files. Just have to figure out how to do this in Intellij. Thanks for sharing your idea.