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Overview
ArduinoCore-avr is the official Arduino board core for AVR-based boards such as Uno and Mega. It supplies Arduino API implementations, board definitions, avr-gcc compile recipes, and avrdude upload configuration as an installable board platform.
Features and best fit
Based on official documentation; not hands-on tested · Content checked:
Key features
Implement Arduino digital I/O, timing, and interrupt APIs for AVR
Arduino.h and the core sources implement pinMode, digital and analog I/O, timing, interrupts, and other sketch APIs for AVR microcontrollers.
Sources: [5]
Define MCU, clock, and upload settings per board in boards.txt
Board definitions such as Uno and Mega specify MCU type, CPU clock, upload protocol, and related build properties used by Arduino tooling.
Provide avr-gcc build and avrdude upload recipes in platform.txt
Version 1.8.8 platform.txt defines C/C++ compilation, linking, HEX generation, size reporting, and avrdude upload commands that Arduino IDE and CLI resolve into a firmware build.
Sources: [3]
Best fit
Before adoption
1.8.8 is current and this core targets AVR only
Version 1.8.8, published May 21, 2026, is current. This core targets AVR boards; SAMD, megaAVR, ESP, and other architectures use different board cores.
Compile recipes depend on GNU++11 and the AVR toolchain
The 1.8.8 platform uses -std=gnu++11, LTO, avr-gcc/avr-g++, avr-libc, avrdude, and related AVR tooling. Use the board package toolchain rather than substituting host compilers directly.
Sources: [3]
Core source headers specify LGPL 2.1 or later
Major core source headers state GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1 or later. Firmware redistribution and core modifications should also review licenses of any included libraries.
Sources: [5]
Official sources
- [1]ArduinoCore-avr README(2026-10-03)
- [2]ArduinoCore-avr 1.8.8 release(2026-10-03)
- [3]Arduino AVR platform.txt(2026-10-03)
- [4]Arduino AVR boards.txt(2026-10-03)
- [5]Arduino AVR Arduino.h(2026-10-03)
Supplemental curator note
This repository is not the IDE itself; it is the board platform that lets Arduino tooling target AVR boards such as Uno and Mega. For reproducible builds, pin the arduino:avr core version in addition to the IDE or CLI version.
Try it in 3 steps
- 1
Install Arduino AVR Boards Core 1.8.8
Use Arduino CLI to install a pinned AVR board package.
arduino-cli core update-index && arduino-cli core install arduino:avr@1.8.8 - 2
Create a minimal Blink sketch
Create a small sketch that uses only standard Arduino APIs supported by boards such as Uno.
mkdir -p BlinkTest && printf 'void setup(){pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);}\nvoid loop(){digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);delay(1000);digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);delay(1000);}\n' > BlinkTest/BlinkTest.ino - 3
Compile it for Arduino Uno
Verify that the AVR core, avr-gcc toolchain, and board definition can produce firmware. Upload to hardware separately if needed.
arduino-cli compile --fqbn arduino:avr:uno BlinkTest
Growth
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1,507 Stars
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Development activity
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- Commits (last 30 days)
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- Open PRs
- 117
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Categories and tags
Categories
GitHub data
GitHub dataView detailed GitHub data
- Stars
- 1,507
- Forks
- 1,119
- Watchers
- 69
- Open issues
- 252
- Contributors
- 103
- Owner type
- Organization
- Primary language
- C
- License
- LGPL-2.1-or-later
- Repository last updated
- Aug 2, 2026
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