CircuitPython 8.1.0 Beta 0

This is CircuitPython 8.1.0-beta.0, a beta release for CircuitPython 8.1.0, and is a new unstable release.

Notable changes to 8.1.0 since 8.0.0

• Add animated GIF support: gifio.OnDiskGif.
• Add safemode.py, for programmatic handling of safe mode.
• Add 7-color e-ink display support.
• Allow setting pystack size in settings.toml.
• Add dither support to Palette.
• Support array.extend(iterable).

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable (but see Known Issues below):

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.0

Fixes and enhancements

• Update frozen libraries. #7660. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix missing "soft reboot" message after ctrl-D. #7652. Thanks @xorbit.
• Correct error reporting in SSLSocket. #7639, #7632. Thanks @jepler.
• Initial serial earlier in boot process. #7586. Thanks @gneverov.
• Allow setting pystack size in settings.toml. #7585. Thanks @bill88t.
• Deinit the reset pin when displayio.I2CDisplay() fails. #7580, #7563. Thanks @Neradoc.
• Improve boot_out.txt message truncation. #7579. Thanks @jepler.
• Add safemode.py, for programmatic handling of safe mode. #7577. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix incorrect exception chaining. #7580, #7566. Thanks @jepler.
• Add animated GIF support: gifio.OnDiskGif. #7648, #7549. Thanks @gamblor21.
• Fix missing internal initialization of display.ColorConverter objects. #7639, #7611. Thanks @gamblor21.
• Support array.extend(iterable). #7552. Thanks @gneverov.
• Add 7-color e-ink display support. #7497. Thanks @tannewt.
• Add dither support to Palette. #7497. Thanks @tannewt.
• Adding caching speed-ups to Palette and ColorConverter. #7497. Thanks @tannewt.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

• Use unmeasured core clock speed check. #7628. Thanks @RetiredWizard.
• Fix neopixel_write. #7570. Thanks @RetiredWizard.

Espressif

• Implement analogbufio. #7602. Thanks @milindmovasha.
• Improve ESP32-S2 I2S playback. #7545. Thanks @jepler.

i.MX

• Fix a number of pwmio problems. #7633. Thanks @tannewt.

RP2040

• Correct error reporting in SSLSocket. #7632, #7623. Thanks @jepler and @DavePutz.
• Increase number of lwip timers for mDNS. #7639, #7589. Thanks @gneverov.
• Add missing common_hal_busio_uart_never_reset(). #7581. Thanks @gneverov.
• Fix "UART in use" message. #7605. Thanks @Neradoc.
• Use lowest drive level for PIO (fixes Adafruit Scorpio USB resets). #7580, #7558. Thanks @jepler.

SAMx

• Fix pad assignments for busio.UART and improve pin validation. #7639, #7616. Thanks @dhalbert.

Spresense

• Update Spresense SDK to version 2.6.0. #7580, #7553. Thanks @kamtom480.

Individual boards

• Hallowing M0: enable native adafruit_bus_device. #7655. Thanks @Neradoc.
• PyKey18, PyKey44, PyKey87: fix number of NeoPixels. #7574 Thanks @jpconstantineau.
• Waveshare ESP32-S2 Pico: fix PSRAM settings. #7626, #7599. Thanks @bill88t.

Documentation changes

• Improve pwmio documentation. #7649. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix duplicate ulab entry in help("modules"). #7639, #7601. Thanks @jepler.

Build and infrastructure changes

• CI refactoring and improvement. #7642, #7631, #7627, #7584, #7567. Thanks @microdev1.
• Hide unnecessary comment lines from Makefile. #7603. Thanks @bill88t.
• Add GitHub web-based UI to create custom board builds in your fork. #7594. Thanks @microdev1.
• Improve GitHub bug reporting template. #7571. Thanks @tekktrik.
• Update build_board_info.py to be compatible with sh module 2.0.0. #7566, #7564. Thanks @Neradoc.

Translation additions and improvements

• Thanks for translations:
  • @Atalanttore (German)
  • @bergdahl (Swedish)
  • @jposada202020 (Spanish)
  • @luisan00 (Spanish)
  • @Neradoc (French)
  • @wtuemura (Portugese - Brazil)

New boards since 8.0.0

• Adafruit HUZZAH32 Breakout. #7619. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Bangle.js. #7497. Thanks @tannewt.
• BrainBoardz Neuron. #7530. Thanks @BrainBoardz.
• COSMO-Pico. #7559. Thanks @startup-potech.
• Espressif ESP32-LyraT. #7625. Thanks @ftab.
• Hack Club Sprig. #7547. Thanks @ajs256.
• LILYGO TEMBED ESP32S3. #7658. Thanks @titimoby.

Known issues

• ESP32-S3 has significant issues with I2C devices that sleep or use clock stretching. Retry operations on these devices as necessary, or use ESP32-S2 boards.
• Espressif boards have ESP-IDF storage leaks and occasionally crash after extended WiFi use.
• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.1.0
  • 8.x.x
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 8.0.0, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

CircuitPython 8.0.3

This is CircuitPython 8.0.3, the latest bugfix revision of CircuitPython, and is a new stable release.

Notable changes to 8.0.3 since 7.3.0

See the CircuitPython 8.0.0 release notes for full information about changes in 8.0.x since 7.3.0.

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable:

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32-S2
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• espressif: ESP32, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.2

Fixes and enhancements

• Fix missing internal initialization of display.ColorConverter objects. #7611. Thanks @gamblor21.

Port and board-specific changes

RP2040

• Correct error reporting in SSLSocket. #7632. Thanks @jepler.
• Increase number of lwip timers for mDNS. #7589. Thanks @gneverov.

SAMx

• Fix pad assignments for busio.UART and improve pin validation. #7616. Thanks @dhalbert.

Documentation changes

• Fix duplicate ulab entry in help("modules"). #7601. Thanks @jepler.

Build and infrastructure changes

Known issues

• ESP32-S3 has significant issues with I2C devices that sleep or use clock stretching. Retry operations on these devices as necessary, or use ESP32-S2 boards.
• Espressif boards have ESP-IDF storage leaks and occasionally crash after extended WiFi use.
• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.1.0
  • 8.x.x
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 8.0.2, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

CircuitPython 8.0.2

This is CircuitPython 8.0.2, the latest bugfix revision of CircuitPython, and is a new stable release.

[8.0.1 was tagged on the wrong branch and was discarded]

Notable changes to 8.0.2 since 7.3.0

See the CircuitPython 8.0.0 release notes for full information about changes in 8.0.x since 7.3.0.

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable:

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32-S2
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• espressif: ESP32, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.0

Fixes and enhancements

• Deinit the reset pin when displayio.I2CDisplay() fails. #7563. Thanks @Neradoc.
• Fix incorrect exception chaining. #7566. Thanks @jepler.

Port and board-specific changes

RP2040

• Use lowest drive level for PIO (fixes Adafruit Scorpio USB resets). #7558. Thanks @jepler.

Spresense

• Update Spresense SDK to version 2.6.0. #7553. Thanks @kamtom480.

Build and infrastructure changes

• Update build_board_info.py to be compatible with sh module 2.0.0. #7566, #7564. Thanks @Neradoc and @jepler.

Known issues

• ESP32-S3 has significant issues with I2C devices that sleep or use clock stretching. Retry operations on these devices as necessary, or use ESP32-S2 boards.
• Espressif boards have ESP-IDF storage leaks and occasionally crash after extended WiFi use.
• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.1.0
  • 8.x.x
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 8.0.0, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

CircuitPython 8.0.0

This is CircuitPython 8.0.0, the latest major revision of CircuitPython, and is a new stable release.

Note
Since 8.0.0-beta.6, the file for specifying startup values for WiFi, etc., is now called settings.toml instead of .env, and uses slightly different syntax. Use double quotes instead of single quotes. Further documentation is here.

Warning
The flash partitioning for 2MB and 4MB flash ESP32 and ESP32-C3 boards has changed since 8.0.0-beta.2.
When you load 8.0.0-beta.3 or later over beta.2 (or vice versa), on these boards, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

Warning
The flash partitioning for the Raspberry Pi Pico W has changed since 8.0.0-beta.1.
When you load 8.0.0-beta.2 or later over beta.1 (or vice versa), on the Pico W, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

Notable changes to 8.0.0 since 7.3.0

Functionality additions

• Add WiFi workflow with browser-based device discovery, filesystem browsing, upload, download, file editing, serial/REPL connection (available on Espressif and Pi Pico W).
• Add a one-line status bar, which displays connection status, last exception, and version on a terminal window title or on the top line of an attached display. Mu 1.2.0 and Thonny 4.0.x and later are able to suppress status bar information in the REPL output.
• A settings.toml file in CIRCUITPY provides environment variable values. Some value names are read by CircuitPython to specify WiFi connection parameters, BLE name, and other startup values. But you can also use settings.toml to specify your own parameters for your programs. Values from settings.toml can be retrieved using os.getenv(). More details here.
• WiFi functionality implemented on the Raspberry Pi Pico W.
• Revised Espressif camera support, now available on ESP32, ESP32-S2, and ESP32-S3.
• Bulk analog input: analogbufio (available only on RP2040 for now).
• Pin state can be preserved during deep sleep (available only on Espressif for now).
• Allow setting USB VID, PID, manufacturer, and product ids at runtime.
• Enable collections.deque on most builds.
• AnalogIn values are full range from 0 to 65535, instead of having zeros on low-order bits.
• In-place firmware update (dualbank) capability may be disabled at runtime in favor of a larger CIRCUITPY drive. This is the default.
• Add TileGrid.contains().
• Add os.utime().
• Add espulp module, for running programs on the ULP co-processor in Espressif chips.
• Add memorymap module for general though limited access to various memory regions.
• A serial "break" on the USB or UART REPL serial connection will cause a KeyboardInterrupt, like ctrl-C. The advantage over ctrl-C is that the break interrupts even if the input buffer is full.
• Add hidden property to vectorio shapes.
• Add native _pixelmap.PixelMap support, for speed.
• Chained exceptions are now implemented.
• Add VfsFat.readonly property.
• Add memorymap to allow access to raw memory locations (currently only on Espressif). #7359. Thanks @tannewt.

Compatibility changes

• PulseOut no longer accepts a PWMOut. Use a Pin instead.
• Auto-brightness support in displayio and framebufferio has been removed. It was never implemented completely.
• OneWire is only in onewireio, and is no longer in busio or bitbangio.
• gamepadshift has been removed: use keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys instead.
• MP3Decoder and WaveFile can now take a filename instead of an open file.
• Print out whole-number floats exactly and correctly.
• Restored rainbowio and onewireio to a number of boards. Some boards still have rainbowio turned off for space reasons.
• i2ctarget.I2CTarget is the new name for i2cperipheral.I2CPeripheral. Accept both for now. I2CPeripheral is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• Allow display.root_group to be set, instead of using display.show(). display.show() is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• The property supervisor.runtime.autoreload replaces supervisor.disable_autoreload() and supervisor.enable_autoreload().
• The property supervisor.runtime.ble_workflow replaces supervisor.disable_ble_workflow().
• The property supervisor.runtime.next_stack_limit replaces supervisor.set_next_stack_limit().
• The property supervisor.runtime.rgb_status_brightness replaces supervisor.set_rgb_status_brightness().

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable:

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32-S2
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• espressif: ESP32, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.0-rc.2

Fixes and enhancements

• Fix is31fl3741 regression (module currently included only on Adafruit LED Glasses board). #7546. Thanks @FoamyGuy.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

Espressif

• Assign RMT channels correctly on ESP32-C3. #7539. Thanks @DavePutz.

i.MX

nRF

RP2040

SAMx

STM

Individual boards

• Adafruit Metro M7 1011: update flash chip. #7542. Thanks @dhalbert.

Documentation changes

Build and infrastructure changes

Translation additions and improvements

• Thanks for translations:
  • @wtuemura (Portugese - Brazil)

New boards since 8.0.0-rc.2

Known issues

• ESP32-S3 has significant issues with I2C devices that sleep or use clock stretching. Retry operations on these devices as necessary, or use ESP32-S2 boards.
• Espressif boards have ESP-IDF storage leaks and occasionally crash after extended WiFi use.
• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.1.0
  • 8.x.x
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 8.0.0-rc.2, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

CircuitPython 8.0.0 Release Candidate 2

This is CircuitPython 8.0.0-rc.2, a release candidate for 8.0.0. We believe it is stable, and are making a release candidate for further testing before final release.

NOTE: Since 8.0.0-beta.6, the file for specifying startup values for WiFi, etc., is now called settings.toml instead of .env, and uses slightly different syntax. Use double quotes instead of single quotes. Further documentation is here.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for 2MB and 4MB flash ESP32 and ESP32-C3 boards has changed since 8.0.0-beta.2. When you load 8.0.0-beta.3 or later over beta.2 (or vice versa), on these boards, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for the Raspberry Pi Pico W has changed since 8.0.0-beta.1. When you load 8.0.0-beta.2 or later over beta.1 (or vice versa), on the Pico W, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

Notable changes to 8.0.0 since 7.3.0

Functionality additions

• Add WiFi workflow with browser-based device discovery, filesystem browsing, upload, download, file editing, serial/REPL connection (available on Espressif and Pi Pico W).
• Add a one-line status bar, which displays connection status, last exception, and version on a terminal window title or on the top line of an attached display. Mu 1.2.0 and Thonny 4.0.x and later are able to suppress status bar information in the REPL output.
• A settings.toml file in CIRCUITPY provides environment variable values. Some value names are read by CircuitPython to specify WiFi connection parameters, BLE name, and other startup values. But you can also use settings.toml to specify your own parameters for your programs. Values from settings.toml can be retrieved using os.getenv(). More details here.
• WiFi functionality implemented on the Raspberry Pi Pico W.
• Revised Espressif camera support, now available on ESP32, ESP32-S2, and ESP32-S3.
• Bulk analog input: analogbufio (available only on RP2040 for now).
• Pin state can be preserved during deep sleep (available only on Espressif for now).
• Allow setting USB VID, PID, manufacturer, and product ids at runtime.
• Enable collections.deque on most builds.
• AnalogIn values are full range from 0 to 65535, instead of having zeros on low-order bits.
• In-place firmware update (dualbank) capability may be disabled at runtime in favor of a larger CIRCUITPY drive. This is the default.
• Add TileGrid.contains().
• Add os.utime().
• Add espulp module, for running programs on the ULP co-processor in Espressif chips.
• Add memorymap module for general though limited access to various memory regions.
• A serial "break" on the USB or UART REPL serial connection will cause a KeyboardInterrupt, like ctrl-C. The advantage over ctrl-C is that the break interrupts even if the input buffer is full.
• Add hidden property to vectorio shapes.
• Add native _pixelmap.PixelMap support, for speed.
• Chained exceptions are now implemented.
• Add VfsFat.readonly property.
• Add memorymap to allow access to raw memory locations (currently only on Espressif). #7359. Thanks @tannewt.

Compatibility changes

• PulseOut no longer accepts a PWMOut. Use a Pin instead.
• Auto-brightness support in displayio and framebufferio has been removed. It was never implemented completely.
• OneWire is only in onewireio, and is no longer in busio or bitbangio.
• gamepadshift has been removed: use keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys instead.
• MP3Decoder and WaveFile can now take a filename instead of an open file.
• Print out whole-number floats exactly and correctly.
• Restored rainbowio and onewireio to a number of boards. Some boards still have rainbowio turned off for space reasons.
• i2ctarget.I2CTarget is the new name for i2cperipheral.I2CPeripheral. Accept both for now. I2CPeripheral is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• Allow display.root_group to be set, instead of using display.show(). display.show() is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• The property supervisor.runtime.ble_workflow replaces supervisor.disable_ble_workflow().
• The property supervisor.runtime.next_stack_limit replaces supervisor.set_next_stack_limit().
• The property supervisor.runtime.rgb_status_brightness replaces supervisor.set_rgb_status_brightness().

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable:

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32-S2
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• espressif: ESP32, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.0-rc.1

Fixes and enhancements

• Update ulab to version 6.0.7. #7533. Thanks @jepler.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

Espressif

i.MX

nRF

RP2040

• Do not raise an exception for length of nvm. #7538. Thanks @geneverov.

SAMx

STM

Individual boards

• Adafruit Feather ESP32-S2 Reverse TFT: add pins for buttons. #7526. Thanks @jepler.
• Adafruit Feather ESP32-S3 Reverse TFT: add pins for buttons. #7526. Thanks @jepler.
• BananaPi BPI-Bit-S2: enable status LED. #7510. Thanks @BPI-STEAM.
• Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32C3: correct flash mode. #7509. Thanks @RetiredWizard.

Documentation changes

• Document how to add version information to libraries. #7529. Thanks @jposada202020.
• Fix broken RTD builds. #7508. Thanks @microdev1 and @dhalbert.

Build and infrastructure changes

• Reformat Python code after black update. #7532. Thanks @microdev1.

Translation additions and improvements

• Thanks for translations:
  • @jposada202020 (Spanish)

New boards since 8.0.0-rc.1

• BrainBoardz Neuron. #7530. Thanks @BrainBoardz.

Known issues

• ESP32-S3 has significant issues with I2C devices that sleep or use clock stretching. Retry operations on these devices as necessary, or use ESP32-S2 boards.
• Espressif boards have ESP-IDF storage leaks and occasionally crash after extended WiFi use.
• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.0.0
  • 8.x.x
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 8.0.0-rc.1, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

CircuitPython 8.0.0 Release Candidate 1

This is CircuitPython 8.0.0-rc.1, a release candidate for 8.0.0. We believe it is stable, and are making a release candidate for further testing before final release.

NOTE: Since 8.0.0-beta.6, the file for specifying startup values for WiFi, etc., is now called settings.toml instead of .env, and uses slightly different syntax. Use double quotes instead of single quotes. Further documentation is here.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for 2MB and 4MB flash ESP32 and ESP32-C3 boards has changed since 8.0.0-beta.2. When you load 8.0.0-beta.3 or later over beta.2 (or vice versa), on these boards, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for the Raspberry Pi Pico W has changed since 8.0.0-beta.1. When you load 8.0.0-beta.2 or later over beta.1 (or vice versa), on the Pico W, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

Notable changes to 8.0.0 since 7.3.0

Functionality additions

• Add WiFi workflow with browser-based device discovery, filesystem browsing, upload, download, file editing, serial/REPL connection (available on Espressif and Pi Pico W).
• Add a one-line status bar, which displays connection status, last exception, and version on a terminal window title or on the top line of an attached display. Mu 1.2.0 and Thonny 4.0.x and later are able to suppress status bar information in the REPL output.
• A settings.toml file in CIRCUITPY provides environment variable values. Some value names are read by CircuitPython to specify WiFi connection parameters, BLE name, and other startup values. But you can also use settings.toml to specify your own parameters for your programs. Values from settings.toml can be retrieved using os.getenv(). More details here.
• WiFi functionality implemented on the Raspberry Pi Pico W.
• Revised Espressif camera support, now available on ESP32, ESP32-S2, and ESP32-S3.
• Bulk analog input: analogbufio (available only on RP2040 for now).
• Pin state can be preserved during deep sleep (available only on Espressif for now).
• Allow setting USB VID, PID, manufacturer, and product ids at runtime.
• Enable collections.deque on most builds.
• AnalogIn values are full range from 0 to 65535, instead of having zeros on low-order bits.
• In-place firmware update (dualbank) capability may be disabled at runtime in favor of a larger CIRCUITPY drive. This is the default.
• Add TileGrid.contains().
• Add os.utime().
• Add espulp module, for running programs on the ULP co-processor in Espressif chips.
• Add memorymap module for general though limited access to various memory regions.
• A serial "break" on the USB or UART REPL serial connection will cause a KeyboardInterrupt, like ctrl-C. The advantage over ctrl-C is that the break interrupts even if the input buffer is full.
• Add hidden property to vectorio shapes.
• Add native _pixelmap.PixelMap support, for speed.
• Chained exceptions are now implemented.
• Add VfsFat.readonly property.
• Add memorymap to allow access to raw memory locations (currently only on Espressif). #7359. Thanks @tannewt.

Compatibility changes

• PulseOut no longer accepts a PWMOut. Use a Pin instead.
• Auto-brightness support in displayio and framebufferio has been removed. It was never implemented completely.
• OneWire is only in onewireio, and is no longer in busio or bitbangio.
• gamepadshift has been removed: use keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys instead.
• MP3Decoder and WaveFile can now take a filename instead of an open file.
• Print out whole-number floats exactly and correctly.
• Restored rainbowio and onewireio to a number of boards. Some boards still have rainbowio turned off for space reasons.
• i2ctarget.I2CTarget is the new name for i2cperipheral.I2CPeripheral. Accept both for now. I2CPeripheral is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• Allow display.root_group to be set, instead of using display.show(). display.show() is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• The property supervisor.runtime.ble_workflow replaces supervisor.disable_ble_workflow().
• The property supervisor.runtime.next_stack_limit replaces supervisor.set_next_stack_limit().
• The property supervisor.runtime.rgb_status_brightness replaces supervisor.set_rgb_status_brightness().

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable:

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32-S2
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• espressif: ESP32, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.0-beta.6

Fixes and enhancements

• Update frozen libraries. #7491. Thanks @dhalbert.
• bitmaptools: Allow drawing lines with ends outside of bitmap. #7467. Thanks @matemaciek.
• Handle ctrl-c interrupts in BLE workflow serial input. #7465. Thanks @tannewt.
• Allow access to web workflow mDNS object. #7461, #7445. Thanks @tannewt.
• Have start and end keywords respect element size. #7444. Thanks @tannewt.
• Improve argument type validation messages, especially for pins. #7437. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Do not chain exceptions to themselves. #7415. Thanks @jepler.
• Update ulab to version 6.0.2. #7413. Thanks @jepler.
• Use random volume IDs when a UID is not available. #7410. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix settings.toml fetching of integer values. #7395. Thanks @jepler.
• Handle settings.toml files that don't end with a newline. #7381. Thanks @jepler.
• Use specified SPI flash maximum baudrate when identifying chip. #7371. Thanks @PontusO.
• Make sure registers are preserved in Thumb version of nlr_push(). #7368. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Improve error message for read-only attributes. #7358. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Revert update to protomatter library due to regression. #7353. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix printing of AuthMode names. #7349. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix socketpool.gaierror usages. #7344. Thanks @jepler.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

• Add simulated RTC support. #7474. Thanks @RetiredWizard.

Espressif

• Rename esp32_camera to espcamera, for consistency. #7492. Thanks @microdev1.
• Update ESP-IDF to latest release/v4.4 commits. #7486. Thanks @dhalbert.
• espulp.ULP: add support for ULP Finite State Machine. #7473. Thanks @microdev1.
• Fix sockets to always be non-blocking internally. #7455. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Do not use deep sleep wakeup cause when light sleeping. #7441. Thanks @tannewt.
• Limit PulseIn values to 65535 or less. #7378. Thanks @DavePutz.
• Rework espulp API. #7359. Thanks @tannewt.
• Add memorymap to allow access to raw memory locations (currently only on Espressif). #7359. Thanks @tannewt.
• Make master_clock_pin really optional. #7355. Thanks @pypewpew (@deshipu).

i.MX

• Use low power RTC. #7463. Thanks @RetiredWizard.
• Properly deinit GPIO pins. #7424. Thanks @RetiredWizard.
• Fix busio.UART parameter validation. #7390. Thanks @RetiredWizard.
• Fix pin resetting to never reset vital pins. #7345. Thanks @dhalbert.

nRF

• Fix microcontroller.on_next_reset(). #7468. Thanks @DavePutz.

RP2040

• Improve determination of reset reason. #7462. Thanks @tannewt.
• Update CYW43 driver. #7439. Thanks @jepler.
• Allow connection to open networks. #7439. Thanks @jepler.
• Clarify that MAC address on CYW43 is read-only #7358. Thanks @dhalbert.

SAMx

• Use memory fence when disabling cache. #7398. Thanks @dhalbert.

STM

Individual boards

• CRCibernetica IdeaBoard ESP32. #7356. Thanks @CRCibernetica.
• Lolin C3 Mini: update pins. #7392. Thanks @chukwon.
• Luatos Core-ESP32C3: update pins and flash mode. #7372. Thanks @evildave666.
• MicroDev microC3: do not expose pins used for external flash. #7458. Thanks @microdev1.
• PewPew M4: Re-enable usb_cdc; disable analogio. #7501. Thanks @pypewpew (@deshipu).
• Raspberry Pi Pico: add GP25 as status LED. #7362. Thanks @Neradoc.

Documentation changes

• Improve dualbank documentation. #7503. Thanks @microdev1.
• Improve TimeAlarm documentation. #7417. Thanks @tannewt.
• Fix stubs to remove empty imports. #7341. Thanks @jepler.

Build and infrastructure changes

• Allow control in CIRCUITPY_SKIP_SAFE_MODE_WAIT in mpconfigboard.mk. #7502. Thanks @Neradoc.
• Update issue notification workflow. #7493. Thanks @tekktri...

CircuitPython 8.0.0 Beta 6

This is CircuitPython 8.0.0-beta.6, a beta release for 8.0.0. It is relatively stable, but there will be further additions, fixes, and changes before final release.

NOTE: The file for specifying startup values for WiFi, etc., is now called settings.toml instead of .env, and uses slightly different syntax. Use double quotes instead of single quotes. Further documentation is here.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for 2MB and 4MB flash ESP32 and ESP32-C3 boards has changed since 8.0.0-beta.2. When you load 8.0.0-beta.3 or later over beta.2 (or vice versa), on these boards, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for the Raspberry Pi Pico W has changed since 8.0.0-beta.1. When you load 8.0.0-beta.2 or later over beta.1 (or vice versa), on the Pico W, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

Notable changes to 8.0.0 since 7.3.0

Functionality additions

• Add WiFi workflow with browser-based device discovery, filesystem browsing, upload, download, file editing, serial/REPL connection (available on Espressif and Pi Pico W).
• Add a one-line status bar, which displays connection status, last exception, and version on a terminal window title or on the top line of an attached display. Mu 1.2.0 and Thonny 4.0.x and later are able to suppress status bar information in the REPL output.
• A settings.toml file in CIRCUITPY provides environment variable values. Some value names are read by CircuitPython to specify WiFi connection parameters, BLE name, and other startup values. But you can also use settings.toml to specify your own parameters for your programs. Values from settings.toml can be retrieved using os.getenv(). More details here.
• WiFi functionality implemented on the Raspberry Pi Pico W.
• Revised Espressif camera support, now available on ESP32, ESP32-S2, and ESP32-S3.
• Bulk analog input: analogbufio (available only on RP2040 for now).
• Pin state can be preserved during deep sleep (available only on Espressif for now).
• Allow setting USB VID, PID, manufacturer, and product ids at runtime.
• Enable collections.deque on most builds.
• MP3Decoder and WaveFile can now take a filename instead of an open file.
• AnalogIn values are full range from 0 to 65535, instead of having zeros on low-order bits.
• In-place firmware update (dualbank) capability may be disabled in favor of a larger CIRCUITPY drive.
• Add TileGrid.contains().
• Add os.utime().
• Add espulp module, for running programs on the ULP RISC-V co-processor Espressif chips.
• Add memorymap module for general though limited access to various memory regions.
• A serial "break" on the USB or UART REPL serial connection will cause a KeyboardInterrupt, like ctrl-C. The advantage over ctrl-C is that the break interrupts even if the input buffer is full.
• Add hidden property to vectorio shapes.
• Add native _pixelmap.PixelMap support, for speed.
• Chained exceptions are now implemented.
• Add VfsFat.readonly property.

Compatibility changes

• PulseOut no longer accepts a PWMOut. Use a Pin instead.
• Auto-brightness support in displayio and framebufferio has been removed. It was never implemented completely.
• OneWire is only in onewireio, and is no longer in busio or bitbangio.
• gamepadshift has been removed: use keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys instead.
• Print out whole-number floats exactly and correctly.
• Restored rainbowio and onewireio to a number of boards. Some boards still have rainbowio turned off for space reasons.
• i2ctarget.I2CTarget is the new name for i2cperipheral.I2CPeripheral. Accept both for now. I2CPeripheral is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• Allow display.root_group to be set, instead of using display.show(). display.show() is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• The property supervisor.runtime.ble_workflow replaces supervisor.disable_ble_workflow().
• The property supervisor.runtime.next_stack_limit replaces supervisor.set_next_stack_limit().
• The property supervisor.runtime.rgb_status_brightness replaces supervisor.set_rgb_status_brightness().

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable:

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32-S2
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• espressif: ESP32, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.0-beta.5

• Fix errors in DEBUG=1 Cortex-M4 builds. #7368. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix wifi.Authmode printing. #7349. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Update network code to use gaierror consistently. #7344. Thanks @jepler.
• Replace .env with settings.toml. Remove dotenv module. #7321. Thanks @jepler.
• displayio: set in_group to false when removing a layer from a group. #7327. Thanks @pypewpew (@deshipu).
• Add VfsFat.readonly property. #7317. Thanks @s-ol.

Fixes and enhancements

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

Espressif

• Support for ULP co-processor by espulp and memorymap modules. Replaces coproc. #7359. Thanks @tannewt and thanks to @microdev1 for the original coproc module.
• Make master_clock_pin optional for esp32_camera, to support boards with built-in clocks. #7355. Thanks @pypewpew (@deshipu).

i.MX

• Fix i.MX builds by redoing pin reset logic. #7345. Thanks @dhalbert.

nRF

RP2040

SAMx

STM

Individual boards

• BananaPi BPI-PicoW-S3: add status LED. #7315. Thanks @RetiredWizard.
• CRCibernetica IdeaBoard: add frozen modules, change flash size. #7356. Thanks @CRCibernetica.
• Invector Labs Challenger 840: update definition. #7331. Thanks @PontusO.
• Raspberry Pi Pico: use on-board LED for status. #7362. Thanks @Neradoc.
• Seeed XIAO nRF52840: add charge rate pin. #7320. Thanks @dhalbert and @PheebeUK.

Documentation changes

• Remove MicroPython asyncio documentation; improve libraries page and links. #7324. Thanks @dhalbert.

Build and infrastructure changes

• Fix unix build. #7364. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix devcontainer (GitHub codespaces) support. #7350. Thanks @bablokb.
• Revert update to protomatter library due to regression. #7353. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix stub generation. #7341. Thanks @jepler.
• Temporary fix for tj-actions/changed-files problem. #7329. Thanks @microdev1.

Translation additions and improvements

• Thanks for translations:
  • @bergdahl (Swedish)
  • @wtuemura (Portugese - Brazil)

New boards since 8.0.0-beta.5

• Invector Labs Challenger RP2040 SD/RTC. #7336. Thanks @PontusO.

Known issues

• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.0.0
  • 8.x.x
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 8.0.0-beta.4, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

CircuitPython 8.0.0 Beta 5

This is CircuitPython 8.0.0-beta.5, a beta release for 8.0.0. It is relatively stable, but there will be further additions, fixes, and changes before final release.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for 2MB and 4MB flash ESP32 and ESP32-C3 boards has changed since 8.0.0-beta.2. When you load 8.0.0-beta.3 or later over beta.2 (or vice versa), on these boards, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for the Raspberry Pi Pico W has changed since 8.0.0-beta.1. When you load 8.0.0-beta.2 or later over beta.1 (or vice versa), on the Pico W, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

Notable changes to 8.0.0 since 7.3.0

Functionality additions

• Added WiFi workflow with browser-based device discovery, filesystem browsing, upload, download, file editing, serial/REPL connection (available on Espressif and, as of 8.0.0-beta.5, Pi Pico W).
• Added a one-line status bar, which displays connection status, last exception, and version on a terminal window title or on the top line of an attached display. Mu 1.2.0 and Thonny 4.0.x and later are able to suppress status bar information in the REPL output.
• .env file in CIRCUITPY specifies WiFI connection parameters, BLE name, and other startup values.
• dotenv support: os.getenv() values are set by values in .env file. Values can be fetched from other dotenv-format files.
• WiFi functionality implemented on the Raspberry Pi Pico W.
• Revised Espressif camera support, now available on ESP32, ESP32-S2, and ESP32-S3.
• Bulk analog input: analogbufio (available only on RP2040 for now).
• Pin state can be preserved during deep sleep (available only on Espressif for now).
• Allow setting USB VID, PID, manufacturer, and product ids at runtime.
• Enabled collections.deque on most builds.
• MP3Decoder and WaveFile can now take a filename instead of an open file.
• AnalogIn values are full range from 0 to 65535, instead of having zeros on low-order bits.
• In-place firmware update (dualbank) capability may be disabled in favor of a larger CIRCUITPY drive.
• Added TileGrid.contains().
• Added os.utime().
• Added coproc module, for running programs on an on-chip co-processor. Currently available for the RISC-V core on the ESP32-S2 and ESP32-S3.
• A serial "break" on the USB or UART REPL serial connection will cause a KeyboardInterrupt, like ctrl-C. The advantage over ctrl-C is that the break interrupts even if the input buffer is full.
• Add hidden property to vectorio shapes.
• Add native _pixelmap.PixelMap support, for speed.
• Chained exceptions are now implemented.

Compatibility changes

• PulseOut no longer accepts a PWMOut. Use a Pin instead.
• Auto-brightness support in displayio and framebufferio has been removed. It was never implemented completely.
• OneWire is only in onewireio, and is no longer in busio or bitbangio.
• gamepadshift has been removed: use keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys instead.
• Print out whole-number floats exactly and correctly.
• Restored rainbowio and onewireio to a number of boards. Some boards still have rainbowio turned off for space reasons.
• i2ctarget.I2CTarget is the new name for i2cperipheral.I2CPeripheral. Accept both for now. I2CPeripheral is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• Allow display.root_group to be set, instead of using display.show(). display.show() is deprecated and will be removed in 9.0.0.
• The property supervisor.runtime.ble_workflow replaces supervisor.disable_ble_workflow().
• The property supervisor.runtime.next_stack_limit replaces supervisor.set_next_stack_limit().
• The property supervisor.runtime.rgb_status_brightness replaces supervisor.set_rgb_status_brightness().

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable:

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32-S2
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• espressif: ESP32, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.0-beta.4

Fixes and enhancements

• Implement chain parameter in traceback.print_exception() and format_exception(). #7297. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix board-specific MDNS hostnames. #7295. Thanks @tannewt.
• Rework analogbufio API. #7294. Thanks @tannewt.
• Fix some escapes of translated messages. #7292. Thanks @jepler.
• Handle DNS names with trailing dot. #7281. Thanks @jepler.
• Add SocketPool.gaierror exception. #7269. Thanks @jepler.
• Correct wifi.Radio.connect() and start_ap() signatures, default args, and arg validation. #7249. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Do not block for I2CTarget.request(-1). #7242. Thanks @s-ol.
• Allow a serial "break" to cause KeyboardInterrupt, like ctrl-c, for both USB and UART REPL serial. #7234, #7227. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix terminalio crash when display is tiny. #7223. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix reset handling for PWM-based status LEDs. #7219. Thanks @tannewt.
• Allow display.root_group to be set, instead of using display.show(). #7215. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Pass RGBW values more efficiently internally in adafruit_pixelbuf. #7209. Thanks @jepler.
• Remove special-case code for CYW43 in shared-bindings. #7207. Thanks @jepler.
• Upgrade ulab to version 6.0.1. #7202. Thanks @jepler.
• Add hidden property to vectorio shapes. #7197. Thanks @FoamyGuy.
• Add native _pixelmap.PixelMap support, for speed. #7191. Thanks @jepler.
• Update protomatter (RGB matrix support). #7182. Thanks @microdev1.
• Fix bugs in asyncio; make sockets selectable. #7173. Thanks @jepler.
• Implement chained exceptions. #7069. Thanks @jepler.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

Espressif

• Web workflow fixes. #7309. Thanks @tannewt.
• Ensure orderly shutdown of SSL socket. #7291. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix S3 deep sleep. #7280. Thanks @tannewt.
• Simplify some ESP32-C3 board sdkconfig files. #7245. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix accidental .gitignore entries for board-specific sdkconfig files. #7211. Thanks @jepler.
• Enable microcontroller.cpu.temperature on ESP32-S3. #7199. Thanks @microdev1.

i.MX

nRF

RP2040

• Add Pico W CYW43 startup delay needed on some board samples; fix will be refined later. #7313. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix slow PWM duty cycle update. #7299. Thanks @BooleanMattock.
• Web workflow. #7286, #7272, #7247. Thanks @tannewt.
• Start with SPI clock hight for SPI modes 2 and 3. #7229. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix idling until interrupt. #7201. Thanks @jepler.
• Ignore alarm pin changes before actual deep sleep. #7196. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Pico W access point support. #7101. Thanks @bill88t.

SAMx

• Fix sdcardio. #7278. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix playing mono files on stereo output. #7253. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix SAMD21 tick event channel handling. #7217. Thanks @dhalbert.

STM

• Fix timer references, to fix PWMOut frequency errors. #7212. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Add PDMIn support for STM32L4. #7169. Thanks @blues.

Individual boards

• 42. Keebs Frood: add missing pins. #7165. Thanks @piit79.
• AI Thinker ESP32-C3S and C3S-2M: add status LED. #6217. Thanks @Neradoc.
• Espressif ESP32-BOX-Lite: correct sdkconfig. #7311. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Raspberry Pi Pico W: support reading board.VOLTAGE_MONITOR. #7179. Thanks @jepler.

Documentation changes

• Fix supervisor.ticks_ms() documentation. #7275. Thanks @jshimbo.
• Fix wifi.Monitor documentation. #7265. Thanks @jepler.
• Remove mention of _pixelbuf in adafruit_pixelbuf. #7163. Thanks @jepler.

Build and infrastructure changes

• Add GitHub codespaces support (currently only for Cortex-M). #7263. Thanks @bablokb.
• Fix ci_set_matrix.py. #7235. Thanks @microdev1.
• Improve PR commit diffs during builds. #7231. Thanks @microdev1.
• Use Python 3.x for builds again. #7204. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix Pico W DEBUG=1 builds. #7192. Thanks @bill88t.
• Save code space: eliminate unused QSTRs; don't use smart quotes in translations. #7181. Thanks @jepler.
• Simplify argument validations to save code space. #7175. Thanks @jepler.
• Temporarily use Python 3.10 for builds because of 3.11 library incompatibilities. #7164. Thanks @jepler.
• Print out boards list for port if BOARD= is missing or incorrect. #7162. Thanks @rhooper.
• Mention rust dependency for minify_html in BUILDING.md. #7160. Thanks @rhooper.
• Choose which pull-request jobs to do more accurately. #7132. Thanks @microdev1.

T...

CircuitPython 8.0.0 Beta 4

This is CircuitPython 8.0.0-beta.4, a beta release for 8.0.0. It is relatively stable, but there will be further additions and fixes before final release.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for 2MB and 4MB flash ESP32 and ESP32-C3 boards has changed since 8.0.0-beta.2. When you load 8.0.0-beta.3 or later over beta.2 (or vice versa), on these boards, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for the Raspberry Pi Pico W has changed since 8.0.0-beta.1. When you load 8.0.0-beta.2 or later over beta.1 (or vice versa), on the Pico W, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

Notable changes since 8.0.0-beta.3

• ESP32-C3 builds now work again.
• Raspberry Pi Pico W can act as a server, and can use static IP addresses.

Notable changes to 8.0.0 since 7.3.0

Functionality additions

• Added WiFi workflow with browser-based device discovery, filesystem browsing, upload, download, file editing, serial/REPL connection (available only on Espressif for now).
• Added a one-line status bar, which displays connection status, last exception, and version on a terminal window title or on the top line of an attached display. Support for status bar display is also being added to the Mu and Thonny editors.
• .env file in CIRCUITPY specifies WiFI connection parameters, BLE name, and other startup values.
• dotenv support: os.getenv() values are set by values in .env file. Values can be fetched from other dotenv-format files.
• WiFi functionality implemented on the Raspberry Pi Pico W.
• Revised Espressif camera support, now available on ESP32, ESP32-S2, and ESP32-S3.
• Bulk analog input: analogbufio (available only on RP2040 for now).
• Pin state can be preserved during deep sleep (available only on Espressif for now).
• Allow setting USB VID, PID, manufacturer, and product ids at runtime.
• Enabled collections.deque on most builds.
• MP3Decoder and WaveFile can now take a filename instead of an open file.
• AnalogIn values are full range from 0 to 65535, instead of having zeros on low-order bits.
• In-place firmware update (dualbank) capability may be disabled in favor of a larger CIRCUITPY drive.
• Added TileGrid.contains().
• Added os.utime().
• Added coproc module, for running programs on an on-chip co-processor. Currently available for the RISC-V core on the ESP32-S2 and ESP32-S3.

Compatibility changes

• PulseOut no longer accepts a PWMOut. Use a Pin instead.
• Auto-brightness support in displayio and framebufferio has been removed. It was never implemented completely.
• OneWire is only in onewireio, and is no longer in busio or bitbangio.
• gamepadshift has been removed: use keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys instead.
• Print out whole-number floats exactly and correctly.
• Restored rainbowio and onewireio to a number of boards. Some boards still have rainbowio turned
  off for space reasons.
• i2ctarget.I2CTarget is the new name for i2cperipheral.I2CPeripheral. Accept both for now. I2CPeripheral will be removed in 9.0.0.
• The property supervisor.runtime.ble_workflow replaces supervisor.disable_ble_workflow().
• The property supervisor.runtime.next_stack_limit replaces supervisor.set_next_stack_limit().
• The property supervisor.runtime.rgb_status_brightness replaces supervisor.set_rgb_status_brightness().

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable:

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32-S2
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• espressif: ESP32, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.0-beta.3

Fixes and enhancements

• Fix wake alarm saving. #7154. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix _asyncio ticks. #7138. Thanks @jepler.
• Fix missing _bleio.Characteristic.descriptors. #7130. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix assigning attributes of GeneratorExit singleton. #7103. Thanks @jepler.
• Enhance coproc module, including Coproc Alarm. #7102, #7091. Thanks @microdev1.
• Fix usb_cdc.Serial.read() if not connected. #7100. Thanks @tannewt.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

Espressif

• Set correct architecture for ESP32-C3 builds and reorganize mpconfigport.mk. #7143, #7094. Thanks @microdev1.
• Fix setup of Espressif PinAlarm. #7125. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Fix error code for Socket.recv_into(). #7123. Thanks @georgboe.

i.MX

nRF

RP2040

• Use correct pin count value. #7089. Thanks @jepler.

SAMx

STM

Individual boards

• Espressif ESP32-S3-BOX: correct SPIRAM settings. #7140. Thanks @dhalbert.
• LOLIN S3: fix and add pin definitions. #7145. Thanks @chukwon.
• Raspberry Pi Pico W:
  • Implement sslsocket bind, listen, and accept. #7122. Thanks @jepler.
  • Enable and use SOF_REUSEADDR. #7119. Thanks @jepler.
  • Allow static IP settings. #7088. Thanks @jepler.
• Raspberry Pi Pico and Pico W: add board.STEMMA_I2C() for use with Cowbell add-on boards. #7116. Thanks @kattni.

Documentation changes

• Document port and board limitations for built-in modules. #7129, #7097. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Remove MpyError. #7104. Thanks @jepler.

Build and infrastructure changes

Translation additions and improvements

• Change phrasing of boot button message so it stands alone as a sentence, making translation easier. #7150. Thanks @Neradoc.
• Thanks for translations:
  • @bergdahl (Swedish)
  • @Senuros (German)
  • @wtuemura (Portugese - Brazil)

New boards since 8.0.0-beta.2

• Frood 42. Keebs. #7124. Thanks @piit79.
• M5Stack ATOM Lite. #7142. Thanks @CDarius.
• M5Stack Core Basic: #7144, #7133, #7120. Thanks @CDarius.
• M5Stack Core Fire: #7113. Thanks @CDarius.
• M5Stack Stamp C3: #7099. Thanks @CDarius.

Known issues

• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.0.0
  • 8.x.x
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 8.0.0-beta.3, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

CircuitPython 8.0.0 Beta 3

This is CircuitPython 8.0.0-beta.3, a beta release for 8.0.0. It is relatively stable, but there will be further additions and fixes before final release.

NOTE: ESP32-C3 board builds are not functional since 8.0.0-beta.2. Use 8.0.0-beta.1.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for 2MB and 4MB flash ESP32 and ESP32-C3 boards has changed since 8.0.0-beta.2. When you load 8.0.0-beta.3 or later over beta.2 (or vice versa), on these boards, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

WARNING: The flash partitioning for the Raspberry Pi Pico W has changed since 8.0.0-beta.1. When you load 8.0.0-beta.2 or later over beta.1 (or vice versa), on the Pico W, CIRCUITPY will be erased and reformatted.

Notable changes to 8.0.0 since 7.3.0

Functionality additions

• Added WiFi workflow with browser-based device discovery, filesystem browsing, upload, download, file editing, serial/REPL connection (available only on Espressif for now).
• Added a one-line status bar, which displays connection status, last exception, and version on a terminal window title or on the top line of an attached display. Support for status bar display is also being added to the Mu and Thonny editors.
• .env file in CIRCUITPY specifies WiFI connection parameters, BLE name, and other startup values.
• dotenv support: os.getenv() values are set by values in .env file. Values can be fetched from other dotenv-format files.
• WiFi functionality implemented on the Pi Pico W.
• Revised Espressif camera support, now available on ESP32, ESP32-S2, and ESP32-S3.
• Bulk analog input: analogbufio (available only on RP2040 for now).
• Pin state can be preserved during deep sleep (available only on Espressif for now).
• Allow setting USB VID, PID, manufacturer, and product ids at runtime.
• Enabled collections.deque on most builds.
• MP3Decoder and WaveFile can now take a filename instead of an open file.
• AnalogIn values are full range from 0 to 65535, instead of having zeros on low-order bits.
• In-place firmware update (dualbank) capability may be disabled in favor of a larger CIRCUITPY drive.
• Added TileGrid.contains().
• Added os.utime().
• Added coproc module, for running programs on an on-chip co-processor. Currently available for the RISC-V core on the ESP32-S2 and ESP32-S3.

Compatibility changes

• PulseOut no longer accepts a PWMOut. Use a Pin instead.
• Auto-brightness support in displayio and framebufferio has been removed. It was never implemented completely.
• OneWire is only in onewireio, and is no longer in busio or bitbangio.
• gamepadshift has been removed: use keypad.ShiftRegisterKeys instead.
• Print out whole-number floats exactly and correctly.
• Restored rainbowio and onewireio to a number of boards. Some boards still have rainbowio turned off for space reasons.
• i2ctarget.I2CTarget is the new name for i2cperipheral.I2CPeripheral. Accept both for now. I2CPeripheral will be removed in 9.0.0.
• The property supervisor.runtime.ble_workflow replaces supervisor.disable_ble_workflow().
• The property supervisor.runtime.next_stack_limit replaces supervisor.set_next_stack_limit().
• The property supervisor.runtime.rgb_status_brightness replaces supervisor.set_rgb_status_brightness().

Download from circuitpython.org

Firmware downloads are available from the downloads page on circuitpython.org. The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in the Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Port status

CircuitPython has a number of "ports" that are the core implementations for different microcontroller families. Stability varies on a per-port basis. As of this release, these ports are consider stable:

• atmel-samd: Microchip SAMD21, SAMx5x
• cxd56: Sony Spresense
• espressif: Espressif ESP32-S2
• nrf: Nordic nRF52840, nRF52833
• raspberrypi: Raspberry Pi RP2040
• stm: ST STM32F4 chip family

These ports are considered alpha and will have bugs and missing functionality:

• broadcom: Raspberry Pi boards such as RPi 4, RPi Zero 2W
• espressif: ESP32, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3
• litex: fomu
• mimxrt10xx: NXP i.MX RT10xxx
• stm: ST non-STM32F4 chip families

Changes since 8.0.0-beta.2

Fixes and enhancements

• Improve asyncio implementation and add automated tests. #7059. Thanks @jepler.
• Add coproc module, for running programs on an on-chip co-processor. Currently avaialable for the RISC-V core on the ESP32-S2 and ESP32-S3. #6902. Thanks @microdev1.

Port and board-specific changes

Broadcom

Espressif

• Fix partioning on ESP32 and ESP32-C3 boards with 2MB and 4MB flash. #7073. Thanks @microdev1.
• Improve dualbank error messages. #7061. Thanks @microdev1.
• Fix ESP-IDF logging level. #7052. Thanks @microdev1.

i.MX

nRF

RP2040

SAMx

STM

Individual boards

• Cytron Maker Feather AIoT S3: add pin definitions. #7053. Thanks @CytronTechnologies.
• Raspberry Pi Pico W:
  • Fix pin counting issues affecting PulseIn and other functionality. #7089. Thanks @jepler.
  • Implement static IP configuration. #7088. Thanks @jepler.
  • Fix large send() requests. Add sendall(). Resolve .local names. Allow stopping radio. #7079. Thanks @jepler.
  • Connect to wifi asynchronously. #7076. Thanks @bill88t.
  • Fix check for wifi interface being up. #7075. Thanks @jepler.
  • Fix CYW43 pin initialization. #7064. Thanks @jepler.
  • Power down CYW43 wifi co-processor during deep sleep. #7050. Thanks @jepler.
  • Implement hashlib. #7051. Thanks @jepler.

Documentation changes

• Remove hashlib and zlib from MicroPython-specific modules. #7074. Thanks @jepler.

Build and infrastructure changes

• Use py/stream.h instead of py/ioctl.h. #7058. Thanks @jepler.
• Improve calculation of partial builds. #7057. Thanks @jepler.
• Save about 124 bytes, related to string0.c. #6397. Thanks @jepler.

Translation additions and improvements

Thanks for translations:

• @Atalanttore (German)
• @bergdahl (Swedish)
• @wtuemura (Portugese - Brazil)

New boards since 8.0.0-beta.2

Known issues

• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues for other issues, including issues still to be addressed for:
  • 8.0.0
  • 8.x.x
  • long term

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, and contributed since 8.0.0-beta.2, including the contributors above, and many others on GitHub and Discord. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.