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micro:bit apps

Example app development setup

This section will guide you through setting up your development environment and getting started with programming your own micro:bit app.

MakeCode setup

2: Click 'Import' on the middle-right of the screen

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3: Click 'Import URL...'

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5: Start programming your app!

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6: Click file names on the bottom-left

app.ts is a good starting point. On line 24 it pushes the home scene (see home.ts) onto the scene stack. This scene is what you see on the screen. example

7: Click pxt.json, then 'Edit settings As text' to view dependencies

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8: Managing dependencies and files

If you create a new file or want to add an extension you do so here. example

Github integration

MakeCode has built in github integration, allowing you to easily share your work and collaborate with others. MakeCode saves your work as a project, so this isn’t required for initial development and experimentation.

We recommend using this feature if you’ve forked github.com/microbit-apps/example though

Press the Github button in the middle-bottom

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Here you can pull, commit and push changes to your fork

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VSCode setup

Development in VSCode is also supported with our simulator. VSCode requires more setup, but is a more feature rich environment.

2: Installing Node: NVM

We need Node for the Static TypeScript compiler and package management. To get node we first need nvm (Node Version Manager), which allows you to easily install and manage multiple versions of node on your machine. Go to https://www.nvmnode.com/guide/download.html example

3: Installing Node: NPM

Now that we have the node version manager, we can install the node package manager (npm). Type the following into your terminal:

nvm install 24

nvm use 24

3: Install the makecode-cli

Now that we have node setup we can get the makecode-cli npm package

Install makecode globally:

npm i -g makecode

Test that it’s available. Note that the package is called makecode, but the command is mkc:

mkc --help

Coming soon: using makecode-cli, using VSCode simulator