Getting PiCode

📥 Getting PiCode

Two ways in, for two different people.

To use it: download a release

Go to Releases and take the file for your platform:

File	What it is
...-setup.exe	Windows installer (Inno Setup)
...<version>.zip	Windows portable — unzip, run PiCode.exe
PiCode-linux-x64-...	Linux builds follow the same path
SHA256SUMS.txt	checksums of everything above

Verify the checksum before the first run. Windows binaries are unsigned today, so SmartScreen warns once (More info → Run anyway). That is expected, not tampering — see CI and Releases.

Portable mode

On the first run PiCode creates a data/ folder next to the executable: user data, extensions, sessions, cache and the Pi profile. Nothing is written to %APPDATA%.

• Delete data/ → you get a clean PiCode.
• Copy it → your whole PiCode moves to another machine.

No profile travels inside the archive itself: fresh ZIP, fresh start. Continue with First Run and the Wizard.

Choosing a channel

Three channels share the same code, each on its own branch:

Channel	Branch	Version looks like	For
Stable	master	0.2.1	everyday use
Beta	beta	0.2.1-beta	early access
Experimental	experimental	0.2.1-experimental	freshest work

Each channel publishes its own update feed and the editor offers the update when one appears. Switching channel means installing that channel's release; the editor follows the feed of the build you run.

To work on it: clone and build

The repository carries PiCode's own source tree: picode-source/ is the VS Code-derived editor with every PiCode change committed as code. Nothing is downloaded and nothing is patched — clone and compile:

./dev/build.sh      # full chain, dependencies installed once
./dev/build.sh -o   # fast check — nothing installed or compiled

Releases are produced by exactly this build: what you compile is what ships. The full dependency list, the five build phases and the GUI alternative are in Building PiCode. If you plan to contribute, read CONTRIBUTING.md first — it names the rules that have burned the project before.

Troubleshooting the first run

Symptom	Meaning
SmartScreen warning	the binary is unsigned; verify the checksum, run anyway
No update check ever happens	by design — the in-product updater is off so a build cannot be silently replaced
Language model unavailable	no provider connected yet — connect one in setup or in Pi Inside
A theme cannot install	it exists only on the Microsoft Marketplace; PiCode installs from Open VSX

More in Troubleshooting.

---

Next: First Run and the Wizard