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Install ​

You can use Circuit Lab in a web browser with nothing to install, or download the app for Linux or Windows. The simulator, the projects and the exports work the same everywhere. Only the desktop apps can deploy to a real board.

Use it in your browser ​

Open circuitlab.dhivalabs.com in a current browser. There is no account and no sign-up.

  • Your progress and projects are saved in the browser's storage for that site, on that device only. Clearing the site's data removes them.
  • Exported files go to your browser's downloads folder.
  • It also works in a phone's browser. On a narrow screen the tabs move to a bar at the bottom, and Settings opens from the gear on the Labs page.
  • Deploy is not available on the website: a web page cannot compile a sketch or reach a USB port. Export the program instead, or use a desktop app.

Download the app ​

The files are on the Circuit Lab 1.0.0 release page on GitHub. Circuit Lab lives on a personal GitHub account, github.com/dhivadhiva, not the Dhiva-Labs organisation.

FileFor
circuit-lab-1.0.0-linux-x64.tar.gzLinux, 64-bit
circuit-lab_1.0.0_amd64.snapLinux, 64-bit, as a snap
circuit-lab-1.0.0-windows-x64.zipWindows 10 or 11, 64-bit
circuit-lab-1.0.0-web.zipThe web build, to host on your own server
SHA256SUMS.txtChecksums for the files above

There is no Android build yet.

Linux ​

The tarball ​

  1. Download circuit-lab-1.0.0-linux-x64.tar.gz from the release page.

  2. Unpack it in a terminal, in the folder you downloaded it to:

    bash
    tar -xzf circuit-lab-1.0.0-linux-x64.tar.gz

    This makes a folder called circuit-lab-1.0.0-linux-x64.

  3. Start the app:

    bash
    ./circuit-lab-1.0.0-linux-x64/circuit_lab

The app needs GTK 3. A tarball does not update itself and adds no menu entry; see Installing apps.

The snap ​

The snap is not in the Snap Store. Download the .snap file and install it from the file:

bash
sudo snap install --dangerous circuit-lab_1.0.0_amd64.snap

--dangerous is needed because the file did not come from the Snap Store, so snapd cannot check its signature. Start the app from your menu, or run circuit-lab. A snap installed from a file does not update itself.

Deploying to a board from inside the snap needs access to the serial port, which a snap does not get by itself:

bash
sudo snap connect circuit-lab:serial-port
sudo snap connect circuit-lab:raw-usb

WARNING

Uploading to a board from the snap has not been tried yet. If you want to try Deploy, the tarball is the simpler choice.

Windows ​

  1. Download circuit-lab-1.0.0-windows-x64.zip from the release page.

  2. Right-click it, choose Extract All, and extract it.

  3. Open the circuit-lab-1.0.0-windows-x64 folder and run circuit_lab.exe.

The program is not code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen asks before the first run. Check that the file came from the Circuit Lab release page before you allow it.

WARNING

The Windows build was made by the project's build workflow and has not been run on a Windows machine yet. If it does not start, please report it on the issues page.

Check a download ​

Download SHA256SUMS.txt into the same folder as the file, then, on Linux:

bash
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS.txt --ignore-missing

OK next to the file name means it arrived intact.

Host the web build yourself ​

circuit-lab-1.0.0-web.zip is the same app as the website. Unzip it into a folder on your web server, with index.html at the top of that folder. Deploy does not work from a hosted copy.

Build from source ​

The app is written in Flutter. With the Flutter SDK installed, from a clone of the repository:

bash
git clone https://github.com/dhivadhiva/circuit_lab.git
cd circuit_lab
flutter run -d linux

Use -d chrome for the web version or -d windows on a Windows machine. flutter build linux --release and flutter build web --release make release builds.

Next steps ​