PlatformIO Core (CLI tool) is a heart of whole PlatformIO ecosystem and consists of
- Multi-platform Build System
- Development platform and package managers
- :ref:`librarymanager`
- :ref:`ldf`
- :ref:`Serial Port Monitor <cmd_device_monitor>`
- Integration components (:ref:`ide` and :ref:`ci`).
PlatformIO Core is written in Python and works on Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD and ARM-based credit-card sized computers (Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, CubieBoard, Samsung ARTIK, etc.).
PlatformIO Core provides a rich and documented Command Line Interface (CLI). The other PlatformIO-based software and IDEs are based on PlatformIO Core CLI, such as :ref:`pioide`. In other words, they wrap PlatformIO Core with own GUI.
Note
Please note that you do not need to install PlatformIO Core if you are going to use :ref:`pioide`. PlatformIO Core is built into PlatformIO IDE and you will be able to use it within PlatformIO IDE Terminal.
If you need PlatformIO Core commands outside PlatformIO IDE, please :ref:`piocore_install_shell_commands`.
.. toctree::
:maxdepth: 2
userguide/demo
installation
quickstart
userguide/index