# Adding NodeMCU support to Arduino IDE

This guide will help you program the **NodeMCU** using the **Arduino IDE**.

### Step 1: Connect Your NodeMCU to Your Computer

You need a **USB micro B cable** to connect the NodeMCU board to your computer. Once connected, a **blue LED** will start flashing.

If your computer does not detect the NodeMCU board, you may need to download the appropriate driver from the following link:

* [USB to UART Bridge VCP Drivers](https://www.silabs.com/products/development-tools/software/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers)

### Step 2: Open Arduino IDE

Ensure you have **Arduino IDE version 1.6.4** or later to proceed.

1. Go to **File > Preferences**.
2. In the **"Additional Boards Manager URLs"** field, type (or copy-paste) the following URL:

   ```
   http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json
   ```
3. Click **OK**.
4. Now, go to **Tools > Board > Board Manager**.
5. In the search field, type **"esp8266"**.
6. You should see an entry named **"esp8266 by ESP8266 Community"**. Click on it and press the **Install** button on the lower right.

Once the download is complete, you're ready to start coding!

### Step 3: Make an LED Blink Using NodeMCU

For our first program, we will blink an LED connected to one of the digital pins of the NodeMCU board. **Note**: The pin names printed on the board may differ from the pin names used in the program.

In this example, we'll connect the LED to **D7**, which corresponds to **GPIO13**. Below is the code (which is a modified version of the Arduino **Blink** example):

```cpp
// The setup function runs once when you press reset or power the board
void setup() {
  // Initialize digital pin 13 (D7) as an output.
  pinMode(13, OUTPUT);
}

// The loop function runs over and over again forever
void loop() {
  digitalWrite(13, HIGH);   // Turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
  delay(1000);              // Wait for one second
  digitalWrite(13, LOW);    // Turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
  delay(1000);              // Wait for one second
}
```

#### NodeMCU Pin Mapping

* In this example, **D7** (as printed on the board) corresponds to **GPIO13** in the code.

Ensure that the LED is connected to the correct pin as per the board's pinout.