# Raspberry Pi Pico SDK

Repository: https://github.com/raspberrypi/pico-sdk
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/raspberry-pi-pico-sdk
Language: C
License: BSD-3-Clause
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-08-24T13:42:50+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 88/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 67, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2051, "days_push": 9, "days_rel": 61, "gap_med": 160, "n_releases_24m": 4}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 4940, forks 1270 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:02.812612+00:00)

## What it is
The official C/C++ SDK for Raspberry Pi Pico and other RP-series microcontrollers, providing headers, libraries, and a CMake-based build system. It exposes hardware APIs including PIO, USB, multicore, timers, and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth without requiring direct register access.

## Use cases
- write firmware for raspberry pi pico in c or c++
- program rp2040 microcontroller hardware
- use pio programmable io on pico
- build usb devices with pico
- add wifi and bluetooth to pico w projects
- flash multicore applications on rp2350

## When to choose
- you want official, well-documented support for RP-series chips
- you need low-level hardware access with high-level library conveniences
- you are building C/C++ firmware for Pico boards

## When to avoid
- you prefer MicroPython or CircuitPython for rapid prototyping
- you target non-RP microcontrollers like AVR or STM32
- you want an Arduino-style ecosystem with library managers

## Facets
- artifact type: framework
- maturity: stable
- function: embedded, build-tool, sdk, concurrency, networking
- domain: embedded-systems, hardware, developer-tools, iot
- platform: embedded, cpp, c, cross-platform
- tags: raspberry-pi, rp2040, rp2350, microcontroller, pio, firmware, cmake

## Member repositories
- raspberrypi/pico-sdk (main) score 88
- raspberrypi/pico-examples (examples) score 73

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:02.812612+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T18:17:55.272307+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/raspberrypi/pico-sdk (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:02.812612+00:00, sha 946448f7bf71)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.