Required Software

Six programs have to be on your laptop before your first line of code. All of them are free, and all of them run on Windows and on macOS.

Program	What you need it for	Where to get it
Python	the language you program in	python.org
Git	fetches the course material and the `lifi_hardware` module	git-scm.com
Visual Studio Code	the editor you write in	code.visualstudio.com
OpenCode	your AI assistant	opencode.ai
Brick Daemon	connects your hardware to the laptop	Tinkerforge downloads
Brick Viewer	shows whether the hardware is recognised, and helps you find faults	Tinkerforge downloads

On top of these comes the module lifi_hardware, which is how your programs talk to your device. It is installed with a single command and brings the Tinkerforge library with it.

What each program does

Python is the language you write your sender and receiver in. It reads almost like English, which makes it a good first language, but it is not a toy. Python is one of the most widely used languages there are: data analysis, artificial intelligence, automation, scientific computing and a large part of the web run on it. What you learn here you can use straight away elsewhere.

Git you need in this project only for fetching files: once for the course material, which holds everything your AI assistant needs to know about the module, and once for installing lifi_hardware, which is also fetched through Git. When something is added during the course, you get the new version with one command. Git can do a great deal more, but you will not need it here.

Visual Studio Code is the editor. This is where you write your code, where you see your files, and where the terminal lives in which you start your programs.

OpenCode is the AI assistant. It runs in the terminal, which means it also runs in the terminal inside VS Code, and it can read and change your project files. How to work with it is on its own page.

Brick Daemon is a background program. It runs invisibly and translates between the hardware on the USB port and your Python programs. Without it your program cannot find the device. When one day nothing works at all, “is the Brick Daemon even running?” is one of the first questions to ask.

Brick Viewer is a window onto your hardware. It shows you which parts are recognised, lets you switch the LED by hand and watch the sensor values run, all without a line of your own code. For finding faults it is worth gold: if it works in the Brick Viewer, the fault is in your program. If it does not, the fault is somewhere before your program.

Installation step by step

Keep to the order, some steps build on earlier ones. Allow an afternoon. Installations rarely go through at the first attempt, and that is not your fault.

Let the assistant help you install

As soon as OpenCode from step 4 is running, you can ask it for help with everything that follows. Paste an error message, or take a screenshot of the window you are stuck at and hand it over: the assistant can read screenshots. It will walk you through the remaining steps, make sense of error messages and check whether something is missing. More on what it can do for you under Working with your AI assistant.

If you still get stuck, keep the error message word for word. Somebody who can help will want to see exactly that.

1. Python

Download the installer from python.org/downloads and run it.

Important: in the first window, tick “Add python.exe to PATH” before you click “Install Now”. Without that tick the command line will not find Python later, and this is by far the most common stumbling block.

To check, open the Command Prompt and type

python --version

A version number should appear, something like Python 3.13.1.

A Mac comes with an older Python preinstalled, but you should not use that one. Download the installer from python.org/downloads and run it.

To check, open the Terminal and type

python3 --version

A version number should appear, something like Python 3.13.1.

Remember: on a Mac the command is python3, not python.

2. Git

Download Git from git-scm.com/downloads and install it. You can accept the installer’s defaults throughout.

This also installs Git Bash, a terminal you will need for OpenCode in step 4.

To check, in the Command Prompt:

git --version

In the Terminal, simply type

git --version

If Git is missing, macOS offers to install the Command Line Tools by itself. Accept and wait until it is done. Alternatively via Homebrew: brew install git.

3. Visual Studio Code

Download the editor from code.visualstudio.com and install it. At the first start it offers to install the Python extension. Accept.

Two things to try right away:

Open a folder via File > Open Folder. VS Code always works with a folder, not with single files.
Open a terminal via Terminal > New Terminal. This window at the bottom of the editor is the command line where you start your programs, and where you continue in a moment.

4. OpenCode

OpenCode runs in the terminal. Use the terminal inside VS Code for it.

Open a terminal in VS Code and choose Git Bash at the top right of the terminal window. There:

curl -fsSL https://opencode.ai/install | bash

In the Terminal:

curl -fsSL https://opencode.ai/install | bash

Alternatively via Homebrew: brew install sst/tap/opencode.

To check: opencode --version.

After that, OpenCode has to be connected to a language model. Which model you use and how you get access depends on where you are taking this course; your course will tell you. If you are working on your own, the OpenCode documentation lists the providers it works with.

5. Brick Daemon and Brick Viewer

You get both from the Tinkerforge download page. Download the version for your operating system and install it.

On Windows these are two .exe installers, on macOS two .dmg packages that you open and drag into the Applications folder.

The Brick Daemon starts by itself afterwards and keeps running as a background service. You do not see it, and that is normal.

6. The module `lifi_hardware`

This is how your Python programs talk to the hardware. In the terminal:

pip install git+https://github.com/winf-hsos/lifi-hardware.git

On a Mac, pip3 instead of pip if needed.

The package brings the Tinkerforge library along as a dependency, so you do not install that separately. And because the address starts with git+, pip fetches the package through Git. That is why Git from step 2 had to come first.

When a new version of the module appears during the course, you get it with

pip install --upgrade --force-reinstall git+https://github.com/winf-hsos/lifi-hardware.git

7. Fetch the course material

This gives you the knowledge base of the module and the instructions your assistant follows.

git clone <ADDRESS-OF-THE-REPOSITORY>

Then open the resulting folder in VS Code. When something is added during the course, you get the new version with git pull.

8. Check that everything works together

Connect a device over USB and start the Brick Viewer. If your Master Brick shows up there with the LED and the colour sensor, the installation is complete. Click around and switch the LED on by hand. That is not programming yet, but it is proof that everything is talking to everything else.

When something does not work

The three questions that help most often:

Is the Brick Daemon running? Without it no program finds the hardware.
Does the Brick Viewer show your device? If not, the fault is before your code.
Are you using python or python3, pip or pip3? On a Mac it is almost always the one with the 3.