Installing the nRF Connect SDK

The nRF Connect SDK includes the libraries and samples that you need to build an application. It also contains the required development tools, including nRF Connect for Visual Studio Code.

The recommended way to install the nRF Connect SDK is through an app in nRF Connect for Desktop.

nRF Connect for Desktop provides different apps to simplify installing the nRF Connect SDK, depending on the operating system that you are using.
Note: If you prefer to install the nRF Connect SDK manually, see Installing the nRF Connect SDK manually for instructions.

Complete the following steps to install the nRF Connect SDK using an nRF Connect for Desktop app:

  1. Download and install nRF Connect for Desktop.
  2. Install and run one of the following apps:
    • On Windows or macOS, use the Toolchain manager. This app installs the full sandboxed toolchain that you need, including nRF Connect for Visual Studio Code and the nRF Connect SDK source code.
    • On Linux, use nRF Connect for Visual Studio Code. This app assists you in setting up the toolchain and the nRF Connect SDK source code.
    See nRF Connect for Desktop for information about how to install and open apps.
  3. Follow the instructions in the app to install the nRF Connect SDK.
  4. Make sure that you have the correct version of the nRF Connect SDK source code. Unless instructed otherwise, you should work with the last tagged release of the nRF Connect SDK.
    • If you used the Toolchain manager app, you installed a specific version and no further action is required.
    • If you used nRF Connect for Visual Studio Code, make sure that you checked out the correct version and ran west update.
    If you want to switch to a different tagged release or to the latest version on the main branch, see Updating the repositories for instructions.
Parent topic: Setting up your toolchain