Get Started

Lightnet is a DIY project — there is no pre-built kit to buy. Every controller and every panel is something you assemble yourself. This guide walks you end-to-end through the path most people take:

• 1. Build the hardware

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  What boards you need, how the panels and controller fit together, and where to find schematics and a parts list.

  Start here

• 2. Prepare your tools

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  Install PlatformIO, clone the firmware, plug in a programmer — get a working toolchain before you touch a soldering iron.

  Toolchain setup

• 3. Flash the firmware

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  Burn the panel bootloader and fuses, flash each panel, then flash the controller.

  Flashing

• 4. First boot & Wi-Fi

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  Power the controller, join its captive portal, point it at your home Wi-Fi, and watch it discover panels.

  First boot

• 5. Use the app

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  Install the mobile app, let it find the controller via mDNS, and start controlling panels.

  Use the app

• Where to go next

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  Once it's running, dig into the firmware internals, the HTTP/WebSocket API, or the mobile codebase.

  Next steps

Reading order

Follow the steps in order on your first build. After that, the Firmware and App sections are the reference docs you'll keep coming back to.

Three audiences, one guide

• Builder — you are assembling the hardware and flashing it. Stay on this page through step 5.
• User — someone built the hardware for you; you just need the app. Skip to step 5.
• Developer — you want to read the code or extend it. Skim steps 1–4, then jump to Where to go next.