# What is Kode

The Kode Dot in one page: what the device is, what is inside it, and the three ways to put something on it.

## What it is

The Kode Dot is a pocket-sized computer for making things: a screen you
touch, buttons, sensors that know how it is moving, a microphone and a
speaker, three short-range radios, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a battery, a card
slot, and a header on the back where modules and your own circuits plug in.
Everything is wired and cased, so a project starts at the idea instead of at
the breadboard.

It is open hardware. You program it in C with Espressif's ESP-IDF, the
same way you program any ESP32, and the schematics of every board are
published on this site. Or you skip the programming and install an app
somebody else made, from a computer or from your phone.

## What is inside

| Part | What it is |
| --- | --- |
| Computer | ESP32-P4, two RISC-V cores at 400 MHz, 32 MB of RAM, 32 MB of flash |
| Wireless | ESP32-C5 beside it: Wi-Fi on 2.4 and 5 GHz, and Bluetooth |
| Screen | 2.06-inch AMOLED, 410 by 502, with capacitive touch |
| Buttons | A four-way pad and two singles |
| Motion | Accelerometer, gyroscope and compass, nine axes |
| Sound | A microphone and a speaker through one codec |
| Radios | NFC at 13.56 MHz, 125 kHz RFID, and infrared in and out |
| Feedback | An RGB status LED and a vibration motor |
| Power | A lithium battery, USB-C charging, and 5 V out to the header |
| Storage | A microSD slot |
| Expansion | A 20-pin header with 14 GPIOs, and a magnetic connector |

Each part has its own page under Kode Dot, starting at `device/overview`.

## Three ways to put something on it

| Way | What you need | Where |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Install an app from the marketplace | A computer with Chrome or Edge and a USB-C cable, or the Kode app on a phone | `start/first-app` |
| Build your own with ESP-IDF | A computer with the toolchain installed and the same cable | `build/setup` |
| Snap on a module | Nothing: it plugs into the header | `modules/overview` |

## Gotchas

> **NOTE**
>
> **An app goes on over the cable, over Bluetooth or over Wi-Fi.** The cable
> and Bluetooth need the Kode Dot within reach. Wi-Fi needs it on your account
> and online: `ecosystem/marketplace` has the steps.

> **NOTE**
>
> **There is no sub-GHz radio in the base device.** That is on the F*CK and
> Mesh modules. The battery's capacity is **TBD** on this site.