Agent skill

Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control

by sipeed in sipeed/picoclaw

Reads and controls I2C and SPI peripherals on Sipeed boards such as LicheeRV Nano, MaixCAM and NanoKVM through the i2c and spi tools.

MITAuto-check passedDevelopment

Install Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control

skills CLI
$ npx skills add sipeed/picoclaw --skill hardware -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install sipeed/picoclaw hardware --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/workspace/skills/hardware .claude/skills/hardware && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
hardware
GitHub stars
30k
Token cost
~578 tokens
SKILL.md length
242 words
Files
3 (incl. references)
Skills in repo
5
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Reads and controls I2C and SPI peripherals on Sipeed boards such as LicheeRV Nano, MaixCAM and NanoKVM through the i2c and spi tools.

  • Works in 4 steps: Stop WiFi if using shared pins:… → Load i2c-dev module: modprobe i2c-dev → Configure pinmux with devmem… → …
  • Reading a sensor connected over I2C on a LicheeRV Nano, MaixCAM or NanoKVM
  • SKILL.md covers Quick Start, Before You Start — Pinmux Setup, Safety and Common Devices, plus 1 more section
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

The agent uses the i2c and spi tools to talk to sensors, displays and other peripherals attached to a Sipeed board. Because most I2C and SPI pins are shared with WiFi, the skill walks through pinmux setup first: stop WiFi when pins are shared, load the i2c-dev module, configure pinmux with devmem using board-specific commands, then verify with the detect and scan commands. A board pinout reference holds those commands.

Safety rules require confirm set to true for any write, so the agent asks you first. I2C addresses are validated to the seven-bit range, SPI modes to 0 through 3, and transfers are capped at 256 bytes for I2C and 4096 bytes for SPI. A common-devices reference gives register maps for parts like the AHT20, BME280, SSD1306 OLED, MPU6050 IMU, DS3231 RTC, INA219 power monitor and PCA9685 PWM, and a troubleshooting table covers missing buses, permissions, empty scans and SPI replies of all zeros or all 0xFF.

When your agent uses it

  • Reading a sensor connected over I2C on a LicheeRV Nano, MaixCAM or NanoKVM
  • Scanning for I2C devices and finding the current bus number
  • Driving an SPI display or peripheral with confirmed writes
  • Debugging empty bus scans or SPI transfers that return all zeros

Example prompts

  • “Scan the I2C bus on my MaixCAM and tell me which addresses respond.”
  • “Read temperature and humidity from the AHT20 on the NanoKVM.”
  • “My SPI transfer returns all 0xFF, so help me work out why.”

Requirements

  • A Sipeed board such as LicheeRV Nano, MaixCAM or NanoKVM
  • The i2c and spi tools
  • Root access or membership of the i2c group

Workflow steps

4 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Stop WiFi if using shared pins: /etc/init.d/S30wifi stop
  2. Load i2c-dev module: modprobe i2c-dev
  3. Configure pinmux with devmem (board-specific)
  4. Verify with i2c detect and i2c scan

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit bbf6893. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control loads about 578 tokens when it runs, and up to ~2.4k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 25 tokens; SKILL.md has 242 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~25
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~578
With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them
~2.4k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from sipeed/picoclaw at commit bbf6893, republished under its MIT licence (© sipeed). 242 words, ~578 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/hardware/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder). This skill also uses 2 other files; get the full folder from GitHub.
name
hardware
description
Read and control I2C and SPI peripherals on Sipeed boards (LicheeRV Nano, MaixCAM, NanoKVM).
homepage
https://wiki.sipeed.com/hardware/en/lichee/RV_Nano/1_intro.html

Hardware (I2C / SPI)

Use the i2c and spi tools to interact with sensors, displays, and other peripherals connected to the board.

Quick Start

# 1. Find available buses
i2c detect

# 2. Scan for connected devices
i2c scan  (bus: "1")

# 3. Read from a sensor (e.g. AHT20 temperature/humidity)
i2c read  (bus: "1", address: 0x38, register: 0xAC, length: 6)

# 4. SPI devices
spi list
spi read  (device: "2.0", length: 4)

Before You Start — Pinmux Setup

Most I2C/SPI pins are shared with WiFi on Sipeed boards. You must configure pinmux before use.

See references/board-pinout.md for board-specific commands.

Common steps:

  1. Stop WiFi if using shared pins: /etc/init.d/S30wifi stop
  2. Load i2c-dev module: modprobe i2c-dev
  3. Configure pinmux with devmem (board-specific)
  4. Verify with i2c detect and i2c scan

Safety

  • Write operations require confirm: true — always confirm with the user first
  • I2C addresses are validated to 7-bit range (0x03-0x77)
  • SPI modes are validated (0-3 only)
  • Maximum per-transaction: 256 bytes (I2C), 4096 bytes (SPI)

Common Devices

See references/common-devices.md for register maps and usage of popular sensors: AHT20, BME280, SSD1306 OLED, MPU6050 IMU, DS3231 RTC, INA219 power monitor, PCA9685 PWM, and more.

Troubleshooting

ProblemSolution
No I2C buses foundmodprobe i2c-dev and check device tree
Permission deniedRun as root or add user to i2c group
No devices on scanCheck wiring, pull-up resistors (4.7k typical), and pinmux
Bus number changedI2C adapter numbers can shift between boots; use i2c detect to find current assignment
WiFi stopped workingI2C-1/SPI-2 share pins with WiFi SDIO; can't use both simultaneously
devmem not foundDownload separately or use busybox devmem
SPI transfer returns all zerosCheck MISO wiring and device power
SPI transfer returns all 0xFFDevice not responding; check CS pin and clock polarity (mode)

© sipeed, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 2 other files (references) in workspace/skills/hardware of sipeed/picoclaw.

  • SKILL.md
  • references/board-pinout.md
  • references/common-devices.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit bbf6893

Compare with similar skills

Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control this skillsipeed/picoclaw30k—~578Automated safety check: PassMIT
Authoring VPhone Patch SetsLakr233/vphone-cli15k—~4.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
RuView Hardware Setupruvnet/RuView97k—~1.8kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Esp32 Firmware Engineeralxv2016/folloup-sticky1151 repos~3.8kAutomated safety check: PassGPL-3.0
ExecuTorch Binary Size Reductionpytorch/executorch5.1k—~793Automated safety check: PassCustom licence
RuView mmWave Radar Setupruvnet/RuView97k—~907Automated safety check: NotesMIT

Similar skills

  • Authoring VPhone Patch Sets

    Lakr233/vphone-cli

    Explains how to declare a firmware patch in a vphone patch set, add a new set, or write a preset, including naming, gating and the checks that catch undeclared patches.

    15k GitHub stars~4.6k tokensUpdated today
    DevelopmentAuto-check passed
  • Brings a RuView CSI sensing node online by building ESP32-S3 or ESP32-C6 firmware, flashing the board, provisioning WiFi and checking the serial output.

    97k GitHub stars~1.8k tokensUpdated today
    DevelopmentAuto-check: notes
  • Esp32 Firmware Engineer

    alxv2016/folloup-sticky

    ESP32 firmware engineering for ESP-IDF projects. An agent skill from alxv2016/folloup-sticky.

    115 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~3.8k tokens
    DevelopmentAuto-check passed
  • Measures and shrinks the ExecuTorch runtime binary by building a size test, analyzing it with bloaty and landing each reduction as its own pull request.

    5.1k GitHub stars~793 tokensUpdated today
    DevelopmentAuto-check passed
  • Sets up and runs 60 GHz and 24 GHz mmWave radar sensing on ESP32 boards in RuView, alone or fused with WiFi CSI.

    97k GitHub stars~907 tokensUpdated today
    DevelopmentAuto-check: notes
  • Driver Review

    FastLED/FastLED

    Review and implement hardware driver code — DMA safety, interrupt correctness, timing constraints, peripheral register usage, channel drivers, and peripheral mock implementations.

    7.5k GitHub stars~3.1k tokensUpdated today
    DevelopmentAuto-check passed

More from sipeed/picoclaw

  • Agent Browser CLI

    sipeed/picoclaw

    Automates a Chrome or Chromium browser through the agent-browser CLI: navigate, fill forms, click, screenshot and extract data using element refs.

    30k GitHub stars~1.1k tokensUpdated 13 days ago
    Auto-check passed
  • Picoclaw Skill Creator

    sipeed/picoclaw

    Guidance for creating, updating and reviewing Picoclaw skills, from the SKILL.md structure to organizing bundled scripts, references and assets.

    30k GitHub stars~4.4k tokensUpdated 13 days ago
    Auto-check passed
  • PicoClaw Agent

    sipeed/picoclaw

    Answers questions about running and changing PicoClaw, from onboarding and model selection to MCP server setup, skill loading and scheduled jobs.

    30k GitHub stars~7.2k tokensUpdated 13 days ago
    Auto-check: notes
  • Weather Lookup

    sipeed/picoclaw

    Looks up current weather and forecasts with curl and verified location matching, using wttr.in for city names and Open-Meteo for structured data.

    30k GitHub stars~657 tokensUpdated 13 days ago
    Auto-check passed

Categories

Questions about Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control

What does Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control do?

Reads and controls I2C and SPI peripherals on Sipeed boards such as LicheeRV Nano, MaixCAM and NanoKVM through the i2c and spi tools. The agent uses the i2c and spi tools to talk to sensors, displays and other peripherals attached to a Sipeed board. Because most I2C and SPI pins are shared with WiFi, the skill walks through pinmux setup first: stop WiFi when pins are shared, load the i2c-dev module, configure pinmux with devmem using board-specific commands, then verify with the detect and scan commands.

When should I use Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control?

Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control fits situations like: reading a sensor connected over I2C on a LicheeRV Nano, MaixCAM or NanoKVM; scanning for I2C devices and finding the current bus number; driving an SPI display or peripheral with confirmed writes; debugging empty bus scans or SPI transfers that return all zeros.

How do I install Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add sipeed/picoclaw --skill hardware -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (workspace/skills/hardware in sipeed/picoclaw) into .claude/skills/hardware in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control in Codex?

Run `npx skills add sipeed/picoclaw --skill hardware -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (workspace/skills/hardware in sipeed/picoclaw) into .agents/skills/hardware in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add sipeed/picoclaw --skill hardware -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/hardware, .gemini/skills/hardware, .github/skills/hardware and .opencode/skills/hardware in your project.

What does Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control is instructions for the agent only. Our summary lists: A Sipeed board such as LicheeRV Nano, MaixCAM or NanoKVM; The i2c and spi tools; Root access or membership of the i2c group.

Does Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control use?

Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control use?

About 578 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2.3k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 1.8k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.

What are the alternatives to Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control: Authoring VPhone Patch Sets (Lakr233/vphone-cli, 15k stars), RuView Hardware Setup (ruvnet/RuView, 97k stars), Esp32 Firmware Engineer (alxv2016/folloup-sticky, 115 stars) and ExecuTorch Binary Size Reduction (pytorch/executorch, 5.1k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Sipeed I2C and SPI Hardware Control?

sipeed (a GitHub organization) maintains it in sipeed/picoclaw, which has 30,010 GitHub stars. The repository holds 5 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 24, 2026.

Source: sipeed/picoclaw on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.