Hardware Development

The Tuya IoT Development Platform supports multiple connection methods for devices. It provides device SDK which meets the need of various devices and scenes. You can select a desired development method for a specific product category. To develop products efficiently and correctly, please read the following content carefully.

Development methods

The cloud connection method is the firmware development method for devices to be connected to the cloud. It is hereinafter referred to as the development method. The Tuya IoT Development Platform has initiated no-code development and provides three development methods—TuyaOS, Link SDK, and MCU SDK.

Prerequisites

You have created at least one product. For details, see Create Products.

General development process

The following steps describe how to develop a product in a general way. Some steps might vary depending on the development method.

1. Log in to the Tuya IoT Development Platform, and click Product > Production in the left navigation bar.

2. Select a product in the developing status, and click Continue to Develop.

3. In the 3rd step—Hardware Development, confirm the Selected Cloud Access Mode. Tuya has preset the most suitable one according to the solution. The development method is divided into no-code development and custom firmware development.

No-code development

The following steps describe how to configure hardware development based on a no-code solution. For more information, see Create Electrical Products and Create Smart Light.

1. Log in to the Tuya IoT Development Platform, and click Create on the homepage.

2. Select a product and click No-Code Development. According to the protocol and function attributes, select a product.
   

3. Complete product information and click Create to create the product.

4. After you complete function definition and device panel configuration, in the field of Selected Cloud Access Hardware on the page of Hardware Development, select a module for your product.
   The modules can meet your development requirements. We recommend that you select modules in front rows.
   

5. (Optional) You can click Hardware Details to view the module information. Click Select to select a module. You can change it as needed.

6. In the area of Generate firmware, you can configure the firmware setting and click Generate Firmware below the page. The firmware will be generated for the selected hardware.
   

   During the process of configuring firmware, on the right of the page, you can see the I/O port table of the module. Check firmware configuration information, change the parameters based on your actual requirements, and keep the information securely.
   All modules will be burned according to the firmware configuration information. The modules cannot be changed after being sent. If you change the firmware configuration information after the module is sent, the two versions will be inconsistent. The previous product cannot be updated online. The I/O configuration information varies depending on the product.

7. Enter information according to the specific version.

8. In the area of Development and Debugging, you can view the circuit diagram, download the Tuya Cloud Test app, and read the document for test.
   

9. (Optional) In the Operation bar in the section of Selected Cloud Access Hardware, click Buy Now to purchase the module online for debugging.
   The above firmware configuration is burned to the module. It can be directly used to debug the product after you place an order.

Custom solution

If you connect your devices to the cloud by the firmware developed by MCU SDK, TuyaOS, and Link SDK, you are using a custom solution. It is also called custom firmware development.

1. Select one connection method from MCU SDK, TuyaOS, and Link SDK. For the differences in development methods, see Development methods in this document.

2. After you complete function definition and device panel configuration, in the field of Selected Cloud Access Hardware on the page of Hardware Development, select a module for your product.
   The modules can meet your development requirements. We recommend that you select modules in front rows.
   

3. (Optional) You can click Hardware Details to view the module information. Click Select to select a module. You can change it as needed.

4. After you select the hardware, click Generate Firmware, the firmware or SDK will be generated automatically.

   

5. In the area of Development and Debugging, you can view the circuit diagram, download the Tuya Cloud Test app, and read the document for the test.

6. (Optional) In the Operation column of the selected firmware, click Buy Now to purchase firmware for debugging.
   The above firmware configuration is burned to the module. It can be directly used to debug the product after you place an order.

Next steps

After completing the hardware development, you can select and manage the firmware for the product. For more information, see Select and Change the Firmware Version.