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Getting Started

Go from a fresh machine to a running firmware image in minutes. The three guides below cover everything you need — prerequisites, your first build, and a library of ready-made examples to explore.

What NSX is for

NSX is a development and evaluation vehicle for Ambiq SoCs — ideal for AI/ML bring-up, profiling, benchmarking, and demos. Prototype and measure here, then graduate proven work into your own build.

What You'll Build

In about five minutes you'll scaffold an app, cross-compile it for an Apollo510 EVB, flash it over J-Link, and watch a live SWO heartbeat stream from the board — all driven by five nsx commands.

No board on hand? You can still install the toolchain and configure + build a firmware image. Only flash and view need hardware.

  • Install and Setup

    Install the toolchain, set up the Python environment, and verify everything works with nsx doctor.

    Install

  • First App

    Scaffold a project, resolve modules, build the firmware, flash it to an EVB, and stream live SWO output.

    Build your first app

  • Examples

    Ten maintained example apps — hello world, FreeRTOS, CoreMark, BLE, audio, USB, ML inference, profiling, and power measurement.

    Browse examples

What You'll Need

A quick glance — see Install and Setup for versions and platform-specific install commands.

Requirement Why
Python 3.10+ NSX CLI and module resolution run on Python
uv Fast dependency manager used by the project
CMake + Ninja Build system underneath every generated app
Arm GNU Toolchain Default cross-compiler for Cortex-M targets
SEGGER J-Link Flash and SWO viewer — only needed for nsx flash / nsx view

armclang and ATfE are also supported, but optional — GCC builds every example.

Notation

Throughout the docs you'll see one universal placeholder path:

  • <app-dir> — the directory of a generated or example app (whatever you passed to nsx create-app, or the path to a checked-out example).

Replace it with your actual path when running commands. Contributor-oriented docs may also reference <nsx-repo>, the root of a local clone of the neuralspotx repository — normal app developers do not need one.