CheerLights – About Things | A Hans Scharler Blog https://nothans.com Life, Comedy, Games, Tech, Marketing, and Community Tue, 18 Mar 2025 18:38:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://i0.wp.com/nothans.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/cropped-settings.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 CheerLights – About Things | A Hans Scharler Blog https://nothans.com 32 32 114568856 Learn How to Create Your Own MCP Server for Claude Desktop and Windsurf https://nothans.com/learn-how-to-create-your-own-mcp-server-for-claude-desktop-and-windsurf https://nothans.com/learn-how-to-create-your-own-mcp-server-for-claude-desktop-and-windsurf#respond Tue, 18 Mar 2025 18:38:07 +0000 https://nothans.com/?p=5073 The notion of an MCP – Model Context Protocol – has gone viral!

MCP attempts to standardize how LLM tools like Claude Desktop and Windsurf connect with external data sources and tools. So, naturally, I thought, “Put a bird on it.” Er, I mean, “Let’s CheerLight it.” By building a CheerLights interface, I learned everything from how to build Python libraries to Chrome extensions to Adrino integrations.

This looks like a big deal. I recommend that you learn how to build your own MCP server and/or use one of the hundreds that have already been created: https://github.com/punkpeye/awesome-mcp-servers

I am using Windsurf on Windows for this tutorial.

CheerLights MCP in Windsurf

From Windsurf, open the Terminal (View -> Terminal). Create a new folder called, “cheerlights-mcp” and enter it. Create a new file called, “server.py” and copy in the CheerLights MCP server code from GitHub.

From the terminal:

  • PS C:\github> cd .\cheerlights-mcp\
  • PS C:\github\cheerlights-mcp> python -m venv .venv
  • PS C:\github\cheerlights-mcp> .venv\Scripts\activate
  • PS C:\github\cheerlights-mcp> pip install mcp httpx

Add the CheerLights MCP to the Windsurf config file (adjust the path as needed).

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "cheerlights": {
            "command": "python",
            "args": ["C:\\github\\cheerlights-mcp\\server.py"]
        }
    }
}
CheerLights MCP added to the Windsurf MCP Config File

Restart Windsurf.

From the terminal, start the Python server for the MCP: PS C:\github\cheerlights-mcp> python server.py

This should enable the CheerLights MCP and show two tools in the Cascade Chat area.

CheerLights MCP enabled in Windsurf Cascade Chat

To use CheerLights MCP, you can ask Cascade, “What’s the current CheerLights color?” This will eventually get sent to the CheerLights MCP and the get_current_color() tool. If it all works, you will find out the latest color is magenta (or whatever the latest color happens to be)!

CheerLights MCP tells Windsurf the latest color is magenta

All of the source code is available on GitHub. Let me know if you give this a try and if you build your own. Have fun!

]]> https://nothans.com/learn-how-to-create-your-own-mcp-server-for-claude-desktop-and-windsurf/feed 0 5073 Official Arduino Library for CheerLights https://nothans.com/official-arduino-library-for-cheerlights https://nothans.com/official-arduino-library-for-cheerlights#respond Sat, 14 Dec 2024 00:56:08 +0000 https://nothans.com/?p=4975 I have published an official library that supports Arduino-compatible Wi-Fi-enabled boards, along with several examples. The library supports the Arduino MKR1000, Arduino MKR WiFi 1010, Arduino Uno WiFi Rev2, Arduino Mega WiFi Rev2, Arduino Uno R4 WiFi, ESP8266, and ESP32. Include the library at the top of your Arduino sketch, use the method CheerLights.getCurrentColor(), and set the color of your RGB LEDs.

CheerLights Arduino Library

Arduino Library Installation

  1. Open the Arduino IDE.
  2. Select Tools > Manage Libraries.
  3. Search for “CheerLights” and click “install”.
How to Install The CheerLights Library for Arduino

CheerLights Arduino Methods

  • begin(const char* ssid, const char* password): Initialize the library with your WiFi credentials to let the library handle the WiFi connection.
  • begin(): Initialize the library without WiFi credentials (use this to manually connect to the WiFi network and manage the WiFi connection outside the library).
  • reconnect(): Reconnect to the WiFi network.
  • isConnected(): Returns a boolean indicating whether the library is connected to the WiFi network.
  • getCurrentColor(): Get the current CheerLights color from ThingSpeak channel 1417. Returns a pointer to a constant char array.
  • currentColorName(): The current CheerLights color name (e.g., “red”). Returns a pointer to a constant char array.
  • currentColorHex(): The current CheerLights color as a hex value (e.g., 0xFF0000). Returns a uint32_t.
  • currentRed(), currentGreen(), currentBlue(): The RGB values for the current CheerLights color (e.g., 255, 0, 0). Returns a uint8_t.
  • currentHue(), currentSaturation(), currentValue(): The HSV values for the current CheerLights color (e.g. 0, 255, 255). Returns a uint16_t for hue and uint8_t for saturation and value.
  • hasColorChanged(): Returns a boolean indicating whether the current CheerLights color has changed since the last call to this method.

CheerLights Projects

Now, that you know about the Arduino library for CheerLights, you might be thinking about what you can do with it. CheerLights is a global network of synchronized lights. The lights are all set to the same color. Anyone can change the color by changing it on the CheerLights Discord Server and other social networks like Mastodon and BlueSky.

Get inspired by taking a look at the build gallery at the CheerLights website.

]]> https://nothans.com/official-arduino-library-for-cheerlights/feed 0 4975 Updating WLED Binary on ESP32-C3 Devices https://nothans.com/updating-wled-binary-on-esp32-c3-devices https://nothans.com/updating-wled-binary-on-esp32-c3-devices#respond Wed, 13 Nov 2024 02:31:39 +0000 https://nothans.com/?p=4871 I recently bought a WLED controller based on the ESP32-C3 microcontroller. It has a button and a 3-pin connector for NeoPixel-style LEDs (WS281x). Once connected to Wi-Fi, this device gives you full access to the configuration, colors, and effects via the WLED app. My goal is to update its code to the latest version of WLED… and maybe connect it to CheerLights.

WLED Installation on Windows

  • Download ‘esptool.exe’ app from the esptool releases area.
  • Download the latest release of WLED for the device that you are using.
  • Plug in the device and note the COM port.
  • Open the Command Prompt and enter this command:
esptool.exe -p COMXXXXX write_flash 0x010000 WLED_0.14.4_ESP32-C3.bin

Note: Change COMXXXXX to the actual COM port that your device is connected to. If your ESP device is on COM 9, then this would be COM9.

Here’s what it looks like when everything works successfully on Windows:

WLED Configuration

This device’s button is on GPIO 9, and the data pin for LED lights is on GPIO 10. I need to set these in the WLED configuration for the lights to work.

  • From WLED, select Config -> LED Preferences.
  • Under LED outputs, enter ’10’ into the GPIO box.
WLED LED Settings
  • Scroll down the GPIO button sections.
  • Select 9 for Button 0 and set to pushbutton.
WLED Button Settings
  • Scroll to the bottom and select Save.

CheerLights Settings (optional)

If (and when) you want to connect this WLED controller to CheerLights, just add the CheerLights MQTT server address to the Sync Interfaces. For MQTT to work, you will need to cycle the power going to the board (i.e., unplug and plug back in).

WLED Settings for CheerLights
]]> https://nothans.com/updating-wled-binary-on-esp32-c3-devices/feed 0 4871 World’s First GPT for IoT? Learn IoT From the CheerLights Expert GPT powered by ChatGPT. https://nothans.com/cheerlights-iot-expert-gpt https://nothans.com/cheerlights-iot-expert-gpt#respond Fri, 17 Nov 2023 22:17:26 +0000 https://nothans.com/?p=4304 CheerLights has entered the chat… the ChatGPT.

We are experiencing the capabilities and limitations of AI collectively. After OpenAI’s Dev Day, I have been thinking of ways to learn the new features, services, and APIs that were dropped. This time of year always brings about a lot of inspiring CheerLights projects and new people joining CheerLights. This also comes with a lot of questions, as the new folks are learning IoT, looking for sample code, or just looking for inspiration on what to build. This gave me an idea and a challenge. Could I build an AI chatbot that can help onboard new people onto the CheerLights project and help them learn IoT?

If you have ChatGPT Plus, you can try the CheerLights IoT Expert bot right now.

CheerLights IoT Expert GPT

What is CheerLights?

CheerLights is an Internet of Things (IoT) project that creates a global network of lights that change color in unison. The concept is straightforward yet powerful: any connected light anywhere in the world will change to the same color when a new color is set. This allows people across different locations to feel connected through a shared lighting experience.

Features of the CheerLights IoT Expert GPT

The CheerLights IoT Expert GPT has a lot of general knowledge of Arduino, ESP Wi-Fi devices, ThingSpeak, and CheerLights. You can ask anything from the basics to advanced things like code generation for a specific device configuration.

  • Natural language interface
  • Onboarding prompts to get started
  • Technical support and debugging
  • Idea generation
  • Code generation
  • The world’s most sophisticated CheerLights color checker

How it works

A Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) is an advanced type of artificial intelligence model designed to understand and generate human-like text. This is the technology that ChatGPT is built on. It’s built using a neural network architecture called a transformer, which excels at processing sequential data like language. GPT models are trained on vast amounts of text data, enabling them to learn language patterns, grammar, and context. They function by predicting the next word in a sequence, considering the words that have already been presented. This capability allows them to generate coherent and contextually relevant text responses. The more they are trained with diverse datasets, the better they become at mimicking human-like writing, answering questions, and even engaging in conversations, making them powerful tools in natural language processing.

OpenAI released a new feature where you can take the power of a foundational language model and direct it towards a specific domain. I created a GPT using all of the CheerLights documentation and blog posts that I have written over the past 12 years. I gave it additional instructions about where to find the latest CheerLights color and the fact that we no longer use Twitter/X. GPT-4 still thinks that you can set the color of everyone’s lights using Twitter (insert sad face emoji), but we are now on a Discord Server!

How to use the CheerLights IoT Expert Chatbot

If you are a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, all you have to do is load up the GPT by clicking this URL: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-E2zjJXE56-cheerlights-iot-expert

From there, just click on an onboarding prompt or type in a message.

Use Cases

Try one of these prompts to help inspire how to use the CheerLights IoT Expert chatbot.

  • How do I tell which pin is the power pin on a WS2812B LED strip?
  • I want a sparkle animation for a NeoPixel strip of 16 LEDs.
  • How do I teach IoT to a group of kids using CheerLights?
  • How do I show the latest color of CheerLights in my Chrome browser?
  • Write Python code that retrieves the last 100 color changes and analyzes the data for any patterns.
  • What are five ideas for a CheerLights display?

Get Started

Give the CheerLights IoT Expert bot a try. It can get things wrong, but it can also surprise you with something that you never thought of before. If it answers something incorrectly, let me know. I can always make changes and provide up-to-date information to make sure the bot gives the best answer possible. I am looking forward to seeing the creative CheerLights displays this season enhanced by ChatGPT. Join the CheerLights Discord server and share all of your awesome projects, ideas, and experiences.

Bonus Prompt

I enabled image creation with DALL-E 3, just for fun. You can ask the CheerLights IoT Expert GPT to create images inspired by the latest CheerLights color. Try this prompt: Create an illustration based on the latest CheerLights color, depicting a globe with electric lights.

]]> https://nothans.com/cheerlights-iot-expert-gpt/feed 0 4304 Moving away from X/Twitter: CheerLights is now a Discord IoT project https://nothans.com/cheerlights-is-now-a-discord-iot-project https://nothans.com/cheerlights-is-now-a-discord-iot-project#comments Wed, 25 Oct 2023 14:56:47 +0000 https://nothans.com/?p=4174 CheerLights is an Internet of Things (IoT) project that allows people from all over the world to synchronize the color of their lights to the same color, creating a kind of global connectedness.

CheerLights as conceptualized by DALL-E 3
CheerLights as conceptualized by DALL-E 3

Twitter/X

According to my own History of the CheerLights Project, I created this project around the idea that anyone on Twitter, ahem, X, could change everyone’s lights. Twitter made the most sense. It was open and had a global reach. And the bonus was that followers of people who joined the project would see the tweets, which caused some of them to join the project. It was a nice, virtuous circle that fueled the growth of CheerLights year over year. 2022 was the biggest year for the project, just hitting its peak at the same time Twitter started to crack. The API access that we have had for over 12 years was cut off, users moved to decentralized platforms, and X’s relevance has been in constant question. Don’t get me wrong. I will always have a special place in my heart for Twitter. I can’t unwind Twitter’s on my professional growth over the last 15 years.

Discord

The CheerLights community got together last year and created a Discord server bot and even released the bot’s source code on GitHub. We did this to increase the number of ways to control the CheerLights network, but as it turned out, this is now the primary way to control CheerLights. Hundreds of our users moved over to the Discord server from Twitter/X. In some ways, Discord is way better. I love being able to chat in real-time with other people who are building CheerLights. A lot of people use Discord. And Discord is constantly evolving and keeping up with the trends by adding admin and community features. In other ways, it is not ideal for CheerLights. Discord servers are not easily discoverable. You have to be in the know. It is hard to attract new users since new users don’t see public mentions of the project. But I am not aiming for perfection. I am aiming for a path forward to keep the project growing. Discord is where we are now. Join us.

Controlling CheerLights on Discord

How can you help?

Since our Discord server is hidden from public view, we could use your help by making CheerLights discoverable. If you share your project on your blog or social channels, include a link to the Discord server invitation. H

CheerLights Discord Server Invitation Link: https://cheerlights.com/discord

Thank you to everyone who has helped build and grow this project over the last 12 years. This is always my favorite time of year getting to see the creative ways CheerLights gets used and how it enables learning of core IoT concepts.

]]> https://nothans.com/cheerlights-is-now-a-discord-iot-project/feed 4 4174 CheerLights for Halloween https://nothans.com/cheerlights-for-halloween-fearlights https://nothans.com/cheerlights-for-halloween-fearlights#respond Tue, 24 Oct 2023 19:27:07 +0000 https://nothans.com/?p=4170 Are you ready? Ready for another season of CheerLights? I love seeing CheerLights have a longer and longer season as the years go by. Last year, many people made Halloween displays that were connected to the CheerLights project… FearLights… if you will.

Cyan FearLights!

CheerLights is a fun way to get started with IoT, microcontrollers, and LED lights. If you know how to make CheerLights work, you can build some other awesome IoT projects. CheerLights is a great project to get people interested in IoT. It’s often used as an “Hello, World” project for the Internet of Things, and what you learn can be applied to other project ideas.

To make a Halloween-inspired project, you can take the CheerLights color and illuminate a pumpkin or even a… skull from Pimoroni.

Pimoroni Wireless Plasma Stick + Glass Skull

Check out other Halloween CheerLights projects over at the CheerLights blog. Have fun with the idea, build something spooky, and help spread the… fear.

Streaming Lo-Fi inspired by the latest CheerLights Color
]]> https://nothans.com/cheerlights-for-halloween-fearlights/feed 0 4170 CheerLights IoT Projects https://nothans.com/cheerlights Wed, 30 Nov 2022 15:12:36 +0000 https://nothans.com/?page_id=3464 CheerLights is an “Internet of Things” project I created in 2011 to help teach people IoT concepts. I consider it a “Hello, World” project to learn IoT protocols, microcontroller programming, and LED light control. CheerLights is a global network of synchronized colored lights. Everyone subscribes to the latest CheerLights color, which sets their lights to the same color. The color is set on the CheerLights Discord Server by anyone.

Projects

For more about the history of CheerLights, read the article: The CheerLights Origin Story: Arduino, IoT, Twitter, and Community

]]> 3464 Give the Gift of CheerLights this Holiday Season https://nothans.com/give-the-gift-of-cheerlights-this-holiday-season https://nothans.com/give-the-gift-of-cheerlights-this-holiday-season#respond Tue, 29 Nov 2022 23:18:34 +0000 https://nothans.com/?p=3455 Tis’ the season. CheerLights season! This might be my favorite time of year. I love seeing people build IoT projects, share their experiences, and control the lights around the world. I love checking the daily action in our community over at Discord.

Borrowing ideas from my Lofi Girl CheerLights Shadowbox project, George and I made a CheerLights Gift for under our Christmas tree. This gift changes color based on the latest CheerLights color and anyone on Twitter or Discord can change its color and the color of all of the other CheerLights projects.

CheerLights Gift Under the Tree

The CheerLights Gift project is based on the Pimoroni Plasma Stick 2040 W and NeoPixel string lights for illumination. The Plasma Stick ships with CheerLights code main MicroPython file, so all you have to do is change the Wi-Fi network name and password. The microcontroller makes a request to the ThingSpeak API to get the latest CheerLights color, sets the color of the NeoPixel LED lights, waits 10 seconds, and repeats. This is about the fastest way to build your own CheerLights display.

Metal Giftbox with Pimoroni Plasma Stick 2040 W

I used a metal gift box that I found in a craft store to house the lights and controller. All we needed to do was stuff the LEDs inside and glue them in place. I only burned my fingers twice.

Hot gluing NeoPixel LEDs

The project turned out well and kept my five-year-old’s interest for the duration of the build. I was happy that the Plasma Stick 2040 W made it really easy to get the project going.

George Loves Cyan

Join the CheerLights IoT community at CheerLights.com.

]]> https://nothans.com/give-the-gift-of-cheerlights-this-holiday-season/feed 0 3455 Internet-connected Lofi Girl Shadowbox https://nothans.com/lofi-girl-shadowbox https://nothans.com/lofi-girl-shadowbox#respond Wed, 16 Nov 2022 02:21:37 +0000 https://nothans.com/?p=3436 Lofi Girl got me through countless hours of programming and PowerPoint creating. Lofi Girl is a mix of low-fidelity music and 2D animation that streams on YouTube. It’s really popular. The chill aesthetic has made its way to merch like hoodies, plush toys, and posters. Since I have spent a lot of time vibing to the music and the video over the years, I wanted to build something to honor the special place Lo-Fi has in my heart and of course connect it to the internet. Behold… The LofiGirl Shadowbox with CheerLights…

Lofi Girl Shadowbox

The Lofi Girl Shadowbox is backlit with the latest color of CheerLights. It’s always changing based on what people set the color to on Twitter and Discord.

Parts

Assembly

The poster that I got from the Lofi Girl shop was 30cm x 45cm and on really thin paper. I used the repositionable glue squares to stick the poster on the black foam board. This gives the poster some structure. I cut a hole in the back of the shadowbox and feed the USB cable through. I cut out a rough shape of the Pimoroni Plasma Stick 2040 W and wrapped the string lights around the foam block.

Programming

The best part of the whole project is that CheerLights is baked into the Pimoroni Plasma Stick 2040 W. All you need to do is program the device with your Wi-Fi settings. Open Thonny and open the WIFI_CONFIG.py file. Change SSID to your wireless network name, PSK to your password, and COUNTRY to your country code like US or GB. Click Save.

WIFI_CONFIG.py in Thonny

Pimoroni has an excellent tutorial on getting Thonny installed and an explanation of the Pimoroni Plasma Stick 2040 W kit. I have also written a tutorial on the CheerLights blog.

Chill

Now that you’ve done all of the hard work, it’s time to chill and enjoy the Lo-Fi vibes tuned to CheerLights. While I was making this project today, I had Lofi Girl on YouTube, and the lights were just bright enough to see what I was doing without cutting myself. I am looking for a wall to permanently install my Lofi Girl Shadowbox. I am seriously thinking of drilling a hole in the wall to hide the USB power adapter.

]]> https://nothans.com/lofi-girl-shadowbox/feed 0 3436 #FearLights: CheerLights for Halloween https://nothans.com/cheerlights-for-halloween https://nothans.com/cheerlights-for-halloween#respond Mon, 31 Oct 2022 19:56:40 +0000 https://nothans.com/?p=3419 Just to have a little fun this year… make a CheerLights display for Halloween… #FearLights. And, yeah, you can use the hashtag “#fearlights” on Twitter to control everyone’s CheerLights display.

Cyan FearLights!

CheerLights is a fun way to get started with IoT, microcontrollers, and LED lights. If you know how to make CheerLights work, you can build some other awesome IoT projects. To make a Halloween-inspired project, you can take the CheerLights color and illuminate a pumpkin or even a… skull from Pimoroni.

Pimoroni Wireless Plasma Stick + Glass Skull

Check out other Halloween CheerLights projects over at the CheerLights blog. Have fun with the idea and build something spooky and help spread the… fear.

Halloween Lo-Fi inspired by CheerLights
]]> https://nothans.com/cheerlights-for-halloween/feed 0 3419