Usability Improvement: Streamline Board Selection for Connected Devices

[10xdev4u-alt]

Problem Description:

The current list_installed_boards function within main.sh (previously referred to as aci_project/bin/aci.sh) presents the entire output of arduino-cli board listall via gum filter. While this provides a comprehensive list of all possible Fully Qualified Board Names (FQBNs), it can be overwhelming and confusing for beginners. Users often intend to configure an actively connected board, but there's no immediate guidance or prioritization towards detecting and offering these. This forces users to manually search through a potentially very long list to find their specific board.

Impact:

• Increases cognitive load and decision fatigue for new users, potentially leading to confusion or incorrect board selection.
• Slows down the initial setup and configuration process as users have to sift through many irrelevant options.
• Detracts from the "interactive" experience and user-friendly experience aci aims to provide by not being context-aware about connected hardware.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Connect an Arduino board (e.g., an Arduino Uno) to your system.
2. Run main.sh.
3. Select "Select Board" from the main menu.
4. Expected: The script might first ask if you want to see connected boards, or at least visually highlight them if they are present in the full list.
5. Actual: A long, unfiltered list of all possible FQBNs is displayed. The user must manually find their "Arduino Uno" FQBN (e.g., arduino:avr:uno) from hundreds of options, even though it's physically connected.

Proposed Solution:

Modify the list_installed_boards function to provide a more guided and user-friendly experience. This can be achieved by first offering a choice to the user:

1. "Show Connected Boards": This option would leverage arduino-cli board list to display only the boards currently connected to the system. If no boards are connected, it could gracefully fall back to showing all available boards with an informative message.
2. "Show All Available Boards": This option would retain the current behavior, using arduino-cli board listall for advanced users who want to configure boards not currently connected.
   When a connected board is selected, the associated serial port can be automatically captured and set.

[Rafiaminhaj]

Hi @Vaishnav-Sabari-Girish 👋
I would like to work on this issue.
I agree that displaying the full arduino-cli board listall output can be overwhelming for beginners. I plan to enhance the list_installed_boards function by introducing a guided selection flow:
Add an option to “Show Connected Boards” using arduino-cli board list
Retain “Show All Available Boards” for advanced users
Automatically capture and set the associated serial port when a connected board is selected
Gracefully handle the case when no boards are connected (fallback with an informative message)
This improvement will reduce cognitive load, improve usability, and make the setup process more intuitive and interactive.Please assign this issue to me. I’d be happy to contribute 🚀