ESP8266 / ESP8285 Tools

A convenient VS Code extension for developing with ESP8266 and ESP8285 chips.
Supports ESP8266_RTOS_SDK via idf.py.

Features

⚙️ Build

• Build — full project build
• Build App — application only
• Build Bootloader — bootloader only
• Build Partition Table — partition table only
• Auto-saves all unsaved files before build
• Configurable pre-build action (none / clean / full clean)
• Configurable post-build action (none / flash / flash + monitor)
• Optional post-build analysis (size / size-components / size-files)

⚡ Flash

• Flash — flash firmware to device
• Flash App / Bootloader / Partition Table — flash individual components
• Flash Encrypted / Flash Encrypted App — encrypted flash variants
• Erase Flash — full flash erase
• Configurable action before flash (none / erase flash)
• Configurable action after flash (none / open monitor)
• Port availability check before flashing — prompts to select another port if device not connected

🖥️ Monitor

• Monitor — open serial monitor
• Stop Monitor — close serial monitor
• Configurable baud rate

🔧 SDK Configure

• Menuconfig — visual configuration (idf.py menuconfig)
• Reconfigure — re-run CMake configuration
• Reset Config — delete sdkconfig and restore defaults

📁 Project Folder

• Shows active project name
• 📦 Components — automatically lists components/ subfolders
  • [+] button — launch Add Component wizard
  • [✏️] button — edit component (rename, sources, headers, dependencies)
  • [🗑] button — delete component with confirmation

➕ Add Component Wizard

Creates a new ESP-IDF component in components/ with 4 steps:

1. Component name
2. Source .c files
3. Header location: include/ folder, same folder ./, or none
4. REQUIRES dependencies

Generates:

• components/<n>/CMakeLists.txt with correct idf_component_register()
• .c source stub
• .h header stub (if selected)

No changes to root CMakeLists.txt needed — ESP-IDF SDK auto-detects components/

✏️ Edit Component Wizard

Edits an existing component — opens pre-filled wizard with 4 steps:

1. Rename — rename the component folder (leave unchanged to skip)
2. Source files — pre-filled from existing CMakeLists.txt
3. Header location — pre-selected from existing config
4. REQUIRES dependencies — pre-filled from existing config

Updates CMakeLists.txt in place. Creates any new source files that don't exist yet.

🛠️ Utilities

• Make SPIFFS — pack data/ folder into SPIFFS image using mkspiffs
• Custom Partitions — open partition table editor

🗂️ Partition Table Editor

Visual editor for ESP8266 flash partition tables. Drag-and-drop reordering, flash map visualization, presets, validation and CSV support.

• Drag-and-drop partition reordering
• Flash map visualization
• OTA preset — auto-selects 1MB or 2MB+ layout based on flash size
• SPIFFS preset — classic layout: nvs + phy_init + factory (512KB) + spiffs (rest)
• Default preset — standard single factory app (960KB max due to ESP8266 1MB boundary)
• Auto Offsets — automatic offset calculation
• Validation with ESP8266-specific checks (1MB app boundary, alignment, overlaps)
• CSV save/open

📊 Analysis

• Size — firmware size report (idf.py size)
• Size Components — per-component size breakdown
• Size Files — per-file size breakdown

⚗️ Advanced (Experimental)

• eFuse Common / Custom Table generation
• OTA data erase / read
• Show eFuse Table

🔧 VSCode Utilities

• Generate IntelliSense — creates .vscode/c_cpp_properties.json with correct ESP8266 includes
• Generate tasks.json — adds ESP build tasks for Ctrl+Shift+B

Requirements

• Python 3.7.x — must be 3.7.x, newer versions are not compatible with ESP8266 RTOS SDK
• ESP8266_RTOS_SDK — download and set path via extension settings

Setup (Fresh Install)

1. Install the extension — sidebar shows the full command tree immediately
2. Install Python 3.7 — click warning in sidebar → Download Python 3.7
3. Set SDK path — in sidebar, click RTOS IDF: not set and point to your ESP8266_RTOS_SDK folder
4. Install build tools — extension detects missing tools and offers to install automatically via idf_tools.py
5. Select your COM port via Serial Source Settings → Port
6. Run Build → Flash → Monitor

Command Check Order

Every command verifies prerequisites in this order before executing:

1. Python 3.7 — if not found, shows download prompt
2. IDF path — if not set, shows settings prompt
3. Build tools — if missing, offers automatic installation
4. Project folder — if not selected, shows folder picker
5. COM port — if not connected, shows port selector

Extension Settings

Supported Platforms

• ✅ Windows 10/11 (PowerShell)
• ✅ Linux (bash)
• ✅ macOS (bash/zsh)

Links

• GitHub Repository
• ESP8266_RTOS_SDK
• Report Issues

License

MIT