ESP-IDF

The EU Cyber Resilience Act introduces mandatory cybersecurity requirements for products with digital elements placed on the EU market. This blog outlines what the CRA means for ESP32-based products, the obligations for OEM manufacturers, and how Espressif will support customers in achieving compliance.

This article explains how manufacturers can use the ESP32 ecosystem to build and maintain secure firmware over time, especially in light of new regulations like the EU Cyber Resilience Act. It highlights tools such as vulnerability dashboards, Long-Term Support branches, and secure OTA updates to ensure ongoing compliance and device security.

The ESP-IDF Installation Manager (EIM) v0.8 introduces simplified installation across Windows, macOS, and Linux through native package managers. This article covers the new release features, installation methods, offline capabilities, and headless usage for CI/CD pipelines.

Learn how to use the ESP-IDF button component to handle GPIO buttons with event detection, debouncing, and callbacks. A step-by-step guide with practical code examples.

In this article, we explore how to configure GPIO pins as inputs in ESP-IDF and discuss the importance of pull-up/pull-down resistors. We will try two approaches for reading GPIO values: polling and event-driven interrupts, showing how to implement each method effectively.

This article introduces the ESP DNS component and explains why securing DNS resolution is essential for ESP32-based IoT devices. It shows how DNS over TLS (DoT) and DNS over HTTPS (DoH) can be enabled transparently in ESP-IDF with minimal code changes, using standard DNS APIs. Practical examples and guidance help developers choose the right protocol while balancing security, performance, and resource constraints.

This article explains how to configure and control GPIO pins on Espressif SoCs, covering push-pull and open-drain output modes, drive capability, and library usage. It then provides a hands-on example of blinking an LED using gpio_set_direction and gpio_set_level on a ESP32-C61-DevKitC.

This article introduces fuzzing — a technique for finding vulnerabilities — and demonstrates practical workflows and lessons learned for ESP-IDF components and embedded libraries in general.

This article explains what are the default values in the ESP-IDF configuration and how they are managed in the configuration system in the upcoming ESP-IDF v6. The purpose and behavior of default values are described. This article also explains what is a conflict in default values and how to resolve it with the “idf.py refresh-config” command.

Tired of juggling complex command-line arguments with endless idf.py flags? ESP-IDF v6.0 introduces a new feature, letting you switch between multiple build configuration. Learn how to structure your project, isolate sdkconfig files, and migrate from ad-hoc commands to clean, declarative builds.

ESP32-C2 has 256 KB of physical RAM, but with default configurations, only 24 KB remains free in typical Wi-Fi + BLE scenarios. This article explores comprehensive memory optimization strategies that can free up over 100 KB of RAM, making complex applications viable on this cost-effective chip.

This article follows up on the article ‘Porting a library to an ESP-IDF component’ and shows some advanced tips and tricks when porting larger libraries into ESP-IDF components.

Learn how to extend idf.py with custom commands for your development workflow. This guide covers both component-based extensions for project-specific tools and Python package extensions for reusable commands, with practical examples and best practices for seamless integration.

This article explains how ESP-IDF brings object-oriented programming principles into C by using structs, opaque pointers, and handles to enforce encapsulation and modularity. It shows how components like HTTP servers and I²C buses are managed through handles that represent distinct objects for configuration and operation, and compares this approach to Python and C++.

This article shows how ESP-IDF’s logging system uses tags and verbosity levels to produce structured, configurable output, helping you keep code clean and debug more effectively.

This blog post introduces the esp-wifi-remote component, which extends Wi-Fi functionality to ESP32 chips that lack native Wi-Fi support. We will explore the esp-wifi-remote ecosystem, its components, architecture, and integration with esp-hosted.

In this article, we first explain the principles behind the Deep-sleep wake stub application and then demonstrate how to implement GPIO, UART, I2C, and SPI within it.

Fast and secure device restoration during boot-up is critical for real-time IoT applications like smart lighting. In this article, we explore how to reduce boot-up delays by restoring device state early, directly from the ESP-IDF bootloader.

Espressif is streamlining RED Delegated Act (RED-DA) compliance by providing pre-certified firmware platforms, documentation templates, and partner support to help developers meet the upcoming EN 18031 standard. With flexible pathways including self-declaration and third-party assessments, developers can accelerate EU market readiness for Aug 2025 and beyond.

In this article, we explore a simplified ESP32 boot process using single-image binaries to speed up build and flash times — ideal for development workflows. This approach sacrifices features like OTA updates but enables faster iteration.

This article shows how to create a simple HTTP server. It explains the functions you need and the setup required. After reading this, you should be able to create your own HTTP server on Espressif devices.

This two-part guide shows how to set up VS Code with the ESP-IDF extension to debug Espressif boards using JTAG. In this second part, we will debug a simple project using gdb through Espressif’s VSCode extension. We will explore the debugging options for navigating the code and inspecting the variables.

Mosquitto – the industry-standard MQTT broker – has been ported to ESP-IDF. Its lightweight version retains Mosquitto’s core functionality and security features to run on resource-constrained IoT devices. This MQTT broker is ideal for edge computing, testing, and standalone IoT deployments. In this article, we will do an overview and show you how to get started.

This two-part guide shows how to set up VS Code with the ESP-IDF extension to debug Espressif boards using JTAG. This first part covers the debugging process, hardware setup and connections, and starting the openOCD server.

This tutorial guides you through setting up a soft-AP using an Espressif module and ESP-IDF. It covers the process of creating a project, configuring Wi-Fi, and handling connection events through event loops. Upon completion, you’ll be able to establish a soft-AP and manage Wi-Fi connections. It is the first step to building more advanced networking applications.

This guide helps manufacturers of wireless-enabled products based on Espressif modules understand the RED DA (EN 18031) cybersecurity requirements, identify their product’s category, and determine the right path to certification before launching in the EU market.

In this article, we’ll start with a quick overview of Ultra Low Power coprocessors (ULPs) in Espressif chips and how they can significantly reduce power consumption in your applications. Then, we’ll walk through a tutorial on how to use ULPs in practice!