# Get Started

[中文]

This document is intended to help you set up the software development environment for the hardware based on the ESP32-C3 chip by Espressif. After that, a simple example will show you how to use ESP-IDF (Espressif IoT Development Framework) for menu configuration, then for building and flashing firmware onto an ESP32-C3 board.

Note

This is documentation for stable version v6.1 of ESP-IDF. Other ESP-IDF Versions are also available.

## Introduction

ESP32-C3 is a system on a chip that integrates the following features:

- Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz band)

- Bluetooth Low Energy

- High performance 32-bit RISC-V single-core processor

- Multiple peripherals

- Built-in security hardware

Powered by 40 nm technology, ESP32-C3 offers excellent power efficiency, RF performance, security, and reliability, making it suitable for a wide range of application scenarios and power consumption requirements.

Espressif provides basic hardware and software resources to help application developers realize their ideas using the ESP32-C3 series hardware. The software development framework by Espressif is intended for development of Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, power management and several other system features.

## What You Need

### Hardware

- An ESP32-C3 board.

- USB cable - USB A / micro USB B.

- Computer running Windows, Linux, or macOS.

Note

Currently, some of the development boards are using USB Type C connectors. Be sure you have the correct cable to connect your board!

If you have one of ESP32-C3 official development boards listed below, you can click on the link to learn more about the hardware.

- ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1
- ESP32-C3-DevKitC-02
- ESP32-C3-LCDkit

### Software

To start using ESP-IDF on ESP32-C3, you need the following software:

> - Toolchain to compile code for ESP32-C3

> - Build tools - CMake and Ninja to build a full Application for ESP32-C3

> - ESP-IDF that essentially contains API (software libraries and source code) for ESP32-C3 and scripts to operate the Toolchain

## Installation

To install ESP-IDF, build tools, and the toolchain, use the ESP-IDF Installation Manager (EIM) available for multiple operating systems.

The EIM provides two installation options:

- Graphical User Interface (GUI): Offers a user-friendly interface, ideal for most users.

- Command Line Interface (CLI): Suitable for CI/CD pipelines and automated installations.

- Installation of ESP-IDF and Tools on Windows
- Installation of ESP-IDF and Tools on Linux
- Installation of ESP-IDF and Tools on macOS

## Build Your First Project

Once you have the ESP-IDF installed, you can build your first project either using an IDE or from the command line.

### Build in IDE

The ESP-IDF versions installed through EIM can be used in the following IDEs, providing a graphical development experience:

- Espressif-IDE based on Eclipse CDT

  > It includes IDF Eclipse plugins, essential Eclipse CDT plugins, and other third-party plugins from the Eclipse platform to support building ESP-IDF applications.

- Visual Studio Code integrated with the ESP-IDF Extension for VS Code

  > It allows you to develop, build, flash, and monitor ESP-IDF applications directly within the Visual Studio Code.

For instructions on how to set up and use these IDEs with ESP-IDF, please refer to their respective documentation linked above.

### Build from Command Line

To start a new project, build it, flash to ESP32-C3, and monitor the device output from the command line, follow instructions for your operating system:

- Start a Project on Windows from Command Line
- Start a Project on Linux and macOS from Command Line

Note

If you have not yet installed ESP-IDF, please go to Installation and follow the instructions there to install all required software before proceeding.

## Uninstall ESP-IDF

To uninstall ESP-IDF and related tools installed via EIM, you can use either the graphical user interface (GUI) or the command line interface (CLI).

### Uninstall Using EIM GUI

Launch the ESP-IDF Installation Manager. Under `Manage Installations`, click `Open Dashboard`.

Open Dashboard in EIM GUI

To remove a specific ESP-IDF version, click the `Remove` button under the version you want to remove.

To remove all ESP-IDF versions, click `Purge All` button at the bottom of the page.

Uninstall ESP-IDF in EIM GUI

### Uninstall Using EIM CLI

To remove a specific ESP-IDF version, for example v5.4.2, run the following command in your terminal:

    eim remove v5.4.2

To remove all ESP-IDF versions, run the following command in your terminal:

    eim purge

## Related Documents

- ESP-IDF Installation Manager (EIM) documentation

- Espressif-IDE (ESP-IDF Eclipse Plugin) GitHub repository

- ESP-IDF Extension for VS Code GitHub repository

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