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source/_posts/2021-06-16-power-up-your-esp-projects.markdown
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---
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title: "Power-up your ESP8266 and ESP32 projects: browser-based installation and configure Wi-Fi via Bluetooth LE"
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description: "Power-up your ESP8266 and ESP32 projects: browser-based installation, configure Wi-Fi via Bluetooth LE and a renewed ESPHome dashboard!"
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date: 2021-06-16 00:00:00
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date_formatted: "June 16, 2021"
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author: Paulus Schoutsen
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author_twitter: balloob
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categories: Announcements
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og_image: /images/blog/2021-06-power-up-your-esp-projects/social.png
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---
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ESP8266 and ESP32 are microcontrollers made by the Chinese company Espressif.
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Microcontrollers are teeny tiny computers with little processor power,
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memory and space that can interact with sensors, send infrared commands
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and many other things.
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With the ESP devices Espressif has achieved something formidable: their devices
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have Wi-Fi, are compatible with code for the popular Arduino microcontroller
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and they are cheap. Like, $5-including-shipping-from-China-cheap
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([AliExpress][aliexpress]) or $15 for 2 on [Amazon][amazon] cheap.
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So cheap that they are the de facto standard for microcontrollers used in
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IoT products, both for manufacturers and creators in the DIY space.
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<p class='img'>
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<img
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src='/images/blog/2021-06-power-up-your-esp-projects/quindor-drzzs-esp32-wled.png'
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alt='Quindor and DrZzs playing with an ESP32-based QuinLED running WLED'
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>
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Quindor and DrZzs playing with an ESP32-based QuinLED running WLED
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(<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXHQ5iTpCfg" target="_blank">YouTube</a>)
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</p>
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Microcontrollers are just computers and so are nothing without their software.
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Open source software like [ESPHome][esphome], [WLED][wled] and
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[Tasmota][tasmota] allow users to turn their ESP8266 and ESP32 devices into
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powerful little machines that can gather information and control devices.
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In your home, microcontrollers are the eyes and ears while Home Assistant
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is the brain.
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But these projects all have a common problem: it is difficult to get started.
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We identified three pain points:
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1. Installing the software on the microcontroller.
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2. Connecting the microcontroller to your wireless network.
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3. Configure the software on the microcontroller.
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These pain points stand in the way for creators to reach a wider audience. It’s
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our mission to make local home automation succeed, and these projects,
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and all the possibilities that they unlock, are an important part of this.
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**Today, we are introducing some things to make using microcontrollers easier.**
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## Using terms everybody understands
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We are going to start using words that a user understands instead of forcing
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the technical terms on them. Terms like _“firmware”_ and _“flashing”_ are the
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correct terminology but for inexperienced users they do more harm than good.
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They will make the user feel uncomfortable before they even start.
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So instead of _“upload firmware”_ we’ve updated the ESPHome dashboard to talk
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about _“installing”_. We are encouraging other projects to do the same.
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Things will get more technical as a user continues playing with microcontrollers.
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But this change might just be that little thing why they will actually continue.
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## ESP Web Tools: Installing projects on your microcontroller via the browser
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We have created [ESP Web Tools][esp-web-tools]. ESP Web Tools allows project
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websites to offer a great onboarding by enabling users to install the software
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on their microcontrollers via their browser. All the user has to do is connect
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their microcontroller to their computer and hit the install button on the
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website. ESP Web Tools will automatically select the right build for your
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microcontroller and install it.
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This works for both the ESP8266 and ESP32 and with any project for these
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devices. This technology is powered by Web Serial, a web standard for serial
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communication that is part of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.
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ESP Web Tools Web has already been adopted as part of the onboarding by
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[WLED][wled] and [ESPEasy][espeasy].
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<div class='videoWrapper'>
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<iframe
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width="560"
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height="315"
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src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/k88BS8zgWq0"
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frameborder="0"
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allowfullscreen
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></iframe>
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</div>
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[Learn how to add ESP Web Tools to your website][add-esp-web-tools]
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If you have an ESP32 or ESP8266 device handy, you can try it out right here:
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<center style="margin-bottom: 25px">
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<script
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type="module"
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src="https://unpkg.com/esp-web-tools@3.3.0/dist/web/install-button.js?module"
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></script><esp-web-install-button
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manifest="https://esphome.github.io/esp-web-tools/static/firmware_build/manifest.json"
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></esp-web-install-button>
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</center>
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ESP Web Tools uses [code][adafruit-esptool] written by
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[@MakerMelissa][makermelissa] from [Adafruit][adafruit]. We’re currently relying
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on an enhanced fork that can fit a wider range of use cases, including ours.
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We have a pull request open to get our changes contributed back.
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[ESP Web Tools website][esp-web-tools]
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_Note: We don’t like to use technology that is not available in all browsers
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and cannot be made available in other ways. However, in this case the benefits
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outweigh the cons. We hope that Firefox and WebKit add support for Web Serial
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in the future._
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## Improv Wi-Fi: Open standard to provision Wi-Fi credentials via Bluetooth Low Energy
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We have created [Improv Wi-Fi][improv]. Improv Wi-Fi is a free and open standard
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that anyone can use to offer a user-friendly way for users to connect their
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devices to the wireless network.
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<p class='img'>
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<img
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src='/images/improv-logo.svg'
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alt='Improv Wi-Fi logo'
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style="width: 100%"
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>
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</p>
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For open source firmware there are two popular ways of getting a device to
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connect to your wireless network. The device sets up a wireless network and you
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need to connect to it via your phone or laptop, or the user compiles the
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network and password into the firmware before installing it on the ESP.
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Both methods are difficult and error prone, they offer a bad user experience.
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If you look at off-the-shelf products, you see another approach:
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send Wi-Fi credentials to the device via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). BLE allows
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the user to get instant feedback if something goes wrong. This technology is
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used in many products, but there is no open standard that is free to implement.
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Improv Wi-Fi is an open standard that is free to implement.
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Open source projects often host their control interface as a website on the
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ESP device. Improv Wi-Fi supports this and when provisioning is done, the user
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can be redirected to a URL to finish onboarding.
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<div class='videoWrapper'>
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<iframe
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width="560"
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height="315"
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src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/AdCsX7Ni6Jc"
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frameborder="0"
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allowfullscreen
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></iframe>
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</div>
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Improv Wi-Fi can be used today to provision ESP32 microcontrollers running
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[ESPHome][esphome] (ESP8266 devices do not support BLE). Users will soon be
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able to provision devices with the Improv Wi-Fi service via the Home Assistant
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Android and iOS apps. All these implementations are open source and can be used
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in your projects.
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Improv Wi-Fi is also available for the web in the form of a button that can be
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added to your website. This will allow users to configure and set up a device
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from any browser that supports Web Bluetooth.
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If you’ve used the installation button in the previous section but have not yet
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connected it to the wireless network, you can onboard that device here:
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<center style="margin-bottom: 25px">
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<script
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type="module"
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src="https://www.improv-wifi.com/sdk-js/launch-button.js"
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></script><improv-wifi-launch-button></improv-wifi-launch-button>
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</center>
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[Improv Wi-Fi website][improv]
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## ESPHome Dashboard: simplified and streamlined
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With [ESPHome][esphome] users don’t program microcontrollers, they configure
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them. Tell ESPHome there is a temperature sensor on pin 3 of your ESP device
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and ESPHome will install custom software on your ESP device that makes this
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information available in Home Assistant.
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```yaml
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# Example ESPHome configuration
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sensor:
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- platform: dht
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pin: D2
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temperature:
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name: "Living Room Temperature"
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humidity:
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name: "Living Room Humidity"
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update_interval: 60s
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```
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<p class='img'>
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<img
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src='/images/blog/2021-06-power-up-your-esp-projects/dht22.png'
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alt='Result of how it shows up in Home Assistant with the example ESPHome above'
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/>
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</p>
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The ESPHome Dashboard has been updated with a simplified and streamlined wizard
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for new configurations. You now enter the name of your project and your Wi-Fi
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credentials and it will install it on your ESP device via the browser. After
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that all further updates will happen wirelessly.
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<div class='videoWrapper'>
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<iframe
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width="560"
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height="315"
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src="https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/luE1hjCf3HI"
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frameborder="0"
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allowfullscreen
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></iframe>
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</div>
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## ESPHome: embracing projects
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We want to make it easy for creators to sell ESPHome powered products that offer
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a great user experience. ESPHome projects embrace local control and integrate
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nicely with Home Assistant, and so each extra ESPHome product that our users
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can buy is a win.
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To make it easier to keep creators and users connected once a product is
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installed, projects can now add a project identifier and version to their
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firmware ([docs][esphome-project]). With
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today’s release this information will be available in the device information,
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logging output and the mDNS discovery info.
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The goal is to integrate the projects tighter into the ESPHome dashboard by
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showing the project’s logo, link to the documentation and issue pages and allow
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installing updates.
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## Why we build this
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Home Assistant’s mission is to make local home automation a viable alternative
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to cloud based solutions and accessible to everyone.
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To make this mission a reality, we started the company Nabu Casa. Together with
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the community, Nabu Casa develops Home Assistant and ESPHome and is funded
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solely by people that support this mission. No investors or loans.
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If you want to help fund our work, subscribe to [Home Assistant Cloud][nabucasa].
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[adafruit-esptool]: https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_WebSerial_ESPTool
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[adafruit]: https://www.adafruit.com
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[add-esp-web-tools]: https://esphome.github.io/esp-web-tools/#add-website
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[aliexpress]: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002354577296.html
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[amazon]: https://amzn.to/35cUvGj
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[esp-web-tools]: https://esphome.github.io/esp-web-tools/
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[espeasy]: https://github.com/letscontrolit/ESPEasy
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[esphome-project]: https://www.esphome.io/components/esphome.html#project-information
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[esphome]: https://www.esphome.io
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[improv]: https://www.improv-wifi.com
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[makermelissa]: https://github.com/MakerMelissa
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[nabucasa]: https://www.nabucasa.com
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[tasmota]: https://tasmota.github.io/docs/
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[wled]: https://wled.me
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