MicroPython: Program ESP32/ESP8266 using VS Code and Pymakr

In this guide, you’ll learn how to program your ESP32 and ESP8266 boards with MicroPython using VS Code Editor (Visual Studio Code) with the Pymakr extension.

If you’re used to programming the ESP32 and ESP8266 boards using VS Code with PlatformIO IDE (Arduino core), and you also want to program them with MicroPython, using the Pymakr extension might be a good alternative.

We’ve experimented with several IDEs to program the ESP32 and ESP8266 boards with MicroPython. All IDES have advantages and disadvantages. In our opinion, this option works the best with fewer bugs when compared to other IDEs. However, it might be an overwhelming task getting used to VS Code.

If you’ve never used VS Code, it might be a little difficult getting started. If you find that this option is very advanced, you might consider using simpler IDEs like Thonny IDE and uPyCraft IDE to program your boards with MicroPython:

• Getting Started with Thonny MicroPython (Python) IDE for ESP32 and ESP8266
• Install and Getting Started with uPyCraft IDE:
  • Windows PC Instructions
  • Mac OS X Instructions
  • Linux Ubuntu Instructions

Getting Started

1) To properly follow this tutorial, you need a device with micropython firmware. Follow one of the next tutorials to flash micropython firmware on the ESP32 or ESP8266 boards:

• Flashing MicroPython Firmware with esptool.py on ESP32 and ESP8266
• Flash/Upload MicroPython Firmware to ESP32 and ESP8266 (using uPyCraft IDE) *

* this option is easier, but requires that you install uPyCraft IDE software.

2) You need to install VS Code on your computer. Follow one of the next sections if you need to install VS Code:

• A) Installing VS Code on Windows (Visual Studio Code)
• B) Installing VS Code on Mac OS X (Visual Studio Code)
• C) Installing VS Code on Linux Ubuntu (Visual Studio Code)

3) Then, follow the instructions to set up Pymakr, connect a MicroPython device and run your first project:

• Installing Pymakr Extension on VS Code
• Connecting a MicroPython device to Pymakr
• Creating a MicroPython Project on VS Code + Pymakr

A) Installing VS Code on Windows (Visual Studio Code)

Go to https://code.visualstudio.com/ and download the stable build for your operating system (Windows).

Click on the installation wizard to start the installation and follow all the steps to complete the installation. Accept the agreement and press the Next button.

Select the following options and click Next.

Press the Install button.

Finally, click Finish to finish the installation.

Open VS Code and you’ll be greeted by a Welcome tab with the released notes of the newest version.

That’s it. Visual Studio Code was successfully installed.

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B) Installing VS Code on Mac OS X (Visual Studio Code)

Go to https://code.visualstudio.com/ and download the stable build for your operating system (Mac OS X).

After downloading the Visual Studio Code application file, you’ll be prompted with the following message. Press the “Open” button.

Or open your Downloads folder and open Visual Studio Code.

After that, you’ll be greeted by a Welcome tab with the released notes of the newest version.

That’s it. Visual Studio Code was successfully installed.

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C) Installing VS Code on Linux Ubuntu (Visual Studio Code)

Go to https://code.visualstudio.com/ and download the stable build for your operating system (Linux Ubuntu).

Save the installation file:

To install it, open a Terminal windows, navigate to your Downloads folder and run the following command to install VS Code.

$ cd Downloads
~/Downloads $ sudo apt install ./code_1.49.1-1600299189_amd64.deb

When the installation is finished, VS Code should be available in your applications menu.

Open VS Code and you’ll be greeted by a Welcome tab with the released notes of the newest version.

That’s it. Visual Studio Code was successfully installed.

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Installing Pymakr Extension on VS Code

In this section, we’ll install the Pymakr extension on VS Code. This extension allows you to communicate to your MicroPython devices using the build-in command-line REPL. It provides a UI with buttons to run a single file to your board, sync your entire project or directly type and execute commands.

Prerequisites

To use Pymakr extension on VS Code, you need node.js installed on your computer.

Go to the node.js website Home or Downloads page and install node.js on your operating system.

Installing Pymakr Plugin

1) Open VS Code.

2) Click on the Extensions icon to navigate to the Extensions page.

3) Search for Pymakr and install it.

The Pymakr extension is now installed on VS Code. The Pymakr Console will open, and you should have new commands at the bottom bar.

These are the new commands:

• Pymakr Console: toggle board connection—connect/disconnect the board
• Run: run currently open file on the board
• Upload: upload project to your board
• Download: download project from your board
• All commands: list all available Pymakr commands

Select All commands:

This menu opens:

Connecting a MicroPython Device to Pymakr

At the same time, Pymakr will automatically open the pymakr.json file. You should edit that file to connect a MicroPython device (for example: your ESP32 or ESP8266 with the MicroPython firmware flashed).

Note: if the pymakr.json file doesn’t open automatically, go to All Commands (at the bottom bar) and then select Pymakr > Global Settings.

This opens the pymakr.json file.

Pymakr has a list of USB devices that it will connect to. You need to make sure that your device is on the list in the pymakr.json configuration file. You need to add the USB Manufacturer that the device uses to connect to the PC. In our case, both the ESP32 and ESP8266 use the Silicon Labs USB drivers.

To find which drivers your board uses, open your computer’s Devices Manager (with the board connected to your computer) and search for connected USB devices.

On the Device Manager, you can also check which COM port is being used by the device. In our case, it is COM3.

Now, edit the file to add the Silicon Labs manufacturer (or other) to the autoconnect_comport_manufacturers section. Then, save the file.

"autoconnect_comport_manufacturers": [
  "Pycom",
  "Pycom Ltd.",
  "FTDI",
  "Microsoft",
  "Microchip Technology, Inc.",
  "Silicon Labs"
]

Selecting the COM port

After saving the file with the previous settings, you also need to set the COM port your board is connected to. Pymakr has the ability to automatically find your COM port (it may not work for some users).

For automatic connect, let the address setting empty, and set the auto_connect to true.

"address": "",

"auto_connect": true,

In my case, it was able to detect the COM port automatically (a ✓ shows up next to the Pymakr Console button).

If your board doesn’t connect automatically, you need to change the address section with the COM port of your board. For example:

"address": "COM3",

To find the board COM port, you can click on All Commands and select Pymakr > Extra > List Serial Ports.

To use a predefined COM port, you also need to set the auto_connect parameter to false:

"auto_connect": false,

Save the pymakr.json configuration file (CTRL+S).

After saving the file, Pymakr will automatically detect your board (a ✓ will show up next to the Pymakr Console button). If that doesn’t happen, toggle the Pymakr Console button to try to do it manually. If nothing happens, we recommend restarting VS Code.

Type help() on the Terminal window after the prompt (>>>) and see your board responding:

help()

That’s it! Pymakr was successfully installed on VS Code and you successfully connected a MicroPython device. Follow the next section to learn how to create, save and upload a project to your board.

ESP32/ESP8266 Creating a MicroPython Project on VS Code + Pymakr

Follow this section to learn how to create a MicroPython Project on VS Code using Pymakr to program your ESP32 and ESP8266 boards. As an example, we’ll upload a code to blink the on-board LED (GPIO 2).

1) First, connect an ESP32 or ESP8266 board with micropython firmware installed to your computer.

2) Create a folder for your project. For example: blink.

3) Open VS Code. Pymakr will automatically try to connect to your board. If it doesn’t do that, go to the Extensions menu and open the Pymakr extension. Additionally, double-check that you’ve edited the pymakr.json file with the right configurations to connect to your board. See Connecting a MicroPython Device to Pymakr.

4) Then, go to File > Open Folder and select the folder you’ve just created. Every MicroPython project should have two files: main.py and boot.py. Create those files in the project folder:

• boot.py: runs when the device starts and sets up several configuration options;
• main.py: this is the main script that contains your code. It is executed immediately after the boot.py.

In this section, we’ll upload a simple code that blinks the on-board LED. For this reason, you don’t need to copy anything to the boot.py file.

Copy the following code to the main.py file. It blinks the on-board LED every half a second.

# Complete project details at https://RandomNerdTutorials.com/micropython-programming-with-esp32-and-esp8266/

from machine import Pin
from time import sleep

led = Pin(2, Pin.OUT)

while True:
  led.value(not led.value())
  sleep(0.5)

View raw code

Save the file (CTRL+S).

Then, click on the Upload button.

It will upload the code to the board and automatically restart the board to start running the code.

The ESP32 or ESP8266 on-board LED should be blinking.

Important: the Run command runs the code without uploading the code to the board. This means that the code will only run as long as it is connected to the computer. To upload code to the board, you should select the Upload option.

To make further changes (uploading a new code), press CTRL+C to stop any running code. You won’t be able to upload new code if the ESP is running another code.

You also won’t be able to execute any other commands while the board is running a code. If the prompt (>>>) is not displayed, it means the board is running a code. Press CTRL+C to stop running the code, and the prompt (>>>) will show up. After that, you can execute commands.

Disable/Hide Pymakr Extension

When you’re not using Pymakr, it can be useful to disable/hide the Pymakr commands at the bottom bar. This is especially useful if you’re programming the ESP boards using the PlatformIO extension. Having both extensions enabled at the same time can cause issues uploading the code and connecting to the board.

To hide the Pymakr commands, you need to go Extensions and search for the Pymakr extension on the installed extensions. Then, click on Disable.

Restart VS Code for the changes to take effect. The next time you want to use the Pymakr extension, you need to enable the extension again.

Wrapping Up

In this tutorial, you’ve learned how to use VS Code with the Pymakr extension to program your ESP32 and ESP8266 using MicroPython. This is a great option, especially for those already used to program the ESP boards using VS Code. We also recommend reading the official notes and instructions of the Pymakr extension here.

We hope you found this tutorial useful. What’s next? To get started programming with MicroPython, we recommend the following tutorials:

• MicroPython Programming Basics with ESP32 and ESP8266
• MicroPython with ESP32 and ESP8266: Interacting with GPIOs
• ESP32/ESP8266 MicroPython Web Server

Learn more about MicroPython with our resources:

• MicroPython Programming with ESP32 and ESP8266 eBook
• More MicroPython projects…

Thanks for reading.