ESP32 MPY-Jama is a MicroPython IDE for ESP32 boards

ESP32 MPY-Jama is a cross-platform MicroPython IDE specifically designed for ESP32 boards with a file manager, a REPL terminal, real-time dashboards, and various ESP32-specific features.

The IDE is an open-source Python program using pyWebView and pySerial plus some JavaScript for the user interface, and the developer of the program, Jean-Christophe Bos, provides binaries for Windows 64-bit and macOS 64-bit Arm or x86. It’s also possible to use it in Linux but needs to be built from source.

Some of the key features of the ESP32 MPY-Jama IDE include:

MicroPython code editor with syntax highlighting
REPL interface
Access to information dashboards with real-time data about WiFi and Bluetooth connections, system info with GPIO status, CPU frequency, memory and SPI flash details
Easy 2-click methods to connect to WiFi and create an access point
Graphical interface to install a new firmware through esptool
Ability to create, import, and run “Jama Funcs” mini-applications with customizable parameters such as BLE Scan, I2C slaves scan, or Magnet sensor.

ESP32 MPY-Jama Real time dashboard — Real-time dashboard with wireless networks information

You’ll find the source code, links to Windows and MacOS binaries, a few screenshots, and instructions to build it in Linux on GitHub.

Jean-Christophe tested it in Ubuntu 22.04, but I tried install it in Ubuntu 20.04 with similar instructions (I had to add python3.10-venv to the dependencies):

git clone https://github.com/jczic/ESP32-MPY-Jama
sudo apt install libcairo2-dev libgirepository1.0-dev python3-pyqt5 python3-pyqt5.qtwebengine python3-pyqt5.qtwebchannel libqt5webkit5-dev python3.10-venv
cd ESP32-MPY-Jama
python3 -m venv venv
. venv/bin/activate
pip3 install wheel setuptools
pip3 install pyserial pywebview[qt] pycairo PyGObject

git clone https://github.com/jczic/ESP32-MPY-Jama

sudo apt install libcairo2-dev libgirepository1.0-dev python3-pyqt5 python3-pyqt5.qtwebengine python3-pyqt5.qtwebchannel libqt5webkit5-dev python3.10-venv

cd ESP32-MPY-Jama

python3 -m venv venv

. venv/bin/activate

pip3 install wheel setuptools

pip3 install pyserial pywebview[qt] pycairo PyGObject

But the terminal looked stuck while building wheel (which can apparently take a while), but after several minutes my laptop completly hung. My laptop is somewhat unstable under load or when messing around with HDMI/graphics. I tried again during lunch and the same problem occurred. So I switched to a mini PC running Ubuntu 22.04 and I had it up and running within 5 minutes:

I could check out the code editor and list of Jama Funcs, but since I don’t have an ESP32 board with me I did not go further. I noticed the Firmware tools section required esptool to be installed in the Python environment:

(venv) aey@TRIGKEY-CNXSOFT:~/ESP32-MPY-Jama$ pip3 install esptool

1	(venv) aey@TRIGKEY-CNXSOFT:~/ESP32-MPY-Jama$ pip3 install esptool

Note “(venv)” above. If it is already installed on your system, but not in the Python virtual environment, the program will not find esptool. All in all, it looks like a pretty nice IDE for people working with ESP32 and MicroPython.

Via Hackster.io

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.