ESP-IDF requires some prerequisite tools to be installed so you can build firmware for supported chips. The prerequisite tools include Python, Git, cross-compilers, CMake and Ninja build tools.
For this Getting Started we're going to use the Command Prompt, but after ESP-IDF is installed you can use `Eclipse Plugin <https://github.com/espressif/idf-eclipse-plugin/blob/master/README.md>`_ or another graphical IDE with CMake support instead.
- The installation path of ESP-IDF and ESP-IDF Tools must not be longer than 90 characters. Too long installation paths might result in a failed build.
- The installation path of Python or ESP-IDF must not contain white spaces or parentheses.
- The installation path of Python or ESP-IDF should not contain special characters (non-ASCII) unless the operating system is configured with "Unicode UTF-8" support.
System Administrator can enable the support via Control Panel - Change date, time, or number formats - Administrative tab - Change system locale - check the option "Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support" - Ok and reboot the computer.
Online Installer is very small and allows the installation of all available releases of ESP-IDF. The installer will download only necessary dependencies including `Git For Windows`_ during the installation process. The installer stores downloaded files in the cache directory ``%userprofile%\.espressif``
The installer also allows reusing the existing directory with ESP-IDF. The recommended directory is ``%userprofile%\Desktop\esp-idf`` where ``%userprofile%`` is your home directory.
At the end of the installation process you can check out option ``Run ESP-IDF PowerShell Environment`` or ``Run ESP-IDF Command Prompt (cmd.exe)``. The installer will launch ESP-IDF environment in selected prompt.
ESP-IDF Tools Installer also creates a shortcut in the Start menu to launch the ESP-IDF Command Prompt. This shortcut launches the Command Prompt (cmd.exe) and runs ``export.bat`` script to set up the environment variables (``PATH``, ``IDF_PATH`` and others). Inside this command prompt, all the installed tools are available.
Note that this shortcut is specific to the ESP-IDF directory selected in the ESP-IDF Tools Installer. If you have multiple ESP-IDF directories on the computer (for example, to work with different versions of ESP-IDF), you have two options to use them:
1. Create a copy of the shortcut created by the ESP-IDF Tools Installer, and change the working directory of the new shortcut to the ESP-IDF directory you wish to use.
2. Alternatively, run ``cmd.exe``, then change to the ESP-IDF directory you wish to use, and run ``export.bat``. Note that unlike the previous option, this way requires Python and Git to be present in ``PATH``. If you get errors related to Python or Git not being found, use the first option.
