existing_idf_project.md

Opening an Existing ESP-IDF Project

An ESP-IDF project follow the tree directory structure as shown in ESP-IDF Example Project is:

- myProject/
             - CMakeLists.txt
             - sdkconfig
             - components/ - component1/ - CMakeLists.txt
                                         - Kconfig
                                         - src1.c
                           - component2/ - CMakeLists.txt
                                         - Kconfig
                                         - src1.c
                                         - include/ - component2.h
             - main/       - CMakeLists.txt
                           - src1.c
                           - src2.c

             - build/

When you open a directory in Visual Studio Code with menu File -> Open Folder which contains a CMakeLists.txt file in the root directory (myProject) that follows the ESP-IDF structure.

If you need to add Visual Studio Code configuration files, use the ESP-IDF: Add .vscode Configuration Folder command to add these files to the existing folder.

If you want to use a project in a Docker container with Visual Studio Code Remote - Containers extension you can use the ESP-IDF: Add Docker Container Configuration command to add required Dockerfile and .devcontainer json files.

As shown in Working with multiple projects, there are many places where configuration settings could be saved based on idf.saveScope and how to work with multiple debug and tasks configuration.

1. Open an example ESP-IDF project, like the Blink example with File -> Open Folder.

2. You can already use the existing setup to build, flash and monitor the existing project. To debug, you need the esp-idf launch.json which can be added by running the ESP-IDF: Add .vscode Configuration Folder command.

3. If you want to open the project within the ESP-IDF Docker container, use the ESP-IDF: Add Docker Container Configuration command to add the .devcontainer directory which allows the user to use the Remote - Containers: Open Folder in Remote Container to open the existing project into a container.