diff --git a/config/esp32/components/chip/CMakeLists.txt b/config/esp32/components/chip/CMakeLists.txt
index 8b46be6b092e89..d279ce37dc4535 100644
--- a/config/esp32/components/chip/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/config/esp32/components/chip/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -158,6 +158,10 @@ if (CONFIG_ENABLE_CHIP_SHELL)
     chip_gn_arg_append("chip_build_libshell"                "true")
 endif()
 
+if (CONFIG_ENABLE_CHIP_CONTROLLER_BUILD)
+    chip_gn_arg_append("chip_build_controller"              "true")
+endif()
+
 if (CONFIG_ENABLE_WIFI_STATION OR CONFIG_ENABLE_WIFI_AP)
     chip_gn_arg_append("chip_enable_wifi"                       "true")
 else()
diff --git a/config/esp32/components/chip/Kconfig b/config/esp32/components/chip/Kconfig
index 7bd4b0bf924de5..99de12afa97e6e 100644
--- a/config/esp32/components/chip/Kconfig
+++ b/config/esp32/components/chip/Kconfig
@@ -96,6 +96,12 @@ menu "CHIP Core"
             help
                 Link the application against CHIP interactive shell.
 
+        config ENABLE_CHIP_CONTROLLER_BUILD
+            bool "Enable chip-controller build"
+            default n
+            help
+                This option enables chip-controller building.
+
         config DISABLE_IPV4
             bool "Disable IPv4 functionality in the CHIP stack"
             default "n"
diff --git a/src/app/server/Server.cpp b/src/app/server/Server.cpp
index 0793832d17271c..5eff5ea0be7344 100644
--- a/src/app/server/Server.cpp
+++ b/src/app/server/Server.cpp
@@ -127,6 +127,7 @@ CHIP_ERROR Server::Init(const ServerInitParams & initParams)
     mSubscriptionResumptionStorage = initParams.subscriptionResumptionStorage;
     mOperationalKeystore           = initParams.operationalKeystore;
     mOpCertStore                   = initParams.opCertStore;
+    mSessionKeystore               = initParams.sessionKeystore;
 
     if (initParams.certificateValidityPolicy)
     {
@@ -205,7 +206,7 @@ CHIP_ERROR Server::Init(const ServerInitParams & initParams)
     SuccessOrExit(err);
 
     err = mSessions.Init(&DeviceLayer::SystemLayer(), &mTransports, &mMessageCounterManager, mDeviceStorage, &GetFabricTable(),
-                         *initParams.sessionKeystore);
+                         *mSessionKeystore);
     SuccessOrExit(err);
 
     err = mFabricDelegate.Init(this);
diff --git a/src/python_testing/matter_testing_support.py b/src/python_testing/matter_testing_support.py
index d3e768c806e84e..8688504b6c090d 100644
--- a/src/python_testing/matter_testing_support.py
+++ b/src/python_testing/matter_testing_support.py
@@ -574,14 +574,15 @@ def byte_string_from_hex(s: str) -> bytes:
     return unhexlify(s.replace(":", "").replace(" ", "").replace("0x", ""))
 
 
-def int_from_manual_code(s: str) -> int:
-    s = s.replace('-', '')
+def str_from_manual_code(s: str) -> str:
+    """Enforces legal format for manual codes and removes spaces/dashes."""
+    s = s.replace("-", "").replace(" ", "")
     regex = r"^([0-9]{11}|[0-9]{21})$"
     match = re.match(regex, s)
     if not match:
         raise ValueError("Invalid manual code format, does not match %s" % regex)
 
-    return int(s, 10)
+    return s
 
 
 def int_named_arg(s: str) -> Tuple[str, int]:
@@ -701,7 +702,7 @@ def populate_commissioning_args(args: argparse.Namespace, config: MatterTestConf
     # TODO: this should also allow multiple once QR and manual codes are supported.
     config.qr_code_content = args.qr_code
     if args.manual_code:
-        config.manual_code = "%d" % args.manual_code
+        config.manual_code = args.manual_code
     else:
         config.manual_code = None
 
@@ -885,7 +886,7 @@ def parse_matter_test_args(argv: List[str]) -> MatterTestConfig:
 
     code_group.add_argument('-q', '--qr-code', type=str,
                             metavar="QR_CODE", help="QR setup code content (overrides passcode and discriminator)")
-    code_group.add_argument('--manual-code', type=int_from_manual_code,
+    code_group.add_argument('--manual-code', type=str_from_manual_code,
                             metavar="MANUAL_CODE", help="Manual setup code content (overrides passcode and discriminator)")
 
     fabric_group = parser.add_argument_group(