Image: youtube.com · Video thumbnail: YouTube: I Plugged a $20 ESP32 Into Claude Code: No Manuals
Three $20 ESP32 boards figured out with no manuals
Cheap unbranded ESP32 boards were plugged into a Mac one at a time and Claude Code worked out what each one was and how to program it.
Credits
- Video channel Creator Magic Source ↗
Earliest dated source:
The full story
Three cheap ESP32 boards arrived with no model numbers or documentation: a small Waveshare display, a 2.8-inch touchscreen "Cheap Yellow Display" and a Waveshare e-paper board. Each was plugged into a Mac in turn, and Claude Code questioned it over USB to work out what it was, down to leftover details in the factory firmware.
Claude then wrote new firmware for each, without manuals, tutorials or Arduino libraries.
Parts and cost
- Waveshare ESP32-C6 with 1.47-inch displayabout $20
- ESP32 with 2.8-inch touchscreen ("Cheap Yellow Display")about $18
- Waveshare ESP32-S3 with 1.54-inch e-paperabout $26
Roughly $64 (US prices, August 2026) in total, at the prices the maker gave.
How it was done
Tools
Themes
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Sources
From the maker's own write-up or code. We summarise what they report; we haven't tested it ourselves.
- YouTube: I Plugged a $20 ESP32 Into Claude Code: No ManualsVideo channel: Creator MagicPublished
The video, in three acts, one per board.