Install

Frothy’s public install story is intentionally narrower than the full repo surface. The maintained attendee path is:

• released froth CLI assets
• matching frothy-vscode-v<extension-version>.vsix
• a preflashed esp32-devkit-v1

You do not need a repo checkout, esp-idf, or a source build before arriving on that path.

Naming Split

The product, docs, release assets, and editor surface are Frothy, but the installed CLI command is still froth.

That means the commands below are correct even though the project name is Frothy:

froth doctor
froth connect
froth build
froth flash

Support Matrix

Not promised in this first public cut:

• Windows
• extra boards
• source builds or repo-local workshop recovery workflows
• pre-class esp-idf installs

Install The CLI

macOS:

brew tap nikokozak/frothy
brew install frothy
froth doctor

Linux x86_64:

tar -xzf frothy-v<version>-linux-amd64.tar.gz
mkdir -p "$HOME/.local/bin"
install -m 0755 froth "$HOME/.local/bin/froth"
froth doctor

If multiple serial devices are visible, rerun the check with an explicit port:

froth --port <path> doctor

Install The VS Code Extension

code --install-extension /path/to/frothy-vscode-v<extension-version>.vsix

If VS Code cannot find the CLI on PATH, set frothy.cliPath to the absolute path of the installed froth binary.

First Connect

1. Plug in the preflashed esp32-devkit-v1.
2. Run froth doctor.
3. Open a .froth or .frothy file in VS Code.
4. Run Frothy: Connect Device.
5. Send 1 + 1 with Frothy: Send Selection / Line.
6. If the extension path is blocked, fall back to froth --port <path> connect.

Once you have a prompt, check the maintained workshop base image:

words
info @millis
info @blink
info @adc.percent

Preflight

Before class or a workshop rehearsal, confirm:

• froth doctor completes without CLI-path or serial surprises
• the VSIX installs successfully
• your laptop can see the board over USB

If that path fails, stop there. Do not widen the tooling surface ad hoc by installing extra toolchains.

Maintainer Notes

The promised clean-machine surface is frozen by the checked-in validation path in docs/guide/Frothy_Workshop_Clean_Machine_Validation.md in the Frothy repo. That is the authority for what can honestly be promised on attendee machines.