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Even though Tasmota offers several pre-compiled firmware variants, sometimes the ready-to-flash binaries aren't enough. If you need to enable or disable some features, or simply change some parameters, then you need to compile a firmware binary yourself.

If you are not experienced enough or don't want to install an IDE (Integrated Development Environment) like PlatformIO or Arduino-IDE on your computer, compiling your own firmware is a breeze using Gitpod.

Gitpod is a web browser based online IDE. All you need to use it is to link your GitHub account (or make a new one here). Gitpod will take care of all the necessary software package dependencies for you.

Gitpod login

After you successfully sign in, you can start your personal project. The fastest way to load Tasmota into Gitpod is with one of the following links:

Browser Extension
Gitpod has a browser extension (Chrome and Firefox) which is handy to directly load a GitHub project into your personal Gitpod work-space.
Gitpod link

More information on the Gitpod browser extension.

Using Gitpod

After Gitpod loads the project, you will be greeted by the main window. Gitpod will then automatically compile tasmota.bin. Wait for the compilation to complete.

The display consists of three panels:

  1. Explorer
  2. Editor
  3. Terminal

Gitpod main screen

Customize Firmware Features and Settings

⚠️ ATTENTION: The proper method of customizing firmware compilation options is to use the user_config_override.h file. Most customizations should not require changes to the my_user_config.h file. To modify the stock configuration:

  1. Select the /tasmota folder in the Explorer (1) pane
  2. Create a new file called user_config_override.h
  3. In the Editor (2) pane, add, change, or remove anything you need in your configuration file to define your own settings. Refer to the user_config_override_sample.h file as well as my_user_config.h for #define options (sample). You can find a list of Tasmota features and settings listed here. Define the features you require in your configuration file.
  4. Click 'File' on the menu bar and 'Save' your edits.

Prepare the IDE for Compilation

  1. Open the platformio.ini file located in the /tasmota root directory (scroll to the bottom of the file Explorer (1) pane). In this file, removing a leading semicolon ; enables a statement.
  2. In the Editor (2) pane:
    • If you are using your own user_config_override.h, you must tell the compiler to use it. Rename platformio_override_sample.ini to platformio_override.ini. This enables -DUSE_CONFIG_OVERRIDE.
    • By default, the 2.6.1 Core will be compiled. If you wish to use a different Core, find the [core_active] section in the file and enable the platform and build_flags lines for the desired Core. Then click 'File' on the menu bar and 'Save' your edits.

Compile Your Firmware

This action is done in the Terminal pane (3) with very simple commands.

compile command

The simplest one is platformio run -e tasmota. With this command, Gitpod will compile the Tasmota firmware with the features you selected. If you need a different variant, you can specify this option on the command line:
platformio run -e <variant-name>

Examples:

  • platformio run -e tasmota-sensors
  • platformio run -e tasmota-DE

Compilation normally takes only a couple of minutes. The time if takes is directly related to the configurations you selected; the more features selected means more time is needed to compile. When done, you will find a firmware file named firmware.bin in the /Tasmota/.pioenvs/<variant-name>/ folder in the Explorer (1) pane.

folders

Download firmware.bin to your computer by right-clicking on the file and selecting 'Download'. You are now ready to flash your device.

Watch a livestream video by digiblurDIY of compiling Tasmota using Gitpod.

Flash Your Device

OTA Flash

If you already have Tasmota flashed on your device, you can use the File Upload OTA method to load the new firmware binary file.

  1. Download tasmota-minimal.bin
  2. Make a backup of the device configuration using the web UI Configuration menu option.
  3. Upload tasmota-minimal.bin to your device using the web UI Firmware Upgrade selection. Choose Upgrade by file upload.
  4. After tasmota-minimal.bin is successfully loaded, select Firmware Upgrade once again and upload the firmware file compiled using Gitpod.

Serial Flash

Follow the same procedure for flashing as you would any new device.