Sidecar — setup & config

Companion (ESP‑NOW)

No text CLI — companion firmware speaks the binary phone-app protocol on serial instead. Use the bundled script to join the ESP‑NOW side before or after pairing with a phone app:

python3 set_bridge_params.py list
python3 set_bridge_params.py <port> get
python3 set_bridge_params.py <port> set <selected wifi channel> <your bridge secret>

Channel/secret must exactly match the repeater's own. Applies immediately, no reboot. Needs pip install pyserial. Everything else (contacts, channels, messaging) is normal companion-app usage from here.

Companion (direct IP, no ESP‑NOW)

New: a Waveshare ESP32‑S3‑Zero companion build (ESP32_S3_Zero_comp_radio_ip_* — usb/ble/dual/wifi variants) that skips ESP‑NOW entirely and talks straight to the repeater's IP bridge over WiFi (TCP + TLS‑PSK, the same link a repeater‑to‑repeater IP bridge uses). No ESP‑NOW proximity to the repeater needed — just WiFi reaching its address. Also no text CLI, same binary phone-app protocol on serial — use the bundled script instead:

python3 set_ip_params.py list
python3 set_ip_params.py <port> wifi set <ssid> <password>   # reboot needed after this one
python3 set_ip_params.py <port> ip set <repeater host or IP> <port> <secret>
python3 set_ip_params.py <port> status

The secret must match a credential the repeater has registered for this companion via set ip.peer.add <this device's identity> <secret> — see Trifecta setup's "Multiple IP peers" section. This device's identity (the 8‑hex‑char id the repeater side needs) is reported by set_ip_params.py <port> status once connected, or by the companion app's own device-info screen. Needs pip install pyserial.

Room server (ESP‑NOW)

Real text CLI over USB. Same ESP‑NOW join as above (set bridge.channel/set bridge.secret), then optionally add a channel mirror — see Echo Board for that piece specifically.

Room server (direct IP, no ESP‑NOW)

New: same idea as the direct-IP companion above, for the room-server role — ESP32_S3_Zero_room_server_ip and ESP32_C3_SuperMini_room_server_ip talk straight to a repeater's IP bridge over WiFi (TCP + TLS‑PSK), no ESP‑NOW hop or gateway board required. Useful as a standalone sidecar wherever WiFi reaches the repeater but ESP‑NOW proximity doesn't. Unlike the companion, this role keeps its normal text CLI — configure it the same way as any other IP-bridge peer:

set wifi.ssid <name>
set wifi.pwd <password>
set ip.host <repeater host or IP>
set ip.port <port>
set ip.secret <key>              # must match the repeater's ip.peer.add entry for this device

Once connected, add a channel mirror the same way as the ESP‑NOW room server above — see Echo Board.

Repeater-role Sidecar (still no LoRa radio)

Same board class as a companion or room server — no LoRa radio here either — just running repeater-role mesh logic instead. Joins its host repeater over ESP‑NOW the same as any Sidecar (step 1 above). It can also optionally run its own IP bridge leg, acting as a cheap ESP‑NOW↔IP translator that relays onward to a second Trifecta repeater elsewhere — not the same thing as two real repeaters linking directly (see the Trifecta setup page for that):

set wifi.ssid <name>
set wifi.pwd <password>
set ip.host <peer host or IP>   # empty on this side = listen instead of dial out
set ip.port <port>
set ip.secret <key>              # TLS-PSK, must match the peer

Leaving ip.host empty here makes this board a listener rather than a dialer, and a listener can hold more than one peer at once, each with its own credential instead of one shared ip.secret — see Trifecta setup's "Multiple IP peers" section, the CLI is identical here.