Running unit tests creates conflict in installed esptool package version (VSC-1770)

[servicesITTechnologies]

OS

Windows

Operating System version

Windows 10

Visual Studio Code version

1.104.2

ESP-IDF version

5.5.1

Python version

3.11.2

Doctor command output

---------------------------------------------- ESP-IDF Extension for Visual Studio Code report ---------------------------------------------
OS win32 x64 10.0.19045
System environment variable IDF_PYTHON_ENV_PATH
undefined
System environment variable PATH
C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player\bin;C:\windows\system32;C:\windows;C:\windows\System32\Wbem;C:\windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0;C:\windows\System32\OpenSSH;C:\Program Files (x86)\Progea\Movicon11.6\AlarmDispatcher;C:\Program Files\PuTTY;C:\Program Files (x86)\Bitvise SSH Client;C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\VISA\WinNT\Bin;C:\Program Files\IVI Foundation\VISA\Win64\Bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\VISA\WinNT\Bin;C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin;C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\16\bin;C:\Program Files\Git\cmd;C:\Program Files\nodejs;C:\Program Files\HP\HP One Agent;C:\Program Files\TortoiseGit\bin;C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin;C:\Program Files\usbipd-win;C:.rustup\toolchains\esp\xtensa-esp-elf\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\idf-python\3.11.2;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\idf-git\2.44.0\cmd;C:\Program Files (x86)\VMware\VMware Player\bin;C:\windows\system32;C:\windows;C:\windows\System32\Wbem;C:\windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0;C:\windows\System32\OpenSSH;C:\Program Files (x86)\Progea\Movicon11.6\AlarmDispatcher;C:\Program Files\PuTTY;C:\Program Files (x86)\Bitvise SSH Client;C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\VISA\WinNT\Bin;C:\Program Files\IVI Foundation\VISA\Win64\Bin;C:\Program Files (x86)\IVI Foundation\VISA\WinNT\Bin;C:\ProgramData\chocolatey\bin;C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\16\bin;C:\Program Files\Git\cmd;C:\Program Files\nodejs;C:\Program Files\HP\HP One Agent;C:\Program Files\TortoiseGit\bin;C:\Program Files\Docker\Docker\resources\bin;C:\Program Files\usbipd-win;C:.rustup\toolchains\esp\xtensa-esp32-elf-clang\esp-clang\bin;C:.rustup\toolchains\esp\xtensa-esp-elf;C:\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code\bin
System environment variable PYTHON
undefined
Visual Studio Code Remote name undefined
Visual Studio Code version 1.104.2
Visual Studio Code language en
Visual Studio Code shell C:\windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
ESP-IDF Extension version 1.10.2
Workspace folder c:\DEV\Projects\Firmware\firm_test
---------------------------------------------------- Extension configuration settings ------------------------------------------------------
ESP-ADF Path (idf.espAdfPath) ${env:ADF_PATH}
ESP-IDF Path (idf.espIdfPath) C:/DEV/Libs/Esp-Idf-v5.5.1/src/
ESP-MDF Path (idf.espMdfPath) ${env:MDF_PATH}
ESP-Matter Path (idf.espMatterPath) ${env:ESP_MATTER_PATH}
ESP-HomeKit-SDK Path (idf.espHomeKitSdkPath) ${env:HOMEKIT_PATH}
Custom extra paths C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\xtensa-esp-elf-gdb\16.2_20250324\xtensa-esp-elf-gdb\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\riscv32-esp-elf-gdb\16.2_20250324\riscv32-esp-elf-gdb\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\xtensa-esp-elf\esp-14.2.0_20241119\xtensa-esp-elf\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\riscv32-esp-elf\esp-14.2.0_20241119\riscv32-esp-elf\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\esp32ulp-elf\2.38_20240113\esp32ulp-elf\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\cmake\3.30.2\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\openocd-esp32\v0.12.0-esp32-20250707\openocd-esp32\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\ninja\1.12.1;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\idf-exe\1.0.3;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\ccache\4.11.2\ccache-4.11.2-windows-x86_64;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\dfu-util\0.11\dfu-util-0.11-win64;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\esp-rom-elfs\20241011
ESP-IDF extra vars
OPENOCD_SCRIPTS: C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\openocd-esp32\v0.12.0-esp32-20250707\openocd-esp32\share\openocd\scripts
IDF_CCACHE_ENABLE: 1
ESP_ROM_ELF_DIR: C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\esp-rom-elfs\20241011
IDF_PYTHON_ENV_PATH: C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\python_env\idf5.5_py3.11_env
ESP_IDF_VERSION: 5.5
PATH: C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\xtensa-esp-elf-gdb\16.2_20250324\xtensa-esp-elf-gdb\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\riscv32-esp-elf-gdb\16.2_20250324\riscv32-esp-elf-gdb\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\xtensa-esp-elf\esp-14.2.0_20241119\xtensa-esp-elf\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\esp-clang\esp-19.1.2_20250312\esp-clang\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\riscv32-esp-elf\esp-14.2.0_20241119\riscv32-esp-elf\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\esp32ulp-elf\2.38_20240113\esp32ulp-elf\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\cmake\3.30.2\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\openocd-esp32\v0.12.0-esp32-20250707\openocd-esp32\bin;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\ninja\1.12.1;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\idf-exe\1.0.3;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\ccache\4.11.2\ccache-4.11.2-windows-x86_64;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\dfu-util\0.11\dfu-util-0.11-win64;C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\python_env\idf5.5_py3.11_env\Scripts;C:/DEV/Libs/Esp-Idf-v5.5.1/src/tools;%PATH%
IDF_DEACTIVATE_FILE_PATH: C:\Users\J13C3~1.BED\AppData\Local\Temp\tmprdqyu0s3idf_17084
User extra vars (idf.customExtraVars)
OPENOCD_SCRIPTS: c:\DEV\Libs\esp-idf-v5.1.4\Espressif\tools\openocd-esp32\v0.12.0-esp32-20230921/openocd-esp32/share/openocd/scripts
IDF_CCACHE_ENABLE: 1
ESP_ROM_ELF_DIR: c:\DEV\Libs\esp-idf-v5.1.4\Espressif\tools\esp-rom-elfs\20230320/
IDF_TARGET: esp32s3
System python Path (idf.pythonInstallPath) C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\idf-python\3.11.2\python.exe
Virtual environment Python path (computed) C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\python_env\idf5.5_py3.11_env\Scripts\python.exe
Serial port (idf.port) COM3
OpenOCD Configs (idf.openOcdConfigs) board/esp32s3-builtin.cfg
OpenOCD log level (idf.openOcdDebugLevel) 2
OpenOCD launch arguments (idf.openOcdLaunchArgs)
ESP-IDF Tools Path (idf.toolsPath) C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools
Git Path (idf.gitPath) C:/DEV/Libs/Esp-Idf-v5.5.1/esp_tools/tools/idf-git/2.44.0/cmd/git.exe
Notification Mode (idf.notificationMode) All
Flash type (idf.flashType) UART
Flash partition to use (idf.flashPartitionToUse) all
-------------------------------------------------------- Configurations access -------------------------------------------------------------
Access to ESP-ADF Path (idf.espAdfPath) false
Access to ESP-IDF Path (idf.espIdfPath) true
Access to ESP-MDF Path (idf.espMdfPath) false
Access to ESP-Matter Path (idf.espMatterPath) false
Access to ESP-HomeKit Path (idf.espHomeKitSdkPath) false
Access to ESP-IDF Custom extra paths
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\xtensa-esp-elf-gdb\16.2_20250324\xtensa-esp-elf-gdb\bin: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\riscv32-esp-elf-gdb\16.2_20250324\riscv32-esp-elf-gdb\bin: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\xtensa-esp-elf\esp-14.2.0_20241119\xtensa-esp-elf\bin: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\riscv32-esp-elf\esp-14.2.0_20241119\riscv32-esp-elf\bin: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\esp32ulp-elf\2.38_20240113\esp32ulp-elf\bin: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\cmake\3.30.2\bin: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\openocd-esp32\v0.12.0-esp32-20250707\openocd-esp32\bin: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\ninja\1.12.1: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\idf-exe\1.0.3: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\ccache\4.11.2\ccache-4.11.2-windows-x86_64: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\dfu-util\0.11\dfu-util-0.11-win64: true
Access to C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\esp-rom-elfs\20241011: true
Access to System python Path (idf.pythonInstallPath) true
Access to Virtual environment Python path (computed) true
Access to CMake in environment PATH undefined
Access to Ninja in environment PATH undefined
Access to ESP-IDF Tools Path (idf.toolsPath) true
-------------------------------------------------------- Configurations has spaces -------------------------------------------------------------
Spaces in system environment Path true
Spaces in ESP-ADF Path (idf.espAdfPath) false
Spaces in ESP-IDF Path (idf.espIdfPath) false
Spaces in ESP-MDF Path (idf.espMdfPath) false
Spaces in ESP-Matter Path (idf.espMatterPath) false
Spaces in ESP-HomeKit-SDK Path (idf.espHomeKitSdkPath) false
Spaces in ESP-IDF Custom extra paths
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\xtensa-esp-elf-gdb\16.2_20250324\xtensa-esp-elf-gdb\bin: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\riscv32-esp-elf-gdb\16.2_20250324\riscv32-esp-elf-gdb\bin: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\xtensa-esp-elf\esp-14.2.0_20241119\xtensa-esp-elf\bin: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\riscv32-esp-elf\esp-14.2.0_20241119\riscv32-esp-elf\bin: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\esp32ulp-elf\2.38_20240113\esp32ulp-elf\bin: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\cmake\3.30.2\bin: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\openocd-esp32\v0.12.0-esp32-20250707\openocd-esp32\bin: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\ninja\1.12.1: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\idf-exe\1.0.3: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\ccache\4.11.2\ccache-4.11.2-windows-x86_64: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\dfu-util\0.11\dfu-util-0.11-win64: false
Spaces in C:\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\tools\esp-rom-elfs\20241011: false
Spaces in System python Path (idf.pythonInstallPath) false
Spaces in Virtual environment Python path (computed) false
Spaces in ESP-IDF Tools Path (idf.toolsPath) false
----------------------------------------------------------- Executables Versions -----------------------------------------------------------
Git version 2.44.0.windows.1
ESP-IDF version 5.5.1
Python version 3.11.2
Python's pip version 25.2
-------------------------------------------------- Project configuration settings ----------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------- Python packages in Virtual environment Python path (computed) ---------------------------
annotated-types version: 0.7.0
argcomplete version: 3.6.2
argon2-cffi version: 25.1.0
argon2-cffi-bindings version: 25.1.0
bitarray version: 3.7.1
bitstring version: 4.3.1
certifi version: 2025.8.3
cffi version: 2.0.0
charset-normalizer version: 3.4.3
click version: 8.1.8
colorama version: 0.4.6
construct version: 2.10.70
cryptography version: 44.0.3
ecdsa version: 0.19.1
esp-bool-parser version: 0.1.4
esp-coredump version: 1.14.0
esp-debug-backend version: 1.0.3
esp-idf-diag version: 0.2.0
esp-idf-kconfig version: 2.5.0
esp-idf-monitor version: 1.8.0
esp_idf_nvs_partition_gen version: 0.1.9
esp_idf_panic_decoder version: 1.4.1
esp-idf-size version: 1.7.1
esptool version: 5.1.0
filelock version: 3.19.1
freertos-gdb version: 1.0.4
idf-build-apps version: 2.12.3
idf-component-manager version: 2.4.0
idna version: 3.10
iniconfig version: 2.1.0
intelhex version: 2.3.0
jsonref version: 1.1.0
markdown-it-py version: 4.0.0
mdurl version: 0.1.2
minio version: 7.2.16
packaging version: 25.0
pexpect version: 4.9.0
pip version: 25.2
pluggy version: 1.6.0
psutil version: 7.1.0
ptyprocess version: 0.7.0
pyclang version: 0.6.3
pycparser version: 2.23
pycryptodome version: 3.23.0
pydantic version: 2.11.9
pydantic_core version: 2.33.2
pydantic-settings version: 2.11.0
pyelftools version: 0.32
pygdbmi version: 0.11.0.0
Pygments version: 2.19.2
pyparsing version: 3.2.5
pyserial version: 3.5
pytest version: 8.4.2
pytest-embedded version: 2.1.0
pytest-embedded-idf version: 2.1.0
pytest-embedded-jtag version: 2.1.0
pytest-embedded-qemu version: 2.1.0
pytest-embedded-serial version: 2.1.0
pytest-embedded-serial-esp version: 2.1.0
pytest-ignore-test-results version: 0.3.0
pytest-rerunfailures version: 16.0.1
pytest-timeout version: 2.4.0
python-dotenv version: 1.1.1
python-gitlab version: 6.3.0
pywin32 version: 311
PyYAML version: 6.0.3
qemu.qmp version: 0.0.3
reedsolo version: 1.7.0
requests version: 2.32.5
requests-file version: 2.1.0
requests-toolbelt version: 1.0.0
rich version: 14.1.0
rich-click version: 1.9.1
ruamel.yaml version: 0.18.15
ruamel.yaml.clib version: 0.2.14
setuptools version: 71.0.0
six version: 1.17.0
tqdm version: 4.67.1
truststore version: 0.10.4
typing_extensions version: 4.15.0
typing-inspection version: 0.4.1
urllib3 version: 1.26.20
windows-curses version: 2.4.1
---------------------------------------------------- Check ESP-IDF python requirements.txt -------------------------------------------------
Check ESP-IDF Python packages Python requirements are satisfied.
---------------------------------------------------- Check ESP-IDF debug adapter requirements.txt ------------------------------------------
Check Debug AdapterPython packages Python requirements are satisfied.
---------------------------------------------------- Visual Studio Code launch.json --------------------------------------------------------
{
"version": "0.2.0",
"configurations": [
{
"type": "gdbtarget",
"request": "attach",
"name": "Eclipse CDT GDB Adapter"
},
{
"type": "espidf",
"name": "Launch",
"request": "launch"
}
]
}
---------------------------------------------------- Visual Studio Code c_cpp_properties.json ----------------------------------------------
{
"configurations": [
{
"name": "ESP-IDF",
"compilerPath": "${config:idf.toolsPathWin}\tools\xtensa-esp-elf\esp-14.2.0_20241119\xtensa-esp-elf\bin\xtensa-esp32s3-elf-gcc.exe",
"compileCommands": "${config:idf.buildPath}/compile_commands.json",
"includePath": [
"${config:idf.espIdfPath}/components/",
"${config:idf.espIdfPathWin}/components/",
"${workspaceFolder}/**"
],
"browse": {
"path": [
"${config:idf.espIdfPath}/components",
"${config:idf.espIdfPathWin}/components",
"${workspaceFolder}"
],
"limitSymbolsToIncludedHeaders": true
}
}
],
"version": 4
}

---

Extension

No response

Description

I just updated my current ESP-IDF installation to v5.5.1 . While running unit tests by using the extension tab, it updates the installed version of package esptool to 5.1.0.
However, the constraints file of ESP-IDF version 5.5.1 (espidf.constraints.v5.5.txt) still requires version 4.1.0 .
This means each time i run unit tests, the version of esptool gets updated and subsequent uses of menuconfig or other utilites generate an error.
There is a temporary workaround: set the environment variable "IDF_PYTHON_CHECK_CONSTRAINTS" to "no" in ".vscode/settings.json" file.

Debug Message

[SDK Configuration Editor]
---------------------------ERROR--------------------------

The following Python requirements are not satisfied:

Requirement 'esptool~=4.10' was not met. Installed version: 5.1.0

To install the missing packages, please run "install.bat"

Diagnostic information:

IDF_PYTHON_ENV_PATH: C:\Users\user\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\python_env\idf5.5_py3.11_env

Python interpreter used: C:\Users\user\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\python_env\idf5.5_py3.11_env\Scripts\python.exe

Constraint file: C:\Users\user\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\espidf.constraints.v5.5.txt

Requirement files:

• C:/Users/user/DEV/Libs/Esp-Idf-v5.5.1/src/tools\requirements\requirements.core.txt

Python being checked: C:\Users\user\DEV\Libs\Esp-Idf-v5.5.1\esp_tools\python_env\idf5.5_py3.11_env\Scripts\python.exe

-----------------------END OF ERROR-----------------------
---------------------------ERROR--------------------------

ESP-IDF v5.5.1

-----------------------END OF ERROR-----------------------
---------------------------ERROR--------------------------

SDK Configuration editor confserver process exited with code: 1
-----------------------END OF ERROR-----------------------

Other Steps to Reproduce

Tried from a fresh install of ESP-IDF v5.5.1 .

I have checked existing issues, online documentation and the Troubleshooting Guide

• I confirm I have checked existing issues, online documentation and Troubleshooting guide.

[github-actions]

This issue has been marked as stale since there are no activities, and this will be closed in 5 days if there are no further activities

[brianignacio5]

Hi @servicesITTechnologies thank you for reporting this.

We are working on #1681 to remove Pytest requirements dependency.

I will though also make sure to use the constraints in the pytest requirements installation since I believe is the source of your issue.

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