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espresso_frame/README.md
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tfaour 914eaed71c Add CLAUDE.md and docs/widgets.md; fix stale single-mode architecture docs
Repo-tracked context so a fresh Claude Code session (this machine or a
remote/cloud one) gets accurate project context without relying on this
session's local, machine-specific memory: repo conventions (no
co-author trailers, flag copyleft deps explicitly, scope security
gates broadly -- each backed by a real past incident), testing/deploy
workflow, and pointers into the existing docs.

docs/architecture.md's sequence diagram and boot-flow text still
described the pre-widget-system single-photo-queue model (e.g. "force-
advance to next queued photo") even though that was fully replaced by
the widget system across this branch's recent history -- fixed, and
added docs/widgets.md distilling the widget system's actual design
(data model, grid placement, compositor, button-action dispatch) as
current-state documentation, including the still-open Phase 6 cleanup
(legacy Frame columns not yet dropped) as a known gap.
2026-07-24 20:04:08 -04:00

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Markdown

# ESPresso Frame
A DIY e-ink photo frame: an ESP32-C6 pulls photos from your
[Immich](https://immich.app) library and displays them on a 7.3" full-color
e-paper panel, waking on a timer to refresh and spending the rest of its
time in deep sleep.
- **No cables to a computer, no SD card shuffling.** Provisioning is a
captive portal with a QR code drawn on the panel itself -- scan, join,
fill in your WiFi and server address, done.
- **The frame never decodes an image.** A small self-hosted server does
all the work (pulling from Immich, cropping, dithering, packing into
the panel's exact pixel format) and hands the device a stream it can
write straight to SPI. The ESP32-C6 has no PSRAM and not much SRAM to
spare -- keeping it a dumb display client is what makes that workable.
- **Crops toward faces, not just the center**, using face bounding boxes
Immich already computed for its own People feature -- no bundled face
detector.
- **Refresh interval and album are configurable from a web UI**, no
reflashing needed to change them.
## Hardware
- ESP32-C6 dev board (8MB flash)
- [Waveshare 7.3" E Ink Spectra 6 (E6)](https://www.waveshare.com/7.3inch-e-paper-hat-e.htm) panel -- 800x480, 6-color, SPI
See [`docs/hardware.md`](docs/hardware.md) for wiring,
[`docs/architecture.md`](docs/architecture.md) for how the two halves talk
to each other, and [`docs/widgets.md`](docs/widgets.md) for the server's
placeable photos/calendar/whiteboard widget system.
## Getting started
1. **[`server/`](server/)** -- run the FastAPI server first (Docker
Compose, points at your Immich instance). See
[`server/README.md`](server/README.md).
2. **[`firmware/`](firmware/)** -- build and flash the ESP32-C6, then
scan the QR codes it draws on first boot to provision it. See
[`firmware/README.md`](firmware/README.md).
## Repo layout
```
firmware/ ESP-IDF project for the ESP32-C6
server/ FastAPI server: Immich -> crop/dither/pack -> the frame
docs/ Wiring and architecture notes
```
## License
MIT -- see [`LICENSE`](LICENSE). A few small pieces of vendored
third-party code (a QR code generator, a bitmap font table) keep their
own permissive licenses; see `LICENSE` for details.
---
Built with substantial assistance from [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code).