Does ESPHome have to be the only thing on an ESP32?

I have pretty much no experience with ESP32, other than testing out a setup one time. I’ve done a lot with Raspberry Pis and there are projects I want to do that would work much better on an ESP32. I understand that when you write code for an ESP32, you’re basically writing one master loop, but I haven’t dug in too deeply.

I’m looking at making a device for use in my shop that would use ESPHome, but it would also help me a lot if that same device could serve up a simple webpage. No HTML, but just text. Let’s say this device has 3 switches. Then the webpage status might read, in just simple ASCII:

CNC power: true
laser power: true
laser armed: false

This would give me a backup, since, every now and then, I upgarde Home Assistant and something breaks the system, taking hours or days to fix it. During that time, I’d lose the functionality of my device. Having a web status page would make sure it works even without HA. (But, with the webpage for status AND ESPHome, I’d get that AND the ability to do things like turn on my vent fans when the etching laser goes on, and everything else Home Assistant can do.)

So is there a way to include serving up a simple web status page from the same ESP32 that runs ESPHome?

It had not even occurred to me that ESPHome might include a web server - otherwise I would have searched. Completely overlooked that possibility!

One of the first things on the page is a note that it can decrease stability. Would a simple page, one that’s just simple text with only a few status lines, make a difference in stability, since it would not have any widgets for user interaction and require no listening for events and responses on it?

You don’t really define the webpage, it creates it based on what is running on the device.

Only way to find out is to try, but as long as your project is fairly simple/lightweight you should be fine. I’ve used it for several projects and never had a problem.

Sounds like it’d work. I just need a report on the status of the attached controls - which could be switches, or maybe a level control.

Agreed. I’m just at the point where I’m wondering how I’m going to do this project, so I’m still deciding what paths to explore. What I see here is that this might work for me - and save me some work, too.

Good. I’d want to get quick status updates on control status and if the system is overloaded, that might be a problem.

You can also get the status and control the esp via the API or via mqtt.