MissingPackageManifestError: Could not find one of 'package.json' manifest files in the package

Hi there,

Below the results of the logfile of which posting a screenshot of is not allowed(for some reason):

INFO ESPHome 2024.12.2
INFO Reading configuration /config/esphome/bath.yaml...
WARNING GPIO3 is a strapping PIN and should only be used for I/O with care.
Attaching external pullup/down resistors to strapping pins can cause unexpected failures.
See https://esphome.io/guides/faq.html#why-am-i-getting-a-warning-about-strapping-pins
INFO Generating C++ source...
INFO Compiling app...
Processing bath (board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1; framework: arduino; platform: platformio/[email protected])
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MissingPackageManifestError: Could not find one of 'package.json' manifest files in the package

I’ve got this strange (but very wel known) issue in ESPHOME. Overall people seem to be solve this by uninstalling and re-installing ESPHOME. However as long as I don’t know the cause, nobody can ensure me the issue won’t re-appear again after a while.

This only happens to me when I try running the ESP-IDF framework, as soon as i switch to arduino everything runs well.

In this case I’m configuring a display called bath, formerly I used arduino, then switched back to ESP-IDF but after the last major update update of ESPHOME this issue appeared and then I discovered the issue is solved by using arduino again.
However every esp device that is using ESP-IDF is now failing and for some devices I can’t switch to the arduino platform (like voice sattelites).

So I want to be able to use ESP-IDF again.

What I tried:

  • Cleaning the build files of the device in this example
  • Reinstall ESPHOME without this switch
    image
  • Trying to navigate to the ESPHome dir and cleanup the
    /opt/docker/esphome/config/.esphome or similar folder. But I couldn’t find a way to get into the ESPHOME docker (I just installed the add-on to HAOS ovf install).
  • Searched aroud the web found tons of people trying to deal with this but all end up in reinstalling esphome.

as I tried to reinstall without permanently delete the add-ons data I’m affraid I have to go trough the long lane to fix this.

So for me and everybody else who’s facing this I would like to firgure out in this thread how to fix this without a complete reinstall of ESPHOME with the switch on.

So My goal is to provide one of these 2 solutions:

  • Provide a way to solve the issue by just solving the cause (I guess this will be a step by step guide to have ESPHOME re-download it’s manifest packages as it seems there lies our issue).
  • In worst case scenario I want to offer everyone a step by step guide to perform a full re-download of ESPHOME (with the permanently delete switch activated)

Is there already anyone who can give this a kickstart?

If you want help, don’t post pictures of your logs.

I’ve removed the screenshot and posted the content as code.

I tought the screenshot was clear enough as the only relevant info was the oneliner which also was on the subject of this topic.

As it seems to be impossible to get straight into the docker containers that run in docker within HAOS there seems to be only one option left: Completely remove ESPHOME.

At first this sounds a bit frightning as the switch “Also permanently delete this addon’s data” sound like: I have to backup everything I made in ESPHOME.

Fortunately there’s nothing to be affraid of, which is probably the reason why everyone solves the issue by reinstalling esphome but without any further context.
I learned that If I use the “Also permanently delete this addon’s data” switch when uninstalling ESPHOME just deletes all downloaded cache/packages/manifest files etc. but NOT your configured yaml files for your devices.

Ofcourse as with every job on uninstalling/modifying system things it’s always wise to backup your stuff (that’s up to you).

These were my steps:

  • Backup your stuff first (if using the SMB add-on you can simply backup this path:
    \\<your HA IP or FQDN>\config\esphome or navigate to the equivalent path using SCP or make a copy via SSH)
  • Remove the ESPHOME addon with the switch “Also permanently delete this addon’s data” activated
  • Re-install the ESPHOME addon the regular way

Everything should be up as and runnign as it did before, at the first install action it will take ages to download all packages back again but this is a onetime run after that everything is as fast as normal.

The short answer to all is: Just completely remove ESPHOME with the switch activated and re-install it. You wont lose your devices as the ESPHOME folder will be kept in your config folder.

I hope this gives other users facing the same more confidence in just re-installing esphome and solve this quickly.