Set up an over-the-air firmware update pipeline for an ESPHome device
domain: esphome.io · 6 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Verified — individually fact-checked against live docscommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Verified steps
Add an ota: block with platform: esphome to the device's YAML configuration
Set a unique password per device under the ota block, or migrate to api: encryption: key: for the newer encrypted API channel - these are distinct, non-interchangeable mechanisms
Note the default OTA port varies by chip family
Trigger an OTA push with esphome run <file>.yaml or esphome upload --device <ip> from the CLI or Dashboard
If mDNS discovery fails to find the device, pass its IP explicitly with --device
Use a unique OTA password/API key per device rather than reusing one across the fleet
Known gotchas
The legacy ota password and the newer api encryption key are separate settings - securing one does not secure the other
Reusing the same OTA password/API key across an entire fleet means one leaked device compromises all of them
OTA over network requires the device to already be reachable and running a compatible OTA protocol version - a bad flash may require physical/serial recovery
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