ESP-IDF App Descriptor missing in your`esp-idf` application.

[hazer-hazer]

Hi, I encountered this error after updating to the latest version of espflash:

Error:   × ESP-IDF App Descriptor (https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/stable/esp32/api-
  │ reference/system/app_image_format.html#application-description) missing in your`esp-idf`
  │ application.

Cargo.toml:

# ...
esp-bootloader-esp-idf = "0.1.0"
esp-hal = { version = "^1.0.0-beta.0", features = [
  "esp32c3",
  "unstable",
  "log",
] }
esp-hal-embassy = { version = "0.7", features = ["esp32c3"] }
# ...

Error does not appear on espflash@3.3.0

[crazyjay97]

same error here when i run espflash flash use espflash v4.0.1
espflash v3.3.0 is ok
[2025-07-16T08:22:11Z WARN ] Monitor options were provided, but --monitor/-M flag isn't set. These options will be ignored. [2025-07-16T08:22:11Z INFO ] Serial port: '/dev/cu.usbmodem2137301' [2025-07-16T08:22:11Z INFO ] Connecting... [2025-07-16T08:22:12Z INFO ] Using flash stub Error: × ESP-IDF App Descriptor (https://docs.espressif.com/projects/esp-idf/en/stable/esp32/api-reference/system/app_image_format.html#application-description) missing in youresp-idf application.

[mawoka-myblock]

Here's the solution: https://github.com/esp-rs/esp-hal/releases/tag/esp-hal-v1.0.0-rc.0

I find it quite unlucky that the new version of espflash is released without the needed note or documentation on how to implement the change.

[MabezDev]

Using a recent esp-hal version (1.0.0-beta.1 and higher iirc) will produce a better error:

espflash/espflash/src/image_format/idf.rs

Lines 815 to 816 in b993a42

	if !has_app_desc {
	if is_esp_hal {

.

Can you confirm that, or is this a bug?