EMWaver Support

No. EMWaver is local-first and open-source. Core hardware control — plugging in a board, running scripts, and exploring signals — does not require an account, cloud activation, or a subscription. Desktop MCP is optional and local.

The supported device is the EMWaver Air (ESP32-S3). The EMWaver Carrier lets you bring your own ESP32-S3. Older EMWaver designs are listed for reference in the hardware docs and on the Build page.

The EMWaver Air connects over USB-C through a CH340 USB-serial bridge for first-time setup and flashing; most modern systems include the driver. After provisioning, the Air dials emwaver.ai over Wi-Fi and is controlled entirely from the browser.

Firmware is managed by the platform. The native apps bundle per-board firmware payloads and handle the update flow through the app interface. You should never need to build or flash firmware manually.

The firmware source is open-source and the repos are available, but the platform is designed so end users do not need to go through a compile/flash loop. If you want to hack on firmware, that path is available — just not required for normal use.

Desktop MCP exposes local EMWaver tools to an MCP-capable client while the desktop app is running. When you enable it, the client can inspect device state, run scripts, and call hardware tools such as SPI, GPIO, and analog reads. See MCP docs for details.

The fastest way is the Continual MI Discord. For documentation-specific questions, start with the documentation. For bug reports, reach out on the Discord community.