GhostESP.
GhostESP is an open-source ESP32 firmware project. It started as a small Flipper-focused project and grew into the firmware, tools, apps, and community that exist today.
How Revival started.
GhostESP started with Spooky. The first repository, GhostESP_Legacy, was an ESP32 firmware project built to work with Flipper devices. It was archived on March 29, 2024.
The next repository, Ghost_ESP, became the main public version. It was archived on April 22, 2025, after Spooky stepped away. The old README says the project was finished and would not be coming back. It also credits early help from JustCallMeKoKo, thibauts, and MarcoLucidi01.
I had already been contributing to Spooky’s GhostESP and had become one of its major contributors near the end. When Spooky disappeared, the flasher site went down and the Discord server was deleted. That left Rabbit-Labs’ GhostESP users without a way to flash their devices. I made a new Discord server that day and forked the code to start GhostESP Revival.
That fork is the project today. It lives under the GhostESP-Revival organization, with its own releases, documentation, board support, companion projects, and community.
What GhostESP is now.
GhostESP is used for wireless security testing, protocol research, hardware experimentation, and education. It covers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, NFC, infrared, Sub-GHz, and 802.15.4, depending on the board and connected hardware.
The firmware is built on Espressif’s ESP-IDF. That keeps it close to the hardware, but it also means that board compatibility, memory, partitions, and connected modules matter. The supported boards catalogue and the documentation have the details.
It’s more than firmware.
Firmware and boards
The repo contains the firmware, chip-specific code, board configurations, partition layouts, and build tools for different device targets.
Different ways to use it
You can use it through the device UI, serial CLI, WebUI, Flipper Zero app, Android companion, or a second device connected through GhostLink.
Apps and extensions
Native SD apps, GhostScript scripts, themes, asset packs, the Cloud Store, and the Ghost Build Tool let people build on top of the firmware.
The work is public.
GhostESP is developed in public on GitHub and released under the GPL-3.0 license. The source, releases, issues, and contribution instructions are all there.
There are plenty of ways to help.
- Code — firmware, tools, apps, and board support.
- Document — guides, examples, and corrections.
- Test — hardware coverage, regressions, and reproducible reports.
- Discuss — questions and project work in the community.
Who worked on it.
Spooky
Spooky started the original GhostESP project. Both GhostESP_Legacy and Ghost_ESP are still available as part of its history.
deki / @jaylikesbunda
I was already a major contributor to Spooky’s GhostESP near the end of its life. When the site and Discord disappeared, I created the new server and started the Revival fork. The Revival contributing guide identifies me as its core maintainer.
Everyone who helped
People have contributed code, ideas, board support, testing, and feedback across both projects. The GitHub contributor view shows the current history.
This page is a short version of the story. The repositories and changelog contain the longer one.