I am creating a small third-party ESP32 board package which reuses the installed Espressif Arduino-ESP32 core instead of distributing a copy of the complete ESP32 core.

Environment:
- Visual Micro: 2026.708.2207
- Microsoft Visual Studio
- Arduino-ESP32: 3.3.11
- Windows
- Board package: WeGoWireless:esp32
- Board: WeGoWireless RdyTouch2.8

The board definition uses:

wegowireless_rdytouch_2_8.build.core=esp32:esp32

Visual Micro correctly locates the referenced Espressif core:

build.core.path=...\packages\esp32\hardware\esp32\3.3.11\cores\esp32
vm.base.platform.path=...\packages\esp32\hardware\esp32\3.3.11

However, runtime.platform.path remains:

runtime.platform.path=...\packages\WeGoWireless\hardware\esp32\0.1.1

I also tried:

runtime.use_core_platform_path_for_runtime_platform_path=true

Visual Micro shows this property as true in Show Build Properties, but runtime.platform.path remains pointed at the WeGoWireless package.

I tested this property in both:
1. The WeGoWireless platform.local.txt
2. The referenced Espressif 3.3.11 platform.local.txt

Visual Studio was restarted between tests.

This causes inherited ESP32 platform recipes such as:

tools.gen_esp32part.cmd="{runtime.platform.path}\tools\gen_esp32part.exe"

to look for the Espressif tools inside the small WeGoWireless board package and the build fails with:

The system cannot find the file specified
Error running platform build recipe 'recipe.objcopy.partitions.bin.pattern'.
Debug build failed for project 'Testing'

Other inherited ESP32 recipes also reference runtime.platform.path for files/tools such as boot_app0.bin, flasher.exe and espota.exe, so overriding individual recipes in the WeGoWireless package does not seem like the correct solution.

As a control test, I placed the exact same WeGoWireless RdyTouch2.8 board definition directly into the Espressif 3.3.11 boards.txt. It builds and runs correctly, and runtime.platform.path points to the Espressif 3.3.11 platform.

My understanding of the Arduino platform specification is that when using a core from another platform, setting:

runtime.use_core_platform_path_for_runtime_platform_path=true

should cause runtime.platform.path to resolve to the referenced core platform.

Is there a different property or package structure Visual Micro expects for a small board-only package using:

build.core=esp32:esp32

The goal is for the WeGoWireless package to contain only our board definitions, variants and custom partitions, while reusing the installed Espressif core, platform recipes and tools.

Package index:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/WeGoWireless/WeGoWireless-ESP32-Boards/main/pa...

I have attached the Show Build Properties output from the failing build.

Thanks. I fixed the missing global menu declarations in our boards.txt, so that issue is resolved.

I also tested adding a platform.txt to the WeGoWireless package. The remaining issue still appears to be cross-package runtime.platform.path handling.

My understanding is that if the cross-package core reference is handled as specified, the WeGoWireless package should not require its own platform.txt; it should inherit the referenced Espressif platform's platform.txt. Is that also how Visual Micro expects this configuration to work?

Our board uses:

build.core=esp32:esp32

Espressif 3.3.11 has this in platform.local.txt:

runtime.use_core_platform_path_for_runtime_platform_path=true

Visual Micro correctly resolves the external core:

build.core.path       -> ...\esp32\hardware\esp32\3.3.11\cores\esp32
vm.base.platform.path -> ...\esp32\hardware\esp32\3.3.11

but runtime.platform.path remains:

...\WeGoWireless\hardware\esp32\0.1.1

I tested overriding individual Espressif recipes to use vm.base.platform.path, and the build then successfully completed. The same path issue subsequently appears during upload. For example Visual Micro currently generates:

...\WeGoWireless\hardware\esp32\0.1.1\tools\flasher.exe

and:

...\WeGoWireless\hardware\esp32\0.1.1\tools\partitions\boot_app0.bin

whereas both files are part of the referenced Espressif 3.3.11 platform.

The Arduino platform specification appears to say that when runtime.use_core_platform_path_for_runtime_platform_path=true, runtime.platform.path should use the referenced core platform path.

Is there a different property or package structure Visual Micro expects for this cross-package-core case, or should Visual Micro be switching runtime.platform.path to the referenced Espressif platform?

The latest (.09) has been updated here. It supports  runtime.use_core_platform_path_for_runtime_platform_path

I didn't find the property in the esp32 platform.txt but added it for a test.

https://www.visualmicro.com/forums/YaBB.pl?board=VS_ARDUINO_EXT_RELEASES

If you have any other issues please update the package you have created because the published one has other errors that prevent a solid build and deploy test

Great. Thanks for the clear and useful report. 

The line between Arduino IDE and CLI seems to be almost non-existent. We are designing some AI routines to keep an eye on Arduino compatibility and ensure our sources are kept up to date.