# Xiao Webcam Ap

> Build and flash the XIAO ESP32S3 Sense camera web apps in STANDALONE AP (hotspot) mode: a Teachable-Machine-style dataset collector page and a live inference viewer page served by the board itself at http://192.168.4.1. Use this skill whenever the user wants the camera web app WITHOUT a router — classroom/education deployments, demos with no WiFi, per-student boards, or says "AP 모드", "핫스팟", "공유기 없이". For router (STA) mode use the xiao-webcam-sta skill instead.

- Skill: `shain1912/xiao-webcam-ap` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 3 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add shain1912/xiao-webcam-ap`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/shain1912/xiao-webcam-ap/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: AI & ML
- Author: shain1912 (https://skillmd.com/u/shain1912)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/shain1912/xiao-webcam-ap

---


# XIAO ESP32S3 camera web apps — AP (hotspot) mode

The board becomes its own WiFi hotspot. Clients join the board's SSID and the
page is ALWAYS at **http://192.168.4.1**. No router, no internet needed.
Best for classrooms: one board per student/team, isolated networks.

Read the `xiao-esp32s3` skill (same repo) first for base workflow and pitfalls
(especially: PSRAM flag mandatory, DTR reset-stuck recovery, no serial reads
while a demo must keep running).

## Step 1 — ALWAYS ask the user first

Never invent credentials. Ask the user for:

1. **AP 이름(SSID)** — e.g. `XIAO_01`. For classroom fleets suggest numbered
   names (`XIAO_01`..`XIAO_20`).
2. **AP 비밀번호** — 8+ chars (WPA2 minimum). If the user wants an open AP,
   confirm explicitly.
3. **채널** (optional, default 1) — for MULTIPLE boards in one room, spread
   across 1 / 6 / 11 (board N → channel `[1,6,11][N % 3]`); 20 boards all on
   channel 1 will jam each other.
4. Which app: collector, inference viewer, or both.

## Step 2 — generate the sketch from the template

Templates in `assets/` are verified working code — do not rewrite them:

- `assets/web_collect.ino.tpl` — dataset collector (gallery + delete + ZIP download)
- `assets/web_infer.ino.tpl` — live inference viewer (needs the
  `<project>_inferencing` Edge Impulse library installed in the sketchbook)

Copy the template to `<workspace>\<NN>_<name>\<NN>_<name>.ino` (folder = ino
name), then replace the placeholders literally:

| Placeholder | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| `__AP_SSID__` | hotspot name | `XIAO_01` |
| `__AP_PASS__` | hotspot password (8+ chars) | `class1234` |
| `__AP_CHANNEL__` | WiFi channel (bare number, no quotes) | `6` |
| `__EI_PROJECT__` | inference app only — Edge Impulse project name, matching the installed `<name>_inferencing` library folder | `clfc` |

## Step 3 — compile, upload

```powershell
arduino-cli compile --fqbn esp32:esp32:XIAO_ESP32S3 --board-options PSRAM=opi <SKETCH_DIR>
arduino-cli upload -p COM4 --fqbn esp32:esp32:XIAO_ESP32S3 --board-options PSRAM=opi <SKETCH_DIR>
```

`PSRAM=opi` is mandatory (camera + model need PSRAM). The inference build
needs `--clean` if the Edge Impulse library was just swapped.

## Step 4 — verify

```powershell
# the AP should appear in a WiFi scan within ~15 s of flashing
netsh wlan show networks | Select-String "<AP_SSID>"
```

(netsh caches scans — retry after 20 s before concluding failure.)

**This check needs a WiFi adapter on the PC, and many desktops do not have
one.** If `netsh wlan show interfaces` reports that the Wireless AutoConfig
service is not running, or `Get-NetAdapter` lists only Ethernet, no amount of
retrying will show the AP — the machine physically cannot scan. Do not read
that as a failed flash. Fall back to serial (below), or have the user check
from their phone.

### Watching the board over serial

In AP mode the PC usually cannot reach the board at all, so serial is often
the *only* verification available to you. Use the `xiao-serial-monitor` skill.

```powershell
mon                      # interactive, port auto-detected
.\scripts\mon.ps1 -Seconds 15    # bounded, for your own debugging
```

Expected on success:

```
AP started. Open http://192.168.4.1
Collector ready
```

`Camera init failed` instead means the sketch halts before ever starting the
AP — the board is a plain XIAO ESP32S3 without the Sense camera module, or the
module is not seated. Scanning for the SSID forever will never reveal this;
one serial read does.

Two things worth knowing rather than avoiding:

- Opening the port resets the board via DTR, so the log restarts from boot.
  That is what you want here — these lines only print once at startup.
- If a board ends up stuck showing only the ROM banner afterwards
  (pitfall 8 of `xiao-esp32s3`), re-running `arduino-cli upload` clears it,
  and leaves the sketch running for the demo.

When the user wants to watch it themselves, hand them the command rather than
launching the interactive monitor from a tool call — it never returns. In
Claude Code the `!` prefix runs it in their session:

```
! <path>\mon.ps1
```

Full check: connect a device to the AP and open http://192.168.4.1 —
tell the user connecting from THEIR phone/PC will drop that device's
internet while connected; that is expected in AP mode.

## Notes

- Collector page: captures go to an in-browser gallery (label badges, per-shot
  delete, "전체 ZIP 다운로드" produces `label.N.jpg` files ready for Edge
  Impulse). Refreshing the page clears the gallery — download the ZIP first.
- Inference page: whole-frame colored box + top label + per-class confidence
  bars (classification model — per-object location boxes need a FOMO model).
- The camera renders rotated 90°; the inference template already compensates
  (CW feature rotation, verified empirically).