ESP32 Forum

Hi,
I am designing a new board with ESP32-­C3-­MINI-­1 module.
It is not very clear to me whether we need external USB to UART converter for programming/debug_print or intergrated USB lines (GPIO18/GPIO19) can be connected to USB connector directly for programming/debug_print.

I looked at the schematic of the ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1 development board and i found it has options for both but the default configuration is through USB to UART converter. So, it confused me if we can really do programming via USB lines (GPIO18/GPIO19) and is there is any limitations on the direct USB.
Please clarify and if you have any related documents, please share. Thanks in advance for your time and support.

Datasheet snap:
If the device supports programming embedded/external flash through USB serial, then why the dev board is using USB to UART converter?

Yes, you can both program as well as debug (JTAG) the ESP via those lines. There indeed are a few limitations to using the integrated USB serial-JTAG thing: see the header 'limitations' in the docs. You can look at them and see if they're a showstopper for you.