ESP32-­C3­-MINI-­1 : USB for programming

[velmurugan7kmvs]

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.

ESP32-C3-DevKitM-1-Schematic_snap.png (61.52 KiB) Viewed 4736 times

[velmurugan7kmvs]

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

esp32-C3_USB_Serial.png (66.87 KiB) Viewed 4728 times

[ESP_Sprite]

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.