This is a very simple code to run an ESP8266 as an access point to send and receive JSON data from clients, with a Flask code in Python to test it.

• Open File > Preferences, and under Aditional Board Manager URLs, copy this: https://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json
• Open Tools > Board > Board Manager, search for ESP8266 and install "esp8266" by "ESP8266 Community"

• After installing the ESP8266 boards, they should be available under Tools > Board > ESP8266 Boards. I'm using board NodeMCU 1.0 (ESP-12E Module) because I have an ESP-12F in my possession, which is equivalent.

• After that, just upload the code to the ESP. This video by Indrek Luuk has instructions on how to upload codes to different ESP boards using Arduino IDE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iX67plFeLs

• After succesfully uploading the program, open the Serial Monitor and copy the Access Point IP address, which will be used to make client-side requests. There is an LED pin declared in the server.ino code, which will keep blinking if no client is connected, and will be ON if a client is connected.

This is it for the server. It is running and ready to accept requests. In the route '/json1', any connected client request a JSON from the ESP, and in the route '/json2', any connected client sends a JSON to the ESP.

There are different ways to send requests. You could for example use Postman, just connect to the ESP Soft AP and send requests using the ESP IP address:

http:https:// + ESP_IP + /json1 -> Get Json

http:https:// + ESP_IP + /json2 -> Post Json

For this repo I created a small Flask server application that can be used to communicate with the ESP. To test it out, do the following steps:

> pip install -r requirements.txt

• Update the ESP_IP variable with the same address copied from the ESP Serial Monitor

• The password is at server.ino

On cmd:

> set FLASK_APP=client
> flask run

On PowerShell:

> $env:FLASK_APP="client.py"
> flask run

This should open a small page with instructions to both routes:

Open /json1 to get a JSON from the ESP:

Open /json2 to post a JSON to the ESP:

Responses on the ESP8266: