Summary
After updating to platform = espressif32@6.12.0, PlatformIO installs tool-esptoolpy@2.40900.0. This version of esptool.py contains the following unconditional import:

from intelhex import HexRecordError, IntelHex

This causes builds to fail with:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'intelhex'

—even when the project doesn't use .hex files and doesn't require intelhex.

Environment Details

• PlatformIO Core: 6.1.18
• Platform: espressif32@6.12.0
• Tool: tool-esptoolpy@2.40900.0
• Python used by PlatformIO: "~\Local\Programs\Python\Python311\python.exe"
• Host OS: Windows 10 (Git Bash + VSCode)
• Framework: Arduino
• Board: nodemcu-32s

How to Reproduce

1. Use a basic PlatformIO platformio.ini:

   platform = espressif32@6.12.0
   board = nodemcu-32s
   framework = arduino

2. Ensure intelhex is not installed in the Python environment used by PlatformIO

3. Run platformio run or call a build script

4. Observe this crash:

   File "...tool-esptoolpy\esptool\bin_image.py", line 16, in
   from intelhex import HexRecordError, IntelHex
   ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'intelhex'

Expected Behavior

• If .hex functionality is unused, intelhex should not be required
• Builds should succeed without forcing intelhex installation

Actual Behavior

• Even .bin-only ESP32 builds fail due to an import in bin_image.py that is not guarded by a try-except

Suggested Fixes

1. Move the from intelhex import ... inside the function that needs it
2. Or wrap in a try-except ImportError block and emit a clear message if .hex usage is triggered
3. Or add intelhex to tool-esptoolpy's install-time requirements

Workaround
Manually install intelhex into the Python environment used by PlatformIO:

"~\Local\Programs\Python\Python311\python.exe" -m pip install intelhex

Impact
This silently breaks ESP32 builds for users after updating to espressif32@6.12.0, even for projects that don't need .hex support. The crash is non-obvious and unrelated to the user's code or libraries.