ESPHome keeps local copies of the registry components required by its native ESP32 build system. Once those components are cached, configuring a firmware build no longer needs to reach the registry, so a poor connection or an offline host does not stop that step.

J. Nick Koston measured a stalled-network configuration step falling from 165 seconds to four. The local copies produce identical dependency selections and component files in tests against ESP-IDF 5.5.5 and 6.1.0. First downloads still need a connection, and components supplied through Git or local paths keep their existing behavior.